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At this time, Lin Haoran continued: "Everyone, I believe everyone already knows that I currently hold 34.9% of Bank of East Asia's shares. Next, I plan to increase my shareholding ratio to 51%.

However, this requires your support. After all, if I cannot get your help, I will have to launch a comprehensive acquisition offer for Bank of East Asia.

But I believe that you all look forward to sharing with me, Lin, the huge business dividends that Bank of East Asia will soon usher in, and you certainly do not want to go to the step of a full acquisition.

According to the latest "Hong Kong Code on Takeovers and Mergers", as long as I obtain approval from independent shareholders, that is, disclose the transaction details to minority shareholders, and obtain approval from a special resolution of the general meeting of shareholders (requires more than 75% of votes in favor and no more than 10% of votes against), I can apply to the SFC for exemption from the obligation to make a general offer.

Therefore, please cast your precious vote to indicate whether you support me in applying to the CSRC for an exemption from the obligation to make a general takeover offer! "

After saying this, Lin Haoran looked at everyone present.

Although, deep down he is very confident that everyone supports him.

But before there are results, we cannot easily draw conclusions. The reaction of shareholders is crucial. Unless he has no other choice, he really does not want to take the path of forced privatization.

The scene suddenly fell into a brief silence.

At this time, Li Fushu took the lead in raising his hand.

Immediately afterwards, Li Guobin also raised his hand.

This means that the company's chairman and president have successively supported Lin Haoran to become the absolute controlling shareholder of Bank of East Asia.

As Li Guobin raised his hand, others also raised their hands one after another.

After a moment, everyone present voted in favor!
Seeing this, both Lin Haoran and Li Fushu breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, the fact that Lin Haoran has become a major shareholder of Bank of East Asia is an unchangeable fact. In this case, the Li family has no choice but to support him to the end, which is in their interests.

Lin Haoran's face lit up with a satisfied smile. He stood up again and said loudly to everyone, "Thank you all for your full support. I, Lin Haoran, will definitely not let you down. Next, you just need to wait for the Bank of East Asia's bonus period to arrive. This is a gift from me, Lin Haoran, to you all!"

After Lin Haoran finished speaking, the audience burst into warm applause again.

His taking over the Bank of East Asia is an inevitable trend!
At this moment, Li Fushu also took out an application for exemption from the obligation to make a general takeover offer, signed his name first, and then handed it to Li Guobin, until everyone present signed their names on the application.

Only after all this is completed will the vote take effect.

The shareholders' meeting ends here!

After the shareholders left, Lin Haoran and Li Fushu came to the chairman's office of Bank of East Asia, while Li Guobin went to deal with some company matters.

This place is not far from the headquarters building of Huifeng Bank, less than a hundred meters away. Through the office window, you can clearly see the headquarters building of Huifeng Bank and many surrounding banking institutions, such as the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, Hang Seng Bank, etc., which are all in this surrounding area.

But, to be honest, the headquarters of Bank of East Asia is not at all conspicuous among the surrounding high-rise buildings.

The reason is that the headquarters of the Bank of East Asia is a 46-year-old building. It was built in 1935 and has a total of 14 floors. When it was built, it became a landmark in Hong Kong.

It was at that time that the Li Peicai family began to become one of the top wealthy families in Hong Kong and one of the four major families in Hong Kong.

However, with the development of history, the original landmark building now looks a bit old and outdated against the backdrop of the surrounding modern high-rise buildings.

The exterior walls of the building are covered with traces of time, the paint is slightly peeling, and the window glass also has an old luster.

This building, which carries the glory and history of the Li family, represents the profound heritage of Bank of East Asia.

"Haoran, I will submit this application to the CSRC as soon as possible. According to past practice, the CSRC should complete the review and approval within three working days, and then you can proceed to the next step!" Li Fushu said to Lin Haoran with a smile while sitting in the office chair.

Lin Haoran came back to his senses and nodded.

However, he thought about it and asked, "Although I now hold nearly 35% of the shares, there is still a long way to go before I can reach 51%. It is extremely difficult to absorb enough from the stock market. In this case, how can I quickly and steadily increase my shareholding ratio? Mr. Li has rich experience in business, so I am sure he must have more ways."

Today, apart from these important shareholders, the proportion of Bank of East Asia’s shares in the secondary market actually accounts for less than 30%.

In this case, if he wanted to buy from the secondary market, it would not only be extremely difficult, but would also push up the stock price, causing his holding costs to increase further. Therefore, he did not intend to take this path.

Li Fushu tapped the table with his fingers, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Haoran, in fact, in addition to absorbing shares through the secondary market, there are several other ways to consider.

First, you can negotiate privately with other shareholders who hold a certain amount of shares and acquire their shares at a premium.

However, this path is now extremely difficult for you, because you have already used this method when you increased your holdings in the early stage, and the remaining major shareholders basically appeared at the shareholders' meeting just now.

These shareholders know that the share price of Bank of East Asia will at least double in the near future, so they are certainly unwilling to sell their shares unless the price you offer can attract them, but then your cost will be too high! "

Lin Haoran nodded. This method basically didn’t work!

“Secondly, we can consider issuing new shares at a discount to allow you to raise funds for Bank of East Asia, so that you can increase your stake at a very reasonable price.

This financing fund is controllable. When the time comes, new shares will be issued at a discount based on the total market value, and the financing cost you pay will not be very high.

However, when increasing holdings, the shares of us shareholders will also be diluted. In addition, this method also needs to be approved by the board of directors and the Securities and Exchange Commission! "

Lin Haoran nodded. This method was the best. However, it would dilute the shareholders' equity and would also cause a temporary drop in the stock price.

Unexpectedly, Li Fushu would actually propose such a solution.

You know, this is equivalent to damaging the interests of their Li family.

Lin Haoran couldn't help but admire Li Fushu a little more. He naturally knew that this was Li Fushu showing him the greatest goodwill so that he could take control of the Bank of East Asia smoothly.

"Mr. Li, this method is indeed feasible, but it will affect the interests of your Li family and other shareholders. I feel really bad about it." Lin Haoran said with a smile.

This is of course a polite remark. If he can save money, he will definitely choose the way to save money.

Li Fushu waved his hand and said with a hearty smile: "Haoran, don't think too much. Since our Li family has chosen to support you, we have made corresponding plans.

Moreover, we also believe that with your joining, Bank of East Asia will be able to create greater value in the future, and everyone's interests will be protected at that time. Sacrificing some immediate interests now is for longer-term development.

What's more, although our equity has been diluted after the additional issuance of shares, if my Li family wants to continue to retain the existing equity, we can continue to increase our holdings!

As for the stock price, if everyone knew that it was you, Haoran, who was raising funds, the stock price would not fall at all, but would only rise. After all, this is a good thing!"

"What about other shareholders? Will they agree?" Lin Haoran asked.

"Don't worry. In the face of the overall situation, they can all understand. My Li family can accept it, so why can't they, the small shareholders, accept it? What's more, if you don't become the controlling shareholder of Bank of East Asia, you won't transfer all the business to Bank of East Asia. In this way, the surge in Bank of East Asia's stock price that they want will not happen. They know very well how to measure it!" Li Fushu explained with a smile.

Lin Haoran nodded and continued, "Mr. Li, I feel much more at ease with your words. I wonder if you have any other ideas?"

His previous acquisitions of companies were all very direct.

Either they let Huanyu Investment Company acquire the company secretly, or they directly take over the shares of other shareholders, and then when a certain share is reached, they will directly privatize the company. It will not be as complicated as the current equity of Bank of East Asia.

“In addition, we can also use the bank’s profits to repurchase shares. By repurchasing shares, we can reduce the number of outstanding shares in the market and thus increase our shareholding ratio.

However, in this way, the share repurchase will convey to the market our confidence in the future development of the bank, which will lead to an increase in the bank's share price." Li Fushu continued.

When Lin Haoran heard this idea, he shook his head.

What is the difference between this and his own acquisition through the secondary market?
Seeing Lin Haoran's reaction, Li Fushu smiled and said: "So, Haoran, the best way here is the second one. When you bring huge performance to East Asia Bank, you will be the biggest contributor to East Asia Bank!
I think not only shareholders like us, but also those who hold individual shares, will agree to issue new shares for you and let you raise funds at a discount! After all, if you don’t hold a controlling stake in Bank of East Asia, you won’t transfer most of the funds of your companies to Bank of East Asia!"

"Okay, then I'll have to trouble Mr. Li!" Lin Haoran agreed directly without hesitation.

After all, this should be the cheapest and quickest way for him to increase his stake to 51%.

"In that case, I will submit both matters to the Securities and Exchange Commission for review. This is just a formality. We are legal and compliant, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has no reason to refuse!" Li Fushu continued. (End of this chapter)