Chapter 284 Malicious Competition
The Mayor of London did not stay long at the Chamber of Commerce event. After attending the dinner and briefly exchanging a few words with everyone, he quickly left.
His presence was mainly symbolic, a gesture of support from the government for the Chamber members' legal and compliant business activities.
Thus, he had no need to participate in the subsequent activities.
Before leaving, he even came over to Lin Haoran and spoke with him privately for a few minutes.
What they discussed was known only to Lin Haoran; no one else approached to eavesdrop.
At that moment, every member of the British Chinese Chamber of Commerce had formed a deep impression of Lin Haoran.
Even those who previously knew nothing about him quickly learned about his immense wealth and achievements from others.
From then on, everyone's attitude towards Lin Haoran changed completely.
Even the Chamber President, a man of great prestige among the British Chinese community, realized that his own impressive wealth paled in comparison to Lin Haoran's.
The market value of Hongkong Electric alone was comparable to his entire fortune.
The President began contemplating ways to build a relationship with Lin Haoran.
If they could bring someone like him into the Chamber, it might open up countless cooperation opportunities.
After the Mayor left, the atmosphere became even more lively.
Following dinner, the tables remained set up to facilitate tea and conversation.
Groups of people chatted about possible business collaborations.
Given the discrimination Chinese merchants often faced from British businessmen, the best strategy was for Chinese merchants to unite and cooperate with each other.
Many initially surrounded Lin Haoran, seeking collaboration opportunities.
However, when they learned that Lin Haoran had no current investments in Britain, they could only hide their disappointment.
Still, no one dared to ignore him—everyone wanted to maintain a good relationship.
After all, the fact that he had traveled so far, received such high-profile attention, and attended this Chamber event clearly suggested that he intended to enter the UK market.
If he did, collaborating with a billionaire like him—even on a minor project—could multiply their wealth several times over.
Seeing that no one was bothering him for the moment, Lin Haoran finally relaxed.
He had achieved his goal for the evening.
He now had over eighty business cards from influential Chinese merchants across various industries in the UK.
Every member of this Chamber was at least a multi-millionaire.
With these connections, Lin Haoran's future expansion into the UK market would undoubtedly be smoother.
Moreover, with Uncle Tang's support, even if Lin Haoran lacked personal influence at first, people would still respect him for Tang Kun's sake.
At that moment, around a dozen tables were filled with Chamber members chatting over tea.
At Lin Haoran's table, only four or five people remained.
The others had dispersed to discuss business opportunities more privately.
Lin Haoran listened with interest as Uncle Tang and President Liu discussed the UK business scene.
These were conversations he would never have been able to hear before.
In the past, he wouldn't have cared.
But now, preparing to expand into Europe, he found it necessary to learn more.
"Old Liu, I heard you hold a lot of shares in Supplee Company?
With DHL aggressively entering the UK market, you must be facing some trouble," Tang Kun said suddenly.
Lin Haoran realized they had touched on a topic he was unfamiliar with.
He didn't know anything about Supplee Company or DHL.
However, he remained silent, sipping tea and nibbling on delicate pastries, listening curiously.
"That's right.
I'm the fourth-largest shareholder in Supplee Company.
Since DHL entered the UK market, they've been aggressively poaching market share from both Royal Mail and us, causing our stock price to plummet.
DHL operates at a loss just to gain market share.
If this continues, Supplee's share will keep shrinking.
When I invested, Supplee's market value was nearly 100 million pounds.
But in just six months, it has lost almost half its value.
It's the worst investment loss I've ever had," President Liu said with a bitter smile.
"Can't Supplee fight back?
You have the home-ground advantage and strong brand recognition.
If you increased your investment, you should be able to compete," Tang Kun said, surprised.
"Increase investment? How?
DHL is operating at massive losses just to undercut us.
Last month, we held a shareholder meeting to discuss further financing.
But it's been a month, and we haven't found suitable investors.
Either the offers were too low, or no one was interested.
None of our shareholders are willing to increase their stakes, so we can only watch as DHL takes over," Liu said, sighing heavily.
"Luckily, I'm not much into stock investments.
I've always just focused on running my own businesses," Tang Kun chuckled.
"Mr. Lin, I heard you have a strong track record in Hong Kong's stock market—even defeating giants like Jardines Matheson.
Do you have any advice for us?" President Liu suddenly turned to Lin Haoran.
Although Lin Haoran was only in his twenties, no one dared underestimate him.
President Liu himself was in his sixties and a top businessman in the UK Chinese community.
"President Liu, I honestly know nothing about Supplee Company or DHL.
I don't even know what's going on, so how could I offer any advice?" Lin Haoran replied with a wry smile.
"Haoran, Supplee is a logistics company, second only to Royal Mail in the UK.
It has a history of over twenty years and a strong domestic brand presence.
DHL, on the other hand, is a rapidly rising German logistics company, only founded eleven years ago.
Thanks to powerful financial backing, DHL quickly expanded its air freight routes to Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and Singapore within its first two years.
Earlier this year, DHL entered the UK market with ultra-low pricing, undercutting British companies by two to three times.
It's clearly a loss-making strategy to grab market share.
According to reports, in the past six months, several formerly strong British logistics companies have collapsed under the pressure.
Supplee is still holding on thanks to its size and loyal customer base, but it has undoubtedly lost a lot of market share.
This has caused investor panic and continuous stock price declines, losing over half its value in just six months," Tang Kun explained before President Liu could respond further.
"Isn't this malicious competition?
Shouldn't the British government intervene?" Lin Haoran asked in surprise.
Malicious competition, where companies operate at unsustainable losses to destroy competitors, should typically be regulated.
"Intervene?
That's easier said than done," President Liu shook his head with a bitter smile.
"There are many in Parliament who support them.
Protests against DHL's low pricing are dismissed as anti-competition.
And, you know, Western countries love to boast about democracy and free markets."
Lin Haoran nodded but then added, "President Liu, I understand your difficulties.
But in my opinion, if you want to reclaim market share, you must temporarily adopt aggressive investment strategies yourselves.
Supplee has a huge advantage as a domestic brand with a loyal customer base.
If you inject enough capital to fight back, you can reclaim your market share.
Eventually, the competition will burn out."
"Everyone understands that in theory," President Liu sighed.
"But our funding is limited.
Meanwhile, DHL has the backing of giant capital groups like Squid Capital.
When it comes to financial strength, we simply can't match them."
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