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Chapter 738 Li Jiacheng's Confidence!

Li Jiacheng's smile faltered slightly: "Something's not right? The stock price has soared, market confidence has recovered—this is fantastic news, what's wrong with it?"

Although he said that, a bad feeling welled up in his heart.

Tyronn also stopped smiling and looked intently at Richard.

Richard took a deep breath, stepped forward, and lowered his voice: "I just received several calls from the heads of brokerage firms and clearing companies with whom I have close relationships. They are all asking the same thing: Is the mysterious force that drove the stock price surge today the market-stabilizing fund that we arranged?"

Li Jiacheng's brows furrowed immediately: "Support funds? Where would we find extra cash to support the market? Wasn't it already..."

He stopped mid-sentence, his expression changing slightly.

Although Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings have a lot of working capital, this money is used for normal business operations and there is no spare money to boost stock prices in the secondary market.

"That's the problem! If it wasn't us, then who was it? They reported that the buying tactics were very professional and consistent."

Although they are spread across countless small accounts, their behavior is highly coordinated, unlike the spontaneous actions of retail investors or ordinary institutions. There are very few such trading teams in Hong Kong.” Richard’s tone was clearly skeptical.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Li Jiacheng and Tyron, his voice lowering even further: "What's even more worrying is that we couldn't contact the heads of two funds that have been cooperating with us for many years and hold a significant number of shares this morning."

Furthermore, after sensing something was wrong, I immediately contacted several other major shareholders of Hutchison Whampoa, but I haven't been able to reach them yet. Those close to them also don't know where they've gone.

The relaxed atmosphere in the office just moments before instantly froze.

Li Jiacheng's hand, holding the coffee cup, froze in mid-air. The confident smile on his face vanished completely, replaced by a gradually spreading sense of surprise and unease.

He wasn't inexperienced in weathering storms, and these signs, taken together, pointed to a possibility he was extremely reluctant to believe.

Tyronn's expression instantly turned extremely serious, and the banker's risk radar went off like crazy.

Highly coordinated buying?
Major shareholder temporarily out of contact?

This is by no means a sign of spontaneous recovery in market confidence; it is more like the prelude to a meticulously planned hostile takeover!
"You mean someone is secretly accumulating large amounts of Hutchison Whampoa shares? And is even already contacting those major shareholders?" Li Jiacheng's voice was dry, with a slight tremor that he himself didn't even realize.

“I suspect so, Mr. Lin Haoran.” Richard nodded heavily. “Moreover, the other party’s movements were very fast and very covert. We have only just noticed a clue.”

"Could it be that Lin Haoran has his eye on Hutchison Whampoa? That shouldn't be the case. I hold a 40% stake in Hutchison Whampoa through Cheung Kong Holdings. Even if he's incredibly wealthy, it's practically impossible for him to acquire enough shares on the secondary market to threaten my position."
"Even with the shares held by those shareholders, it still falls far short," Li Jiacheng murmured.

As he spoke, he picked up the phone on his desk and entered a secret number.

This phone call was specifically for providing him with intelligence.

After the call connected, Li Jiacheng asked directly, "Do you know Lin Haoran's whereabouts today? Did he go to the Kang Le Building?"

"Please wait a moment, just a few minutes."

Soon after, the sound of the phone being hung up came from the other end.

A few minutes later, Li Jiacheng's phone rang again.

"Lin Haoran appeared at the Central Ferry Pier around 9 a.m. this morning, and then boarded a glider owned by Hongkong Land Group. His whereabouts are currently unknown. He may have gone to Macau or the mainland, but he is most likely not in Hong Kong," the reply came quickly.

After hanging up the phone, Li Jiacheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Lin Haoran is not in Hong Kong, so logically this matter should not have been done by the other party.

If it wasn't Lin Haoran, then who could it be?

"Is it possible that someone bought in at a low price yesterday and then deliberately raised the price today to sell off their holdings?" Tyron interjected from the side.

“No, that’s impossible. If that were the case, there would be no need for them to target those shareholders and heads of institutions,” Richard said, shaking his head directly.

"Moreover, if it were a pump-and-dump scheme, the operation would be more inclined to create a false sense of prosperity before selling off in a concentrated manner, rather than the current method of spreading out, continuously and patiently placing orders at relatively low levels to accumulate shares."

"It's more like quietly accumulating chips without disturbing the market as much as possible," Richard added, his tone growing increasingly serious.

As a professional manager at Hutchison Whampoa, Richard Shin did not like Li Ka-shing taking over Hutchison Whampoa.

However, after Li Ka-shing took over Hutchison Whampoa, Richard Shin was not only not driven out, but was even promoted to become the CEO of Hutchison Whampoa.

But if Hutchison Whampoa changes hands again, his position as CEO will likely be in jeopardy.

The new master will inevitably install his own confidants to control the core power.

For both public and private reasons, he had to stand on Li Jiacheng's side and stabilize the situation.

What he didn't know was that Li Ka-shing was merely using him to stabilize Hutchison Whampoa. Once Li Ka-shing had complete control of Hutchison Whampoa, he too would be subject to being purged.

After all, he was a former official from the British-controlled era, not a close associate of Li Ka-shing.

Richard had a vague feeling about this, but the shared crisis temporarily overshadowed his worries.

After listening to Richard's analysis, Li Jiacheng's heart, which had just settled down, suddenly jumped up again, and he was even more uneasy than before.

Richard was right. This kind of covert and continuous accumulation of shares is definitely not the work of short-term speculators. Their scheme must be much bigger!
This method reminded him of a team, the former Huanyu Investment Company!
Three years ago, he attempted to secretly acquire Qingzhou Yingni.

To this end, they secretly acquired shares through the secondary market.

However, not long after, Bao Yugang persuaded him to give up the acquisition of Qingzhou Yingni.

At that time, the operating style of the Huanyu Investment Company's team was remarkably similar to what Richard Xin had described.

Although Lin Haoran's investment company has reportedly moved to the United States, they have left a group of elites in Hong Kong.

Furthermore, Lin Haoran, building upon this elite group, poached talent from Jardine Matheson Securities and restructured it into the current Galaxy Securities!
This thought exploded in Li Jiacheng's mind like a thunderclap!

Yes!

That's them!

The core team of Galaxy Securities, led by Dai Shi, consists of the elites who once made waves in the Hong Kong market at Huanyu Investment!
Their operating style, covert methods, and understanding of the Hong Kong market are perfectly matched!
But why would Lin Haoran leave Hong Kong at this crucial juncture?
As Li Jiacheng grew worried, he also became increasingly puzzled.

If Lin Haoran is indeed targeting Hutchison Whampoa, he should logically be based in Hong Kong, personally directing this crucial acquisition battle.

Leaving at this critical juncture would be far too unusual.

Li Jiacheng couldn't understand it at all at this moment.

"Mr. Li, since you have other matters to attend to, I'll head back now. I also need to go back and take care of some work. Please contact me immediately if anything comes up." Tyron was also unwilling to stay any longer and said goodbye.

In fact, he went back to use the intelligence from Huifeng Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to investigate the matter.

If Lin Haoran is indeed behind this, then whether Hutchison Whampoa will break free from Li Ka-shing's control in the future is uncertain.

After all, Tyron had already come to a deep understanding of how terrifying Lin Haoran was.

If it weren't for Lin Haoran, Standard Chartered Bank would have had no ability to acquire Huifeng Bank.

In this respect, they do have to thank the other party, even though they also gave up a lot of benefits.

Standard Chartered Bank and Li Ka-shing are now in the same boat, their fortunes intertwined, sharing both prosperity and adversity.

Most importantly, if Lin Haoran really takes control of Hutchison Whampoa, then Huifeng Bank will completely lose this partner.

After all, it was Li Ka-shing who signed those agreements with Hui Fung Bank on his behalf, not Hutchison Whampoa and Hui Fung Bank.

Lin Haoran himself owns Hang Seng Group, the largest banking group in Hong Kong.

If it is indeed Lin Haoran who takes action against Hutchison Whampoa, then after he takes control, he will inevitably replace HSBC and Standard Chartered with banks under the Hang Seng Group, making them Hutchison Whampoa's new main banks and financing channels!

That's the most fatal point!
Upon realizing this, Tyron felt a chill run down his spine!
He was initially only worried about debt risks, but now he realizes that this also involves the bank's most core customer resources and huge future business interests!
Losing Hutchison Whampoa, a major client, is not just a risk of bad debts for HSBC and Standard Chartered, but also a huge loss of market share and influence!

"Mr. Li!" Tyron abruptly stopped in his tracks, his expression becoming more serious than ever before. "This is no small matter! I will return to the bank immediately, not only to investigate but also to persuade headquarters that we must fully support you!"

This is not only for the benefit of your Hutchison Whampoa, but also for the benefit of our bank itself!

At this moment, Li Jiacheng was troubled by the mystery of why Lin Haoran left Hong Kong. When he heard Tyron's attitude make a 180-degree turn, he was first stunned, and then immediately understood the deeper meaning in Tyron's words - the threat of Hang Seng Group!

Yes!

How could he forget that!
Lin Haoran holds Hang Seng's trump card today!
If he succeeds, HSBC and Standard Chartered's operations at Hutchison Whampoa will be completely uprooted and taken over by Hang Seng Bank.

This is undoubtedly a major blow to Standard Chartered Bank, which has just completed its acquisition of HSBC and is eager to make its mark!
This is also a heavy blow to HSBC!
This shared and enormous threat instantly bound Li Ka-shing and the interests of the two major banks even more closely together!
Li Jiacheng felt much better. With Standard Chartered Bank's proactive support, he was much more confident in dealing with this acquisition battle.

Besides that, he actually has another source of confidence.

That is, among those important shareholders, there is a director surnamed Wang who holds 3% of the shares. He has a life-or-death friendship with Wang. They are old friends he met in the early days of his business and have been through many storms together.

This is also why the other party holds shares in Hutchison Whampoa.

Li Jiacheng is more than 90% certain that he will not easily sell Mr. Wang's shares to Lin Haoran.

This 3% stake could act as a stabilizing force at crucial moments. 3%! If we add the 40% held by Cheung Kong Holdings, then he would have the backing of 43% of the shares.

Thinking of this, Li Jiacheng felt somewhat relieved.

He simply couldn't believe that Lin Haoran could acquire more than 43% of the shares through the secondary market and other shareholders!
This is an almost impossible task.

Confidence returned to Li Jiacheng.

He immediately picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Wang's private mobile number.

This time, he was much calmer, even exuding a sense of confidence and certainty.

However, no one answered after several attempts.

Li Jiacheng frowned and put down the phone.

However, he was not worried that his old friend would betray him.

Li Jiacheng played a significant role in the other party's success.

……

Our gaze shifts to the Kang Le Building.

At this very moment, the shareholders were still present in the conference room where Ma Shimin was.

These people, who are able to become major shareholders of Hutchison Whampoa, are naturally figures in Hong Kong's high society, and each of them is a billionaire.

Therefore, since mobile phones were made available for commercial use, they all now own their own mobile phones.

However, Ma Shimin had naturally made ample preparations in advance.

Mobile phones in Hong Kong are operated by Hong Kong Telephone Company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hongkong Land Group. Blocking mobile signals in the vicinity of the conference room would be a piece of cake.

This is why the outside world cannot contact these people.

Even though they brought mobile phones, there was no signal, so other people couldn't get through.

The atmosphere in the conference room fell into a long silence after Ma Shimin made that astonishingly high premium acquisition offer.

The initial doubts and impatience on the faces of the several billionaires had long since disappeared, replaced by deep shock, weighing of options, and struggle.

Cash, at a 65% premium, based on yesterday's closing price!

This offer is incredibly tempting for them, who have just experienced a market crash and are still shaken by the experience.

This is equivalent to providing a perfect, high-yield safe haven.

However, if we can take this opportunity to raise prices, wouldn't we be able to gain more profits?
Just like when Paul Yiu-kong was vying with Jardine Matheson for control of Wharf Holdings, the price of each share of Wharf Holdings rose from a dozen Hong Kong dollars to nearly 110 Hong Kong dollars.

At this very moment, some shareholders have already started to have their own ideas.

One of the shareholders, surnamed He, broke the silence by lightly tapping his fingers on the table: "Mr. Ma Shimin, Mr. Lin's offer is indeed very sincere, but as you know, the market is just beginning to recover, and Hutchison Whampoa's potential is far more than that."

A 65% premium... if we wait a little longer, perhaps...

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: he wanted to raise the price on the spot.

The other shareholders had already thought of this by now.

Simon Murray seemed to have anticipated this reaction. He maintained a calm smile and said, "Gentlemen, I know what you're thinking, but I would say that you may be overthinking it. Everyone in Hong Kong knows that Cheung Kong Holdings holds a full 40% stake in Hutchison Whampoa. Even if Mr. Lam is very wealthy, do you think he can hold more than 40% of the shares?"
I think everyone here already has their own answer. Cheung Kong Holdings already owns a full 40% of the shares, and with the rest of you holding approximately 13%, that's a total of 53% of the shares.

In this way, only about 40% of the shares are actually left in the secondary market. Mr. Lin wants to quietly hold more than 20% of the shares, plus the 13% you hold, in order to threaten Cheung Kong Holdings' controlling stake in Hutchison Whampoa. Do you think this probability is high?

To be honest, even Mr. Lin Haoran knows that this is something that is impossible to do. The reason he increased his stake in Hutchison Whampoa is simply to have a certain number of seats on the board of directors of Hutchison Whampoa, so that he will have the opportunity to go further in the future. As for the timing, it is certainly not now.

"But if you raise the price, then Mr. Lin will have to temporarily abandon this idea. If the market finds out that Hutchison Whampoa's stock price was driven up by Mr. Lin today, and now he has decided to give up the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa shares, what do you think will happen to Hutchison Whampoa's stock price?"

Upon hearing this, the shareholders' expressions changed slightly. Their initial thoughts of raising the price were instantly cooled down as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over their heads.

Ma Shimin's words precisely hit their weak spot—risk.

They only saw the allure of soaring stock prices during the Wharf battle, selectively ignoring the unique nature and extremely high risks of that battle.

More importantly, Ma Shimin pointed out a harsh reality: Li Ka-shing's 40% controlling stake is an almost insurmountable barrier, making it extremely difficult for Hutchison Whampoa to stage another Wharf-style battle for control.

Lin Haoran's goal is more likely to gain influence on the board of directors, rather than to fight for control at any cost.

If their greedy asking price causes Lin Haoran to feel the costs are too high and he abandons the acquisition plan...

So what will happen once the market realizes that the mysterious force driving today's stock price has retreated?
The newly restored confidence will collapse instantly, and those retail and institutional investors who followed the trend will panic and sell off their shares. The stock price may not only fall back to its original point, but may even fall more drastically due to unmet expectations and panic!
The stocks they hold will once again become "hot potatoes".

At that point, let alone a 65% premium, it will be questionable whether you can even sell at yesterday's plummeting price.

The shareholder surnamed He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only let out a helpless sigh and stopped tapping his fingers on the table.

The other shareholders exchanged glances, their greed and hesitation gradually replaced by clarity and pragmatism.

One of the shareholders, surnamed Wang, only said one sentence at the beginning. After learning Ma Shimin's purpose, he didn't say anything more from beginning to end, and even remained expressionless.

If he weren't currently at the headquarters of Hongkong Land Group, he might have even considered calling Li Jiacheng directly.

However, he held back and planned to fight after he got outside.

Therefore, he was unaware that Li Jiacheng had called him several times during this period.

Ma Shimin took in everyone's reactions and knew that the time was ripe.

He stopped applying pressure and adopted a more sincere tone: "Gentlemen, Mr. Lin entrusted me to negotiate this deal with you with the utmost sincerity. Once you walk out this door, you will never find this offer again."

This is a win-win situation: Mr. Lin gains the desired equity and the possibility of future cooperation, while you all can quickly sell your Hutchison Whampoa shares at a relatively high price, giving you ample funds to pursue other, more certain investment opportunities.

These words not only gave them a way out but also painted a rosy picture of the future, completely shattering their last psychological defenses.

Finally, another shareholder surnamed Huang, who had been silent all along, spoke first. His voice was a little hoarse: "Mr. Ma Shimin, there's no need to say more. I accept Mr. Lin's sincerity and conditions."

"I accept that too."

"I accept that too."

……

Five people in a row announced their decisions.

This made Ma Shimin very happy.

His gaze was fixed on the last shareholder.

This shareholder, surnamed Wang, holds 3% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares, making him one of Hutchison Whampoa's most important shareholders.

However, he did not agree immediately like the other shareholders.

The shareholder, surnamed Wang, appeared calm, as if he were weighing something.

Unlike the other shareholders who were clearly persuaded, a hint of caution and hesitation remained deep in his eyes.

Ma Shimin felt a slight chill in his heart, but his smile remained unchanged as he gently asked, "Mr. Wang, what do you think? You must have felt Mr. Lin's sincerity. This is a rare opportunity."

Chairman Wang raised his head, looked directly at Ma Shimin, and slowly said, "Mr. Ma Shimin, Mr. Lin's terms are indeed very generous, with a 65% premium that is hard for anyone to refuse."

He paused, then changed the subject slightly, "However, I'm sorry, Mr. Li Jiacheng and I are old friends of many years, and close business partners. You may not know that Mr. Li Jiacheng and I are old friends of many years."

From both a moral and practical standpoint, in a situation like this, I should at least have informed him beforehand and listened to his thoughts; this is basic business ethics.

His words were clear and logical, acknowledging the attractiveness of the offer while also highlighting the bond between him and Li Jiacheng that went beyond that of ordinary shareholders.

This is not about raising prices arbitrarily, but rather a consideration of friendship and long-term cooperative interests.

If the agreement is signed without Li Jiacheng's involvement, it will undoubtedly destroy the trust and cooperation between the two parties that has lasted for many years.

Upon hearing this, Ma Shimin frowned.

If it were any other shareholder, it would be fine, but this shareholder surnamed Wang holds as much as 3% of the shares, which means he wields a very significant position.

This could be considered a miscalculation.

The main reason is that this shareholder surnamed Wang is usually too low-key, so Lin Haoran did not find out that the other party had such a close relationship with Li Jiacheng.

He had meticulously planned and conducted thorough intelligence work, yet he overlooked the deep personal ties between Chairman Wang and Li Jiacheng.

(End of this chapter)