In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

"The matter of Bank of East Asia has been settled. All shareholders have agreed. Mr. Li Fushu will handle the rest for me. I just have to wait for the payment." Lin Haoran replied with a smile.

Whether it is holding a 51% stake or financing Bank of East Asia, the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission is required.

Therefore, on the Bank of East Asia side, Lin Haoran actually just needs to wait for the results.

"Congratulations, boss. From now on, you will be in control of a powerful bank!" Ma Shimin laughed.

Once Lin Haoran takes control of the Bank of East Asia, there will indeed be many benefits.

Most importantly, his funds can be moved anytime and anywhere, without being restricted by the cumbersome processes and potential limitations of other financial institutions.

Whether it is expanding new business, making large-scale investments, or responding to sudden market changes, having a bank under his own control allows Lin Haoran to make decisions and execute more quickly and efficiently.

The reason why Lin Haoran wanted to acquire Bank of East Asia in the first place was that he was attracted by the large amount of high-quality customer resources and rich financial business experience that Bank of East Asia had accumulated in Hong Kong and internationally over the years.

Its comprehensive financial service system covers multiple areas including savings, credit, investment, and international business.

For Lin Haoran, this not only means being able to obtain a stable source of funds, but also by integrating the resources of Bank of East Asia, it can provide all-round financial support for industries under the Hong Kong Land Group, Hong Kong Electric Group, Wan Ching Group and others.

Now, we are only one step away from gaining absolute control of Bank of East Asia. We are just waiting for news from Li Fushu.

"Mr. Ma, I am here this time to tell you something more important, it is about Hutchison Whampoa..." Then, Lin Haoran told Ma Shimin in detail the plan he and Bao Yugang had agreed upon without reservation.

Given that the Hong Kong Land Group holds 11.8% of Wheelock & Co.'s shares and Ma Sai-ming is the president of the Hong Kong Land Group, it is undoubtedly the most appropriate arrangement to let Ma Sai-ming coordinate and negotiate with Wharf Holdings.

Now that he and Bao Yugang have determined the general direction, Lin Haoran naturally doesn't need to worry too much about the details.

After hearing Lin Haoran's words, Ma Shimin was slightly surprised.

As it involves two influential companies, Wharf Holdings and Wheelock, the conflicts of interest and potential risks should not be underestimated.

However, after thinking for a while, he said: "Boss, the current share price of Wharf Holdings is indeed seriously low. Investing in Wharf Holdings is definitely much better than being a shareholder of Wheelock & Co., and under normal circumstances, I agree with it very much.

However, the interests involved in this matter are not small. We have to consider all aspects carefully, especially to understand the potential conflicts within Wharf Holdings and the attitudes of other forces in the market towards Wharf Holdings. I will ask the team to evaluate this matter. How about that? "

“Okay, then go ahead and investigate and evaluate. This matter is of great importance and should be implemented as soon as possible. I am very optimistic about the future of Wharf Holdings, including Harbour City which is currently under construction. The future is very promising.

Once we are able to successfully intervene in Wharf Holdings and become a major shareholder of Wharf Holdings, or even join forces with Mr. Pao to privatize Wharf Holdings, it will have an immeasurable boost to the future development of our Hong Kong Land Group.

As for Wheelock & Co., to be honest, John Madden's current frantic purchase of ships is, in my opinion, a deadly act that will sooner or later lead to the collapse of Wheelock & Co.'s funds. By then, Wheelock will be heavily in debt, and the 11.8% stake we hold may also shrink significantly.

The share price of Wheelock & Co. is pretty good right now. We can take advantage of this opportunity to exchange the high-priced Wheelock & Co. shares with the low-priced Wharf shares. For us, there are only benefits and no disadvantages!" Lin Haoran said with a smile.

"Boss, I understand. I'll convene a think tank to discuss this matter right away!" After Ma Shimin said this, he called his assistant and asked her to arrange a meeting with relevant personnel.

Looking at Ma Shimin's busy figure, Lin Haoran sat in a chair and began to ponder.

I have only been back in Hong Kong for a short time, but I didn’t expect so many things to have happened.

Before he returned from Japan, he was worried that Li Peicai's family would resist him to the end, and that he might end up paying a heavy price to take over the Bank of East Asia.

Unexpectedly, Li Peicai's family had no intention of engaging in a business war with him. They simply admitted defeat and even took the initiative to become dependent on him.

The acquisition of Bank of East Asia is now progressing smoothly. With the cooperation of Li Peicai's family, we have become the largest shareholder of Bank of East Asia. Now we are only one step away from having absolute controlling rights over Bank of East Asia.

Now, Bao Yugang has taken the initiative to propose that he exchange his shares in Wheelock & Co. for shares in Wharf Holdings. In this way, he will have the opportunity to become a shareholder of Wharf Holdings, the future golden rooster.

He proposed to Bao Yugang to privatize Hutchison Whampoa, and Bao Yugang agreed.

If successful, he will directly control 49% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares and share Hutchison Whampoa's future dividends with Bao Yugang.

The most important thing is that since the end of the battle between Bao Yugang and Jardine Matheson, the share price of Hutchison Whampoa has been falling again and again, becoming one of the listed companies with the most serious decline in the Hong Kong stock market in the past two years.

This means that whether Lin Haoran uses Wheelock's shares to exchange for shares in Wharf Holdings, or later joins hands with Pao Yu-kong to privatize Wharf, the cost will not be very high.

He was able to control a stake that was almost the same as Bao Yugang's by spending much less money than Bao Yugang.

Although Bao Yugang will eventually have the most say in Wharf Holdings because he holds 51% of the shares, so what? He doesn't care about this say.

He may even have the opportunity to completely swallow up Wharf Holdings in the future! All good things are good!

This time when I came back to Hong Kong, there were many more good things than I expected.

Could it be that he cheated a Japanese consortium when he was in Japan, so he was considered successful in resisting Japan and was blessed by his ancestors?

Thinking of this, Lin Haoran couldn't help but laugh. He felt that his reason was a bit absurd, yet inexplicably at peace.

He naturally knew that the business world was like a battlefield, and behind every opportunity lay countless challenges and risks. The so-called blessing from his ancestors was nothing but self-mockery. What really allowed him to get to where he is today was his own wealth, strength and courage.

Without this wealth and strength, the Li family would have no power to resist him and would have had no choice but to surrender.

Without bold decisions and familiarity with events from previous lives, how could he have seized fleeting opportunities in the complex business situation and brought high-quality assets such as Bank of East Asia and Wharf Holdings under his control?

Seeing that Ma Shimin had gone to discuss important matters with the think tank, Lin Haoran did not stay in Kang Le Building, but went directly back to the villa on Shi Xun Road.

In the evening, Guo Xiaohan came again.

Guo Xiaohan has come here once since Lin Haoran came back.

Tonight, she came here alone again. No wonder Guo Henian couldn't help but say to Lin Haoran: "Girls can't be kept at home when they grow up!"

In the blink of an eye, another day passed.

At the Bank of East Asia, the two matters submitted by Li Fushu have not yet been approved by the Securities and Futures Commission. However, the matter has quickly reached the ears of the heads of major financial institutions in Hong Kong.

After all, the channels for information dissemination among foreigners are always secretive and rapid, especially when it comes to equity changes in a financial institution with such great influence as the Bank of East Asia.

The heads of British banks including Huifeng Bank and Standard Chartered Bank were all aware of this matter.

Obviously, someone from the Securities and Futures Commission leaked the news on purpose.

Especially Shen Bi, after learning about this, he found it unbelievable.

Lin Haoran actually took the initiative to get involved in the banking industry?
Among the many industries under Lin Haoran, most of them actually cooperate with Huifeng Bank, and a small part cooperates with Citibank.

In other words, the financial business of these companies is mostly closely linked to Huifeng Bank.

Now Lin Haoran wants to acquire Bank of East Asia. If successful, it will undoubtedly cause heavy losses to Huifeng Bank.

After all, after completely controlling Bank of East Asia, Lin Haoran will definitely transfer these financial businesses from Huifeng Bank to Bank of East Asia!
The funds involved here are at least over 10 or 20 billion Hong Kong dollars!
Shen Bi sat in the luxurious office of Huifeng Bank, his brows furrowed and a hint of worry in his eyes.

Lin Haoran moved all the financial business to the Bank of East Asia. This was not a fatal blow to Huifeng Bank. Although Huifeng Bank suffered heavy losses, he was more worried about another thing.

Shen Bi was naturally aware of Lin Haoran's ambition and strength. Once Lin Haoran took control of the Bank of East Asia, he would most likely use the Bank of East Asia's resources to further expand his business and compete with Huifeng Bank for market share.

Today, although Huifeng Bank has an absolute dominant position in the Hong Kong market, the financial market is changing rapidly and no one can guarantee what the future will be like.

Once Lin Haoran has the trump card of Bank of East Asia in his hand, it will be like adding wings to a tiger, and it may challenge the position of his Huifeng Bank at any time.

If Hang Seng Bank had not encountered a cash-out boom that led to a break in its capital chain, it might have become the biggest competitor of their Huifeng Bank.

Therefore, Shen Bi would not underestimate the Bank of East Asia just because the Bank of East Asia is now the financial overlord of Hong Kong.

But even the Li Peicai family, which controls the Bank of East Asia, has agreed to give the controlling stake of the Bank of East Asia to Lin Haoran. What qualifications does he, as the head of Huifeng Bank, have to stop others from acquiring the Bank of East Asia?

At the beginning, in order to win over Lin Haoran, he did not hesitate to let Huifeng Bank buy shares at an extremely low price and let Lin Haoran become a shareholder and even a member of the board of directors of Huifeng Bank.

Afterwards, Lin Haoran's industries indeed maintained a very good cooperative relationship with Huifeng Bank. Although part of the business was transferred to Citibank, it was not much.

Originally, he thought that this good cooperation situation would continue, but who could have imagined that Lin Haoran had such a big ambition to acquire Bank of East Asia.

Shen Bi had to admit that he was a little panicked at the moment.

In particular, even the old rival, Jardine Matheson, was driven out of Hong Kong by Lin Haoran.

Can the Huifeng Bank behind him really maintain its dominant position after Lin Haoran takes control of Bank of Asia? (End of this chapter)