Hong Kong Variety Show: Let you eat melons, eat melons on your sister-in-law

Chapter 269 269 Two Heads Eating

Chapter 269 "269" Eating from Both Sides

Lin Yao didn't care about these things; as long as Xu Wenbiao did his job well, that was enough.

After chatting with Xu Wenbiao and confirming his project plan, Lin Yao got up and left.

The public opinion has been building up for the past few days, and it's time for them to take action.

The Australian consortium quickly approached Lin Baixin to discuss the shares he held.

"Thompson, it seems you've made up your minds?" Lin Baixin said with a smile.

The foreigner named Thompson smiled and said, "Among so many competitors, you are the most sincere, so I think we can have a chat!"

Lin Baixin readily agreed, "Then let's get straight to the contract!"

Thompson laughed and said, "No rush, I don't know your offer yet!"

Lin Baixin said directly, "The current stock price is at a 50% premium. I'm prepared to buy your 36% stake for 700 million!"

Thompson shook his head and said, "This is much different from the price I expected!"

Lin Baixin frowned and said, "That's not low at all. When your CRA company bought ATV shares, it only cost around 500 million!"

Thompson laughed and said, "Times have changed. We also need to make a profit, otherwise we won't be able to explain ourselves to the board!"

Hearing Thompson's words, Lin Baixin almost laughed out of anger: "You sold your 33% stake for 500 million, which was more than enough for you to recoup your costs. Now you're making a pure profit!"

Thompson said with a smile, "Of course, I've never had a losing investment."

Lin Baixin gritted his teeth and said to Thompson, "Eight hundred million, that's the highest we can go!"

Thompson didn't rule it out completely, but instead said to Lin Baixin, "How about we have a meeting to discuss this?"

"Okay, I'll wait for your news!" Lin Baixin nodded, then got up and left.

After Lin Baixin left, Thompson immediately called his team.

"The highest bid for Lin Baixin is only 800 million!" Thompson said directly.

One of the vice presidents shook his head and said, "This is not his limit!"

"Looks like we need to use another competitor to provoke him!" Thompson said with a smile. "Help me arrange a meeting with Lin Yao. Just say I want to have coffee with him!"

"Hehehe, got it, boss!" The subordinate chuckled slyly.

……

That afternoon, Thompson met with Lin Yao at the Peninsula Hotel's restaurant.

"Long time no see, Mr. Thompson!" Lin Yao walked over and shook hands with Thompson.

Thompson said with a smile, "Mr. Lin is truly young and promising. In such a short time, he has been able to increase his assets dozens of times. I doubt anyone in Hong Kong has such ability as you!"

"Haha, Mr. Thompson, you flatter me!" Lin Yao said with a smile. "I heard you're considering selling your shares?"

Thompson didn't expect Lin Yao to be so direct, and he seemed rather impatient.

Thompson nodded directly and said, "That's right. As you know, our senior management's investment direction has changed. If your offer is right, we might be able to sell you our shares!"

Thompson deliberately emphasized the phrase "a fair offer".

Lin Yao smiled and said, "Of course, my offer is absolutely reasonable! Here's the deal: I'm prepared to buy the remaining 36% of your shares for 700 million, which is a very reasonable price!"

“No, no, no, Mr. Lin, your offer doesn’t seem sincere at all!” Thompson shook his head and said.

His idea was for both sides to raise the price, not to make a huge loss.

Lin Yao said with some surprise, "Mr. Thompson, this is already higher than the market average price."

Thompson smiled and shook his head: "But Mr. Lin Baixin offered me eight hundred million!"

"Really?" Lin Yao looked doubtful.

Thomson said with a smile, "Mr. Lin can verify this for himself and see if we've said anything wrong!"

Lin Yao's face immediately darkened, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing this, Thompson pressed his advantage, saying, "Mr. Lin Yao, your shares in ATV are not as large as Mr. Lin Baixin's. If he buys our shares and takes control of ATV, you will have no chance at all!"

Lin Yao gritted his teeth and said, "I'll offer 850 million. If that's possible, I can call my lawyer over immediately to sign the contract!"

Thompson smiled and said, "Mr. Lin Yao, please don't worry. We can discuss this slowly. I also need to go back and discuss it with the board of directors, don't I?"

Lin Yao asked anxiously, "When can you give me an answer!"

Seeing Lin Yao's expression, Thompson smiled and said, "As soon as possible, within three days, is that alright?"

"Okay, I'll wait for your call!" Lin Yao nodded.

……

After both sides had tried to extort money from each other, Thompson raised the price again with Lin Baixin, and the price quickly reached nine hundred million.

However, this was far from their expectations, which were for 1.5 billion.

However, allowing the two to repeatedly raise the price would easily arouse suspicion, so Thompson also sought out some other potential buyers.
Anyway, they're just background figures, there's nothing more to them than a setup for Thompson.

Although they are actively in contact, they have not been able to reach an agreement with any of them.

It was made specifically for Lin Yao and Lin Baixin.

At that moment, Lin Yao and Lin Baixin were having tea together, watching Thompson's performance.

"These foreigners are treating us like idiots!" Lin Baixin said disdainfully.

Lin Yao shook his head: "They're not idiots, they're suckers! Fifteen billion, how could they even say that!"

"I've had someone investigate CRA. They're having serious problems with their cash flow in Australia, with a shortfall of about 1.5 billion!" Lin Baixin said with a sneer. "They're trying to make up for it by taking it from us!"

"How much longer can they hold out?" Lin Yao asked curiously.

"I don't know, and their loan from Citibank is also due!" Lin Baixin said with a sneer. "They can't hold out for much longer!"

"Otherwise, they wouldn't have used so many tricks. Look, they even hired a lot of people to cooperate with their act, without ever negotiating with them at all!"

Lin Yao nodded: "I have some connections with senior executives at Citibank, I can talk to them!"

Lin Baixin also said with a smile, "Coincidentally, I also have some connections with the executives at HSBC who provide funding to CRA."

"Then let them go their separate ways!" Lin Yao said with a sneer. "I want to see just how patient they can be!"

"However, what's the minimum percentage of these shares that can be sold?"

"Around four hundred million!" Lin Baixin thought for a moment and said, "Around four hundred million is enough to give them a breather!"

“Then let’s go for 400 million!” Lin Yao said directly to Lin Baixin, “Let’s sign an agreement, and we’ll split the 36% stake held by the Australian consortium in half, and the funds will also be split in half!”

Lin Baixin readily agreed, "No problem!"

……

On Monday, Thompson arrived at ATV for work.

I had just sat down when the phone in front of me rang.

He answered the phone with a frown; it was a loan manager from Citibank, reminding him that his loan from Citibank was due to expire.

"I understand, I'll take care of it in a few days!" Thompson said, somewhat annoyed, and hung up the phone.

In the past, what right would these bank loan managers have to call me?

It's because I heard that CRA's parent company is having some cash flow problems.

These bastards who kick someone when they're down!

I had just hung up the phone with Citibank when a loan manager from HSBC called, clearly to collect on the loan.

Thompson dismissed the two bank employees with the same words, and he began to feel a sense of crisis.

If the parent company's cash flow runs out, he, as the person in charge, will definitely be in big trouble.

So Thompson thought for a moment and dialed Lin Baixin's number directly.

Unexpectedly, this time the call wasn't answered by Lin Baixin, but by his assistant.

Thompson's assistant told him that Lin Baixin seemed to be abroad on business and was not in Hong Kong for the time being.

"This time period?" Thompson immediately sensed something was amiss.

But there's not much to say about having an assistant.

So Thompson dialed Lin Yao's number again and happily told him, "Mr. Lin, how about this, one billion, you only need to spend one billion, and we'll sell you our 36% stake!"

After listening, Lin Yao said calmly, "Mr. Thompson, after I went back and thought about it, I realized that my initial offer to you was a bit impulsive. I shouldn't have paid such a high premium to buy ATV's shares because of a small conflict with Mr. Lin Baixin! So... let's just forget about it. It's not bad for me to make some money by following along!"

Thompson was completely dumbfounded. What the hell was going on?

Lin Yao, who was extremely anxious before, used to pester him every few days.

Now they've completely changed their ways and are just abandoning it altogether?

Could it be that these two guys found out about the cash flow problems of their parent company?

Thinking of this, Thompson said somewhat angrily, "In that case, I'm prepared to sell my shares to Lin Baixin. I hope Mr. Lin Yao won't regret it!"

Lin Yao was silent for a moment, then said to Thompson, "I wish you success!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

Thompson was furious and immediately sent his assistant to find Lin Baixin.

Let's just sell it to them for 900 million, the highest price Lin Bai offered.

Although it didn't meet expectations, it has already relieved enough pressure.

It might even allow them to make a profit.

However, in the following days, no matter how hard Thompson tried, he was unable to find Lin Baixin.