In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Seeing that Lin Haoran did not respond to his suggestion for a long time, Bao Yugang could not help but ask again: "Why? Haoran, are you not interested in this condition? Don't worry, the equity exchange can be evaluated according to the current stock price. You will definitely not suffer any loss.

Moreover, although Wharf Holdings does not seem to make a profit every year, it is actually because all the money it earns is invested in the construction of Harbour City. Once Harbour City Phase II is completed, Wharf Holdings will have a bumper harvest. It is definitely not a bad thing for you to become a Wharf Holdings shareholder!"

Bao Yugang thought that Lin Haoran was hesitating.

In recent years, Hutchison Whampoa’s annual financial statements have indeed been ugly.

The returns from Wharf Holdings' real estate investments, shipping, retail department stores, and trade are not bad, but they are not very strong either.

Because Hutchison Whampoa’s real estate investment is more based on rent collection.

In other words, if you want to make a profit by relying solely on rent, it will take at least a dozen years to get your investment back.

In addition to the profits earned each year, the money was invested in construction.

This means that Hutchison Whampoa has been working from the beginning of the year to the end of the year without making a penny, and sometimes even in debt.

The result is that Hutchison Whampoa basically has no dividends every year because the company really has no money.

Therefore, after the end of the share purchase war between Bao Yugang and Jardine Matheson, the share price of Hutchison Whampoa quickly fell back, and its current market value is completely inconspicuous.

After Bao Yugang asked this question, Lin Haoran finally came to his senses.

Seeing Bao Yugang's confusion, Lin Haoran knew that the other party had misunderstood.

So, he said, "Uncle Bao, it's not that I'm not interested. I don't really care about Wheelock's shares, but I'm considering one thing. The current share price of Wharf Holdings is not high, but the share price of Wheelock Holdings is not low. If I exchange it at the market price, I will lose money. But if I don't exchange it at the market price, I think it's not right. So I'm thinking about how to conduct this equity exchange in a more reasonable way, which can protect your interests and not let me suffer a loss."

Bao Yugang smiled and said, "Now, I am almost the controlling shareholder of Wharf Holdings, so I don't really care how much Wharf Holdings shares you hold. Since Haoran has agreed to exchange shares, we can discuss the method of exchange separately. Uncle Bao will never let you suffer any loss!"

At the same time, Bao Yugang was secretly excited.

Once Wharf Holdings' shares in Lin Haoran are really taken over, it would be equivalent to setting up a big plan for Wharf Holdings.

Today, Wheelock is still purchasing ships. In Bao Yugang's opinion, such a strategy will sooner or later plunge Wheelock into a huge financial crisis when the shipping industry recession reaches its worst period.

At that time, Hutchison Whampoa could use its shares in Wheelock to become an important shareholder of Wheelock & Company, and even further achieve controlling stake and take Wheelock & Company for itself.

And if the Swire Properties Group has always been an important shareholder of Wheelock & Co., it would be difficult for him to take action against Wheelock even if Wheelock was in a financial crisis.

Now, Lin Haoran meant that he agreed to his exchange conditions.

The more Bao Yugang thought about it, the brighter the future seemed to him. He seemed to have seen the scene of Hutchison Whampoa making huge profits from Wheelock & Co.

Lin Haoran looked at the gleam in Bao Yugang's eyes and naturally understood what he was thinking.

However, he also has his own ideas.

Lin Haoran took a deep breath and continued, "Uncle Bao, I do have an idea, but it concerns the future direction of Wharf Holdings. I am a little unsure and don't know whether I should tell you. If you think it is inappropriate, don't take it to heart and don't be angry with me."

"Oh? Haoran, if you have an idea, just tell me directly. Uncle Bao is not a petty person." Bao Yugang immediately became interested, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Since Uncle Bao invited me to become a shareholder of Wharf Holdings, I have an idea. Let's privatize Wharf Holdings. At that time, Uncle Bao, you will hold 51% of the shares and I will hold 49%. You will still be the controlling shareholder of the company, and I will share in the future dividends of Wharf Holdings.

"I know Uncle Bao is a little short of funds due to debt problems, but increasing his stake from 49% to 51%, plus the current low share price of Wharf Holdings, shouldn't be too much of a burden for you. Uncle Bao, what do you think?" Lin Haoran suggested with a smile.

The share price of Wharf Holdings is definitely seriously undervalued, otherwise why would Bao Yugang set his sights on Wharf Holdings!
The fixed assets under Wharf Holdings are much higher than the total market value of Wharf Holdings' stocks today.

The properties owned by Wharf include some docks, warehouses, hotels, buildings, trams and the Star Ferry located on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront in Kowloon, the New Territories and Hong Kong Island. The total assets are actually very strong.

Otherwise, Jardine Matheson would not have fought to the death with Bao Yugang for Hutchison Whampoa.

It’s just that Hutchison Whampoa has been investing its profits in the construction of projects such as Harbour City Phase II in recent years, resulting in seemingly poor profits on paper and its stock price being undervalued.

However, the stock price was low and not many investors were optimistic about it. In Lin Haoran's view, this was definitely a good opportunity to privatize Hutchison Whampoa.

However, this requires Bao Yugang's consent.

The reason is very simple. The amount of money that Bao Yugang spent to take over Hutchison Whampoa was really too much, a total of tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars.

According to the current market value of Wharf Holdings, if Lin Haoran only spent a small amount of money to hold 49% of Wharf Holdings' shares, he was afraid that the charter king in front of him would feel unbalanced. Bao Yugang did not rush to answer after hearing this, but fell into deep thought.

Privatizing Wharf Holdings was definitely a big deal, and he had no choice but to treat it with caution.

As for the cost issue, Lin Haoran was overthinking it. The stock price was originally pushed up to HK$110 per share, which was originally a seriously inflated stock price.

But at that time, he had no choice. In order to obtain the controlling stake in Hutchison Whampoa, he could only bite the bullet and engage in a fierce battle with Jardine Matheson.

Now that the stock price has fallen, it has given him an excellent opportunity to further consolidate his control over Hutchison Whampoa at a relatively low cost.

Moreover, privatizing Hutchison Whampoa means getting rid of the various constraints of the stock market and the pressure of short-term performance.

He can plan the long-term development of Hutchison Whampoa more calmly and devote more energy to enhancing the company's core competitiveness and expanding its business territory.

The more Bao Yugang thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was feasible.

Anyway, the main investor in the privatization of Hutchison Whampoa is Lin Haoran, and the Bao family only needs to increase their holdings by 2%. Even if they are facing financial difficulties now, they will not be unable to come up with this little money.

The most important thing is that although Harbour City has a prime location, he is not completely sure whether the expected crowds and money will flow in after the official opening of Harbour City Phase II.

Even though he has always been optimistic about the Harbour City project, who knows if he might be wrong?
After privatization, he can focus on building Harbour City into a super landmark of Hong Kong's business according to his own plan, without being constrained by short-term performance indicators and shareholder doubts.

Most importantly, Lin Haoran is willing to share risks with him, which makes him undoubtedly a trustworthy and powerful partner.

In addition, the Bao family holds 51% of the shares, which means that as long as they do not take the initiative to reduce their holdings, they will never have to worry about Lin Haoran competing with their Bao family for controlling rights.

Therefore, at this moment, Bao Yugang felt that the plan proposed by Lin Haoran would definitely bring more benefits than disadvantages to him.

"Haoran, your idea is bold, but also very far-sighted. I've thought about it carefully and I think it's feasible!" Bao Yugang raised his head and smiled excitedly, "Let's do it this way. Let's privatize Wharf Holdings. With you joining us, I believe Wharf Holdings' future will be even more brilliant!"

When Lin Haoran heard Bao Yugang's affirmative answer, the stone in his heart fell to the ground.

It was just an idea he came up with on the spur of the moment, but he didn't expect Bao Yugang to be so courageous and agree to it so decisively.

In this way, wouldn’t he also have a share in the future of Hutchison Whampoa, the golden rooster?

Moreover, it holds 49% of the shares, which is nearly half of the shares.

Bao Yugang wanted to take controlling rights, but he just wanted to have management rights.

There is no use for him to have this management right.

He doesn't need any say, he just needs the future dividends from Hutchison Whampoa.

Even if he acquired Wharf Holdings, he would still need to find a professional manager to manage Wharf Holdings for him.

Let him manage it himself? Forget it.

He doesn't care about management rights even for a company like Hong Kong Land Development, let alone Wharf Holdings.

After Bao Yugang responded to Lin Hao, he thought more and more that privatizing Hutchison Whampoa was a great idea.

This means that once he joins hands with Lin Haoran to privatize Hutchison Whampoa, the Bao family and the Lin family will be closely connected and work together to run Hutchison Whampoa.

He seemed to have foreseen that after privatization, Wharf Holdings would break free from many shackles, just like a fearless giant ship, braving the waves in the turbulent business sea and bravely moving towards a brighter and more glorious shore.

For a moment, his excitement was beyond words, and Bao Yugang couldn't help but cough violently, which lasted for more than a minute.

He drank several cups of tea, but it didn't provide any relief.

Lin Haoran couldn't help but frowned and said with concern: "Uncle Bao, your health is very important. Take it easy and don't get too excited."

Bao Yugang waved his hand and panted, "It's okay, it's an old problem, just take it easy. Haoran, I'm very interested in the privatization of Wharf Holdings, we have to talk about it in detail."

Bao Yugang's voice became a little hoarse. It was obvious that the long cough just now caused damage to his recurrent laryngeal nerve.

Even so, Bao Yugang didn't care at all, thinking it was just a minor problem caused by old age, and still wanted to continue chatting with Lin Haoran on this issue. (End of this chapter)