In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 379: The deal is done: completely pluck out all the feathers of Jardine Matheson!

Not long after, Huo Jianning and Ma Shiming arrived at Lin Haoran’s villa on Shi Xun Road.

It was the first time for both of them to come here, but the villas on Shixun Road were not densely populated. Lin Haoran told him the address, and the two of them naturally found it easily.

Lin Haoran greeted the two outside the villa and took them to the study on the first floor.

“Thank you both for your hard work today!” After Huo Jianning and Ma Shiming sat down, Lin Haoran personally made and poured tea for them.

“Boss, this is what we should do.” Ma Shiming shook his head.

“Boss, we have lived up to your expectations. The results of this negotiation are quite impressive. Although there is still one condition that has not been finalized, given Mr. Henry’s positive attitude, I believe that a successful conclusion is just around the corner!” Huo Jianning reported with a serious face.

Upon hearing this, Lin Haoran first filled a cup of tea for each of them, and also filled a cup for himself. Then he slowly raised his head and focused his eyes on Huo Jianning.

“Jianning, please tell me in detail about the negotiation process and the final results!”

“Yes, boss!” Huo Jianning responded and began to describe the entire negotiation process vividly and in detail.

This time, the conditions reached between Lin Haoran and the British financial group basically covered the conditions that Lin Haoran had mentioned before.

1. They are willing to persuade the four British shareholders of Hong Kong Land to sell their shares in Hong Kong Land to Lin Haoran at the market price;
2. The two major hotel brands under Jardine Matheson, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Oriental International Hotel, were also transferred back to Hong Kong Land Group;

3. The Rothschild family and the Keswick family wanted to acquire Lin Haoran’s 19% of Jardine Matheson’s shares at the market price, but Huo Jianning mentioned a total acquisition price of 19 billion, which means that the total valuation of Jardine Matheson was pushed to 100 billion Hong Kong dollars. In the end, they agreed;

4. The British consortium agreed to support the privatization of Hong Kong Land Group;

5. Jardine Matheson & Co. and Hong Kong Land Group have severed all affiliations and will no longer have any relationship with each other;
6. Swire Properties Group acquires 20% stake in Golden Gate Construction Company!

These are what have been agreed upon between the two parties.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Oriental International Hotel were actually founded by the Hong Kong Land Group, but were later separated from the Hong Kong Land Group by Jardine Matheson and controlled by Jardine Matheson. Now they have returned to the Hong Kong Land Group.

Moreover, compared with Jardine Securities, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Oriental International Hotel are not very important subsidiaries of Jardine Matheson. In order to prevent Lin Haoran from being entangled with Jardine Securities, they finally agreed.

Huo Jianning never mentioned the 19% Jardine Matheson shares held by Lin Haoran at the negotiation table, but the people from the British financial consortium took the initiative to propose that Lin Haoran sell the 19% shares to them.

The reason why they took the initiative to propose this was naturally because they were worried that Lin Haoran still held the 19% shares and might be able to regain the controlling stake in Jardine Matheson in the future.

Therefore, in order to completely eliminate the possibility of Lin Haoran having any controlling stake, they had no choice but to agree even if the price was slightly higher than the market price.

Over the past year, Universal Investment Company spent approximately HK$19 billion to acquire 11% of Jardine Matheson’s shares.

Now, being able to sell it for 19 billion Hong Kong dollars is considered a huge profit of 8 million.

As for the unexpected acquisition of 20% of the shares of Golden Gate Construction Company, this was undoubtedly unexpected wealth!

Lin Haoran mentioned Kinmen Construction Company before, but it was just a casual remark.

Unexpectedly, Huo Jianning and Ma Shiming actually helped him get the 20% shares, which made Lin Haoran feel surprised and delighted.

The two of them are worthy of being Li Jiacheng’s most capable right-hand men in his previous life.

Now, these two outstanding talents have become his right-hand men!

As for Li Jiacheng, I’m sorry, your talent is mine.

Huo Jianning recounted what happened at the negotiation table, and Lin Haoran nodded with satisfaction from time to time.

As for the last condition that has not been negotiated yet, it is to give up the controlling stake in Kwai Chung Pier No. 5!
Lin Haoran naturally knew the importance of Kwai Chung Wharf. It was once the busiest container port in the world. Even though the importance of Kwai Chung Wharf gradually declined with the economic development of the mainland, it has always played a very important role.

So when talking with Ho Kin Ning, Lin Haoran insisted that the people from the British financial group agree to this condition. The Hong Kong Land Group was willing to acquire the company with HK$1 million.

The reason why the British financial group was unwilling to give up the controlling stake in Kwai Chung Pier No. 5 was that once they gave it up, Jardine Matheson’s share of assets in Hong Kong would fall to less than 10%. It would have almost no important assets in Hong Kong and would have completely become a multinational company that mainly managed international industries.

Moreover, everyone knows the importance of Kwai Chung Pier, which is why Huifeng Bank was unwilling to agree.

The value of a wharf, let alone 1 million Hong Kong dollars, is currently difficult to buy even for 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, although no one will sell it. But at this point, Henry Keswick obviously didn’t care about that much. It was just a controlling stake in a wharf, so he gave it up.

Seeing that he was about to regain control of Jardine Matheson, he naturally wanted to sacrifice small profits for bigger ones.

With so many overseas companies that he had acquired previously, Henry Keswick felt that the remaining industries in Hong Kong were not that important.

Anyway, the most important Wharf Holdings and Hong Kong Land Group have already been lost, so what if we lose another dock?
When Huo Jianning finished speaking, Lin Haoran couldn’t help but applaud.

“I am very satisfied with your performance today!” Lin Haoran said with a smile.

“Boss, I plan to transform the Hong Kong Land Group into a diversified enterprise. It will no longer rely solely on real estate as its main business, but will develop a structure that gives equal weight to multiple core businesses.

During my past experience working at Jardine Matheson, I learned that the British financial consortium behind Jardine Matheson had intended to divest all industries other than real estate from the Hong Kong Land Group in order to shape the Hong Kong Land Group into a pure real estate company.

Industries such as the hotel industry, retail industry, and shipping industry have all faced the risk of being integrated and acquired by Jardine Matheson. Take the Mandarin Oriental Hotel as an example. It was originally founded by Hong Kong Land Group, but as its high-end hotel brand became more solid, Jardine Matheson had the idea of ​​acquiring it and eventually separated it from Hong Kong Land Group to achieve full control.

Dairy Farm International, the most powerful subsidiary of the Hong Kong Land Group, is also planned by Jardine Matheson’s British senior management to be independent in the future and then acquired and directly controlled by Jardine Matheson.

However, now that the Hong Kong Land Group has achieved independence and has regained many industries, this is undoubtedly a great opportunity for the Hong Kong Land Group to increase its diversified development again! We should seize this opportunity to push the Hong Kong Land Group towards a more diversified and integrated direction. “Ma Shiming also interrupted at this time.

“Well, I agree. Although Hong Kong’s real estate industry seems to be booming, I already feel that Hong Kong’s real estate may have the possibility of triggering a crash. So, Mr. Ma, you should not invest too much in the real estate industry in the future. Instead, you need to shrink the battle line!” Lin Haoran said with great agreement.

“Of course I know this. Our Hong Kong Land Group currently has more than 10 real estate projects under construction. Apart from the core projects of the Hong Kong Land Group in the Ten-Year Plan, I am already looking for buyers for many projects. I will try to reduce the debt of the Hong Kong Land Group to less than HK$ billion within one year!” Ma Shiming nodded.

After chatting with Huo Jianning and Ma Shiming for more than two hours in the villa on Shi Xun Road, Lin Haoran set up a banquet in the villa in the evening and invited the two to dine together, which made the two feel that the boss valued them.

That night, Lin Haoran received another call from Henry Keswick.

On the phone, Henry Keswick said to Lin Haoran: “Mr. Lin, we have persuaded Mr. Shen Bi and others to give up the controlling stake in Kwai Chung Pier 5 and transfer the controlling stake in Kwai Chung Pier 5 to the Hong Kong Land Group! I hope that the terms we have agreed on can be signed tomorrow!”

Lin Haoran couldn’t help but hear a sense of fatigue in Henry Keswick’s voice.

In order to regain the controlling stake in Jardine Matheson, Henry Keswick paid a huge price, which seriously damaged the company.

Today, Jardine Matheson is no longer as powerful as it was in its heyday.

However, Henry Keswick had no choice.

If they do not compromise, they may not even be able to retain their current controlling stake in Jardine Matheson & Co., and will end up with nothing.

At least, now that we have taken back Jardine Matheson, the future is full of hope and everything is possible.

In Henry Keswick’s eyes, Jardine Matheson still has a strong foundation and huge overseas assets, and with its global reputation, Jardine Matheson has the potential to return to its peak.

In Hong Kong, it still controls important assets such as Jardine Securities.

Originally, many British financial groups were reserved about the future of the Hong Kong market, and even pessimistic about the future of Hong Kong.

Perhaps, after this incident, they can take this opportunity to completely adjust their strategy, abandon the Hong Kong market, and instead devote all their efforts to the expansion of overseas markets. This is also a wise choice.

“Okay, Mr. Henry is indeed a straightforward man! Tomorrow morning, I will go to Jardine House in person to formally sign the contract with you. Congratulations to Mr. Henry for regaining the controlling stake in Jardine Matheson!” Lin Haoran laughed heartily.

Although he lost an insignificant Jardine Matheson Company, he could openly announce the privatization of the Hutchison Whampoa Group.

Moreover, he also gained enough profits from Jardine Matheson, so this time, he definitely did not lose.

The only ones who suffered losses were the helpless Keswick family and those British financial groups.

Lin Haoran almost “plucked” all the assets of Jardine Matheson before “returning” it to them.

Thinking of this, Lin Haoran felt more relaxed. (End of this chapter)