.......

The next day, Friday.

There was important news in the morning newspaper. Zurich Group and First Chicago Bank issued an announcement: they had decided to cancel their commitment to subscribe for preferred shares issued by Peregrine.

For a moment, it was obvious that Peregrine was in great danger.

In November last year, Peregrine's cash flow was already running low, and then it approached Zurich Group, hoping that the other party would subscribe for 24% of Peregrine's preferred shares for US$200 million and become the largest shareholder. Zurich Group was not stupid either.

The conditions given are to send a team to Peregrine, and they will not decide to implement the promise until the financial environment in Southeast Asia is no longer bad.

To be honest, if Liang Botao had approached Lin Zuhui at that time, maybe Lin Zuhui would have lent Peregrine a loan based on their friendship.

However, at this time, it was To Huilian who was in charge of the bond business in Southeast Asia at Peregrine. Therefore, as a foreigner and not very familiar with Lin Zuhui, To Huilian did not immediately think of Lin Zuhui's Bahrain Bank.

"Boss, Liang Sheng wants to see you!" Li Ke walked into the office and said.

Lin Zuhui was stunned. What was he talking about? He was not afraid of anything.

"Well, please invite him in!"

Soon, Liang Botao walked in.

Lin Zuhui accompanied him to sit down on the sofa. After all, others were not his subordinates, but at most his part-time consultants; and Lin Zuhui had hundreds of such consultants.

"Lin Sheng, if Peregrine cannot raise funds this weekend, it will be declared liquidated next Monday. So I want to come to you and find a way!" Liang Botao took a sip of tea and hurriedly put it down.

Lin Zuhui said: "How much does it cost?"

Liang Botao knew Lin Zuhui very well, so he immediately came to ask for help. At first, he also thought about asking Barings Bank, but Du Huilian and others advocated asking Zurich Group. However, it was almost the same with everyone, and it was difficult for Peregrine!

"Peregrine has almost US$1 billion in bad debts, but its net assets are only over US$600 million."

Lin Zuhui said: "How much market value does Peregrine have left?"

Liang Botao said: "Less than 3 billion Hong Kong dollars!"

At its peak, it was HK$11 billion, which has fallen by more than 70%. It can be said to be one of the stocks with the sharpest decline in Hong Kong.

Lin Zuhui thought about it and said: "In the public eye, if Bahrain Bank injects capital into Peregrine, it will definitely become the absolute majority shareholder, and Du Huilian and others will also be held accountable. To be honest, there is someone I like in Peregrine, and that is you.

This person, Yu Zi, I can personally lend you 300 million US dollars, but you may not be able to save Peregrine, but you will be saddled with huge debts. This is not a good personal choice."

The net debt is more than 300 million U.S. dollars, and even an investment of 300 million U.S. dollars may not be able to save it. After all, some assets cannot be cashed out immediately. Peregrine has so many bad debts that Lin Zuhui has also heard about it: Peregrine holds 200 million U.S. dollars in bad debts from Asian company bonds.

, swap instruments and other bonds also lost US$200 million each, and there was also a loan of US$270 million to an Indonesian taxi company that had no hope of recovery (it wanted to underwrite bonds issued by others). Plus the hedging losses in Xiangjiang, the total was almost US$10.

Billions of dollars in bad debts.

Peregrine's assets are only 4.5 to 5 billion Hong Kong dollars. It is obvious that liquidation is imminent and there is almost no time.

Liang Botao thought for a moment and then said: "Bahrain Bank should acquire Peregrine. Thank you for your respect, I will work for you from now on!"

After a little comparison, he knew how to choose, that is for his own benefit. Assuming that he chose to take a personal loan to save the company, 300 million US dollars may not be possible, and the consequence would be that he would be personally in debt of more than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, and life would be difficult.

.

If he works for this person, he can become a billionaire after all. After all, he knows the salary of Lin Zuhui's executives.

Lin Zuhui nodded, and then made a phone call, asking Octopus Financial Group and Bahrain Bank to organize teams to contact Peregrine immediately.

After putting down the phone, Lin Zuhui said: "We will finish this matter over the weekend and announce it to the public. Now you can go back to Peregrine to prepare the information and the two parties will communicate in detail."

Although he agreed, he still had to go through the necessary procedures. US$500 million was worth it; if it was higher, it would obviously not be cost-effective, so let Peregrine go bankrupt and then make an acquisition.

Peregrine has several things that Lin Zuhui values ​​​​very much:

First: the business of investment banking. 80% of the stocks of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong (red chip stocks) are underwritten by Peregrine, and 20% of the red chip h-shares are underwritten by Peregrine, so Liang Botao is also called the "Father of Red Chips".

Second: Liang Botao himself. Lin Zuhui has never been stingy with talents. Such talents will be worthy of investment when he becomes his son's tutor in the future.

Third: 63% of Guang Sang Bank’s equity is worth approximately HK$1.6 billion, and will appreciate in value in the future.

Overall, with the acquisition of Peregrine, Barings Bank’s Asian business has been greatly enhanced.

Liang Botao nodded and said immediately: "Okay, I will go back and prepare, and I will definitely give you the most favorable conditions! However, I would like to ask how to hold Du Huilian accountable. He shouldn't have made a big mistake, right?"

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "There must be mistakes in negligence, so many directors of Peregrine will resign. If Peregrine collapses, they will not be so relaxed. The court will definitely investigate their legal mistakes, and the consequences will be terrible.

It’s so simple.”

Liang Botao nodded. He understood that what Lin Zuhui said was very reasonable. As for not mentioning his responsibility, he was obviously giving himself face.

"Okay, in that case, let's go through this level first, then I'll make arrangements!"

that day.

The Hang Seng Index fell another 350 points to only 10,350 points.

The weekend is about to come, and it is obvious that investors in Hong Kong have no intention of spending the weekend again. Everyone is thinking about whether Monday will penetrate the psychological defense line of 10,000 points.
Chapter completed!