In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 564 Is there no room for negotiation?
Lin Haoran and Ma Shimin walked out of the office and soon met the chairman of the board of directors of Bank of East Asia, Li Fushu, and his son Li Guobin.

Although Lin Haoran had never had any cooperation with them before, both Li Fushu and Li Guobin were considered influential figures in the business world in Hong Kong, and they could occasionally be seen in newspapers or on television.

In addition, Li Fushu is also one of the vice presidents of the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. When Lin Haoran joined the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, he also had a brief chat with him.

The reason why we have not had any cooperation with Bank of East Asia in the past is that compared with foreign banks such as Bank of East Asia and Citibank, Bank of East Asia has no advantages at all.

After development, what he needed was a huge loan amount, and he could easily borrow tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. Only large international banks such as Bank of China and Citibank had such strength and confidence.

As one of the largest banks in Hong Kong, Bank of East Asia does have quite abundant cash reserves.

However, they are extremely cautious in the use of funds and dare not rashly mobilize too much funds for fear of repeating the mistakes of the past and encountering a bank run crisis.

Just like Hang Seng Bank, it once fell into financial difficulties due to a bank run, and was eventually forced to let Huifeng Bank acquire up to 51% of its shares, and gradually increased its holdings to 62.14%, and could only become a subsidiary of Huifeng Bank.

Lin Haoran had previously investigated the detailed information of the Bank of East Asia. Last year, in 1980, the Bank of East Asia had a deposit of 64.923 billion yuan, which accounted for 6.22% of the total bank deposits in Hong Kong at that time. Among the local registered banks in Hong Kong, the Bank of East Asia's deposit amount ranked third after HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

Although it ranks third, there is actually a huge gap between it and the first two.

For example, the total deposit amount of Huifeng Bank last year was as high as HK$1312 billion.

The total deposit funds of Bank of East Asia are only 64 billion. If Lin Haoran really borrows to billion from the other party, it is equivalent to directly taking out half of the deposit amount. Does the bank dare to take this risk?
Of course not.

Therefore, if Lin Haoran needed to borrow billions, he would not consider Bank of East Asia first.

The reason why he wanted to acquire Bank of East Asia was that this bank of medium size was more in line with his acquisition goals.

In addition, Bank of East Asia also has a certain foundation overseas, which gives it an advantage over most local banks in Hong Kong.

If it is a giant like Huifeng Bank, even if he has money, it is difficult for him to control it easily.

"Mr. Li, welcome to the Jardine Matheson Group!" Lin Haoran smiled and took the initiative to shake hands with Li Fushu.

Li Fushu is nearly seventy years old, older than his father Lin Wanan, and is also a well-known leader in Hong Kong's business community.

Therefore, although Lin Haoran's wealth is now much higher than that of the entire Li Peicai family, Lin Haoran still remains humble and respectful.

"Mr. Lin, I haven't seen you in a while. You look even more elegant than before!" Li Fushu responded with a smile. His face did not show any resentment towards Lin Haoran because he coveted Bank of East Asia. Instead, he was full of admiration. "I hope you won't mind my visit today, Mr. Lin."

"Mr. Li, what are you talking about? Mr. Li is a veteran in Hong Kong's business community, and I should visit him in person." Lin Haoran said politely.

After exchanging a few words with the other party, Lin Haoran shook hands with Li Guobin again.

The person in front of him is Li Fushu's successor, and Lin Haoran is very clear about this.

"Boss, Mr. Li, let me take you to the conference room and we'll talk over there!" At this time, Ma Shimin on the side said with a smile.

Although the acquisition of Bank of East Asia had no direct relationship with the Hong Kong Land Group and was a personal decision of Lin Haoran, it was Lin Haoran who instructed Galaxy Securities to acquire the company, and Galaxy Securities is now a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Land Group.

Now that the acquisition has been leaked, Ma Shimin also bears some responsibility, so he naturally has to assist his boss.

What's more, as Lin Haoran's private enterprise, the acquisition of a bank by Lin Haoran will play a very important role in the future of the Hong Kong Land Group.

When Ma Shimin learned that his boss was planning to acquire Bank of East Asia, he was very supportive.

Led by Ma Shimin, the group came to a not-so-large meeting room.

After the host and the guest sat down at the oval conference table, the assistant served them hot tea and then closed the door of the conference room.

Suddenly, there were only four people left in the conference room.

This can be regarded as a preliminary negotiation. Both Lin Haoran and Li Fushu do not want to make too big a fuss about this matter for the time being, so both parties are unwilling to let too many people know about it for the time being.

"Mr. Lin, I want to know, what is your intention in acquiring the shares of Bank of East Asia in the secondary market?" Li Fushu picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, looked at Lin Haoran sharply, and got straight to the point. Lin Haoran was prepared. He smiled and said calmly: "My purpose is actually very clear. I believe Mr. Li also has some idea of ​​it. To be honest, I originally planned to acquire it secretly, but I didn't expect that Mr. Li would find out so quickly. It turns out that the old ones are still the wisest.

Let me be frank. With the huge amount of assets that I, Lin Haoran, currently control, I am really worried about the lack of security and the inconvenience of fund transfer if I deposit the funds in other banks. However, if I can acquire a bank, these concerns will naturally disappear. "

He paused and looked at Li Fushu sincerely, "Bank of East Asia has a solid foundation in Hong Kong and has always had a good reputation. Although it is currently more cautious in the use of funds, this is precisely the stable quality that I value very much. In addition, I am very optimistic about the international diversified development of Bank of East Asia.

I acquired shares in Bank of East Asia in the hope of leveraging this high-quality platform to achieve in-depth and efficient integration of my assets and banking resources.

Now that Mr. Li has learned about this, I will formally make a request to your Li family to acquire the bank. I wonder if Mr. Li is willing to sell the Bank of East Asia to me? After acquiring the Bank of East Asia, it will be a win-win situation for both me and the Bank of East Asia.

I can bring more extensive business channels and strong financial support to Bank of East Asia, helping it to shine more brightly on the international financial stage. In the future, it will not be a problem for Bank of East Asia to surpass Hang Seng Bank in strength.
Bank of East Asia can also provide my industries with more stable, convenient and efficient financial services, further consolidating and expanding my business territory.”

Li Fushu seemed to have anticipated Lin Haoran's words, and he was not very surprised.

After all, through Lin Haoran’s previous acquisition cases, it can be seen that all listed companies that Lin Haoran has targeted are basically intended for acquisition.

Now, the other party has been secretly purchasing Bank of East Asia’s shares in the secondary market for a long time, which is too similar to previous acquisition cases.

Li Fushu put down his teacup, tapped his fingers on the table, and said after thinking for a moment: "Can you tell me how many shares of Bank of East Asia Mr. Lin holds now?"

Since Lin Haoran had not announced this, the Li family had no way of finding out.

Not knowing the other party's background makes even a veteran like Li Fushu feel a little tricky.

He naturally understood that in business negotiations, it was crucial to have information about the other party, and the number of Bank of East Asia shares held by Lin Haoran at this moment was like a key bargaining chip hidden in the fog.

Lin Haoran raised his lips slightly, revealing a confident smile, and said, "Mr. Li, the shares of Bank of East Asia that I currently hold are enough for me to have a certain say in this acquisition, but I will tell you the specific figures when the time is right. Now I would like to discuss the feasibility of the acquisition and future development plans with Mr. Li."

Li Fushu nodded, knowing in his heart that Lin Haoran would not easily reveal this key information. He was just asking tentatively. He was not surprised that the other party did not answer the question.

He looked at Lin Haoran with deep eyes and said, "Mr. Lin, Bank of East Asia is the hard work of several generations of my Li family. We will not give up the controlling stake easily, and the bank's many shareholders will not easily agree to be acquired.

It is definitely impossible to completely sell Bank of East Asia to Mr. Lin. Since my grandfather's generation, our Li family has paid too much for Bank of East Asia.

However, we at Bank of East Asia also want to cooperate with Mr. Lin. Mr. Lin becoming a shareholder of Bank of East Asia is also a development opportunity for Bank of East Asia. So we can let Mr. Lin become the vice chairman of the board of directors of Bank of East Asia, and jointly participate in the major decisions of the bank, and jointly promote Bank of East Asia to new heights. What do you think, Mr. Lin?"

When Lin Haoran heard what Li Fushu said, his heart moved slightly, but he remained calm.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Mr. Li, becoming the vice chairman of the board of directors was not my original intention. My real goal is to control a bank so that the deep integration of this bank with my industries can bring about huge synergy effects. If I just become the vice chairman of the board of directors of Bank of East Asia, I will not be satisfied."

Although becoming the vice chairman of the board of directors allows him to participate in decision-making, this is far from his original intention of fully controlling the Bank of East Asia and achieving deep resource integration.

However, Lin Haoran was unwilling to have too much trouble with the Li family because he also needed the Li family to manage the Bank of East Asia for him.

Otherwise, he would not even bother to negotiate. With the shares of Bank of East Asia that he currently controls and the funds behind him, he would directly launch an acquisition and the Li family would not be able to do anything to him.

At least, in the short term, if the senior management of Bank of East Asia is too turbulent, it will definitely not be a good thing for Bank of East Asia.

Li Guobin frowned and said, "Mr. Lin, your appetite is too big. Our Bank of East Asia has been operating in Hong Kong for many years and has its own perfect system and planning. It is impossible for us to be acquired by you easily.

Moreover, it is hard to say what specific benefits the deep integration you proposed will bring to us.”

"Do you think I am incapable of completing the acquisition? Mr. Li should know that the market value of Bank of East Asia is really nothing in my eyes. Take Societe Generale, the third largest shareholder of Bank of East Asia, for example. I am fully confident that I can convince them to transfer their shares to me.

As for the other Xiangjiang shareholders, to be honest, even though they have a close relationship with your Li family now, if I raise the acquisition price, do you think they can resist this huge temptation?
In the face of real interests, how much weight can the so-called friendship have? As a veteran in Hong Kong's business community, I think Mr. Li should be able to understand this better. "Lin Haoran said calmly.

Li Fushu was silent for a moment, then he said in a deep voice: "Is there no room for negotiation?"

(End of this chapter)