After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 736 Who Will Be the Leader of the Next Era?

After leaving the Zheng family, Xu Jiayin hurried to Phase 2 of the Plaza Building and obtained the agency authorization contract provided by Lu Liang.

"Mr. Xu, tell me about the next steps."

Lu Liang glanced at the financial news.

Just as they signed the contract with Lao Xu, Hengtai Group also issued a public announcement, claiming that it now holds more than 26% of New World's shares.

This move is also a way of informing the outside world.

The stocks acquired by Lu Liang's several financial institutions were all purchased on behalf of Hengtai Group, and they will fully support Hengtai Group in acquiring Zheng's New World.

As soon as the news was announced, Hengtai Group's stock price soared.

Its market capitalization has successively broken through 4000 billion and 4200 billion, finally reaching 4500 billion, and is about to break through 5000 billion.

Financial markets always have a particularly keen sense of smell.

Even though New World issued an announcement stating that Chow Tai Fook's stake in New World had reached 41.5% and that it would urgently convene a board meeting to take anti-takeover measures.

However, Lu Liang alone has already given the four major families a headache, and now a real estate tycoon has joined forces with him. It's only a matter of time before New World Development changes hands.

“President Lu, they probably intend to use poison pills,” Xu Jiayin said in a deep voice.

The poison pill plan was created in 1982 and was immediately sought after by countless companies, hailed as the most effective anti-takeover measure in history.

When a company faces a hostile takeover, especially when the acquiring party already owns 10% to 20% of the shares.

In order to maintain its controlling stake, a company will issue a large number of new shares at a low price. The purpose is to reduce the shareholding of the acquiring party, thus diluting the equity and increasing the acquisition cost, so as to prevent the acquiring party from achieving its goal of gaining control.

Poison pills are generally divided into pop-up plans and pop-in plans. The Zheng family will likely choose the pop-in plan, which involves acquiring newly issued shares of the company at a very high premium, usually as high as 100%. As the shareholders who triggered the event, they are not included in the buyback.

When Sina was being acquired by Shanda, it used a poison pill strategy, ultimately forcing Shanda to abandon Sina.

"There's no need to worry about funding."

Lu Liang nodded slightly, agreeing with Lao Xu's guess.

The fact that the Zheng family is still trying to raise more funds despite not being able to acquire shares in the secondary market indicates that Lao Xu's guess was correct; they are preparing for a poison pill plan.

Because the poison pill plan is a double-edged sword, the costs for the acquiring party will increase, and the company's costs will also increase accordingly. Therefore, the Zheng family still needs a large amount of capital reserves.

Xu Jiayin pondered for a moment, then said, "We need to reach 33.4% of the shares before they launch the plan, and enter the board of directors to stop the poison pill plan from being implemented."

The board meeting of New World is scheduled for 10:00 AM tomorrow. It's a little past 3:00 PM now, leaving them with less than 19 hours.

They must meet two conditions within a limited time: first, their total shareholding must reach 33.4%.

Secondly, I need the support of at least one board member to attend tomorrow's board meeting in his name.

Although they currently hold more than 26% of the shares, they are already qualified to join the board of directors.

However, Zheng Jiachun is still in charge of the board of directors, and he can completely block the shareholders' meeting process, preventing them from entering tomorrow.

Group directors are generally elected by the shareholders' meeting. As shareholders, if they want to join the board of directors, they must go through at least one shareholders' meeting process.

Even if Zheng Jiachun doesn't obstruct the process, following the normal procedure, they definitely won't be able to get into the board of directors before tomorrow.

Lu Liang looked thoughtful, and Sun Yutao's voice came through the earpiece: "Mr. Lu, retail investors in the market only have a maximum of 5% of their chips left, and they are very difficult to acquire."

Wen Chao chimed in: "Although each family holds some shares in New World, you need the support of at least three families to get the final 7.4%."

"However, according to my previous investigation, if we can get the support of HSBC or Bank of China, there is a very high probability that we can achieve both of these conditions at once."

"HSBC holds a 7.35% stake and also has a seat on the board of directors of New World Development. The same applies to Bank of China, except that Bank of China holds a smaller stake of only 6.42%."

Lu Liang frowned: "HSBC holding 7.35% of the shares is not good news."

He said, "Increase investment in the secondary market; by the time the market closes at 4 p.m., we cannot let the Zheng family get a single share."

According to the recently disclosed announcement, Chow Tai Fook now holds 41.5% of New World Development's shares, and with the support of HSBC, that would be 48.85%.

Once the Zheng family holds more than 50.1% of the shares, achieving absolute control, the difficulty of acquiring New World will skyrocket from the original 7.

Even though there are not many chips left in the secondary market, they still cannot relax in the slightest. It would be best if the Zheng family did not get a single share.

Lu Liang was unsure of HSBC's stance, but he needed to prepare for the worst.

Assuming HSBC supports the Zheng family, the Zheng family now holds 48.85% of the shares, only 1.25% away from 50.1%.

Lu Liang summoned Li Junwei, who was standing at the door: "Spread the word that you can remain neutral, but supporting the Zheng family means you are making an enemy of us."

He wanted the remaining 1.25% stake, which became an insurmountable barrier for the Zheng family.

"That's pretty arrogant, but I like it."

Old Xu smiled and beckoned his assistant, who was waiting outside, to spread the word.

Although Hengtai doesn't have much business in Hong Kong, local tycoons have considerable operations in mainland China. At this time, anyone who dares to support the Zheng family is essentially making an enemy of Hengtai Group, a fight to the death.

He was going all in, intending to gamble everything, not even considering the possibility of failure, because success was the only option.

Meanwhile, at Yiyun Mountain Villa.

The once bustling base of the Earth Society has changed beyond recognition, leaving only the Zheng family and a Westerner.

"Mr. Qi, does Lu Liang know our intentions?"

Zheng Jiachun frowned as he looked at the market chart.

I don't know when to start,
It became increasingly difficult for them to acquire chips.

Especially in the last ten minutes or so, I've made absolutely no money. Even though I have funds, the transactions keep showing as failed.

As soon as a single chip appears in the market, it's instantly snapped up; the trading speed is unimaginably fast.

With high prices but low demand, New World's stock price continued to rise, quickly breaking through HK$70, and its market value was about to reach HK$2000 billion.

"The quantitative model for Tianxing was provided by Magic Square Technology. It now appears that their AI technology far surpasses that of HSBC."

Qi Yaonian's face was gloomy, and his complexion had turned a strange pink. Although he was British, he had lived in Hong Kong for many years and had given himself a Chinese name.

“We were just 1.05% short, just 2625 million shares short.” Zheng Jiachun gritted his teeth, wishing he could acquire each share for HK$100.

With just a little bit left, the Zheng family will directly or indirectly hold 50.1% of New World's shares, achieving absolute control.

However, in this market, it's not simply a matter of the buyer offering the highest price; the key factors are the seller's selling price and the speed at which orders are submitted.

They are always a little slower in submitting orders, even when using the same model as HSBC.

Lu Liang's assumption was correct; the Zheng family did indeed contact HSBC immediately and successfully obtained HSBC's support.

Noel Quinn, HSBC's CEO, also expressed his full support for their anti-takeover strategy.

“Mr. Zheng, we can’t pin our hopes on the secondary market.” Qi Yaonian sighed.

With few shares remaining in circulation and the market about to close, acquiring another 20 million shares is no longer an option.

He said in a deep voice, "The most urgent task is to get the support of the other shareholders before Lu Liang does."

Ever since Lu Liang entered Hong Kong and poached their vice president, HSBC has been keeping a close eye on him.

As time went on, Qi Yaonian also understood Lu Liang's intentions: he was not there to join, but to dominate the market.

When Hong Kong returned to China, HSBC had already been weakened by the Bank of China. If Lu Liang is allowed to run rampant in the Hong Kong market, HSBC may lose its core business forever.

When Zheng Jiachun approached him, HSBC decided to step in and help stop Hengtai Group from acquiring New World.

HSBC's intervention to stop Hengtai's acquisition was similar to Lu Liang's assistance in the acquisition; their motivations were not only profit but also power.

Their conflict, much like the current international situation, would definitely not occur on home soil if Season 3 were to begin; instead, it would open up a battlefield in a third country.

Although the battlefields are opened in third countries, the outcome of the war can determine who will be the leader of the next era.

Therefore, HSBC cannot stand idly by.

Zheng Jiachun walked aside to make a phone call, but as he made the call, his face gradually darkened.

The rejections from the He and Huo families were not unexpected, given that both had entered politics and rarely engaged in business activities anymore.

Moreover, once they find out that HSBC has chosen to support New World and is going against Lu Liang, they will probably not agree to it no matter what.

After all, with HSBC's involvement, the nature of this matter has changed, and it could easily leave them with a political stain.

But even the Wu family, who inherited the shipping magnate's business and were the biggest landlords in Hong Kong, and the Lei family, who controlled all kinds of transportation, declined.

They either say they're busy or they're resting, and they'll call back later.

Their attitudes were completely unexpected by Zheng Jiachun.

It wasn't until he called a longtime friend, Lee Shen-hui of the Lee Kum Kee Group, that the other person told him the truth.

Just now, Lu Liang and Xu Jiayin jointly announced that anyone who supports the Zheng family is their enemy.

Although this news was too domineering and caused dissatisfaction among many people, they subconsciously chose to accept it.

Lu Liang is a veritable financial nuclear weapon, not only known as the "Cash King of Shanghai," but also internationally renowned. The best-selling Tianxing Motors and his international fame have made his golden image even more radiant.

Xu Jiayin, known as Emperor Xu, is the richest man in the country. He rose to prominence in the real estate industry. The mainland real estate market is a major national policy used to hedge against the US stock market. The real estate-related industries are worth tens of millions, and downstream suppliers are all connected to Hengtai Group.

One targets online, the other targets offline.

The two joined forces to impose a complete blockade on the Zheng family. Unless the state intervenes, no one would dare to easily provoke them.

(End of this chapter)