After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 712 A Just Cause is Essential

Tang Caidie was busy with other matters, so Li Junwei came to pick her up from the airport today. On the way to Central, he suddenly asked, "President Lu, are we not participating in Ant Group's IPO?"

Ant Group's IPO plans have caused a sensation not only in mainland China but also made the front page of major newspapers in Hong Kong.

Because Ant Group filed its IPO application in Hong Kong and had a valuation of US$1750 billion before listing, its market capitalization would be US$13650 trillion based on the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US dollar at 7.8.

Given a few more years of development after such a large group goes public, it may very well surpass Tencent and become the new stock king of the Hong Kong stock market.

Lu Liang had previously stated that once Tianxing Quantitative officially commences operations, the next step would be acquisitions or cooperation with Japan's Xingheng to jointly develop a commercial investment bank.

If they act now, they can definitely complete the acquisition before Ant Group's IPO.

Then, they discussed with Ant Group about contracting out some of the stock issuance rights to develop the market.

Just like the collaboration between Delime and GM on auto loans, any project involving financial transactions is a high-quality channel for a commercial investment bank to attract savings customers.

Ant Group's influence is immense, needless to say; in the last quarter alone, its users' savings reached 1.86 trillion yuan.

With its strong grasp on the wallets of hundreds of millions of users, no one can predict how much potential it will have after going public.

Even if they only contract for a few million shares, they can still attract a large number of IPO subscribers in the stock market.

These users need to open an account at their bank, and if they don't win the lottery, they might be too lazy to transfer the funds and leave the money in their bank account.

If they offer some appropriate promotional activities, they might be able to turn them into long-term customers.

Taking Hong Kong as an example, the average customer acquisition cost for each commercial bank is as high as HK$982.

Therefore, it is necessary to continuously carry out various activities or engage in business cooperation in order to attract a new user.

Ant Group's IPO is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Given Lu Liang's relationship with Ma Yun and Chen Jiebin, it shouldn't be difficult for him to acquire some shares.

"Is my relationship with Director Chen really that good?" Lu Liang smiled but did not give a direct answer.

This is indeed a good opportunity to develop an investment bank, but he believes it will most likely turn into a futile effort.

If Ant Group can't even get past the mainland's review process, then its Hong Kong listing and IPO are all nonsense.

Li Junwei looked thoughtful, noticing that Lu Liang didn't want to talk about this topic, so he went along with it, saying, "Now the entire Hong Kong market knows that Director Chen warmly welcomes your arrival."

Rumors circulated that, in order to welcome Lu Liang, Chen Jiebin forcibly pressed Lau's head down, making him agree to sell Chi Cheung Building for HK$72 billion.

It's true that HK$72 billion is the market price, but the buyer is Lu Liang. If Lu Liang is determined to have this building, he can definitely get a very high premium.

As a result, Da Liu agreed.

There are also rumors that he left behind a power of attorney to sell the building, and then fled to Switzerland overnight under the pretext of seeking medical treatment.

It's said that he and Gambi have almost emptied their villa on Victoria Peak, and they probably won't be coming back anytime soon.

The news was a mix of truth and falsehood, and even Li Junwei, the person involved, wasn't entirely sure.

However, two things are certain: the sale price of Chi Cheung Building at HK$72 billion is true, and it is also true that Lau is not in Hong Kong.

As for the details, they may have been fabricated by the media.

However, after today, unofficial history will become official history, and perhaps many years later, a message will circulate that the former financial sniper, Fan Liu, was scared away by Lu Liang.

Because Lu Liang is here today to buy a property, Liu will not be making an appearance, and the asking price is indeed HK$72 billion.

Lu Liang chuckled: "Hong Kong media is really something else; there's so much gossip here."

He pondered for a moment, then said, "The Ant Group IPO contract isn't urgent for now. Let's wait for news from Xingheng first."

There are very few local commercial banks in Hong Kong; the large ones won't sell, and the small ones are not worth considering.

It would be better to wait for Wen Chao's news, let him complete the acquisition there, and then they can enter the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan markets under the name of Neon Bank.

It's often said that Shanghai is obsessed with foreign things, but Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are no less so. Perhaps because they were all former colonies, it's always easier to get things done in these places by operating under the guise of foreign banks. Lu Liang only intends to keep the name Tianxing Financial Group; he doesn't particularly care what the banks, insurance companies, and securities firms under its umbrella are called.

Brand names for manufacturing companies should be catchy and widely recognized, but brand names for financial companies should be as understated as possible.

Because capital conglomerates have many names, but the banking, insurance, and securities industries are the core pillars of the financial system and the most tangible manifestations of capital conglomerates.

Li Junwei nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the 82nd floor of Phase 2 of the Central Plaza building, where Tianxing Quantitative Fund Company was beginning to take shape.

Liang Wenhui and the technical team at Magic Square Technology are currently conducting final debugging work on the quantitative AI large model.

Tang Caidie is making personnel adjustments. In the past few days, new people have been joining the company one after another, and many of them are in management positions. Some of these positions require her to conduct interviews in person.

Everyone was busy with their own things. When they saw Lu Liang coming over, they simply nodded slightly and then went back to what they were doing.
Without looking up, Tang Caidie said, "President Lu, the purchase contract may have to wait a little longer."

Tomorrow morning, they will sign a sales contract with Chinese Estates Holdings for the building, involving HK$72 billion.

So she asked her legal department colleagues to review the contract a third time to ensure it was flawless.

"Then you guys go ahead and get busy. Call me when you're done, I'm going upstairs for a walk." Lu Liang smiled, used to being ignored.

Being ignored by subordinates is a good thing for a boss, because it means you don't have to worry about everything and the company can run just fine without you.

Lu Liang returned to the 22nd floor of the building and took the elevator directly to the Xiangjiang Financial Management Office on the 88th floor.

Upon learning that Chen Jiebin was also busy and was meeting with an important guest, and that the meeting would not end anytime soon, Lu Liang was about to leave when his secretary suddenly called him back.

He said, "Mr. Lu, Director Chen is talking to Mr. Ma from the mainland. He said that if you are interested, you can come in and chat with him."

Lu Liang was speechless: "Jack?"

The secretary nodded, and Lu Liang chuckled, "Let them chat. Tell Director Chen I'll be waiting for him at the company downstairs."

Ma Yun's appearance here was unexpected, but also quite reasonable.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is equivalent to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in mainland China.

Ant Group's desire to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, even just submitting listing application documents, requires prior consultation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which can reduce many unnecessary and cumbersome procedures.

Moreover, even Ant Group might not be able to pass the mainland's review process, so Jack Ma needs to have a serious talk with Chen Jiebin.

Unable to afford the Baima Maojian tea that costs 800,000 yuan per kilogram, Lu Liang had no choice but to return to the company and lie on the office sofa playing on his phone.

"Ant Group must absolutely not be allowed to go public..."

Douyin's algorithm has always been a leader in the industry. It knows what Lu Liang wants to watch and keeps recommending that to him.

Looking at the increasing number of red hearts and comments on the video, Lu Liang couldn't help but sigh, "A cause must have a legitimate reason."

Previously, words that would be subject to traffic restrictions were now being ignored by the platform, allowing these messages to spread unchecked. This suggests that someone is starting to take action against Jack Ma.

Zhang Yiming was as cowardly as a mouse and didn't have the guts. Yang Zhenyuan was just a manager, so he was even less likely to do so.

The above reaction and the measures taken were completely beyond Lao Ma's expectations, and also made Lu Liang feel wary.

As expected, they are likely planning to personally intervene and cut off Ant Group's IPO path, first spreading the word through public opinion as a final ultimatum.

If Ma knew to pull back from the brink, he could have simply cooled down public opinion for a few days and he would still be the beloved "Father Ma" of the people.

Conversely, like the Liu family last year, three generations of loyal officials and the conscience of America will be forever branded with shame and condemned.

"Public opinion is really easy to manipulate."

Lu Liang sighed softly: "But perhaps they had no other choice but to hope that the motherland will get better and better."

(End of this chapter)