In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Jardine House is the headquarters of Jardine Matheson & Co. In the manager's office, Henry Keswick and Simon Keswick are sitting opposite each other, and a depressing silence permeates the room.

Henry Keswick in particular had a face so gloomy that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it.

Although they successfully avoided more serious legal prosecution after difficult negotiations with the Governor's Office, the price of this victory was a huge fine of HK$500 million.

This expense is undoubtedly a heavy blow to them.

At this moment, both of them fell into deep thought, with mixed feelings in their hearts.

He knew that it was impossible not to pay the fine, as the Governor's Office was determined to hold them accountable for their losses.

After several rounds of negotiations, HK$500 million was the minimum fine they could get.

However, this consequence was not borne solely by Jardine Matheson.

As one of the important shareholders of Jardine Matheson, the Rothschild family finally accepted the decision reluctantly, but demanded that the Keswick family bear 2.5% of the responsibility, which means that the Keswick family had to pay HK$ million themselves.

This means that not only Jardine Matheson suffered heavy losses, but the Keswick family also suffered huge losses.

At this moment, Henry Keswick was filled with helplessness and anger.

Who would have thought that just wanting to secretly take revenge on Lin Haoran would end up with such a severe punishment for their Keswick family.

On the other hand, Lin Haoran not only suffered no losses, his reputation did not decline either. Instead, he acquired five pieces of such high-quality land at a very small cost.

The most important thing is that Lin Haoran's influence has once again increased in this incident.

It is really a case of "shooting oneself in the foot".

The conditions proposed by the Rothschild family were extremely harsh, and the Keswick family had almost no choice, because if they refused, their controlling stake in Jardine Matheson would most likely be seized by the Rothschild family.

After a long silence, Simon Keswick finally spoke, with a hint of apology in his voice: "Brother, I'm sorry, I disappoint you."

Henry Keswick slowly raised his head, his eyes fell on his brother's face, and finally turned into a heavy sigh.

He knew in his heart that Simon could not be blamed entirely for this matter. The decision was made by him, but Bao Fuda failed to handle the details properly during the implementation process.

"We have to speed up the pace of Jardine Matheson's withdrawal from Hong Kong," Henry Keswick said after thinking for a moment. "After returning to England, with my support and guidance, the development of Jardine Matheson may be smoother. To be honest, you still lack some experience."

Originally, they had planned to move their headquarters back to the UK in 1981.

But after this setback, Henry Keswick became more determined to complete this deployment ahead of schedule.

"Okay, I will try to move out of Hong Kong completely within this month!" Simon Keswick agreed with his eldest brother's decision.

He didn't want to stay in Hong Kong for even a moment.

“In addition, we need to sell off all remaining businesses in Hong Kong. In the past, the reason why Jardine Matheson & Co. became the king of foreign companies was largely due to the support of the Governor’s Office.

But after this incident, our relationship with the Governor's Office has become strained, and it will be even more difficult to get their help." Henry Keswick added solemnly.

At present, Jardine Matheson's business segments in Hong Kong have been significantly reduced, with Jardine Securities being the only core business left, and the rest mostly property assets.

"Brother, do you mean... even Jardine Securities is going to make a move?" Simon Keswick's face was full of astonishment, and he obviously found it difficult to accept this decision.

As Hong Kong's leading securities firm, Jardine Matheson Securities is undoubtedly an outstanding company. Its market value has long been among the top 1979 listed companies before .

Although the market value of Jardine Securities has declined slightly and it has dropped out of the top 30 due to intensified competition caused by the rapid growth of the real estate industry in the past two years, it still firmly maintains its position in the top 50 listed companies in Hong Kong, with a market value of approximately HK$1.5 billion.

Behind such an impressive market value is the support of Jardine Securities' stable revenue and considerable profits for many consecutive years.

In the overall business landscape of Jardine Matheson, the revenue of Jardine Securities occupies a pivotal position and is an indispensable and important source of income for the company.

But now, the eldest brother actually said that he wanted to sell off Jardine Securities?

“Yes, Jardine Matheson Securities does have a prominent position in the Hong Kong securities industry, which is largely due to the full support of our Jardine Matheson Company.

However, once we withdraw from Hong Kong, our support for Jardine Matheson Securities will naturally be much less than before, its performance and revenue will inevitably be severely impacted, and its market value will inevitably shrink.

Therefore, while the market value of Jardine Securities is still at a high level, selling it is undoubtedly the best time for us to recover funds and reduce losses!" Henry Keswick explained earnestly.

"But, brother, Jardine Securities is the fruit of decades of hard work of our Jardine Matheson Company. If we give it up so easily, I..." Simon Keswick's words were full of reluctance and struggle. For him, Jardine Securities was not just a business, but also an important existence that carried the family's honor and emotions. "Simon, I understand your reluctance, but we must look to the future. This setback has already caused us a heavy blow. Continuing to entangle in Hong Kong will only put us in a more dangerous situation.

Although the Rothschild family has temporarily accepted our conditions, their eyes are full of calculations. We must leave a way out for ourselves and not let them catch us again." Henry Keswick said without question.

The previous decision to introduce the Rothschild family into the ranks of Jardine Matheson shareholders was a choice made out of sheer helplessness.

However, the presence of the Rothschild family on the board of directors of Jardine Matheson has now become a major hidden danger for the Keswick family.

At first, the Rothschild family had vowed not to covet the controlling stake in Jardine Matheson.

But a series of recent actions made Henry Keswick increasingly feel that their real intention might be to seize control of Jardine Matheson.

Squid Capital, it turns out that you can’t trust it!
However, it is too late to say this now.

If the Keswick family wants to consolidate its controlling position in Jardine Matheson, it must make fewer mistakes.

Otherwise, if the Rothschild family seized the opportunity, the Keswick family might completely lose control of Jardine Matheson.

"Okay, I understand. Then should we also consider selling our properties in Hong Kong, including the Jardine House?" Simon Keswick asked.

Although he is the current boss of Jardine Matheson, he is more willing to listen to and follow his elder brother Henry's opinions.

"Hong Kong's property market still has room to grow. We should keep the property for now and wait for its value to increase further." After a moment's thought, Henry Keswick shook his head and gave this reply.

He was well aware of how crazy the Hong Kong property market had been in recent days.

That is why he felt even more heartbroken about losing the Jardine Matheson Group.

Originally, as the leader of Hong Kong's real estate industry, Jardine Matheson should have been the biggest beneficiary of this feast.

However, Wharf Holdings was snatched away by Bao Yugang and the Hong Kong Land Development fell into the hands of Lin Haoran, and their real estate business in Hong Kong was almost wiped out.

How could he not feel painful with such a result!

However, what he didn't know was that he would regret this decision two years later.

More than a year later, the real Hong Kong real estate bubble crisis arrived, and at that time, the prices of properties and commercial buildings naturally fell sharply.

But by then, it was too late for him to regret.

“In that case, let’s find a suitable buyer for Jardine Securities as soon as possible. However, with the current market value of Jardine Securities, it is not easy to find a suitable buyer,” Simon Keswick said with difficulty.

The total market value of Jardine Securities is as high as HK$15 billion, and Jardine Matheson holds about 40% of the shares, which means that the shares they hold are worth about HK$6 million.

With such a huge amount of money, it is indeed a big challenge to find a buyer who is willing to bid and meets our interests.

HK$600 million. In Hong Kong today, many conglomerates have such financial strength.

However, the current investment hotspots in the market are mainly concentrated in the booming real estate industry.

In comparison, securities firms seem a bit less popular, and it is naturally more difficult to find suitable buyers.

If it was only tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, it might be easier to find a takeover party, but such a huge amount of Hong Kong dollars undoubtedly greatly increases the complexity and uncertainty of the transaction.

"Would Huifeng Bank be interested in acquiring it?" Henry Keswick thought for a moment and said.

Although he was the former head of Jardine Matheson, he had been out of office for a long time and didn't know much about Hong Kong's current business world.

"Brother, don't even think about Huifeng Bank. They have their own company, Huoduoli, which is as powerful as our Jardine Securities. How could they spend another 6 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire us?" Simon Keswick shook his head and said.

"Okay, then what other consortiums do you think are likely to buy our shares in Hong Kong?" Henry Keswick asked the question again.

"The consortium most likely to acquire us..." Simon Keswick repeated this sentence and fell into deep thought.

Henry Keswick sat quietly, not disturbing Simon Keswick's thoughts, just gently stirring the coffee in his hand and waiting patiently.

After a long time, Simon Keswick finally raised his head again, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

"Brother, if we want to find someone in Hong Kong who is both likely and capable of acquiring Jardine Securities, it can only be Lin Haoran." Simon Keswick finally said the name he didn't really want to mention. (End of this chapter)