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

Chapters 769 and 768: On the surface, these are two unrelated mergers and acquisitions, but the shadow of the Mintian Group is subtly lurking behind them.
The first event is that Zhao Wei, a popular celebrity known as the "female Buffett" in China, announced through her company "Longwei Media" that she plans to acquire a 29.135% stake in Wanjia Culture for 30.6 billion yuan. Once the transaction is completed, Zhao Wei will become the actual controller of Wanjia Culture.

The news caused an uproar in the investment community.

Besides Zhao Wei's celebrity status, what's even more noteworthy is the financial structure of this transaction: of the 30.6 billion yuan, only 6000 million yuan is Zhao Wei's own money, while the remaining 30 billion yuan all comes from loans, resulting in a leverage ratio as high as 50 times!
Another relatively low-key but significant event is the plan of listed company Huazi Industry to issue no more than 34.7 billion shares at a price of 9.14 yuan per share through a private placement, raising no more than 316.8 billion yuan to increase the capital of Huaxia Life Insurance. After the capital increase, Huazi Industry will hold no more than 51% of the equity in Huaxia Life Insurance, becoming its controlling shareholder.

This transaction also set a new record for A-share listed companies acquiring equity in insurance companies in recent years.

In the afternoon, Fang Qingye sat in her office, browsing through the two financial news articles.

interesting……

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

On the surface, these are two unrelated mergers and acquisitions, but the shadow of the "Mintian Group" is faintly visible behind them.

Huazi Industry's full name is "Baotou Huazi Industry Co., Ltd.", and its largest shareholder is Weifang Chuangke, which is a subsidiary of Mintian Holdings!
As for Zhao Wei's acquisition, it is even more intriguing. Of that 30 billion yuan loan, a full 15 billion yuan came from "Xi'an Yinbixin Asset Management Co., Ltd.", which is controlled by the Mintian Group.

Recently, Xiao Jianhua, the usually reclusive actual controller of the Mintian Group, made a public appearance in Hong Kong, which has attracted much attention.

In the past two years, Fang Qingye has also been keeping an eye on the Mintian Group's every move through various channels, including Baoshang Bank—he is still a director of Baoshang Bank's board of directors and receives relevant documents and financial reports regularly.

In addition, he also maintained contact with Zhong He, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau, and Tang Qing, director of the Inner Mongolia Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau, exchanging information from time to time.

There was another person—Tong Ming, the general manager of Shencheng Taichuang Investment, who was a money broker. During the "cash crunch" two years ago, he acted as an intermediary, and Fang Qingye caught him red-handed when the Pudong branch of the bank and New Era Trust, a subsidiary of the Mintian Group, signed an illegal trust agreement.

After "clearing the mines," Fang Qingye personally approached Tong Ming and secretly struck a deal. Fang Qingye instructed Tong Ming to use his familiarity with the general manager of New Era Trust to closely monitor whether New Era Trust, controlled by the Mintian Group, had any major illegal activities.

However, in the past two years, Tong Ming has not provided any valuable intelligence.

Did he regret his decision and no longer want to get involved in this mess? Or did New Era Trust genuinely not commit any major violations?
Fang Qingye had no idea.

However, Tong Ming was just a pawn he casually planted, and Fang Qingye didn't really expect to succeed with him.

He stared at the news on the screen, lost in thought.

Historically, neither Longwei Media's acquisition of Wanjia Culture nor Huazi Industry's acquisition of Huaxia Life Insurance ultimately succeeded. The reasons are very complex, but these two events also marked the decline of the Mintian Group from its peak.

Should we take this opportunity to do something to completely bring down the Mintian Group, so that they won't harm people again in the future?

Fang Qingye silently weighed the options.

Of course, setting up a scheme to entangle a financial tycoon like Xiao Jianhua is no easy task; it requires a significant investment of manpower, resources, and energy.

Not worth it?

He hesitated for a moment.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Secretary Hu Lingling pushed the door open and came in: "Fang Xing, Director Zhang of the Huangpu branch wants to see you."

Zhang Rong?

"Let him in." Fang Qingye put down her teacup.

Hu Lingling led Zhang Rong in, poured him some tea, and then quietly closed the door and left.

"Zhang Rong, it's raining so hard today, why did you come all the way back from Shanghai?" Fang Qingye asked with a smile. "President Zhao was presiding over a meeting of bank presidents on professional ethics today. The vice presidents were supposed to attend, but our President Qian is currently with President Chen in Yongjiang, negotiating a 30 billion yuan corporate bond issuance project with Goldman Sachs China and Yongjiang City Investment. So I'm attending in her place," Zhang Rong explained.

Oh……

This project stems from a Memorandum of Understanding on Referral and Joint Underwriting Cooperation previously signed between Jinghai Bank and Goldman Sachs China. The memorandum stipulates that over the next three years, Goldman Sachs China will have priority in referring or jointly underwriting high-quality local companies recommended by Jinghai Bank in bond issuances or syndicated loan projects.

Although Goldman Sachs China had set a trap for Jinghai Bank in the "Jinghai Anying-Intelligent Manufacturing Phase I" wealth management product, almost drawing the bank into the scheme, Fang Qingye was fortunate enough to see through the trick in time. She not only broke the deadlock and fought back, but also forced Lin Wei, Vice President of Goldman Sachs China, to sign a "treaty of surrender," one of which is this memorandum.

Although Lin Wei was ruthless, she was quite trustworthy after signing the agreement and actually brought such a big project to Jinghai Bank.

Yongjiang Construction Investment Group (hereinafter referred to as "Yongjiang City Investment") is the core investment and financing platform under the Yongjiang Municipal Government. With a credit rating of AA+, it plans to issue a corporate bond with a scale of 30 billion yuan in the first phase, which will be used for the construction of large-scale port infrastructure projects in the area.

According to the memorandum, Goldman Sachs China will leverage its brand influence and global sales network to act as a joint lead underwriter with Jinghai Bank for this bond issuance.

As a joint lead underwriter, Jinghai Bank not only shares a considerable underwriting fee—approximately 2% of the total financing amount, or RMB 6000 million—but more importantly, it establishes a deep partnership with the local government's core platform, enabling it to expand into a large number of businesses such as deposits and settlements in the future.

After being assessed by the head office's risk control department and personally approved by Fang Qingye, this project has entered the specific negotiation stage, with the Pudong branch and Huangpu branch jointly responsible for its issuance.

Qian Duo is a senior talent introduced by Jinghai Bank. She holds a Master of Finance degree from London Business School and has extensive experience working in the investment department of Barclays Bank in the UK.

Fang Qingye was naturally aware of these circumstances. Hearing Zhang Rong mention it, he casually asked with concern, "How has work been going these past few months in Shanghai? How well has Qian Duo been cooperating with you?"

“Qian Duo is a woman with high IQ and EQ, and she also respects me, a ‘country bumpkin,’” Zhang Rong said with a hint of self-deprecation. “After going to Shanghai for the past few months, I have truly seen what modern finance is like. Dealing with those investment banks requires you to be on your guard, or you will be led into a trap if you are not careful.”

Fang Qingye laughed heartily: "That's for sure... but don't be too nervous. As long as you're not greedy, don't expect something for nothing, and don't fall into those so-called high-return, high-risk schemes, and you're cautious, nothing serious will happen."

The reason Fang Qingye transferred Zhang Rong there was because the leaders of the two branches in Pushencheng were all highly educated and used the modern financial methods of Wall Street, but they were too aggressive and prone to causing trouble.

Sending a relatively traditional financial professional like Zhang Rong to take on a leadership role was intended to curb their rapid expansion.

Moreover, Zhang Rong and Fang Qingye have a personal relationship, and Fang Qingye is his confidant, which can increase his authority and intimidate those fierce and arrogant generals and soldiers.

"Fang Xing, President Zhao said he's inviting us presidents to dinner after the meeting, and you should join us. We'll toast you a couple of times, especially the four vice presidents from Wuxi, Changzhou, Xuzhou, and Yangzhou." Zhang Rong joked as he spoke.

Today, Jinghai Bank has established branches in these four cities. According to Fang Qingye's plan, branches will be established in all 13 cities in Jiangsu Province to consolidate the foundation before gradually expanding to other provinces.

"Wouldn't my drinking capacity make you all laugh at me?" Fang Qingye said.

"We already said, we'll each have a drink, we'll finish ours, you can drink as you please."

"Hey, Zhang Rong, you came to my office, not just for this, right?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Hehe. It really is. Those bank managers asked me to come and invite you to join the people in the festivities." Zhang Rong chuckled.

"Okay, I'll go then," Fang Qingye agreed.

Just then, their phones rang almost simultaneously. Zhang Rong quickly stepped aside to answer the call, while Fang Qingye also picked up her phone and saw that it was Zhao Danlu calling, so she answered.

On the phone, Zhao Danlu's voice was urgent and tinged with anxiety: "Fang Xing, the situation has changed. Someone is trying to sabotage the issuance of this corporate bond for Yongjiang City Investment!"

(End of this chapter)