Chapter 330 British Consortium Strikes!
Wanqing Building, 31st floor, Lin Haoran's personal office.
After reaching an agreement with Li Jiacheng and settling all matters regarding the transfer of shares, Lin Haoran returned here.
At this point, there was no longer any reason to delay taking over the Jardines Matheson.
Thus, the next step was to organize the management team and take control of Jardines Matheson.
Once Jardines Matheson was successfully under control, he would then move on to take over Jardines Matheson!
Both companies ranked among the top in Hong Kong, so taking over these two corporations was not going to be an easy task.
At this moment, he was gathering Burton, Cui Zilong, and other key subordinates to discuss how to take over the two companies.
Previously, everything that Huanyu Investment Company had been doing had been highly secretive, so neither Burton nor Cui Zilong knew anything about Lin Haoran's plans.
Now, learning that their boss had quietly gained the ability to control Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson, both men were shocked.
Taking over either Jardines Matheson or Jardines Matheson individually was enough to be unbelievable for them.
"Boss, even though you now have the ability to control Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson, I still advise not to rush your trusted aides into taking over directly. Instead, adopt a gradual approach, first stabilizing your controlling position," Burton suggested.
"Hmm? Why so? Wouldn't it be more direct and effective to immediately place our team in high-level positions?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.
"Whether it's Wanqing Group or other enterprises, they all gather a lot of management talent. While their management capabilities are outstanding, they may not necessarily understand the specific operations of Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson.
If we rashly take over and replace a large portion of the senior management, these two companies could suffer severe damage in the short term.
Thus, the most prudent approach is gradual infiltration. After securing the controlling rights, temporarily retain the original senior management. Gradually insert your trusted aides, allowing them ample time to understand the internal workings before slowly taking over management. That way, the losses can be minimized to the greatest extent," Burton explained with a smile.
Lin Haoran quickly understood Burton's implication and nodded.
"In that case, it is indeed not advisable to make too many changes to the senior management while taking over these two companies. Nor do I need to prepare too many resources," Lin Haoran said thoughtfully, supporting his chin with his hand.
The situation with taking over Hongkong Electric Holdings was completely different from taking over Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson this time.
In the case of Hongkong Electric Holdings, Lin Haoran highly admired the talents of Chen Shoulin. As a Chinese manager, Chen Shoulin had led Hongkong Electric to achieve outstanding performance, evident in years of financial reports that showed how profitable the company had been under Chen Shoulin's leadership.
Thus, after acquiring Hongkong Electric Holdings, Lin Haoran had not made major changes to the senior management.
However, Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson were completely different.
These two companies had long been tightly controlled by British capital consortia, with almost all senior executives being from these British capital groups.
If Lin Haoran truly wanted to take control, he would inevitably need to clean out these people in the future. Otherwise, even as a major shareholder, he might not be able to smoothly operate the companies.
But replacing the senior management all at once would undoubtedly lead to the situation Burton had described.
Thus, the best approach was to replace them gradually, not all at once.
Just as Lin Haoran was about to speak again, the phone on the side rang.
He directly picked up the handset and answered in front of Burton, Cui Zilong, and Su Zhixue: "Hello, this is Lin Haoran."
"Mr. Lin, this is Niu Bijian. I have something to inform you. Tomorrow at ten in the morning, Jardines Matheson will hold a board meeting in Room 2807 on the 28th floor of Jardine House. Please make sure to attend on time," said Niu Bijian over the phone.
"Mr. Niu Bijian, could you tell me the specific purpose of this meeting?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.
He had originally planned to make a sudden move on Jardines Matheson tomorrow, holding a press conference to announce his takeover.
Unexpectedly, Niu Bijian was inviting him to a board meeting at Jardine House?
"Mr. Lin, to be honest, I don't know exactly what it's about. It's Henry Keswick who exercised his rights as an important shareholder to call this meeting. I heard that Mr. Henry Keswick has already arrived in Hong Kong," said Niu Bijian helplessly.
Since Lin Haoran's appointment as Vice Chairman of the Board, relations between Henry Keswick and Niu Bijian had obviously become more tense, and many matters were no longer discussed with him.
"Alright, I understand. I'll be there on time tomorrow morning," Lin Haoran finally agreed.
Anyway, Jardines Matheson wasn't going anywhere. He was curious to see what Henry Keswick was up to by mysteriously convening a board meeting.
"Good, then Mr. Lin, I'll hang up now. I still need to notify the other board members," Niu Bijian said.
After hanging up, Lin Haoran continued thinking about the purpose behind Henry Keswick's call for this meeting.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what the other party was planning.
Now that he was already the Vice Chairman of Jardines Matheson, could they still plot against him?
Unable to think of a clear answer, Lin Haoran simply stopped worrying about it. Anyway, he would find out tomorrow.
Thus, he continued discussing with Burton, Cui Zilong, and others how best to take over the two corporate giants.
Although Burton and Cui Zilong each headed their own companies and had no direct relationship with Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson, both Wanqing Group and Oriental Press were wholly owned by Lin Haoran. These two were essentially working for him, so gathering them to discuss was naturally no issue.
Time quickly passed, and soon it was October 25th.
Today was the weekend. Normally, except for some on-duty executives, many senior managers of Jardines Matheson did not work on weekends.
However, today, almost all senior managers were present at Jardine House.
Moreover, many important shareholders who seldom visited also showed up.
Even some British shareholders of Jardines Matheson appeared at Jardine House.
Lin Haoran, accompanied by Li Weidong and Li Weiguo, arrived at the lobby of Jardine House.
At the elevator entrance, he ran into Shen Bi, the big boss of Huifeng Bank, and greeted him with a smile: "Good morning, Mr. Shen Bi!"
Unexpectedly, Shen Bi seemed a bit guilty, responding awkwardly with a perfunctory smile and a single line.
This surprised Lin Haoran.
In the past, Shen Bi had always been very polite to him, and their relationship had been quite good.
What was happening today?
Seeing that the other party was unwilling to continue the conversation, Lin Haoran did not force it and they silently entered the elevator together.
Inside the meeting room, a large number of people had already gathered.
Most of the faces were familiar from the previous meeting, but some were strangers.
The number of attendees seemed even larger than last time.
Soon, Lin Haoran spotted Mr. Henry Keswick.
At this moment, Henry Keswick was confidently chatting with other shareholders of the British consortium as he entered the meeting room.
Lin Haoran even felt that Henry Keswick's gaze toward him was somewhat meaningful.
This made Lin Haoran increasingly feel that today's board meeting was like a Hongmen Banquet, and he himself was likely the main character.
Had the other party come all the way from Britain just to deal with him?
No matter what, Lin Haoran remained calm.
Let the soldiers come, and he would block them; let the water come, and he would cover it with earth.
Soon it was ten o'clock in the morning.
As the big boss of Jardines Matheson, Niu Bijian stood up to give the opening speech.
"At the request of Mr. Henry Keswick, this board meeting is convened. Next, Mr. Henry Keswick will preside over the meeting."
Everyone's eyes immediately turned toward Henry Keswick.
Many here were his trusted followers, who naturally already knew the purpose of the meeting.
Only those who were not his confidants looked puzzled, waiting for Henry Keswick to continue.
Lin Haoran paid special attention to Shen Bi's expression; the head of Huifeng Bank remained as calm as ever, showing no curiosity about Henry Keswick's next words.
Clearly, Shen Bi had been informed in advance.
As soon as Niu Bijian finished speaking, Henry Keswick stood up.
"Everyone, Jardines Matheson is now the controlling shareholder of Jardines Matheson, so several important shareholders of Jardines Matheson are here today to participate in the meeting. Let's welcome them," Henry Keswick said.
Immediately, there was a burst of applause.
It was only then that Lin Haoran realized that the few unfamiliar Westerners were actually shareholders of Jardines Matheson.
No wonder he didn't recognize them.
"Today, the reason I called everyone here is to vote on a very important matter. As you all know, Jardines Matheson has always been a British consortium company.
However, Mr. Lin Haoran's entry into the core management clearly conflicts with the interests of the British consortium.
Therefore, I propose once again that we vote to dismiss Mr. Lin Haoran from his position as Vice Chairman of the Board and revoke his directorship!" Henry Keswick announced in one breath.
Now, with the mutual control plan between Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson advancing effectively, Henry Keswick was no longer afraid of Lin Haoran's threat.
Even if Lin Haoran had money to continue buying shares, so what?
They had persuaded Huifeng Bank and several shareholders and board members from Jardines Matheson; their combined voting rights now surpassed the alliance of Lin Haoran and Niu Bijian.
This was the confidence behind Henry Keswick's attempt to expel Lin Haoran from Jardines Matheson.
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