Chapter 621: The Keswick Family's internal struggle

When Xia Yu set out to acquire Sega, the news of the Bright Fund's acquisition of shares in the Hongkong Land Group inevitably leaked out.

After all, Hongkong Land was a listed company, and as one of the major shareholders on the surface, Burton Keswick could hardly hide the update of his shareholding. It was not like the sporadic acquisition of shares in the secondary market, which could be hidden.

Moreover, Burton Keswick knew that it would be difficult to keep the news a secret. In order to get the high commission from Bright Fund, he actively persuaded Claude Keswick and Rodney Keswick, who were the main shareholders, to withdraw from the deal.

In just eight days, the deal was concluded, and the 9.4% stake in Hongkong Land held by Rodney Keswick was acquired and sold to Bright Fund, which earned a commission of 110 million Hong Kong dollars.

Bright Fund's shareholding in Hongkong Land also rose to 19.9%, and Bright Fund has become the de facto largest shareholder.

While Burton Keswick continued to attack Claude Keswick's 11.8% stake, the latest shareholding news of Hongkong Land disclosed by the stock exchange showed that Bright Fund held 10.5% and became the third largest shareholder.

The shareholding information of the leading real estate company in Xiangjiang has changed, and in particular, what is missing is the shareholding of the original Keswick family. Anyone who cares to do the math will find that the remaining four branches of the Keswick family together only hold 41.8% of the shares.

The Keswick family's control over Hongkong Land is no longer unbreakable!

As soon as the news broke, the interested British and Chinese tycoons immediately gathered first-hand information and asked who this Bright Fund was that had suddenly appeared and breached the internal fortress of the Keswick family!

Of course, the most nervous were the Keswick family, especially Dick Keswick, who currently holds the largest share and is also the chairman of the Hongkong Land Group.

Mid-levels, the Keswick family mansion.

The leaders of the five branches of the Keswick family gathered together, but the atmosphere was very different.

Dick Keswick's face was full of hatred, and he coldly stared at Burton Keswick, who was sitting expressionless across from him.

Phil Keswick, who was also in favour of staying, sat next to Dick Keswick, his face also gloomy, occasionally looking at Burton Keswick with an unfriendly gaze.

Rodney Keswick, who sold his shares to Burton Keswick, had signed an internal confidentiality agreement with Burton Keswick, but after the latest disclosure of shareholdings in Hongkong Land, he realised that Burton Keswick was working for the Bright Fund.

And the stake held by Guangming Fund was not the revealed 10.5%, but rather 19.9% in total, adding the 9.4% that originally belonged to his own lineage.

But after all was said and done, the die was cast, he had accepted the money, and it was too late to regret it.

What's more, he had sold the stake without telling Dick Keswick, which was equivalent to stabbing the latter in the back.

So he remained silent, arms folded, keeping his mouth shut.

The remaining Claude Keske, also guessed the inside story. At this time, he had an expressionless face, and subtly observed the expressions of the four people at the table, with a particular focus on Rodney Keske and Burton Keske.

After a moment of silence, Dick Keske, whose anger was growing, finally couldn't hold back and fired at Burton Keske: 'Burton, why did you do this?'

'You are selfish, betraying the interests of the entire family for your own gain!'

Phil Keswick, who was on the same side as Dick Keswick, also joined in the attack, saying, 'Borden, the Keswick family has long been targeted. Only by uniting can we barely resist the invaders. Now because of your actions, our family will face big trouble again!'

Burton Keswick was not someone to be trifled with. Coupled with the fact that there was already little family affection within the family due to disputes over interests, he was already prepared for the consequences and had nothing to lose. The only regret was that he had not seized the opportunity to buy Claude Keswick's 11.8% stake before the news was revealed, and had lost hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in profit.

Burdened by nothing, he finally tore off the veil of shame within the Keswick family. Faced with the attacks of the two men, he retorted, 'What do you mean by betrayal? The shares I sold belong to me, and I have the right to decide their use.'

'You also know that all the major families in Hong Kong, whether Chinese or other British-funded consortia, are planning to eat us up. We simply cannot fight back. Instead of gradually weakening, it is better to preserve our assets and withdraw to the UK as soon as possible.'

'Dick, Phil, you are prepared to stay and die, don't drag us along with you, we are not obliged to pay the price for your wrong choices!'

Burton Keswick's sharp retort made Dick Keswick furious. He shouted, 'Fine, even if you want to leave, you have to tell us in advance. Now we are unprepared and we will be very passive! The other shareholders, who were restless in the first place, will definitely take action again.'

Burton Keswick laughed coldly in his heart, secretly cursing Dick Keswick for being shameless.

The decision to stay or go had been debated within the family no less than ten times, and no clear result had been reached. If he told the rest of the family that he wanted to sell his shares, Dick Keswick would definitely try to sabotage him.

After all, the reason why Dick Keswick had reacted so strongly was because what he had done had a serious impact on Dick Keswick's position as chairman of the Hongkong Land Group and his thoughts on staying in Hongkong!

He would never compromise his own interests for the sake of people like Dickie Catherick!

As for the other shareholders taking action and continuing to hunt for the Land Group, what did it have to do with him?

Thinking this, Burton Catherick gave a cold smile and did not answer Dickie Catherick, his attitude being very clear.

This made Dick Keswick's blood boil, and he was extremely annoyed.

Seeing that the conflict was about to escalate again, Rodney Keswick, who had been sitting quietly, spoke up to break the ice: 'Dick, Burton's shares have already been sold, so arguing now won't help. What we should be thinking about is how to solve this problem.'

'Previously, when we discussed the question of whether to stay or go, we never reached a conclusion. Now it seems that we have to face this problem.'

'Burton, you should tell us about the Bright Fund.'

After saying this, Rod Keskini gave Burton Kesk a meaningful look.

Claude Kesk, who had been observing the situation, felt a sudden pang in his heart, his eyes narrowing as he too looked at Burton Kesk and said, 'Yes, Burton, you should now tell us about the sale of the shares and the situation of the Bright Fund.'

'After all, we are family!'

Dick Kessler saw the two say this, and he also took a deep breath to suppress the anger in his heart, staring coldly at Burton Kessler.

For a moment, all four people focused their attention on Burton Kessler.

Burton Kessler swept his gaze over the four people, sorted out the prepared speech, and spoke half-truths.