Chapter 625: Dividing the Cake

For a moment, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong fell silent, but the surprised glances they gave Xia Yu revealed the huge shock they felt.

Xia Yu lifted his teacup with a calm expression and took a sip.

After recovering from his shock, Huo Yingdong's face broke into a happy smile, and he praised with a clap, 'Haha, Yu, your move is as domineering as always.'

'That's right, I've only just acquired 2.7% of the equity, but you've acquired one-third of all the equity in one go. It's embarrassing to compare ourselves to you!'

Bao Yugang also praised.

Xia Yu smiled modestly and said, 'Luck, luck.'

Seeing this, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong shook their heads and laughed bitterly, not dwelling on this any longer.

This was typical of Xia Yu. He was obviously very capable, but he always said it was luck. This was even more of a blow to them, and it often made the two of them feel depressed.

After drinking the tea, the mood of the two men also calmed down.

Now that they had such favourable conditions, the two men were thinking actively about what to do.

'Yu, in this way, the Keske family will only have 20.6% of the shares, and the combined shareholding of the three of us will reach 45.4%. We can now take control of Hongkong Land,'

Bao Yugang narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a firm tone, 'Xia Yu, you're right.

Now Hongkong Land can be said to belong to Chinese capital. All Chinese shareholders together hold 68.4% of the shares. As long as we unite, we can completely force a privatisation, and the Keswick family can be driven to the edge of power.'

'But that's not what we want. The hidden value of Hongkong Land is huge, and its assets far exceed its market value. Now that the opportunity is here, of course we want to obtain as much equity as possible.'

'Not to mention that the three parties – the Keswick family, Swire Group and the Kadoorie family – still hold a combined 29.1% of the equity. Now that this is a rare opportunity, we will strive to take all of it.'

'As for the shares held by Zheng Yutong, Li Zhaoji and others, we will also take them over as much as possible. The more shareholders we get rid of, the less of Hongkong Land's cake will be shared out.'

In their original plan, after Hongkong Land was privatised, it would undergo asset liquidation and then be divided according to the proportion of shareholdings.

Xiao Yu nodded in agreement, 'Bao, Ah Yu is right. You know how much Land Group is worth. If we can split it between the three of us, why let others benefit?'

Bao Yugang laughed, 'I'm just saying. How could I forget what we agreed before?'

'Now that Ah Yu's shareholding has not been exposed, we still have some time to our advantage, which we cannot waste.'

'There are still quite a few remaining shareholders, and time is pressing. Shall we distribute the targets?'

'Yes!'

'No problem.'

Xia Yu and Huo Yingdong both agreed.

'Ah Yu, you are stronger and have more liquid capital, which ones do you want to pick?'

Bao Yugang did not choose immediately, but instead handed over the initiative to Xia Yu. After all, in the battle to swallow up the Land Group, although they also contributed, they were more like following Xia Yu and reaping the benefits. They had already gained a lot, and he could not be greedy anymore.

Huo Yingdong nodded slightly and had no objections.

Xia Yu thought for a moment and said, 'In that case, I'll take the Keswick family, Swire Group and the Kadoorie family. I'll take the 29.1% stake in these three companies, and you can have the remaining 25.5%.'

The acquisition of the stakes of these three British shareholders would be the most difficult, but Xia Yu didn't care. After all, to him, it didn't matter who the target was.

On the contrary, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong had deep friendships with various Chinese tycoons, and it would be even easier to acquire the stakes in their hands.

If they were to ask them to buy out the shares held by the Swire Group, the Keswick family and the Kadoorie family, it would be a lot more difficult.

Although there would be a smaller cake left for the two of them to share, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong were not fussy about it, but were grateful. Of course, they could see that Xia Yu had singled out the hard nuts to be chewed on by himself, and instead left the easy meat for them.

This made the generous Bao Yugang feel embarrassed: 'Yu, you don't need to take care of us...'

'Hey Lao Bao, you can't say that. What do you mean I'm taking care of you? I'm picking out the extra, don't say I have a big appetite.'

'Let's just decide it like this, if there are any difficulties or emergencies later, we'll discuss it further.'

Xia Yu interrupted Bao Yugang directly, smiling and making a decision.

Bao Yugang smiled bitterly, and once again regained his heroic state. He said loudly, 'Okay, then we won't be polite.'

Then, in front of Xia Yu, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong divided up the targets according to their personal connections and strengths.

Bao Yugang acquired 12.7% of the shares held by four families: Li Jiasheng, He Hongsen, the He family of Xiangjiang, and the Hu family.

Huo Yingdong acquired 10.3% of the shares held by three families: Zheng Yutong, Li Zhaoji, and Guo Desheng.

There was no other way. Bao Yugang was closer to Li Jiacheng and the Hu family, while Ho Wang Sun had a deep grudge against Huo Yingdong. Ho Wang Sun would never sell his shares to Huo Yingdong, and it would be difficult for Huo Yingdong to acquire the shares of the Heung Kong Ho family.

Huo Yingdong, on the other hand, relied on the business of Haisha and had a deep friendship with Zheng Yutong, Li Zhaoji and Guo Desheng. It was still possible for him to acquire the shares of the three of them.

It can be said that Bao Yugang has taken good care of Huo Yingdong.

As for the remaining 2.5% of the shares, they are still in the hands of retail investors or investment institutions, each doing their own thing.

In fact, after last year's battle for control, although the Hongkong Land Group is still a listed company, the shares are concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people, and rarely in the hands of retail investors or investment institutions.

Although nearly nine months have passed since the siege of Hongkong Land Group last year, and shares have been released one after the other, they were almost all bought up by Xia Yu and the other two people who secretly purchased shares from the market some time ago.

The reason why the remaining 2.5% of shares have not been purchased is that the retail investors who hold these shares are more determined, and they are holding onto their shares and refusing to sell, betting that Hongkong Land Group's share price will continue to rise.

Against this kind of retail investor, combined with the situation of the Hongkong Land Group, there is simply no way to sit tight and reap them. The only way to deal with them is to offer them a price that they are satisfied with.

Of course, there is another even more ruthless way, which is for Hongkong Land Group to apply for delisting and forcefully repurchase the shares in their hands.

If they don't sell, they will be voided. After all, the combined 2.5% of shares has no impact on the overall situation and is destined to be trapped.

With the general direction set and the division of labour clarified, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong did not linger and immediately got to work.

Xia Yu, on the other hand, pondered for a moment before deciding to start with the Kadoorie family.

After all, the remaining Keswick family members, Dick Keswick and Phil Keswick, were diehards; and the Swire Group was not short of money and was also top-notch in terms of strength, making these two families even more difficult to deal with.

On the contrary, the Kadoorie family, whose main influence was in Kowloon, would give him face.

Xia Yugang just told Wang Qi to do it, but he didn't expect a piece of news from the stock exchange to make him flustered.

There had been another major change in the shareholding of Hongkong Land. The original shareholder, Kadoorie Family Investment Company, had withdrawn and transferred its 3.1% stake to N M Rothschild & Sons (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Another dark horse had emerged!

In the office, Xia Yugang frowned as he read the information on the paper.