My comment: Just my praise for them. An entrepreneur is a risk-taker in the good times and more in the bad times. Good to see that our tycoons (who have behaved in good times) are learning that part of the Japanese entrepreneurial culture in the bad times too.
Peace and best wishes. Xi Hong Kong’s Richest to Underwrite $1.1 Billion of HSBC’s Offer http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aIPehzecKqA0&refer=home March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, and a group of fellow tycoons are underwriting about $1.1 billion of HSBC Holdings Plc’s stock sale, lending support in a city that accounts for a third of the bank’s investor base. Li, Lee Shau-kee, Joseph Lau and Cheng Yu-tung, who between them have a combined wealth of $33 billion according to Forbes magazine, will underwrite HSBC’s offer to sell shares to existing investors at 254 pence apiece, said their representatives. Equivalent to HK$28, that is almost half the value HSBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed at on Feb. 27, the last trading day before the sale was announced. HSBC, founded in Hong Kong more than 140 years ago, is so synonymous with the city of 7 million people that residents refer to it simply as “the bank.” Based in London and with operations in 86 countries and territories, HSBC gets most of its profit from Asia and is Hong Kong’s largest provider of mortgages. Should HSBC’s operations deteriorate, the tycoons “will be prepared for an exit,” said Winson Fong, who helps manage $2 billion at SG Asset Management H.K. Ltd. in the city. “They are very rich people, and you shouldn’t use them as reference unless your pockets are the same size as theirs.” Fong, who said his comments reflect his personal views, not his firm’s, wouldn’t say whether SG would subscribe to the offer. HSBC spokesman David Hall declined to comment. HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, plans to raise 12.5 billion pounds in the U.K.’s biggest rights offering, after 2008 profit fell 70 percent. It joins Standard Chartered Plc and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in turning to existing investors to shore up balance sheets battered by the global recession. Li ‘Confident’ HSBC will pay arrangers Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and eight other firms 2.75 percent in fees from the money the London- based bank plans to raise. Li, who has a net worth of $16.2 billion according to Forbes, will underwrite about $300 million of HSBC’s offer because he is “confident” in the bank, said Winnie Cheong, a spokeswoman at his flagship company, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. Li is underwriting the sale in his personal capacity, she said. Lee, chairman of Henderson Land Development Co., Hong Kong’s fifth- largest real estate developer, will underwrite HK$2.34 billion of the offer, company spokeswoman Bonnie Ngan said today. In Lee’s opinion, HSBC’s announcement that it will scale back U.S. consumer lending operations is a “positive move, and HK$28 is very cheap,” Ngan said. Forbes Asia ranked Lee as Hong Kong’s third-richest man, with a net worth of $9 billion. Sales Get Costlier Lau, Hong Kong’s fifth-richest man according to Forbes, will underwrite $200 million of the sale, said Alison Yeung, a spokeswoman at his Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. Lau has a net worth of $4 billion, Forbes Asia said last month. Fellow real-estate tycoon Cheng is underwriting about $300 million, a person with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Forbes ranks Cheng as the sixth-richest person in Hong Kong with $3.8 billion. Volatile markets are raising the cost of stock sales. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are charging companies 50 percent more than a year ago to guarantee rights offers to compensate for the risk they may be forced to buy unwanted stock. On average, fees have jumped to 2.9 percent from 1.9 percent in 2008, filings show. Li, dubbed “Superman” in Hong Kong for his investing prowess, has come to the aid of lenders in the city before. In September, he bought shares in Bank of East Asia Ltd. after rumors spread by mobile phone questioning its health sparked a run on the lender. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
