Chapter 163 Game
China Power Group Headquarters:

"Father, Robert Kuok is simply crazy. He has been raising the stock price. Our funds are almost exhausted. What should we do?" Michael Kadoorie asked nervously.

Lawrence Scarborough's face was even uglier than his at this moment. He did not expect Robert Kuok to be so crazy.

Killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of their own was almost a matter of cost in order to acquire the hotel.

But at this point, no matter if he could hold on or not, he had to bite the bullet and hold on. He asked, "Can I know how many shares Robert Kuok holds?"

"It is impossible to accurately grasp his shareholding at the moment, but he has recently acquired at least 10 percent of the shares of major hotels," said Michael Kadoorie.

"More than 10 percent? According to the style of Chinese acquisition, if they don't have a certain amount of shares in their hands, they won't do it publicly like this.

In other words, Robert Kuok may already hold about 30% of the shares and is already the largest shareholder of the hotel," said Lawrence Kadoorie.

"That's about it. We only have 20% now, which is not very favorable for us at the moment," said Michael Kadoorie.

Michael naturally understood that both parties had invested hundreds of millions of dollars, which benefited a lot of shareholders or speculative institutions.

If it was before, when both parties had fewer shares than they do now, if one party was willing to sell its shares, the other party would be happy to take over, even at a high price.

Now that both parties have enough shares in their hands, it is impossible for them to take over each other's shares, because once they do, it will trigger a takeover offer.

With the current stock price, no one dares to play like this. If you are not careful, you will suffer huge losses.

Because once the acquisition war is over, the stock price will definitely plummet. It is even possible to go bankrupt.

Before, the Kadoorie family would never give up their ancestral business unless they absolutely lost hope.

But now that there seems to be no hope, I can't sell it because if I announce that I have given up, the stock price may also plummet.

"Since we can't retreat, let's just keep going and see who can outlast the other." Lawrence Cardinals said with a frown.

In the past, among many famous acquisition cases, not many were able to be completed in a short period of time. Most of them took a long time and were carried out slowly.

Because strong accumulation of funds in a short period of time will push the stock price very high. For both the acquisition and counter-acquisition parties, they can only wait for opportunities.

But they underestimated the determination of Robert Kuok and others. Although he could afford to wait, he would never give the Kadoorie family any chance.

"That's fine. In fact, even if Robert Kuok acquires 34.9%, he may not necessarily win. We still have a chance at the shareholders' meeting," Kadoorie said.

The Hong Kong government's revision of the threshold for triggering a takeover bid is intended to protect these British companies. Similarly, the Kadoorie family is also a beneficiary.

It is said that in his previous life, Liu ran for chairman of the board of directors of a large hotel and lost by only 2% of the votes.

At that time, Liu and Lam together owned 38% of the shares, while the Kadoorie family only owned 12% of the shares.

But in the end, the Kadoorie family won, which shows that those small shareholders are more willing to trust the management of the Kadoorie family.

"We haven't made any major mistakes over the years, and there are still many shareholders who trust us at the shareholders' meeting," said Lawrence Kadoorie.

"However, there are still problems with funding. If we continue to make acquisitions at this intensity, the cash we have may not last long. If we want to seek emergency loans from the bank, it will not be possible in a short period of time," said Michael Cahill.

"There is still a lot of funds in the CLP account. If there is an emergency, I can use this money," said Lawrence Kadoorie.

"Father, since you are going to use CLP's funds to forcibly acquire the company from the open market, I think it's not cost-effective. Why don't you issue some additional shares to CLP?" Michael Kadoorie asked.

After hearing this, Lawrence was shocked. He thought that doing this would do more good than harm.

This can dilute some of Kuok's shares while increasing his own controlling stake, as long as the combined holdings of the two companies do not exceed 35%.

Moreover, it can issue additional shares to CLP at a low price without increasing its own debt.

The simplicity of this plan is to kill several birds with one stone, which is the benefit of owning a controlling stake.

After thinking for a moment, Lawrence Kadoorie said, "As long as it does not affect the operation of CLP, you can do it."

"Okay." Michael Kadoorie nodded.

At the same time, Robert Kuok came to the Federal Building to discuss the next acquisition plan with Liu Zhicheng again.

"Mr. Liu, I have acquired 34.9% of the hotel's shares and have begun lobbying several important shareholders. Do I need to announce this to the outside world and prepare to hold a shareholders' meeting?"

Liu Zhicheng said: "Mr. Guo, don't do it for now. I got the news that the hotel is preparing to issue additional shares to China Power.

Although this may harm your interests, it is also a good opportunity for us to completely control the Grand Hotel."

"A private placement? If they do that, aren't they afraid that others will ask them to make a takeover offer?" Robert Kuok said with a frown.

The purpose of a takeover offer is to protect the interests of the actual controllers of a company and prevent barbarians from wantonly attacking listed companies.

Whether it is the current 35% requirement or the previous 50% requirement, most people believe that there is a loophole.

For example, if one party acquires 34.9% and the other party acquires 15.2%, and the two parties form a strategic alliance, wouldn’t that be equally successful?
But in fact, this is not recognized by the law at all. Once sued, they will only be judged as persons acting in concert, which will trigger a takeover offer.

Unless one party has already acquired the shares and publicly acknowledged that they have owned them for more than two years, then they are considered normal shareholders and can cooperate with the acquirer, then success is possible.

But the time cost is too high, and the company's controlling shareholder is not a fool. The sudden addition of a major shareholder will only arouse vigilance.

"So, we will wait until they complete the private placement before taking any action," Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

"I understand. I will withdraw the acquisition immediately and drive down the share price to cooperate with their private placement." Robert Kuok understood Liu Zhicheng's intention and said with a smile.

"Yes, now that China Power's funds are being consumed, I am in an advantageous position. Mr. Guo, I will definitely support you in taking control of the hotel at that time." Liu Zhicheng nodded and said.

Although it will consume funds, with Liu Zhicheng's current financial resources, he does not need to consider how much the stock price will rise or whether it will trigger a takeover offer.

But you also need to consider the acquisition cost, so that you can be seen as a qualified investor in the eyes of everyone.

In this case, you can even deliberately raise the stock price and then cash out, which will actually make a small profit.

"That's good. I can take this opportunity to win over some other shareholders, so that I can have a better chance of success," said Robert Kuok.

The next day, the Shangri-La Hotel stock acquisition office in Sihui Market suddenly withdrew. Similarly, the Kadoorie family also withdrew from the acquisition site not long after.

The two sides seemed to have some kind of tacit understanding, which was reflected in the stock market at the first time. Both sides suddenly withdrew, which immediately caused panic among investors, especially those who took over at high positions.

Within one day, the share price of the Grand Hotel plummeted from a high of HK$80 to HK$55.

On the second day, the stock price rose slightly, and it seemed that big capital was buying a small amount of shares.

Everyone knew that someone was manipulating the stock price of the hotel by buying low and selling high. Robert Kuok and the Kadoorie family were very satisfied, and both parties cashed out part of their shares.

It is still September and Hong Kong is still in the hot summer. I don’t know if it is because the air conditioning in Sihui market is too cold or what, but investors feel a little cold in their hearts.

During this period, the stocks of big hotels have been as turbulent as the waves. I don't know how many people wanted to buy at the bottom and make a profit, but ended up losing everything.

Ten days later, when the share price of Grand Hotel once again fell below HK$40, two pieces of news shocked the whole of Hong Kong.

The board of directors of the Grand Hotel will sell new shares of the Grand Hotel to specific investment institutions through private placement, with the aim of increasing the total share capital of the Grand Hotel.

This is a plan for a private placement, which has been officially announced on four exchanges.

The hotel plans to issue 41.07 million shares to specific investors of China Light and Power at a price of HK$1829 per share in a private placement, and will raise HK$7.5 million.

The above shares cannot be transferred within 24 months, and China Power will hold 20% of the shares of the hotel.

According to the Company Law, China Power will be invited to join the board of directors of the hotel as an investor, and the two companies will have more cooperation in the future!
CLP also announced that it would support the original management of the Grand Hotel to continue to manage the Grand Hotel, and this time it would only hold shares to enjoy dividends.

The hotel also announced that it welcomes Shangri-La Hotels' shareholding and invites Shangri-La representatives to join the board of directors.

On behalf of Shangri-La, Robert Kuok officially announced that he already holds 27.92% of the hotel's shares.

According to Hong Kong government laws, he can join the board of directors of the hotel and obtain two voting rights on the board.

At the same time, it was also publicly announced that the Kadoorie family had invested all its resources and energy in China Light and Power over the years, while ignoring the needs of large hotel shareholders.

Therefore, he formally announced that he would convene a board meeting as a major shareholder, demanding the removal of the current board of directors and the establishment of a new top management team.

Sima Zhao's heart is well known to passers-by.

But this was actually within everyone's expectations. After all, they had been playing in the stock market for more than a month. Wasn't it all for the purpose of controlling the big hotels?
But another piece of news was even more shocking. Shanfeng Investment officially announced that it already had a 21% stake in China Light and Power because it was optimistic about the future development of Hong Kong's power industry.

Therefore, it plans to make long-term acquisitions in the stock market in cash, up to a maximum of 34.9%.

Shanfeng Investment also stated that it would not compete for the company's management rights and was purely for the purpose of investing in CLP.

Who would believe such words?
Anyone with a little common sense knows that this is basically a chain trap, and the Kadoorie family has fallen into it.

How could it be possible that the richest Chinese in Southeast Asia and the richest man in Malaya suddenly attacked the Kadoorie family at the same time?

Moreover, Liu Zhicheng will acquire China Light and Power, while Robert Kuok will acquire the hotel. It is obvious that the two of them had discussed this long ago.

As for the Kadoorie family, they were indeed very unlucky to be targeted as prey by two of the most powerful Chinese in the world.

Hong Kong, HSBC headquarters.

Shen Bi personally received a very important guest, Mr. Liu Zhicheng, the richest Chinese in Southeast Asia.

The purpose of Liu Zhicheng coming to HSBC today was actually very simple, because Robert Kuok had mentioned many times that Shen Bi wanted to be a peacemaker again and wanted to mediate the peace talks between him and the hotel.

"Mr. Liu, welcome to HSBC. I wonder if you can give me any advice?" Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Mr. Shen Bi, the reason we came here today is actually to avoid another conflict." Liu Zhicheng said with a faint smile.

"Conflict? Mr. Liu, you are too serious. HSBC is a bank. Everything we do is within the scope of work. We have no intention of conflicting with anyone."

Shen Bi said calmly, "At first I was very confused as to why Robert Kuok was so obsessed with the Grand Hotel. It was not until Mr. Liu took action that I finally understood."

In fact, Fake had reminded Shen Bi a long time ago, but he was not willing to believe it at first. It was not until Liu Zhicheng took action that his guess was confirmed.

"Thank you for the compliment." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile: "Mr. Shen Bi, I don't want to have any unpleasantness with HSBC, so I'm here to communicate with you before HSBC gets deeply involved.

Mr. Guo is very determined to go to Hong Kong. This is an unstoppable trend. I came here today to discuss this with Mr. Shen. "

"So Robert Kuok's choice of the grand hotel is a very good choice," Shen Bi nodded and said.

In his speech, Shen Bi never mentioned Liu Zhicheng's purchase of China Power shares, which clearly showed that he was on guard against Liu Zhicheng.

“There are indeed many high-quality companies in Hong Kong, but there are only a few that meet Mr. Kuok’s requirements.

Therefore, any consortium or bank that helps the Kadoorie family needs to consider the risks, because if it fails, it may cause huge financial losses. "Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

After Shen Bi heard this, he couldn't help but pause. Liu Zhicheng's words revealed a domineering attitude of being determined to win.

But Shen Bi is a businessman. Since he took the initiative to invite Liu Zhicheng and HSBC to cooperate last time, he will not get angry because of the Kadoorie family today.

"Mr. Liu, you are very resourceful. Everything has been under your control from the very beginning. It seems that the acquisition of the Kadoorie family's company is inevitable." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"I am just making a financial investment. I am optimistic about the stable rate of return in the electricity market and I am also considering long-term benefits." Liu Zhicheng said with a faint smile.

"Okay, I will consider Mr. Liu's suggestion." Shen Bi thought about it and nodded.

Shen Bi is not a fool. He will not offend the world's top Chinese for the sake of a mere Kadoorie family.

HSBC also wants to cooperate with Liu Zhicheng to develop the huge mainland market, so it will not pretend to be stubborn.

"Thank you, Mr. Shen Bi. I look forward to more cooperation with Mr. Shen Bi in foreign markets." Liu Zhicheng said slowly.

"Haha, it's an honor for HSBC to become Mr. Liu's strategic partner." Shen Bi said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)