Recast youth

Chapter 1470 Sorry, it can’t be done
Schwarzman's light blue eyes exuded enthusiasm. Putting aside Yang Qingzhi's personal ability for the moment, the huge customer base Yang Qingzhi has is what countless investment institutions want to get.

Customer base with over one trillion basic funds.

What a terrifying number?
When Yang Qingzhi resigned from Goldman Sachs, Schwarzman immediately wanted to contact Yang Qingzhi. As he said, it was a pity that since Yang Qingzhi left Goldman Sachs, few people could contact him.

Yang Qingzhi explained with a smile: "After I resigned from Goldman Sachs, I wanted to take a break, so I cut off contact with the outside world. After all, I had been working in investment banking for more than ten years, so I was a little tired."

"Yes, in any career there will be a period of fatigue at some stage."

Schwarzman nodded to express his understanding. After all, Yang Qingzhi had already reached a very high position. He not only served as the world's two largest hedge funds and the top five asset managers, but in 2005, he was elected by Fortune magazine. One of the 25 most influential businessmen in the world.

For Yang Qingzhi, it is indeed difficult to find anything that can interest him anymore.

Schwarzman thought for a moment, looked at Yang Qingzhi and asked: "I'm curious about who can invite you again. If you don't mind, can you tell me more?"

Yang Qingzhi smiled slightly and said: "A person who shares the same goals with me and has the same direction."

"Well, on the road to entrepreneurship, it is indeed a lucky thing to have people who have the same direction."

Schwarzman shrugged, then looked at Yang Qingzhi and said with a smile: "I wonder if you would like to come to my place to help me. I can give you a partner position."

Yang Qingzhi glanced at Wen Yueqi next to him and said half-jokingly: "One of my partners is next to me. If you poach me in front of her, she might be a little unhappy."

When Wen Yueqi saw that Yang Qingzhi was talking about her, she could only smile modestly at Schwarzman: "Mr. Yang is an important partner of ours. You can't let him go easily."

"Excuse me."

Schwarzman laughed and heard Yang Qingzhi's polite refusal from his tone. As for what Yang Qingzhi wanted to do with him, Schwarzman knew in his heart that it was for the acquisition of the Hilton Hotel.

There are currently two companies pursuing Hilton Hotels, one is Blackstone, and the other is Maple Leaf Fund managed by Yang Qingzhi.

But despite this, Schwarzman still looked at Yang Qingzhi knowingly and asked with a smile: "By the way, you invited me to dinner today. What's the matter?"

Yang Qingzhi said in a casual tone: "In September, I had my first meeting with Bollenbach, and Bollenbach's offer to me was US$9 billion."

Schwarzman asked: "What's the price you gave him?"

"A billion dollars."

"The price is on the low side."

Schwarzman raised his head and said: "Hilton has 10 hotel brands, 2800 hotels around the world, and nearly 50 rooms. It is worth US$200 to 240 billion."

Yang Qingzhi smiled and asked: "If it were you, how much would you pay in the first round of quotations?"

"A billion dollars."

Schwarzman and Yang Qingzhi laughed alike, feeling like confidants. Both of them are the kings of PE in the Wall Street investment community. One is backed by Goldman Sachs, and the other is in charge of Blackstone. Both have relatively gorgeous resumes on Wall Street.Soon, the steak ordered arrived.

Yang Qingzhi took the steak from the waiter, ate it in an orderly manner, and said: "To tell you the truth, my estimated value for acquiring Hilton Hotels is around US$200 billion, and the highest price will not exceed US$220 billion. Now Hilton has given me The price for reopening is US$267 billion. To be honest, this price not only exceeds the value of Hilton itself, but also far exceeds my psychological expectations."

Schwarzman knew what Yang Qingzhi meant. The reason why Hilton Hotels increased prices was because of Blackstone's intervention.

Then Yang Qingzhi continued: "Actually, the acquisition of Hilton Hotels is not a cost-effective investment for Blackstone. US$267 billion is not only a relatively high figure for us, but I believe it is also a relatively high figure for Blackstone." A relatively high number.”

Yes, very high.

Schwarzman’s psychological price for Hilton’s acquisition is US$240 billion, and US$267 billion is also beyond Blackstone’s ability to bear. Especially after the successive acquisitions of American Real Estate Company, Trezek Real Estate Company and Freescale, Blackstone’s Funds are relatively tight.

But Blackstone had reasons to acquire it.

Schwarzman explained to Yang Qingzhi: "If in normal times you had decided to acquire Hilton Hotels in advance, I would not have intervened, but the problem is that Blackstone will complete its listing plan this year."

“Blackstone is going public?”

Yang Qingzhi was stunned. Blackstone is different from other companies. It is a private equity fund management institution. If it goes public, it will have the risk of turning from public equity to private equity.

Once the nature of the private placement changes, Schwarzman and others are likely to lose their core control over Blackstone.

"Yes, listed."

Schwarzman sighed and said: "In order to ensure that the listed entity is not recognized as a public investment fund company, I asked Simpson Thacher to design a legal plan for Blackstone, and Deloitte Accounting Firm to design a legal plan for Blackstone. Conducting a financial audit, it can be said that Blackstone underwent a difficult and comprehensive restructuring for more than a year in preparation for the IPO."

When Schwarzman said this, Yang Qingzhi understood why Blackstone made so many moves in 2006. It even wanted to compete with Maple Leaf Fund to acquire Hilton Hotels even at the cost of offending him.

It’s all about going public.

However, for Yang Qingzhi, the acquisition of Hilton Hotel is also what he is determined to win. This acquisition is not only his first investment, but also a choice made by him and Ye Feng.

Yang Qingzhi raised his head and said: "I still hope that Mr. Steve can give up this acquisition. In fact, Blackstone has better acquisition options. Now that the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has broken out and real estate has plummeted, Blackstone can take advantage of the opportunity to buy the bottom."

Steve Schwarzman slowly shook his head: "It's time-consuming and labor-intensive, and ordinary properties are far less valuable than Hilton's brand. I hope Mr. Yang can help Blackstone go public."

"Sorry, it can't be done."

Yang Qingzhi raised his head and looked at Schwarzman.

Wen Yueqi on the side was frightened when she heard this. Whether it was Schwarzman or Yang Qingzhi, they were both figures who could make Wall Street shake three times with just a stomp of their feet.

Now the moment Yang Qingzhi raised his head, his tone became sharper, which was also in line with his strong personal work style.

(End of this chapter)