Chapter 425 423 [Negotiation]

"Then we can only continue the war." Niu Bijian stared at Li Wendi.

Li Wendi glanced at Shen Bi, Newby, Bao Fuda and Simon Keswick, and said with a smile, "Okay, but this time I won't just target Jardine Matheson. I will raise $10 billion from the United States to acquire Jardine Matheson at the same time. What do you think, Mr. Simon Keswick?"

Li Wendi knew that Newby and Bowdoin were at the end of their strength and were about to leave Jardine Land. They did not have the courage to make a decision and just wanted to end the business with a whimper. Simon Keswick would be the one who took over Jardine Land and would be the one who could make decisions.

Newby, Bao Fuda and Simon Keswick did not believe that Li Wendi had such great financial resources, but Li Wendi did not wait for them to refute. He turned to look at Shen Bi and said, "Mr. Shen Bi, I don't think the three of them will believe what I said. Why don't you tell me whether I have the ability?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes turned to Shen Bi, expecting Shen Bi to give an answer.

Shen Bi thought for a moment with a calm expression, and replied, "In 78, Mr. Li Wendi already had about $2.8 million in cash in the United States. I'm afraid what he said just now is not false."

Everyone's faces were filled with shock. It had been five years since 78. Considering Li Wendi's investment and management abilities, the $5 billion was most likely not a lie.

"Of course my investment in the United States is of great use, but if Hong Kong needs it, it's not impossible to give it up." Li Wendi said with a straight face, "Mr. Simon, do you think 78 billion yuan of funds can leverage the entire Jardine Matheson Group?"

"Once the funds are withdrawn, my asking price will not just be a land company."

"And my investment company also has a lot of investments in RB. I think it won't be difficult to raise 100 billion yuan."

Zheng Yutong reacted quickly. They were destined to win this war. "Wendy, have you forgotten that we are allies? The funding should be 130 billion yuan. I can transfer 30 billion yuan from New World Development and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company."

Pao Yue-kong and Li Jiacheng both expressed their views that now is the time to "beat the drowning dog and reap the benefits", and that those who do not follow up will suffer losses.

"Mr. Li, although the Jardine Matheson Group has been greatly affected by this crisis, Jardine Matheson Group still has a large amount of overseas assets. We may not lose a fight with you. We will both suffer losses." New Bijian said with a grunt.

"Humph!" Li Wendi said disdainfully, "Before I took action against Jardine Matheson Holdings, I had someone conduct a very detailed investigation of Jardine Matheson Holdings and its overseas businesses. I should know what the situation is. Do you need me to provide a report to your Jardine Matheson Holdings?"

Niu Bi felt like he had something stuck in his throat and couldn't utter a word. He originally thought that Li Wendi would not spend much energy investigating the overseas situation of Jardine Matheson since he was targeting the Jardine Matheson Group. Now it seems that Li Wendi was aware of the situation of the Jardine Matheson Group.

"Mr. Li, no matter how powerful Jardine Matheson is, it is still a large multinational company. It is not a big problem for it to mobilize tens of billions of yuan of funds. If you want to fight hard, Jardine Matheson and the Keswick family are willing to accompany you." Simon finally stood up. He felt that people like Li Wendi were just trying to scare people. As for Shen Bi, he didn't understand the situation.

"Mr. Shen Bi, it seems that everyone at Jardine Matheson Company doesn't seem to believe what you say. In that case, does that mean our negotiations have broken down?" Li Wendi said with a smile.

Shen Bi looked at Li Wendi and recalled the acquisition of Haifeng Bank a few years ago. Li Wendi's financial resources must be real because he has been paying attention to the actions of Bank of China. Perhaps the large-scale selling of US stocks some time ago was related to Li Wendi. After all, Li Wendi never fights an unprepared war.

"Mr. Li Wendi, to be honest, your plan to divide up more than 60% of the land company is a bit too much. It would be better for me to give you half of the land company. What do you think of this proposal?" Shen Bi said after looking around.

“I don’t care how much you want to give me. I must take over all the land and properties of Jardine Matheson in Causeway Bay. If you cannot meet my requirements, I will acquire Jardine Matheson. Of course, if my allies need my help, I will not refuse.” Li Wendi looked at Zheng Yutong, Pao Yue-kong, and Li Ka-shing, indicating with his eyes that it was time for them to express their stance. If they wanted to protect their interests, they could only step forward themselves.

"I have always stood together with Wendy. I only want the 10 commercial buildings of Hong Kong Land Development in the Ice House Street area. If you are willing to give me the Prince's Building in Central, I can also take it." Zheng Yutong said with a smile. Pao Yue-kong and Li Jiacheng naturally followed suit and put forward the original request without reducing their interests at all.

"Gentlemen, it seems that Jardine Matheson needs to think carefully about this. How about we discuss it tomorrow?" Seeing that the three people from Jardine Matheson were silent, Shen Bi came out to smooth things over.

"Okay! I hope there will be good news tomorrow." said Li Wendi.

The next afternoon, everyone met and sat down again.

Simon was the first to say, "We have a new proposal. We, Jardine Matheson, are willing to pay a 3% premium to acquire the 34.6% stake held by United Company. What do you think?"

This proposal had already been thought of and discussed by everyone in the joint company.

"This price is impossible. Our joint company is also willing to pay a 3% premium to acquire the shares of Hutchison Whampoa held by Jardine Matheson." Li Jiacheng hit back.

"What price do you want?" Simon asked helplessly.

"At least it's the highest price before the disaster." Li Jiacheng said expressionlessly.

"This is impossible!" Simon's first reaction was to object. If calculated based on the highest price before the disaster, 34.6% of the shares would require a payment of 76 billion yuan. The United Company could earn more than 60% of the profit, and Jardine Matheson would probably be on the verge of collapse.

"That won't work, and that won't work either." Li Wendi sneered, "Then we might as well just give the United Company to you, Jardine Matheson. Now you are the defending party, do you think you can take back the Landmark Company without paying some price?"

"It's already good that you can keep those six commercial buildings in Central. If it weren't for Mr. Shen Bi's face, I wouldn't let go of those six commercial buildings so easily."

Li Wendi deliberately raised Shen Bi's status to distract the attention of the three people from Jardine Matheson Company.

"It would be better for both parties to make concessions. Jardine Matheson could acquire the shares of Hutchison Whampoa held by United at a 40% premium, and United's requirements could be cut in half. For example, Mr. Cheng Yu-tung's current 10 Central buildings could be reduced to 5, and Mr. Pao Yue-kong's 3 Central buildings could be reduced to 2, and then the properties in the Mid-Levels area of ​​equal value could be cut." Shen Bi made a new suggestion.

Li Wendi saw Zheng Yu nodded slightly, so he waved his hand and said, "At least a 50% premium."

The reason why he compromised was that the matter with the American Disney Company had already begun. If he had Disney Company in hand, the property in Causeway Bay would not be so important. Moreover, once the matter with Jardine Matheson Company began, he would suffer great losses.

Simon Keswick wanted to continue cutting, but Newby stopped him because he was worried that Li Wendi would take the opportunity to turn against him.

"Let's discuss it further and give you an answer in an hour." Niu Bijian asked for opinion.

"Okay, we'll wait for you for an hour." Li Wendi said after exchanging opinions with his allies.

(End of this chapter)