Chapter 392: Suppression from Hutchison Whampoa
"Very well, let's proceed as planned!"
After repeatedly reviewing the plan and confirming that there were no flaws, Summer Yu made his decision immediately.
His plan was actually quite simple, yet devious and likely to be effective.
The strategy was to betray Li Jiacheng by revealing his secret acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa shares to Qi Dezun, turning Qi Dezun's focus onto Li Jiacheng!
Although Li Jiacheng was considered a top Chinese figure, in terms of capital, influence, and connections, he was only at the lower end of the top tier.
Without the advantage of being the first mover, he would certainly be unable to withstand the suppression and targeting from Hutchison Whampoa.
In the previous life, Li Jiacheng, attempting to attack Kowloon Warehouse covertly, was discovered by the Jardine Matheson Group. Unable to withstand the pressure from Jardine Matheson, he eventually had to transfer Kowloon Warehouse's shares to Bao Yugang, not only making a profit but also gaining Bao Yugang's favor.
It was only with Bao Yugang's help that Shen Bi sold some of Hutchison Whampoa's shares held by HSBC to Li Jiacheng.
With strong support from HSBC and the top Chinese investor Bao Yugang, Li Jiacheng was able to withstand the pressure and engage in internal struggles with Qi Dezun within Hutchison Whampoa.
In this lifetime, without Bao Yugang's favor and overshadowed by Summer Yu's powerful presence, it was uncertain whether Shen Bi would even consider selling Hutchison Whampoa's shares to Li Jiacheng.
Given that Li Jiacheng could only secretly acquire a limited amount of shares, if Hutchison Whampoa targeted him harshly, Li Jiacheng, who prioritized benefits, might well choose to bow out after weighing the pros and cons.
Furthermore, the situation in Hong Kong was extremely unfavorable for British interests. With Summer Yu's formidable strength and consistent advantage, Jardine Matheson had been consistently defeated.
For all British interests in Hong Kong, having one such incident was already too much! They would absolutely not allow a repeat!
Otherwise, the situation could collapse, leading Chinese investors to perceive it as an opportunity and launch a collective attack. At that point, a major conflict would be inevitable, affecting all British interests!
Therefore, neither Hutchison Whampoa nor any other British financial groups would allow Li Jiacheng to succeed!
"Hehe, Li Jiacheng, sorry! You should focus on developing your Changjiang Industrial!"
After considering, Summer Yu decided that it would be more appropriate for Liu Tianqi to reveal the information through HSBC rather than Wang Qi. This method had no risk and was more persuasive.
He immediately called Liu Tianqi.
Upon receiving Summer Yu's instructions, Liu Tianqi quickly guessed the underlying motive, silently marveling at his boss's cunning and feeling a bit sorry for Li Jiacheng.
After hanging up the phone, Summer Yu, in a good mood, continued his busy work.
---
At the Hutchison Whampoa headquarters, in the chairman's office.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
"Come in!"
Wei Li looked up, slightly raising his eyebrows upon seeing his subordinate enter, and gently set down his pen.
"What's the matter?"
"Chairman, we've identified who is secretly buying our company's shares!"
The slightly out of breath subordinate immediately responded.
Wei Li was startled, sitting up straight and leaning slightly forward, asking, "Who is it? How did you find out?"
The subordinate quickly explained, "It's Li Jiacheng from Changjiang Industrial!"
"This information came from our conversation with a staff member from HSBC Securities. That employee happened to remember several anonymous accounts. Following the clues he provided, we quickly discovered that the person behind it was indeed Li Jiacheng!"
Wei Li nodded slightly, remaining silent but already believing his subordinate's words.
Although Li Jiacheng's strength was much less than Hutchison Whampoa's, he was indeed capable of harboring such thoughts.
Moreover, this clue came from HSBC Securities, which is a British entity and has the capability to know many insider details, so it was reasonable.
Wei Li looked up and said to his somewhat anxious subordinate, "Write up the details and evidence of the situation and give it to me right away!"
"Understood!"
The subordinate nodded vigorously and then left.
Shortly after, he returned with the detailed investigation report and evidence.
Wei Li took the documents without saying a word and went to find Qi Dezun.
---
Qi Dezun was in a good mood because he had managed to stabilize Shen Bi!
He had a good relationship with Shen Bi, and being an experienced veteran, he knew that profit was key.
HSBC's disappointment with Hutchison Whampoa was due to the lack of high returns on investment—it was purely a financial matter.
Coincidentally, Qi Dezun needed to increase his stake and required funds.
So, Qi Dezun directly borrowed several billion from HSBC.
With this loan, HSBC would benefit greatly, and seeing Qi Dezun's actions, Shen Bi sensed Qi Dezun's attitude and decided to give him another chance to see if Hutchison Whampoa could revive.
As a result, Shen Bi agreed not to sell the shares, and Qi Dezun received the funding needed for acquiring shares, easing his concerns significantly.
However, he still didn't fully trust Shen Bi, as promises and assurances were often broken when enough profit was at stake.
To be safe, he needed to find and eliminate the lurking threat swiftly!
At this moment, Wei Li arrived!
"Wei Li, you're here. Please, sit!"
Qi Dezun set down the watering can and greeted Wei Li with a smile, leading him to the sofa.
"Mr. Qi, we've identified who is targeting us," Wei Li said as soon as he sat down, opening his briefcase to produce the investigation report and evidence.
Qi Dezun's hand, which was about to serve tea, froze in mid-air, and he immediately focused intently on Wei Li, taking the investigation report and evidence to review carefully.
"Li Jiacheng?"
Qi Dezun was surprised but felt a sense of relief in his tone.
At least it wasn't Summer Yu!
Although Li Jiacheng's strength was similar to Summer Yu's, in terms of threat to Hutchison Whampoa, Li Jiacheng was definitely inferior to Summer Yu.
After all, the painful facts were still fresh!
Even the powerful Jardine Matheson Group had fallen before Summer Yu; how could a weakened Hutchison Whampoa, which was already struggling, withstand him?
"Mr. Qi, it's Li Jiacheng. As long as he doesn't form alliances with other Chinese families and tycoons, the danger to us won't be too great," Wei Li said, nodding.
Qi Dezun slightly nodded in agreement with Wei Li's assessment.
"He has been lurking for half a year, and he probably isn't targeting us for financial gain. Since he's not a financier, he wouldn't team up with others if he wanted to take us over."
"That makes things much easier!"
"By the way, have you determined how many shares Li Jiacheng has actually acquired from our company?"
Qi Dezun suddenly asked.
Wei Li immediately shook his head, "No, it's difficult to determine."
After a pause, he continued, "However, based on the stock market transaction records we previously collected, Li Jiacheng's shareholding should not exceed 8%, and it might be even less."
Qi Dezun didn't speak immediately but pondered for a moment before slowly nodding, "It's probably as you said."
"Regardless of how many shares he holds, we must eliminate him. We cannot allow potential threats to remain!"
Qi Dezun decisively instructed, "Prepare a detailed and comprehensive suppression plan and implement it as soon as possible. We need to make Li Jiacheng see the reality, then confront him and force him to surrender all his shares."
"Understood!"