In early January, Henglong Group released an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange HKEXnews platform.
The title of the announcement is not too long--
"Henglong Group's Announcement on the Release of Pledge of All Shares held by Controlling Shareholder and the Zeroing of Interest-bearing Liabilities at the Group Entity Level" --
But Liu Mingyu carefully considered every wording when drafting it.
All pledged shares are redeemed and no share is left;
All financing debts at the group entity level are paid off and interest-bearing liabilities are reduced to zero;
Controlling Shareholder Control is stable, Equity Structure is clear.
He added a line of remarks at the end of the announcement:
"After the completion of this pledge release, all the shares of Henglong Group held by Controlling Shareholder Mr. Zhao Chen will be in a state of no pledge, no freezing, and no rights restrictions."
Chen Qiming sent the archives of the last batch of repayment confirmation letters to the Zhao Chen office on the morning of the announcement.
Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and that Private Bank--
The total pledged financing at the beginning of the year was 3 billion US Dollar. After several early repayments,
The remaining Principal and Interest were all transferred at the end of last year.
All four investment banks have issued written confirmation letters and the pledge registration has been officially cancelled.
When he put the Kraft Paper file bag on the Zhao Chen table, his movements were very light, as light as putting down a fragile item.
"Zhao Zong, the last batch of confirmation letters from the four investment banks have arrived."
He opened the file bag and arranged the four documents in date order.
"Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and that Private Bank--
The total pledged financing at the beginning of the year was 3 billion US Dollar. After several early repayments, the remaining Principal and Interest were all transferred at the end of last year.
The pledge registration is officially cancelled.
The Henglong stocks pledged under your personal name - all are unpledged, and no share is left."
Zhao Chen picked up the confirmation letter from Morgan Stanley at the top.
The signature date was at the end of last year, and in the signature column was an English name signed in blue ink, with the handwriting tilted to the right.
"Chen Qiming, when you reported the pledge financing figures online to Board of Directors at the beginning of the year, were you afraid?"
Chen Qiming's hand that was picking up the coffee cup paused.
He thought for a moment and put the coffee cup back on the table.
"To be honest, what I was afraid of at the time was not the numbers.
It was the time when more than a dozen screens went silent at the same time after I reported the numbers.
The lights were still on in the office at that time, and the tea Sister Su made for you was at your hand. You said to the screen--
'I know, I'll solve it.'
What I thought at the time was that if this person could still say "I'll solve it" in this situation, he either really had a solution or he was crazy.
It turned out later that you were not crazy."
Zhao Chen stacked the four confirmation letters together and put them back into the Kraft Paper portfolio.
There was a white cotton thread at the seal. He wound it several times and wound it tightly.
"Archive it. Henglong will no longer need this category of portfolios in the future."
Chen Qiming took the file bag and pressed his finger on the line "Cleared-Archived" on the cover.
"Zhao Zong, I have been in finance for many years and have handled hundreds of financing contracts.
This is the first time I've moved a company's pledge financing file from 'Existence' to 'History'."
At closing time in the afternoon, Liu Mingyu opened the office door.
He placed the printout of Henglong stock price Time-sharing Chart in front of Zhao Chen,
The stock price rose moderately, volatility continued to decline, and Trading Volume stabilized near the daily average level.
"After the announcement was issued, the media's questions focused on two points:
Does the return to zero of interest-bearing liabilities at the entity level mean that the company no longer uses any financing leverage;
After the pledge is released, does Controlling Shareholder promise not to pledge again.
I replied according to the caliber you set before--
Henglong Capital still retains a small number of low-cost financing tools on A-share's position.
That is a normal asset allocation method, and the overall debt ratio is controlled in single digits;
Henglong Group no longer has any financing debt at the entity level.
All shares held by Controlling Shareholder have been released from pledge.
Control does not have any side risk.
Zhao Zong, this paragraph will be the longest standard paragraph in Henglong's external announcement."
He opened the memo and pushed it in front of Zhao Chen, with a smile in his eyes.
Zhao Chen scanned the long wording in one glance and nodded.
"For the first time, I feel like a lot of nonsense is a good thing."
In the evening, Zhao Chen walked slowly along the riverside trail of Jiangbeizui.
The January river breeze blew clear and dry on my face, and the steel cables of Chaotianmen Bridge glowed with an iron-gray light in the dusk.
Shen Zhiyi didn't ask him why he suddenly wanted to take a walk today - he had this habit every time after making a major decision.
"This afternoon, Liu Mingyu sent out the announcement. All pledges were released and the entity's interest-bearing liabilities returned to zero."
Zhao Chen stopped and put his hands on the railing by the river.
"While pledging, I was thinking about one thing -
If I can't pass this level, Henglong's Control will no longer be mine.
All those financings were cleared and all pledges were redeemed.
From now on, there will be no risk of Control being left behind by Henglong under any circumstances."
"That night you called me. On the phone you said - '178, not broken'.
I asked you what you meant, you said Tesla closed at 180 today, and you held it."
Shen Zhiyi stood next to him, and the Jiang wind blew the broken hair around her ears a little messy.
"Later I found out that you were talking about Liquidation Threshold.
I didn't understand these financial terms at the time, but I knew your tone was very calm when you said 'not broken'."
She took out a folded piece of paper from her Tote Bag.
The edges of the paper are slightly hairy, and the creases have turned a little white. It has obviously been opened and folded many times.
She unfolded the paper - it was hand-drawn K-line Chart,
There is no specific date marked on the horizontal axis, only two years are written on the starting point and end point.
From the starting point to the end point, there is a thin and light pencil line connecting from the low level to the high level.
In the middle, at the bottom of the deepest valley, a circle was heavily drawn with a red pen, and the three numbers "178" were crookedly written in the circle.
"This picture was drawn during my internship.
At that time you were being hunted by the Short-Selling Alliance in United States, and I could only hear your voice from the overseas phone call--
Every time you tell the worst news as fast as you can, and add at the end, 'It's okay, I can solve it'.
You never told me how difficult it was for you, but I know that you had insomnia the whole night when New York was forced to 178.
I am working overtime at a law firm to do non-litigation business documents, and the stock price of Tesla on Bloomberg Terminal next to it is still falling.
I drew this picture based on the time points and price levels you mentioned casually before, and drew a circle of 178 at the deepest bottom.
Every time I hear your calm tone on the phone, I know that 178 can still hold on.
Later, on the day the stock price rebounded from 178, you told me--
'Not broken', I put a check next to 178 in this picture."
Zhao Chen took the K-line Chart and slowly rubbed the red circle of 178 with his fingertips.
The pencil handwriting is very light. The person who drew the picture is obviously not good at drawing K lines--
The lengths of the candlesticks were not in proportion, and the positive line stretching upward from 178 was drawn too thickly, like a rope tied to a cliff.
"You never told me about this 178 hook.
We often talk on the phone, but you just listen every time and never ask."
"Because every time you tell me 'it's okay', I would rather believe what you say is true.
I drew this picture not to ask questions, but to remember.
Later, you pulled the stock price back from 178, and on the K line from the starting point to the end point, 178 has never been touched again."
Zhao Chen folded K-line Chart and put it back in her hand. It wasn't that she didn't want it, but she wanted to keep it for herself.
"There is no need to draw this kind of picture in the future. There will no longer be anything like 178 on the K line of Henglong."
Shen Zhiyi put the folded K-line Chart back into the bag without answering his words.
She just took her arm out of his hand, took his elbow again, and the two of them continued walking along the river.
The steel cable Chaotianmen Bridge in the distance is getting brighter and brighter in the night, and the freighter on the river has sailed out of sight.