In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 404 Citibank Regrets

460 million shares, priced at $22 per share, is not a large number.

Among these shares, part has been subscribed by investors, while the other part is in the hands of securities firms, which naturally have their own strategies on how to operate these shares.

Not only did Apple's listing carry out large-scale publicity and promotion itself, but the Nasdaq Stock Exchange also provided great promotional support, laying a solid foundation for its listing path.

Plus, Apple has a huge fan base across the United States.

In this era, people who can access and play with computers and receive computer education are mainly from the wealthy class.

Therefore, as expected, many investors are paying close attention to Apple's listing progress.

They are located all over the United States, and whether through stockbrokers or intermediaries, they are always paying attention to every subtle change in the stock market.

In the secondary market, Apple's shares began to circulate and trade, and its stock price began to fluctuate accordingly.

First it climbed to $23.5 per share,

Then it rose to $23.8 per share.

Then it soared all the way to $24.6 per share.

But soon after, it fell back slightly to $24.3 per share.

……

Every change in the stock price affects the hearts of countless investors, and Apple’s senior management is particularly concerned.

Lin Haoran stayed at the stock exchange for more than an hour and then left. At this time, Apple's stock price had soared to US$25.8 per share.

As a person who owns several listed companies, what kind of storms has he not seen?
At first, he was quite excited because of the influence of Apple in his previous life.

But after a long time, that excitement is gone.

The most important reason is that the strength of Apple today is far inferior to the Apple we knew in our previous lives, and its overall strength is not even as good as that of his Hutchison Whampoa Group.

After leaving the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Lin Haoran went directly to the office of Universal Investment Company.

"Boss, Mr. Burton from Wanqing Group called at nine o'clock in the morning and said he had something to report to you. If you come back, you can call him at home!" Su Zhixue reported as soon as he saw Lin Haoran.

"Okay, I understand." Lin Haoran nodded, then went to the phone and called Burton who was far away in Hong Kong.

Today, it is a little after ten in the morning in New York.

But in Hong Kong, it was already past eleven o'clock in the evening. It was impossible to stay in the company at this time. This was why Burton asked Lin Haoran to call his home.

It wasn't long before Burton answered the phone.

"Mr. Burton, I hope I didn't disturb your rest?" Lin Haoran asked with a smile.

"No need to disturb you, I just finished washing up and haven't gone to bed yet. Boss, I called you mainly to report to you about the progress of Wanqing Group's recent sale of land and commercial buildings." Burton replied.

"Well, tell me."

"Boss, after in-depth negotiations with the Jianing Group, we have reached a preliminary deal price of HK$10.68 billion. Since the amount of money involved is too large, I need your consent, so I have not signed a contract with them yet.

Once the final contract is signed, they promise to raise the full amount of funds within three days and transfer the money to our designated bank account. Boss, do you have any objection to this price? "Burton asked.

"No problem. Since the agreement has been reached, let's arrange the signing as soon as possible. I just happen to need this money." Lin Haoran replied.

Today, the International Building can still be sold at a high price of over HK$10 billion, but in a year or two, with the plummeting housing prices in Hong Kong, it would be considered a good deal if the building could be sold for HK$ to million.

By then, there will be many sellers and few buyers, and even if the bid is high, the deal may not be completed successfully.

Therefore, Lin Haoran is indeed very satisfied with the current price of HK$10.68 billion.

According to the original expectations, let alone HK$10.68 billion, even HK$10 billion would be something that Lin Haoran would gladly accept.

Of course, the higher the price, the better.

"In addition, regarding Wan'an Building, we have also received the intention of a potential buyer. Hopewell Holdings hopes to acquire it for HK$3.2 million. However, our psychological reserve price is HK$3.5 million, while the public offer is HK$4 million. Therefore, the two parties are still in the negotiation stage. I will try my best to reach a final price of HK$3.8 million or even more. I think in addition to Hopewell Holdings, there must be other companies interested in this building." Burton continued to report to Lin Haoran.

A ready-made building. After their strength increases, some companies will indeed have the idea of ​​directly buying a building as their headquarters. Among the commercial buildings in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, although the price of Wan'an Building is not low, it is definitely not high either. There will definitely be other companies interested in it.

As the developer of Hopewell Centre, the tallest building in Hong Kong today, it is not difficult to understand why Hopewell Holdings is interested in acquiring Wan On Building. After all, Hopewell Holdings has an important presence in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

As for whether the deal can be concluded in the end, no one is sure. "Well, you can handle it in full. I trust you completely!" Lin Haoran responded with a smile.

The members of the negotiation team were elites temporarily transferred from the Hong Kong Land Group. The financial staff were also his confidants, and the legal advisors were the top legal team in Hong Kong. Coupled with Burton's loyalty and reliability, Lin Haoran had no worries about their work, nor did he worry that Burton would commit fraud to gain benefits.

If he really tried to gain some benefits from it, Lin Haoran would know it once he saw his loyalty after returning to Hong Kong.

When the time comes and we investigate further, you won’t be able to escape.

“Also, we have sold several plots of land in the past few days. Six of them have been sold as a package to Dachang Real Estate, another three to Great Eagle Group, and several plots to several small real estate companies.

So far, the total amount of funds raised from these land transactions has reached HK$11.28 billion. All funds have been directly remitted to the account of Huanyu Investment Company. I have also confirmed with the financial department of Huanyu Investment Company that all funds have been received." Burton continued to report to Lin Haoran in detail.

"11 billion has arrived?" Lin Haoran couldn't help showing a hint of surprise when he heard it.

He is currently in urgent need of funds, and the timely arrival of this fund is undoubtedly a timely help.

After all, the HK$12 billion originally allocated by Universal Investment Company would not be sufficient in the privatization project of the Hong Kong Land Group.

Without a loan, you will be unable to move forward without funds.

For example, in the United States, if he takes a fancy to certain companies and wants to invest in them, and the US branch of Universal Investment Company is about to enter into operation and needs to make secret investments in established targets, all of these require money.

Now, the company has more than 11 billion Hong Kong dollars in its account again, so he no longer has any financial pressure.

And if Wan'an Building, International Building and some other property assets are sold successfully, his available funds will continue to increase.

"Very good, you did a great job, keep it up!" Lin Haoran gave affirmation with a smile.

“Well, since we spread the information about these assets, I have received many consultation calls from business owners every day. Not only real estate companies, but also some non-real estate companies have shown great interest.

So it is not difficult to sell these assets. The key is to get the right price. I will do my best to get the best selling price for you, boss!" Burton continued.

The real estate market in Hong Kong is extremely hot nowadays, and many companies that were not originally involved in the real estate field are also trying to cross over and enter this industry.

Therefore, Lin Haoran was not surprised by this situation.

"Okay, Mr. Burton, then I'll leave it all to you. Once the matter is resolved satisfactorily, you will definitely get a share of the bonus." Lin Haoran said with great satisfaction.

"The greatest credit goes to our negotiation team. I just made the final decision based on their negotiation progress," Burton responded modestly.

Burton then chatted briefly for a few more minutes and hung up.

It was already late at night in Hong Kong and the reporting work had been completed, so there was naturally no need to continue the call and disturb the other party's rest.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Haoran stayed in the company until noon and had a working lunch with the employees.

On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Apple's final closing price in the morning was $27.62 per share.

This is a full increase of more than $22 per share compared to the original issue price of $ per share.

Of course, this is not the final closing price for today, after all, there will be trading in the afternoon.

However, the price has risen so much in just the morning, which shows that Apple’s shares are indeed extremely popular.

After lunch, Lin Haoran took a rest in the company and then left Times Square.

He planned to visit Mr. Walter Wriston, the chairman of Citibank, and Mr. John Reed, the current vice president and the next chairman, in the afternoon.

Walter Reston, chairman of Citibank, was extremely enthusiastic about Lin Haoran's visit.

After all, the two sides have had many good collaborations.

At the beginning, it was Citibank that introduced him to Apple's senior management, thus successfully making him an investor in Apple.

"Mr. Lin, congratulations! If we had known that Apple had such great potential, we should have invested in it ourselves!" There was a hint of bitterness in Walter Reston's smile.

Back then, Apple took the initiative to extend an olive branch of investment to them, but they missed the opportunity because they underestimated this computer company that had only been established for a few years, and ultimately Lin Haoran got a big bargain.

Today, based on the original investment amount, the value of Apple has increased more than tenfold. It would be a lie to say that I have no regrets.

After all, a return rate of more than ten times is extremely rare even for a financial giant like Citibank.

(End of this chapter)