Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 607, Section 197: Taking Advantage of a Crisis

Jardine Matheson's modification of Tian Tian Fish Farm's credit rating will have a ripple effect, as one of the major shareholders behind Rixin Credit Suisse, which recently moved its headquarters from the City of London to Hong Kong, is Jardine Matheson Group.

Although Dun & Bradstreet has not yet officially entered the Hong Kong financial market, it has already begun to deliver its credit ratings to its subscribed financial clients on time.

Unfortunately, Dun & Bradstreet also has a stake in Jardine Matheson.

In other words, Jardine Matheson has indirectly controlled the credit ratings of all financial institutions in Hong Kong through cross-shareholdings.

"Mr. Simon has already spoken with the president of Moody's Asia. Tomorrow morning, Moody's will also downgrade Tian Tian Fishing Company's credit rating. If there are no major changes, Tian Tian Fishing Company will be downgraded to B-!"

Xia Jiade added a sentence, then looked at Chi Mengli with a smile.

Chi Mengli understood the meaning of that smile; it meant that Yihe thought the time was right and wanted him to start cutting the meat.

"Tell Mr. Simon that the current Tiantian Fish Farm and Riri Fresh are all show and no substance! They are of little value. But if we wait, until the Wen family makes a correct new leader and cleans up the mess."

"This is the right time for Jardine Matheson to step in. Mr. Simon knows better than anyone the potential of a large listed company that controls retail, transportation, and processing!"

"Jardine Matheson knows better than anyone the immense development potential of Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia."

After Chi Mengli finished speaking, she looked at Dan Sijie. Dan Sijie, who was standing to the side, understood and took out the plan that had been prepared in his briefcase and handed it to Xia Jiade.

[Plan for Acquiring Tian Tian Fish Farm Company]

Xia Jiade, who had risen to the position of senior vice president and partner at such a young age, was no fool. He immediately realized that he had underestimated Chi Sheng in front of him.

Tian Tian Fish Farm is the supply side, while Ri Ri Xian is the sales side that directly faces consumers. As long as Ri Ri Xian takes over Tian Tian Fish Farm, it can get goods at the lowest price, and its cost advantage will be immediately apparent.

Consumers are a very straightforward group of people. They want to buy good products but also want to spend less money. The emergence of Daily Fresh hits the nail on the head for housewives.

Xia Jiade could see the potential of the merged company, and a greedy glint appeared in his eyes. Jardine Matheson greatly admired this kind of stable, cash-rich enterprise.

Real estate is profitable. Hong Kong Land controls 30% of the prime locations in Hong Kong. In the future, whenever Hong Kong Land develops a new property, it can open a flagship store of Daily Fresh supermarket in the surrounding area.

It can both improve the lives of residents and increase the land value of the apartment.

“Chi Sheng, this is a huge deal! I can’t handle it! But I’ll send someone to deliver the proposal to Mr. Simon’s office right now.”

"It's almost time! This side, please!"

After Xia Jiade finished speaking, he invited Chi Mengli, Xiren, and Shan Sijie to the large conference room that had been prepared.

Jardine Matheson was well-prepared, with small video cameras and audio recording equipment. Five commercial negotiation lawyers from Jardine Matheson's legal department sat at the back.

Xia Jiade handed the proposal to his secretary and asked her to deliver it to Mr. Simon's office at Jardine Matheson's headquarters as soon as possible. Then he sat down with Jardine Matheson's legal team.

Three groups of people sat at a large conference table, clearly divided and on the verge of conflict.

Chi Mengli didn't understand legal matters and didn't need to speak up. Although Dan Sijie was young, he had worked under Attorney Zhang for several years and knew negotiation skills.

Because the facts were clear, the two sides did not engage in much confrontation.

However, neither side made significant concessions on the issue of compensation. Interest and losses were calculated one by one, ultimately arriving at an astronomical figure: 330 million.

They earned 30 million more than the original compensation, which included interest and compensation for advertising expenses.

Chi Mengli was satisfied with the number and nodded at the single-strand knot.

Upon receiving the information, Monofilament Knot immediately agreed and signed the memorandum of understanding to indicate its consent.

After discussing the amount of compensation, the next step was to discuss the extension.

Following Chi Mengli's orders, the monofilament knot produced two delay plans.

Option 1: Delay for seven days, but the premium for these seven days must be borne by Tiantian Fish Farm, along with the subsequent premiums for Ri Ri Xian, all of which will be borne by Tiantian Fish Farm, but new collateral must be provided.

The value of the collateral must not be less than HK$100 million.

Option 2: Delay for 15 days, with the same conditions, the premium will be borne by Tian Tian Fish Farm, and the value of the collateral will increase from HK$100 million to HK$150 million.

Neither of these two options is too demanding; both are acceptable.

Wen Hailiang spoke quietly with Fu Wenpei for a few minutes, discussing the two proposals.

The Wen family doesn't have much cash on hand right now; HK$100 million is the limit. They also need to acquire goods, and they might have to use some core assets as collateral to borrow money from Hang Seng Bank.

It may seem like there are two choices, but in reality there is only one.

Wen Hailiang sighed inwardly, then looked at Zhuang Lu, who was negotiating, nodded, and held up one finger.

Zhuang Lu, understanding the boss's choice, began to scrutinize the details of Plan One.

The commercial lawyers from Jardine Matheson Insurance remained silent throughout the proceedings, a common practice in the business world; they simply recorded the details as they were.

After the extension plan was finalized, Jardine Matheson Insurance began negotiations with Tian Tian Fish Farm Company, which is the legal team of the Wen family.

The commercial lawyers in Jardine Matheson's legal department did not speak first, but instead gave the opportunity to the claims department. The deputy director of the claims department directly handed a credit downgrade notice to Attorney Zhuang.

The downgrade of a company's credit rating by an insurance company is a very serious change. Zhuang Lu immediately read it carefully and then handed the notice to Wen Hailiang.

Having navigated the business world for many years, Wen Hailiang immediately realized that Jardine Matheson was pulling the rug out from under him, trying to force him to bleed more money.

Not wanting to be taken advantage of, Wen Hailiang spoke quietly with Lawyer Zhuang, asking him to secure the most favorable insurance premium for the Wen family.

Lawyer Zhuang knew perfectly well that Jardine Matheson would not accept a premium discount now, as Tian Tian Fish Farm Company itself was facing a huge debt crisis and was on the verge of insolvency.

However, having received the emperor's bounty, he still engaged in negotiations with Jardine Matheson's legal department.

They talked for almost two hours, but Jardine Matheson Insurance didn't offer any discounts. Jardine Matheson Insurance had already grasped the Achilles' heel of Tian Tian Fish Farm Company, and it seemed that if they disagreed, they would apply for a freezing order from the magistrate.

The Wen family members sitting to the side all had grim faces. They never expected that starting from New Year's Eve, the Wen family would begin to suffer bad luck, with each stroke of bad luck bigger than the last!
(End of this chapter)