Reborn since 1993

Chapter 908: bargain hunting
"Please rest assured, Mr. Li, the Stargazing Video Recorder project will be restarted as soon as possible by Peregrine no matter what. I will lead the team personally and it will not affect the transaction between Dongling Hi-Tech and Microsoft!"

Liang Botao said to Li Dongling that the great philanthropist Li was prepared to sell the stargazing video recorder project to Microsoft, an ally of Dongling Hi-Tech, at a bargain price of US$ 3.5 billion.

Liang Botao knew what the consequences would be if such a large project was delayed. Not to mention that Peregrine was about to go bankrupt, even if it didn't go bankrupt, it probably wouldn't be able to afford the compensation.

Li Dongling's expression eased a little, but looking at Liang Botao, he still said, "I don't question President Liang's intention, but how long can Peregrine last now?"

Liang Botao looked a little embarrassed, then he let out a long breath, with a pleading look on his face, "This is also the reason why I came to see Mr. Li today. I hope that Dongling Hi-Tech can help Peregrine!"

Hearing Liang Botao's words, Ning Wenke and Lin Xianhui who were sitting next to him couldn't help but be a little surprised. They didn't expect that Peregrine, the largest securities investment institution in Hong Kong, had reached this point.

Just like Xie Ruilin just now, Liang Botao now also hopes that Li Dongling can invest money in Peregrine to help Peregrine survive this crisis.

But Li Dongling responded directly to Liang Botao's words, "I think President Liang has found the wrong person!"

Generally speaking, if a securities firm like Peregrine, the largest in Hong Kong, collapses for whatever reason, it will cause panic in the entire Hong Kong stock market.

Just think about it, if even the number one securities institution in Hong Kong is gone, what situation will those listed companies and investors in Hong Kong be in? It will be very demoralizing.

Not to mention, Liang Botao had close relations with the Changjiang Li family in the past. The success of Peregrine was due to the support of the Changjiang Li family and other wealthy families in Hong Kong in the early stages.

Therefore, if we want to save Peregrine now, the first ones who should be anxious should be the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, or the Hong Kong Li family should take action. In any case, it is not the turn of Li Dongling, an "outsider", to save it.

Procedures are sometimes very important. Although they are slow, they can ensure that no problems occur and avoid a lot of trouble.

If Li Dongling ignored the consequences and jumped in headfirst, he would probably be trapped by Peregrine. Even if he managed to save Peregrine, it would be a waste of time and others would benefit from it.

Li Dongling's words made Liang Botao silent for a while, and then he sighed and said, "Peregrine's current situation is very bad. The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission and the Hong Kong Financial Management Bureau are somewhat unwilling to take care of Peregrine.

Those shareholders of Peregrine...are no longer concerned about Peregrine's affairs, and have even drawn a clear line with Peregrine!"

With the Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong stock market currently heading for a halving, a large number of companies going bankrupt every day, and even jumping off the roof requires a lottery. No one has time to care about Peregrine.

Moreover, the current situation in Hong Kong City is somewhat similar to the American subprime mortgage crisis more than a decade later in the previous life.

Everything is mixed up, and there is wailing everywhere. The Hong Kong Financial Services Authority can certainly lend a hand to save Peregrine.

However, this will also lead to a situation where the problem is not the lack of supply but the inequality of distribution. If we save Peregrine, what will the other Hong Kong and city companies think? They will think that Peregrine should be saved, but they cannot be saved and will have to wait to die!
Save Gangcheng Company. Should we save those investors who are about to jump off the building because they lost money investing in Gangcheng stocks?
By that time, with public opinion in an uproar, how much money does Gangcheng have to support the entire Gangcheng stock market? So for Gangcheng, it is not that it cannot be saved, but that it dares not to save it. Once this gap is opened, it will be like a flood that cannot be blocked.

As for why America in its previous life allowed Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt during the subprime mortgage crisis, there is a conspiracy theory that several major investment banks under Goldman Sachs wanted to swallow up this former peer.

In addition, the head of the American Treasury Department at the time was the former president of Goldman Sachs, which made conspiracy theories even more prevalent.

But America's situation at that time was very similar to that of Hong Kong City now. They didn't dare to rescue it at all. If they rescued one, the other companies would be in trouble.

On the contrary, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which had a huge impact on the entire America, public opinion began to reverse.

Wall Street institutions, countless American companies, investors, and even ordinary American office workers were all afraid of company bankruptcy and unemployment, so they cried and begged America to take action, which led to America starting to print money.

The Hong Kong government is also worried now. It knows that if Peregrine goes bankrupt, the entire Hong Kong stock market will be even worse off, but it dares not rescue it at all. If it rescues one, it will have to keep rescuing the rest, just like the gourd baby saving his grandfather. It will never be able to save all the others!

As for letting the Hong Kong Li family save Peregrine, what are they thinking? As the famous saying goes, don't make the last penny. Once you smell something wrong, you will run faster than a rabbit.

Seeing that Peregrine was about to fall, how could that person reach out to help Peregrine in such a time of crisis?

As for the friendship between the Changjiang Li family and Liang Botao, for the Changjiang Li family, business is business and friendship is not worth much.

Not to mention Liang Botao, didn’t the Li family of the Yangtze River in the previous life also sell the port operation rights of the Panama Canal directly to the American consortium at a critical moment when they saw that the wind was not right.

Whether ships from a certain place will be obstructed when passing through the Panama Canal in the future is none of the Changjiang Li family's business. For the head of the Changjiang Li family, the most important thing is to prevent his coins from being damaged. Everything else is secondary.

A Peregrine, plus his friendship with Liang Botao, was nothing to the Changjiang Li family. They just threw him away without blinking an eye... Liang Botao was also aware of this. In Gangcheng, Peregrine was already isolated and helpless. When he heard that Li Dongling had arrived in Gangcheng, he immediately rushed over.

"How much debt does Peregrine owe now?" Li Dongling asked Liang Botao.

For Peregrine now, these are no longer secrets. It is just like asking a person who is almost starving to death how much more famine he still owes. What is the point of that?

“Currently, Peregrine’s direct liabilities are around US$45 billion. However, once the currencies of places like Malaysia appreciate, the funds and bonds held by Peregrine will be able to recover!

As long as Peregrine is provided with a billion dollars of liquidity, Peregrine will be able to get back on track!"

Liang Botao said to Li Dongling, and wanted Dongling Hi-Tech to lend a hand to Peregrine.

Li Dongling reached out to stop Liang Botao from continuing, "Can one billion US dollars repay Peregrine's debt?
If the currencies of places like Malaysia continue to depreciate, or even fail to recover within three to five years, can Peregrine survive until then?"

The current Baring is a bottomless pit. No matter how much money you throw into it, not a single bubble will come out.

Believe it or not, after the $45 billion debt is paid off, those shareholders, investors who bought Peregrine shares, and Peregrine’s past partners will all jump out and demand compensation from Peregrine!
"Dongling Hi-Tech Port City Company can save Peregrine!"

Li Dongling's words cheered up Liang Botao, but before he could be happy, Li Dongling's next words made him stunned.

"But we need to wait until Peregrine goes bankrupt and the debt is cleared. Dongling Hi-Tech is willing to acquire Peregrine and retain Peregrine's brand, personnel, and business. Mr. Liang can still serve as the president of Peregrine!"

To be honest, Liang Botao was also very wronged. The fact that Peregrine could have come to this point today is closely related to its British founder, William Du.

Liang Botao was mainly responsible for the securities business of Baring, while Du William was responsible for the investment business. The bonds issued to Malaysia and other places were also handled by Du William, and the risk control was not done well.

Soros raised his butcher knife in Southeast Asia, making the money in Malaysia, Siam and other places become very cheap. William Du actually thought that this was an opportunity to buy at the bottom.

With Peregrine's cash flow, they entered Malaysia and other places in a big way. The result, of course, was that they lost everything. The entire Peregrine cash flow was cut off, and they also had to bear a large amount of debt.

However, as the largest securities investment company in Hong Kong and the largest Chinese securities company in Asia, Baring still has a lot of financial resources, and it has contracted the channels for domestic companies to go public in Hong Kong, which is almost a business that is sure to make money.

Of course, the premise of all this is that Peregrine goes through bankruptcy reorganization, gets rid of its debts, and moves forward with ease, and only then will Dongling Hi-Tech Port City Company be willing to take over.

In addition, taking over Peregrine will allow Peregrine to acquire some banks in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in the future and enter the banking industry.

In this way, Dongling Hi-Tech's future overseas investments and various capital flows can be completed through Peregrine, without having to go through HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank and other banks, so as to avoid being sold out at any time!
When Liang Botao heard that Li Dongling wanted Peregrine to go bankrupt, he showed reluctance on his face, but he also knew that this was indeed Peregrine's only choice.

Moreover, Li Dongling also promised that after bankruptcy and getting rid of debts, Dongling Hi-Tech Port City Company would take over and Baring will still exist in the future.

"I... will consider it!"

Liang Botao stood up and said that he still wanted to struggle. Since Hong Kong City couldn't get any reinforcements, he wanted to try to ask for help from old Europe and America.

If there is nothing else to do, Liang Botao can only let Peregrine go bankrupt, and the first thing to do is to get rid of Du William, that stupid teammate!

……

After coming out of the banquet hall, Li Dongling and Ning Wenke drove towards the villa halfway up the mountain. Ning Wenke turned her head and looked at the brightly lit night scene of the port city, seemingly unwilling to pay attention to Mr. Li.

Li Dongling looked at Ning Wenke's face reflected in the car window and gently put his arm around Ning Wenke's shoulders.

After struggling for a while, Ning Wenke, with red eyes, finally fell into Li Dongling's arms.

"I want one too!"

When they were almost at the villa halfway up the mountain, Ning Wenke, who was in Li Dongling's arms, raised her head, looked at Li Dongling "fiercely", and then kissed him.

(End of this chapter)