After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

Tang Caide had some matters to attend to, so today it was Li Junwei who came to pick up at the airport. On the way to Central, he suddenly asked, "Mr. Lu, aren't we participating in the Ant Group IPO?"

Ant's plan to go public not only caused a sensation in the mainland, but also made headlines in various newspapers in Xiangjiang.

Since Ant Group was filed for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it had a pre-listing valuation of $175 billion, with the HKD to USD exchange rate pegged at 7.8, it equates to a market value of HKD 1,365 billion.

Such a large group's post-listing, after a few more years of development, may well surpass the Penguin Group to become the new stock king of the Hong Kong stock market.

Previously, Lu Liang also mentioned that as soon as Tianxing Quantitative officially began operations, the next step was acquisition, or cooperation with the Neon's Xingheng to jointly develop a commercial investment bank.

If they take immediate action now, they can definitely complete the acquisition project before the Ant Group IPO.

Then negotiate with Ant about underwriting part of the stock issuance to develop the market.

Just like Delimei's car loan cooperation with General Motors, any projects with capital flow are excellent channels for a commercial investment bank to attract savings users.

The influence of Ant is undeniable. Just last quarter, the savings funds from its users amounted to CNY 1.86 trillion.

Firmly holding onto the wallets of billions of users, the potential after listing is unimaginable.

Even if they only underwrite a few million shares, they could attract a large number of new stock market users.

These users would need to open accounts with their bank, and if they are not allotted shares, they might be reluctant to transfer funds, letting the money remain in their bank accounts.

By offering some promotional activities, they might even develop them into long-term customers.

Taking the Xiangjiang market as an example, the average customer acquisition cost for each commercial bank is as high as HKD 982.

Therefore, various activities or business collaborations need to be continuously launched to attract a new user.

The Ant IPO is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; with Lu Liang's relationship with Ma Yun and Chen Jiebin, underwriting some stocks should not be a difficult task.

"Is my relationship with Mr. Chen really that good?" Lu Liang smiled without giving a direct answer.

This was indeed a good opportunity to develop the investment bank, but he believed it most likely would turn into a futile effort.

If Ant couldn't even pass the mainland review hurdle, then a Hong Kong stock listing and IPO is all nonsense.

Li Junwei showed a pensive look, realizing that Lu Liang didn't want to discuss this topic, so he followed up with: "Now the entire Xiangjiang market knows Mr. Chen highly welcomes your arrival."

There are rumors circulating that to welcome Lu Liang, Chen Jiebin forced Big Liu to agree to sell Zhixiang Building at HKD 7.2 billion.

HKD 7.2 billion is indeed the market price, but the buyer is Lu Liang, and if Lu Liang insisted on having this building, he could definitely command a very high premium.

Ultimately, Big Liu agreed.

Rumor has it that he left an authorized contract for the building's sale and then fled overnight to Switzerland under the guise of seeking medical treatment.

It's said that the villa he shared with Gamby on Tai Ping Mountain is nearly emptied, and he probably won't return anytime soon.

The truth of the news is uncertain even for someone like Li Junwei who is involved.

But two points are certain: Zhixiang Building's selling price is indeed HKD 7.2 billion, and Big Liu is indeed not in Xiangjiang.

As for the process, it may well be a media fabrication.

However, after today, myths will become history. Perhaps years later, there will be a circulating story that the former financial sniper Fan Shuang Liu was scared away by Lu Liang.

Because today Lu Liang was indeed here to buy a building, and Big Liu won't show up, and the selling price is indeed HKD 7.2 billion.

Lu Liang chuckled silently: "The Hong Kong media is still entertaining, there truly are a lot of rumors here."

He pondered for a moment, then said: "There's no rush for the underwriting of Ant Group's IPO; let's first wait for the news from Xingheng."

There are relatively few local commercial banks in Xiangjiang; the big ones won't sell, and Lu Liang has no interest in the small ones.

It's better to wait for news from Wen Chao; once he completes the acquisition there, they can then enter the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan market under the guise of Neon Bank.

It's said that Modu idolizes foreign things, but the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions are no less, possibly due to being colonies; appearing as a foreign-invested bank makes things easier in these places.

Tianxing Financial Group, Lu Liang only planned to retain this name, as for the bank insurance securities underneath, he wasn't particularly concerned about their specific names.

The brand name of a physical manufacturing enterprise needs to be loud and well-known, but the brand name in the financial industry should be as low-profile as possible.

Because the capital consortium has many aliases, but banks, insurance, and securities are the core pillars of the financial system, as well as the most concrete carriers of the capital consortium.

Li Junwei nodded and didn't probe further.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the 82nd floor of Phase 2 of the Central Plaza Building, where the Tianxing Quantitative Fund Company was taking shape.

Liang Wenhu and the technical team from Huanfang Technology were conducting final debugging of the quantitative AI big model.

Tang Caide was performing personnel adjustments, and over the past few days, new employees have been joining one after another, many of whom were part of management, and some positions required her to personally interview.

Everyone was busy with their tasks, and when Lu Liang came in, they merely nodded slightly before continuing with their work.

Tang Caide didn't even lift her head as she said, "Mr. Lu, there might be a slight delay with the building purchase contract."

Tomorrow morning, they were to sign the building purchase contract with Huaren Real Estate, involving funds worth HKD 7.2 billion.

So, she had asked colleagues from the legal department to conduct a third round of gap checks to ensure nothing was missed.

"Alright, carry on. Call me when it's done; I'll take a stroll upstairs," Lu Liang smiled, being accustomed to being ignored.

Being the boss and being overlooked by subordinates is a good sign; it means he doesn't have to worry about everything, and the company can operate without him.

Lu Liang returned to the 22nd floor of the building and then took the elevator directly to the 88th floor of the Xiangjiang Financial Management Office.

Learning that Chen Jiebin was also busy, meeting an important guest, and the meeting wouldn't end anytime soon, prompted Lu Liang to plan on leaving, but he was suddenly called back by the secretary.

The secretary said, "Mr. Lu, Director Chen is talking with Mr. Ma from the mainland and said that if you are interested, you can join the conversation."

Lu Liang was surprised: "Jack?"

The secretary nodded, and Lu Liang chuckled: "Let them chat. Tell Director Chen that I'll be waiting for him downstairs in the company."

Ma Yun appearing here was unexpected yet logical.

The Financial Management Office is equivalent to the mainland's Securities and Futures Commission.

If Ant wants to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, even just to submit the listing review materials, they need to first connect with the Financial Management Office, which can reduce many unnecessary cumbersome processes.

Especially since Ant might not even pass the mainland review; hence, Old Ma needs to have a good conversation with Chen Jiebin.

Unable to have a cup of White Horse Maojian that costs 800,000 per jin, Lu Liang returned to his company, lying on the office sofa and playing on his mobile phone.

"Ma Mou... national thief... absolutely cannot let Ant go public..."

Douyin's algorithm, known as an industry leader, kept recommending to Lu Liang what it knew he wanted to see.

Watching the little red hearts on the video, along with the increasing number of comments, Lu Liang couldn't help but sigh: "The thesis must have a name."

The national thief, the front runner of the Squid Clan, and the undying ambitions of imperialism are terms that used to be restricted, yet now the platform ignores and allows these messages to spread.

Zhang Yiming, cowardly like a mouse, doesn't have the guts, and Yang Zhenyuan is merely an administrator, let alone.

The national response and measures this time absolutely exceeded Old Ma's expectations and made Lu Liang apprehensive.

It's likely that they plan to intervene directly, cut off Ant Group's listing path, and first allow the public opinion to spread as a final ultimatum.

If Old Ma realizes the gravity of the situation and conducts media cooling treatment for a few days, he will still be the beloved Ma Ba Ba of the people.

Otherwise, like last year's Liu family, the titles of three generations of loyalists, the conscience of the United States, will accompany him for life and be nailed to the pillar of shame.

"Public sentiment is really easily manipulated."

Lu Liang sighed softly: "But they may have no choice; we can only hope for a better future for the motherland."