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Chapter 338: Henry Keswick's Reluctance to Take Over

Lin Haoran and Niu Bijian were discussing things in the car. Although the reporters outside had no idea what they were talking about, they knew that it must be about the Jardine Matheson Group.

At this moment, the group of reporters were stopped by the security guards of the Kangle Building about ten meters away from the Rolls-Royce and could not get any closer. After all, the person sitting in the car was Niu Bijian, the boss of the Landmark Group, and the security director of the Kangle Building knew his responsibilities.

After talking for more than ten minutes, the two finally got out of the car. When everyone saw this, they knew that their meeting was over.

"Mr. Lin, what did you discuss in the car just now? Can you reveal a little bit?" A reporter asked Lin Haoran loudly.

Lin Haoran stopped and faced the reporter. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "Everyone should go have lunch first. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer for what I'm going to announce. Someone will naturally notify you later. In short, what I'm going to announce will definitely not disappoint you!"

Next, Niu Bijian will have to convene an emergency meeting of the board members of the Jardine Matheson Group. It is not known how long this board meeting will last.

Niu Bijian had already hurried to the elevator, ready to go upstairs to arrange matters related to the meeting.

As the boss of Jardine Matheson and the Hong Kong Land Group, Niu Bijian was naturally more adept at handling such matters.

At the same time, Lin Haoran walked into the lobby on the first floor and found that most of the reporters were still there and had not left.

He even vaguely heard some reporters discussing whether to order takeout to eat here, for fear of missing out on a great opportunity for an interview.

Lin Haoran was not familiar with Kangle Building, but under the guidance of the staff, he quickly arrived at Bao Fuda's office.

"Mr. Lin, I have already notified all the board members. The board members of the Swire Group are mainly senior management. Except for two of them who are now inspecting the project team, the rest are in Kangle Building. I have also notified the other five shareholder board members one by one!" Seeing Lin Haoran, Niu Bijian said with a smile.

"Okay, thank you for your help!" Lin Haoran nodded.

At this moment, Bao Fuda stood aside, silent.

Just now, he had learned from Niu Bijian the purpose of Lin Haoran's visit.

Upon learning that Lin Haoran already held more than 47% of the shares of the Jardine Matheson Group, Bao Fuda was shocked as if struck by a bolt from the blue.

Yesterday, at the board meeting of Jardine Matheson, he voted in favor of the proposal to kick Lin Haoran out of the board of directors on behalf of the Hong Kong Land Group.

What does this mean?
Bao Fuda naturally knew.

And he knew very well what a 47% stake meant.

While Jardine Matheson was discussing how to eliminate Lin Haoran, the other party had already quietly acquired enough shares to control the company. This reversal was difficult for him to accept for a while.

If I voted in favor, it would be equivalent to offending Lin Haoran. The natural result would be that when the other party took control of the Hutchison Whampoa Group, would I still be able to continue to be in charge of the Hutchison Whampoa Group?
Any normal person knows that this is impossible.

So, at this moment, Bao Fuda was a little distraught and confused about his future.

He didn’t know what the future of Jardine Matheson would be, whether it would be controlled by Lin Haoran, but the Swire Properties Group would definitely be controlled by Lin Haoran.

Because there are actually not many well-known British shareholders in the Swire Group.

The reason why they have been able to control the Hutchison Whampoa Group is simply through their shareholding in Jardine Matheson.

Bao Fuda regretted it deeply, blaming himself for acting on impulse and wrongly supporting Henry Keswick, while his boss, who should have supported him, turned against him.

He deeply realized that the importance of choice is far beyond imagination. The most important thing in life is to choose the right direction rather than blindly pursuing speed.

Now, Bao Fuda has realized that he will have to bear the consequences of his wrong choice.

Bao Fuda remained silent, but Lin Haoran smiled and greeted him: "Good afternoon, Mr. Bao Fuda!"

At this time, when I was about to talk to Lin Haoran about the board of directors, a middle-aged man walked in from outside.

This person is Henry Keswick, the biggest controller behind the famous Jardine Matheson British financial group.

He became the head of Jardine Matheson in 1972 and remained in office until 1975, when he handed over the position to Niu Bijian.

Seeing Lin Haoran in Bao Fuda's office, Henry Keswick paused for a moment, and then walked in again.

"Mr. Niu Bijian, can you tell me what happened?" Henry Keswick looked at the three people and finally stopped his gaze on Niu Bijian.

"Mr. Henry Keswick, Mr. Lin Haoran is about to seize the controlling stake in the Jardine Matheson Group and even Jardine Matheson. You should be mentally prepared!" Niu Bijian sighed and responded to Henry Keswick.

Niu Bijian had complicated feelings about Henry Keswick, the former boss of Jardine Matheson.

He was grateful for Henry Keswick's promotion, but also resented him for trying every means to squeeze him out of office.

"That's impossible, Mr. Niu Bijian, what a joke you are making?" As soon as Niu Bijian finished speaking, Henry Keswick retorted without hesitation.

How is it possible? Lin Haoran wants to seize the controlling stake of Hong Kong Land Group or even Jardine Matheson?

To Henry Keswick, this was simply a ridiculous joke!

Jardine Matheson has long been a business firmly controlled by the Keswick family.

Even though Lin Haoran's shares had reached nearly 20% before, far exceeding the shares of Jardine Matheson held by the Keswick family, Henry still easily expelled him from Jardine Matheson.

Today, Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Holdings have achieved mutual controlling stakes. Henry Keswick believes that it would be extremely difficult for Lin Haoran to control Jardine Matheson.

Therefore, Henry Keswick was skeptical about Niu Bijian's words and was unwilling to believe them at all.

Niu Bijian wanted to explain further but was interrupted by Lin Haoran.

Lin Haoran smiled and interrupted, "Mr. Henry Keswick, the Landmark Group will hold an emergency meeting soon. Please be sure to attend. As for whether you can continue to control the situation, you will know the result by then!"

"Well, I want to see what new tricks you can come up with!" Although Henry Keswick was a little panicked inside, he appeared calm on the surface.

Henry Keswick has always been proud of the fact that he was arranged by his father to work at Jardine Matheson since he was young. When he was over 30, he had even entered the senior management of Jardine Matheson and led the company to glory.

Although he has resigned from the management of Jardine Matheson, in Henry Keswick's heart, Jardine Matheson is still the property of their Keswick family, and it is difficult for outsiders to get a glimpse of it. Although he is determined in his heart, facing Niu Bijian's words, he can't help but waver in his heart and begin to believe what the other party said.

Could it be that Lin Haoran really has the ability to control Jardine Matheson and the Hong Kong Land Group?

However, no matter how he thought about it, he could not understand how Lin Haoran did it.

Several people had not had lunch yet, so Niu Bijian specially arranged for everyone to have a simple and sumptuous lunch in a restaurant downstairs in Kangle Building.

Time passed bit by bit. Niu Bijian arranged the board meeting at 1 p.m., and even the two senior board members who were outside were contacted by him and called back to the company for the meeting. Under normal circumstances, the meeting could be held on time.

At 47:, Lin Haoran, led by Niu Bijian, had arrived at the th floor of Kangle Building.

Henry Keswick and Bobby Bowdoin followed closely behind.

Henry Keswick did not believe that Lin Haoran had the ability to take away Jardine Matheson or even the Hong Kong Land Group, but Bao Fuda believed it. After all, Niu Bijian had already told him the most important things with a solemn vow. How could it be false?
Here, there is a conference room of over 100 square meters. Today's board meeting will be held in this conference room.

Before long, more than a dozen people came to the conference room.

Unlike Jardine Matheson, Hong Kong Land Group does not have that many board members and shareholders holding large shares.

This is because, in the past, the Hong Kong Land Group was usually indirectly controlled through Jardine Matheson, which enabled the group to obtain considerable profits with less capital investment.

Under this model, who would be willing to pay a higher price to directly control the shares of the Hutchison Whampoa Group?

These members of the British financial group belonging to the Jardine Matheson Group are all very shrewd.

However, sometimes being too smart can lead to mistakes. Once you are too smart, you will have to bear the consequences yourself.

At this moment, behind Lin Haoran, besides Burton, there were also Su Zhixue and Chen Shoulin.

Su Zhixue was called over by Lin Haoran at noon. After all, he was the general manager of Universal Investment Company, and all the shares of Jardine Matheson and Swire Properties were under Universal Investment Company.

In addition, Chen Shoulin also came because he is now the president of Hong Kong Electric Group, and Hong Kong Electric Group holds 6% of the shares of Hong Kong Land Group and is one of the important shareholders of Hong Kong Land Group!

Many board members at the scene were still in a state of confusion, not understanding why this board meeting was convened in such a hurry.
What’s more, the strangest thing is that the people who came to the scene were not only Henry Keswick, but also Mr. Lin Haoran. What is his relationship with the Jardine Matheson Group and why did he appear here?
"Please be quiet. Now that everyone is here, let's officially start the meeting!" Niu Bijian, the head of the Jardine Matheson Group, announced directly.

Silence immediately returned to the scene.

"Mr. Lin, the next stage is handed over to you!" Niu Bijian then turned his gaze to Lin Haoran.

"Zhixue, you make the announcement!" Lin Haoran said to Su Zhixue who was standing beside him with a smile.

Although Su Zhixue was a little nervous, after all, this was the headquarters of the prestigious Jardine Matheson Group, but when he saw the encouraging look in his boss Lin Haoran's eyes, his mood quickly calmed down.

After all, the time it took him to go from an ordinary securities trader to the general manager of an investment company was too short and he still needed more training.

Su Zhixue stood up from his seat holding a briefcase.

Seeing a strange Chinese face stand up, everyone present immediately looked at Su Zhixue.

Of the 16 people present, except Lin Haoran, Su Zhixue and Chen Shoulin, the rest were foreigners, so the three of them actually seemed a little out of place here.

The Hong Kong Land Group is a very traditional British enterprise. From its establishment to its nearly 100-year history, it has never been out of the control of the British.

However, what they don’t know now is that this situation is about to change.

Su Zhixue took a deep breath, calmed down, and then announced in fluent English: "Here, on behalf of Huanyu Investment Company and Mr. Lin Haoran, I would like to inform you of an important matter.

Global Investments currently holds 41.3% of Hong Kong Land, which means we have the controlling stake in Hong Kong Land. Therefore, the purpose of today's meeting is to formally announce that Hong Kong Land will become a listed company under Global Investments. Here is a copy of our share certificate for your review. We have also prepared the original copy. "

After saying that, Su Zhixue handed a copy to Niu Bijian who was standing next to him. After Niu Bijian glanced at it quickly, he quickly passed it to the next person.

Su Zhixue's words were like a bolt from the blue, catching most people present off guard and shocking them.

What? Huanyu Investment Company wants to control Hong Kong Land Group?
How can this be?

Henry Keswick held the copy in his hand and found it hard to accept the fact.

But the facts were in front of him; stock certificates could not be forged.

“No, no, this can't be true. And even if you hold 41.3% of the shares, when combined with the shares held by Jardine Matheson and our other shareholders, our total shareholding ratio is as high as 42%, which is still higher than yours. You have not reached the standard of controlling the Hutchison Whampoa Group!” Henry Keswick suddenly raised his head and spoke quickly.

However, the blush on his face inadvertently revealed his inner panic.

"Mr. Henry Keswick, please don't forget that the Hong Kong Electric Group also holds 6% of the shares of the Hong Kong Land Development, and the Hong Kong Electric Group is also under the leadership of Mr. Lin Haoran." At this time, Chen Shoulin of the Hong Kong Electric Group stood up, smiled, and calmly refuted.

Everyone knows very well what this means. That is to say, Lin Haoran actually controls 47.3% of the shares of the Jardine Matheson Group.

Moreover, these shares are very concentrated, unlike their British financial consortium, which only holds about 30.2% of the shares even if the 42% held by Jardine Matheson is included, which is very dispersed.

In this case, what qualifications do you have to face Lin Haoran, whose shares are highly concentrated and who already holds nearly 50% of the shares?

Chen Shoulin's words completely shattered the last bit of hope in Henry Keswick's heart.

47.3%.

He was naturally very clear about what this meant.

Even if these British financial groups continue to increase their holdings in the secondary market, they will never be able to surpass Lin Haoran.

In itself, there are only about 10% of the shares left in the secondary market. There are many people who like to hold for the long term. Excluding these people, can they really increase their holdings by 5%?
Even if it is possible, Lin Haoran can still increase his holdings!

(End of this chapter)