What do you mean by quitting the business? I'm not a big shot.

Chapter 603 Acquisition of CLP
"I'm sorry, Mr. Yam, there are too many guests outside. We've kept you waiting." Yin Zhaotang carried two bottles of champagne into the room and handed one to Yam Darong.

Ren Darong put down his crossed legs, dressed casually, glanced at his watch, and smiled, "Today is the company's listing, a big day for Mr. Yin, waiting half an hour is not too late."

"Congratulations!" he said, raising his champagne glass respectfully.

Yin Zhaotang clinked glasses with him and sat down: "Congratulations, congratulations. It won't be long before we're calling Inspector Ren 'Number One'!"

Ren Darong drank the champagne, a smile playing on his lips, and said politely, "Mr. Yin, you didn't call me here just for tea, did you?"

Yin Zhaotang put down his wine glass and got straight to the point: "I want Mr. Ren to help me get the chairman of CLP. I'm interested in acquiring CLP."

Ren Darong nodded in agreement: "I will ask the Commercial Crime Bureau to do it, but the Kadoorie family is very wealthy and has great influence."

"It would be easier to handle if there were direct evidence."

Yin Zhaotang took out a document and said, "It contains evidence that CLP Group illegally manipulated the stock market and bribed former Hong Kong Stock Exchange Chairman Li Fuzhao."

After Yu Shaoze was brought down, order was restored within the police force, and rules needed to be followed again. But the rules were his own, and the relevant evidence was already prepared, so the process wouldn't be difficult.

Ren Darong readily accepted the documents, stood up to say goodbye, and said, "No problem, then I'll go and tell the staff what to do, so as not to disturb Mr. Yin's entertaining guests."

Yin Zhaotang quickly saw him off, smiling as he said, "Ren Sir is my honored guest, but I'm afraid you might find the noisy environment bothersome. Let's have tea again sometime, and I'll invite Ah Hua along."

Ren Darong happily said, "Okay, let's invite Ahua too."

He escorted Mr. Yam to the elevator, said goodbye, and then returned to the banquet.

The next day, in the morning, as soon as Li Jiacheng stepped out of the nanny car and entered the Chinese Building, the administrative secretary waiting at the elevator entrance came forward to report: "Mr. Li, morning market summary, the company's stock price rose by 0.5 percentage points, and Wheelock's stock price surged by two points."

Wearing a gray suit and silver-rimmed glasses, Li Jiacheng entered the elevator and said in a deep voice, "I want to hear the trend of 0002."

The secretary remained expressionless, put away the documents, and said solemnly, "0002 has not shown any unusual activity and is still maintaining a fluctuating trend."

Although foreign firm stocks have not yet entered an upward phase, they have moved away from their lowest points and begun to fluctuate, showing a faint upward trend.

After all, the Hang Seng Index has stabilized. Good foreign stocks, such as CLP, HSBC, and Jardine Matheson, either control Minsheng Energy, have the power to print money, or hold prime land.

With the Hong Kong economy expected to improve, high-quality foreign firms' stocks will inevitably benefit. However, they will lag behind Chinese capital and will no longer be able to control the financial sector.

The mutual short-selling by Chinese and foreign capital is a struggle for dominance. In the eyes of international capital, both are part of a larger market and have a ripple effect.

Li Jiacheng raised his eyebrows and said, "Yin Zhaotang made a billion dollars in the stock market yesterday with Pegasus, but he didn't even try to take a bite out of CLP?"

To curb Yin Zhaotang's competitiveness, he had prepared a considerable amount of capital, intending to fiercely compete with Lao Zhong for shares. By maliciously driving up the price of 0002, Yin Zhaotang would have to pay out more—three hundred million, five hundred million, or even a billion. Cheung Kong would not only make a huge profit but also deplete its opponent's resources. After Yin Zhaotang took control of CLP, his lack of funds would significantly slow his development. This would allow HK Electric to calmly plan and expand its energy business.

If the opportunity arises, we'll acquire the Daya Bay project; if not, we're not in a hurry. The Hong Kong Island energy market is limited, and to prevent monopolies, it's divided into districts with separate licenses.

Even at their peak, the two power companies would only have a market capitalization of around 10 billion yuan. To grow significantly, there are only two paths: either compete in the domestic energy market or expand into overseas markets.

However, the per capita electricity consumption in mainland China is pitifully low. Apart from major cities, most areas lack universal electricity access, yet the majority of the population lives in rural areas.

In Li Jiacheng's view, cooperating with the mainland to invest in massive infrastructure projects and then obtaining licenses in the energy market is actually a very unwise investment.

Acquiring excellent energy companies overseas and expanding HK Electric from the power business into industries such as natural gas, coal, and oil would definitely be more profitable.

He even secretly hoped that after Yin acquired CLP, he would move north to connect with the power grid, and the entire company would be drained of its resources by the mainland, dragging it to its death in the deep mountains and forests.

The secretary replied, "Boss, Zhongyi Group may have completed its fundraising ahead of schedule and is not in a hurry to purchase goods."

The acquisition battle needs to be swift and discreet; otherwise, malicious obstruction could come at a high price. While not everyone knows that Zhongyi Group wants to buy 0002, those who are paying attention will certainly recognize it.

Li Jiacheng nodded slowly, finding it reasonable, and ordered: "Make it clear to the people at Hutchison Trust that starting today, I want 0002 to rise."

"Understood, boss," the secretary replied immediately.

With the power of Cheung Kong Holdings, manipulating or destroying any stock is virtually effortless. Hutchison Trust, a subsidiary of the group, controls over 30 billion in cash and has always been a capital behemoth in the Hang Seng Index. It also frequently stirs up trouble in the Southeast Asian market, continuously accumulating wealth for Li Ka-shing.

However, as a pure businessman, Li Jiacheng had almost no influence in the police force, but he had many friends in the Financial Secretary and the City Council.

Because the police force is a very closed violent institution, without a violent background to support it, one does not even have the right to have an equal dialogue with the police force.

Li Jiacheng rarely needs to ask the police to do anything, so he can't connect any news about personnel changes in the police force with Yin Zhaotang.

When Hutchison Trust was ordered to buy up shares, no one expected that the "Kadoorie family stock market manipulation case" would break out in just two days. Michael Kadoorie, chairman of CLP Group and the current head of one of the four old-fashioned foreign families, was taken away by the police from his private apartment.

The stocks of the three listed companies under the Kadoorie family—CLP Holdings, Shanghai Grand Hotel Company, and Kadoorie Properties—all plummeted.

Yin Zhaotang did not actively accumulate shares; instead, he waited for the case to escalate before aggressively buying up assets in the market. Despite knowing that Chung Yee Group had a strong desire to acquire the company, due to concerns about the Kadoorie family's interests, there was no price gouging in the market. With only Hutchison Trust as a competitor, Li Jiacheng was convinced that Chung Yee Group wanted to buy CLP, showing no fear of risk.

However, considering the Chaozhou Chamber of Commerce's leading role in rescuing the market, most investment companies holding shares in 0002 are willing to sell them to the Chung Yee Group on a limited basis.

After a month of intense bidding, Chung Yee Group successfully acquired 31% of the shares, triggering the acquisition and officially announcing the takeover bid. 0002 saw a strong rebound, rising 47% in a single day. To complete the acquisition, it was necessary to acquire more than 50% of CLP's shares. Of the remaining 69% of shares, 40% were held by the Kadoorie family, 15% by Canadian speculative capital, and the remaining 14% had been transferred to Li Ka-shing.

(End of this chapter)