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Governor's Palace.

Murray MacLehose was the first to know about this. Before Lin Haoran finished holding the press conference, he had already learned about this through his intelligence agency.

After learning about this, he was confused for a long time.

I called Lin Haoran this morning and asked him to come to the Governor's Mansion to negotiate peace, hoping that he would not make things too serious.

As a result, only a few hours have passed and you tell me that Lin Haoran has already taken over the Jardine Matheson Group?
Not only that, they also used the Jardine Matheson Group to take control of Jardine Matheson?
All this was too unrealistic. Even though he knew that the information passed on by his subordinates could not be wrong, he still had doubts.

This was beyond his imagination.

The Hong Kong Properties, a behemoth with a market value of over HK$47.3 billion, Lin Haoran already controls % of the shares?

Even if calculated based on the total market value of HK$47 billion, these shares are worth HK$ billion.

47 billion, what a huge number!
As the Governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose naturally had a deep understanding of money.

At this moment, how could he not understand why Lin Haoran insisted that he not get involved in the competition between him and British financial groups such as the Jardine Matheson Group.

At first, he was quite confident that Lin Haoran alone could not compete with these united British financial groups.

Now, only a few hours have passed and the slap in the face came so quickly!
Mai Lihao's fingers tapped the desk rhythmically.

He was thinking about how to deal with this matter.

Such a big event, needless to say, would definitely cause a huge sensation in Hong Kong, even more sensational than Bao Yugang's acquisition of Wharf Holdings and Li Ka-shing's acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa!
In his heart, he must be inclined towards the British financial group.

But I had already promised Lin Haoran in the morning. If I intervene again and persuade Lin Haoran to give up Jardine Matheson, it would be equivalent to breaking my promise.

It’s difficult!
But it seems that I can't not help.

Jardine Matheson and Hutchison Whampoa are absolutely different.

Although both are one of the four major trading companies, Hutchison Whampoa is far inferior to Jardine Matheson.

Moreover, it was Bank of Hong Kong that intended to give Hutchison Whampoa to Li Ka-shing.

Therefore, Hutchison Whampoa was controlled by the Chinese financial group, and there was no opposition from any British financial group. At most, Hutchison Whampoa's former boss Werley complained behind the scenes, but it had no effect on Li Ka-shing's control of Hutchison Whampoa.

But Jardine Matheson was completely different.

This is a large enterprise jointly controlled by several British financial groups. More importantly, it also represents the face of the British people.

Now, Jardine Matheson has fallen into Lin Haoran's hands so easily. What does this mean? It means that Lin Haoran has given a loud slap to the British financial group, including those behind Huifeng Bank!

After much thought, MacLehose could not come up with a solution and had no effective solution.

"Let's see if those Jardine shareholders come looking for me. If not, I will just pretend that nothing happened. If they do, I will deal with it when the time comes." Mai Lihao murmured.

Just when he had no idea how to deal with it, the phone rang.

"Mr. Governor, Henry Keswick is here to visit." The call was from a staff member of the Governor's Palace.

"Bring him in," said Mai Lihao.

After hanging up the phone, Mai Lihao couldn't help but frowned.

He was planning to pretend that nothing had happened, but the other party came to him on his own initiative. It seemed that he could not escape.

Outside the Governor's Mansion came the famous former Jardine Matheson Boss Henry Keswick.

After Henry Keswick left the Connaught Building, he immediately found several major shareholders behind Jardine Matheson and went to the Huifeng Bank with them to discuss the matter with Shen Bi.

When Shen Bi learned that Lin Haoran had already announced that he had taken control of Jardine Matheson and Swire Properties by virtue of his equity advantage, his reaction was that he felt like he had encountered a fairy tale and could not believe it was true.

Even their Huifeng Bank only dared to use small tricks to suppress Jardine Matheson. As for controlling Jardine Matheson? They didn't even dare to think about it.

But what about Lin Haoran, what did he do?
He alone directly controlled the Jardine Matheson Company, which they had always regarded as their rival?

In this case, Shen Bi naturally knew very well what this meant.

This means that Lin Haoran's business strength has surpassed that of Hui Feng Bank. Hui Feng Bank will have to give up its position as the overlord of Hong Kong after only two years.

“Mr. Henry Keswick, based on the proportion of shares currently held by Mr. Lin Haoran, your chances of taking back Jardine Matheson through conventional business channels are slim.

At present, the only feasible strategy is to use the power of the government to put pressure on Mr. Lin Haoran. If he can't bear this pressure, maybe you still have room for negotiation; otherwise, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Jardine Matheson to return to your hands. "Shen Bi put forward his suggestion.

Shen Bi secretly hoped that Henry Keswick could take over Jardine Matheson again. In this way, even if Lin Haoran relied on the strong strength of Hong Kong Land Group, Hong Kong Electric Group and other companies, and even if he still surpassed Bank of Hong Kong, the gap would not be too big, and there would still be a possibility of overtaking in the future.

However, once Lin Haoran controls not only the Hong Kong Land Group but also Jardine Matheson, it will be almost impossible for Huifeng Bank to become the industry leader again. At least during Shen Bi's term, this is a difficult goal to achieve. This is naturally not what Shen Bi wants to see.

Businessmen always pursue profits.

Cooperation is for the sake of interests; competition is also for the sake of interests.

It was because of Shen Bi's words that Henry Keswick decisively went to the Governor's Mansion, hoping to get assistance from MacLehose.

Soon, Henry Keswick, led by the staff of the Governor's Palace, came to MacLehault's office.

Murray MacLehose came to the door in person to greet him.

Henry Keswick's identity is not ordinary. He is not only the current head of the Keswick family, but also a British aristocrat with a considerable network of connections in British politics.

Therefore, even the Landlord MacLehose attached great importance to him.

"Mr. Governor, I believe you already know the purpose of my visit this time. I hope you can give me some help. Our Keswick family does not want to lose control of Jardine Matheson!" Henry Keswick said impatiently as soon as he entered the door, before he even sat down.

As for the Jardine Matheson Group, he was too lazy to even mention it.

Given the current situation, it would be good enough to be able to take back the controlling stake in Jardine Matheson & Co., but you still want to take back the Hutchison Whampoa Group?

What a fool’s dream!

Henry Keswick couldn't imagine how heavy a blow it would be to their Keswick family if they completely lost all control over Jardine Matheson and completely lost this golden goose that laid golden eggs.

Today, the Keswick family has finally relied on Jardine Matheson to become one of the top family financial groups in the UK. If they lose Jardine Matheson, there is no doubt that their status will drop to a lower level.

Although the 12% stake is still there, there is no say in the matter, so this 12% stake has little impact.

Cash out?

What’s the point of getting those hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars?

With the control that the Keswick family has had over Jardine Matheson over the years, how much profit must they have gained? It's not just hundreds of millions.

So, no matter what, Henry Keswick was unwilling to lose Jardine Matheson, and he was unwilling to miss even the slightest chance.

This is the last chance to use the government as a deterrent.

"Mr. Henry Keswick, don't be anxious. Sit down first and let's have a good chat!" Seeing that the other party was a little excited and didn't seem to calm down at all, Mai Lihao pointed at the sofa and said with a smile.

Henry Keswick only realized at this moment that he had been a little rude.

There was no way around it. Jardine Matheson was too important to the Keswick family.

In the past, he had never expected that Keswick would lose control of Jardine Matheson.

Even though Niu Bijian had gradually shown signs of disobedience in the years since he took office, the Keswick family was still able to maintain a certain degree of control over Jardine Matheson by placing pawns in the top ranks of the company.

However, now that Lin Haoran has a controlling stake in Jardine Matheson, it means that he basically has the final say. The pawns he has placed in the top management of Jardine Matheson may be cleared out by Lin Haoran at any time.

Faced with such a situation, what role can his 12% stake play?

After seeing the other party sit down, Mai Lihao said: "Mr. Henry Keswick, even if I come forward, what's the use? Mr. Lin Haoran indirectly controls 49.1% of the shares through the Landmark Group.

The shares held by your consortiums are too few. Even the shares held by Mr. Lin Haoran himself, excluding the shares of the Hong Kong Land Group, have reached 19%, which is far more than the shares of Jardine Matheson held by your family, Mr. Henry Keswick!

Mr. Lin Haoran, everything you did was just a business move. It was just that you didn't take effective preventive measures, which allowed the other party to succeed. As the governor, I have no reason to find Mr. Lin and ask him to give up Jardine Matheson! "

Mai Lihao's words hit the key point directly.

Even if you can force Lin Haoran to give up Jardine Matheson voluntarily, you still need money to buy the shares. Will others give you the shares directly for no reason?
The Governor's Office does not have the ability to be so overbearing. This is a way of doing things that is completely beyond the rules.

Do the British financial groups represented by Henry Keswick really have the funds to acquire the shares of Jardine Matheson & Co.?
Especially now that the share price of Jardine Matheson has risen to a total market value of more than 8 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Even the 19% in Lin Haoran's hands is worth more than or billion Hong Kong dollars.

If his Keswick family wants to raise this money, they will probably have to spend everything they have.

What's more, when Lin Haoran and others also hold 30.2% of Jardine Matheson's shares in the Hong Kong Land Group, how could these shares be easily transferred to them!

At this point, the complexity of the problem is no longer something that can be solved by the government unilaterally.

The conflicts of interest involved are far beyond their control. (End of this chapter)