Chapter 161: Has Li Jiacheng Already Set His Eyes on This Plot of Land?
Although Hongkong Electric Holdings had many shareholders, not all major shareholders could become members of the board. The board consisted of 13 members, of whom only 5 were shareholders — those with the top five highest shareholdings. The remaining 8 board members were professional managers from Hongkong Electric's senior management.
However, now that the original top two shareholders had sold their stakes to Lin Haoran, those who no longer held shares were naturally no longer suitable to continue serving as non-executive directors. Thus, there were currently only 12 board members left, including Lin Haoran and Chen Shoulin. In other words, Chen Shoulin only needed to notify the other 10 members.
Among them, aside from Chen Shoulin, the 7 executives usually worked at the headquarters or other local branches in Hong Kong. Hongkong Electric had very few overseas operations, so its senior management rarely traveled abroad. Notifying them would not take much time.
The main task was notifying the remaining 4 shareholders to attend the meeting. These 4 shareholders' schedules needed to be considered, so the board meeting could not be convened immediately at any time. After consulting with these shareholders, it was finally decided that the board meeting would be held at 5 PM.
Once the board meeting was scheduled, Chen Shoulin also began organizing the press conference. Since he had already accepted the reality of Lin Haoran taking over Hongkong Electric, he focused wholeheartedly on doing his job well.
At noon, during the stock market's break, Lin Haoran called Su Zhixue to check the situation. Most importantly, he wanted to see if Land Holdings had truly given up on Hongkong Electric. If they hadn't, they would likely have intensified their stock absorption efforts — something an experienced operator like Su Zhixue would easily detect.
If they were still targeting Hongkong Electric, Lin Haoran would have to spend heavily to absorb even more shares, or buy from other shareholders to increase his stake and eliminate any chance for Land Holdings.
"Boss, this morning's trading returned to normal," Su Zhixue reported. "We absorbed the majority of low-priced shares. By increasing our buying efforts, we managed to acquire about 7.82 million shares within two and a half hours. With no major competitors participating, the stock price didn't move much."
Lin Haoran nodded. "Zhixue, maintain the pace this afternoon, but don't push the price up."
Originally, Lin Haoran had planned to sweep all shares below HK$4 before the market closed, allowing him to push his holdings above 40% in a single day. However, after learning that Land Holdings had stopped its operations, he decided not to act aggressively.
It was clear that Jardine Matheson and Land Holdings had realized it was impossible to seize control of Hongkong Electric. Since Lin Haoran already controlled over 34% of the shares, it would be extremely difficult for them to surpass him. Even if they managed to absorb large amounts of shares, Lin Haoran could just as easily continue buying.
Thus, giving up and moving on to other targets was the smartest choice. Land Holdings' decision-makers were not fools.
Moreover, if he suddenly pushed the stock price from around HK$3.5 to HK$4, it would be nearly impossible to bring the price back down in the current market. Lin Haoran still intended to continue absorbing shares until he reached a 49.9% stake, ensuring absolute control.
At that point, he would stop accumulating shares, as there would be no further need. A 49.9% stake would guarantee his dominance.
Lin Haoran had never intended to privatize Hongkong Electric. Owning 49.9% was more than sufficient. Judging by the absorption pace that morning, without Land Holdings interfering and with Huanyu Investment ramping up its efforts, Lin Haoran could easily add another 3% to his holdings today.
Thus, reaching 49.9% would not take long.
After ending the call, Lin Haoran returned to the chairman's office to delve deeper into Hongkong Electric's operations.
After all, this major British firm was now part of his assets — he needed to understand it thoroughly.
"Boss, this is the main development plan for Hongkong Electric that the board discussed earlier this year. Please have a look," Chen Shoulin said, handing over a document.
Lin Haoran nodded and carefully reviewed the document.
"Real Estate Joint Development Plan."
The document stated that Hongkong Electric planned to collaborate with other major Hong Kong real estate developers to form a joint venture. Hongkong Electric would sell two extremely valuable plots — the old North Point Electric Road Power Plant site and a prime location within Jardine's Lookout — to this new real estate company.
Although Hongkong Electric had entered the real estate sector, its property operations were still small, and it mostly partnered with other developers. Hongkong Electric lacked the capacity to independently develop such high-value properties.
After all, it had only ventured into real estate in 1976 — just four years ago.
The document also listed potential partners: Cheung Kong Holdings, Sun Hung Kai Properties, New World Development, Hopewell Holdings, Wheelock & Company, and Land Holdings.
Clearly, although Hongkong Electric was a British enterprise, with a Chinese chairman like Chen Shoulin, it leaned toward cooperating with Chinese developers — who were growing rapidly and fully qualified for such collaborations.
Lin Haoran had already heard a little about this development plan, as it would later become a famous case.
If not for his intervention and takeover of Hongkong Electric, the company would have partnered with Cheung Kong Holdings and Wheelock & Company within the year.
In Lin Haoran's past life, Hongkong Electric had jointly established International City Group with Cheung Kong and Wheelock.
Hongkong Electric and Cheung Kong each held 34%, while Wheelock held 32%, with Li Jiacheng serving as chairman.
Later, International City Group purchased the North Point Electric Road Power Plant site for HK$2.11 billion and developed it into the famous City Garden, comprising 13 residential towers and an office building, totaling 3.178 million square feet of floor space and yielding huge profits.
It was precisely because of this cooperation that Li Jiacheng set his sights firmly on Hongkong Electric.
But now, Lin Haoran had changed all that.
Li Jiacheng would no longer have the opportunity.
Furthermore, it was clear from the document that just these two plots were already worth nearly as much as Hongkong Electric's entire current market value.
Not to mention, Hongkong Electric still owned multiple other valuable plots in Tsuen Wan, Sheung Wan, Chai Wan, and Fortress Hill.
Today's market capitalization of just HK$2.2 billion was extremely low.
Moreover, Hongkong Electric's stable power supply business generated HK$300–400 million in net profits annually — pure profit!
Based on these calculations, even if Hongkong Electric were valued at HK$5–6 billion, it would still be a bargain!
And yet, Lin Haoran had taken it at a valuation of barely over HK$2 billion — and with many earlier acquisitions at even lower prices — truly a phenomenal bargain.
"This development plan is good and will help Hongkong Electric leverage its strengths.
However, the choice of partners can be postponed," Lin Haoran said after reading the document with a smile.
Now that he controlled Hongkong Electric, there was no way he would let Li Jiacheng benefit from it.
No fattening outsiders — that wealth should stay within his own group.
Although Wan'an Group lacked the capacity to develop such large projects independently, the easiest solution was to acquire another real estate company and merge it with Wan'an Group.
That way, Wan'an's capabilities would expand rapidly.
Alternatively, he could set up a new joint development company with Wan'an Group and the newly acquired real estate firm to develop the properties together.
In any case, all three companies would be under his command.
"By the way, Mr. Lin, Mr. Li of Cheung Kong Holdings has repeatedly requested to discuss cooperation regarding the North Point site.
Cheung Kong is strong and shows sincerity, so I was inclined to cooperate with them.
But now that you have said so, we can put that plan on hold," Chen Shoulin said.
Lin Haoran was surprised —
Li Jiacheng had already set his eyes on the North Point Power Plant site?
Thinking about it, it wasn't surprising.
That site was Hongkong Electric's most valuable property.
Still, at this time, Li Jiacheng's main focus should have been on Hutchison Whampoa.
Lin Haoran regretted not arriving a few years earlier — otherwise, he might have competed with Li Jiacheng for Hutchison Whampoa.
But the timing was wrong; Li Jiacheng had already negotiated with HSBC.
Last September, Li Jiacheng made headlines by acquiring HSBC's 22.4% stake in Hutchison Whampoa.
Although it wasn't enough to control the company outright, Li was stabilizing his position and biding his time, quietly absorbing more shares.
Once his holdings exceeded 40%, he would push out the existing management and officially take over.
Missing Hutchison Whampoa was a pity for Lin Haoran — but not a major loss.
After all, there were plenty of excellent British enterprises in Hong Kong.
And now, Hongkong Electric Holdings was already firmly in his grasp.
Of course, one Hongkong Electric wasn't enough to satisfy Lin Haoran's ambitions.
With ample funds at his disposal, he intended to acquire even more valuable enterprises while prices were still low.
In a few years, when most of these companies' values had doubled or tripled, it would be too late — and far more expensive.
"I'm planning to acquire a capable real estate company.
Once that's done, we can proceed with developing the North Point site," Lin Haoran said directly.
His meaning was clear —
he would not agree to partner with Cheung Kong Holdings.
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