Everyone in the room was busy at work, carrying out the prep work for the early stages of the hostile takeover of the Century Financial Group. They would be holed up here for the next 5 to 10 days, with at least 20 people watching the computer screens at all times. There was even a special catering service hired.
Everyone was both nervous and excited. Each action they took caused major ripples in the outside world.
Nie Yan and his parents sat down on chairs off in a corner.
There were representatives of several dozens of companies, with three in particular attracting the most attention: the Glory Financial Group’s Xie Family, the Dragonsoar Financial Group’s Liu Family, and World Bloc’s Nie Family. The first two were long-established names while World Bloc was undoubtedly a powerful up-and-coming player in the industry. The heir was the guild leader of a.s.skickers United in Conviction, an inner member of Heavenly Kings, and someone Mo Yuntian paid close attention to. All these ident.i.ties created a dazzling halo around him. There was one other matter that left everyone especially shocked, the engagement between Nie Yan and Xie Yao. The Nie Family only had one son. All the family’s a.s.sets would go to him. Once Nie Yan married Xie Yao, he would control 100% of World Bloc, 12% of the Dragonsoar Financial Group, and 28% of the Glory Financial Group. That was, a.s.suming the current situation wouldn’t change. When the current higher-ups of the Glory and Dragonsoar Financial Groups handed over their power to Xie Yao, Nie Yan’s power would be even greater. If this attempt at a forceful takeover of the Century Financial Group succeeded, one could hardly imagine what the future would look like for him. They felt like they were witnessing the rise of a major global superpower under the leaders.h.i.+p of Nie Yan.
The representatives approached the Nie Family, wanting to strike up a good relations.h.i.+p with Nie Yan. He in turn stood up and politely greeted them. It was better to make a friend than an enemy. He naturally wouldn’t push them away.
Xie Jun was the head of this operation. He put on a solemn expression and supervised the work. His usually calm and amiable demeanor was nowhere to be found. Right now, he gave off the air of a leader.
It was about time to get this operation underway. The room gradually settled down. Everyone became deathly quiet, especially the people in front of the computers. All of them were staring fixedly at the many screens. After going through five capital market reforms over several hundred years, in the process becoming one of the most important capital markets in the world, China’s stock market introduced a short selling mechanism.
“How are the preparations going?” Xie Jun asked.
“Everything is ready.”
Xie Jun turned to the higher ups of the Glory and Dragonsoar Financial Groups and asked, “Are the three large shareholders willing to take action?”
“They didn’t give us a straight answer. They are opportunists. Once the situation looks bad for the Century Financial Group, they’ll pounce on them like a pack of starved wolves. However, if Cao Xu manages to survive this, convincing them to help us will be a little harder,” an old man in casual clothing replied. Even though he was a bit thin and short, he still appeared hale and hearty. Everyone here knew him. He was the legendary Liu Hongze, the leader of the Dragonsoar Financial Group and Xie Yao’s maternal grandfather.
“Start the operation. Release the information online! Start short selling the shares in 10 minutes!” Xie Jun said heavily. He pa.s.sed down the order. Even though he only spoke a few simple lines, everyone in the room held their breaths.
It was finally starting! A huge stir was about to overtake the world!
The various large economic news sites started reporting on the Century Financial Group’s financial scandal, how the higher-ups were corrupt and reporting false quarterly figures. If these claims were false, it would be considered slander, and Xie Jun and the others would be liable for defamation. However, if it were true, the consequences would be unimaginable!
The government watchdog agency announced almost immediately that they had started carrying out an investigation on the Century Financial Group. Naturally, this was orchestrated by the Glory Financial Group, Dragonsoar Financial Group, and World Bloc, or else they wouldn’t be so quick to act.
Apart from the investigation, various other information that painted the Century Financial Group in a negative light was also leaked out, such as how they were predicted to suffer an 80% decline in sales in the fourth quarter with a deficit of ¥1.7 billion. The Century Financial Group had completely withdrawn from the virtual reality industry, which accounted for nearly 35% of their total revenue. All of it was gone. The investment couldn’t be recouped.
All this news triggered a ma.s.s panic in the market. Plus, with the Century Financial Group’s shares being intentionally short sold, their stock price was plummeting.
The Century Financial Group’s shares dropped by 12% within minutes. As they tried to invest money back to prevent the drop, it would be immediately swallowed up.
After all, with several large financial groups working together, as soon as they took action, any sort of resistance would be futile. Cao Xu originally had an enormous amount of cash on hand. However, after failing to recoup his investment in Conviction, he was running short. To make matters worse, over the past year to keep investing in Conviction, in hopes of winning the war against a.s.skickers United, he’d even resorted to selling some of his shares. The controlling stake he had in the Century Financial Group had dropped to 30% by now, reaching a dangerous level.
The Century Financial Group’s net worth was over ¥500 billion, a drop of 12% in share prices meant a loss of ¥60 billion.
This was a frightening disaster! And it was only beginning!
...
The Century Tower. Tonight it was brightly lit. This 600-meter tall building, built several decades ago, towered over the eastern part of Huadong. The once unimaginably grand building appeared a bit aged and worn.
At the top floor, there were people rus.h.i.+ng everywhere, similar to the situation at the Rekod Grand Tower.
Cao Xu sat in his office chair with his eyes closed. His former vigorous self now appeared desolate.
“Chairman, are you feeling alright? Here’s the medicine you asked for,” a 24-year-old secretary said. Cao Xu’s heart condition had flared up 15 minutes earlier, giving everyone a huge scare.
“Place it over there.” Cao Xu powerelessly waved his hand, not bothering to glance at his peerlessly beautiful secretary.
Cao Xu knew this hostile attack on his company was only the beginning. In the next few days, the other side would launch an even fiercer a.s.sault. He’d called up several old friends. However, they were all scared of the enemy, and so refused to help him. This was the hypocrisy of the world. He knew these friends only a.s.sociated with him for the benefits, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise. The fact they didn’t go after him while he was down was already quite polite.
On the second day, the collapse only accelerated. As investors from around the world woke up and found the huge dip in the Century Financial Group’s share prices, they panicked and started selling their shares like crazy. The once guaranteed golden goose suddenly became a terrifying monster in their eyes. Only after throwing it away would they feel safe.
The Century Financial Group’s stock price dropped by 32%, at which point it stabilised. Some people who saw the share prices falling so dramatically had an inclination to buy. After all, the Century Financial Group was still a financial giant. Even though they had withdrawn from the virtual reality industry, the profits from their other sectors couldn’t be looked down on. A large part in why they weren’t performing well right now was the failed investment in Conviction.
On the third day, the Century Financial Group’s stock price fell by another 11%, and the trend seemed to be continuing.
The clash was incredibly fierce. Every little fluctuation tested the judgement of both sides. After three consecutive days of the stock price of the Century Financial Group dropping, the vast majority of people who held their shares lost all confidence. The Glory Financial Group, Dragonsoar Financial Group, and World Bloc naturally wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by and intensified their a.s.sault.
On the fourth day, the stock price fell even further. Four consecutive days. One could imagine what sort of blow this was to the shareholders. Those who still held shares started cutting their losses and selling at a low price to recoup as much as they could.
On the fifth day, the Century Financial Group’s stock price was only a quarter of what it once was.
...
Xie Jun and the others were already on several days without a good sleep. Eating or napping was done in the control room. The rest of the time, they would be staring fixedly at the computer screens. Under their attack, the Century Financial Group lost ¥375 billion. Naturally, they didn’t let up.
“Do you evaluate the current situation positively?” Xie Jun glanced at Liu Hongzhe and the others.
Liu Hongzhe nodded. The others also didn’t express any complaints.
Xie Jun finally started buying up the Century Financial Group’s shares. Their movements were discrete so as not to alert others. Apart from this, they also convinced several large shareholders of the Century Financial Group to sell their shares for 50% above market price. All of them felt their guts cramp up with regret. They didn’t expect the a.s.sault of the Dragonsoar Financial Group, Glory Financial Group, and World Bloc to be so fierce. Likely, the Century Financial Group wouldn’t recover from this for a long time to come, if ever. If they knew this earlier, they would’ve sold when the prices were still high. By selling their shares off now, it could only be considered making the best out of a bad situation. After all, they were getting a fairly attractive offer considering the circ.u.mstances. And who knew what other tricks those three powers still had left up their sleeves!
Within the span of 10 days, the Glory Financial Group, Dragonsoar Financial Group, and World Bloc swallowed up close to 22% of the Century Financial Group’s shares. Apart from this, they also bought another 25% from several large shareholders.
It appeared the Century Financial Group was going to have a change of leaders.h.i.+p.
After signing the contract with those several large shareholders, the entire room erupted into cheers. When selling off shares, Cao Xu had priority to buy them back. However, the amount of funds he could maneuver was limited. So, he could only watch on helplessly as the 25% fell in the hands of the enemy.
From this moment forward, the Glory Financial Group, Dragonsoar Financial Group, and World Bloc could start requesting that Cao Xu resign from his position and taking over their businesses. The Century Financial Group’s a.s.sets were extremely valuable to them. If they merged, they would definitely profit immensely.
Nie Yan also became excited. In this moment, the threat of the Century Financial Group that weighed heavily on his shoulders was finally crushed into pieces.
“Reporting to the chairman! We just received news that Cao Xu sold the remaining 30% of his shares to the Radiance Financial Group and disappeared!” a staff member in a black suit came running and exclaimed.
“He disappeared?”
Everyone was shocked.
Nie Yan felt an uneasy feeling creeping up his heart.