Chapter 196 Boss, You Truly Predict Everything!
The huge commotion caused by Jardines Matheson naturally could not escape the notice of the board members of China Gas Company, particularly the Chinese consortium directors.
Although Li Mingze was the chairman of the board, in reality, major decisions were made jointly with three other major Chinese shareholders. Along with the shareholder who had previously sold his shares, they formed the Chinese consortium that had long tightly controlled China Gas Company; Li Mingze did not make decisions alone.
Thus, the three other shareholders also had significant authority within the company.
Barely half an hour after Jardines Matheson's press conference, Li Mingze and the others were fully aware of the situation.
"40.7%!"
The shareholding figure left them filled with despair.
If the previous shareholder had still been around, they wouldn't have feared Jardines Matheson's invasion. But now, the four of them collectively controlled less than 33% of the company. How could they compete?
Jardines Matheson's "Dawn Raid" left them no room to resist—they had already lost.
"Ah, if only Old Wu hadn't sold those shares, we could have kept tight control of China Gas Company," one of the directors said regretfully.
"Indeed, and Jardines Matheson is too much. They went so far as to unilaterally announce they are taking over China Gas Company—completely disregarding us!" another shareholder said angrily.
"We should've sold our shares this afternoon. The price was quite good—we could have at least made some profit. Now that they've secured over 40%, there's no way they'll continue buying at today's inflated prices. China Gas's stock price will probably fall back to its previous level soon," another director added bitterly.
"There's no use talking about it now. We should focus on how to deal with Jardines Matheson," another shareholder said helplessly.
"Deal with it? How? With their current shareholding, we have no ability to fight back. It seems we're going to lose this Chinese-owned company. We should have taken action this afternoon—even if we couldn't win against Jardine Fleming Securities, at least we would have had a fighting chance. Now it's completely hopeless," He Tingxi said with a bitter smile.
At noon, none of them had wanted to increase their holdings, mainly because they felt it would be difficult to compete with Jardine Fleming Securities. Although they had ventured into finance and securities, their trading strength was vastly inferior.
Rather than fight a losing battle and waste money, they chose to give up.
Moreover, the stock price had already been inflated by 35%. They had been unwilling to buy even at the original price, let alone now.
When one of their shareholders had wanted to sell shares earlier, none of them had been willing to take over—how much less now.
"Don't lose hope just yet. We might still have a chance to turn things around. Even if we can't continue controlling China Gas Company, at least we can keep it in Chinese hands," Li Mingze said at this moment.
What he was thinking of was Lin Haoran, the chairman of Hong Kong Electric Group.
Before the new year, Lin Haoran had approached him about acquiring his shares, though he had declined at the time.
Moreover, Hong Kong Electric Group, under Lin Haoran's control, held 7.2% of China Gas Company's shares—a fact well-known to everyone.
"What chance?" Hearing Li Mingze's words, the other three turned their eyes toward him, though none were particularly hopeful. To them, the situation looked like a dead end.
They were all prominent members of the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. Losing control of China Gas to the British again would be a major embarrassment.
"Everyone knows Hong Kong Electric now holds 7.2% of China Gas, and Hong Kong Electric's boss is also one of us—he's Chinese!" Li Mingze smiled.
Of course, the others knew this. But since they had no personal connections with Lin Haoran and given that Hong Kong Electric had recently cooperated closely with Jardines Matheson, they hadn't thought to approach him.
"Would Lin Haoran be willing to help us resist Jardines Matheson? From what I know, Hongkong Land and Hong Kong Electric just co-developed a site in North Point," He Tingxi said skeptically.
"You're missing some information. Lin Haoran had already expressed his interest in acquiring our shares. I didn't agree at the time, but later I invited him to join the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and he agreed. The process is underway. Soon, he'll be one of us.
The reason we didn't increase our holdings was lack of funds. But Lin Haoran has the money, and he has a serious interest in acquiring China Gas. Plus, he already owns a significant portion of the company. Right now, only he has the ability to resist Jardines Matheson's takeover," Li Mingze explained.
Rich, well-positioned, and already holding shares—if Lin Haoran were willing to help, there was a real chance.
"But why would he help us without any benefit? He's still young and hasn't been in the business world for long. He may not see things the way we do," He Tingxi questioned.
"We can offer him control of the company. If he helps repel Jardines Matheson, we can let him become the chairman of the board. And if he offers a price we're satisfied with, we can sell our shares to him. Frankly, at this point, our shares are of little meaning," Li Mingze replied.
"That could work. If China Gas stays Chinese-owned and we get a good price, I'm willing to sell," one director said bitterly.
If Jardines Matheson succeeded, the company's profits would surely be siphoned off or reinvested without dividends—making their shares worthless.
Just like Hongkong Land and Wharf Holdings in the past: under British control, dividends were almost nonexistent.
Thus, they really didn't want to remain minority shareholders in a British-controlled China Gas.
"Now we have no choice but to seek him out. We can't fight Jardines Matheson ourselves. Chairman Li, why don't you contact Lin Haoran now? Jardines Matheson has already announced their takeover; if we can slap them in the face, it would be satisfying," He Tingxi said.
"Alright, I'll contact him now. I don't know where he is, but I have his pager number. I can reach him that way," Li Mingze said.
He immediately pulled out the number and dialed.
At that time, mobile phones—nicknamed "big brother" phones—had not yet been commercially launched.
If someone wasn't by their phone, they couldn't be reached directly.
Paging was the best way.
Meanwhile, Lin Haoran was still at Hong Kong Electric Group. He had already received the news from Cui Zilong, general manager of Oriental Press Group—earlier than Li Mingze and the others.
After all, Oriental Daily had been one of the media outlets Jardines Matheson had invited to their announcement.
Previously, Hongkong Land had only invited three friendly media outlets, but Jardines Matheson invited more than a dozen mainstream outlets this time.
Hearing that Jardines Matheson now held 40.7% of China Gas surprised Lin Haoran—but not too much.
For him, it only mattered if Li Mingze and the others were willing to sell.
If they sold, even if Jardines Matheson controlled 45%, it wouldn't matter.
If they refused, then Lin Haoran simply wouldn't care.
While chatting with Chen Shoulin in his office, Lin Haoran's pager buzzed.
He checked the number and quickly called back.
"Hello, this is Lin Haoran. Who's calling?" he asked after the line connected.
"Mr. Lin, this is Li Mingze. Where are you? I have something urgent to discuss," came the reply.
They're coming to me so quickly? Lin Haoran thought, a bit surprised, but he smiled as he answered.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Li. I'm currently at Hong Kong Electric Group's headquarters. If it's convenient, you're welcome to come over. I have tea ready and waiting."
Li Mingze, already well past seventy, was senior enough to deserve respect.
"Alright. I'll be there in about half an hour. Please wait for me," Li Mingze said, hanging up quickly.
Clearly, he was eager to meet.
Putting down the phone, Lin Haoran turned to Chen Shoulin and smiled. "See? Mr. Li is on his way."
Upon hearing this, Chen Shoulin looked at him with deep admiration and said, "Boss, you really do predict everything perfectly! I am absolutely convinced."
(This chapter ends.)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1