Chapter 1646: Discounted Sale
Downstairs at the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation building, the crowds filled every gap in the street.
It had been a week since the announcement of the news. However, the people around here still had no intention to disperse. Officer Fan, who was in charge of maintaining order, had a worried expression on his face. He was out of options.
“Let Gladstone come out!”
“Repay the debt!”
“Yes! Why let us bear the mistake made by that idiot?! We have never supported the independence of Tiangong City. We absolutely support the union with Pan-Asian Cooperation!”
“I knew this would happen long ago! People from the North Sea Alliance are all liars! Robbers! All of them!”
The complaints came in waves; these people seemed tireless.
After hearing the last sentence from the crowd, Officer Fan couldn’t help but think, If you already knew that someone was a liar, why would you take the bait?
Of course, he did not say this out loud.
After all, his current ident.i.ty was a police officer in Tiangong City. Now was not the time to add fuel to the fire, and he was one of the victims too, so it wasn’t like he could berate himself…
The front door of the building suddenly opened. Surrounded by a group of people, a stranger walked out of the building.
Facing the commotion, he cleared his throat and said loudly, “Everyone, please quiet down and let me say a few words!”
However, the people around the entrance of the building were not interested in what the man had to say. In the front row, a middle-aged man dressed in formal attire, who seemed not to be of high status, spoke in an angry voice.
“Who are you! We are not interested in you, we want to see Gladstone! Let him come to see us!”
“Yes!”
“Make him come out!”
Angry exclaims came one after another, and there was an uncontrollable momentum growing.
After waiting quietly for the people to vent their emotions, the man raised his hands and coughed. He then said in a calm tone.
“I am afraid that Gladstone will not be able to come out to see you. He has now been sent to a prison on Earth. A court trial and a sentence of no less than two hundred years will be waiting for him. As for me, I am the new president of the AIIB Tiangong City branch. My current priority is to liquidate the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation… I believe you all should be interested in what I have to say next.”
Sure enough, when he said this, the crowd outside the police tapes gradually calmed down.
However, the shock and anger written on those faces did not fade in the slightest.
Liquidation?
What does that mean?
So, all the corporate bonds we bought a month ago are invalid?
This is a robbery!
Also, who allowed them to go bankrupt?!
We cannot accept this!
Seeing the commotion behind the police tapes, Officer Fan coughed slightly and was about to remind Zhong Ziyu not to irritate the crowd. However, Zhong Ziyu gestured to him not to worry. He then raised his voice and spoke.
“However, considering the interests of all investors, there are indeed regulatory issues on our side in this matter, so we should bear some of the responsibilities. Therefore, a decision has been made after a high-level meeting. The corporate debt will be bought back from all of you at an appropriate price.”
The creditors who were surrounded by the police tapes were stunned. Even Officer Fan, who was standing in front of the police tapes with the police team, was shocked.
Buy back the corporate bonds of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?
Those useless pieces of paper?
How could this happen?
Seeing the expressions on people’s faces began to loosen, Zhong Ziyu knew that he was halfway through. After smiling, he continued to strike while the iron was hot.
“Of course… There are risks in investment after all. I believe you have already considered this when you bought these corporate bonds. The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation does not have a single penny in its bank accounts. The only a.s.set that can be sold is the ‘Noah’s Ark’ project. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that this appropriate price will satisfy you. At best, it will only reduce your losses.”
Among the crowd in front of the police tapes, a man with a side part haircut and dressed in formal clothes stood up. He stared at Zhong Ziyu and spoke.
“What do you mean? You mean the corporate bonds I bought with a million credits will only be sold at half the price?”
Zhong Ziyu did not speak. Instead, the man standing next to him in formal clothes grinned slightly and said coldly, “Half the price? No, we don’t plan to pay that much.”
The man with a side part stared at him and said aggressively, “And who are you?”
“f.u.xing Mining Company. It doesn’t matter who we are.” The man standing next to Zhong Ziyu raised his chin slightly and continued in an impatient tone, “To put it simply, I’m interested in the materials on Noah’s Ark. The parts can be sold for some money if they are removed. But this is a time-consuming and laborious task. It is hard to say whether the larger parts can even be sold. Therefore, if half a billion is too low, goodbye. You can keep your useless corporate bonds.”
After hearing these words, the man who had been aggressive before suddenly lost his temper. The people surrounding the police tapes also showed hesitant expressions on their faces.
A total of 10 billion corporate bonds are now valued at half a billion?
Proportionally, they could only get a small fraction of their money back.
But if they disagreed, they would receive nothing. At least for the time being, apart from this “f.u.xing Mining Company” that came out of nowhere, no company was interested in this “toxic a.s.set”.
Some people saw this situation as a gla.s.s half full while others saw it as a gla.s.s half empty.
Seeing the hesitation on people’s faces, Zhong Ziyu stood up and said in a calm tone.
“Calm down, everyone. If you are not satisfied with this plan, we can only say that we are terribly sorry. The bankruptcy of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation is a certainty. There is only one thing we can do now. That is to reduce the loss for everyone and for ourselves.
“So far, we have contacted hundreds of companies. Only f.u.xing Mining is interested in the a.s.sets of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, but as for how interested… I think you all know, it’s impossible to take over 10 billion credits of debt unless this number can be reduced.
“At least in our opinion, 500 million is already a good offer.”
Before the people around the police tape could react, Zhong Ziyu shrugged his shoulders, turned around, and walked back into the building behind him.
Someone would give these people a contract to sign.
As long as more than 80% of the investors agreed to the acquisition, even if the remaining investors were unwilling, they would not be able to prevent the contract from taking effect. Those who disagreed could of course continue to be the creditors of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, but how much money they would receive in the end depended on how much Noah’s Ark could be sold for.
But then again…
For these unfortunate people, this was indeed the best ending.
After all, if no one was willing to take over the project and the unfinished Noah’s Ark was really sold as sc.r.a.p metal, they could forget about the 500 million. After the s.h.i.+pyard’s liquidated damages and dismantling fees had been paid, they would be left with less than 5 million…