In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 199 The winner is the king and the loser is the enemy!
Looking at the reporters below, Li Ming, who was sitting on the podium, felt quite complicated.

He had been the chairman of China Gas Company for several years and was suddenly forced to step down, so he must have felt reluctant.

Over the years, he has made a lot of money for his family through the China Gas Company, thereby continuously expanding the family business.

But from today on, this place can no longer make money for his family.

Lin Haoran also sat next to him, ready to speak after Li Mingze finished speaking.

At this moment, a staff member hurried in, walked to Li Mingze, and said softly: "Chairman, Mr. Niu Bijian, the boss of Jardine Matheson, and others are here and are going upstairs now."

The voice was not loud, but the reporters below could hear it clearly, because at that time, apart from this staff member, no one else was talking in the training room, and it was originally quite quiet.

So, after hearing what this staff member said, the reporters below immediately became interested. They knew that something good was going to happen.

As journalists and media, we like to see this kind of situation the most, because it allows us to write more controversial articles, attract more readers, and stay ahead of other companies in the fiercely competitive newspaper and media industry.

When Li Ming heard what the staff said, he immediately stopped talking. He planned to wait for Niu Bijian and others to come up before making any plans.

The others were not in a hurry for those few minutes. They were all looking forward to what would happen after Niu Bijian and others came up.

Two minutes later, Niu Bijian arrived at the training room under the guidance of the staff of China Gas Company.

In addition to Niu Bijian, there are many other people, including Bao Fuda, the general manager of the group.

Because the Swire Properties Group also participated in the acquisition.

Niu Bijian walked into the training room and felt strange when he saw Lin Haoran sitting there for the first time. However, when he thought that the Hong Kong Electric Group was also a shareholder of China Gas Company, he thought this was the reason.

He never thought that Lin Haoran had secretly acquired the shares of Li Mingze and others.

After all, no one would have thought of this, and no one would have thought that Li Mingze and other shareholders would all sell all their shares to the same person.

Holding 40.7% of the shares, everyone believes that it is already the largest shareholder and is enough to control China Gas Company.

Therefore, Niu Bijian greeted Lin Haoran with a smile and said, "Mr. Lin, I didn't expect to see you here."

On the contrary, people do not take Li Mingze, the head of the Li family, one of the four major Chinese families in Hong Kong, seriously.

"Good morning, Mr. Niu Bijian!" Lin Haoran stood up and responded with a smile.

Li Ming, on the other hand, had already gotten used to it. He had resisted the invasion of Jardine Matheson and had already had a falling out with the company.

"While everyone is here, I will announce my personal decision!" At this time, Li Ming spoke into the microphone.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent, their eyes focused on Li Mingze, including Niu Bijian.

Everyone thought that Li Mingze would announce his resignation as chairman of the board of directors of China Gas Company next.

In the current situation, there is no point not resigning voluntarily. With the equity of Jardine Matheson, it is enough to remove Li Mingze from his position at the board meeting.

As expected, Li Ming continued, "Today, I officially announce here that I will resign as Chairman of the Board of Directors of China Gas Company!"

This sentence was just as everyone expected, so no one looked surprised. Instead, the photographers took pictures of this scene. Some reporters even thought that this photo should become the headline picture.

At this time, even Niu Bijian smiled.

"This Mr. Li is quite self-aware. I don't even need to take the initiative to propose his removal!" Niu Bijian said to himself.

So, he couldn't wait to walk to Li Mingze's side.

Li Mingze wanted to continue speaking, but he didn't expect Niu Bijian to completely disrespect him. He directly took the microphone and said to everyone, "While so many people are here, I also want to announce something. Our Jardine Matheson Company now has absolute control over China Gas Company, so I have decided that I will concurrently serve as the chairman of China Gas Company. From today on, China Gas Company will become another listed company under Jardine Matheson Company!"

Suddenly, the members of the Jardine Matheson Group who followed Niu Bijian over broke into warm applause.

However, no one applauded except them.

For Niu Bijian, Jardine Matheson had worked hard for five years and finally succeeded in taking over the China Gas Company. Naturally, he did not take Li Mingze seriously at this moment.

This situation made Li Mingze very embarrassed.

After all, he is a well-known veteran in the business world in Hong Kong. Although he is not a top businessman, he is also a well-known figure among Chinese entrepreneurs.

Niu Bijian is totally disrespecting him!
Since you don't give me face, why should I give you face?
The Lee family in Hong Kong does not rely on the connections of the British financial groups, so they are not afraid of Jardine Matheson at all.

Although the Li family's wealth cannot compare with many emerging Chinese financial groups today, Li Mingze's status in the Hong Kong business community is also very high and his foundation is very strong.

Not only is the Li family one of the four traditional Chinese families, but Li Ming is also the only Chinese chief mentor in Freemasonry. This identity is enough to enhance his status in Hong Kong society.

Therefore, he was naturally not afraid of Jardine Matheson. To put it more arrogantly, with his family's connections in Hong Kong, even the Governor had to give him some face.

To him, his wealth may not be as much as those consortiums, or even far less, but his status is definitely not inferior to them.

"Mr. Niu Bijian, I'm sorry, I haven't finished yet. Wait until I finish." After Li Mingze finished speaking, he put the microphone back in front of him.

Niu Bijian didn't say anything else, but he wanted to see what Li Mingze could say.

"At the same time, before resigning as chairman, I and three other board members have sold our shares to three companies under Mr. Lin Haoran. From now on, we will have nothing to do with Zhonghu Gas Company!" Li Ming continued with a smile.

He couldn't wait to see Niu Bijian's reaction.

Having just been insulted by Niu Bijian, he couldn't wait to slap these foreigners in the face.

Sure enough, after he said this, Niu Bijian's face changed, and his eyes seemed to feel that something extremely incredible had happened.

The people below immediately started talking about it.

Everyone knows a little about the shares held by Li Mingze and others, which is nearly 33% of the shares.

But now, it has been sold to Lin Haoran?
This is hard to imagine.

At this time, Lin Haoran, who had been silent, stood up and spoke.

“Mr. Niu Bijian, our Hong Kong Electric Group competes fairly with the Jardine Matheson Group. I am sorry to tell you that the position of chairman should be held by me because the shares we control are far more than those controlled by your Jardine Matheson Group.

Yesterday, we not only acquired the shares of Mr. Li Mingze and others, but also absorbed a lot of shares in the stock market. Therefore, we now control more than 50% of the shares of China Gas Company. It is reasonable for me to be the chairman. If Mr. Niu Bijian wants to participate, I think you can take on other positions in China Gas Company!" Lin Haoran said with a smile. This is normal business competition. Originally, Lin Haoran did not intend to let Niu Bijian lose face.

What I didn’t expect was that Jardine Matheson has been so high-profile these past two days.

Not only did he unilaterally announce last night that Jardine Matheson would take over China Gas Company, but now he has directly announced that he will be the chairman of China Gas Company before it has been confirmed.

So, it's not his fault.

He now holds a controlling stake in China Gas Company. It is impossible for him to really make him the chairman just to save Niu Bijian's face. Lin Haoran is not such a coward.

With sufficient funds, he is not worried about Jardine Matheson and is even secretly trying to acquire Jardine Matheson and even the Hong Kong Land Group!

“By the way, this is the stock transfer contract that I, Mr. Li Mingze and four others signed yesterday!” After Lin Haoran finished speaking, he took out the stock transfer contract from his bag and held it up to show everyone.

Although everyone may not care about the detailed terms of the contract, everyone can still read the big words "equity transfer contract" clearly.

At this moment, Niu Bijian looked at this scene with a pale face, speechless.

He didn't expect that the Hong Kong Electric Group had been silent for some time, but had quietly come up with such a big bomb.

This time, their Jardine Matheson Company was doomed to be disgraced, and he turned into a clown in the Hong Kong business community.

"Dear journalist friends, today's press conference ends here. We will send you information next, so please leave first!" Lin Haoran knew that Niu Bijian was in an awkward situation, and it was not appropriate to let these reporters stay at this time, so he simply drove them away.

Although what happened just now made Niu Bijian, a business tycoon, embarrassed and offended him, he is ultimately a top tycoon in Hong Kong's business world and cannot be offended too much.

They can discuss and decide what to do next among themselves.

The reporters left the training room in an orderly manner.

No one dares to disobey Lin Haoran. A big shot like Lin Haoran often has sensational news. If you offend him this time, don't even think about getting an invitation next time.

For them, the news topics they obtained today are already more than enough to allow the editorial department behind them to write many various traffic-attracting articles.

"Mr. Lin, can we talk alone?" After the reporters left, Niu Bijian looked at Lin Haoran with a complicated expression and said.

For him, this acquisition was a complete failure.

For this acquisition, Jardine Matheson and Land Development invested more than 200 million Hong Kong dollars in cash. This was because they already held a portion of the shares of China Gas Company, and these costs were not taken into account. Otherwise, the investment would definitely be more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars.

Therefore, they paid a huge price for this acquisition.

More than 200 million Hong Kong dollars, under normal circumstances, is enough for them to control several large-scale listed companies.

As a result, despite investing so much energy and money in China Gas Company, the company ultimately failed to obtain even a controlling stake.

Most importantly, they are destined to become a laughing stock in Hong Kong because of this.

At this moment, Niu Bijian realized that he was too arrogant before and thought that everything was under his control.

However, reality slapped him hard in the face.

The other party holds more than 50% of the controlling stake, and Jardine Matheson & Co. will never be able to snatch the controlling stake no matter what.

Nowadays, there are actually not many shares of China Gas Company in the hands of retail investors in the stock market, less than 10%.

Even if Jardine Matheson bought all the stocks on the stock market, it would be of no use.

"Okay, Mr. Niu Bijian, I'll make some arrangements first. Please wait a moment!" Lin Haoran said with a smile.

After saying that, he turned to Chen Shoulin and said, "Mr. Chen, please hand over the work to Mr. Li."

Then he turned his hand again and said to Li Mingze who was sitting next to him: "Mr. Li, thank you for your help."

"Okay, boss!" Chen Shoulin accepted the task. From now on, he would be the one in charge of the company.

Li Ming also nodded and followed Chen Shoulin out of the training room.

Others also walked out of the door one after another, and the last person who walked out even closed the door considerately, because everyone knew that the two big bosses would decide the future of the company in the training room.

Soon, Lin Haoran and Niu Bijian were the only two people left in the entire training room.

After all, Niu Bijian is a business tycoon for many years. Although his face looked grim just now, he has recovered as before now.

"Mr. Lin, I really admire you. This method is totally not something you can use at your age!" Niu Bijian said with some emotion.

Winner takes all, loser for Kou.

Now, Hong Kong Electric Group is the winner of this acquisition battle.

And they, Jardine Matheson, were naturally the losers.

Niu Bijian is considered a veteran in the business world. In his life, there have been wins and losses in business battles, and all this is normal.

What he didn't expect was that he still underestimated this young man in the end!
Is this the price of hubris?
A China Gas Company would not make Niu Bijian regard Lin Haoran as an enemy.

After all, the Hong Kong Land Group is still cooperating with the Hong Kong Electric Group, where the benefits are greater.

“Mr. Niu Bijian, to be honest, all of this was a surprise to me. I had originally planned to let the Hong Kong Electric Company give up the fight. After all, your Jardine Matheson Company is too strong, and our Hong Kong Electric Company can never compete with you. But accidents always happen.

Just yesterday, when I learned about your Jardine Matheson's acquisition decision, I was very surprised. Our Hong Kong Electric Group cannot match such courage. However, later, Li Mingze and others took the initiative to come to me and persuade me to take over China Gas Company.

Finally, I was convinced by them, and I took advantage of the high trading volume in the stock market to acquire some shares. Together with the shares they transferred to me, I have achieved the current situation.

So, it’s not that I’m so amazing, but that everything is just a coincidence!” Lin Haoran explained, half true and half false.

You can't act too smart in front of these old foxes, otherwise they will definitely find ways to guard against you in the future.

Just like this time, if they had been on guard against Lin Haoran, perhaps Li Mingze and others would not have been forced to sell their shares to him under pressure and voluntarily give up their controlling rights.

And what Lin Haoran said was obviously explaining that all this was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with his ability, and it was not something he had been planning all along.

(End of this chapter)