Chapter 162: Taking Over Hongkong Electric Holdings, Shareholders Rush to Sell Their Shares
Lin Haoran's words left Chen Shoulin extremely surprised.
He hadn't expected that after acquiring Hongkong Electric Holdings, this young boss would still have enough funds to purchase other enterprises.
Moreover, the redevelopment of the former North Point Electric Road Power Plant site wasn't a project any ordinary real estate company could handle — the land alone was worth over HK$1 billion, not to mention the additional capital required for development.
If this boss intended to proceed, he would have to acquire a major real estate company!
Since it was just a matter of choosing partners, and seeing that Lin Haoran didn't intend to collaborate with Cheung Kong Holdings, Chen Shoulin didn't argue. There was no need.
Throughout the afternoon, Chen Shoulin brought Lin Haoran various important documents about Hongkong Electric Holdings for him to review, while he himself became busy preparing for the upcoming board meeting and press conference.
Time passed quickly, and at 3:40 PM, there were only twenty minutes left until market close.
Lin Haoran put down the documents and called Su Zhixue again.
"Boss, I did a rough estimate. Including what we absorbed in the morning, we've now acquired over 20 million shares of Hongkong Electric Holdings. However, the stock price has also been pushed up to about HK$3.6. The rate of increase is a little faster than usual," Su Zhixue reported.
"Good, well done," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
This was pretty much what he had expected.
With increased buying volume, the stock price would inevitably rise faster.
"By the way, with the remaining time before market close, calculate quickly for me — if I wanted to absorb about 35 million shares today, what would the price be pushed up to?" Lin Haoran asked suddenly.
"Got it, Boss. Give me five to ten minutes, and I'll get back to you," Su Zhixue said quickly and started contacting the stock exchange for updated sell order data.
Meanwhile, Lin Haoran waited by the phone.
He had realized that if today's absorption could reach 35 million shares, combined with his existing 217.25 million shares, his holding could surpass 40%!
A 40% stake would be a huge milestone.
After about seven minutes, Su Zhixue called back.
"Boss, based on the current sell orders, to buy 35 million shares, the price would be pushed up to about HK$3.78 per share," Su Zhixue reported.
Lin Haoran looked at the time — it was 3:54 PM.
There were less than six minutes left until market close.
"Good, start sweeping up the orders immediately. Let's set the cap at HK$3.8," Lin Haoran ordered decisively.
"Understood!"
With no time to waste, Su Zhixue went straight to work.
Twenty minutes later, Su Zhixue called back to report.
"Boss, today we absorbed 39.78 million shares of Hongkong Electric Holdings.
The average purchase price was HK$3.69, with a total cost of around HK$146.79 million.
As a result, we pushed the stock price from HK$3.52 to HK$3.8," Su Zhixue summarized.
"Excellent, great work," Lin Haoran said, very satisfied.
The aggressive acquisition strategy had worked perfectly.
Even though the price had risen sharply, it was worth it — such a volume would have taken days to acquire at the previous pace.
Nearly 40 million shares — an impressive feat!
It also showed just how active Hong Kong's stock market had become, with countless retail investors involved.
Now, combined with the previous 217.25 million shares, Lin Haoran held 257.03 million shares —
accounting for about 40.8% of Hongkong Electric's total shares.
He could finally feel completely secure about controlling the company.
With over 40%, who could possibly oppose him taking control?
Time moved quickly, and by 5 PM, Hongkong Electric's board members started arriving at the meeting room.
Privately, they discussed the suddenness of the meeting, wondering what major event had prompted it.
They knew that board meetings weren't called unless something significant had occurred.
However, when the time came, they noticed that Caesar Bridges hadn't shown up.
He hadn't arrived even by the start of the meeting — a clear sign he would not attend.
Some board members began to suspect: could this meeting be related to Caesar Bridges?
"Alright, the meeting is about to begin.
Everyone, please quiet down.
Board secretary, please start recording the meeting.
Today, we have three main agenda items," Chen Shoulin announced directly, without wasting time.
"First, Mr. Caesar Bridges has sold his shares in Hongkong Electric Holdings to Mr. Lin Haoran.
Thus, Mr. Caesar Bridges will resign from the board effective immediately and will no longer have any affiliation with Hongkong Electric Holdings.
Second, Mr. Lin Haoran now holds over 34% of Hongkong Electric's shares and will officially become a major shareholder.
Third, I am tendering my resignation as chairman of the board and propose that Mr. Lin Haoran be elected to replace me.
Now, I invite Mr. Lin Haoran to speak," Chen Shoulin said calmly.
The moment he finished, the boardroom fell silent as everyone gasped.
The news was simply too shocking.
When Lin Haoran had bought the shares from Percy, the second-largest shareholder, everyone had been astonished.
Now, not only had he acquired the shares from the first-largest shareholder,
but he also held over 34% — a staggering development.
"Dear colleagues, allow me to correct one detail," Lin Haoran said, standing with a smile.
"Today, my holdings in Hongkong Electric have surpassed 40%.
Just today, we absorbed a large number of shares from the market.
In view of this situation, I propose that I take over as chairman of Hongkong Electric's board of directors.
Mr. Chen Shoulin will continue serving as executive director and general manager.
I will oversee the group's overall development, while Mr. Chen will continue managing daily operations."
Normally, such a significant shift would require a board vote.
But in this case, there was no need — Lin Haoran's holdings gave him veto power.
His voice carried the weight of absolute authority.
When Lin Haoran finished speaking, the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the board secretary momentarily stopped taking notes, staring at Lin Haoran in disbelief.
The news came so suddenly that everyone present struggled to process it.
But at that moment, a round of applause broke the silence — it was Chen Shoulin who began clapping first.
As the applause started, everyone else came back to their senses and joined in.
Hongkong Electric Holdings was about to change hands — that was the thought running through everyone's mind.
Who would have imagined that this young local Chinese man, Lin Haoran, had been aiming to take over Hongkong Electric all along?
Over 40% ownership!
Now the board of directors was practically meaningless; who could oppose Lin Haoran's decisions?
If they ended up with a reckless owner, what future would Hongkong Electric have?
Although Lin Haoran had said he would leave management to Chen Shoulin, many still doubted whether he would truly stay hands-off.
The four foreign shareholders at the meeting were visibly worried.
"Alright, the agenda for today's meeting is complete," Chen Shoulin announced.
"Thank you all for coming.
At 6 PM, we will hold a press conference to publicly announce these changes.
Anyone who wishes to attend may stay.
The board meeting is now adjourned."
Rather than calling it a meeting, it was more like a formal announcement.
After the meeting, the directors lingered, discussing what had just happened, unable to calm down.
Meanwhile, Lin Haoran returned alone to the chairman's office to wait.
Lin Haoran intended to let Chen Shoulin continue using the office.
Although Lin was now chairman, he didn't plan to be at the company often; it made more sense for Chen to stay where he was comfortable.
Now that he was officially chairman, Lin Haoran could also see the loyalty ratings of the senior managers.
They were all quite good — above 80.
Of course, their loyalty wasn't personally to Lin Haoran, but to Hongkong Electric Holdings itself.
Still, now that Lin Haoran controlled the company, their loyalty effectively extended to him.
As for the shareholders, they were not employees and thus did not display loyalty ratings.
Seeing such a competent and loyal team reassured Lin Haoran.
It was no wonder Hongkong Electric had been so well managed all these years.
Shortly after he sat down, Chen Shoulin returned — this time accompanied by four shareholders.
"Boss, these four gentlemen have something they would like to discuss with you," Chen Shoulin said.
"Oh? What is it?" Lin Haoran asked in surprise.
"Mr. Lin, I'm wondering if you're still interested in acquiring shares of Hongkong Electric.
I own 35 million shares, and if you're willing, I would like to sell them to you at HK$4 per share," said the former third-largest shareholder, now the second-largest.
"Mr. Lin, I have 32 million shares. I'm willing to sell them at HK$4 per share too," another shareholder quickly added.
"Mr. Lin, I have 29 million shares. I would also sell at HK$4 per share," said a third.
"Mr. Lin, I have 28.5 million shares. I'm willing to sell them for the same price," said the fourth.
One after another, they made their offers clear.
Lin Haoran was genuinely surprised.
His takeover had caused these shareholders to decide to exit the company?
This was not something he had anticipated.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed Huanyu Investment to absorb so many shares on the open market — he could have bought directly from them.
Perhaps they were afraid that once he officially took over, the stock price would fall?
That fear wasn't baseless — after all, when Lin Haoran had taken over Qingzhou Cement Company, its stock price had dropped sharply.
That incident had been widely known in Hong Kong.
These shareholders must have been aware of it.
Regardless, this was good news for Lin Haoran.
Now, without needing to absorb more shares from the market, he could easily reach a 49.9% holding.
If he continued buying from the market, by the time he reached 49.9%, the share price would likely have risen to HK$4.2 or HK$4.3 per share.
Buying now at HK$4 per share was reasonable.
Still, Lin Haoran had no intention of accepting their opening offer immediately.
"Gentlemen, I understand your intentions.
But I'm afraid I must decline.
I already control over 40% of Hongkong Electric's shares.
No one can threaten my position now.
There's no real need for me to continue buying.
Besides, if my ownership exceeds 50%, I'll have to privatize the company — and I have no intention of doing that.
Even if I were interested, I couldn't buy all your shares.
Also, HK$4 per share is too high for me.
If I want more shares, it would be cheaper to buy from the open market.
Later today, we'll hold a press conference.
Once the news is out that I now control Hongkong Electric, who knows if the stock price will rise or fall?
The last closing price was HK$3.5 per share.
If you're willing to sell,
I can buy a total of 57.34 million shares at HK$3.5 each.
If not, you are free to sell on the open market," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
He guessed they were worried that once the takeover became public, the stock price might plummet — making it difficult for them to sell at a good price later.
It was an open threat — and it worked.
The shareholders exchanged glances.
Before Lin Haoran even thought they would hesitate, the second-largest shareholder immediately said:
"Mr. Lin, I'm willing to sell my 35 million shares at HK$3.5 per share!"
"Mr. Lin, I'm willing too!" said the next one quickly.
Twenty minutes later, Lin Haoran had signed share transfer agreements with two of them.
He acquired another 57.34 million shares, spending approximately HK$200.69 million.
Now, his total holding had reached 314.37 million shares — 49.9% of the company.
As for the other two shareholders, too bad — Lin Haoran no longer needed their shares.
They had responded too late.
Fortunately, the shares Huanyu Investment had absorbed that day averaged only HK$3.69 per share, slightly higher than HK$3.5 — but it was acceptable.
All in all, it had been a remarkably smooth process.
Lin Haoran wasn't going to quibble over a few extra dollars.
From today onward, Hongkong Electric Holdings was firmly within Lin Haoran's grasp.
Even if Land Holdings still hadn't given up,
they had no chance of ever wresting the company from him now.
Friends, if you enjoyed the novel, you can subscribe to my Patreon channel.
Until November 30th, get 40% off your subscription and the purchase of the novel.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1