The Industrial Giant Reborn.

Chapter 477 Planning Standard Chartered
"Acquiring the shares of Standard Chartered Bank?" Zhou Jiayang suddenly understood in his mind that he was still acquiring the shares secretly. The purpose was obvious, but he also had some questions, so he asked: "Chen Sheng, your purpose is to eventually acquire Standard Chartered Bank? "

"Yes." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "Although Hisense Bank is still not as big as HSBC in Hong Kong, it is a quasi-central bank with a long history and cannot be replaced in the hearts of Hong Kong people. Basically, Hisense Bank Even if we can go further in Hong Kong, the upper limit is almost reached, and the more we reach the end, the more the costs will be out of proportion to the benefits gained. Only by going out can we achieve further success.

On the mainland, although Hisense Bank can engage in loan business, due to legal reasons, it is almost impossible to grow bigger. Only overseas markets have opportunities. Standard Chartered is the first bank I like. "

In the future, domestic banking will actually have opportunities, but they will at best be limited to loans for export companies and large-scale infrastructure investment. Without the ability to engage in deposit-taking business, the upper limit of development will be very low, because the money lent out will be very low. , also needs to come from deposits. The current deposits in Hong Kong are still sufficient for the mainland, but it will not be enough in a few years. Anywhere that wants to engage in commercial banking for a long time must be able to accept deposits locally, and this is It is impossible domestically.

However, you can participate in the investment area. For example, you can first invest in some private banks, such as Minsheng Bank, Ping An Insurance, etc. In the future, if several major state-owned banks prepare to go public, you can also participate in one share. The profit value is also very high, but After all, it’s not banking itself.

If you invest abroad, you absolutely need to acquire an overseas bank and develop it purely on your own. Then you may not be able to develop much until your hair is gray, because normally it would take decades or even more to enter the banking industry in multiple countries. Resources that can only be obtained by operating slowly and for a long time, such as HSBC. Smart people like Shen Bi want to internationalize HSBC. They have been planning for many years and they are all thinking about acquiring overseas banks. In fact, SITC Bank in the United States is just First, HSBC has also acquired some local banks in other continents.

Standard Chartered Bank was established more than 100 years ago. It currently has branches in dozens of countries. Although it is difficult to make profits or even lose money in business in these countries, at least it has entered the territory of these countries. If you want to improve, there are opportunities, even if it is really If you look down on the markets of some poor countries, you can also resell them, which is very consistent with Hisense Bank's initial expansion needs.

"Standard Chartered Bank is indeed a good candidate. Its main business is in many non-developed countries. In these places, there are relatively few European and American banks, and their development will be much smoother." Zhou Jiayang nodded and said.

"That's the truth. This is one of the reasons why I considered it. The banking industry in Europe and the United States is indeed more profitable. But for us Chinese capital, it doesn't matter if we are small. It's hard to say what will happen if we grow big." Chen Zhiwen nodded. said.

He generally does not participate in some high-tech sensitive fields in Europe and the United States. At most, he buys some shares of these companies as investments. The first reason is that high-tech fields are difficult. Although Midea Group is now considered a global electronics company, the focus is still on In the field of home games, the technical reserves are far inferior to those of giants of the same level. Secondly, there is no backer behind it. Even if it is developed, the right to speak may not be in my hands.

Therefore, when investing in the high-tech field, Chen Zhiwen prefers projects that cannot be seen now, but will definitely have high returns in the future, such as some automotive technologies, battery technologies, software technologies, etc., which are too direct cutting-edge chips and high-end industrial equipment. He doesn't know how to intervene and has no ability. He can just let others do his investment, such as Zhang Zhongmou of TSMC.

In addition to the high-tech field, the financial field is also an area that any big country attaches great importance to. This will also affect national security. As a Chinese, he can participate appropriately. A bank like Standard Chartered with a large amount of business in Asia, Africa and Latin America will suit his needs. , relatively speaking, it can develop better.

"Many shareholders of Standard Chartered Bank are also many funds in the UK. If they want to acquire, it must be through a good-faith acquisition. It is difficult for us to have an acquisition model similar to that in Hong Kong in the UK, and the relationship between Standard Chartered and us is , not bad." Zhou Jiayang said.

"People may not be willing to acquire these companies in good faith. Let's organize funds to acquire them in the stock market first, and then acquire them slowly. When the time is right, we will make a decision based on the situation." Chen Zhiwen said.

In the original history, in two years' time, Britain's local banking giant Lloyds Bank would launch a hostile merger with Standard Chartered. The management of Standard Chartered Bank was unable to do what it wanted, so it brought in Hong Kong's Pao Yugang and Asian tycoon Qiu Deba. Together they defeated Lloyds Bank and became the majority shareholder of Standard Chartered Bank.

This made Pao Yugang very excited at the time, because before he came to Hong Kong, he worked in a bank when he was in Shanghai. After becoming the world's shipping king in Hong Kong, Pao Yugang still dreamed of being a banker again. After becoming the majority shareholder of Standard Chartered Bank, he originally thought he would have this opportunity. Not to mention Standard Chartered as a whole, but Hong Kong should be fine!

It is a pity that Standard Chartered Bank was very polite when it needed foreign aid, but when the foreign enemies were repelled, it immediately stopped caring and tried every means to reject Bao Yugang, which ultimately led to Bao Yugang clearing out and leaving two years later.

Now, if something like this happens again, based on my relationship with Standard Chartered, I will definitely intervene. I will take the initiative to participate even if I am not invited. If it is not possible, I can just wait for the acquisition of Royce Bank to fail, and I can take over his shares myself.

As for the current acquisition, it is also to reduce the acquisition cost and improve the success rate.After all, the price before the outbreak of the acquisition station was definitely much cheaper than after.

"Okay, I will also arrange to acquire shares of Standard Chartered. Standard Chartered Bank has been listed for 20 years, and there are still a lot of circulating shares. Let's be cautious. No one may notice the acquisition of [-]%." Zhou Jiayang said, as long as the acquisition spans a long enough time , then the transaction volume involved every day is very low and will generally not be discovered. However, the prerequisite is that there are a lot of circulating shares. Otherwise, if the acquisition reaches a certain extent and affects the stock circulation, it will inevitably be discovered. This has nothing to do with the acquisition speed. "Does Hutchison have enough dollars on hand?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

Hutchison Whampoa is very wealthy, but most of its funds are invested in Japanese real estate and financial markets. At the same time, it spends a lot of money on the mainland and Hong Kong. No matter how wealthy it is, it cannot withstand this.

"It is true that we don't have a lot of dollars in hand, but acquiring these two companies is also a long-term process. Hutchison Whampoa still has a lot of profitability, so there is no problem for the time being." Zhou Jiayang said.

"Okay, the accounting aspect needs to be under control. If it's not enough, Midea can transfer some." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Every company under its umbrella undergoes a large-scale, all-round review every year to ensure that there are no financial problems. Hutchison Whampoa either has a profit problem or spends too much money, especially the Japanese market, which is simply a money-attracting pool. This is also the reason why Chen Zhiwen is unwilling to invest in the Christmas Creek Iron Mine.

Of course, Midea's current capital has also begun to invest in Japan, but the main funds are not mobilized from Hong Kong, but from the United States and some tax havens. However, in any case, its profitability is still far higher than that of Hutchison Whampoa, and there is no large-scale infrastructure investment. demand, therefore, the funds in the account will naturally be the largest.

"Thank you Chen Sheng. I will ask it when needed." Zhou Jiayang said: "One more thing. The Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway in the mainland will be completed in a few months. By then, the project will be completed. Debt pressure will also be reduced a lot.”

Bank money, unless there are additional provisions, must be repaid with interest from the time it is borrowed. Although most of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangzhou Expressway in the Mainland is used for loans, the cost of repaying the loan is very high because of this. After all, that At that time, interest rates in the United States were very high, which drove up global interest rates.Therefore, Chen Zhiwen and the domestic party paid off the interest in the past few years together.

However, as long as the expressway can be fully opened, large-scale toll collection can be used to repay debts, and Hutchison Whampoa's economic pressure will be much less. Even if the profits are high, it can even use this data to get bank loans.

"Okay, the first large-scale infrastructure construction in the country is finally almost completed. We will wait and see the charging situation next year." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

This highway, which is related to half of North China and connects two megacities and ports, is unlikely to have poor business. The number of cars may not be as large as that of the future Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, but the significance of this highway can still bring Yanjing to the forefront. Industrial products and agricultural products from Tianjin and even hundreds of kilometers nearby are transported to the port, and then they are either exported or transported to the south by sea, because sea transport is cheaper than inland transportation. Not to mention that domestic transportation is not enough now, even in 40 years Same.

Once the toll profit of this expressway next year can exceed the loan interest + principal repayment of the entire project, it means that the entire project is completely successful. Even if the profit is much higher, it can become a mortgage for a loan, thereby obtaining more funds. .At the same time, if this project is successful, he will be more confident to invest in other high-speed or similar projects. Although Chen Zhiwen knows everything, his subordinates still need to have actual evidence to reassure them.

"It shouldn't be a problem." Zhou Yang said with a smile: "Sheng Chen, there is one more thing. Wu Weibing from Watsons found me last night and told me something. They internally want to expand their supermarket business in Europe. Come."

"Europe? Cosmetics business or retail?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a thought.

Watsons currently focuses on retail and has two businesses. One is retail, mainly PARKnSHOP and RT-Mart. The main markets are in Hong Kong and some Southeast Asian countries. The other is Watsons. The main markets are Hong Kong and the United States, which have not yet been involved. Here in Europe.

Mainly because Chen Zhiwen's main influence is Asia and the United States, and it is more suitable to operate local retail businesses in these places.

But Chen Zhiwen also remembered that historically, Watsons, owned by Li Jiacheng, focused its cosmetics business on Europe. Although this was the result of many years of operation, it also showed that the European market was very large.

(End of this chapter)