In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 651 Li Jiacheng's turn to step down!

"Boss, I've successfully taken over Huanyu Research Company." Not long after, Lin Haoran received a call from Cui Zilong.

"Okay, I got it. You did a great job!" Lin Haoran praised without reservation.

"Boss, I can't take all the credit for this. Actually, the most important thing is that Huifeng Bank gave us a huge boost!" Cui Zilong couldn't help but laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Oh? Huifeng Bank is helping us out? That's unusual. Tell me what happened." Lin Haoran became interested, his tone tinged with doubt.

"That's right, it was Huifeng Bank's help that actually helped. In fact, the owner of Huanyu Research Company was unwilling to sell, and I was already prepared for the acquisition to fail."

Unexpectedly, just an hour earlier, Huifeng Bank issued an announcement declaring a complete ban on Huanyu Research in Hong Kong, and this news quickly reached their ears.

Boss, you can probably imagine how serious the consequences would be if a small company like Huanyu Research were completely blocked by Huifeng Bank. They would have absolutely no power to resist.

Therefore, the owner of Universal Research Company ultimately had no choice but to sell the company to us. I have already reached an agreement with their owner, Yu Zhize, and signed an acquisition contract. Oriental Press Group will acquire Universal Research Company for HK$3 million and will hire Yu Zhize to continue serving as the company's general manager.

"In the future, Huanyu Research Company will continue to operate independently as a subsidiary of Oriental Media Group, while also assisting our intelligence department with tasks that we cannot handle on our own," Cui Zilong succinctly explained.

Lin Haoran was also somewhat surprised by Cui Zilong's words.

This is quite dramatic, a complete accident!
It is undeniable that Universal Research Company is not large in scale, but if used properly, the assistance it can provide will be immeasurable.

Take this time for example, he personally witnessed the strength of Universal Research Company.

With only a limited amount of data and in a very short period of time, they were able to predict the market share of the two major banks, Bank of East Asia and Huafeng Bank, with remarkable accuracy.

It's important to understand that this is no easy task, especially given the limited assistance that current computer technology can provide.

Such accurate predictions are undoubtedly largely attributable to the team at Universal Research.

This is the biggest reason why he has always been so attached to this team and wanted to acquire it.

Spending three million will bring him a hundredfold, or even a thousandfold, or ten thousandfold, value in the future!
Therefore, ignoring such teams simply because they are small is a waste of their potential and a major strategic blunder.

In today's business world, where competition is fierce, every valuable resource can be the key to turning the tide.

The team at Universal Research is undoubtedly a hidden treasure.

They not only possess keen market insight, but also the magical ability to transform limited data into accurate predictions. In an era of information overload where truth and falsehood are difficult to distinguish, this is undoubtedly a sharp sword that can directly target the core of the market, opening up a shortcut to success for their various companies.

For example, the intelligence department established by the Oriental Media Group has provided him with a lot of help in the past two years.

……

In the office of the chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings in the Chinese Building on Queen's Road Central, Li Ka-shing personally escorted Sir Michael Sandberg to the elevator. Only after the elevator doors slowly closed did he turn around and return to his chair, where he slowly sat down.

However, at this moment, his heart was far from at peace.

Sir Michael Sandberg's visit this time was certainly not as simple as his visit to Liu Luanxiong, where he sought to continue Liu Luanxiong's cooperation with Huifeng Bank in financial business.

After all, even though the intricate relationship between the two parties has not been made public, those in the industry know very well that Li Ka-shing and HSBC have a deeply intertwined and closely connected relationship.

At the time, Li Ka-shing, through highly strategic operations, acquired the crucial 22.4% stake in Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC at an extremely low price, thus successfully completing the takeover of Hutchison Whampoa.

This transaction was naturally accompanied by the signing of a series of in-depth cooperation agreements.

For example, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings' financial businesses are explicitly restricted to cooperating only with HSBC.

HSBC's decision to support a Chinese partner is by no means a hasty one; it must have been made after careful consideration and thorough deliberation.

Therefore, if we were to say which of HSBC's most important clients are least worried about "running away," it would not be those British-owned companies, but rather the companies under Li Ka-shing's control, such as Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa.

These two groups are among the top listed companies in Hong Kong today, consistently ranking in the top 15, with Hutchison Whampoa ranking as high as 5th.

Therefore, the greater Li Ka-shing's future achievements, the more stable and substantial the returns will be for HSBC.

The main purpose of Sir Michael Sandberg's visit was to persuade Li Ka-shing to stabilize his partners and prevent them from transferring their financial business from Hua Feng Bank to Bank of East Asia or other banks.

After all, Huifeng Bank has transferred too much money out recently. If this continues, Huifeng Bank's senior management is worried that the cash flow will be disrupted due to insufficient funds.

Back then, when Lin Haoran had the financial businesses of companies such as Hong Kong Electric Group, Hongkong Land Group, Wanqing Group, and Hong Kong Telephone transferred to Bank of East Asia, the bank's funds increased by more than HK$20 billion.

Although Li Ka-shing's companies are quite different from Lin Haoran's, the funds involved are still in the billions of Hong Kong dollars.

Looking out the window at the bustling Central district, Li Jiacheng's feelings became increasingly complicated.

He was deeply intertwined with Huifeng Bank, so naturally he couldn't stand by and watch it collapse.

After all, if Huifeng Bank were to collapse, it would easily implicate him.

The funds of Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong Holdings, and other companies under its umbrella were all stored in the vaults of Hui Fung Bank.

If Huifeng Bank runs into financial trouble, his business empire will face an unprecedented storm.

Projects that rely on HSBC's funding chain are very likely to stagnate due to the interruption of funding, and the trust of partners will collapse. Stock prices will plummet and debt crises will follow. The business empire that has been painstakingly built over many years may collapse in an instant.

The consequences of such an event are unimaginable.

Although he didn't think Huifeng Bank would collapse easily, the business world is unpredictable, and anything is possible. No one can guarantee that Huifeng Bank can maintain its dominant position in the financial industry.

Just like Jardine Matheson a year ago, who could have imagined that the "King of Foreign Firms" would be forced by Lin Haoran to not only lose most of its Hong Kong businesses, but also be forced to withdraw from the Hong Kong market!

"This young man, Lin Haoran, is truly remarkable. The younger generation surpasses the older generation, and the older generation dies on the beach!" Li Jiacheng murmured with some emotion.

I still remember when he first set his sights on Qingzhou Yingni Company, he only realized after entering the market that this largest cement producer in Hong Kong had already been taken over by Lin Haoran, a young man with no reputation in the business world.

Moreover, the other party was actually able to get a big shot like Bao Yugang to plead on his behalf, hoping that he would give up his acquisition plan for Qingzhou Yingni.

Now, two years later, the other party has repeatedly done things that shocked him.

Does Li Jiacheng regret his deep ties with Huifeng Bank?
Of course he didn't regret it, because he knew that before taking over Hutchison Whampoa, although he was considered a very wealthy man in Hong Kong, he was not a top conglomerate owner in Hong Kong with Cheung Kong Holdings alone.

Only after successfully taking control of Hutchison Whampoa did he officially join the ranks of Hong Kong's top conglomerates, gaining the strength and confidence to compete with other top conglomerates in Hong Kong.

HSBC played a pivotal role in this; without HSBC's crucial initial assistance, his path to becoming a top conglomerate would likely have been much more arduous and lengthy.

Although he admired Lin Haoran, a junior colleague, as an ally of Huifeng Bank, he was destined to have an impasse when Huifeng Bank and East Asia Bank became mortal enemies.

With that in mind, Li Jiacheng picked up the paper and pen on the table and began to write.

A letter to all partners of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings!

Dear Partners:
Greetings!
I am Li Jiacheng.

At this moment, I write this letter with a sincere and earnest heart, wanting to talk to you about the current financial situation we are all facing, and the necessity for us to work together to deal with it.

As we all know, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings have overcome numerous obstacles in the business world to achieve their current success, which is inseparable from the strong support and trust of our partners.

Together we have weathered the ups and downs of the market. Every collaboration has been a testament to everyone's hard work and wisdom. It is through these collaborations that we have been able to gain a foothold in the fiercely competitive business world and continue to grow and thrive.

Huifeng Bank has always been our closest and most reliable financial partner.

Looking back, Huifeng Bank has provided crucial support at critical moments in our development.

However, you have probably all heard about the recent dramatic changes in the financial markets.

HSBC is facing unprecedented pressure from capital outflows, with large amounts of funds being transferred out of the bank. If this continues, HSBC is very likely to fall into difficulties due to insufficient funds.

If HSBC falls into trouble, the entire business chain closely linked to it will also suffer a severe blow.

………………

Finally, we would like to thank all our partners once again for their continued support and trust in Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings.

Let us join hands and work together for our shared future!
Best wishes for your business!
Li Jiacheng

July 20, 1981.

Li Jiacheng has long been involved in approval work, so he writes extremely quickly.

In less than half an hour, several hundred words were displayed on several sheets of white paper. After reviewing it once and finding no problems, Li Jiacheng folded the paper neatly, then called his secretary in and asked him to make hundreds of copies of the letter and deliver them to the heads of the various partners.

The secretary took the letter and said respectfully, "Mr. Li, I will arrange it right away and ensure that the letter is delivered to the heads of our partners as quickly as possible."

Li Jiacheng nodded slightly, his expression still showing a hint of solemnity: "This matter is of utmost importance, and there must be no mistakes. After the letter is delivered, follow up and see what feedback they have, and report back to me in a timely manner."

"Okay, Mr. Li, I understand," the secretary replied, then hurriedly left the office to arrange the relevant matters.

Li Jiacheng sat back down in his seat, crossed his arms in front of him, and gazed out the window at the bustling yet turbulent Central street scene, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

After ousting Wayne Lai, the head of Hutchison Whampoa's Yuanda Group, he gradually gained complete control over everything in this behemoth.

With Hutchison Whampoa under his control, and Cheung Kong Holdings, a real estate giant, Li Ka-shing is full of confidence in his future.

Therefore, he had to ensure that Huifeng Bank did not collapse and would not implicate him.

Otherwise, if Huifeng Bank runs into trouble, his business empire, painstakingly built over many years, will crumble, and his grand business plans will vanish.

A few hours later, the heads or business owners of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings’ major partners received letters written by Li Ka-shing.

The contents of this letter spread like wildfire among major media companies at an astonishing speed.

After all, the letters are delivered to a wide range of companies, making complete confidentiality extremely difficult.

The contents of the letter also reached Lin Haoran.

Looking at the letter in his hand, Lin Haoran was only slightly surprised, but he didn't find it too unbelievable.

After all, Li Ka-shing and Hui Fung Bank are allies, and it is only natural for allies to help each other.

Lin Haoran gently put down the letter, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table, his eyes revealing a thoughtful look.

"Li Jiacheng's move, seemingly aimed at stabilizing his partners, is actually sending a signal to the outside world, demonstrating his determination to stand with Huifeng Bank through thick and thin," Lin Haoran muttered to himself.

He was well aware that Li Jiacheng had been in the business world for many years and was no ordinary person; this move was both prudent and ruthless.

The companies under Li Ka-shing's control and those that depend on him for their livelihood are enough to maintain a financial business of over HK$10 billion.

Moreover, some of these partners' financial businesses were not originally with Huifeng Bank, since Li Jiacheng had not previously forced the partners to cooperate with Huifeng Bank.

This operation will also bring more funds to Huifeng Bank.

Although this amount of funds is not a large sum compared to the new funds of Bank of East Asia, it is ultimately a good thing for Huifeng Bank.

Li Jiacheng's actions will also give other customers of Huifeng Bank a psychological suggestion, making them feel that Huifeng Bank still has strong financial support. Even if a lot of funds have been lost, Huifeng Bank is still the financial industry leader in Hong Kong, so that they will choose to keep their funds in Huifeng Bank.

This plays a significant role in stabilizing Huifeng Bank's current funding situation.

Moreover, besides Li Ka-shing, Huifeng Bank has quite a few other allies.

For example, foreign-funded enterprises such as Swire Group, Wheelock Group, and Kadoorie Group mostly prefer to cooperate with Huafeng Bank in their financial business in Hong Kong.

Although Lin Haoran has acquired many British giants in the past two or three years, greatly reducing the influence of foreign conglomerates in Hong Kong, their strength should not be underestimated.

Lin Haoran understood that with Huifeng Bank's deep-rooted foundation accumulated over many years and the support of numerous allies, it would indeed be difficult for Bank of East Asia to defeat Huifeng Bank in the short term and thus ascend to the throne of Hong Kong's financial industry.

His recent goal would be to bring Huifeng Bank to the point of having a broken capital chain, which would be ideal.

If we can't achieve that, it would be great if Bank of East Asia's market share surpassed the combined market share of HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

"Since Li Jiacheng has chosen to stand with HSBC, then I'll see just how capable you really are," Lin Haoran said softly, a confident smile playing on his lips.

He was not worried at all about Li Ka-shing personally supporting Huifeng Bank.

This was just a tactic he had used before.

Huifeng Bank can attract a lot of support, and his Bank of East Asia can also attract a lot of support!
Before we knew it, the night had passed, and it was July 21st.

Today, many mainstream newspapers have prominently featured Li Jiacheng's letter to his business partners.

The eye-catching headlines, such as "Li Ka-shing strongly supports Huifeng Bank and calls on partners to overcome difficulties together" and "Li Ka-shing's handwritten letter exposed to ensure the stability of Huifeng Bank's capital chain," instantly caused a huge uproar throughout Hong Kong.

Citizens have been discussing the letter extensively. Some believe that Li Jiacheng's move was wise, standing with his allies at a critical moment and demonstrating strong business cohesion and a sense of responsibility.

Some people also felt that as a Chinese-owned entrepreneur, Li Ka-shing should not have made it so public, even if he supported Hui Fung Bank.

After all, as a financial institution with a strong British background, Huifeng Bank inevitably sparked some controversy regarding the relationship between national capital and foreign capital in Hong Kong's complex political and economic environment.

Seeing the overwhelming reports in the newspapers, Shen Bi and other senior executives of Huifeng Bank were instantly in high spirits, as if the gloom that had been hanging over their hearts for some time had been swept away.

"Mr. Li is indeed well-versed in the ways of the business world, and he acts decisively and with great courage!" Shen Bi sat in his office at the headquarters of Huifeng Bank, holding the day's newspaper tightly in his hand. His eyes lingered on the eye-catching headlines, and a long-lost smile finally appeared on his face.

He truly hadn't expected that Li Jiacheng would personally write such a detailed letter for his business partner.

It should be noted that when he met with Li Jiacheng yesterday, although the two had a very pleasant conversation, Li Jiacheng did not mention at all that he would take such action.

This unexpected assistance undoubtedly increased Shen Bi's gratitude towards Li Jiacheng.

“Who can argue with that? Our choice of Mr. Li as our Chinese ally was absolutely brilliant, the right choice at all. Mr. Simbir, it has to be you. It was you who insisted on appointing Mr. Li!” John Bao laughed loudly from the other side.

Upon hearing John Bow's flattering words, Sumpil felt even more pleased.

He waved his hand, feigning modesty, and said, "Mr. John, you can't say that. The selection of Mr. Li was based on many considerations. Mr. Li's own ability and vision were the key. We were just going with the flow."

Despite this, the expression on Shen Bi's face revealed his inner pride.

During this period, bad news kept coming to Huifeng Bank. Capital outflows were like a flood that had burst its banks and were difficult to stop. The senior management was worried day and night, with furrowed brows and agitated moods.

Finally, we have some good news.

“Speaking of which, Mr. Bao is the first Chinese entrepreneur we have supported. Mr. Li has done all that, but Mr. Bao hasn’t taken any action. It really makes me a little disappointed in him!” John Bao continued.

When Bao Yugang was mentioned, Shen Bi paused for a moment.

Yesterday, they proposed a meeting with Bao Yugang to the Bao family, but to their surprise, Bao Yugang's son-in-law refused outright.

Moreover, they had some helplessness in refusing. Wu Guangzheng, the son-in-law of the shipping magnate, stated directly that his father-in-law was currently seriously ill and recuperating and was not suitable to receive guests. All matters would be temporarily handled by him and several other sons-in-law.

However, he is not in a position to comment on matters related to Huifeng Bank at the moment and will make a decision after his father-in-law recovers.

Although these words were spoken politely, they also conveyed a sense of distance and indifference, leaving Shen Bi and John Bao feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about him. The Bao family still owes us over a billion Hong Kong dollars. They can't possibly transfer their industrial finance business out of Huifeng Bank!" Shen Bi waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ve heard that Mr. Bao and Lin Haoran have a very good relationship. It’s understandable that he doesn’t want to speak out. Well, let’s not talk about him. If he doesn’t want to speak out, then he doesn’t have to. Anyway, he’s not going to leave our Huifeng Bank!” John Bao agreed wholeheartedly.

The history of cooperation between Bao Yugang and Huifeng Bank is too long. It started in 1956 when Bao Yugang used a ship as collateral to borrow money from Huifeng Bank. With the consent of the then head of Huifeng Bank, Sanders, he obtained a small loan to purchase the second cargo ship "Jinbi" owned by Bao Yugang. This marked the beginning of his lending relationship with HSBC.

The two sides maintained a very close relationship afterward, and the Bao family even held significant shares in the Global Shipping Group and Huifeng Bank.

Although it's true that neither party is indispensable to the other in this cooperation, Huifeng Bank did play a crucial role in providing financial support to Bao Yugang's shipping empire during its development.

Over the years, the two sides have been closely linked in financial business. The Bao family's financial accounts and loan business at Huifeng Bank are enormous, and it would not be easy to sever ties easily.

Therefore, they did not believe that Bao Yugang would betray them.

"Furthermore, Mr. Shen Bi, I learned from the securities department that the share price of our Huifeng Bank has risen today. This time, it wasn't due to our own efforts to prop up the price!" John Bao delivered some good news.

It's only 10 a.m., so the stock market hasn't been open for long.

However, if a stock's price fluctuates significantly at the beginning of the trading day, it often indicates an unusual trend for the rest of the day.

Upon hearing this news, Shen Bi's eyes lit up instantly, and his previously relaxed posture straightened up unconsciously.

"Oh? The stock price has gone up? That's a rare and auspicious sign!" Shen Bi laughed heartily.

(End of this chapter)