In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

In fact, Guan Jiahui is very clear that without Lin Haoran and the Landmark Group, there would be no Modern Girl today.

The initial funding was provided by Lin Haoran, and even the first shop was provided free of charge by the Landmark Group. The selection of goods and shops was also helped by the Landmark Group and several other groups under Lin Haoran's control.

Without the help of these resources, even if Guan Jiahui had the initial capital and opened a women's clothing store on her own, it's uncertain whether she could survive after this year, let alone become a chain company.

This is the advantage of having powerful backers and abundant resources.

While others have to negotiate rents, find locations, and work through contracts one by one to open a shop, she started from the very beginning on Hong Kong's top commercial platform.

Hongkong Land's shopping malls are among the finest retail properties in Hong Kong. By securing the best locations in these malls, modern girls have already gained a head start.

But Guan Jiahui did not waste these resources.

She knew very well that no matter how good the platform was, if she couldn't demonstrate real skills, her shop would eventually be replaced by a better brand.

So she studied hard, researched the market, and refined her products and services. She knew that the opportunity was given by Lin Haoran, but whether she could seize it was up to her.

"Brother Haoran, everything I have is given to me by you. Don't even mention 49%, even if it were 100% equity, I wouldn't care. Even if I do nothing, I know you will support me, right?" Guan Jiahui climbed onto Lin Haoran, sat on him, and said with a smile.

She knew that Lin Haoran didn't care about her assets at all; he was just trying to help her.

If that's the case, why should I care about those shareholding percentages?

Since they all belong to Lin Haoran, if he's willing to give them to her, she can take them.

He was unwilling to give it to her, and she didn't care.

She has never been a greedy person. For her, being able to be with a man of Lin Haoran's caliber in this life is already a blessing she earned in her past life.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You want a child, so I'll grant your wish, hehe!" With the other person on top of him, Lin Haoran didn't care about the 2 million investment, equity ratio, or international expansion.

Those were nothing more than trivial matters to him, things he could just casually instruct on.

Guan Jiahui's smiling eyes sparkled in the dim light, as if to say, "You can't escape now."

He reached out and put his arm around her waist, gently pulling her down until he quickly stripped off her pajamas, revealing a perfect body to Lin Haoran.

……

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed since Lin Haoran returned to Hong Kong.

At Huanyu Investment Company, Su Zhixue would report to Lin Haoran every now and then on the company's shareholding in Dazhong.

Lin Haoran had already passed on the Volkswagen internal information he obtained from Citibank to Su Zhixue.

Therefore, Su Zhixue personally led a team to Germany to secretly contact the institutions or individuals planning to sell their shares, without revealing that the real buyer was Lin Haoran.

They will make initial contact with Allianz Insurance, the Bavarian State Pension Fund, and several other institutions holding shares in Volkswagen, under the name of "an American Wall Street investment firm".

Within a week, the team successfully persuaded an institution and an individual investor to sell the shares of Volkswagen at a price 10% higher than the market price, acquiring 3.5% and 2.8% of the shares respectively, for a total of 6.3%.

Huanyu Investment Company increased its holdings of Volkswagen shares by 1.3% this week through the secondary market, which is considered very fast.

The trading volume of Dazhong stock is not particularly large, with a daily trading volume of about 80 shares. The fact that Su Zhixue's team was able to quietly absorb 1.3% of the circulating shares within a week shows that the operation was very meticulous, without causing any abnormal stock price fluctuations or being noticed by the market.

With the addition of the original 4.8%, Huanyu Investment Company now holds a total of 12.4% of the shares, making it the second largest shareholder of Volkswagen Group.

This shareholding is more than enough to secure a seat on the board of supervisors.

This is the advantage of acquiring shares directly from institutions or major investors through agreements: it's fast and efficient, unlike the cautious, piecemeal accumulation that occurs in the secondary market, where one might worry about causing stock price fluctuations and attracting market attention.

Although negotiated acquisitions require paying a premium, they offer certainty and a time advantage.

For Lin Haoran, time is far more valuable than that 10% premium.

If all of it is acquired through the secondary market, it might really take six months.

But now, only a week has passed, and after negotiating with two companies, he has already acquired 6.3% of the shares. Adding the 1.3% from the secondary market and the original 4.8%, the total is 12.4%. This speed is much faster than he expected.

If this pace continues, the remaining 7.6% could perhaps be completed within a month.

At that time, he will be one of the largest individual shareholders holding 20% ​​of Volkswagen's shares, second only to the Lower Saxony state government, and becoming the largest shareholder will be just a matter of time.

Whether or not this step is taken depends on the reaction of Volkswagen's top management.

March 21st, 9:30 AM, 51st floor of Kang Le Building.

Lin Haoran sat in his office, looking at the documents Su Zhixue had faxed from Germany, and became increasingly satisfied with his efficiency.

Lin Haoran put down the documents, leaned back in his chair, and looked out the window.

Spring comes early to Hong Kong. By the end of March, the weather already carried the scent of early summer. Sunlight dappled across the surface of Victoria Harbour, and the sea breeze blew in through the half-open window, carrying a hint of saltiness.

In the United States, the MGM Grand Hotel is back on track, MGM Studios is still the same as before, and there is no progress in the NBA league, so Lin Haoran does not plan to go to the United States again in the near future.

I have to say, it's definitely more comfortable to stay on your own turf.

In the United States, people not only have to worry about their own safety, but also have to be constantly wary of the ubiquitous media and politicians.

Those people have a sense of smell more sensitive than sharks; if you're not careful, you'll be caught and won't be let go.

In Hong Kong, he is the most influential Chinese businessman, and everyone operates under his rules without having to be constantly on edge.

"The Volkswagen shareholding issue should be settled. Next, we should consider the acquisition of car brands!" Lin Haoran muttered as he pulled a document out of his bag.

He had an assessment document in his hand.

"Feasibility Assessment Report on the Private Acquisition of Leyland Group in the UK!"

This data was the result of a week-long investigation conducted by his company, Global Research, which took into account current political factors, national conditions, the financial situation of the Leyland Group, the British government's attitude toward privatization, and potential competitors.

After a full week of research, this morning, Yu Zhize, the general manager of Huanyu Research Company, personally came to the Kang Le Building to hand over the data.

Leyland Group is currently a state-owned enterprise, 100% owned by Enterprise UK. To acquire the entire Leyland Group or any of its car brands, the only option is through the UK government's privatization process.

In other words, whether or not you can buy it doesn't depend on how much money you offer, but on whether the British government is willing to sell and in what form! Lin Haoran looked at it carefully.

The more Lin Haoran looked, the more his brows furrowed.

He saw that the final analysis of the report concluded that the possibility of Hong Kong people wanting to acquire the entire Leyland Group was 0!

Moreover, the analysis also shows that even if the entire Leyland Group could be acquired, it would not be recommended!

The reason is simple: Leyland Group carries too heavy a historical burden.

Since the British government nationalized Leyland Group, it has injected more than £10 billion into the company for bailout purposes.

But that's far from enough!
Leyland Group has been burdened with huge bank loans, pension deficits, and the resettlement and union obligations of nearly 20 employees for years. If the entire Leyland Group is taken over, it will be equivalent to taking over all loss-making businesses, debts and employee burdens. The real cost is several times the equity consideration, and it is a bottomless pit of continuous bleeding!

In other words, even setting aside political factors and the question of whether the British government would agree to the sale, even if Leyland Group could be acquired in its entirety, it would only mean taking over all the loss-making businesses, debts, and employee burdens—a super unprofitable deal!

This conclusion completely extinguished any remaining hope Lin Haoran had for a "complete acquisition".

He originally thought that if he could acquire the entire Leyland Group, he would gain access to more than 30 world-renowned car brands, as well as a complete British automotive industry system, encompassing everything from research and development to production and sales.

But the report clearly told him that it was a trap.

The cost of an acquisition is not just the acquisition price itself, but also the debts, pension gaps, union agreements, and legacy issues hidden outside the financial statements.

Lin Haoran was certainly not a fool.

So after reading this analysis, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​acquiring the entire Leyland Group.

The reliable advice from Global Research is that if you want to acquire British automotive assets, there is no need to bite the bullet and try to take on the illogical idea of ​​"acquiring Leyland as a whole." Instead, you should choose the most valuable brand to acquire in a targeted manner.

For example, Austin, Rover, MG, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc., have independent technology systems, brand recognition and market potential, and are relatively easy to separate from the Leyland Group.

Moreover, the advantage of targeted acquisitions is that they only buy high-quality assets and do not carry historical burdens.

Of course, this path is not easy. The entire Leyland Group is actually relying on these car brands to keep going. Many other car brands are basically dormant or shelved. For example, the original century-old luxury brand Wolsley stopped production in the mid-70s; and the original mid-to-high-end sports car brand Riley stopped new car development in the late 60s.

There are far too many car brands like this within the Leyland Group.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Leyland Group integrated more than 30 British car factories. Today, fewer than 10 brands are still active. Most of them have either ceased production or are shelved, leaving only a name and a piece of history.

While these dormant brands may have some historical value, they have no actual production or sales. Acquiring them is like buying a pile of old books; they may have stories to tell, but they won't fetch a good price.

Moreover, ceasing production and ending R&D means that their technology has become outdated, their production lines have long been dismantled or converted to other products, and their R&D teams have long been disbanded or reassigned.

Even if you buy back the names of these brands, you're just buying an empty shell. To revitalize them, you might need to invest more money and time than to acquire an existing brand.

This kind of investment has a very low cost-performance ratio.

Lin Haoran's gaze returned to those active brands—Austin, Rover, MG, Morris, Triumph, Jaguar, Land Rover, Leyland Trucks, and Leyland Buses.

These are all the active automotive brands of the Leyland Group today.

As for MINI, strictly speaking, it is not an independent brand at present, but belongs to Austin and is officially named Austin Mini. The entire car is covered by the Austin logo. It will only become an independent brand after the entire Leyland Group is gradually split up in the future.

Lin Haoran's gaze swept back and forth among these brands.

According to research and analysis by Global Research, it would be virtually impossible for him to acquire multiple brands.

Indeed, this is true. In another world, in 1986, the Thatcher government attempted to sell the Austin Rover division as a whole to General Motors, a U.S. ally, but this was forced to end due to strong protests from patriotic members of the Conservative Party.

Now, in 1983, three years earlier, there is absolutely no political space for foreign capital to acquire the company.

However, if one or two car brands are chosen for targeted acquisition, the situation is completely different.

Targeted acquisitions do not involve a change of overall control, large-scale layoffs, or a full transfer of core technologies, so the political resistance from the British government will be much smaller.

Moreover, targeted acquisitions can be selective, buying only high-quality assets with brand value, technological accumulation, and market potential, without having to take on historical burdens.

Which brand to acquire? That's not difficult; you can use the process of elimination to rule out unsuitable ones.

The challenge lies in seizing the right opportunity to acquire a particular car brand.

Lin Haoran closed the report, leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the skyscrapers of Central outside the window, lost in thought for a moment.

He realized that the British government was currently at a critical juncture in Margaret Thatcher's privatization reforms.

The Thatcher government has successfully privatized state-owned enterprises such as BP and British Airways, and the privatization of Leyland Group is only a matter of time.

Previously, the British government had tried every means to make him lean towards Britain, and even the Queen herself officiated at his wedding.

All of this is enough to show that if he completely sides with Britain on Sino-British political issues, the British government will certainly give him a wide berth in acquiring the car brand under the Leyland Group.

After all, the British government has been looking for a "bridge figure" to strengthen Sino-British relations, and his status and influence in Hong Kong's business community fits that role perfectly.

In addition, his enormous wealth made even Britain envious.

If he is willing to take a political stance in exchange for commercial benefits, the success rate of this deal will be much higher.

But Lin Haoran was unwilling to do so.

He never intended to use political statements to gain commercial benefits.

His investment in and promotion of the Daya Bay project in mainland China was not for the purpose of gaining political capital, but because he believed in the development prospects of the mainland, believed that it was the right thing to do, and because he has always had the blood of a Chinese son or daughter flowing in his veins. Helping the motherland to accelerate its development and become richer is what he should do.

If he were to change his stance and attitude in order to acquire a few British car brands, he would not only lose the trust of the mainland, but also his own principles.

Hopefully, the negotiations won't be too difficult; otherwise, he'll have to abandon his plan to acquire the British car brand and look for other more viable options.

The world is vast. Besides Britain, there are Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Each country has car brands worth acquiring.

However, the brands under the British Leyland Group are currently the most suitable for acquisition. (End of Chapter)