In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 465: Ximen Comes to the Door

In Hong Kong, there are only a few financial groups that can come up with a huge sum of 600 million at one time. It’s not a lot, but it’s not a few either.

Li Ka-shing, the man behind Cheung Kong Holdings, saw a surge in capital flow after completely absorbing Hutchison Whampoa. Like Lin Haoran, he would occasionally reveal that he had acquired or was in the process of acquiring a certain company.

However, the companies acquired by Li Jiacheng all have one common feature, that is, they all own a large amount of high-quality land.

Jardine Securities clearly does not have these characteristics.

The main reason why Jardine Securities has such a high market value is because of its performance.

In Hong Kong, the financial securities industry is divided into three parts: Jardine Matheson Securities, Wal-Mart and Sino Group.

It can be said that with the towering Jardine Matheson Group as its backing, Jardine Securities' performance is very strong.

But once it loses Jardine Matheson as its backer, no one knows what the future strength of Jardine Securities will be.

Therefore, Simon Keswick knew that if he wanted to sell Jardine Matheson Securities, real estate tycoons like Li Ka-shing would definitely not be interested.

The same is true for Guo Desheng, Li Zhaoji, Chen Songqing, Zheng Yutong and others.

They are all famous real estate tycoons in Hong Kong who rose to prominence due to the booming real estate industry.

So these people are more focused on the development of the real estate industry.

After taking over Hutchison Whampoa, Bao Yugang has been in a state of self-cultivation and has only gradually recovered until now. It is absolutely impossible for him to spend 600 million to acquire a securities company.

Huifeng Bank has its own Huodoli Company. In the financial securities industry, even if Huodoli Company swallows up Jardine Securities, it does not mean that Huodoli will take over the market occupied by Jardine Securities. Therefore, Huifeng Bank does not even bother to acquire Jardine Securities.

There are also many Chinese businessmen running financial securities businesses, including Sun Hung Kai, which is also involved in the securities industry, such as the newly emerging Sun Hung Kai Securities. However, it is basically impossible to get HK$600 million from these people. They invest more funds in the real estate industry, and the financial securities industry is just their secondary business.

In today's booming real estate industry, how could they possibly withdraw so much money to invest in the financial securities industry!

Lin Haoran is a well-known corporate acquisition maniac. To date, many strong listed companies in Hong Kong have been acquired by Lin Haoran, covering almost 360 industries.

However, in the field of financial investment, Lin Haoran's Huanyu Investment Company is obviously still small in scale.

Judging from Lin Haoran's previous actions and his financial strength, even if he may be heavily in debt due to various acquisitions, 600 million Hong Kong dollars is obviously not a lot of money among his tens of billions of assets.

Taking all these factors into consideration, Simon Keswick finally concluded that the person most likely to purchase Jardine Matheson Securities in Hong Kong was none other than Lin Haoran.

After listening to Simon Keswick's analysis, Henry Keswick fell into deep thought.

The relationship between Jardine Matheson and Lin Haoran had become so tense that it was almost irreconcilable. In all the previous business confrontations, Jardine Matheson was mostly at a disadvantage and was forced to take the blame.

Now, because of Lin Haoran, they are forced to completely withdraw from the entire Hong Kong market.

And this arch-enemy actually became their most likely potential buyer, which made Henry Keswick feel deeply moved.

However, he was used to big scenes and his mentality changed easily.

He nodded and said in a deep voice: "Well, then you can contact Lin Haoran privately and feel out his intentions. If he is interested in acquiring the shares of Jardine Securities, we can consider selling them, but you have to try to negotiate a higher price, between 700 and 800 million Hong Kong dollars.

After all, once he buys our shares, it means he will directly acquire the controlling stake in Jardine Securities, which is an important bargaining chip for us.”

Selling shares publicly through the stock market?

The thought had never occurred to either Henry or Simon Keswick.

As the controlling shareholder of Jardine Securities, they are naturally aware that according to Hong Kong securities laws, any intention to reduce shareholdings needs to be disclosed publicly in advance.

Once Jardine Matheson revealed its intention to withdraw from Jardine Securities, it would undoubtedly cause panic in the market and cause the share price of Jardine Securities to plummet.

Such a result was obviously not what Jardine Matheson expected to see.

Therefore, they prefer to negotiate with potential buyers privately to ensure that the transaction can proceed smoothly and avoid unnecessary shocks to the market.

On the same day, at 3pm, in the office of the general manager of the Hong Kong Land Group, Kang Le Building.

Lin Haoran sat upright in a chair, and Ma Shimin opposite him was reporting to him the progress of the cooperation between the Motorola team and the Hong Kong Telephone Company.

Two days ago, Motorola's technical team and negotiation team arrived in Hong Kong.

Immediately, the Hong Kong Telephone Company team, which had already been formed, started further negotiations with them.

While in the United States, Lin Haoran had already agreed on the general details of the cooperation with Motorola President Robert Galvin.

However, the details of the cooperation still need further discussion. After all the details are discussed, the two parties will finally sign the contract, which will avoid various unnecessary disputes between the two parties in the cooperation.

Ma Shimin reported in detail the progress of the negotiations, including the two sides' discussions on technology transfer, market access, profit distribution and other aspects.

In this regard, Lin Haoran just learned about it. As for the specific cooperation, he no longer needs to intervene.

His goal was to wait until mobile communications were officially commercialized in Hong Kong and then have the Hong Kong Telephone Company acquire the joint venture while the scale value was still low.

As a result, Hong Kong's fixed-line and mobile phone sectors are basically controlled by the Hong Kong Telephone Company.

Admittedly, once the cooperation has achieved fruitful results, it may be a bit unfair to Motorola to be eager to "get rid of the donkey" from an emotional perspective.

However, the business world is ruthless. If the two parties can reach an agreement on a reasonable acquisition price, I believe Motorola will accept this arrangement based on commercial interests.

After all, on the stage of capital, maximizing profits is always the primary goal pursued by all parties.

Just as Ma Shimin was reporting, the phone on his desk suddenly rang urgently.

Ma Shimin immediately stopped reporting and quickly answered the phone.

After more than ten seconds, he moved the receiver away from his mouth, unable to hide his surprise on his face.

"Boss, Mr. Simon Keswick of Jardine Matheson wants to meet you. He proposed to pick you up. Do you want to meet him?" Ma Shimin said with doubt.

Lin Haoran also showed a surprised look, but then responded decisively: "Tell him that I am in the Connaught Building. If he really wants to meet, please ask him to come directly."

Ma Shimin nodded, continued to put the receiver to his mouth and replied to the other party.

After hanging up the phone, Ma Shimin was full of doubts and murmured to himself in confusion: "According to common sense, we have a deep feud with Jardine Matheson, why would they take the initiative to show goodwill at this time and want to visit the boss in person?"

Seeing this, Lin Haoran smiled faintly and asked with a deep gaze, "Shimin, what do you think of Simon Keswick's motive for this sudden visit?"

"It's indeed strange. The Governor's Office just announced the punishment on Jardine Matheson this morning, and they were eager to see you in the afternoon. Apart from seeking cooperation, I really can't think of any other reason. But given the current situation of the two companies, cooperation seems unlikely." Ma Shimin shook his head, looking confused.

Lin Haoran smiled slightly and nodded, "Yes, the reason will be revealed when he comes. Let's finish the current matter first." As he said that, he signaled Ma Shimin to continue his previous report.

Half an hour later, Simon Keswick, led by the staff of the Recreation Building, came to Ma Shimin's office.

The two parties were clearly sworn enemies due to business competition, but at this moment, both sides had hypocritical smiles on their faces.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Ma, I hope I didn't disturb you with my intrusive visit." Simon Keswick said gently, as if the incident in which they suffered heavy losses in their attempt to retaliate against Lin Haoran had never happened.

Lin Haoran stood up and responded politely: "Mr. Ximen, you are too polite. It is our honor to have you visit us in person. Please take a seat."

After Simon Keswick sat down, Lin Haoran slowly spoke, "I wonder what brings you here, Mr. Simon?"

Simon Keswick glanced at Ma Shimin with difficulty in his eyes.

Obviously, he hoped to have a detailed discussion with Lin Haoran in private.

However, Lin Haoran would naturally not indulge him and made no move to let Ma Shimin go.

Simon Keswick moved his lips, but ultimately did not say anything to ask Ma Shimin to leave the office.

Ma Shimin smiled and poured Simon Keswick a cup of tea, then returned to his seat, as if he didn't understand what Simon Keswick meant.

Simon Keswick took a sip of tea, his eyes moving between Lin Haoran and Ma Shimin, as if he was weighing something.

After a moment, he put down his teacup and said formally, "Mr. Lin, I'll get straight to the point. I wonder if Mr. Lin is interested in Jardine Securities?"

"Jardine Matheson Securities? Could it be that your Jardine Matheson Company wants to sell Jardine Matheson Securities?" Lin Haoran was a little surprised.

Even Ma Shimin, who was standing by, was equally surprised.

You know, Jardine Matheson Securities is the number one stock in the securities industry. The reason for this is naturally because their performance is the best in Hong Kong, and even the Warhol Group is slightly inferior to it.

They actually want to sell a company that can generate huge profits for Jardine Matheson?
However, Lin Haoran soon guessed a reason.

Jardine Matheson has not only offended Lin Haoran, the financially most powerful consortium in Hong Kong, but also the Governor's Office.

In addition, Jardine Matheson itself has little business left in Hong Kong, and has previously announced that it plans to move its headquarters to London.

In this case, the other party may have the idea of ​​completely withdrawing from the Hong Kong market.

(End of this chapter)