Chapter 567: Doing the Opposite

The next day, Qi Sheng sent Tan Hua and the others to show his parents around West Lake.

Meanwhile, he went to the Banyan Tree Group headquarters to hear a work report from Chen Ye.

Though it was called the headquarters, it was merely three rented floors in Block C of the Bodi Center.

Banyan Tree Group’s business was centered on its hotels in various locations.

“Boss, the group’s financial situation is currently excellent. Including the recent $200 million US Dollars loan from overseas and your $800 million US Dollars capital injection, we can open at least five new Banyan Tree locations in the country!”

Chen Ye was also stunned by his boss’s bold move.

The $800 million US Dollars injection instantly gave Banyan Tree Group ample financial power to expand.

At Qi Sheng’s request, Banyan Tree Group’s development strategy had shifted to constructing its own hotels.

Although this approach was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive, the benefits were also immense.

All profits from the hotel’s operations would belong entirely to the group, with no need to share them with property owners.

Given the average occupancy rates and room prices for brands under the Banyan Tree Group, many property owners were scrambling to partner with them.

Not only would it boost their properties’ brand recognition, but they could also make a fortune from the hotel operations.

Even hotel groups like Four Seasons, Hilton, and Marriott paled in comparison to Banyan Tree Group’s stellar performance.

“I have complete confidence with Banyan Tree Group in your hands. You can call the shots on matters like this. Only contact me if you run into something you can’t decide.”

Qi Sheng was well aware of Chen Ye’s competence and loyalty, so he was more than happy to be a hands-off boss.

“Thank you for your trust!”

Chen Ye stood and bowed, his expression filled with gratitude.

For a professional manager, finding a boss like Qi Sheng was a stroke of incredible luck.

Of course, Chen Ye was completely loyal and dedicated to Qi Sheng in return.

“By the way, I recall you mentioning that the Four Seasons Hotel group made an acquisition offer for our company?”

Qi Sheng asked, intrigued.

“That’s right. The Four Seasons Hotel group’s offer valued us at $4 billion US Dollars.”

Chen Ye nodded. “But they wanted to complete the acquisition through a stock swap, and they valued their own company at $6 billion US Dollars.”

“If we accepted the offer, Four Seasons would be the dominant party in the newly merged company.”

“Their target is clearly our sleep products, which is our group’s greatest advantage.”

“A merger isn’t out of the question, but we’d have to flip the roles.”

Qi Sheng said with a playful smile, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if we acquired the Four Seasons Hotel instead?”

“Ahem… Boss, the market value of the Four Seasons Hotel is much higher than ours.”

“Factoring in a potential acquisition premium, the actual price could be close to ten billion US Dollars.”

Chen Ye froze for a second, then quickly tried to talk Qi Sheng down from his wild idea.

“A premium?”

Qi Sheng just smiled dismissively.

‘With my compulsory acquisition authority, no one can take advantage of me.’

After injecting $800 million US Dollars into Banyan Tree Group and another $200 million into Zhuangyu Catering, he only had $1 billion US Dollars left.

Even if Banyan Tree could scrape together another $1 billion, that would only be $2 billion total.

That was just a third of the Four Seasons Hotel’s market value.

‘Still short four billion US dollars…’

Qi Sheng frowned slightly, pondering where he could get that kind of capital.

His equity in Spicy King was already pledged to Temasek.

The $3 billion US Dollars loan from China Construction Bank was now secured with his equity in Zhuangyu Catering and Miha You as replacement collateral.

Going through the valuable companies he could still use as collateral, only Pop Mart and Universal Entertainment remained.

Pop Mart was about to go public. If he, the largest shareholder, were to pledge his equity before the IPO, it would likely trigger all sorts of market speculation.

Universal Entertainment’s performance was indeed excellent.

However, Qi Sheng had never sought external financing for it, making it difficult to use as collateral.

“Boss?”

Chen Ye called out cautiously, seeing Qi Sheng frowning in thought.

“Hm?”

Qi Sheng snapped out of it and looked at Chen Ye, a little puzzled.

“If you’re serious about acquiring the Four Seasons Hotel, Banyan Tree Group could mortgage the West Lake Hotel property. That should raise about a hundred million US Dollars.”

Chen Ye had calculated Banyan Tree Group’s fixed assets; the West Lake Hotel was by far the most valuable.

‘Mortgage the property?’

A light bulb went on for Qi Sheng. He had almost forgotten about the long list of prime fixed assets to his name.

The Chengdu Twin Towers, market value 4.5 billion.

Shengxuan Financial Center, market value 1.5 billion.

Pudong Financial Plaza Tower 1, market value 3 billion.

Jingyao Qiantan, market value 2 billion.

Aside from the Spicy King properties, which were complicated to deal with, these four buildings alone had a market value of 11 billion.

Adding in the West Lake Hotel, the total was nearly 12 billion.

Beyond that, Qi Sheng also had properties in Singapore and Milan. Even his private jet and yacht could be used as collateral.

With such high-quality collateral, it would naturally be easier to raise funds from the banks.

Even mortgaging them at seventy to eighty percent of their value could bring in $2 billion US Dollars.

A path forward instantly opened up in Qi Sheng’s mind, and his expression relaxed.

‘As for the remaining two billion US Dollars, I’ll have Jin Ying go ask her auntie.’

‘I’m practically family, after all. Surely I can get some financial backing from her, right?’

“President Chen, don’t say a word about the Four Seasons Hotel acquisition for now. And don’t touch the funds on the group’s accounts.”

After giving his instructions, Qi Sheng hurried off to find Jin Ying.

‘Uh… is the boss actually serious?’

Chen Ye stared, dumbfounded, as Qi Sheng left.

But then he thought about an established luxury hotel giant like the Four Seasons Hotel being brought under the Banyan Tree Group’s banner.

‘The boss is a fucking legend!’

This was Chen Ye’s most sincere, heartfelt thought, completely devoid of any ass-kissing.