Chapter 1469: Hunting S·G·Warburg

In S·G·Warburg, Terence Warburg is presiding over a board meeting to discuss measures to overcome the difficulties.

After being caught in the whirlpool of losses, S·G·Warburg has been abandoned by many investors.

In just one week, the company has lost £224.15 million in capital, and more investors are applying for withdrawals, which has further strained the company's already tight capital chain.

When the company was making money, it didn't matter how Terence Warburg ran it, and the company's directors supported his decisions.

But when losses are serious, that's not the case.

Even though S.G. Warburg is technically a Warburg family asset, the company's management and control are in the hands of the Warburg family!

Although the other directors who hold shares do not necessarily hold a high number of shares, their social influence or background is definitely not poor.

Otherwise, they would not have been able to enter the board of directors of S.G. Warburg.

Due to their shareholdings, these directors have also brought abundant social resources to S.G. Warburg, which have promoted the growth of S.G. Warburg.

In addition, many of these directors were recruited by Terence Warburg's father when he was still alive, and they are all senior members.

Therefore, Terence Warburg must take care of the emotions of these directors.

'Terence, the company is now in a very dangerous situation. We have been severely targeted and suppressed in the stock exchange, futures market and government bond market, but we do not have sufficient funds to fight back. Without funds, we will lose our ability to resist, and the consequence will be the loss of our market position,'

A director from West Germany said with a grave face.

S.G. Warburg was a top securities dealer in the UK, one of the top three bond issuers, and one of the top three underwriters of secondary market placements of stocks in Europe.

As for the futures market and other businesses, it also had a pivotal position.

In the past, S.G. Warburg was able to rely on its long-standing market reputation, huge capital and strong business practices to continuously consolidate and gain market share.

However, now that S.G. Warburg's reputation has collapsed and its capital chain is under strain, it is no longer able to maintain the framework it built in the past by relying solely on business practices.

'Yes, I also have some very bad news here.'

'We have been removed from the ranks of BP's underwriters. This feast has nothing to do with us, and all the preparations we made before have been wasted.'

Another director said some bad news, which made everyone in the room look unhappy.

BP is a giant corporation, and the British government has already carried out shareholding reforms, but they haven't been thorough.

This year, the British government has decided to let BP go public, which will be a feast for all financial companies. S.G. Warburg has done a lot of preparation for this.

But now...

'There's no chance at all?' one director asked unwillingly.

'There are still opportunities, but the people over there are telling us not to worry. The list of specific results and shares will be subject to change later, and there is at least two months to go.'

However, this explanation only made everyone's faces look even more unpleasant.

This was clearly not a good sign for them, telling them to focus on getting through the difficult times first.

'Terence, can the Rothschild family provide financial support?'

The director from West Germany couldn't hold back any longer and asked this very pointed question.

Facing a pair of sharp gazes, Terence Warburg, who was sitting at the top, could only pretend to be calm and reassure everyone, saying, 'Please be assured that the funding problem will be resolved.'

'However, the interests of the company belong to everyone. I hope that when the company faces a crisis, everyone can mobilise their own resources and tide over the difficulties together with the company.'

'In particular, I hope that everyone can keep the internal operating and financial situation of the company strictly confidential, otherwise we will all go down together.'

For a moment, the people present had different thoughts.

...

After the meeting ended.

Terence Woburg hurried back to the office alone, and after calling Evelyn Locher several times, no one answered. He was restless and unable to sit still, so he set off directly for the Locher family.

What he didn't know was that

the people from Guangming Fund had already contacted other minority shareholders of S.G. Warburg.

The first person to be approached was Peter Hofbauer in West Germany, a small German man over the age of 60.

The Hoffbauers were a large family from Bavaria in West Germany, and they were also shareholders of the Yubao Bank in West Germany.

Peter Hoffbauer had just left the headquarters of S.G. Warburg and was trying to return to West Germany when he received an unfamiliar phone call from Curtis Dubois of the M&A department of the Bright Fund. He also reported a meeting place, a café in the City of London area.

Peter Hofbauer only had to think about it for two minutes before he told his chauffeur to drive to the meeting place.

'Mr Peter Hofbauer?'

'Yes.'

'Hello, I'm Curtis Dubois, deputy manager of the Bright Fund's mergers and acquisitions department. I'm so glad you could make it.'

'Hello!'

After a brief handshake, the two men sat down in a corner of the café, while their subordinates sat not far away.

After each ordered a coffee, it took a while for it to come.

But Curtis Dubois went straight to the point: 'Mr. Hofbauer, I'm sure you understand why I asked to meet with you, so I'll get straight to the point.'

'I want to buy the 2.14% stake in S.G. Warburg that you hold.'

Peter Hofbauer looked at Curtis Dubois expressionlessly for a long time before slowly saying, 'To be honest, I don't want to sell this stake.'

'S.G. Warburg is our top partner at Eubank Bank. As a shareholder and director of both companies, this stake is not just of paper value.'

However, Curtis Dubois laughed, directly exposing Peter Hofbauer's lie.

'Mr. Hofbauer, it sounds like you are saying that this time S.G. Warburg's failed attack on Xiangjiang has caused serious consequences, and that Eubank Bank has also been affected?'

Peter Hofbauer's face twitched, and the strong man was embarrassed, but he said decisively, 'Of course not. I meant that S.G. Warburg has a close partnership with our Yubao Bank in the West German market.'

'Moreover, I would like to emphasise that the attack on the Hong Kong capital market was led by Rothschild Investment Bank, and although S.G. Warburg was involved, the degree of involvement was not deep, and the actual impact was not as bad as the external opinion described.'

'As for where the public opinion comes from, I think Mr. De Boer should know better than I do.'

Curtis De Boer did not care about Peter Hofbauer's retort.

He continued smiling and said, 'Mr. Hofbauer, in fact, we all know exactly how much S.G. Warburg has lost. Although I am not a director of S.G. Warburg like you usually are, in the financial world, many data can be analysed, and it is not necessary to have completely detailed data, just a rough estimate is sufficient.'

'Isn't that right?'

'Moreover, if S.G. Warburg was in good shape, I don't think we would be having this conversation right now, don't you think so?'

Peter Hofbauer's face fell completely, and he glared at Curtis Debois somewhat irritated, saying, 'Mr. Debois, I don't think we need to continue this conversation. I made a mistake in deciding to meet with you.'

After saying this, Peter Hofbauer tried to stand up and leave.

Whether or not he was just putting on an act, Curtis Debois didn't need to verify it. Anyway, what he said definitely worked, and that was enough.

He hurriedly got up, apologised and dissuaded: 'Mr. Hofbauer, I'm sorry, there was a problem with my choice of words, please forgive me.'

Sure enough, Peter Hofbauer hesitated for a few moments and did not leave.

Seeing this, Curtis Debois felt relieved and knew that this was basically settled. The next step was to negotiate the price.

'Mr. Hofbauer, name your price, we are sincere about acquiring a stake in S.G. Warburg,'

'As for the cooperation between S.G. Warburg and Yubao Bank, I want to assure you that it will not be affected in the slightest.'

'Moreover, although our Bright Fund has been in West Germany for many years, our business has been growing, so we need more partners. If you are willing to introduce us, I think our Bright Fund would be happy to cooperate with Yubao Bank.'

The offer was generous, and Peter Hofbauer, who did not want to be burdened by S.G. Warburg, had already made up his mind.

However, he still held out some hope that Bright Fund really knew the true situation of S.G. Warburg.

So he refused to make the first offer and instead asked:

'How much are you prepared to pay?'

Curtis Dubois gave a faint smile and quoted a price: '20 million pounds!'

Peter Hofbauer's face turned black and he immediately retorted, 'This is impossible. This price is too low and seriously inconsistent with S.G. Warburg's market position and size.'

Curtis DiBua shook his head and said, 'S.G. Warburg has lost more than 4 billion U.S. dollars and is now suffering from a large number of investor withdrawals. Although S.G. Warburg is not listed, its valuation will definitely not exceed 800 million pounds. Our offer of 20 million pounds is already a premium.'

Peter Hofbauer continued to argue, 'It's impossible that the valuation is 800 million pounds, and S.G. Warburg has not suffered such a serious loss...'

'...'

Soon, the coffee was served.

The two men kept drinking their coffee until they had finished it, but still had not reached a consensus.

Finally, Curtis Dubois suddenly said, 'Mr. Hofbauer, I can offer you 25 million pounds for your stake, which is a 50% premium.'

'And if you do us a favour, we are willing to pay you an additional 1 million pounds.'

Peter Hofbauer's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but ask, 'What favour?'

Curtis Dubois' mouth curled up slightly as he said slowly, "Give a media interview, announce the true extent of the losses, and admit that S.G. Warburg is indeed fraught with huge risks.'

Peter Hofbauer's gaze became extraordinarily deep as he looked straight at Curtis Dubois, who maintained his smile as he returned the gaze.

After a long while...

Peter Hofbauer spoke, and the words he spoke caused Curtis Dubois" smile to bloom.

'One million pounds isn't enough, I want three million pounds!'

'Okay!' Curtis Dubois agreed immediately.

Peter Hofbauer's mouth twitched: "I seem to have underbid.'

Curtis Dubois smiled and said, "No, the bottom line my company gave me was three million pounds. Since you were so sincere in negotiating with me just now, I will give you everything I can.'

'Heh~maybe,' Peter Hofbauer laughed at himself and shrugged his shoulders.

He had set the price, and since the other party had agreed, he could not go back on his word.

Next, it was naturally time to sign the agreement, which everyone was happy to do.

However, the café was not a suitable place.

Peter Hofbauer went directly with Curtis Dubois to the headquarters of the Bright Foundation to sign the equity transfer agreement.

That afternoon, 2.14% of the equity of S.G. Warburg was obtained by the Bright Foundation, and 28 million pounds were transferred to the account designated by Peter Hofbauer.

During this time, Curtis Dubois learned the real situation at S.G. Warburg from Peter Hofbauer, who had already abandoned Terence Warburg and naturally answered all questions.

Peter Hofbauer also gave an interview to the Financial Times.

The news of this interview, which appeared in the newspaper early the next morning, instantly stirred up a huge storm!

S.G. Warburg was thrust into the limelight, and Terence Warburg was completely panicked.