After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 777 Li Ka-shing's Arrival

"Taking over Alipay's payment business in East Asia is only the second step. Now we need to do the first step well."

Last night, Lu Liang spoke with Flannery, and both sides agreed to push for GE Tianxing to list on Nasdaq.

The listing process of well-known companies has always attracted significant attention from major investment banks both domestically and internationally.

Take Ant Group as an example. There were as many as eight stock issuers who had pre-ordered the IPO, but the listing process was forcibly halted, otherwise there would have been more and more.

Assuming Ant Group's IPO process had not been halted,

The company went public with a valuation of $2000 billion.

If the share price is not to be higher than 100 yuan, at least one billion shares will need to be issued in the future.

Assuming a share price of 100 yuan, a stock issuer can appropriately raise the issue price based on market investor sentiment, and each 1 yuan increase translates to a profit of 1 billion yuan.

And that's not all; as a stock issuer, the right to designate a specific subscription bank brings in high-net-worth users.

Even if only one out of 100 new share subscribers chooses to stay and become a long-term customer of the designated bank, that would still be a huge profit.

After all, people nowadays find things troublesome. If the interest rates, benefits, and treatment are similar, once they've chosen a bank, they'll stick with it for a long time.

This is why major investment banks scramble to become stock issuers whenever a well-known company goes public.

Previously, when companies like Panda, NIO, and Didi went public, Lu Liang could only watch helplessly as the substantial profits flowed into the pockets of investment banks.

Even if the other party is a hostile force, such behavior is no less than aiding the enemy, but companies must have their assistance to go public.

Things are different now. Tianxing Financial also has its own subsidiary investment banking companies, keeping the profits within the family.

Lu Liang specifically requested that Guang Sheng Bank become the sole stock issuer for General Star in the East Asian market, and Flannery was willing to give him that favor.

"Is General Electric's Tianxing going to be launched so soon?"

While Wen Chao was overjoyed, he was also puzzled.

Taking over the stock issuance business of General Tianxing is absolutely the perfect way to launch Guang Sheng's first attack.

But isn't it a bit too early now?

No matter how much the valuation is raised, it will not exceed $300 billion at most, and at most $350 billion.

This valuation might be a lot for ordinary car companies, after all, even BYD, the leading domestic new energy vehicle manufacturer, only has a market value of over 300 billion yuan, which is equivalent to about 463 billion US dollars.

But Wen Chao had once heard Lu Liang say that the existence of GM Tianxing was to compete with, or even surpass, the American version of Tesla.

Both GM and Skystar are well-funded companies, and their joint venture going public with a valuation of no more than $300 billion seems a bit like forcing growth.

Lu Liang sighed softly, "It is like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, but given the current international situation, it is a good thing to go public sooner."

Although GM only partnered with Tianxing and built the joint venture factory in Detroit at the invitation of Trump.

Logically, Trump should be protecting them.

Because Detroit is located in Michigan, a traditional swing state.

The United States has seven traditional swing states, and winning each one can be crucial for re-election.

But times have changed. Back then, the trade war hadn't started yet, and Trump felt that everything was under control.

However, the trade war between the two major powers, which began in April of this year, has now lasted for more than half a year.

The situation gradually exceeded the expectations of countries around the world, and the University of Tokyo displayed a spirit of "let them be strong, the breeze still caresses the mountain."

While it cannot be said that there was absolutely no impact, the University of Tokyo did indeed withstand the pressure from the United States and took effective countermeasures.

That's why Meng Wanqiu was arrested at MIT later on. The Americans knew they couldn't get things done at Tokyo University within the rules, so they had to resort to underhanded tactics.

But underhanded tactics don't seem to be very effective.

Instead, it puts the loyal underlings in a precarious position, leaving them in a dilemma of whether to release them or not.

Trump has already lost all shame. This kind of behavior will either happen zero times or countless times. His promise to Tianxing is very likely to become nothing but a fart.

Lu Liang had to take precautions and wanted General Tianxing to go public as soon as possible, making a fortune in the market and boosting the investment banking industry. This was to avoid being targeted like Haisi Technology later, ending up with nothing.

Wen Chao looked thoughtful and nodded in agreement. It was indeed a possibility. The world's number one rogue state was capable of anything when pushed to the limit.

He pondered for a moment, then volunteered: "President Lu, how about I make a trip to Detroit first, and then go to New York on the way, to assist GE Tianxing in launching its IPO and financing?"

"Be careful and stay safe."

Lu Liang gave him an approving look. Wen Chao was still his secretary back then, and he could always guess what he was thinking.

With international tensions escalating and Harris determined to take a hard line against the IRS, it was inconvenient for him to intervene.

However, the listing of General Star required someone who could keep things in check, and Wen Chao was the most suitable person to do so.

Before long, the two finished their conversation, and Wen Chao set a specific date for his trip to the United States. Lu Liang then summoned Li Junwei.

He informed Wen Chao that he would be going on a business trip for a while, and that he would also be going to Tokyo to handle some trivial matters for Xingheng.

During their absence, he took over the management of Tianxing Financial and handled all matters on his own.

Although Li Junwei works in the quantitative department, the quantitative model has long been trained by Liang Wenhui so that, barring any black swan events, it requires virtually no human intervention and operates fully automatically in the Hong Kong stock market every day at the opening bell.

Li Junwei has thus been laid off and has recently been working with Wen Chao to complete the privatization of Huazhi Group.

With Wen Chao and Lu Liang absent, and Tang Caidie in charge of finance, Li Junwei is the best candidate for manager.

Li Junwei, suppressing his excitement, quickly said, "President Lu, President Chao, I will definitely not let you down."

Previously, he had always felt like an outsider.

After all, whether it was Wen Chao, Tang Caidie, or Sun Yutao, they were all Lu Liang's direct subordinates brought from Shanghai. Among the group's senior management, he was the only one who was a native of Hong Kong.

Li Junwei could understand Lu Liang's actions; if he put himself in Lu Liang's shoes, he would probably do the same.

But I still felt a little uncomfortable.

Unexpectedly, Lu Liang did not consider him an outsider and entrusted him with important responsibilities at the best time for Tianxing Financial's development.

For a moment, he felt a sense of loyalty and a willingness to die for a true friend, and he couldn't help but feel that leaving HSBC was definitely a wise choice for the first half of his life.

Lu Liang looked at Wen Chao, and the two exchanged a smile.

Lu Liang waved his hand and said, "Go on, go and hand over your work."

As the two left the office, Xu Jiawei knocked and entered: "Mr. Lu, Li Ka-shing's assistant called and would like to schedule a meeting with you."

"You've really been patient. You've finally arrived." Lu Liang chuckled.

Two weeks ago, Hengtai was able to successfully acquire New World Development, and Tianxing Financial was able to curb HSBC's dominance. The Li family played a very important role in all of this.

The Li family could have stood by and even profited from the situation, but they chose to fully support Hengtai's acquisition of New World.

At the time, Lu Liang guessed that Li Ka-shing must have ulterior motives and was plotting something big.

But after waiting and waiting, no news came.

Until he left Hong Kong and returned to the mainland, he hosted the launch of Yao Guang's new car and the financing of Tianxing Motors.

So much so that Lu Liang had almost forgotten about it. After thinking for a moment, Lu Liang said, "Reply: there's no time like the present, let's do it at three o'clock this afternoon."

Wen Chao was going to America, and he was also going to Tokyo. Time was tight and the task was heavy, so he didn't want to waste too much time.

Old Ma is willing to hand over the payment business in the East Asian market to Tianxing Financial, but Sumitomo Mitsui may not be willing.

The two large groups have projects that they cooperate on, but they also have projects where their interests conflict.

Even though Lu Liang and Ota Rei have a good relationship, one thing is one thing, because this involves their own interests.

The reason why Alipay's development in the East Asian market has been so smooth is that it is rootless and can only choose to cooperate deeply with local forces.

For example, in Japan, they chose to cooperate with Sumitomo Mitsui, and in Korea, they chose to cooperate with Kakao, which is backed by Samsung.

It's a foreign software focused on online payments, which local players can manipulate however they want.

But Tianxing Financial is different. It has long been involved in East Asia and has more than $2000 billion in cash flow. The combined effect of online and offline channels is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

With the support of the Hyundai Group, Goryeo is eager for Lu Liang to have a direct conflict with the Samsung Group, so it will definitely choose to support him.

However, the attitude of Mitsui Sumitomo in Japan is still unknown, so Lu Liang needs to make a trip there in person.

At 3 p.m., Li Ka-shing and his son arrived as scheduled, visiting the Tianxing Financial Building.

"Zhe Kai, it's been a long time. Mr. Li, how have you been?"

Lu Liang greeted the two with a smile, led them to his office, made tea, and exchanged pleasantries with them.

Li Zhekai glanced at his father, shrugged, and said, "He has something to discuss with you; it has nothing to do with me."

To outsiders, he still habitually distanced himself from Lao Li, a behavior that Lao Li tacitly approved of.

Li Ka-shing often says that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, not even between father and son who are bound by blood.

As long as they have deep contradictions in their outward appearance, in the eyes of others, they are two independent individuals.

What Li Zhe-kai dislikes most is his father, because the conflict between them is not something they're faking.

However, it must be admitted that this approach is correct. In case one party suffers a serious injury, the other party can avoid being implicated.

“Mr. Li, please speak freely. I have always kept in mind what Cheung Kong did in Hengtai’s acquisition of New World,” Lu Liang said with a smile.

“Mr. Lu, you’re a straightforward person, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

Li Ka-shing put down his teacup and suddenly asked, "How much do you know about port operations?"

"I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it," Lu Liang replied truthfully.

Li Ka-shing said, "Then I'll start from the beginning."

"Appreciate further details."

"Since the early 1990s, Cheung Kong Holdings has been involved in the port business, and after 28 years of development..."

Li Ka-shing spoke slowly and deliberately, recounting the development of the Li family's port business, including some information that had never been disclosed to the outside world.

After all, to gain Lu Liang's support, they needed to explain the pros and cons to him in detail; the more detailed the explanation, the more sincere their intentions would be.

"To date, Cheung Kong controls 43 ports in 23 countries around the world. Among them, the two most important ports are Balboa and Cristóbal, located at both ends of the Panama Canal, which handle 6% of the world’s maritime trade."

With a solemn expression, Li Ka-shing continued, "The Panama Canal connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, allowing ships to bypass Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, shortening the voyage by about 12000 kilometers and saving 8-10 days of sailing time."

“Some time ago, BlackRock approached us, hoping that we could sell the entire package or give up control of most of the ports, offering a price that Cheung Kong couldn’t refuse.”

"But as the world's factory, Dongda's ports are closely related to the Maritime Silk Road. In the current tense international situation, if they fall into BlackRock's hands, the lives of domestic trading companies will only become more difficult."

Li Ka-shing stood tall and righteous, his face displaying a compassionate expression, as if to say that no matter what he had done in the past, he was still a patriot.

Lu Liang frowned, a hint of speechlessness flashing in his eyes, but he had no choice but to play along.

With a look of admiration, he cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Li is so righteous. Is there anything we can do to help?"

Despite Li Ka-shing's use of subtle wordplay, he understood what was being said.

The general situation is that BlackRock wants to force Cheung Kong to sell these ports in order to launch the next trade offensive against Dongda.

Imposing tariffs on one hand and raising shipping costs on the other will only worsen the already difficult situation for Dongdae's factory.

Li Ka-shing's so-called patriotism can actually be attributed to a sense of resentment.

After all, shipping port projects are different from others, with usage rights ranging from 30 to 50 years.

Especially in popular global shipping ports such as Suez and Panama, holding these assets can basically ensure the family's prosperity for decades.

Li Ka-shing has been planning for this for nearly 30 years, and finally, he has reached the peak of global shipping trade and capacity.

As a result, BlackRock wanted to hijack the deal due to political factors.

As long as you're a person, if you have spirit, you won't give in.

Therefore, Li Ka-shing's desire to bring in Lu Liang to completely muddy the waters may also serve to buy time.

After all, Lu is considered a prominent figure internationally.

However, this was Li Ka-shing's request, and even if Lu Liang guessed his intention, he would not bring it up on his own initiative.

In modern business negotiations, unless one party has an absolute and overwhelming advantage over the other, the other party is not eligible for such negotiations.

Otherwise, like Tianxing assisting Hengtai in acquiring New World, there is no first-mover advantage; all that exists is the ability to strike back later.

“The development of the port requires funds, and Cheung Kong hopes to receive investment from Terry Meadows.”

With a smile in his eyes and wrinkles all over his face, Li Ka-shing looked exactly like a thousand-year-old fox spirit.

He never fights a battle unprepared and is 100% confident of taking Luliang. The key lies in Delimei.

Since Harris stepped out from behind the scenes to the forefront, she has been suing the IRS and filing lawsuits in all fifty states and federal courts.

The name of DeliMei resonates throughout the world.

Having a big reputation is a good thing, because the bigger the reputation, the less some people dare to openly confront you.

If Cheung Kong Ports receives investment from T&M Holdings, it will also benefit from T&M Holdings' reputation.

More importantly, Lu Liang could use public opinion to pressure the IRS to unfreeze funds under the pretext of investing in port projects.

Their cooperation is a win-win situation, which is why he is 100% confident in winning over Lu Liang.

Lu Liang frowned and asked respectfully, "Mr. Li, may I ask how you plan to get the IRS to unfreeze the funds?"

Although being led by the nose by Li Ka-shing is very unpleasant, it's not unacceptable if he can help Delime unfreeze its funds without bloodshed.

After all, ports are indeed good projects, especially those ports on popular shipping routes. Although they can only earn a few billion dollars a year, they are stable.

Especially given the increasingly tense international situation.

If one can control a major global shipping hub, one can not only choke small countries, but also restrain large countries, making them wary and hesitant to act against them.

(End of this chapter)