I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 756 Fang Qingye suddenly found it amusing: This is like a spoils-dividing party!

The charity auction cocktail party ended around 8:30 p.m., and the guests left one after another, but Fang Qingye's after-party was just beginning.

The event was held in a conference room on the third floor of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. There weren't many attendees. Besides Fang Qingye and Qin Feng, there were Zhang Jinchuan from CICC Hong Kong, Crawford from HSBC, Jonathan Blake, Vice Chairman of Asian Investment Banking at JPMorgan Chase, Eleanor Vance, Head of Institutional Business for Asia Pacific at BlackRock, and Shao Weixiong, Senior Partner at Mayer Brown LLP.

These are the people who showed great interest in Ele.me Group's Hong Kong listing at the cocktail party just now.

To Fang Qingye's slight surprise, Zheng Zhipeng from New World Development was also willing to come up and listen.

Fang Qingye naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Since everyone has had some wine downstairs, I'd like to invite you all to have a cup of tea."

Fang Qingye smiled and asked the waiter to bring out the sweet white glaze tea set with incised orchid design that she had just won at the auction, and carefully cleaned it.

He then took out a small box of beautifully packaged tea and introduced it, saying, "This is Da Hong Pao that I brought from the mainland, from Niulankeng."

The two foreigners didn't quite understand the intricacies, so Zheng Zhipeng smiled and explained, "The Da Hong Pao from Niulankeng? That's a rare delicacy; we must savor it properly today." He also patiently explained the origins of Da Hong Pao to Guo Charlie.

Fang Qingye began brewing tea. After boiling the mineral water, he picked up a pinch of dark, lustrous tea leaves, placed them in the warm gaiwan, and gently shook it a few times. The tea leaves collided with the white porcelain, producing a soft, crackling sound, and faintly releasing the aroma of charcoal and dried fruit.

Boiling water was poured high into the bowl, causing the tea leaves to swirl. He quickly closed the lid, poured out and discarded the first brew, and a faint orchid fragrance filled the air. He poured water again, waited a moment, then held the gaiwan with three fingers, gently twisted his wrist, and the bright orange-red tea flowed smoothly into the fairness cup.

He then picked up the fairness cup and poured the tea into eight sweet white glazed cups with an incised orchid design. The sweet white against the orange-red hue added a touch of warmth to the otherwise simple elegance.

"please."

Everyone picked up their teacups and took a sip. Zheng Zhipeng immediately praised, "Excellent tea! The rocky aroma and floral fragrance are enhanced by the sweet white teacup, making the aroma even more concentrated and the color of the tea liquor even more vibrant. It's a perfect match!"

Fang Qingye also took a sip and felt that the tea tasted better than usual—good teaware can indeed enhance the tea.

Of course, tea tasting isn't the main topic tonight. After a brief taste of the tea leaves, we'll get down to business.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I briefly mentioned Ele.me's listing in Hong Kong and the obstacles it faces with the dual-class share system at the reception earlier. I have a basic document on Ele.me, including its operations, financial summary, and market share, presented in both Chinese and English. I can provide more detailed information later if needed."

As she spoke, Fang Qingye took out a stack of documents from her briefcase and distributed them to everyone. Everyone lowered their heads to read them attentively, but Fang Qingye wasn't in a hurry; she and Qin Feng slowly savored their tea.

After a while, Zhang Jinchuan from CICC Hong Kong spoke first: "President Fang, CICC has been paying close attention to Ele.me. After winning the battle with Meituan two years ago and completing the merger, it has become the absolute hegemon of the domestic and international food delivery market. Now it has expanded into the financial payment and credit fields... Its prospects are very bright. If it is listed in Hong Kong, CICC Hong Kong is willing to act as the sponsor."

Zhang Jinchuan's statement did not surprise Fang Qingye; that was precisely why he had come.

Before Fang Qingye could respond, Bei Zhehan, who was standing next to her, said in slightly broken Mandarin, "Our JPMorgan Chase Asia Investment Bank is also willing to act as the sponsor."

JPMorgan Chase has also made a statement? Fang Qingye's heart stirred slightly.

For a company the size of Ele.me to go public, it usually doesn't have just one sponsor. So he smiled and replied, "Thank you, I would be happy to see two companies jointly act as sponsors for Ele.me's listing in Hong Kong. However, the issue of dual-class shares remains unresolved, and the listing process is probably still a long way off."

All eyes turned to Fan Ailin, Head of Institutional Business, Asia Pacific, BlackRock.

BlackRock, as the world's largest asset management company, holds a pivotal position in Hong Kong's financial sector. More importantly, many of its index funds and actively managed funds hold shares in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), making it one of the HKEX's largest institutional shareholders. Therefore, Fan Ailin is the only person with real influence at the HKEX board meeting tonight.

Fan Ailin understood what everyone meant. He coughed lightly and said in English, "Personally, and even BlackRock, I believe the Hong Kong Stock Exchange must be reformed. It should allow companies with dual-class share structures to list, like New York and Nasdaq, to ​​avoid missing out on excellent companies like Alibaba again. But..." He changed his tone.

“As you all know, BlackRock is just one of the shareholders of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has no decision-making power. The real decision-making power lies with Sir Chow Chung-kong, the chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.” “Sir Chow is a conservative; we can’t persuade him,” interjected Charlie Kwok of HSBC. This was the second time Fang Qingye had heard him say this tonight.

Fan Ailin laughed and said, "Charlie Guo, if Sir Zhou hears this, he will be very unhappy."

Chali Guo shrugged and responded humorously: "So what if I'm conservative... It's recognized in the industry, and people are even proud of it, calling it 'prudent'!"

Everyone present laughed. Fang Qingye thought the Englishman was quite witty.

"Gentlemen, please hear me out." A slow, deliberate voice rang out, speaking in Cantonese, immediately drawing everyone's attention. The speaker was Shao Weixiong, a senior partner at Mayer Brown Law Firm.

While Mayer Brown may not be widely known in mainland China, it is a prestigious top-tier international law firm in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, with a long history and deep roots. It is particularly skilled in capital markets, corporate and M&A matters, and has consistently ranked among the top IPO legal advisors in Hong Kong.

Seeing Fang Qingye looking at him, Shao Weixiong switched to somewhat broken Mandarin and continued, "Those old friends at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, they are not against innovation, they are worried about uncertainty and abuse of power."

He looked sharply at Fang Qingye: "Chairman Fang, what we need to do is not to argue whether 'one share, one vote' is outdated, but to design an impeccable 'safety barrier' for A and B shares."

"For example, 'sunset clauses': when the founder retires or the shareholding falls below a certain percentage, Class B shares are automatically converted to Class A shares; another example is 'enhanced disclosure': companies with both Class A and Class B shares must implement a stricter and more transparent information disclosure system than ordinary companies... and so on."

“What we submit to the Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission should not just be a request, but a complete solution that they cannot refuse. We need to convince them that this is not only what Ele.me needs, but also an institutional upgrade for Hong Kong to enhance its international competitiveness.”

"As expected of a seasoned lawyer, experience really pays off!" Fang Qingye thought to herself.

The group then began their discussion following Shao Weixiong's line of thought.

At this moment, Fang Qingye smiled and said, "Actually, I also prepared a document with a similar approach to Attorney Shao's, entitled 'White Paper on Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights Protection in the New Economic Era'."

"This report uses Ele.me as a model, but goes far beyond Ele.me itself, systematically demonstrating how the dual-class share structure can better protect the company's long-term value and thus benefit all shareholders under a sound information disclosure and checks and balances mechanism. It is very similar to the ideas of Attorney Shao."

"Qingye, why didn't you take it out sooner?" Qin Feng asked.

"The content is quite long, so I will send it to your personal email addresses," Fang Qingye explained.

After a brief discussion, everyone divided up their tasks: CICC Hong Kong and Morgan Stanley would act as sponsors for Ele.me's future IPO; HSBC would act as the custodian bank, providing asset custody services to cornerstone investors or anchor investors who participated in the pre-IPO investment.

BlackRock is a cornerstone investor—before the official launch of an IPO, listed companies sign subscription agreements with well-known institutional investors, companies, or wealthy individuals, committing to purchase a certain number of shares at the offering price and accepting a six-month lock-up period (during which they cannot sell the shares). These investors are cornerstone investors, and they have significant influence in determining the final IPO price.

Mayer Brown was the Hong Kong law firm that Ele.me hired during its IPO process, mainly handling matters related to Hong Kong law and listing rules.

Fang Qingye suddenly found it funny: This is like a spoils-dividing party!

But then again, if there weren't enough benefits, who would sit here and waste their brains like this?

The final decision is to conclude today. This is only an initial exchange, and we will have a more focused discussion three days later after digesting all the opinions from various parties.

As everyone left, Zheng Zhipeng of New World Development, who had been silent all along, whispered to Fang Qingye, "Chairman Fang, I'm sorry, but due to historical reasons, local Chinese-owned conglomerates like us generally don't participate in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange reform to avoid misunderstandings. However, I have a small request."

"please say."

"If Ele.me goes public in Hong Kong in the future, New World Development is willing to become a cornerstone investor."

(End of this chapter)