Chapter 1110 White Knight
"Have you ever tried to raise funds from other places?" Song Yuanchao asked again.
Shi Lei sighed: "I've thought about it. We have raised some funds so far, but it's actually a drop in the bucket and far from enough. Moreover, it's quite difficult to raise funds."
"So what are the other options?"
"I have considered it. I even thought about issuing warrants to other shareholders in the name of the board of directors, or selling some of the company's assets to reduce the company's value and thus recover funds, but..." At this point, Shi Lei shook his head with a gloomy look.
Song Yuanchao nodded. The two measures Shi Lei was considering had professional terms. The former was called the "poison pill plan" and the latter was called the "scorched earth policy". These were measures and means taken by Wall Street against companies that were maliciously acquired. However, such measures would not only hurt others and themselves, but would also be difficult to pass with the approval of the board of directors.
If it were any other company, maybe it wouldn't be a big problem, but Shi Lei's company has a complex equity structure, and the proportion of shares that Shi Lei can actually control is too low. Even if he did this, it probably wouldn't have much effect.
After a moment's silence, Song Yuanchao asked, "Mr. Shi, are you coming to me today to raise funds from Shenghua to enhance your ability to resist risks?"
"You can say that." Shi Lei said frankly: "Shenghua's strength is obvious to all. If Shenghua can help at this time, then the company will definitely be able to overcome the difficulties."
"Haha, Mr. Shi, I am flattered by what you said." Song Yuanchao laughed and shook his head, "Shenghua is not as powerful as you think, and Shenghua is not just controlled by me. Moreover, large-scale fund borrowing involves many aspects, which is difficult for me to do."
"Of course, I understand that." Shi Lei nodded, then hesitated and said, "Boss Song, what if I want Shenghua to help acquire some of the company's stocks instead of borrowing funds? Is that okay with you?"
Song Yuanchao was stunned. He didn't expect Shi Lei to make such a request.
"Haha, do you mean to let Shenghua be your white knight?" Song Yuanchao asked back.
Shi Lei gritted his teeth and admitted: "You are right."
Song Yuanchao was somewhat speechless. He lit up a cigarette and started smoking, quietly looking at Shi Lei in front of him. After a moment, he said two words, "Reason?"
Shi Lei seemed to know that Song Yuanchao would ask this, and immediately explained the reason for his request.
I will not repeat the current situation of Shi Lei's company. Shi Lei mainly elaborates on the benefits of Shenghua's doing so. As a white knight, although Shenghua has to buy a large number of his company's shares at a price higher than the market value, in reality Shenghua does not suffer any loss.
According to Shi Lei's previous explanation of the company's situation, his company's stock price has always been undervalued. Some of this is due to Shi Lei's long-term considerations for the company's planning. It is also because of this that although the company has developed very well over the years, Shi Lei has been suppressing the stock price to a slight increase or even no increase.
Shi Lei's original plan was very good. He intended to use this method to control the company's stock price, and then use the corporate provident fund established within the company to repurchase stocks, thereby achieving overall share spread, while also achieving his goal of continuing to control the company in the future with a certain proportion of equity.
But although the idea was good, time became Shi Lei's fatal point.
If Shi Lei had been given more time, perhaps his plan would have succeeded, because there had been successful examples before him. Unfortunately, Shi Lei did not have that much time, or perhaps the time from the start of the plan to its implementation was too short, and now his company was being closely watched, so no matter how good the plan was, it would have been useless. Moreover, because of the layout of the previous plan, the hostile acquirer was able to purchase a large number of stocks in the secondary market at a lower stock price, which brought great danger to himself.
Shi Lei asked Shenghua to be the white knight. If Song Yuanchao agreed, he would have a powerful ally to fight against the other side. And Shenghua would not suffer any loss because the company's stock value was underestimated for a long time. Even if bought his company's stock at a higher price than the secondary market, it would definitely make money from the investment in the later stage.
As long as the war starts, the stock price will inevitably soar, and it will be easy for Shenghua to increase its shares several times or even more. In addition, Shi Lei's company has been operating well and has good corporate benefits. Even if he does not sell his shares in the future, as a major shareholder of the company, Shenghua can still get a generous return.
For a moment, Song Yuanchao also thought of this, and had to admit that being the white knight was not bad for Shenghua, but on the contrary, it was good. However, Song Yuanchao also considered another point, that is, when there was such a good thing, why did Shi Lei come to him?
Logically speaking, he and Shi Lei were not familiar with each other, and they were not close friends at best. Moreover, Shi Lei was introduced by Liu Da, so logically he and Liu Da had a closer relationship.
This is strange. If this is the case, then why didn't he ask Liu for help? Song Yuanchao is well aware of Liu's strength. Liu's net worth has increased a lot in recent years. He has developed very well both in Hong Kong and in the mainland. With Liu's ability, it is no problem for him to help Shi Lei. But why did he go to the faraway place instead of Liu and find himself?
Song Yuanchao asked this question bluntly, and Shi Lei told Song Yuanchao frankly that he had considered Liu Da, and in fact he had borrowed a sum of money from Liu Da for anti-takeover purposes. However, Shi Lei had his concerns about borrowing more money or letting Liu Da serve as his white knight.
Although he has a good relationship with Liu, the problem is that they are both businessmen. Since they are businessmen, they have common characteristics, which is the pursuit of profit and money.
Once Liu is asked to be his white knight, regardless of whether he is willing, even if he is willing, Shi Lei himself will not be willing.
After all, from the perspective of the company structure, Shi Lei's company's main business is real estate. What does Liu do? It's also real estate. The business and management of the two companies are the same, so they are in the same industry. Moreover, Liu's company is larger and has more capital. If Liu really becomes a white knight and controls a large number of his company's shares and becomes the company's major shareholder, Shi Lei will definitely be scared.
Drive the tiger to devour the wolf. The wolf was driven away, but the tiger stayed.
Although Liu loves making friends, everyone in the business world knows that once it comes to interests, Liu will not recognize his relatives. Liu also has a very famous nickname, which is the stock market sniper. Liu is an expert in stock market operations. How he regained control of the company through the stock market and how he later got Chinese Estates Holdings with a small investment, these are all known to anyone who knows a little bit.
Faced with such a situation, even if Liu Da agreed, Shi Lei would not dare to agree. Shi Lei had his own considerations on who to choose as the white knight. First of all, he ruled out Liu Da, which was why he asked Song Yuanchao for help through Liu Da.
Shenghua's strength is obvious to all. Today, Shenghua can be said to be a giant, and its reputation in the business world is even louder. More importantly, Song Yuanchao has always had a good reputation in the business world. All the companies and bosses who cooperate with Song Yuanchao have never said a word that Song Yuanchao is not good. On the contrary, there are many people who praise and admire him.
Although Shenghua is also involved in the real estate industry, its real estate business is only a supplement to Shenghua's overall business and does not account for a large proportion. In this case, Shenghua not only has the strength to act as the white knight, but also is unlikely to use this opportunity to swallow up Shi Lei's company and become the host in the future operations.
In addition, Shi Lei also took into consideration Shenghua's strength and Song Yuanchao's background. Shi Lei also learned about these things. As long as Song Yuanchao took action, those who had stirred up waves in the capital market would inevitably have some concerns, which would also reduce the strong pressure on Shi Lei's side.
Furthermore, taking this opportunity to establish a good cooperative relationship with Shenghua is also a result that Shi Lei is happy to see. So after much consideration, Shi Lei finally decided that cooperating with Song Yuanchao was the best choice.
While saying these words, Shi Lei also flattered Song Yuanchao, with a flattering tone in his words.
Song Yuanchao smiled faintly, with an expression of noncommittal. He admitted that Shi Lei's concerns were correct. He and Da Liu had known each other for so many years, and Song Yuanchao knew what kind of person Da Liu was and what kind of personality he had better than anyone else.
In the early years, Song Yuanchao and Liu had competed with each other in the stock market. Although they were friends, they also fought privately. But in the end, after weighing the pros and cons, the two sides shook hands and made peace, and did not completely fall out.
There are reasons for this result. On the one hand, Song Yuanchao never thought of pursuing him relentlessly. On the other hand, Liu was afraid of Song Yuanchao's Shenghua strength and felt that he was not sure of defeating Song Yuanchao. Since everyone thinks this way, why bother fighting to the death? Just like the interaction between forces, if you want to be equal to each other, you must first have enough strength and something that the other party is afraid of. Only then can such equality be established.
Shi Lei was right. He and his company were clearly at a disadvantage. If Liu intervened, the risk might be greater than the hostile takeover he was facing now. Shi Lei absolutely did not dare to take this risk, but the situation was different at Shenghua. It was not that there was no risk at all, but the risk was much smaller in comparison.
"Mr. Shi, this is not a trivial matter. I can't give you an answer for the time being. I need to think about it." Song Yuanchao thought for a moment and said to Shi Lei.
"It should be, it should be..." A hint of disappointment flashed across Shi Lei's eyes, but he still forced himself to nod and said, "I can understand this."
" Can you ?" Song Chaoyuan pointed to the document that Shi Lei had just handed him.
Hope suddenly surged in Shi Lei's face. He nodded repeatedly and said it was no problem. At the same time, he hoped that Song Yuanchao could give him an answer as soon as possible. Regardless of whether Song Yuanchao agreed or not, he was very grateful that Song Yuanchao took his matter to heart.
