nucmednet Chapter 21: The Shipping Magnatee Has His Eyes on Him
Chapter 21: The Shipping Magnatee Has His Eyes on Him
Two days later...
Sunday noon.
It was also a luxury suite on the top floor of the Peninsula Hotel.
Although these two days were Saturday and Sunday, normal stock market holidays, the topic of "Wharf Holdings" remained hot, even more so than usual.
Early Saturday morning.
The major media outlets became abuzz with excitement.
In an interview, Li Ka-shing admitted that Cheung Kong Holdings had intended to acquire Wharf Holdings, but abandoned the acquisition due to higher-than-expected costs.
Not long after...
Hong Kong Commercial Radio reported: "Indeed, Cheung Kong secretly acquired up to 18% of Wharf Holdings' shares and resold them to Y.K. Pao at HK$36 per share."
These news caused an uproar throughout Hong Kong.
Although Li Ka-shing achieved good results during this period, they were insignificant compared to Bao Yugang.
At that time, Bao Yugang was a very famous figure, the world's number one shipping magnate, whose fame, assets, and power far exceeded those of Li Ka-shing.
So when the media reported that Pao Yue-kong had intervened in Wharf Holdings, the shareholders who held Wharf Holdings shares became even more excited, believing that the "Jung Kong Milk Drinking Incident" of 1972 would definitely be repeated.
Nothing more!
It was because Pao Yuk-kong had the strength to resist Jardine Matheson.
When Pao Yue-kong was knighted in 1976, the media reported that his personal assets were over HK$100 billion.
Two years have passed now.
Bao Yugang's assets are likely even greater.
Everyone agreed that if Bao Yugang had entered the fray, the battle would have been even more intense.
It was Sunday morning.
Pao Yue-kong, in his capacity as chairman of "Worldwide Shipping", held a press conference to announce that he holds more than 20% of the shares of "Wharf Holdings".
Li Jiagang glanced at the report and remained indifferent to these matters.
Because he already knew what was going on.
He also planned that if the price reached HK$47 or higher after the stock market opened on Monday, he would start to gradually close his positions and cash out.
Try to close out all Wharf Holdings shares when the price reaches HK$50 per share.
He won't wait until the highest point to sell.
He believes that selling at HK$47 is a good idea, given the current market enthusiasm.
After all, Bao Yugang has also announced his entry into the market, which will definitely cause even more frenzied following among investors.
Just as things were bustling and lively outside.
Li Jiagang has returned to the company.
During this period, he has been focusing on the stock market and has been going back to the company less often.
"Good morning, Chairman! You're back."
Good morning, Jianning! How are you adjusting?
Li Jiagang had just returned to the company when he ran into Huo Jianning. Looking at his still somewhat immature face and harmless appearance, it was hard to imagine that this guy would become a top-notch employee in the business world in the future.
"Yes, I have a general understanding of the company's business."
"That's good. The company's new product should be launched soon. We'll see how you perform then."
"Thank you, Chairman, for giving me this opportunity."
After exchanging a few words, Li Jiagang returned to his office to handle the matters of the past few days.
After being persuaded by Li Jiagang a few days ago, Huo Jianning came to work the next day.
Because the company was small and Li Jiagang did not have an accounting department, and knowing his abilities, he directly assigned Huo Jianning to be his assistant to handle routine matters.
The best way to help Huo Jianning grow faster is to let him be involved in all aspects of the company's business.
Those who have access to all company business, besides senior management, are the chairman's assistant. He was new to the company and inexperienced, so assigning him to a senior position was impractical. Therefore, Li Jiagang made him his assistant to begin with.
He had just entered the office.
"Ring ring ring!!!"
The phone on my desk kept ringing.
"Hello, Legendary Company, Lijiagang."
"Hi, Mr. Li, I am Sir Michael Sandberg, the General Manager of HSBC."
"Shen Bi, senior class?"
"Yes! I'm sorry, Mr. Li, I hope my call at this hour hasn't disturbed your work?" Shen Bi's tone on the other end of the phone was very polite.
Normally, given his position, Sir Michael Sandberg would only need to arrange for his secretary or assistant to contact ordinary people; he wouldn't need to do it personally.
At the same time, Li Jiagang was also surprised. Why did Shen Bi call him?
But soon he was startled; was it after Wharf Holdings stock?
He believes the probability is over 90%.
Otherwise, why would Shen Bi suddenly come looking for someone as insignificant as him, and even call him personally?
Li Jiagang would not doubt how Shen Bi knew that he had shares in Wharf Holdings.
To put it another way, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that HSBC at this time was so powerful that it could practically control everything.
In the small city of Hong Kong, especially in financial matters, there's nothing HSBC can't find out if they want to investigate.
What he didn't expect was that HSBC would actually trace their operations back to him. This shows that Pao Yue-kang had put in a lot of effort to take over Wharf Holdings, and must have had Sir Michael Sandberg investigate the shareholding structure of Wharf Holdings.
"Mr. Sir Michael Sandberg, you're too kind," Li Jiagang said, trying to adjust his mindset and tone. "It's an honor to receive your call."
"Hehehe... Mr. Li, you flatter me."
"Mr. Li, are you free at noon? I'd like to invite you to lunch."
Li Jiagang replied without hesitation, "Of course, if word got out that I could dine with Sir Michael Sandberg, countless people would envy me."
"Hahaha……."
Upon hearing this, Shen Bi on the other end of the phone burst into laughter. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two hung up.
After hanging up the phone, Li Jiagang was in a dilemma.
What if Shen Bi and Bao Yugang use their power to pressure him into transferring his Wharf Holdings shares to them at a low price?
At the same time, I wondered whether, when I talked to them, even if the price reached my ideal price, it would be a pure transaction, or whether I should take the opportunity to propose some conditions to maximize my profits, or gain HSBC's friendship.
He thought about a lot of things in that short time.
"Knock knock knock!!!"
Just then, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and he stopped thinking about it.
"Come in."
"Chairman, this is the progress report from the laboratory over the past few days." The person who came in was Huo Jianning.
My eyes lit up when I saw him.
"Jianning, please have a seat."
"Chairman, you..."
Huo Jianning saw Li Jiagang put the documents aside and pull him to sit on the sofa, which left Huo Jianning somewhat bewildered.
Li Jiagang was unsure what to do about Shen Bi's sudden contact with him, so he decided to ask Huo Jianning, and at the same time test the skills of this future negotiation expert, and also take the opportunity to let him know that he had even greater leverage.
It can be said that it achieves multiple benefits in one fell swoop.
This will give Huo Jianning more confidence to work hard for him.
"Jianning, there's something I'd like to ask for your advice on."
"Please speak, Chairman."
"That's how it is..."
Li Jiagang recounted the whole story in one breath.
"What... Chairman, you actually hold so many Wharf Holdings shares?" Huo Jianning was also shocked when he heard this.
"That's not the point." Li Jiagang glared at him irritably before continuing, "The point is, how do we negotiate a good outcome with Shen Bi at noon?"
Huo Jianning then realized the key point.
He fell silent and began to think seriously.
Li Jiagang didn't disturb him while he was thinking.
After a long while...
"Chairman, let me ask you first," Huo Jianning asked in a serious tone, "If you had the opportunity to acquire British assets, would you go for it?" His eyes were fixed on Li Jiagang without leaving him for a moment.
Li Jiagang responded without hesitation: "If it's a valuable industry, of course we'll acquire it."
Having received Li Jiagang's affirmation, Huo Jianning nodded in satisfaction and asked, "Has the chairman inquired about the Hutchison Whampoa company?"
Upon hearing Huo Jianning's question, Li Jiagang already guessed what he was planning.
Li Jiagang immediately shook his head and said, "Are you suggesting that I propose a swap of Hutchison Whampoa shares with HSBC during negotiations?"
Seeing that the chairman understood his meaning, Huo Jianning nodded quickly.
"It might be too late; Hutchison has probably already been beaten to it."
At that moment, Li Jiagang felt a pang of regret.
If he had known about this move, he would have tried his best to get Sir Michael Sandberg to contact him first, so that he could reach an agreement with Li Ka-shing before Li Ka-shing could, and in the meantime, propose to Sir Michael Sandberg to exchange Hutchison Whampoa shares.
However, upon closer examination, he realized that this was not the case either.
Li Ka-shing did not gain Sir Michael Sandberg's favor immediately. The reason he later gained control of Hutchison Whampoa was because he pledged his allegiance to HSBC.
Sir Michael Sandberg trusted him completely, believing that he could stand on the same side as HSBC, which is why he agreed to hand over Hutchison to him. It was a mutually beneficial cooperation between the two parties.
But what about him?
With the prophetic memories of the next few decades, would he be willing to pledge his allegiance to HSBC?
Are you willing to be HSBC's pawn?
I definitely wouldn't agree to it.
Therefore, even if he met with Sir Michael Sandberg and Paul Y.K. first, he would not have been able to gain HSBC's support and take control of Hutchison Whampoa.
He felt relieved once he realized this.