Chapter 157: Taking the Initiative, A Door-to-Door Visit
If he wanted to increase his stake in Hongkong Electric Holdings, aside from absorbing shares from the market, there was another way:
buying directly from other shareholders.
The only issue was whether any shareholders were willing to sell.
However, this kind of operation had to be kept discreet.
If too many people caught wind of it, they would quickly realize Lin Haoran's true intentions.
Until he truly reached the strength to take over Hongkong Electric, Lin Haoran had no intention of making his ambitions public.
He checked the time — it was still early, just around 5 PM.
So, Lin Haoran decided to head straight to Hongkong Electric's headquarters.
Since it was the weekend, many executives were off work, but Chairman Chen Shoulin was still at the company.
Lin Haoran's goal, however, was not to see him.
After all, his plan was to seize control of Hongkong Electric — effectively taking power away from Chen Shoulin.
In the chairman's office, Chen Shoulin greeted him warmly:
"Mr. Lin, long time no see. I believe the last time you visited Hongkong Electric was more than a month ago?"
Since Lin Haoran hadn't told him about his trip to the United States, Chen simply assumed Lin Haoran had lost interest in visiting the company.
After all, Lin Haoran was just a non-executive director — whether he showed up or not was immaterial.
"Indeed, it's been a while. I thought I'd come and take a look around today," Lin Haoran said, laughing.
"Mr. Lin, I still have some work to finish, so if you don't mind, I'll get back to it. But feel free to let me know if you need anything," Chen Shoulin said politely as he resumed his paperwork.
"Actually, Mr. Chen, there is something I'd like to trouble you with," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
"I'm now a member of Hongkong Electric's board, but I'm not very familiar with the other shareholders.
I was wondering if you could provide me with a list or some information about them? Otherwise, next time I run into them, it would be quite embarrassing if I don't recognize anyone."
Chen Shoulin didn't suspect anything.
"Information about the shareholders? Yes, I have it. Give me a moment," he said.
From a bookshelf behind him, Chen retrieved a file folder and handed it to Lin Haoran, explaining:
"This document contains information on all of Hongkong Electric's top executives and registered shareholders — including you, Mr. Lin.
It's quite detailed."
"Thank you!" Lin Haoran said, taking the folder.
He left the chairman's office and sat down in a nearby meeting room to study the documents.
There were over thirty entries inside — about twenty shareholders and a dozen senior executives.
What interested Lin Haoran most, of course, were the shareholders.
He quickly skimmed through the materials.
His own profile was included too: his contact information, residence address, and his control over Qingzhou Cement Company and Wan'an Group were all recorded.
However, his affiliation with Huanyu Investment Company wasn't listed — understandable, since the data relied on self-reported information.
Flipping back to page two, Lin Haoran focused on the entry for Caesar Bridges, who, on paper, was Hongkong Electric's largest shareholder.
Officially, Lin Haoran had only publicly disclosed ownership of 44 million shares, acquired from former second-largest shareholder Mr. Percy — about 6.98% of the company.
No one knew he actually controlled more than 20%.
Carefully reading the profile, Lin Haoran noted that Caesar Bridges, a British national aged 60, held 52.92 million shares — about 8.4% of the company.
Lin Haoran recalled meeting him once during his previous visits to Hongkong Electric.
The document also stated that Caesar Bridges operated a plastics manufacturing company in Hong Kong.
This surprised Lin Haoran a little — the plastics industry had been hit hard recently.
Due to the oil crisis, production costs in many sectors, including plastics, had soared.
Plastic is made from synthetic resins derived from petroleum products — over 60% of plastics use oil-based materials.
Thus, the oil crisis dramatically increased costs and slashed profits, putting immense pressure on plastics companies.
Even though Hong Kong's manufacturing sector was booming, its plastics exports had sharply declined since last year.
It was clear the entire industry was suffering.
And yet, despite the tough times, Caesar Bridges hadn't sold his Hongkong Electric shares — suggesting he had considerable financial resilience.
Originally, Lin Haoran had hoped that by joining the board, he could identify which shareholders might be willing to sell.
But so far, he hadn't gathered any useful information.
His visit to Hongkong Electric today had a very simple goal:
to take the initiative and seek out shareholders willing to sell their shares, thus accelerating his takeover.
Among all potential targets, Caesar Bridges was the most ideal.
Holding 8.4% of the shares, if Lin Haoran could acquire his stake, his total ownership would rise to about 34.5%.
Having reviewed the data, Lin Haoran now had a clear idea:
owning 35% of Hongkong Electric's shares would essentially give him control.
Currently, the company's publicly recorded shareholders — about twenty in total — held roughly 48% of the shares combined.
Among the shareholders, the second-largest shareholder's 6.98% stake had already been acquired by him.
If he could also take over the 8.4% held by the largest shareholder, then the total shares in the hands of these British shareholders would drop to just around 32%.
Once he controlled 35%, even if all the remaining British shareholders united, they would still have fewer shares than he did. In that case, it would be perfectly logical for Lin Haoran to take over Hongkong Electric Holdings.
In addition to this, he would continue having Huanyu Investment Company absorb shares from the market.
At that point, even if Land Holdings wanted to acquire Hongkong Electric, it would be of no use.
Seeing no chance to win, Land Holdings would naturally retreat and shift their focus to other British-owned enterprises.
This was the quickest strategy Lin Haoran thought of once he understood the current situation.
It was also the fastest way he could fully seize control over Hongkong Electric.
If he relied only on acquiring shares through the secondary market, he would have to face rapidly rising stock prices and a long timeline.
It would not be possible to absorb that many shares in just a few days.
More importantly, if Lin Haoran sought to acquire shares from shareholders, Land Holdings could do the same!
If Land Holdings secretly contacted these shareholders, Lin Haoran's current advantage could vanish.
Even though he now had abundant funds, Hongkong Electric was, after all, a British-run company.
Most of its major shareholders were British, and Land Holdings would have a much easier time persuading them.
Thus, Lin Haoran's thinking was simple: move first, strike hard.
If he waited, he would surely lose the initiative.
Financially, he was stronger than Land Holdings for now — they wouldn't be able to muster as much capital as he could.
But when it came to influence and connections, Lin Haoran could not compare.
Land Holdings, backed by the mighty Jardine Matheson Group, had far greater sway.
If Land Holdings started aggressively buying from the shareholders, Lin Haoran could be squeezed out.
Thus, even if all this was just speculation, Lin Haoran decided it was safest to act immediately and persuade Caesar Bridges.
Once he secured Bridges' shares, he would no longer need to worry about Land Holdings' intentions.
The document he obtained earlier included Caesar Bridges' contact number and home address.
Seeing the address, Lin Haoran was surprised — Caesar Bridges lived on Shixun Road, just like him.
In fact, they were practically neighbors!
Had it not been for this document, he would never have known.
After jotting down the important shareholder information into a small notebook he carried, Lin Haoran returned the folder to Chen Shoulin.
Then he went to a nearby office and called the "largest shareholder" himself.
Luckily, Caesar Bridges was at home.
Upon hearing that the "second-largest shareholder" of Hongkong Electric wished to visit, Caesar Bridges didn't refuse.
After all, they were both major shareholders — a simple visit was perfectly reasonable.
Thus, Lin Haoran left Hongkong Electric's offices.
It took less than ten minutes to drive from the company to Shixun Road.
After slowly navigating a few minutes more, he spotted Caesar Bridges' villa.
By Lin Haoran's estimate, Bridges' villa was only about 300 meters away from his own.
Parking outside the villa, the sound of the car engine alerted the villa's occupants.
Caesar Bridges himself came out to greet him — they had met once before.
"Mr. Caesar, good afternoon. I hope I'm not disturbing you," Lin Haoran said, smiling as they shook hands.
"Not at all. We're both board members of Hongkong Electric — you are very welcome here, Mr. Lin. Please, come in," Bridges replied politely.
Bridges' villa wasn't very large — about half the size of Lin Haoran's.
Upon entering the living room, Lin Haoran glanced around.
The interior didn't feel very much like a typical family home.
He noticed a maid cleaning in the backyard, but otherwise, the place was very quiet.
"Mr. Caesar, don't your family members live here in Hong Kong?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.
"My family is all back in England. Only my wife and I live here," Bridges answered with a light smile.
He didn't elaborate — probably because he wasn't that familiar with Lin Haoran yet.
Moreover, there was a considerable age gap between the two men:
Lin Haoran was in his mid-twenties, while Bridges was over sixty — naturally, there was a communication barrier.
Lin Haoran nodded and didn't press further.
"Mr. Lin, I imagine there's a specific reason for your visit?" Bridges asked, getting straight to the point.
"Indeed, Mr. Caesar. I wanted to ask if you have any plans to return to England for good?" Lin Haoran asked tactfully.
"Of course. My whole family is back there. I am getting old now, and I do have thoughts of returning.
But most of my businesses are here in Hong Kong — I can't just leave easily," Bridges replied.
Lin Haoran nodded thoughtfully.
Just as he suspected — many British businessmen in Hong Kong had begun considering returning home.
His question hadn't been random:
if Bridges was planning to return to England, persuading him to sell his Hongkong Electric shares would become much easier.
If Bridges had no intention of leaving, buying his shares would be much harder and costlier — not worthwhile.
That was why Lin Haoran had not rushed to reveal his true purpose earlier.
Now, hearing that Bridges was indeed contemplating a return to England, and considering his age and family ties, Lin Haoran knew it was time to state his real business.
"Mr. Caesar, are you considering selling your shares in Hongkong Electric Holdings?" Lin Haoran asked directly.
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