"Dad, according to the regulations, issuing new shares requires the approval of more than two-thirds of the shareholders."
"I know. You don't need to worry about that; I know what I'm doing. Those three investment firms are trying to swallow the Shen family's two-decade-old foundation, but they better be prepared to break their teeth on it. Have someone run the calculations first to see how much capital we need and to what extent we can dilute the shareholding ratio of those three bastards."
"Okay, Dad." After the two sons replied, they immediately arranged for personnel to run the numbers.
It didn't take long for the results to come out.
"Dad, the finance department has made a preliminary calculation. If we want to suppress their combined shareholding ratio from the current 20% to below 10%, we will need to issue a massive amount of new shares. I'm afraid we'll have to use up more than two billion in cash reserves, and this will greatly dilute the company's earnings per share. The other shareholders might have objections."
"Two billion..."
Shen Yanchang repeatedly weighed this number in his mind. This was almost the absolute limit of the liquid funds they had available on the books.
But quickly, he made his decision.
"Two billion it is. As long as we can keep control, this price is nothing. Didn't you investigate them? Pearl Capital is just a local firm with limited strength. Yunshan Capital and Wanlong Capital are also newly established investment companies. I estimate their total funds are at most five or six billion, which should be almost depleted by now. Once we throw out this two-billion poison pill, it will be enough to cripple them, or even force them to liquidate!"
"I think you're absolutely right. We need to make them lose more than they sought to gain. Once the poison pill is launched, the stock price will inevitably face short-term pressure, and we can take the opportunity to buy back some shares at a low price. It's truly killing two birds with one stone!"
"Yes, arrange it just like that. I will contact the other shareholders and prepare for the vote on the share issuance."
Shen Hao, who had been sitting on the sidelines like an invisible man, watched the father and two younger sons enthusiastically discussing how to crush the three major capital firms. A sneer formed on his face.
Were they joking?
His father and his two good younger brothers had absolutely no idea what kind of behemoth they were facing.
True, these three investment firms were indeed very young. The earliest established, Pearl Capital, had been registered for less than a year, while Wanlong Capital and Yunshan Capital had only been around for a few months.
Looking at it from this angle, it was easy to misunderstand and assume that these three firms had limited strength and no deep foundations.
But if they really thought that, they were gravely mistaken. Although these three firms had a short history, the actual capital they could mobilize when working together could make many industry giants tremble.
Not to mention anything else, just on the books, without any leverage, the funds these three firms could mobilize exceeded forty billion. Let alone triggering a poison pill plan, even taking Qiming Electric private directly would be more than enough.
If it weren't for Liu Yutong feeling that going head-to-head wasn't cost-effective and would affect the final profit, she could have completely ignored the Shen family's share issuance and just swept up whatever stock was available on the market.
To put it bluntly, her willingness to unite her three capital firms to help Shen Hao seize control of the company came with conditions. Friends are friends, and business is business. No one would be foolish enough to use tens of billions in funds just to help a friend grab a controlling stake, no matter how good their relationship was.
Shen Hao had promised that after he gained control of the company, he would buy back a portion of the shares held by the three firms at a reasonable price, and the rest would be slowly cashed out after the lock-up period expired.
According to preliminary estimates, through this operation, the three capital firms would earn at least around ten billion.
In other words, by then, their selling price would have to at least double their purchase price, and Qiming Electric's market value would have to soar to over sixty billion to achieve this goal. Although this profit was far less than what they made during the financial crisis, both Liu Yutong and the members of the Yunshan Club were very satisfied with this estimated figure.
After all, people should be content with what they have.
Of course, if the outside world knew that they planned to make ten billion in just over half a year and still talked about being content with what they have, the internet slang "Versailles" for humblebragging would probably have been born a decade earlier.
Shen Yanchang's observation skills were still very sharp. Noticing the strange expression on his eldest son Shen Hao's face, he suddenly asked, "Xiao Hao, do you have a problem with the plan your brothers and I came up with?"
As soon as these words came out, Shen Rui and Shen Ming, who were about to leave, stopped in their tracks and looked at their eldest brother Shen Hao with some dissatisfaction.
Shen Hao quickly restrained his expression and replied, "Dad, what opinion could I possibly have? I'm currently bearing the blame for my past mistakes; how would I dare to point fingers at your brilliant decisions?"
"I just find it a bit ironic. Before, I wanted to buy some shares from the market, but I ended up losing everything because I was set up by my own family. Now that outsiders are coming, the family is resorting to a poison pill—a tactic that hurts the enemy a thousand times but damages ourselves eight hundred. I just feel it's a bit ridiculous. If we had known this would happen, why did we act that way in the first place?"
The meaning behind his words was very clear. If they hadn't guarded against him like a thief back then, the Shen family's shareholding ratio wouldn't be as low as 24%. It probably would have surpassed the 30% safety line long ago, and they wouldn't have to fear outsiders causing trouble now.
Shen Rui couldn't help but speak up, "Big brother, what are you saying? You were stupid back then, who else can you blame? Now that the family is facing a crisis, Dad is trying to turn the tide! If everyone messed around like you did, our family's control over the company would have been snatched away long ago."
Hearing this, Shen Hao immediately got angry and glared coldly at Shen Rui, "Second Brother, cut the crap. Whether you and Third Brother are afraid of outsiders taking control, or just afraid that I, your eldest brother, will take a share of the family fortune, you know perfectly well in your own hearts!"
"Also, what right do you have to point fingers at me, your eldest brother?! You deliberately set me up just to prevent me from getting more shares. Is my money not the family's money?!"
Shen Rui's face turned pale and then green from Shen Hao's scolding. Although he deeply hated his eldest brother in his heart, he didn't dare to show it too obviously; after all, their father was still right there.
Seeing that his sons were about to start arguing again, Shen Yanchang slammed his hand heavily on the table: "Enough, all of you shut up!"
"Let's not bring up the past anymore! The most important thing right now is unity, standing together against outsiders! From now on, no one is allowed to say anything detrimental to our unity. You are brothers, do you understand?!"
"Understood, Dad."
"Understood."
"..."
All three obediently answered.
Shen Yanchang looked at the three sons in front of him, a wave of powerlessness surging in his heart. With foreign enemies at their doorstep, his sons were still causing him so much worry. Then, he waved his hand, "All of you, get out and proceed according to the plan. Xiao Hao, you stay."
After Shen Rui and Shen Ming left, Shen Yanchang finally asked in a deep voice, "Xiao Hao, it's just the two of us now. Tell your dad the truth, are you hiding something from me?"
Shen Hao knew he couldn't hide it from his father, so he simply dropped the act. "Dad, I knew I couldn't keep it from you. I do have some inside information. Yunshan Capital, Wanlong Capital, and Mingzhu Capital are all working together."
"Is that it?" Shen Yanchang asked. "Didn't we already know that?"
Shen Hao paused for a moment before continuing, "What if I told you I know exactly how much ammunition is left in their capital pool?"
Shen Yanchang's pupils contracted sharply. "Are you certain?!"
