Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 838 New Targets: Standard Chartered and Rio Tinto

The automotive industry is different from other industries; it's not like having a good idea can quickly turn a company around and make a profit.
This requires a strong technological foundation and brand marketing. Even if the first generation of Tesla is built today, it will take a long time to gradually sell it.

In the coming time, he will make good use of his resources to fully assist Mini in the UK. In any case, with his own funds and resources, he will definitely be able to provide some help, but Yang Wendong is not entirely confident that he can restore it to normal.

For him, the future development direction of Mini is to enter the mainland market as soon as possible. The mainland factory is the key target of his future investment. As for the UK, as long as it can survive, he will be happy if it can break even.

In the 80s, the global automotive industry suffered huge losses and even went bankrupt and was sold off due to the impact of Japanese cars and the oil crisis. Now that it has taken the first step, there will be plenty of opportunities to acquire other brands in the future.
However, the automotive industry is a capital-intensive industry, and things cannot be done at will. If not handled properly, it may become a burden on the group. Therefore, it is necessary to use Mini as an experiment to see how to use its own resources to help these loss-making car companies in the most appropriate way.

After settling Mini in, Yang Wendong returned to London and went to the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank, where he met with Standard Chartered CEO Anthony Barber.

"Hello, Anthony," Yang Wendong said with a smile, shaking hands with her.

Anthony shook hands in return: "Eric, congratulations on successfully acquiring Mini Cars."

"Haha, I have to thank Standard Chartered Bank for their help during this time," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Even if you have a relationship with Thatcher and send your own professional team, you still need the help of an investment bank in the local area to acquire a large overseas company.

During this period, Standard Chartered Bank also worked hard for itself, meeting with many members of the British Parliament, senior executives of the Leyland Group, union representatives, etc. After all, it is a local bank and has abundant resources in this regard.
It can be said that Standard Chartered Bank played a significant role in Standard Chartered's acquisition of Mini. Of course, investment banks like Standard Chartered are known for this kind of business, and they reaped substantial profits from this acquisition.

Anthony said, "You're welcome. Serving our clients is what we should do. If Mr. Yang takes a fancy to other industries in the UK again, I can also act as an investment bank to help you with your plans."

“Indeed there is.” Yang Wendong nodded.

Anthony immediately became interested: "Eric, what other companies have you taken a liking to?"

“It’s not a specific company, but an entire industry,” Yang Wendong said. “As you know, I have quite a few car retail chain stores in Asia and the United States, and I’m still expanding in both places. I also want to start entering the European market, including the UK, so I would like to ask you to look for terminal retail stores in the UK that are willing to sell.”

Although he had previously commissioned Goldman Sachs to acquire car dealerships, such acquisitions without a specific target can be handled by multiple investment banks working together.

Yang Wendong is willing to cooperate with whoever has the ability to find a target willing to sell.
The advantage of this is that it allows you to fully utilize the resources of multiple investment banks around the world to achieve your goals;
Otherwise, the preliminary investigation work alone would be enough to stump them. Even in the Internet age, it is not easy to obtain enough information about an industry, but these investment banks have extensive connections and plenty of channels.

“I’m aware of your industry,” Anthony paused, then continued, “but the European car retail market is different from that in Asia and the US. Here, it’s primarily brand-exclusive, with one dealership for one brand. Are you sure you still want to acquire this type of company?”

“That’s right, I know that, of course.” Yang Wendong nodded and said.

The 4S dealership exclusive model has not yet appeared globally, but it has already emerged in its early stages, originating in Europe. Many European car manufacturers cooperate with dealers primarily on an exclusive basis, such as a single dealership that only sells Mercedes-Benz.
Of course, this is only true if it is a major brand. A major brand has many models to meet the needs of different customers. The advantage of this is that after-sales service is convenient, there is no need to prepare various car parts from different brands, and the service is more focused.
Anthony said, "Alright, I'll check for you. Is it the same in other European countries besides Britain?"

Yang Wendong said, "As for continental Europe, for now I'm only interested in Germany, France, and Italy. We'll talk about the others later."

Furthermore, I'm not just entrusting this to you; other investment banks will also be involved. In short, whoever can find the target will be able to work with me.

Anthony said, "Okay, I understand. I'll arrange for someone to visit these companies and see if they're willing to sell."

"Okay." Yang Wendong smiled. "I hope we can continue to cooperate in the future."

Anthony then asked, "Eric, Britain is so big, don't you have any companies that you're interested in?"

"Nothing for now. Although we've acquired Mini, I can only feel at ease if it's managed well from the start. In the UK, many industries aren't really within my jurisdiction as a foreign investor," Yang Wendong said, shaking his head.

Thatcher's privatization of state-owned enterprises did indeed involve many high-quality assets, but they were mostly targeted by well-connected domestic or Western financial groups, so she herself did not want to participate.

His acquisition of Mini was also due to the decline of the British car industry.

Besides, it's unnecessary. What these conglomerates consider high-quality assets are nothing to me. Once the deep sea in mainland China becomes a special economic zone, any investment I make there will be far better than what I'm making here.

Investing in MINI is also for the future of the mainland Chinese car market; otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten involved in this kind of thing.

Anthony said, "Okay, I understand. If your businesses in the UK need financing in the future, we'd be happy to cooperate."

"Okay, you're definitely our top choice," Yang Wendong said politely.
Although my businesses in the UK are far smaller than those in some Asian countries, they are still worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Such a large business may need financing for future development, and it is impossible to use all of my own funds. Therefore, appropriate financial cooperation is necessary.

On March 11, Yang Wendong and Fang Xianming arrived at the top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in the UK.
Yang Wendong said, "There's so much fog in London. Even from this height, you can't see very far."

“London is known as the Fog City,” Fang Xianming said. “It’s fortunate that it’s already the 80s. If it were the 60s, London’s fog would be toxic.” “If it were the 60s, I wouldn’t have invested in London no matter how rich I was,” Yang Wendong said.

The smog that the mainland experienced in the past life was actually an inevitable result of industrial development. Many developed countries have experienced it, such as phosgene in the United States, Minamata disease in Japan, and toxic smog in the United Kingdom. This is why many countries have had to start controlling environmental protection and gradually transfer polluting industries to poor countries.
Of course, later developed countries began to use environmental protection to smear developing countries, restrict their development, and even created a carbon emission issue.

In reality, they are the customers; the industrial products they use pollute the environment during the production process, yet they are blaming others.

The mainland is a special case. When faced with severe pollution, it uses technological means, such as supercritical power generation and waste incineration power generation, to both protect various heavy industries and achieve environmental control.

Fang Xianming said, "Mr. Yang, there are parliamentary officials in Britain who want to persuade us to continue investing in Britain and to move our Asian industries to Britain."

"They're daydreaming, ignore them." Yang Wendong shook his head. This was just like how the Americans forced industries to return to China in his previous life, which ultimately became a laughing stock.

With the reform and opening up in mainland China, his transfer direction is naturally in mainland China. On the one hand, the future industrial system in mainland China is suitable for him, and on the other hand, it can also help hundreds of thousands or even more compatriots and Chinese to find employment.

In European and American countries, investment in factories is only possible for industries that are geared towards the local market.

“I understand that, but we can’t be too forceful in our refusal,” Fang Xianming said helplessly.

"That's true. Let's slow things down, give them a way out, or we could actually send a team to negotiate, but the terms have to be unacceptable to them. That way, I'll be giving Thatcher face," Yang Wendong said with a smile.
I still have to save face, at least I have this intention, but I can't afford to lose money investing in the UK, and there can't be any unions, so I just want to cause internal strife in the UK.

Fang Xianming nodded and said, "Okay, I'll inform Lao Wei later and have him send a few people over."

“Hmm.” Yang Wendong continued, “I don’t plan to continue investing in the industrial sector in the UK, but I still have some targets in the financial sector. You need to take charge of this matter, or you can arrange a team under your command in the UK, and you also need to keep an eye on this side from Hong Kong.”

Fang Xianming immediately perked up and asked, "Mr. Yang, which British company have you set your sights on?"

“Standard Chartered, and Rio Tinto.” Yang Wendong looked at Fang Xianming: “You should know Rio Tinto, right?”

“I know, at least among the top 30 mining companies globally, and the top three in the UK.” Fang Xianming paused, then said, “Mr. Yang only wants to invest in these two companies, right?”

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, it's just an investment for now. Standard Chartered is doing a great job cooperating with us. I'm also optimistic about the future of global mining because the development of the Asian economy will inevitably create a strong demand for various metals."
"With so much profit from gold, we can't just leave it in the bank to earn interest. Let's convert it into shares of these two companies in the UK first."

Rio Tinto today is not one of the three giants of its past. The period after the 80s was also a period of rapid development for it. He knew about this in the early years, but his funds were limited and he had to use them wisely, so he did not participate. Now that he has sufficient funds, he can consider it.

He might also get involved in the mining industry, since he already owns a steel plant. However, it would be very difficult to get involved, so he would first invest in some companies with potential, with Rio Tinto being the best target.
As for Standard Chartered Bank, no one knew that it would be forcibly acquired by Lloyds Bank in 1986. In the past, Standard Chartered Bank had joined forces with Bao Yugang and others to defeat Lloyds Bank, but in the end, it backfired and caused trouble for Bao Yugang and others.
Now that I have enough financial resources, although I already have Hang Seng Bank, it is very difficult for it to expand overseas. Standard Chartered Bank is a good target, and Standard Chartered also has the right to print Hong Kong dollars.

In this way, Hang Seng Bank will focus on Hong Kong, mainland China and parts of Southeast Asia, while Standard Chartered Bank will focus on Europe, America, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia, thus covering almost the entire global market.

Of course, at present we are only starting to invest and holding a portion of the shares. It is hard to say what will happen in the future. We can only say that we are in the preparation stage at present.
Fang Xianming said, "Okay, I understand. So, do we still need to keep a low profile regarding our acquisition?"

“Yes, keep a low profile and acquire assets slowly, just like when we acquired Wharf Holdings. There’s no rush; a few years is fine,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.

It's still a long way off, and Rio Tinto doesn't even have any plans to acquire it. He just wants to become a major shareholder and get a board seat. In an era where Europe and America dominate the global economy, a mining company that wants to develop into a top giant still needs a European or American background.

That's just the reality. In the mining industry, many things may involve military and defense factors, making it very difficult for a Chinese person to build a large operation.

I also plan to invest in mineral resources in Australia, but my main focus will be on normal metals such as iron, copper, and aluminum, rather than rare metals. The market for these special metals is not large and they are quite sensitive, so it's better not to get involved.

Fang Xianming agreed, "Then there's no problem. A few years is enough time for us to acquire a considerable number of shares."

“Okay, there’s one more thing.” Yang Wendong added, “Arrange a team to investigate European automotive groups across Europe, including their economic debt situation after the oil crisis.”

This matter also needs to be kept confidential; I don't want the market to know, so I didn't entrust Standard Chartered Bank with it.

Fang Xianming was quite surprised and asked, "Mr. Yang, are you planning to acquire other car brands?"

"I can't say for sure right now, it depends on the opportunity." Yang Wendong genuinely didn't know either: "If there's an opportunity, we'll go for it. If there isn't, we can find some suitable targets and invest, just like with Chrysler."

Investment returns in gold always require a specific investment direction. While Asian real estate is certainly promising for the future, it's impossible to invest everything in it.

Now that the Japanese auto industry has taken advantage of the oil crisis to catch European and American automakers off guard, causing their stocks to plummet, investing at this time could yield substantial returns and potentially lead to other strategic collaborations.

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(End of this chapter)