Chapter 80 United Finance (4)

Fiat did not step forward, other big banks did not lend a helping hand, the Ministry of Finance and the central bank continued to maintain a high-pressure situation, making the situation of these dozen small banks worse day by day. The crowds of people running for banknotes filled the streets, and even other banks that were not originally among them were affected by this trend. Everyone was anxious to find all possible ways.

It’s not that no one put pressure on the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank, but when they said what Mussolini meant, and then expressed the attitude of the state holding 25% of the shares, everyone knew that this time it was not only the United Group that wanted their lives, but Mussolini also wanted to take advantage of the chaos to rob them. What else is there to struggle?

On November 14, the United Group held a press conference to officially announce the financial sector, the 13th business sector of the United Group. The core management team headed by Leo and including Francesco all appeared. Leo elaborated on the development plan of the financial sector, saying that United Finance, with United Bank as the core, integrates the five major functions of banking, trust, insurance, securities, and consumer credit to operate in a closed loop.

Rio first announced a message: From now on, 20 million liras of student loans will be provided first, and a long list of schools will be read out. Students from all the schools on the list can apply for student loans from United Credit independently and repay them with their salaries after work. Schools can also apply jointly, and the United Group will provide schools with certain operating funds.

Since United Credit has not yet been officially listed, students who need to apply individually can go to the United House nearby to submit application forms and relevant information. After verification, the loan will be issued as soon as possible and promised to keep it confidential.

The interest rate of student loans is set very low, with an annual interest rate of no more than 5%, and the time can be as long as 10 years. Reporters can see that this is not for making money, but for supporting education and poor students, so this suggestion is still very eye-catching.

Rio then announced important news: In order to maintain market stability, effectively enhance risk resistance, and strictly adhere to the "bottom line of no systemic risk", United Finance signed a merger agreement with 18 small and medium-sized banks and jointly initiated the establishment of United Bank. Although the specific negotiation terms were not announced, it was easy for senior journalists to find out the news: the United Group invested a total of 30 million US dollars and owned 85% of the shares of the new bank. The remaining 15% of the shares were held by the original small and medium-sized banks, with the largest holdings being 1% and the smallest being only 0.7%. Of course, they got 30 million US dollars.

The United Bank will take over the debts and liabilities of all the acquisition targets and officially debut with a new image on January 1, 1925. At the same time, the United Group is preparing to launch corporate bonds to the market with an amount of 500 million lire and an annual interest rate of 6%, which will be underwritten by the United Bank.

Just when everyone thought that this matter was basically over, the dazzling operation of United Finance had just begun:

On November 17, United Finance signed a contract with the Italian government to transfer 25% of the shares to the Ministry of Finance for 10 million US dollars. Although this price was a little more expensive than the acquisition price of the United Group, the government also took a great advantage. Measured by fair value, 25% of the shares are worth at least 16-18 million US dollars. What's even more amazing is that there are rumors that the government has no money to invest, and all the funds are temporarily owed to the United Group. In the future, it will repay the United Group with various scrapped equipment, land, mines and franchises.

Now everyone finally understands why the Minister of Finance and the central bank are in a high-pressure posture. It seems that the government has long been eyeing this piece of fat meat and wants to take a bite, so it will not support these small and medium-sized banks at all. Only then did the young Agnelli react to the old Agnelli's suggestion to him. It seems that Contini and Mussolini have already negotiated the conditions. If Fiat rushes out rashly, it will be jointly hostile to the two parties.

Ginger is really old and spicy.

On November 21, United Financial and Citibank signed an agreement to sell 14 branches of two small banks in Milan and Rome to its rival for $5 million, allowing the latter to set up Citibank's Italian branch;

Six days later, before the official signboard was even hung, United Bank announced the completion of its A round of financing: Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Bank of America, three giants, jointly increased their capital by $30 million and obtained 24% of the shares of United Bank after the share expansion, 8% each; the shares of other shareholders were reduced accordingly.

At this time, United Bank was valued at $125 million, and with a large amount of cash in hand, the run on the bank was immediately quelled, and the United Group no longer said "no transactions", as it had become its own bank. All suppliers knew that they must place the lead bank in United Bank in the future, otherwise they would lose the priority in obtaining orders.

Francesco thought that the "de facto son-in-law" would stop there, but he did not expect that Contini's appetite was much bigger than his. After receiving the funds, United Finance quickly attacked other banks and offered a high price of 3.75% interest on one-year deposits. This high-interest deposit-raising move immediately attracted a large number of Italian residents to move their deposits, and other small and medium-sized banks that were not affected suffered casualties. From November 30 to December 9, in just 10 days, 7 small and medium-sized banks in Venice, Naples, Verona and other places announced that they would be acquired due to the loss of deposits and the risk of bank runs.

On December 28, just after Christmas, Union Bank, which was about to be listed, announced its B-round financing. The three giants, BNP Paribas (BNP), Société Générale (Société Générale), and Credit Lyonnais, increased their capital by 45 million to Union Bank. US dollars, obtaining 21% of the equity, 7% each. However, in just one month, the valuation of United Bank increased from 125 million to 215 million. With the increase in valuation and the influx of funds, there are more of Italian small and medium-sized banks collapsed and became branches of Unibank.

With the entry of the American and French financial systems, the development of the Italian banking industry has attracted great attention from the British. The Times publicly wrote: The establishment, rise and introduction of foreign capital of Union Bank finally marked the opening up of the Italian banking industry. The door to self-enclosure and adherence to tradition. Although the Italian banking industry had a glorious history in the past, this history disappeared forever with the end of the Renaissance. Blindly reveling in the intoxication of this historical status is not conducive to expansion. It is also not conducive to progress... The only thing that surprises us is that this change was actually caused by an external disruptor in the financial industry like United Group. Perhaps in the future we will have to focus more on cross-field competitors?

Francisco smelled something from this unusual attitude, and he immediately went to communicate with Leo. The latter said that he had just heard that Antonio was negotiating with the British side and was preparing to introduce HSBC Holdings, Royal Bank of Scotland, Buck The three giants of Nedbank jointly increased capital in United Bank to achieve Series C financing.

"One more thing..." Leo said hesitantly, "Calais told me that since the small and medium-sized banks have almost completed mergers and acquisitions, they will next attack the large banks at the bottom. He is eyeing the first one. The first target is Southern Bank... I hope you are prepared. Of course, he is embarrassed to say this to you openly, so I can only convey it to you. "

No wonder it was so easy to borrow 200 million liras with an interest rate of 8%. After the acquisition, it became our own property. Isn’t this from pocket to pocket?

Francisco was shocked: "You know, although Southern Bank ranks low among the big banks, it still has a relationship with the Pope, so..."

"Pope, you don't have to worry. Calais has a very good relationship with the Pope. The other party believes that he can trust him. In addition, he has gone to Switzerland now, and Swiss bankers will be responsible for some of the Pope's privacy..."

In fact, this was just two people telling lies with their eyes closed. Even Francisco did not know about the Pope’s extremely private finances. They had always been in Switzerland, while the public and semi-public funds were only in Southern Bank. Contini went to Switzerland to discuss cooperation. , others don’t know, how could Francisco not know that this is for Vivian to check out the residence, hospital and postpartum life arrangements! But Contini didn't have the nerve to tell him directly. It was conveyed through Leo, which made him feel hot, but he said: "Yes, yes, the Swiss banking industry is also quite developed. I want to investigate it carefully."

Francisco thought that Leo didn't know the specific details of Contini and Vivian, but he didn't know that the other party had already known it, but so what if he knew it, and could he reveal it in front of his father? So Leo could only pretend to be confused, and continued to talk to Francisco about the idea of ​​investigating the Swiss banking industry that neither of them believed in, and they actually talked about it with gusto and truth.

He found that his acting skills had finally been upgraded...