Chapter 292: Control is in hand

The existing funds of Changxin Real Estate Company are unlikely to cover the 4500 million yuan for the Tiger and Leopard Villa land. It can only take out 3000 million yuan, and the remaining 1500 million yuan must be raised through loans.

In fact, the 3000 million in the account of Changxin Real Estate Company were all funds raised from the sale of residential buildings, including profit dividends from the first phase of Baguio Villa in Pokfulam. Although it was only 5%, it was still a profit of 240 million.

A piece of land for Haw Par Villas in Causeway Bay emptied the profit funds in the account of Changxin Real Estate Company for the past six months. As for the start-up capital for the development of the land, it still came from loans.

Since bottom-fishing in the real estate market, Changxin Real Estate's debt ratio has reached 6%. If it continues to borrow, the debt ratio will reach a new high. However, as the real estate market recovers, the debt ratio will automatically decrease. After all, most of the properties in Changxin Real Estate's hands are of extremely high quality.

This is also the confidence for Li Wendi's continuous expansion.

Thursday, May 10

As Jardine Matheson's pressure mounted, Wendi Li was forced to respond and took time out of his busy schedule to meet with John Madden, chairman of Wheelock & Company.

Originally, Li Wendi wanted to take over the shares of China Gas Company owned by the Li family of Chinese Estates. Since they are all Chinese, it should be easier to negotiate. However, the Li family's shareholding is not high, which can not be of much help to Li Wendi. In addition, there are some grievances between another director, the Causeway Bay Li family, and Li Wendi, which may make it even more difficult to take over.

So Li Wendi wanted to take over the shares held by Wheelock in one step, so that he could directly hold 47% of the shares, and even Jardine Matheson would find it difficult to challenge Li Wendi's position.

"Mr. Madden, how are you these days?" Li Wendi greeted with a smile.

The two had met each other several times and were not strangers.

John Madden was a rather arrogant man, but he would not ignore Wendi Li, because Wendi Li defeated the Hong Kong Land Company and was a director of the China Gas Company.

"Hello, Mr. Li!" John Madden nodded and said, "I'm a little pressed for time, Mr. Li, please make it short."

Li Wendi didn't bother to exchange pleasantries and said directly, "Mr. Madden, I want to buy the China Coal shares held by Wheelock & Company. Please name a price."

Today's China Coal stock price is not as good as before, only 1.9 yuan per share, 0.4 yuan less than when Li Wendi first bought it.

John Madden was a little surprised. After thinking for a while, he said, "The current share price of China Coal is too low. We have no plans to sell it for the time being."

Li Wendi realized that John Madden was not so resolute and that there was room for negotiation, so he said, "Mr. Madden, the shipping industry is booming now. Selling China Coal shares will just help expand the size of Wheelock's fleet. I am willing to buy your China Coal shares at a high price, a 50% premium. How do you think?"

John Madden was a little tempted. He took a sip of coffee and said, "60% premium!"

"Okay, 60%!" Li Wendi nodded. "Then let's go to the law firm to sign the agreement now. The funds will be paid within a month, and the down payment is 4% of the total amount."

John Madden was slightly stunned and said, "This is Wheelock's asset. I still need to ask other directors for their opinions. I can't be so decisive."

Li Wendi said, "Mr. Madden is the chairman of Wheelock Group. Doesn't he even have this kind of power? Well, I will wait for Mr. Madden's news."

Hearing this, Maden was a little unhappy. He was silent for a while and said, "Mr. Li, wait a moment. I'll make a phone call."

"Okay, Mr. Madden, please do as you please!" Li Wendi knew that this person valued his reputation the most. If he wanted to embarrass him, he might be retaliated. Ten minutes later, Madden came back and said to Li Wendi, "Let's go, Mr. Li. Let's go to the law firm to sign the contract."

"Haha!! Mr. Madden is worthy of being the chairman of Wheelock & Company. His work efficiency is amazing." Li Wendi flattered.

Madden laughed dryly twice, and the two of them left the hall one after the other.

A 1.9% premium of 60 yuan is 3 yuan. Henderson Land Development holds 27% of the shares, with a total share capital of 8000 million shares. Li Wendi needs to pay 6480 million yuan, with the first installment being 2600 million yuan.

After completing the transfer procedures, two days passed by.

Before Jardine Matheson Company could react, Li Wendi took the opportunity to take over China Gas Company and took the position of chairman of the board of directors.

Since this matter was just an announcement issued by China Gas Company on major stock exchanges, there was not much coverage in the media. Li Wendi did not want to make a big fuss. He just wanted to keep a low profile like Li Zhaoji's acquisition of China Coal Company in his previous life.

After hearing the news, Newbyjian and Bao Fuda from Jardine Matheson Company looked so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping out of them. They did not expect Li Wendi to act so quickly and decisively.

The two knew exactly what Li Wendi's situation was at the moment, so they felt very strange about Li Wendi's acquisition behavior.

Li Wendi owed two banks 2 million yuan which had not yet been repaid. Despite such great financial pressure, he acquired two companies (Wharf Holdings and China Coal) in succession within two months, consuming up to 4 million yuan. Logically, it is unlikely that Li Wendi would have rushed to acquire China Gas Company. He should have repaid the 2 million yuan loan first to relieve the pressure.

After all, Wendi Lee has been a director of China Gas for a long time, but he has never acquired it.
Bao Fuda and Niubijian looked at each other and said, "Someone passed the news of our acquisition of China Gas Company to Li Wendi."

Niubijian pondered and said, "We did not block the news at that time. All the board members knew about the acquisition, and some senior executives also knew about it. Some smart management staff should have guessed it. The investigation was too wide-ranging and had a significant impact."

Newbyjian's meaning was very clear. Now that things had come to this, he hoped that Bao Fuda would not pursue the matter any further.

Bao Fuda said, "We don't need to investigate, but we must learn from this lesson and keep all future acquisitions strictly confidential. The next acquisition of Wheelock & Company must strictly abide by the confidentiality agreement."

"Of course. The acquisition of Wheelock is our top priority for next year. We can only succeed, not fail." Newby said with a firm look.

"I didn't expect that we lost to Li Wendi again. We have lost to this guy three times. Mr. Newbijian, when can we get our face back?" Bao Fuda sighed.

"Li Wendi's company is very unstable, but he has strong control over the company. None of his companies have major flaws. We don't have a chance for now, but we can teach him a small lesson."

"A small lesson? What do you mean?" Bao Fuda asked puzzledly.

"Snipe him through property acquisition. Doesn't Li Wendi like to snipe his peers in the stock market? Then we can snipe his companies through properties and land." Niu Bijian smiled sinisterly.

"This is indeed a good idea, Mr. Newbijian." Bao Fuda laughed.

(End of this chapter)