Fok Ying-tung's influence in Hong Kong was unquestionable, especially among Chinese businessmen. A large group of people surrounded him—faces Lin Baocheng recognized as well-known figures in Hong Kong's business world. Fok was clearly the center of the event.
"Brother Fok!"
Bao Yugang and Lin approached.
"Brother Bao, we were just talking about your competition with Jardine over Wharf."
Fok greeted Bao first, then looked at Lin, extending his hand. "Mr. Lin, long time no see. I didn't expect your business to grow so rapidly in just a few short months."
Indeed—when they met at the charity gala not long ago, Lin was merely the owner of Galaxy Gaming, a company few knew about. Now he was the owner of ATV and, more importantly, the controller of Hutchison Whampoa, a major corporation.
"My business developed quickly thanks to Mr. Bao's help; he connected me with HSBC so I could purchase Hutchison shares."
Lin said modestly as he shook Fok's hand. He couldn't help but think how status truly changes the way one is treated. Last time, Fok didn't even initiate a handshake—he had only said a brief "hello."
It wasn't arrogance. With Fok's stature, anyone below a certain level simply didn't enter his field of vision.
Similarly, now that Lin had risen in status, if he met some small boss worth only a few million or ten million, he would likely treat them the same way. After all, they weren't in the same circle.
"Mr. Lin, you're too polite. My help wasn't free—you sold me all your Wharf shares, didn't you?"
Bao laughed. He knew Lin's words were courtesy. Their earlier deal had been mutually beneficial; neither owed the other a favor.
"So that's what happened."
Hearing this, Fok thought for a moment and quickly pieced it together. Lin must have sold Bao a substantial block of Wharf shares. Otherwise Bao wouldn't have helped him with HSBC. Most likely, Lin originally intended to target Wharf but shifted to Hutchison instead, allowing the deal between them to occur. It wasn't hard to deduce.
Others nearby also reached similar conclusions.
"Mr. Bao, Wharf's stock price has already risen to over HK$30. If you keep competing with Jardine like this, who knows what the final price will be. I think you really should have a talk with them."
Lee Chiu-kei spoke. He previously didn't pay much attention to Wharf, but after the acquisition battle erupted, he looked into it. All that prime land under Wharf made him envious—but he didn't have the capital to participate. He could only watch.
Kwok Tak-seng added, "It's already HK$30 a share. After the New Year it'll definitely rise to HK$40, maybe even HK$50. At that point, neither you nor Jardine will be able to afford continuing the acquisition. So negotiating makes sense."
"Sigh, to be honest, the acquisition battle has already paused."
Bao shook his head helplessly. "Noble Group has contacted Shen from HSBC, asking him to mediate. Both sides agreed not to increase holdings for the time being."
Bao had no choice but to give face to Shen, due to deep cooperation with HSBC. Besides, if Bao refused and Shen turned around to support Jardine with massive loans, how could Bao compete?
"In that case, Wharf's stock is going to fall soon."
Fung King-hey said. He was already planning to sell off all his company's Wharf shares the next morning. The stock had risen from HK$12 to HK$30 because of the acquisition war—a 150% surge. Now that the battle paused, a sharp decline was guaranteed.
Fok nodded. "It's inevitable. Before the acquisition battle, Wharf's market cap was around HK$1.1 billion. Now it's HK$2.7 billion—higher than Hutchison's—entirely because of the battle. Now that neither side is buying more, the price will definitely collapse."
Indeed, Wharf's market cap now exceeded that of Hutchison Whampoa. Hutchison's stock was still under HK$7. Even though Lin kept buying, the price hadn't risen—only stopped falling. The newspapers' reports had become a self-fulfilling prophecy: many retail investors lacked confidence in Hutchison's future under Lin.
Lin didn't care. He planned to keep increasing his holdings anyway. A lower stock price meant cheaper accumulation.
"I'm truly envious of Mr. Lin—effortlessly becoming the largest shareholder of Hutchison. The Kadoorie family didn't even react before the opportunity was gone."
Bao genuinely envied him. With only part of the shares bought at a 20% premium, Lin had secured control of Hutchison with minimal cost—unlike Bao, who paid heavily for Wharf yet still hadn't gained control, remaining just a major shareholder and board member.
"Mr. Lin's move in the newspapers was truly brilliant."
Anyone with eyes could see through it now. Everyone present understood exactly what happened.
Fung added, "But unless Hutchison produces major good news soon, the stock won't rise. Gains always come with losses."
"Yes, and while I did take over Hutchison, I'm drowning in debt now. If Hutchison doesn't perform well, I'll be miserable."
Lin deliberately acted pitiful to avoid arousing jealousy—no need to attract unnecessary enemies.
Still, he knew the moment he pushed Hutchison into aggressive property development, there would inevitably be competition with Lee Chiu-kei, Cheng Yu-tung, Hui Sai-fun, Kwok Tak-seng, and other real estate tycoons. Avoiding rivals entirely was impossible—he could only try not to provoke too many at once.
Gatherings like this were mainly for conversation—sharing business developments and trying to avoid hostile competition with fellow Chinese businessmen. If competition was inevitable, better to target the British firms instead.