Wolf of Xiangjiang

In June 2010, Taifook Infrastructure Group Limited, a subsidiary of Taifook Group, defeated a consortium consisting of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Australia's Macquarie Group to acquire 6% of the UK regulated and unregulated grid assets of EDF Energy, the UK electricity network business of Electricité de France (EDF), for £58 billion.

Of the transaction price, 50% will be paid by project financing and the remaining 50% will be paid in cash by Taifook Infrastructure Group.

This merger and acquisition has become the largest acquisition of British assets by a Hong Kong-listed company. The transaction will be an important part of Taifook Infrastructure Group's overseas expansion plan, enriching Taifook Infrastructure Group's investment income outside Hong Kong. The market estimates the return rate to be approximately 15%.

In this acquisition, Taifook Infrastructure Group showed great sincerity and completely defeated the Mag Group in terms of price.

In fact, the price of 58 billion pounds is not expensive, because at its peak in 2008, the French EDF company acquired part of the equity of the British Energy Group and the US Constellation Energy for 125 billion. Later, due to excessive investment, its debt was high and it finally had to sell the British power grid.

By this calculation, Taifook Infrastructure Group saved at least 20 to 30 billion pounds.

Of course, based on past experience, Taifook Infrastructure will also need sufficient financial support to speed up the upgrade of its power grid after the merger.

Of course, in this regard, for a consortium with a "bank" as its core, nothing is a problem.

This business behavior of Lin Zhengjie was described by many media as "paving the way for the career of his youngest son", because everyone knows that Lin Zhengjie's sons Lin Wendong, Lin Wenliang and Lin Wencheng joined Taifook Group, Wheelock Group and Taifook Infrastructure Group respectively.

Today, Taifook Infrastructure Group is the weakest, with less than one-fifth of Taifook Group and Wheelock Group. The completion of this acquisition can be regarded as an increase in assets, but it is still only about one-fifth.

If there is an opportunity in the future, the assets of Taifook Infrastructure Group will be increased; but if there is no opportunity, only that much can be given to Lin Wencheng.

I do have cash, so it’s okay to get some subsidies.

Although the acquisition of EDF Energy was successful, Lin Zhengjie and Yu Deqiu did not have time to be happy, because there were still many problems that needed to be solved urgently.

In terms of management, EDF Energy had a poor customer service record and was fined £200 million by the UK industry regulator, Ofgem, which shows that its management is in need of a change.

Although Hong Kong was once a British colony and Hong Kong management has similarities with British management, integration is still the key in cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

This time, the French Electric Group urgently needs to sell its assets before the end of 2010. From the existing data, it is a rescue M&A. In a rescue M&A, the acquired company is on the brink of financial disaster, but the acquirer rarely retains the original company's managers; from another perspective, the acquired company is a disappearing company. When a large number of managers are replaced, fear and gossip spread among the middle and staff levels, and the employees are very worried that the acquirer will take layoffs to solve the original problem. At this time, the acquirer should do the following as soon as possible: seize the time to eliminate the acquired company's resistance and reduce the acquirer's excessive reliance on some managers of the original company.

In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the matching degree of corporate culture between the two parties to the acquisition, so that the intangible assets of both parties can also achieve synergy, and then refine the corporate culture of the new company to adapt to the new market competition.

There are many problems facing Taifook Infrastructure Group, but of course they are not without advantages!
Lin Zhengjie's personal connections and corporate background soon played a key role.

First of all, in terms of CEO, Lin Zhengjie invited a British CEO-type talent, Brunel, to join. Brunel was introduced by the CEO of Canary Wharf Group. He was originally a senior manager of "British Gas". It is reasonable for him to be the president of EDF now, and it is also a "promotion" for Brunel (in the power grid field, the two companies have almost the same share).

Secondly, as a consultant, Lam Ching Kit invited the former British president of Hong Kong Electric, Bruja (who has retired), to serve as a consultant. Bruja is already 70 years old and retired ten years ago. Inviting him to come out this time is to improve the relationship between Hong Kong local management and British management.

Finally, some people were selected from Hong Kong to serve as Taifook Infrastructure Group's management of EDF. They included British and Chinese management.

After finishing all these tasks, Lam Ching Kit returned to Hong Kong from the UK, leaving his subordinates to take over the transitional management of EDF.

A house full of gold and jade.

Lin Zhengjie invited his three daughters, Huo Wenxi, Lin Chi-ling, and Fan Binbin, and their three sons to vacation on a super yacht.

The three girls were born in 1972, 1974 and 1981 respectively. They are not young anymore, but in fact they still look to be in their twenties.

The three daughters gave birth to a son each in 2004 and 2005, who were of course illegitimate children.

Lin Zhengjie now has 7 illegitimate children, and Zheng Zhiyi, the "eldest princess" of Hyundai, gave birth to a son and a daughter for him. The two are considered a "political marriage" and may not see each other several times a year. But Zheng Zhiyi has made it clear that she will become the successor of "Hyundai Group (Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Elevator, etc.)", and she also has the support of Lin Zhengjie, holds some shares, and is valued by Hyun Jung-eun (her son is a little stupid).

The Hilton sisters gave birth to a daughter and a son respectively for Lin Zhengjie, so there were seven illegitimate children in total.

Among them, Zheng Zhiyi's children naturally do not need any arrangements, as they have been given hundreds of millions of dollars as support; arrangements have already been made for the Hilton sisters' children, and they will join the Hilton Hotel Group in the future, or at least become directors.

As for the combination of Florence Hui, Lin Chi-ling and Fan Binbin, there have always been arrangements!
For example, Florence Hui has investments in Hong Kong and the United States, and also owns an entertainment agency; Lin Chi-ling has investments in the United States and Taiwan, and Fan Binbin has made a lot of money in the mainland stock market and owns some properties in Hong Kong.

The mainland will open the 'Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect' in four years, making it more convenient to invest in the stock market. Of course, with Fan Binbin's status, it is no problem to make some money. "I will accompany you on the yacht for five days this time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the three women were surprised. Florence Hui and Lin Chi-ling sandwiched him on the left and right, and Fan Binbin also looked at him lovingly.

The three women are all very charming. Florence Hui has been wearing a blazer, looking professional and capable; Lin Chi-ling wears a long skirt, looking intellectual, sexy and coquettish; Fan Binbin is bright and generous, and can be either salty or sweet.

Huo Wenxi smiled and said, "You said you wanted to have a baby with us. Will you fulfill our wish this time?"

The three women looked at their men with hope in their eyes!
When they reach this stage, it is no longer all about the man's money, but about his "heart" and "body".

But the world has always been like this. Take the Luo Dingbang family, which has been in a mess in recent years. It is not just the children of the family who are fighting for the inheritance, but also the illegitimate children who come to the door. Luo Dingbang had an affair with his first female secretary and gave birth to an illegitimate child. As a result, he was forced to commit suicide by his legal wife. Then Luo Dingbang's second son persuaded his biological mother (the legal wife) to take in the illegitimate child; this second son was not kind, but wanted to get Luo Dingbang's affirmation - to be the heir; not only that, the second son took the initiative to introduce a woman to his father as a mistress, and gave birth to an illegitimate child, in order to please his father; after using him, he threatened this woman (the end of his predecessor) and scared others overseas. After Luo Dingbang died, when the second son and other brothers and sisters were fighting for the family property, who knew that the overseas woman brought the illegitimate child back to fight for the family property, and also left a will - to give them one-third of the property.

My goodness, the scandals of Hong Kong’s wealthy families are really something to watch every year!
Fortunately, there is no such sign in Lin Zhengjie's family for the time being, not to mention that Lin Zhengjie can still live for at least another fifty years, which is enough for the second generation to have no energy to fight for it, and to survive safely until the third generation.

"Of course, if you want to have a baby, I will certainly fulfill your wish!"

"Really?"

"It's true. Now we can go make a baby!"

"No, the children are still playing!"

"You can't say no, we're going to make a human being in broad daylight!"

After a round of flirting.

Lin Zhengjie added: "Although I am confident that you can become a billionaire, or even tens of billions, through stock trading, I still want you three sisters to be sisters forever, and your children to be as close as brothers."

Huo Wenxi said seriously: "Yes, of course we are united, otherwise how could you, a big shot, care about us."

This is true. If one of them is alone, it will be difficult for her to get the man's special attention. But if they are three together, the man will have to spend energy to pamper them.

They are all smart people, and they even know that Lin Zhengjie's legal wife is very beautiful and considerate, so they have to increase the weight of their side, otherwise they don't know when they will be abandoned.

As for what they are told, that the men will make them worth hundreds of billions or tens of billions, they may believe it, but they don’t know how long it will take for them to reach that day by speculating in stocks. What if the men abandon them early? Although that is unlikely!

Lin Zhengjie continued, "I want to set up a family office for your third wife, called 'Lin's Branch Family'. Of course, it must be kept secret from the outside. I plan to inject 60 billion Hong Kong dollars into it. In the future, your third wife and your children can receive money from it, and so can your descendants."

It would be better if they didn't mention it. As the leader of the three, Huo Wenxi also said, "We can't be included in the Lin family tree. We won't fight for the family property!"

Lin Zhengjie advised earnestly, "There is no problem at all. There is only one problem. My children from other families have been gathering regularly every year since they were young, and everyone is very familiar with each other. Now most of them are adults, and if you join them, there will be no affection, but intrigue."

Lin Chiling said sympathetically: "Well, I think what my husband said makes sense. Instead of arguing, why don't we just live our lives quietly."

Huo Wenxi immediately changed her words and said, "I'll listen to you. I just..."

Lin Zhengjie hugged her and said, "Don't worry, I know what you think. You don't care about money, but you want status. But you have to understand my thoughts."

"Um"

Afterwards, the three families discussed this "branch family office" and were immediately very interested in it.

Lin Zhengjie also agreed that 60 billion was only the first asset, and he would continue to inject it after the second generation was born. As for the investment of this fund, it must be invested in the mainland stock market and real estate, and a proper investment in Hong Kong, and then overseas investment.

In short, it is enough to support this branch of the family for generations!
As for the Hilton sisters, Zheng Zhiyi and the others, they are not needed. Anyway, there is no relationship between them, so there is no need to join this small group. (End of this chapter)