Chapter 1023: The stock market hits a new record

Liu Tianci glanced at Xia Yu, then took a deep breath, a determined look flashing in his eyes.

Since the chairman had already made a decision, he, as a subordinate, naturally cooperated unconditionally, even if many people would be affected.

After all, capital never had the attribute of 'kindness'...

After organising his thoughts, Liu Tianci took the initiative to ask, 'Chairman, what do I need to do on my end?'

Xia Yu said with a light smile, 'You don't need to deliberately target the Carrian Group on your end. Its own problems are enough to screw it up. What you need to do is to liquidate risky assets such as the real estate industry as soon as possible, and recover outstanding loans as soon as possible. You won't have more than a month to act.'

'You need to think of more ways to sell assets to foreign banks and HSBC as much as possible. The loan business of real estate and property can also be transferred at low prices or even at a loss. The vacancy rate of various properties is already very high now. Once the stock market crash comes, they will all drop to a low price. You can then buy them at the bottom.'

'By the way, you also need to focus on powerful and high-quality banks. Don't just limit yourself to Hong Kong, but also pay attention to Southeast Asian banks. When the stock market crash is over, you need to acquire a group of banks.'

Having said that, Xia Yu told Liu Tianci about the promise he had made with Deebaj.

'These are the things to pay attention to, so you'll have to work hard for a while.'

'Chairman, don't worry, I'll do as you say,' Liu Tianci replied, nodding seriously.

'Well, just remember that I trust you to get things done, so I won't say any more. You go and get busy, and I'll go to Standard Chartered Bank and let Giles Liddle know.'

After saying this, Xia Yu finished the tea in his cup and left Jiuding Bank in a resolute manner.

The headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank was also in Central, Hong Kong Island, not far from Jiuding Bank. Xia Yu arrived quickly and then found Giles Liddell and gave him the same instructions.

After arranging everything, Xia Yu returned to Kowloon.

...

No surprise.

On Thursday and Friday, the battle raged on the Hong Kong capital market, and the battle was no longer limited to the stock market.

With the influx of large amounts of foreign capital, the currency market also fluctuated violently, and the exchange rate spread problem that the Hong Kong Association of Banks was worried about gradually disappeared.

Outside the stock market, the various tycoons were each showing their own prowess, using money as a gun to hunt their favourite prey.

Of course, despite the arrival of these big shots, they could not overshadow the glory of the two main protagonists, the Taikoo and Jiuding consortia.

On Friday, less than ten minutes after the stock market opened, the Hang Seng Index broke through the 2,000-point mark, a historic moment for Hong Kong stocks.

This figure seemed to be an adrenalin rush, driving investors even crazier.

As a result, by the end of trading on Friday, the Hang Seng Index had settled at 20,510 points.

According to statistics from the four major exchanges, the trading volume on this day set a new record, exceeding 4 billion Hong Kong dollars and reaching 4.38 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The share price of the Swire group of companies broke through the 39 Hong Kong dollar mark, and the company's market value reached 17.56 billion Hong Kong dollars, almost tripling its value at the start of the war!

The share prices and market values of a series of listed companies such as Swire Pacific, Swire Shipping and Swire Properties also rose sharply over the past two days, with the market values of the three companies fixed at 3.85 billion Hong Kong dollars, 5.34 billion Hong Kong dollars and 6.63 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively.

Anyone who does the math will be shocked to discover that the combined market value of these four companies has reached 33.3 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is already far higher than the market value of HSBC.

And the entire Swire group is much more than just these four companies!

Although some people feel that the stock prices of these companies are already very high and there are considerable risks,

more people are convinced that the stock prices will continue to rise, simply because Jiuding Securities is still aggressively buying up shares.

The battle between the Swire Group and the Jiuding Group is not limited to the capital market, but has further developed into a battle within the boardrooms of some companies.

Although boardroom battles can affect a company's operations and normally cause the company's stock price to fall, in these extraordinary times, such battles have the opposite effect and have a strong stimulating effect on the stock price.

The vast majority of investors believe that the stock price will not fall unless one of the Jiuding Group or Swire Group completely concedes.

As long as the battle continues, the stock price will continue to rise!

On Saturday morning, the stock market was closed, but Jiuding Securities was open for business as usual.

After being repeatedly reminded by Wang Qi, Yuan Tianfan drove his team to the HSBC Bank in Central, Hong Kong Island, to meet the appointment.

He was there right on time.

When he returned to the meeting room at HSBC, he immediately felt a very different atmosphere.

His expression remained unchanged as he looked at the Chinese faces in the meeting room.

According to instructions from President Wang Qi, he had long since learned about the HSBC and Shi Yahuai family's poor plan, and there was no doubt that these people were competitors.

As he watched the Chinese faces turn grave, Yuan Tianshan instead smiled and nodded at them, and among the puzzled responses from the group, he found a seat, then picked up a small document on the seat and began to flip through it. After just ten seconds, an expression of inexplicable meaning appeared on his face.

This document listed in detail the equity stakes held by HSBC in the subsidiaries of the Swire Group, which was the target of today's auction.

And indeed, there were no stakes in Swire Pacific Holdings or the like.

At this time, after making sure everyone was present, Shen Bi looked at the time and found that it was already time. He told someone to close the door and said aloud, 'The time has come. I know that everyone is in no mood to listen to me, so I will just say a few words.'

'You have already read the documents in your hands, and they all have what you need, so you don't have to come to me one by one. That's why I asked you to come here, so that we can settle things once and for all. As long as you offer the right price, you can take the company's shares you want.'

'Now let's get straight to the point...'

'Wait!'

Just as Shen Bi finished speaking, Yuan Tianfan's words attracted everyone's attention.

Shen Bi asked calmly, without changing his expression: 'Mr Yuan, do you have any more questions?'

Yuan Tianfan said without hesitation: 'Of course I do, and the problem is huge. A few days ago, here, I wanted the shares of Swire Pacific, Swire Pacific Industries and other companies. Why aren't they here now?'

'Without those core products, your company is offering these inferior products. Are you trying to fool me?'

Yuan Tianfan's 'reaction' was within Shen Bi's expectations. With a smile on his face, he explained without haste: 'Mr Yuan, it's not that I'm fooling anyone. In fact, there's been a misunderstanding here, and I must apologise to you. When you last came, you opened negotiations directly, and I didn't have time to carefully sort out which companies our bank has a stake in. That's now been done, and the stakes we hold are all here.'

'I didn't find any equity in companies like Swire Pacific or Swire Pacific Industries, so there's no need for me to lie to you!'

Yuan Tianfan snorted and asked in return, 'Mr. Shen Bi, do you think that Jiuding Securities could have developed to the current extent with such a poor ability to collect business information?'

He then looked at Norman Shih Ya-wei, who was sitting calmly, and sneered insinuatingly, 'Or have you secretly sold the shares to someone?'

'If you have, why not sell them all and leave such a small amount to start an auction like this?'

'No...who doesn't want it?'

When he said this last sentence, Yuan Tianfan's gaze scanned back and forth between Shen Bi and Norman Shih Ya-wei, as if trying to discover something.

Once he said this, the faces of everyone present changed, especially those of the Chinese people who had originally wanted to compete. Each of them had a subtle expression on their faces, and their eyes frequently shifted between Norman Shih Yawei and Shen Bi.

Shen Bi, who had always had a calm expression on his face, and Norman Shih Yawei, who had also finally been unable to remain calm,

Shen Bi hurriedly explained, 'Mr Yuan, this is the real situation. I don't need to lie to you. The list you have in your hands now shows the equity of Swire's companies owned by HSBC. As for the equity of the Swire Pacific Group and Swire Pacific Industries Group you mentioned, it was bought by a British company before. I'm not at liberty to disclose who it is. After some time, when they voluntarily disclose the shareholding situation, you will know who it is.'

Shen Biao did not admit it, and Yuan Tianfan did not have any strong evidence to refute his lies. Moreover, he did not need to. The reason for this was to show these Chinese people, and to force Norman Shih Ya-Huai to actively bid later.

At this point, that was enough.

He looked suspicious and said noncommittally, 'Since Mr. Shen Biao said so, I can only wait.'

After saying this, he leaned back on the back of his stool, looking as if he didn't want to talk.

Shen Bi and Norman Shi Yahuai let out a small sigh of relief, but they didn't completely relax. The two of them exchanged a glance, and everything was said without words.

Then Shen Bi continued the previous topic.

'Let's get back to the main topic. We will now start the first share auction. 16 million shares of the non-listed company Swire Milk Limited, a total of 13.5% of the shares, with a starting price of HK$28 million.'