Chapter 317 Li Jiacheng Seeks Cooperation
Under normal circumstances, before fully securing control of Aimeigao Company, Chen Songqing shouldn't have publicly announced the share transfer.
Doing so would alert Liu Luanzhong, the real head of Aimeigao, prompting him to mount a defense.
But in reality, the reason Chen Songqing decided to announce the deal right after reaching an agreement was because he had already secretly acquired a portion of shares — about 3%, over three million shares.
This meant that once he acquired Lin Haoran's shares, Karson Group would hold over 43% of Aimeigao's stock, surpassing Liu Luanzhong's 40%.
Moreover, from Lin Haoran, Chen Songqing had confirmed that Liu hadn't increased his holdings.
Thus, he boldly made the announcement, aiming to inflate Aimeigao's stock price.
The higher the stock price rose, the harder it would be for Liu to counterattack.
That was Chen Songqing's real plan.
Before the afternoon interview, right after concluding the agreement with Lin Haoran, he had already instructed Karson Group's securities department to aggressively buy more shares while prices were still relatively low.
The seasoned veteran was certainly not fighting unprepared.
Watching Aimeigao's stock price soar past HKD 30 per share, pushing its market cap to HKD 30 billion, Chen Songqing was satisfied.
After all, the deal terms with Lin Haoran were already locked in at HKD 1.1 billion, with cancellation penalties in place for either side.
Thus, the higher the stock went now, the happier he was.
After leaving Wanching Tower that morning, Chen had immediately gone to Yumin Finance's office to arrange financing.
After offering to pledge the Aimeigao shares and promising a hefty HKD 10 million personal "thank you" fee to Yumin's GM Yang Changdao,
Chen secured the deal.
Yang agreed to the loan and promised the funds would arrive within two days.
Chen was seeking HKD 1.2 billion — not HKD 1.1 billion — ensuring he would have extra liquidity.
Little did Yang realize, however, that by approving this loan, he was digging an even bigger financial hole for Yumin Finance.
Three days later, on Monday, September 29th,
in front of dozens of reporters at Wanching Tower, Lin Haoran and Chen Songqing officially signed the share transfer agreement.
With the signing, Lin Haoran received HKD 1.1 billion.
The transaction was duly reported to and approved by the Securities and Futures Commission.
From this moment, Aimeigao Company had no more connection to Lin Haoran.
Even if the company collapsed later, it would have nothing to do with him.
He had completed a legal, mutually agreed-upon transaction.
Seeing his bank account flush again, Lin Haoran was very satisfied.
Now that Aimeigao's shares had been converted to cash, it was time for the final battle against Jardines Matheson.
He was eager to seize Land Development Corporation.
Lin Haoran understood:
the sooner he controlled Land Development, the better.
Otherwise, if it remained under British control, they might recklessly invest in overpriced projects amid the real estate bubble, leaving the company heavily indebted by the time he took over.
At Chinese Bank Building, in his office, Li Jiacheng was watching the news of Lin Haoran cashing out HKD 1.1 billion — green with envy.
While many saw Aimeigao as a prime company, Li Jiacheng did not.
He saw its fundamental weakness — too little fixed asset base.
Aside from a small industrial park in Kwun Tong, Aimeigao owned little real estate.
Thus, no matter how high its revenues or profits, Li believed Aimeigao wasn't truly worth HKD 30 billion.
Still, that wasn't his concern.
He wasn't going to criticize publicly and risk offending Lin Haoran.
His real target was Land Development Corporation.
But over the past week, Land Development's market cap had stubbornly stayed around HKD 110 billion.
Thus, Li had paused his acquisitions until now.
Today, he decided to resume.
Currently, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa had secretly accumulated over 5% of Land Development's shares —
a modest pace, but progress nonetheless.
"If Lin Haoran now holds HKD 1.1 billion plus his HKD 2 billion Huifeng Bank loan,"
Li mused,
"he really might succeed against Jardines Matheson.
I need to accelerate my Land Development strategy."
He had noticed someone deliberately supporting Land Development's stock price,
keeping transaction volumes low.
His team guessed it might be Jardines Matheson themselves trying to prevent opportunists from striking during the power struggle.
If so, it reassured him.
Even though secret acquisitions would be costlier, controlling Land Development would be worth it.
Having fully taken over Hutchison Whampoa, Li Jiacheng's confidence soared.
He agreed with Lin Haoran's view:
Land Development was far more valuable than Jardines.
Jardines without Land Development would lose most of its worth.
"It's time to meet Lin Haoran," Li decided.
He planned to propose an alliance —
to seize both Jardines and Land Development from the British consortium.
However, Li still had one nagging doubt.
From early on, his team had noticed someone else targeting Land Development.
At first, he suspected it was Lin Haoran.
But after Lin publicly targeted Jardines, Li concluded otherwise.
Lin didn't have the resources to simultaneously acquire both.
Thus, the real hidden competitor remained a mystery —
and a serious concern.
Still, determined to proceed, Li Jiacheng called Lin Haoran.
Learning that Lin was at Wanching Tower,
Li immediately set out in his armored private car.
Back at Wanching Tower, after hanging up, Lin Haoran was curious.
Why was Li Jiacheng seeking him out?
Only half an hour ago, Chen Songqing had left, beaming about his "victory" with Aimeigao.
But that no longer concerned Lin Haoran.
Now, his mind was fully on Jardines and Land Development.
Twenty minutes later, Lin Haoran welcomed Li Jiacheng into his office.
At once, Lin noticed a difference.
Li Jiacheng exuded a new aura — more confident, more commanding.
Clearly, success at Hutchison Whampoa had transformed him.
Before, he was not yet among Hong Kong's elite tycoons.
Now, he truly was.
"Mr. Lin, congratulations on raising so much capital.
I'm truly envious!" Li said warmly.
"And congratulations to you, Mr. Li, for taking over Hutchison Whampoa.
Compared to that, my success at Hong Kong Electric is modest," Lin replied with a smile.
"Speaking of Hong Kong Electric,"
Li laughed,
"I used to plan on acquiring it myself after taking Hutchison.
You beat me to it!"
Their relationship had always been cordial —
more acquaintances than close friends, but friendly nonetheless.
"Forgive me for that," Lin chuckled.
"But Mr. Li, may I ask your purpose for visiting?"
"Mr. Lin, to be honest, I came to propose a collaboration,"
Li Jiacheng said frankly.
"Collaboration? In what area?" Lin asked, surprised.
"Mr. Lin, you're currently targeting Jardines Matheson,
but I believe your chances aren't very high.
From what I hear, Huifeng Bank won't support your bid,"
Li said.
"Success or not, I can't back down now.
Does your collaboration proposal involve Jardines Matheson?"
Lin asked.
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