In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Even if intimidation is used, how could the other party easily bow down in the face of such huge wealth?

Unless they decide to give up everything and completely break up.

However, if such news is leaked, it will not only have an impact on Hong Kong's social stability, but will also deal a serious blow to the credibility of the British government.

After all, this only involves the interests of the British financial groups. How could the government take such a big risk to deal with Lin Haoran!

MacLehault's words quickly calmed Henry Keswick down.

Indeed, the reputation of his Keswick family is not that great yet, and the government has not yet lost its credibility in order to help him!
"Mr. Henry Keswick, in my opinion, what you need to think about now is whether you have the ability to accept the capital of Mr. Lin Haoran's shares, or whether you can find a partner for joint investment. Otherwise, everything is just empty talk.

In addition, even if you have raised the funds, you should also consider whether it is worth spending such a huge price to take over their shares from Mr. Lin. I believe that Mr. Henry Keswick, as a businessman, should know these things better than me.

If you can properly resolve these issues, although I cannot force Mr. Lin to reach an agreement with you directly, I can still persuade him to give you a chance to negotiate. As for the rest, please consider it yourself, you can go back and think about it carefully! "McLehose then added.

He had indeed promised not to get involved in the competition between Lin Haoran and the Jardine Matheson British financial group. However, now that the competition seems to have been settled, it seems redundant to talk about it again.

His role was more of a mediation, and such behavior should not be considered interference.

In the end, whether the British consortium represented by Henry Keswick can finally reach an agreement has nothing to do with him!
MacLehault's words made Henry Keswick fall into deep thought.

After a moment, he slowly raised his head and said, "Mr. Governor, I came here rashly without thinking carefully. I'm very sorry. I will go back and think about it carefully!"

With just a few words, MacLehose silenced Henry Keswick, the former boss and important shareholder of Jardine Matheson.

After leaving the Governor's Mansion, Henry Keswick's eyes showed a rare look of confusion.

I can't get any useful assistance from the Governor's Office for the time being, so I need to go back and think it over carefully.

When he was at Huifeng Bank, Shen Bi actually proposed another idea, which was that the Keswick family and Huifeng Bank should join forces to acquire Lin Haoran's shares. The Keswick family did not have much cash, but Jardine Matheson did!

However, Henry Keswick did not even consider this approach.

Because he understood Huifeng Bank's ambitions too well.

Although they are both British financial groups, they each have their own ideas.

Why was Wharf Holdings successfully acquired by Bao Yugang two years ago? Wasn’t it the work of Huifeng Bank behind the scenes?

The purpose is nothing more than to weaken the strength of Jardine Matheson, so that the strength of Bank of Hong Kong will completely surpass that of Jardine Matheson.

In the end, Huifeng Bank successfully maintained its dominant position in Hong Kong's business community by using such underhanded tactics.

However, who could have imagined that after only two years of dominance, Huifeng Bank would be slapped in the face by a young Chinese.

Henry Keswick knew very well that Shen Bi's initiative to seek cooperation at this time was nothing more than for the ambition of Huifeng Bank.

First, if Bank of East Asia joined forces with all the British financial groups behind Jardine Matheson, Lin Haoran would probably give up cooperation with Jardine Matheson after weighing the pros and cons. However, if only Jardine Matheson or Bank of East Asia acted unilaterally, Lin Haoran might not give up easily.

Secondly, Hui Feng Bank has strong financial resources and can easily raise a large amount of funds to acquire Lin Haoran's shares. More importantly, this move will also allow Hui Feng Bank to take this opportunity to strengthen its voice in Jardine Matheson, making Jardine Matheson almost its subsidiary, thereby once again consolidating its dominant position in Hong Kong's business community.

Huifeng Bank is so proactive, but it is all for their own purposes.

Therefore, Henry Keswick would never choose this path unless he had no other choice.

In fact, he didn't even want to consider this method.

For him, what difference does it make whether Jardine Matheson is controlled by Lin Haoran or by Huifeng Bank?

On the other hand, after the news that Lin Haoran took over Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Holdings spread throughout Hong Kong, Lin Haoran also received many calls.

Almost all of these calls were from Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong, such as Bao Yugang, Li Jiacheng, Zheng Yutong, Chen Songqing, etc.

The purpose of these people calling was nothing more than to congratulate Lin Haoran.

Originally, when Lin Haoran controlled listed companies such as Hong Kong Electric Group, China Gas Company, and Kowloon Motor Bus, he was already one of the top tycoons in Hong Kong's business world.

Now, he has brought Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Holdings under his control, and his influence cannot be underestimated.

Basically, Lin Haoran is now the undisputed largest financial group in Hong Kong, and even the powerful Huifeng Bank cannot compare with it.

Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land, Kowloon Motor Bus, Hong Kong Electric, Ching Chau Cement, China Gas Company, Oriental Daily, Man Ching Group, etc., each of them is a leader in the industry.

Now, they all belong to the same boss - Lin Haoran!

Under such circumstances, no matter how powerful Huifeng Bank is, it is difficult to be compared with Lin Haoran.

From today on, the business landscape of Hong Kong has been completely rewritten. The Chinese financial group has emerged as the dominant force and has become the largest financial group in Hong Kong.

Those British financial groups that were once so powerful can now only retreat behind the scenes. Although they still have strength, they can no longer compete with the comprehensive strength of the Chinese financial groups.

This is good news for various Chinese financial groups.

Although they envied Lin Haoran's acquisition, they all knew that they did not have the ability to do so.

Li Jiacheng had already guessed the consequences when he sold his shares in the Jardine Matheson Group to Lin Haoran, so he was the calmest among these people.

As for the others, whether it was Bao Yugang, Zheng Yutong, Chen Songqing, Li Zhaoji, Guo Desheng, etc., while they were congratulating, their tone was full of shock.

No one in Hong Kong was not shocked.

The acquisition of Wharf Holdings by Pao Yu-kang and Hutchison Whampoa by Li Ka-shing shocked all Chinese businessmen.

Now, Lin Haoran went for a big move and acquired the most well-known Jardine Matheson & Co., how could they not be shocked!
The world has changed. Hong Kong’s business world has completely changed!

He had been basically in the Recreation Building from noon till now evening and had not been anywhere else.

At Jardine Matheson, although there would not be any changes because Niu Bijian retained his position as the manager, he still sent people to thoroughly investigate the financial bills there.

Considering that Niu Bijian's loyalty was only in his early sixties, he really didn't trust him. This kind of person could betray him at any time.

If Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Holdings were not still dependent on Niu Bijian, he would really like to kick them away.

At this moment, the room that was originally Bao Fuda's office has become Lin Haoran's office.

The chair that Bao Fuda originally sat on had been replaced by a new one.

In front of him, there was a thick stack of information.

The strength of the Jardine Matheson Group is so great that you won’t know it until you see it.

The Hong Kong Land Group now has over 70 projects of various sizes under construction in Hong Kong.

Among them, many were developed in partnership with various real estate developers.

For example, the Hong Kong Land Development has cooperated with about 30 companies including Far East Development, Hang Lung Properties, Qiaoguang Real Estate, Yau Ma Tei Ferry, Cheung Kong Holdings, Carrian Holdings, Wo Hup Properties, Wheelock & Co., and Swire Properties.

And at this moment, in front of him is the next development plan of the Swire Group.

These plans were planned by Bao Fuda and approved by Niu Bijian.

For example, the Hong Kong Land Group and Sino Group are currently discussing a cooperation plan to purchase a 145 million square foot plot of land in Pak Pik Shan, Tai Tam Road, Hong Kong Island, with a capital of more than HK$400 billion, and plan to build approximately 5 units of villa-style luxury residences. Once this cooperation is reached, the Hong Kong Land Group will invest HK$40 million and hold a % stake.

In addition, there is a cooperation plan with the Carrian Group to invest nearly HK$8.6 billion to purchase an approximately 10 square foot plot of land in the old wing of the Miramar Hotel in the tourist center of Tsim Sha Tsui, with plans to build a high-end commercial building. At that time, the Hong Kong Land Group will inject HK$35 billion and hold a % stake.

Lin Haoran roughly calculated that there are more than a dozen projects of various sizes, and the total investment has exceeded 8 billion Hong Kong dollars.

This is only the projects that have been planned for the future, not including the projects that the current Swire Group is already co-developing, as well as the long-term planned projects in the second half of 1981 and even 1982.

Once you calculate everything, this kind of investment is unimaginable.

Part of these investments were earned by the Swire Group itself, and part were obtained through bank loans.

No wonder after the real estate crisis, the debt of the Hong Kong Land Group reached HK$150 billion, making it the famous "debt king" in Hong Kong!
All of these will be officially implemented in 1981. As for now, Lin Haoran has become the head of the Jardine Matheson Group and naturally will not allow the Jardine Matheson Group to continue to be the debt king.

Must be stopped!

He has already seen the financial statements of the Hong Kong Land Group.

As of October this year, the debt situation of the Swire Properties Group was still very healthy.

In particular, the Hong Kong Land Group had just sold the Golden Gate Building and Wharf Holdings shares, etc., and made a lot of profit.

In addition, the leasing business of the Hong Kong Land Group also has very good income, coupled with the funds obtained from property sales.

Today, the apparent debt of the Hong Kong Land Development is only around HK$48 billion.

Based on the current real estate market value, compared with the total assets of over HK$48 billion of the Hong Kong Land Group, the debt ratio of HK$ billion is really not high.

Even if it is calculated as 200 billion, the debt ratio is only 24%. (End of this chapter)