Chapter 1254 Full Power Money Printing Machine

  Xia Jingxing didn't speak, just kept looking at Blankfein with his eyes.

   "Daren, I really didn't lie to you, not only you, but we also seriously underestimated AIG's greed for money, or more accurately, the urgency to alleviate its financial distress."

   Blankfein said with a serious expression: "From last year to now, including equity and debt financing, the government has supported AIG Group with a total of 182.5 billion US dollars.

   Not only taxpayers have opinions, but there are also different voices within the government.

  This puts AIG under pressure from all sides, so their executives are very eager to sell the business in the Asia Pacific region at a good price. "

  Xia Jingxing said lightly, "Mr. Blankevan, you promised you that you could easily win this business.

  You also told me that if even your Goldman Sachs can’t handle this business, no one on Wall Street can. "

   Being slapped in the face by Xia Jingxing when he dug out the old account, Blankfein couldn't hang on his face.

   He had already put his posture very low, but Daeron still refused to forgive him.

   This made him feel very uncomfortable! There is an urge to walk away.

   But for the sake of the dollar, he endured it.

   took a deep breath, and Blankfein said as calmly as possible: "Daren, American International Group has released rumors in October last year that it will divest and sell non-core assets to repay its debts.

  Among them, AIA, the flagship business in the Asia-Pacific region, is the business segment least affected by the financial tsunami, attracting more than 40 investment institutions around the world to approach.

   The identities of potential buyers include insurance companies, banking groups, sovereign wealth funds and private equity investment funds.

  You, China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Life, have formed a joint consortium to join in the fun.

   But why did so many institutions finally give up on the acquisition of AIA?

  The core issue is the quotation!

  The people at AIG were crazy about money and made an offer of $40 billion.

  I think this price is very unreasonable, and I don't want to see our partners suffer losses, so the negotiation has been very slow. "

  Xia Jingxing said in his heart, you will find a reason to consider it all for us?

   "The $40 billion offer is definitely unreasonable. There are only a handful of institutions in the world that can spend so much money at one time, and the risk of merger failure must also be considered."

  Xia Jingxing also secretly paid attention to AIG's sale of Asian assets, and completely let it go without handing over the task to Goldman Sachs.

   China Life and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have indeed been in contact with AIG as Blankfein said.

  The domestic media also reported on this matter in a series of articles at the time, saying that it was going to start a wave of Chinese overseas mergers and acquisitions.

   As a result, the thunder was loud and the raindrops were small. After the two agencies had contacted AIG for one round, there was no more content.

The reason for    is that the target is too big, the acquisition risk is too high, and the two institutions are government-run enterprises, which requires a lot of courage from the management to gamble on the future.

   Blankfein clapped his hands fiercely, "Daren, you're on the point.

   It is precisely because there are too few institutions that have the strength and courage to acquire AIG, so we have not been in a hurry to take action, and plan to temper the patience of the AIG management.

   When that group of people loses patience and feels that there is no hope, we will stand up like a savior, then many things will be much easier to talk about. "

  Xia Jingxing turned his head and glanced at Blankfein, and said with a smile, "Then do you think their patience has been worn away now?"

   Blankfein nodded lightly, "Almost, it has been four or five months since AIG released news to contact various investors.

During the    period, AIG management also contacted dozens of prospective acquirers, and should have a very clear assessment of the value of AIA.

  We make a move at this time, and we are sure to kill with one blow! "

   Seeing Blankfein's confident appearance, Xia Jingxing couldn't help but sneer, "Are you sure you can kill with one hit? Morgan Stanley has already helped us take down Lehman Asia for several months.

   Now that the renamed Envision Securities has started to operate normally, I believe that it will soon reach or even surpass the peak performance of Lehman Asia.

   Time also has a cost. If it is delayed for a long time, we can only give up AIA.

   After all, assets all over the world have depreciated significantly, and there are countless treasures that can be found. "

   Hearing that Xia Jingxing intended to give up AIA, Blankfein became anxious, the cooked duck could not fly away.

   "Daren, don't worry, let me analyze it for you!"

  Xia Jingxing stepped back and looked at Blankfein lazily.

   Now he is the buyer, so he is the uncle.

   If Goldman Sachs fails, it can always switch to a buyout advisor.

"AIG's management is now divided into two factions, one is in favor of selling all the shares of AIA to pay off the debt, and the other is planning to sell 25%-49% of AIA's equity in the form of transferring old shares, retain the status of the controlling majority shareholder, and quickly Promote the listing of AIA on the Asian stock market.”

   Blankfein said with a dignified expression: "Now neither of the two factions can convince the other, while looking for suitable buyers, they are also actively carrying out self-help work.

  If there are institutions willing to invest in AIA, our plan to acquire AIA may be completely unsuccessful.

  So, we now have to settle the first faction and let them subdue the unbalanced voice inside. "

  Xia Jingxing listened with an expressionless face, and was analyzing quickly in his heart.

  Blankvan's words are basically devoid of moisture, and now AIG has indeed split into two factions.

The    faction hopes to get the money as soon as possible to repay the government’s debt;

  The other faction is unwilling to sell AIA at a low price, hoping to sell a minority stake to ease the financial pressure, then push AIA to go public, and then sell the remaining equity through the secondary market.

   Both factions are planning to sell AIA, but there are differences in timing.

   Xia Jingxing was naturally unwilling to invest in AIA only financially, so how much money did he make?

   And the investment is not a small amount. With this money, is it not good for him to invest in the technology industry?

   What he expects is to annex the entire AIA and let it and Envision Securities jointly form a financial holding group covering the Asian region.

   Blankfein frowned and said: "Daren, the problem facing us now is mainly the price issue.

  AIG is not Lehman, and the creditor committee can sell assets at will.

  Although they owe nearly $200 billion, they are finally out of bankruptcy, which gives them enough time to slowly sell their assets at what they think is a reasonable price.

   At the same time, AIA's own operations did not have any problems.

  It has been operating in the Asian market for more than 90 years, and has a considerable market share in the region, with more than 20 million insured customers and 20,000 employees, and total assets of more than 60 billion US dollars.

   In addition, in terms of insurance policies, AIA ranks first in the Hong Kong market and is also the champion among foreign life insurance companies in the mainland market.

   With such high-quality assets, if it is combined with Lehman Asia and at the same time acquires a commercial bank, Envision Financial Holding Group will be completely formed, and it is definitely a behemoth in the forefront of the Asian region.

   Even if you look at the world, it is a powerful financial holding group. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled, Blankfein was really an old fox, he actually saw through his plan.

   "Insurance assets don't have extremely exaggerated performance growth like the technology industry. If the acquisition price is too high, it's still the same sentence, we don't have to buy it."

   Blankfein said with a smile: "Daren, although the increase in insurance assets is not large, and it is incomparable with technology assets, it also depends on who is in control.

  The insurance company is in the hands of you and Buffett, and it is definitely a money printing machine at full capacity. "

   (end of this chapter)