"Mr. Huo, this time I want to obtain a loan from Standard Chartered Bank. I'll need your support," Lin Baicheng said calmly.
His plans had changed — the acquisition of Wharf Holdings was now on the table. Of course, that meant he had to find a way to raise enough capital, since the money currently in his hands was far from sufficient to buy half of Wharf's shares.
"Mr. Lin, have you set your sights on another company again?"
Huo Yaohua was taken aback. Lin had just finished acquiring Asia Television, and now he was already preparing for another major takeover?
"Mr. Huo, I only need Standard Chartered to provide me with a loan," Lin replied with a smile, avoiding a direct answer. Since Standard Chartered's nature as a British bank made it reluctant to assist in acquiring other British companies, there was no point asking for more. All he wanted was the money — once he got the loan, that would be enough. If he failed to secure satisfactory terms this time, he would simply move on. After all, Standard Chartered wasn't the only bank in Hong Kong with international operations.
Seeing this, Huo didn't press further. He already had a good idea of what Lin was planning — most likely targeting another British-owned listed company. But that was none of his concern. What mattered to him was the loan itself.
"Mr. Lin, how much are you looking to borrow? And what collateral will you use?"
"I want to borrow 300 million Hong Kong dollars, using Asia Television as collateral," Lin stated.
"Mr. Lin, that's too much," Huo said immediately, shaking his head. "Standard Chartered will never recognize your valuation of Asia Television. At most, the bank values it at 120 million HKD, and that's already a generous estimate."
"I invested an additional 50 million HKD into the station after acquiring it," Lin countered.
"Even so, the gap is still over 100 million HKD, and the bank will never lend the full value of the collateral," Huo said firmly.
"Mr. Huo," Lin said earnestly, "if I only needed a loan of 100 or even 150 million HKD, why would I come to Standard Chartered? For 150 million, I could easily find plenty of Hong Kong banks willing to lend to me. Don't you agree?"
"You're right, Mr. Lin," Huo admitted thoughtfully.
The incident last time had already left Lin with mixed feelings toward Standard Chartered. If they failed to support him again, he might easily take his business elsewhere — transferring all his accounts to another bank.
And that would be a huge loss. The capital flow through Lin's accounts had exceeded 1 billion HKD in 1977 alone — a massive client by any standard. Losing him would be unthinkable.
Lin waited patiently. He had already made up his mind: if Standard Chartered refused, he'd turn to HSBC. And if that didn't work, he'd go to other banks — even Chinese-owned ones, if they could gather enough liquidity for the deal.
"Mr. Lin, I can't promise you right now that you'll get the full loan, but I'll do my best to persuade the board," Huo finally said.
He technically could make the decision himself, but a loan of this scale carried real risk. If anything went wrong and the loan couldn't be repaid, he'd be held accountable — and he wasn't about to gamble his career.
"That's only fair. I just hope you can give me an answer soon," Lin replied.
"Three days," Huo said after a moment's thought. "Within three days, I'll give you a definite answer. But, Mr. Lin, the loan must be under your personal name, not in Asia Television's name, even if the station is the collateral."
That distinction mattered. If the loan was under the company's name, Lin could transfer the money to himself freely as the sole shareholder. But if he defaulted, the bank could only demand repayment from the company — not from Lin personally. And in theory, he could even declare Asia Television bankrupt to escape the debt.
It was unlikely, but Standard Chartered couldn't take that risk.
"No problem," Lin replied readily. He fully intended to repay the loan, so having it under his name didn't bother him in the least.
"With Galaxy Games under your belt, I believe the board will agree to the loan," Huo said with a smile.
"Then I'll wait for your good news," Lin replied, smiling as well.
If he could get the funds from Standard Chartered, it would save him the trouble of searching elsewhere.
Two days passed quickly.
The preliminary rounds of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had begun, though the show had not yet aired on television. Each episode had to be edited first — highlights selected and compiled before broadcast.
Lin wasn't particularly interested in the preliminaries or the semifinals; he'd only start paying attention once the finals came around.
After those two days, Huo finally came back with an answer:
Standard Chartered had approved the loan — 300 million HKD, granted under Lin's name with Asia Television as collateral.
Lin accepted immediately. Accompanied by his lawyer and Cheng Yufeng, he went to Standard Chartered, reviewed the contract, and signed without hesitation.
"Mr. Huo, thank you again for Standard Chartered's support," Lin said, shaking his hand.
"As long as you continue to work with us, Mr. Lin, that's all the thanks we need," Huo replied. Keeping such a major client was the real victory.
"With Standard Chartered's support, you can be sure I'll continue banking with you," Lin said with a grin.
Until he had his own bank, Standard Chartered would remain his preferred choice. And even after acquiring one, he could still use Standard Chartered for international transfers.
After a brief chat, Lin left the bank. The loaned funds were now sitting in his account — untouched for the moment.
But even with this 300 million HKD, it still wasn't enough to fully acquire Wharf Holdings. Lin Baicheng knew he would need to raise even more capital to complete the takeover.