Chapter 673: Going Public

The next morning, despite an extra twenty thousand copies of the Wall Street Journal being printed, the shelf was cleared out immediately.

The reason why was because of two names – Future Technology and First B City Bank.

In the next while, the two names dominated the headlines of newspapers, magazines, websites and forums. The former was recently in turbulence due to the anti-trust scandal while the latter’s stock price and client number plunged because of the client information leak.

It was not difficult for people aware of the situation to draw connections.

Future Heavy Industries intervened in Saudi’s freshwater project, but Matrix was controlled by First B City Bank and B City Scientific. Both companies were subsidiaries of B City Consortium. After considering all the players, the entire event became clear.

Jiang Chen touched the cake of B City Consortium, and B City Consortium bribed Blue Seagull to smudge the image of Future Group and that unfolded the economic war.

An irresponsible hypothesis, based on the control of each consortium to the Capital, would be that it was highly likely that the anti-trust investigation against Future Technology was the work of B City Consortium. And the infiltration of First B City Bank’s firewall was likely done by Future Technology, since they were the leader within the tech industry capable of artificial intelligence.

But last night, both companies published the same announcement on their respective site stating a partnership in the virtual reality financial field to pave the road to virtual reality shopping. The information immediately defeated all the rumors and First B City Bank’s shares spiked by 6% on the day.

It was the first rebound the share experienced since the leak.

Not only was VR + Finance an element, Future Heavy Industries will separate the production and distribution in the freshwater project to form the High Tech Freshwater Supply. The company was injected with 400 million US dollars with an equity swap of 19% in exchange for 20.8% of Matrix to replace the Loki family as the largest shareholder of Matrix. The two companies will develop synergies in its operations. Matrix will utilize its vast resources to gain clients while Future Heavy Industrial will digest the contracts.

To Future Heavy Industries with only technology, an equity swap with Matrix was the perfect choice.

At the same time, High Tech Freshwater Supply went public with First B City Bank as the sole book runner.

The IPO of High Tech Freshwater Supply marked the first subsidiary of Future Group to go public. The Wall Street investors were full of expectations with analysts predicting the Saudi freshwater supply would generate at least 400 million US dollars in profits per year! Based on the large demand in the Middle East region, the number could more than likely double!

Based on the a P/E ratio of 15 times, the company with only 400 million US dollars in equity could exceed a market cap of 6 billion US dollars and gear toward 10 billion in a year’s time!

The tremendous value naturally made the share the Wall Street darling.

With the assistance of B City Consortium, the IPO process went smoothly. The previously tedious process was not a problem with the support of the consortium and the passion of the investors.

As to why Jiang Chen suddenly changed his mind about going public, it was because of Carson Loki’s words.

They already reached an agreement on the partnership by then, but Jiang Chen was against going public from the start. The reason was simple; he firmly believed in the potential of the freshwater business. Future Group didn’t lack money and hence didn’t require going public to draw additional funds.

“Saudi is UA’s strategic ally, even if we are not here to intervene, your business won’t be so smooth in the Red Sea.”

“Why?”

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“Because of UA’s military presence in the Middle East.” Carson smiled. “Mr. Jiang had done some business in Iraq, am I right?”

“That’s right.” Jiang Chen nodded.

It was nothing worth disguising for. Anyone who bothered could trace his footsteps Iraq and Viet. Some intelligence agencies thought these experiences as the “organization’s” way for Jiang Chen to grow. Because of these experiences, he was promoted to be the leader of the “organization”.

If Jiang Chen saw CIB’s analysis of him, he would probably start laughing.

“Whether it is IS or other extremist organizations, they are more or less connected with us. This connection is not only demonstrated through the rifles and bullets in their hands, but it is also displayed through the control of Capital. In necessary times, they will help us eliminate people that shouldn’t exist and provide an excuse for the unnecessary war.”

“I see what you mean.” Jiang Chen nonchalantly opened his hands, “You mean I’ll be afraid of pirates?”

“Of course not.” Carson shook his head, “Based on the Capital’s report, out of all the dictators, you have the most powerful military force. But do you think Saudi would allow you to station a force in their sovereignty? Just because of a freshwater supply?”

Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed. He finally understood what Carson meant.

UA of course won’t take any action, but they would permit pirates or other organizations to attack the freshwater platform. They could even secretly purchase the “souvenir” from them and research the remains.

At this time, Celestial Trade would face an awkward situation. An international military mission not only tested for military prowess, but also diplomacy.

“I don’t understand , what does it have to do with going public?”

“If we go public, even if only 10% of the shares are made public, it could eliminate the concern from the Capital.”

Carson used the word “we”. After he signed the equity swap agreement, he became a shareholder of High Tech Freshwater and this proposal was from High Tech Freshwater’s perspective.

If the company did go public, the situation would be completely different. Even it was to protect the interest of the domestic investor, the Capital would remain cautious on making moves under the table.

Future Group still controlled the company. Regardless from any perspective, going public in UA was a great choice for High Tech Freshwater. Jiang Chen agreed with the proposal and confirmed that 15% of the shares will be made public.

After going public, the structure of the company was 70% controlled by Future Heavy Industrial, 15% owned by First B City Bank. Future Heavy Industrial still had an iron grasp on the company.

Also, the IPO of the subsidiary would bring at least 1 billion US dollars in one time earning for Future Heavy Industries.

On the other hand, with the strategic partnership formed between Future Group and First B City Bank, Blue Seagull, as the pawn, was stuck in an awkward situation.

Without the support, they could not even afford the lawsuit.

Court fees for the international tribune and lawyer fees were not low since they were not charitable organizations. Even if Blue Seagull was not-for-profit, they still must pay for their bill. But Future Group wasn’t looking to end the dispute soon as they dumped two trucks of files at the court. It looked like they were looking to fight a long and drawn out battle.

[If you want to play? I will play with you till the end!]