Chapter 1241: Provoke the giant

Whether or not the 123 billion yen in funding was sufficient, since the agreement had already been signed to lend the money, Torii Keizo could only grit his teeth and forge ahead.

Moreover, he had to spend the money as quickly as possible, otherwise the competition would get more intense, and the price would likely rise.

With this mentality, the members of the Torii family kept bidding higher and higher against each shareholder's stake, while Torii Keizo controlled the overall situation and tried every means possible to continue raising funds.

The fierce competition among the three parties outside the stock market attracted much attention. Although the specific transaction price of each acquisition was not disclosed due to confidentiality agreements and common interests, the fierce competition itself was enough to provide a steady stream of momentum for Suntory's stock price.

When Xia Yu paid attention again, Suntory's stock price had soared to 1725.4 yen per share!

The actual acquisition price in private was as high as 2980 yen per share for Jiuding Securities!

That's an increase of more than 1200 yen!

This difference alone is astonishing, as it is higher than the stock price of Suntory before the price increase.

After repeatedly acquiring shares, the actual stake held by Jiuding Securities has reached 28.05%.

As for Mitsui Securities and the Torii family, the exact amount of shares held can only be roughly estimated, and there are no precise figures.

At this critical moment, all parties are hiding their holdings and are afraid of exposure, which shows that they are still far from the critical line.

...

Mitsui Securities.

When he heard from his subordinate that his side's total shareholding ratio was only 15.4%, Haneda Yohei's face was as gloomy as water.

According to projections, the actual shareholdings of both the Torii family and Jiuding Securities are both above 25%, and they are the ones who are lagging the furthest behind!

It is roughly estimated that the equity currently in the hands of individual and small shareholders is less than 35%, and there are still many shares in the stock market!

Mitsui Securities wants to enter Suntory and gain a voice, but it would have to acquire at least 18% of the equity, which is more than half of the remaining equity not acquired by the three parties, and the probability of success has become very small.

Hada Youhei turned his head and looked at Yamaguchi Yosuke next to him, apologetically saying, 'Yamaguchi-kun, I'm really sorry, we may well let you down.'

Yosuke Yamaguchi is the vice president of the food and alcoholic beverage business within the Mitsui & Co. group. He was the one who proposed the acquisition of Suntory, and with the company's permission, he entrusted Mitsui Securities with the acquisition.

He never expected that such a strategic decision would be so difficult to execute.

So today he had to come in person to Mitsui Securities to find out the real situation.

Unexpectedly, it was such bad news.

This made Yosuke Yamaguchi's mood terrible.

'Haneda-kun, how much capital has been spent?'

Haneda Yohei flipped through the records and said, 'A total of 130.97 billion yen has been spent so far.'

Yosuke Yamaguchi's brow furrowed even deeper.

Mitsui & Co. initially approved a budget of 200 billion yen, but later, seeing the severity of the situation, he increased the funding support by 50 billion yen through his efforts, bringing the total to 250 billion yen.

But now Mitsui Securities has already used 130.97 billion yen, which means there is still 119.03 billion yen left, and any further increase requires the approval of the company.

According to the latest acquisition price of Mitsui Securities, 119.03 billion yen, it would be excellent to successfully acquire 9.5%.

With 9.5%, their shareholding ratio is still a little short of 25%.

The more he thought about it, the more irritated Yamaguchi Yosuke became, and his chest gradually filled with anger, making him very annoyed.

Seeing this, Haneda Yohei's face did not look good either. He sent his subordinates away and sat quietly, keeping Yamaguchi Yosuke company.

After a long while...

Yamaguchi Yosuke tried hard to calm down, but he just couldn't force a smile on his face.

With a solemn face, he asked Hada Yohei, 'Hada-kun, don't be too stressed. I know this has nothing to do with you. Jiuding Securities' involvement in the competition is an uncontrollable accident that no one wants to see.'

'Although the probability of success is very small, I still have to ask you to take more trouble and help me acquire as much of Suntory's shares as possible.'

'As for what to do next, I'll go back to the company and think about it, consult the board of directors, and then I'll let you know what the latest requirements are.'

Haneda Yohei said hurriedly, 'Okay, Yamaguchi-kun, don't worry, I'll continue to arrange for the people below to do their best.'

'Haneda-kun, thank you!'

'Yamaguchi-kun, you're too polite, this is what I should do...'

...

Although everyone's status was similar, after all, Yosuke Yamaguchi had personally come here, so in order not to be looked down upon, Yohei Hada had to once again push the burden down.

This caused Mitsui Securities to make successive gains over the next two days, increasing its shareholding to 19.32%.

However, Mitsui Securities also consumed a further 52.15 billion yen for this.

Mitsui & Co., on the other hand, finally made a decision on the matter: the purchase price of Suntory was too high, and the original acquisition plan was temporarily abandoned.

However, in order not to have worked for nothing, Mitsui & Co. decided to maliciously raise the stock price, make a profit and leave, and all of this profit would be handed over to Yosuke Yamaguchi for investment and management in the alcohol market.

Without the burden of the acquisition task, Yohei Haneda was completely relaxed. With a wave of his hand, he ordered his subordinates to let go and speculate on the stock price of Suntory.

In just one day, the share price of Suntory shot up from the opening price of 1914.7 yen to the closing price of 2261.8 yen, an increase of more than 18% on the day!

The sharp rise in Suntory's share price had a significant impact on the remaining shareholders' mindsets, which in turn made it more difficult to increase the shareholding.

However, by this time, Jiuding Securities had already completed its task ahead of schedule.

The shareholding held by Jiuding Securities had reached 33.56%!

The moment the goal was achieved, Matsumoto Yu rushed to Xia Yu's office first to report the result.

'Boss, our actual shareholding ratio has reached 33.56%! The plan goal has been achieved!'

'Good, well done!'

Xia Yu smiled and praised him generously.

'Today, the share price of Suntory has risen sharply, and a major player is driving up the price, so if we want to buy more later, it will be much more difficult and costly.'

Matsumoto Yu was not proud, but remained calm, and reported the unusual situation to Xia Yu.

Xia Yu's eyes narrowed slightly, and a sneer curled the corner of his mouth: 'It seems that one party has given up, and they want to reap the benefits.'

The Mitsui Securities Company and the Torii family kept popping up in Xia Yu's mind. After analysis, he found that both parties were suspicious, but the Mitsui Securities Company was more suspicious.

Fortunately, his side had just acquired enough shares, otherwise it would really have to pay a higher price.

'If you want me to bleed, then I'll play along with you and see who comes out worst in the end, hehe...'

A thought flashed through Xia Yu's mind, and he immediately instructed Matsumoto Yu, 'Matsumoto Yu, one side will definitely do their best to drive up the stock price. You just wait until you disclose your shareholding, disclose about 28%, and then act in a high profile to show your determination to acquire it, and cooperate with the enemy's performance.'

'Make sure the people below you put on a good show, and don't blow your cover!'

Matsumoto Yu froze for a moment, and after a few seconds he understood his boss's true intentions, and he couldn't help but smile in anticipation.

'Boss, don't worry, I'll go now and make sure your orders are carried out.'

'Wait, there's something else.'

Xia Yu immediately spoke up, stopping Matsumoto Yu, who was about to leave.

'Send someone to buy Nippon Steel shares immediately. Because of Mitsui Securities, we have spent so much buying Suntory shares, we must make a profit here!'

'Show me the plan when it's ready.'

'Yes!'

Matsumoto Yu answered decisively, feeling his blood rushing through his body.

Nippon Steel, the undisputed leader of the island's steel industry, was a giant with a turnover of over 3 trillion yen last year!

Its market value was also over 1.5 trillion yen.

This kind of behemoth backed by a super conglomerate has few institutions in the entire capital market that dare to maliciously manipulate it. Now the boss is actually planning to take on this tough nut, and Matsumoto Yu can't wait.