Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 512 Chapter 514 [Chain of Stratagems]

Huang Zuyao said, "Don't worry, Mr. Luo. We know the rules and won't talk nonsense."

Luo Qihong thought for a moment and said, "F&N Group! The company's beer, dairy products, and beverages can form a strong complement to Yeo Hiap Seng Group, but its market value is very high. Hengan Investment Company's cash flow is running low, so it needs help."

"And I also want to make other investments, so I hope that UOB can help me acquire Frasers Group together, but Yeo Hiap Seng Group will take the leading position and UOB will only be an investor."

Acquiring Frasers Group will be a huge undertaking and will require winning over some shareholders and directors. This will be difficult for Luo Qihong as he has just arrived. However, United Overseas Bank is different. As a local boss, it has good prestige and may be able to provide good help.

"What about the benefits of United Overseas Bank? Is it just the profit from equity investment?" Huang Zuoyao knew it was his turn to hold Luo Qihong hostage.

"F&N Group owns a lot of land, which can be developed in cooperation with United Industrial Group. What do you think, Mr. Huang?" Luo Qihong smiled slightly and looked at the faces of the Huang father and son.

"I have another question. Mr. Luo seems to be familiar with people like Guo Lingcan and Huang Tingfang. Why is he looking for me, whom he is not so familiar with?" Huang Zuyao asked puzzledly.

Luo Qihong had anticipated this question and had already thought of the answer.

Luo Qihong said, "It's very simple. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. The more friends you have, the better. No one knows which friend is worth trusting forever. Moreover, if I want to gain a foothold in Singapore, I must have more friends. UOB is one of the three largest banks in Singapore. Compared with Hong Leong Group, UOB has more connections and more funds."

"Thank you Mr. Luo for thinking so highly of UOB." Huang Zuoyao accepted the explanation. "What does Mr. Luo want to do with UOB?"

Luo Qihong said, "First, I need UOB to help deal with the shareholders of Frasers Group and get them to sell their shares. Second, I need to make the anti-takeover action of the major shareholders of Frasers Group go wrong and buy me enough time."

Huang Zuyao lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Doesn't Mr. Luo need a loan? It would take at least S$10 billion to acquire the Frasers Group. Mr. Luo's Hengan Investment Company probably doesn't have that much money, right?!"

Huang Zuoyao has conducted in-depth investigations on Hengan Investment Company. Although he does not know how much money Hengan Investment has, he is very clear about its expenditure. According to the current situation, it is definitely not able to come up with 10 billion Singapore dollars.

Of course, Huang Zuyao did not dare to rule out the possibility that Luo Qihong mobilized funds from other markets, but he has not yet received any news that Luo Qihong has transferred large sums of funds to Singapore.

"How much can United Overseas Bank lend? How much interest?" Luo Qihong asked. Since Huang Zuyao was willing to lend, he naturally would not refuse. This also saved him a trip to the bank.

"2 million Singapore dollars, 8% interest." Huang Zuyao raised two fingers and lent some funds to Luo Qihong. He could feel more at ease. After all, this was also a handle.

"OK! I will borrow the rest of the funds from other banks." Luo Qihong nodded to show his acceptance.

This is how banks have always done things. They want people to come in and borrow money, but they don't want to borrow too much. They use their peers to share the pressure. In case the borrower goes bankrupt, several banks will generate bad debts together, and no one bank will have to bear it.

After discussing some other things, Huang Zuyao and his son left Luo Qihong's office until almost lunch time.

"Dad, Luo Qihong is a hungry wolf. I'm worried that he will stab us in the back. Why don't we take over this project ourselves? Although F&N Group has suffered a lot of losses from building factories in Thailand and other places, its strength is still strong. If the acquisition is successful, it will be very beneficial to our family." Huang Yizon wanted to eat alone and get rid of Luo Qihong.

"Stupid!" Huang Zuyao scolded, "Do you think Luo Qihong hasn't thought of this step? If we dare to take over the F&L Group, do you think Luo Qihong will immediately launch a takeover of the United Industrial Group? He will even keep a close eye on our family and wait for us to show any flaws, then he will rush over and bite us to death."

"Who is Luo Qihong? He is doing very well in Hong Kong and has defeated many senior veterans. It can't be that simple."

"Then we can only watch him eat meat, can we drink some soup?" Huang Yizong was quite unwilling. Huang Zuyao stared at Huang Yizong coldly and said sternly, "You always think about eating meat, and one day you will fall into this greed. Sometimes it's good to drink some soup."

"Fortunately, Luo Qihong is not really targeting the United Industrial Group, otherwise we wouldn't even be able to drink this little soup, and we would have lost a lot of money."

Huang Yizong saw that his father was angry and didn't dare to say anything. If Huang Zuyao was dissatisfied with him, his younger brother would take responsibility for him. After all, there was more than one son in the Huang family.

Luo Qihong stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the bustling Orchard Road. He was considering where to transfer enough funds to prepare for the acquisition of F&N Group.

As Huang Zuoyao said, Hengan Investment Company’s funds are already insufficient, with only S$5000 million in cash left on its books, which is 10 times less than the expected S$20 billion.

Now there are only two options left, one is to transfer cash from other markets, and the other is to borrow from other banks. The latter move is too large and can easily cause a big commotion.

"How much can the company cash out if all its investments in the stock market are sold?" Luo Qihong asked. The floor-to-ceiling window reflected Zhang Wenhe's figure, standing behind him.

"Based on the current stock market situation, we can probably get back S$2.6 million. This money will also be used to privatize the Yeo Hiap Seng Group, so there will probably be very little left in the end," Zhang Wenhe said with some shame.

“How much more money is needed to privatize Yeo Hiap Seng Group? Based on conservative calculations.” Luo Qihong turned around, grabbed the back of the chair with both hands, and asked expressionlessly.

Yeoh Hiap Seng must be privatized so that he can use the funds on the company's books to alleviate some of the pressure on Hengan Investment.

According to Luo Qihong's plan, Hengan Investment Company will hold the largest stake in F&N Group, and Yeo Hiap Seng Group will also hold a portion of the shares because some of the shares of Yeo Hiap Seng Group are still held by the Yeo King Lian family.

This family is unlikely to respond to the fundraising. If Luo Qihong insists on forcing them to do so, diluting the Yang family's equity would seem a bit unfair, so it would be better to let Heng'an Investment Company pay the lion's share.

Such a shareholding structure also facilitates cooperation between the two groups and is in line with Luo Qihong's interests.

"We already hold 61% of the shares. According to Singapore's company law, we must launch a full acquisition within one month. We expect to acquire 70% of the shares within this period, which will require another S$1 million," said Zhang Wenhe.

"Immediately sell all stock and securities investments to recover funds. Then withdraw 1 million Singapore dollars to expand the acquisition of F&N Group shares, and make sure to hold 20% of the shares within one month." Luo Qihong gave the order.

"Yes! However, the company's funds are not sufficient at the moment. Do we need to borrow money from a bank?" Zhang Wenhe said.

Luo Qihong nodded and said, "UOB has agreed to provide us with 2 million Singapore dollars. You can go to other banks to borrow 3 million Singapore dollars. I will find a way to get the rest."

A week later, Hengan Investment Company held a press conference and announced a full acquisition of Yeo Hiap Seng Group at a 1% premium.

Yang Tiancheng, the head of the Yang Jinglian family, announced his support for the privatization of Hengan Investment Company, which had a significant impact on the market. Originally, small shareholders believed that the Yang family would take the lead in resisting the privatization of Hengan Investment Company, which would cause the stock price to soar, and they would take the opportunity to make a fortune.

Seeing the mediocre response, Luo Qihong gritted his teeth and raised the premium to 2%.

This acquisition must be completed as soon as possible, otherwise the longer it is delayed, the greater the losses will be and the more profitable it will be for small shareholders.

(End of this chapter)