King
Chapter 1154 - 1154 181 The Crude Five-Year Plan

1154: Chapter 181: The Crude Five-Year Plan 1154: Chapter 181: The Crude Five-Year Plan “Warren Chamber of Commerce has given an estimate of 26.6 million gold coins!”

“Kartesya Trading Company has given an estimate of 26.06 million gold coins!”

“Augustus Trading Company has given an estimate of 25.57 million gold coins!”

“Delunardu Trading Company has given an estimate of 25.34 million gold coins!”

…

An interesting scene unfolded; the representative who raised the most objections happened to give the highest valuation.

Judging strictly from the valuation quotes, it was evident everyone had done their homework.

Including several companies from the kingdom, although they aren’t flush with cash, their valuation offers were not low.

It was obvious that everyone was rational; no one foolishly stepped out to request special treatment from Hudson.

Including the companies under the Royal Family, all quoted honestly, everything was done according to the rules.

Hudson was very satisfied with this outcome.

Working with intelligent people would save him a lot of trouble.

“Congratulations, everyone.

Our base estimate was 18 million gold coins.

Everyone’s valuations are above that, so let’s all move to the second round of negotiations.

As for the valuation of Near East Development Bank, let’s take it as making friends, directly adopting an average value of your quotes rounded to 24.6 million gold coins.

Regarding investment shares, we’re not just looking at money but at the resources everyone can provide.

In fact, I’m not short of 6 million gold coins.

I could still manage to gather that amount.

I’ve invited everyone to this financing meeting mainly because I value the resources in your hands, which can speed up the bank’s development.

For instance, providing convenience for banking operations, depositing idle funds, prioritizing business in the kingdom using Near East Development Bank’s Gold Tickets for transactions, and everything else that can contribute to the bank’s development counts.

Of course, these resources aren’t provided for free, and the bank will offer generous returns.

There are two plans, either everyone contributes cash for financing or uses resources for financing at a discounted rate.”

Hudson said cheerfully.

This outcome was somewhat unexpected, yet expected.

As an emerging industry, the Near East Development Bank deserved a valuation premium.

Once the monopoly advantage no longer exists and the tax benefits are gone, when everyone realizes that the bank is fundamentally a high-debt operating business, the valuation will naturally decrease.

Of course, that’s a matter for the future.

The current advantages of the Near East Development Bank are not limited to these, a low cost of capital was also a crucial factor for this premium.

There’s no need to pay interest on deposits, and substantial fees can be charged for transfers and withdrawals, making the cost of acquiring fund directly negative.

To everyone, as long as liquidity crises are resolved, the future of Near East Development Bank looks bright.

Not exploiting the crisis was mainly because everyone believed that even with limited liquidity, Near East Development Bank wouldn’t go bankrupt.

Before the meeting, everyone had thoroughly scrutinized Hudson’s family assets.

They unanimously concluded that although Hudson lacked cash, he held substantial assets.

Assets couldn’t be liquidated immediately, but they provided solace to depositors.

As long as there is no massive withdrawal surge, Near East Development Bank is safe.

Insufficient liquidity merely meant slower development.

To enhance the bank’s liquidity, besides increasing the capital, simply depositing money into the bank would also solve the problem.

Compared to giving money, Hudson preferred investments in resources.

Essentially, banking is a business that thrives on social resources.

Purely seeking money wasn’t necessary to invite several companies from the kingdom.

In a cash crunch, they’d need to support their behind-the-scenes owners first and couldn’t offer much money.

“Duke, if we use resources to buy shares, this amount of shares wouldn’t be enough to distribute among us.

Considering everyone here, if we fully support the development of Near East Development Bank, it’s not something a mere 6 million gold coins could buy.

I think it would be better to separate financing from resource-based investing.

Financing can be capped at 6 million, but there should be no limit for resource exchange into shares.

Alpha Kingdom is in the midst of a cash crisis, which is both an opportunity for expansion and a challenge for Near East Development Bank.

Instead of continually dealing with issues later, it’s better to solve all the bank’s development issues in one step now.”

Count Jonas’s proposal startled Hudson.

Had he not been unprepared, he would have thought it was a plant arranged by himself.

Both giving money and resources seemed like a sponsorship tactic for Near East Development Bank.

If it really received full support from all parties, he couldn’t guarantee everything, but spreading branches across the major provinces of the kingdom within a year was feasible.

In a maximum of three years, you’d be able to see Near East Development Bank in all the major cities on the Northern Continent.

Even the threat of a liquidity crisis would cease to exist.

As long as no unexpected incidents occurred, with so many powerful entities backing it, Near East Development Bank was essentially immune to bank runs.

However, pies falling from the sky are often poisoned; accepting so many benefits would inevitably come at a price.

For example: authority within the bank.

With just 6 million gold coins, stakeholder’s ownership barely exceeded twenty percent.

With such a small share, split among over a dozen stakeholders, even if demands were made, they wouldn’t hold much weight.

Only by increasing the share of ownership could one achieve greater authority.

“If no one objects, we could also consider expanding the amount of financing.

However, let me clarify that, without violating any banking laws and regulations, shareholders have no right to interfere in the normal operations of the bank.