After leaving the Peninsula Hotel, Lin Baicheng returned to Baisheng Securities, where Cheng Yufeng was already waiting.
"Mr. Lin, how did the meeting go?"
The two entered Lin's office, and Cheng asked the moment they sat down.
Lin shook his head. "He doesn't seem opposed to selling his shares, but his appetite is big — he's asking for over HK$25 per share."
"In November, he clearly had plans to acquire Wharf Holdings. Asking him to sell cheap now won't be easy," Cheng replied.
He wasn't surprised. Though he'd joined the company later, he already knew all about the November turmoil surrounding Wharf, and could easily guess Li Jiacheng's (Li Ka-shing's) psychological price wouldn't be low.
"Exactly — that's what makes it tricky."
Lin nodded with a sigh before asking, "Yufeng, how are things going with the institutions? Any progress?"
"Yes. I purchased 2.3% of Cangjiang Industries' shares from one institution at a 15% premium. Altogether, we now hold 14.5% of the company."
Cheng gave his report and added, "There's only one more institution holding 2.5% that we haven't closed with yet. But they seem tempted by our offer — unless something unexpected happens, it should go through soon."
Lin had already given Cheng the authority to decide on his own as long as the premium didn't exceed 20%.
"You said it yourself — unless something unexpected happens. Now that Li Jiacheng knows what we're doing, I'm just worried he'll interfere."
Lin shook his head. "Fortunately, we already hold 14.5%. We're not far from our 20% goal. What do you think about making a big move — buying another 5% directly from the market to hit 20% right away?"
"Li Jiacheng knows we're acquiring Cangjiang stock now. Dragging this out isn't wise. I agree — we should buy directly from the market, and fast. Ideally, complete the whole 5% in a single day, so he won't have time to respond."
"That's what I was thinking," Lin said. "Tomorrow, we'll sweep the market — buy about 5% of the stock. Don't forget to keep negotiating with the institutions, too. I want our holdings in Cangjiang to reach 20% by tomorrow. The upside of buying aggressively is that it'll drive up the stock price, which in turn raises the value of the shares we already hold — useful leverage when we sit down with Li Jiacheng."
"Mr. Lin, I'm worried Li Jiacheng won't agree to sell his Wharf shares. If that happens, we might end up playing the villain."
Cheng cautioned him — and not without reason. It was, in fact, a very real possibility.
"If it comes to that, then so be it."
Business competition doesn't allow for kindness. Reputation matters, but it can't be allowed to hold you back. When it's time to play the villain for the sake of profit, you do it — the only question is whether it's worth it.
"By the way, Yufeng, how's the investigation on Anyuan's end coming along?"
"Still ongoing," Cheng replied. "It's an internal matter at Cangjiang Industries, after all. Manager An has been using his connections to make inquiries with the exchange, but there's no telling when we'll get results."
"If you can't find anything, then forget it. Once I become a Cangjiang board member, we'll have the right to review the company's financial statements. Then we'll know clearly whether Li Jiacheng used his personal funds to buy Wharf shares, or if he used Cangjiang's company funds."
This investigation had been underway for several days already, but Lin was still new to the business world and didn't yet have enough connections to uncover information quickly. Whether Li Jiacheng used personal or company funds was crucial — the former meant Wharf's shares were his private property, while the latter would mean they belonged to Cangjiang Industries itself. To Lin, that distinction made all the difference.
The next day — Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
With the year's end approaching and the Hang Seng Index on a slow downward trend, overall market volume had been thin. Investors weren't eager to trade. Still, the trading halls remained crowded — many traders were there simply to watch the boards, hoping for a sudden opportunity.
As of yesterday, Cangjiang Industries had closed at HK$16.2, with a total market cap of just over HK$680 million — slightly higher than before. In a market that was mostly falling, it was one of the few stocks showing small gains, and that alone drew a lot of attention.
Baisheng Securities had been quietly buying shares. Their purchases weren't large, but since the stock had been trading sideways, their steady buying had turned it into a mild upward trend. Had they been buying more aggressively, the price would have risen far faster.
That morning, Cangjiang opened at HK$16.19 — one cent lower than the previous close — because Baisheng hadn't participated in the opening auction.
Lin arrived at the exchange early. Unlike the ordinary traders in the main hall, he sat in the VIP room. He mainly wanted to observe — to see firsthand how stock trading worked in this era. The day's operations were, of course, being handled by An Yuan and the team.
Five minutes after opening, Cangjiang's stock fluctuated narrowly between HK$16.1 and HK$16.3. The range was tight — Baisheng hadn't started buying yet.
Seeing this, An Yuan turned to Lin. "Mr. Lin, looks like no external force is intervening for now. Should we begin sweeping the market?"
"Go ahead — follow yesterday's plan," Lin nodded. They had already worked out a detailed plan the day before, and barring surprises, it would be executed as is.
"Understood."
An Yuan acknowledged and used his pager to send the prearranged buy signal to Baisheng's traders stationed in the four exchange halls. In moments, they began their synchronized buying.
"Using pagers — it's really inconvenient," Lin thought as he watched. "Motorola has already developed mobile phones, but I recall commercial use won't begin until the mid-80s. Wonder how many years until we can actually use them? Once that happens, communication will be much easier."
As a reborn man, Lin knew perfectly well how massive the mobile phone market would become — but he had no plans to enter it now.
He simply didn't have enough capital yet. And while mobile phones began commercial use in the 1980s, they wouldn't become widespread until the 1990s, when talent in the industry would also be more abundant — and easier to recruit once he had more money.
More importantly, rather than pouring his limited funds into a still-nascent mobile phone industry, it was smarter to use money to make more money first. Once his capital base was large enough, he could enter the mobile sector from a far stronger position — and grow that much faster.