In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 733 A Traitor, There Must Be a Traitor!

While Li Jiacheng was methodically arranging his work, the sensational press conference at the headquarters of Universal Research Company in Hong Kong had already ended.

None of the reporters present were in a hurry to return to their companies. Instead, they all drove to the same destination—the Hutchison Whampoa Tower.

At this moment, they all want to know how Hutchison Whampoa will respond to this matter.

In the field of research, Universal Research is the most authoritative in Hong Kong, at least currently, it is widely recognized.

Therefore, no one would think that Universal Research was making baseless accusations at this press conference.

The accuracy and detail of the data in that report had already solidified everyone's assessment that Hutchison Whampoa was mired in crisis.

Therefore, they all wanted to see if Hutchison Whampoa would deny the matter.

If they don't deny it, then it's tantamount to admitting that Hutchison Whampoa may indeed be facing a financial crisis.

If they deny it, then things will get interesting.

Because everyone knows that given the extremely rigorous and authoritative reputation of Universal Research, their willingness to release this report so publicly must mean they have solid evidence.

Moreover, with Lin Haoran, the newly emerging business tycoon of Hong Kong, behind Huanyu Research Company, Lin Haoran would never risk his reputation.

To bring down the enemy, they resorted to despicable means like forgery, because such actions would attract investigation from relevant authorities.

However, if Hutchison Whampoa denies the allegations, it could very well trigger a second and third wave of evidence attacks from around the world, and might even lead to mandatory intervention and investigation by regulatory agencies, which would be an even more terrible disaster.

Therefore, all the reporters headed excitedly towards the Hutchison Whampoa Building.

The more exciting these things are, the better, because that will attract more attention.

Their media relies on these explosive news stories to attract attention, boost sales, and increase influence!
Besides these, many more reporters who didn't attend the press conference of the Global Research Company had already arrived at the Hutchison Whampoa Building.

More and more reporters are beginning to enter the Hutchison Whampoa Building.

Seeing this, the security guards had no choice but to report the matter to the authorities.

In Li Jiacheng's office, after giving instructions to the public relations and finance departments, he picked up a document and began to read.

This information contains all the content released by Global Research.

This document is very detailed; it records almost everything Yu Zhize said, word for word.

On the surface, Universal Research appears to have released an in-depth research report on the recent financial situation and operational risks of some major listed companies in Hong Kong, aiming to highlight potential market risks and promote a healthy and transparent business environment.

But Li Jiacheng knew perfectly well that this was clearly a conspiracy aimed at him!
A perfectly legitimate and open conspiracy!

The purpose was to expose the true predicament beneath the glamorous exterior of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings, thereby suppressing them.

The data in the report is frighteningly accurate, far beyond what ordinary market research could yield.

The extent of his cash flow problems, the distribution of short-term debt maturities, and even the details of his secret contacts with several international investment banks…

These core secrets were actually known to the other party!
"There must be a mole! There must be a mole!" Li Jiacheng gripped the report tightly, his eyes filled with anger.

A mixture of betrayal and chilling fear sent shivers down his spine.

Moreover, this mole's position is definitely not low!
He simply didn't believe that Universal Research Company had such strong research capabilities.

What Li Jiacheng didn't know was that much of the data was actually derived by Huanyu Research Company using limited data and powerful analytical models.

After acquiring Huanyu Research Company, Lin Haoran invested a significant amount of money to bring in more top-notch data teams and financial engineering experts for Huanyu Research Company.

By deeply analyzing publicly available financial reports, cross-validating supply chain data, and quantitatively analyzing market rumors, an extremely accurate risk assessment model was constructed.

Therefore, the current strength of Universal Research Company is actually much greater than that of Universal Research Company two or three months ago.

Especially after the addition of top experts recruited from developed regions such as Europe, America, and Japan, the strength of Huanyu Research Company has already reached the world's leading level!
With such a high level of expertise, it is not a pipe dream to calculate Hutchison Whampoa's near-true financial situation using a wealth of known data.

Li Jiacheng's anger and speculation about an "insider" are, to some extent, a misjudgment of the formidable strength of Universal Research Company.

Lin Haoran's investment and the addition of those top international experts have transformed this research company into an incredibly sophisticated analytical machine.

They can meticulously analyze publicly available data such as land auction prices, residential property transaction volumes, construction cost indices, major transactions by Hutchison Whampoa's subsidiaries, subtle changes in port container throughput, and even monitoring data on foot traffic at retail stores to construct financial models that closely approximate the truth.

That report was the product of a combination of algorithms, data, and industry insights; its accuracy was so high that it was indistinguishable from the truth, making people believe that there must be inside information.

However, Li Jiacheng had no time to delve into the technological marvel behind it.

The knocking on the door broke the silence of the office once again.

"Mr. Li, a lot of reporters have come downstairs, and our people have learned that reporters from Huanyu Research Company are also on their way to our company. They hope we will give a positive response to the report," the secretary quickly reported as she entered the room.

A cold glint flashed in Li Jiacheng's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He knew that Lin Haoran was putting him in a difficult position, forcing him to hastily accept the challenge.

Especially at times like this, we must not lose our composure.

"Let the public relations department handle it. Tell reporters that Hutchison Whampoa respects the voices of all parties in the market, but we will not comment on biased reports that have not been verified by us and are clearly biased."

The company is operating normally, and all financial information will be disclosed through official announcements in due course.

After a pause, Li Jiacheng continued issuing instructions in a steady tone: "Have the security guards maintain order, but avoid any conflict with reporters. Also, immediately have the investor relations department prepare a conference call briefing for major institutional investors and analysts, scheduled for after the market closes this afternoon."

His meaning is very simple: he will not come forward to respond.

"Yes, Mr. Li!" The secretary acknowledged the order and left.

Li Jiacheng sat back in his large office chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the desk.

Lin Haoran's move was indeed ruthless, using Huanyu's authority to launch a media offensive and directly impact market confidence.

He is now reacting passively, which is a poor move.

However, these were not his primary concerns.

His biggest concern right now is how to raise funds for the loan that is about to expire.

After this incident, it will be even more difficult for him to borrow money from international investment banks.

It's not that we can't borrow it, but that the price we have to pay is higher.

It's ironic that a top Hong Kong tycoon, with two major companies under his control worth over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, would be frowning over a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

But the business world is like a battlefield, and cash flow is like blood; it cannot be cut off for even a moment.

In the past two years, in order to increase Cheung Kong Holdings' stake in Hutchison Whampoa to 40%, Cheung Kong Holdings has already sold off all of its other previous stock investments.

Otherwise, he could raise funds by selling other stocks.

As for his shares in Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, he is even less likely to sell them now.

How much have stock prices fallen?

If he only sells it now, then Li Jiacheng will become a huge joke. Not only will he suffer heavy losses on paper, but he will also send a signal of extreme panic to the market, completely confirming the allegations in the Global Report and triggering a spiral of stock price decline.

This is tantamount to digging one's own grave.

Besides, even if we sell now, we need to be able to sell them.

Borrow money from business friends?

Most of his business friends are bigwigs in the real estate industry.

Now that the real estate industry has declined from its peak, business owners in various places are struggling to make ends meet, so who can he borrow from?
This is not a small amount.

He had a good relationship with Bao Yugang, but Bao Yugang had not recovered since taking over Wharf Holdings, so relying on Bao Yugang was even more impossible.

He is in dire need of funds. As the report from Universal Research Company suggests, Hutchison Whampoa's short-term debt ratio is alarming, with an estimated HK$12 billion in debt maturing within the next 1 to 6 months.

In fact, Hutchison Whampoa's short-term debt is slightly higher than the estimate by Global Research, at nearly HK$13 billion!
Of course, the forecast error of Universal Research Company can already be considered very accurate.

After all, some of Hutchison Whampoa's expenditures are not disclosed, and the lack of disclosure means that Universal Research cannot obtain the relevant data.

The HK$13 billion must be repaid within six months.

Moreover, HK$13 billion is far from Hutchison Whampoa's total debt; it only represents debt maturing within six months.

Hutchison Whampoa has billions of Hong Kong dollars in debt to repay within six months!

Of course, debts that mature in one or two years don't need to be considered too much.

For those expiring within six months, we definitely need to find a solution.

Even the $600 million loan originally negotiated with Wells Fargo was only enough to last for a while.

Now, that HK$6 million is gone too.

In fact, both Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings still have a lot of working capital, such as payments for goods in the retail industry like ParknShop and Watsons, as well as the turnover of their respective companies.

These are all now in Huifeng Bank.

However, these funds cannot be used at all, because they are all operating funds of Hutchison Whampoa's various subsidiaries.

With a sharp decline in revenue across all business segments, these companies are now struggling to even turn a profit; simply maintaining normal operations is a challenge.

If these funds are indeed withdrawn from the subsidiaries, these seemingly vast retail and business networks could be instantly paralyzed due to a broken cash flow.

ParknShop supermarkets couldn't pay their suppliers, Watsons couldn't purchase new goods, and port operations were unable to pay fuel and equipment maintenance fees...

The resulting chain reaction of collapses would be far more devastating than a simple debt default, completely destroying the business reputation and operational system that Hutchison Whampoa had built up over decades.

Therefore, this money can only lie in the accounts for the use of the subsidiaries; he dares not take out a single penny!

Li Jiacheng felt a suffocating pressure.

He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff, with a seemingly solid empire beneath his feet, but in reality, its interior was hollowed out, and any external force could cause the entire empire to collapse. "Mr. Li, all the senior executives are already waiting in the conference room." At this moment, the secretary returned to the office and reported to Li Jiacheng.

Li Jiacheng took a deep breath, his gaze becoming sharp and calm again.

The more desperate the situation, the more necessary it is to find that one and only way out.

"I understand." After saying that, Li Jiacheng got up and left the office, heading towards the conference room.

Although he was skeptical about whether the high-level meeting could come up with an effective solution, as the leader, he had to demonstrate absolute composure and control to stabilize morale.

……

Half an hour later, Li Jiacheng walked out of the conference room with a grim expression.

Just as he had expected, the dozen or so senior executives could not come up with a useful solution.

Even if he gets angry in the meeting room, it won't help.

At the meeting, business director Xia Boyin even suggested inviting Mr. Wei Li back to take charge of Hutchison Whampoa, which would surely help them overcome this difficulty.

This angered Li Jiacheng so much that he smashed the coffee cup in front of him.

These British people's wolfish ambitions have never been extinguished!

As one of the three driving forces of the Wayne era, Xia Boyin actually proposed at this critical moment to bring back Wayne, the former "company doctor" and former boss of Wong Tai-man.

Li Jiacheng could guess what was going on behind this even with his toes.

These remaining British forces never truly submitted and were always waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

The report from Huanyu undoubtedly gave them an excuse to launch an attack.

He certainly believed that Wei Li had the ability, but did he dare to?
dare not!

Wei Li's ambitions were too great. He took control of Hutchison Whampoa and held onto management power tightly, not allowing the shareholders any interference whatsoever.

How could Li Jiacheng tolerate this?

Even if the other party is very capable, what good is it if you don't have any say in the group you've taken over?
He had gone to great lengths to oust Wayne from his position as chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, so how could he possibly bring him back?
There's a Chinese proverb: It's easy to invite a god, but difficult to send him away!
So he started a huge fire, which frightened the executives present so much that they dared not utter a sound.

Li Jiacheng walked out of the conference room with a livid face, his chest heaving slightly with anger.

He experienced the full force of internal and external troubles at this moment.

While Lin Haoran was relentlessly pursuing the enemy from the outside, there were still people on the inside who were thinking of letting the enemy in and taking advantage of the chaos!
But now, he can't afford to get too worked up with these professional managers.

Because Hutchison Whampoa still needs these people to stabilize the company, and for at least the next two years, it will need to maintain a harmonious relationship with them.

If Richardson, Harry Shum, and Peter Wyatt were to leave Hutchison Whampoa now, the company's daily operations could very well be brought to a standstill.

Although these "three driving forces" each have their own agendas, their capabilities are beyond doubt, and they are the key gears that keep this huge business machine running.

Li Jiacheng has to be patient until a suitable replacement is found and a smooth transition is achieved.

In another world, he eventually found Ma Shimin to take over Huang.

However, this is no longer possible in this world, because Ma Shimin had already been poached by Lin Haoran to work at the Landmark Group.

And the facts have proven that Li Ka-shing's ability to recognize talent is indeed very strong, and Ma Shimin is indeed a man of extraordinary talent in business. Under his leadership, Hongkong Land Group is thriving.

If Hongkong Land Group hadn't been privatized by Lam Ho-yin early on, given its current size and quality, its market value might be three or four hundred billion Hong Kong dollars, or even more than five hundred billion Hong Kong dollars.

“Mr. Richard, please keep everything running smoothly within the group. I’m going to visit Mr. Tyron, the new head of Standard Chartered Bank, to try and extend the loan that is about to expire for a while longer,” Li Jiacheng said.

Now that things have come to this, Li Jiacheng believes that Standard Chartered Bank has no choice but to extend the loan.

After all, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings are both tied to HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank is now HSBC's parent company. It's impossible for them to just stand by and watch Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings fall into a crisis of broken capital chains.

However, there will definitely be a price to pay.

It all depends on what conditions the other party will propose.

I have met this Mr. Tyron many times. He seems to be a very friendly person when communicating with him, but in reality, he is a very tough person in charge.

Such people are difficult to get along with.

He's nowhere near as good as Mr. Brown used to be.

"Don't worry, Mr. Li, go ahead and have a good trip!" Richard nodded.

After the boss left, Richard summoned both Xia Boyin and Peter Webber to his office. What they discussed remains unknown.
Li Jiacheng, accompanied by bodyguards, quickly left in a car from the underground parking garage.

However, he was immediately spotted by reporters as soon as he came out of the garage.

His private car was too conspicuous in the eyes of reporters.

"Here it comes! It's Mr. Li's car!"

"Quick! Surround them!"

Someone shouted, and the crowd surged forward like a burst dam, completely blocking the road for vehicles.

The human wall formed by bodyguards and company security appeared to be on the verge of collapse under the frenzied assault.

"Mr. Li! Please respond to the report from Universal Research Company!"

Is Hutchison Whampoa about to go bankrupt?

Is HSBC pressuring customers for repayment?

Do you believe this is a malicious attack by Mr. Lin Haoran?

Is Cheung Kong Holdings' debt ratio really that high?

Long lenses and short lenses almost pierced the car windows, flashing wildly and illuminating the interior with a blinding white light.

The reporters' desperate questions, delivered through the not-so-soundproof car windows, reached Li Jiacheng's ears clearly. Each question was like a sharp knife, precisely piercing his most sensitive nerve at that moment.

The driver and the bodyguard in the front seat looked tense, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The driver instinctively slammed on the brakes, fearing he might hit the frenzied crowd.

Li Jiacheng sat in the back seat, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

He didn't expect the reporters to be so crazy, actually blocking the exit of the underground parking garage.

This feeling of being publicly interrogated and trapped like a beast infuriated him.

But he knew he absolutely could not lose his temper at this moment.

Any misbehavior will be magnified on camera and become tomorrow's headline, further damaging market confidence.

Previously, his attempt to acquire the Raffles Hotel in Singapore failed, leaving him with no choice but to hastily return to Hong Kong.

Upon returning from Singapore, he flew into a rage at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, a scene captured by reporters.

That incident almost made him a laughingstock in Hong Kong.

He had such a profound understanding.

Therefore, when facing these reporters, he knew he had to endure it, he absolutely had to endure it!
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, and whispered to the bodyguard in the front seat, "Notify the building's security department to immediately send more people to manage the situation! Tell them to be careful in their approach and absolutely prevent any conflict!"

"Yes, Mr. Li!" The bodyguard immediately picked up the walkie-talkie.

Then, Li Jiacheng made a move that surprised the reporters outside.

He slowly lowered the car window.

In an instant, almost all the microphones and recording equipment had to be crammed into the car, and the questions became even more overwhelming.

A slightly tired but still composed smile appeared on Li Jiacheng's face. He raised his hand and pressed it down slightly, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Perhaps because they didn't expect him to confront them directly, the reporters miraculously quieted down for a moment, and all their cameras were pointed at him.

“Dear friends in the media,” Li Jiacheng’s voice came through the car window, still maintaining his usual composure, “Thank you for your hard work. I understand your concerns about some of the market rumors today, but I have already had my colleagues at the company respond.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the anxious faces before him: "I want to reiterate that Hutchison Whampoa is a highly socially responsible and financially sound company. Our current operations are all normal, our financial situation is good, and we are fully capable of fulfilling all our debt obligations."

The biased reports released by certain organizations do not represent the whole truth.

"Mr. Li, how do you explain the precise data in the report?" a reporter immediately asked loudly.

"There are all sorts of analyses and reports in the market. As a company, we respect freedom of speech, but we value letting facts and performance speak for themselves." Li Jiacheng downplayed the issue, speaking calmly yet with an undeniable authority.

"I believe that investors and the market are discerning; they will make judgments based on a company's long-term value and actual performance, rather than being swayed by short-term, unverified information."

"But as far as I know, Hutchison Whampoa's share price has already fallen by almost 50% compared to its opening price. This clearly shows that investors do not have enough confidence in Hutchison Whampoa. What is your opinion on this?" Another question followed.

Li Jiacheng's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

He really disliked this reporter.

He was naturally aware of Hutchison Whampoa's stock price.

"Short-term market fluctuations often stem from an overreaction of emotions rather than a true reflection of value. Hutchison Whampoa's asset quality and long-term profitability have not fundamentally changed. I believe that when the market calms down and re-examines the fundamentals, value will return."

Li Jiacheng's voice remained steady, but his speaking speed increased slightly, revealing that he did not want to dwell on the matter any longer.

He cleverly avoided directly confirming or denying the specific drop in stock price, instead steer the conversation towards "sentiment" and "long-term value."

However, the reporter clearly wasn't going to let him off easily, and immediately posed another question: "There are reports that international investment banks such as Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs are reassessing their credit lines to Hutchison Whampoa. Is your trip here precisely for urgent consultations with the banks?"
Does this mean that Hutchison Whampoa's cash flow is indeed in trouble?

(End of this chapter)