Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1434 On the Practice Techniques of Harvesting Leeks

"The Mississippi Department of Health's investigation seems a bit suspicious!"

By now, Zhang Xiaocheng is fully aware of these tactics and understands that the Mississippi Department of Health's sudden attack on Ruyan e-cigarettes is clearly ill-intentioned.

Li Dongling was not surprised. With such a big splash made by Ruyan e-cigarettes in America, it would be strange if the traditional tobacco industry didn't respond.

"E-cigarettes and the traditional tobacco industry are ultimately competitors!"

"It would be strange if those tobacco companies, like Morrison, didn't respond!"

Hearing Li Dongling's words, Zhang Xiaocheng frowned even more deeply, "If the American Federal Department of Health sues Ruyan..."

"Then respond to the lawsuit!"

Under Zhang Xiaocheng's shocked gaze, Li Dongling said calmly, "You don't think the American Federal Department of Health would let Ruyan e-cigarettes go, do you?"

"Ruyan will inevitably have to go to court with the Federal Department of Health and the health departments in old Europe sooner or later."

When Li Dongling said this, his expression was quite calm, but to Zhang Xiaocheng, it sounded like a thunderclap.

The thought of suing the Federal Health Administration, the only superpower in the world, made Zhang Xiaocheng feel nervous.

"But if we go to court..."

Seeing that Zhang Xiaocheng's mindset had not yet changed, Li Dongling said directly, "This lawsuit is unavoidable. We have to fight it regardless of whether we win or lose."

"The American Federal Health Agency will not allow e-cigarettes to roam outside its jurisdiction and will certainly try to bring them under its control."

"In the future, Ruyan e-cigarettes will definitely be connected to the American Department of Health, but before that, Ruyan e-cigarettes must first fight a lawsuit with them, regardless of the outcome!"

Li Dongling said that if they don't fight one or even several lawsuits, the Federal Health Administration will easily take them down. They might even be tormented to death by the other party in the future. They will be restricted from making this or that, and from launching certain flavored e-cigarette cartridges.

The lawsuit is not about winning or losing, but about expressing an attitude. In America, tobacco can cooperate with the Federal Health Police, but it cannot be manipulated at will, especially not by the likes of Morris Tobacco using the Federal Health Police to manipulate it at will.

"Furthermore, Ruyan e-cigarettes gave up so much equity to Wall Street institutions. Those Wall Street institutions can't just stand by and watch Ruyan e-cigarettes get bullied!"

Li Dongling chuckled and said, "Ruyan e-cigarettes gave up so many shares and brought in a large group of American supporters such as Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, and Reynolds. What was the purpose of this?"
It's just to get them to endorse Ruyan e-cigarettes. They can't just sit around doing nothing. Do you think it's so easy to take money from a philanthropist like Li?

Ruyan e-cigarettes is not inflexible, but even if it does compromise, it must be conditional. It cannot be allowed to be manipulated at will; otherwise, it would be manipulated by various overseas monsters and demons, leaving not even a bone fragment.

Zhang Xiaocheng understood Li Dongling's meaning. If Ruyan e-cigarettes didn't act tough overseas, they would be seen as easy targets, and everyone would want to take advantage of them.

It's only a matter of time before Ruyan e-cigarettes are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Zhang Xiaocheng is also preparing to return to Pingyang.

During this trip to Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaocheng spent a considerable amount of time there, as Torch Group still had a lot of matters waiting for Zhang Xianhui to handle.

Moreover, Torch Group is about to undergo a transformation, and Zhang Xiaocheng will also have to go back to establish new departments, as well as acquire a number of sports brands such as The North Face, and establish businesses such as gas stoves.

A whole host of things were waiting for Zhang Xiaocheng to handle, but before leaving, Zhang Xiaocheng couldn't help but ask Li Dongling, "Dongling, after Ruyan e-cigarettes are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, what will its market value be?"

Everyone hopes that the market value will be as high as possible after the company goes public.

But if it rises too high, it can be quite alarming.

"Once Ruyan goes public, its stock price will be beyond anyone's control!"

Li Dongling shook his head and said, then seeing Zhang Xiaocheng's look, he pointed upwards with his finger, "Only heaven knows!"

That being said, Li Dongling had a premonition that Ruyan e-cigarette's stock price would probably be driven up to an astonishing level.

A large number of retail investors will definitely be fleeced by Wall Street institutions that manipulate and speculate relentlessly; the only question is how ruthless the fleecing will be...

Zhang Xiaocheng nodded, then got up and left, preparing to return to the mainland the next day.

Seeing Zhang Xiaocheng leave, Li Dongling shook his head. The current Zhang Xiaocheng was obviously still a bit hesitant and too "kind".

To put it bluntly, they're afraid that if Ruyan e-cigarettes' stock price rises too high after its IPO, and those who buy Ruyan e-cigarettes suffer huge losses, it will inevitably cause controversy.

In response, Li Dongling could only say that once Zhang Xiaocheng sees how Wall Street fleeces its investors, he can learn from them, fleece them a few more times, and then he will become skilled and understand the tricks of the trade.

Once inside his office in the Dongke Building, Li Dongling was the only one left. He took out several documents and began to examine them.

This is the information currently available regarding TVB. Since the news of its potential sale was released, several media giants in Hong Kong and overseas have expressed considerable interest in TVB and have submitted offers.

The first to react was Murdoch's News Corporation, which acquired Phoenix Television years ago. News Corporation has always wanted to expand its influence in Asia, especially in mainland China, which it has long dreamed of entering, but has been unable to achieve its goal.

With TVB now up for sale, News Corporation is naturally eager to take the opportunity. However, this time News Corporation has learned its lesson and is not using the News Corporation name, but instead intends to acquire TVB through Phoenix Television.

Therefore, this is a merger and acquisition between media companies within the port city, which does not involve overseas entities, and the risk is much smaller. At least on the surface, there is no reason to refuse.

In addition, overseas media giants such as Disney, Viacom, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea also intend to use TVB to enhance their influence in Asia.

These overseas media giants are all very wealthy, but to be honest, Li Dongling felt that apart from Phoenix TV, the others had virtually no chance; TVB was unlikely to be sold to an overseas media group.

What truly made Li Dongling feel that the ones who could potentially compete with Cyberport for TVB were probably the wealthy families of Hong Kong.

Their biggest rivals are, of course, the Li family of Cheung Kong, and other Hong Kong conglomerates such as HSBC.

Needless to say, the Lee family of Cheung Kong has suffered repeated setbacks at Cyberport in recent years. Although they have performed well in the UK, they are far from Hong Kong and urgently need a victory in Hong Kong to demonstrate their strength to the outside world.

Moreover, acquiring TVB would also help change the public opinion and image of the Lee family in Hong Kong; they certainly won't let go this time.

As for HSBC, it belongs to the Wu family, the son-in-law of a shipping magnate. Wharf Holdings, under HSBC, is the parent company of TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited) in Hong Kong.

By acquiring TVB, Hui Tak Fung will possess the two largest pay-TV and free-to-air television stations in Hong Kong, becoming the uncrowned king of the city's media industry.

The Lee family of Cheung Kong and Hui Tak Fung are the most likely to become local forces in Hong Kong to compete with Cyberport for TVB!
And among them, the British-owned consortium in Hong Kong will likely play the role of troublemaker once again.

Li Dongling flipped through the documents in his hand. As a bridgehead to the inland, the situation in Hong Kong was much more complicated than that in the inland areas.

The sale of TVB has attracted fierce competition from a host of giants both inside and outside Hong Kong. To be honest, Li Dongling was also a bit scratching his head when he saw these competitors.

To compete with these rivals, Li Dongling didn't know how high he would have to push the acquisition price of TVB. Thinking about this, Li Dongling felt a bit of a headache.

Currently, the largest shareholder of TVB is undoubtedly Shaw Brothers, which holds 33% of TVB's shares through various means, including Shaw Brothers Company, Shaw Foundation, and Shaw's private companies.

Given the current highly dispersed shareholding structure of TVB, a 33% controlling stake is sufficient to give the individual complete control over the company.

After thinking for a moment, Li Dongling decided to take a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he would definitely try every means to acquire TVB shares from Boss Shao.

On the other hand, they cannot sit idly by and wait for death. They need to start setting up a shell foundation to acquire TVB shares in preparation for any eventuality!

Li Dongling picked up the phone and made several calls, some to tell Lin Xianhui that they could start taking action, and others to the Hong Kong government office and the mainland's Hong Kong office.

Li Dongling is trying to tell all parties that Cyberport is going to join the battle for TVB, and also wants the support of the Hong Kong government and the mainland's Hong Kong office!

……

"We have received quotes from Phoenix TV, Disney, and Nippon Television."

Phoenix Television offered the highest bid, with a premium of 19.8%, to acquire a controlling stake in TVB!

Inside Mr. Shao's office at TVB, Financial Director Li Helai reported to Mr. Shao.

"There's still no movement in the port city!"

Ms. Fang, who was also in the office, frowned and said.

The news that TVB is going to be sold has been released, and overseas media giants have been quite enthusiastic about it, frequently contacting TVB, and even Phoenix TV has started making offers.

They want to acquire Mr. Shao's 33% stake in TVB for HK$45 billion, based on a 19.8% premium over TVB's current market value of HK$114 billion.

This price isn't low, but it's not particularly high either. Considering TVB's position in Hong Kong's media industry, this premium is only considered average.

In particular, the fact that several companies, including Hui Tak Fung, which were widely recognized as definitely going to compete for TVB, remained completely silent and were all observing the situation, inevitably made Ms. Fang very dissatisfied.

Without the participation of these local factions in Hong Kong, how could TVB's acquisition price possibly be driven up?
"The goods are in our hands. Are you saying the seller is less patient than the buyer?"

Mr. Shao smiled and reassured Ms. Fang, indicating that she should calm down.

"Someone is accumulating TVB shares!"

After receiving a phone call, Li Helai immediately spoke to Boss Shao.

Upon hearing this, Boss Shao's eyes gleamed, then he let out a long breath and slowly said, "It's about to begin!"

(End of this chapter)