The first day of high-stakes gambling brought in over a hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

While this sum was a mere drop in the bucket for the acquisition plan, making money was always a good thing.

The constant fluctuations of stock prices were normal. Until the money was safely in his pocket, nothing was certain. Therefore, Su Yehao didn't dwell too much on the ten-plus million US dollars.

His gamble was on the prevailing trend over the next period.

He was betting that as the number of internet users exploded and the telecommunications industry experienced a technological boom, investors and institutions would continue to push stock prices higher.

As for his confidence, it was barely at a 60/40 split. He was about sixty percent sure he could make money, but how much was still uncertain.

Whether he would lose money next was also hard to say.

It was rare for him to engage in such an uncertain venture. Compared to investing in Yahoo, this attempt was much more stimulating – a true high-stakes gamble.

After studying the situation that night, Su Yehao decided that if the stock price continued to rise the next day, he would cash out some of the profits and use them to buy call options on Yahoo's stock, thereby spreading some of the risk.

Financial leverage was a great thing, especially for a gambler like him who was short on cash.

Others often had too few chips and tended to go all in, making it difficult to recover from losses.

But Su Yehao already had plenty of money. Even in the worst-case scenario, he would simply be forced to liquidate his position, losing fifty million US dollars. It would sting for a while, but it wouldn't be a crippling blow.

If he bet correctly on the trend, he could earn enough capital in the short term to launch a new project. The number of iCQ users accounted for one-tenth of the total number of internet users worldwide. At that point, the likelihood of success for the tvt project would greatly increase, potentially generating profits of more than ten billion US dollars, based on Su Yehao's understanding of social networks.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have considered selling off his Yahoo shares. It could only be said that ambition was a bottomless pit, never to be filled...

The second day after establishing his position.

The NASDAQ index opened down 0.4%, and the profits he had made yesterday were immediately reduced by more than five million US dollars.

While Su Yehao was sitting in front of his computer, his phone suddenly rang. It was an unfamiliar number. He answered casually and asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, hello! Is this Su Yehao, Little Su? I'm Peng Jinghua, the branch manager of Bank of China Hong Kong."

"...Oh, yes, this is me." Su Yehao subconsciously perked up his ears. Receiving a call from a bank at this time, he had already guessed something and immediately became alert.

Manager Peng said with a smile on the other end of the phone, continuing, "I received a notification during the day saying that Little Su wanted a loan. The Pengcheng branch doesn't have the authority for US dollar loans, so they transferred the order to me. I wanted to call you a few hours ago, but I heard you were in the United States and I didn't want to disturb your rest. So I set an alarm. Is this a convenient time?"

The term "Little Su" had nothing to do with age, but was mainly used to distinguish him from Su Yehao's father.

Su Yehao said decisively, "I have time. I'm currently in California and won't be back in Hong Kong for a few days. You can ask me anything you want over the phone."

"It's okay, your business is important. It's just that I didn't get much information before. I heard you're planning to acquire an American internet company? You'll need about three to four hundred million US dollars?" Manager Peng then asked.

"Yes, I can raise some of it myself, so it shouldn't take that much. It's just that my assets are currently tied up, so there's a bit of a problem with the collateral. But don't worry, my assets are very healthy, and my repayment ability is not a problem at all. I'm hoping to use the shares of the company being acquired as collateral, which is to say, I'm hoping the bank will finance the acquisition for me."

Su Yehao said earnestly.

Manager Peng immediately understood and asked, "A leveraged buyout?"

"Exactly."

Fortunately, he had attended a few classes at Hong Kong University and often read the newspapers, otherwise Su Yehao might not have understood.

A "leveraged buyout," also known as a financed buyout or a debt-financed acquisition, refers to a strategy in which a company or individual uses the assets of the target company as collateral for debt to acquire that company.

The reason why the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of Japan had gone silent was precisely because they felt that this type of leveraged buyout was too risky, mainly because iCQ's performance was relatively poor. If it were other physical enterprises, or even other profitable internet companies, they might have already agreed to help finance the deal.

"We don't have much experience with leveraged buyouts. Even if we agree, we can only take the shares as collateral, and we'll still need other collateral and guarantees. I hope you won't laugh at us, but you know our situation. The financial market isn't as developed as in Europe and the United States, and many international businesses are just getting started..."

Manager Peng was a little worried. With such a large sum of money involved, the risks couldn't be ignored.

However, it was difficult to do business for Chinese banks. Good deals were often snatched up by Hong Kong, British, and Japanese counterparts, leaving them with only the tough nuts to crack. That was the current situation, so every big deal was extremely important.

In fact, Bank of China had previously tried to send people to contact Su Yehao's company, but the loan interest rates were too high, and they had been unable to reach an agreement.

Su Yehao always felt a sense of familiarity and warmth towards companies from his hometown.

After thinking for a moment, Su Yehao knew that this deal was relatively troublesome, so he said, "How about this? Later, during the day, I'll have my assistant send you my asset statement for review. My debt is about 70%, and some of my assets can still be used for further loans. As for the guarantee, I can ask my parents for help. I don't know exactly how much I'll need to borrow yet, but we can discuss the details later."

"Oh? As long as there's collateral and a guarantee, it should be easier to get approved. I can also ask the head office to see if they can help you. Some conditions can be relaxed a bit."

Manager Peng said with a smile, then asked again, "If it's convenient, can you tell me which company you're planning to acquire? If the target company is in good shape, the approval amount will definitely be higher. I can't guarantee anything, but as long as you choose to cooperate with us, I'll definitely do my best to help you."

Don't think that ordinary depositors constantly complain about the cold and aloof banks.

In reality, the competition between banks is extremely fierce. When facing large clients with financial needs, the banks are actually in a weaker position.

Therefore, although Manager Peng Jinghua felt that Su Yehao's request was a bit troublesome, he was still unwilling to give up. He thought that after preparing the materials, he would talk to his superiors and try to secure the deal.

The last time, on the Sihai International Cultural Tourism City project in Pengcheng, their bank had been beaten to the punch by China Merchants Bank and ICBC acting together. Manager Peng felt that if he could maintain a good relationship with Su Yehao, he would have a chance to win over Su Yehao's parents as well. This would definitely be a top-tier client.

After listening, Su Yehao smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you. The company I want to acquire is called iCQ, an instant messaging software with seven million active users and a pretty good development prospect. I can only squeeze out a little over fifty million US dollars in cash for now. The final amount I borrow will depend on how much I can earn recently. I'll have my assistant send you the materials, and you can take a look first..."