Chapter 811: Seizing Power Easily

That person was none other than his rival, Ji Wei, the general manager of the Jiuding Hotel Management Group.

Over the past year, as the Jiuding consortium has continued to acquire and divest companies, the strength of the Jiuding Hotel Management Group has also expanded rapidly. It already owns more than just the Marco Polo Hotels brand, but also the Mandarin Oriental Hotels, which it acquired through a spin-off from the Hongkong Land Group, and a 49% stake in the Sheraton Hotels, which it acquired through a spin-off from Hutchison Whampoa.

Especially in the case of the Sheraton Hotels, although it only owns a 49% stake, it has control of the management.

In this way, the several brands under the Jiuding Hotel Management Group compete with the Xiangjiang Shanghu Hotel Group.

Ji Wei is a person with a strong fighting spirit, and he has launched a series of measures to compete with his peers, with very significant results. Due to positioning problems, the one who has been affected the most is none other than the Xiangjiang Shanghu Hotel Group.

Therefore, even without considering the background of the Jiuding Hotel Management Group, Roland Kadoorie also regards Ji Wei as a rival of comparable strength.

But now, the rival he had been battling for so long was sitting inside his own company, chatting with Liang Zhonghao, the representative of the largest shareholder, and he had received no news of this beforehand.

How could this not shake the mind of Lawrence Kadoorie?

Could it be that today, the Shangri-La Group, which symbolised the honour of the Kadoorie family, was about to change hands?

'Mr Kadoorie, what are you doing standing there in the doorway? Come in!'

Liang Zhonghao said to Sir Lawrence Kadoorie with a smile, as if he hadn't noticed the strange atmosphere at all.

The other shareholders, including the representative of Standard Chartered Bank, which held 5.7% of the shares, looked at Sir Lawrence Kadoorie with various expressions on their faces.

It is worth mentioning that in order not to reveal their interests too early, the shares held by Standard Chartered Bank were not transferred to Jiuding Hotel Management Group. Unless there was no other way, the representatives of Standard Chartered Bank would not take a clear stance, lest they arouse the suspicion of Lawrence Kadoorie and affect a series of plans in the future.

'Good morning everyone, I'm sorry I'm late! I've kept you waiting!'

Lawrence Kadoorie quickly gathered his thoughts, regained his composure, and apologised as he walked in.

No matter what happens next, at least he must not lose face.

At the board meeting, Lawrence Kadoorie, who was currently in charge, naturally had to sit at the head of the table, but at the shareholders' meeting, the seating order could be based on the size of the shareholding.

After Lawrence Kadoorie had taken his seat, Liang Zhonghao, who was sitting at the head of the table, nodded to the employee standing by the door, who immediately closed the door and withdrew.

Seeing this, Liang Zhonghao said, 'Okay, it's time. Everyone who was supposed to come is here, and those who weren't are presumably not coming. The shareholders' meeting is officially starting. Now, let me introduce the new major shareholder.'

'He is the one sitting next to me, the general manager of Jiuding Hotel Management Group, Mr. Ji Wei. Jiuding Hotel Management Group has a 20.2% stake and is currently the second largest shareholder of the group.'

'Let's welcome Mr. Ji to our big family!'

'Clap, clap, clap...'

After saying this, Liang Zhonghao led the applause, and the others immediately followed suit, except for Roland Kadoorie, whose face was unsightly as he gave a single clap and then stopped, his gaze sharply directed at Liang Zhonghao and Ji Wei.

'Hello everyone!'

Ji Wei smiled as he stood up to greet everyone, before resuming his seat.

'Mr Ji, I never thought we would be sitting together in this way, it's very unexpected,'

Roland Kadoorie looked at Ji Wei and said lightly,

'Mr. Ji Wei, things are constantly changing, and there's more than one thing you didn't expect.'

After saying this, Ji Wei ignored the serious-looking Roland Kadoorie and looked at Liang Zhonghao.

Liang Zhonghao understood, and without further ado, pretending not to see Roland Kadoorie's sharp gaze, he said expressionlessly, 'Next, we will formally enter the articles of association for this shareholders' meeting.'

'In fact, there is only one article of association, and that is that the current business situation of the company still needs to be improved. Although profits have been increasing over the years, under the new circumstances, the growth rate is not stable and there is a trend of slowing down. Therefore, I propose re-electing the board of directors to change the current situation of the company!'

As soon as these words were spoken, the expression on Lawrence Kadoorie's face changed dramatically. He was worried that what he feared had finally happened.

He couldn't believe it. After all these years of friendship with the Liang family, it had just become useless?

He had only been to the Liang family a few days ago, and he never expected them to turn their backs on him now!

Now it has come to a critical moment. Liang Zhonghao has directly turned against him, and Lawrence Kadoorie can no longer care about anything else. He must struggle with all his strength and directly confront Liang Zhonghao: 'Mr Liang, I disagree with your proposal. The company's current business situation is very good, and I have already been working on a new business plan. I will make changes soon. I believe that no one knows the company better than I do, and at this time, I suggest that the company remain as stable as possible.'

At this time, what Lawrence Kadoorie thought of was stalling, trying his best to stabilise Liang Zhonghao and the other shareholders first, and buy himself enough time to act.

As for the so-called plan, it was naturally something that did not exist.

But since the Liang family had decided to sell favours, they were also quite decisive. Without needing to say a word, Liang Zhonghao said directly with a cold face, 'Mr. Kadoorie, you don't need to rush. How do you think?'

Ji Wei also smiled and said, 'Yes, Mr. Kadoorie, the company belongs to all shareholders, and in terms of management, it is still necessary to be democratic and listen to everyone's opinions.'

'Are you willing to re-elect the board of directors? A vote is just that simple!'

'Isn't that right, everyone?'

At the end of his speech, Ji Wei looked at the others present with a smile.

There were two British shareholders, a representative from Standard Chartered Bank, two Chinese shareholders, and two representatives of the least powerful shareholders representing the public.

Now that the big shots were obviously fighting, apart from the representative of Standard Chartered Bank, the other minority shareholders dared not say anything. They all smiled nervously, each with their own concerns, calculating the risks and rewards in their hearts.

Now that the new second largest shareholder was clearly in the same boat as the largest shareholder, and the two combined held more than 50% of the shares, it no longer mattered whether they, the minority shareholders, had any opinions. It was more important to prepare for the next possible situation.

After Ji Wei had finished speaking, Liang Zhonghao ignored Lawrence Kadoorie and then said firmly, 'Mr Ji is right. Whether we agree or not, we will decide by voting!'

After saying this, he ignored Lawrence Kadoorie's murderous glare and raised his hand, saying, 'On behalf of the Liang family, I agree to re-elect the board of directors!'

Ji Wei smiled at Lawrence Kadoorie and raised his hand in the latter's angry gaze: 'I also agree to re-elect the board of directors!'

Together, they held a 51.2% stake!

And with more than two-thirds of the participants at this shareholders' meeting, the vote was naturally valid.

Seeing that things were set in stone, several minority shareholders looked at each other and slowly raised their hands.

Seeing this, the representative of Standard Chartered Bank smiled helplessly: 'It seems that it doesn't matter whether I vote or not. I would like to say that I am satisfied with Mr. Lawrence Kadoorie's management, but I also have expectations for Mr. Liang's proposed change in business model. This is a dilemma of choice. Anyway, Standard Chartered Bank will not interfere with the management and just wait for the dividends. Therefore, I choose to abstain!'

Although the representative of Standard Chartered Bank abstained, compared to the other people who agreed, Standard Chartered Bank's abstention was already very valuable, so it gave Roland Kadoorie a little comfort and even a little gratitude.

Roland Kadoorie also understood Standard Chartered Bank's choice. Since things had already been decided, the best choice was to support the majority shareholder and the second shareholder. Choosing to oppose was the most unwise, and choosing to abstain was also a great face-saving gesture.

'Okay, let's start counting the votes!'

Liang Zhonghao is not the chairman of the board of directors, but he is the chairman of the supervisory board. The supervisory board supervises the board of directors, is elected by the shareholders' meeting, and is responsible to the shareholders' meeting. In terms of vote counting, it is sufficient for the chairman of the supervisory board to be present.

Soon, the votes were tallied according to the percentage of shareholdings.

Sixty-eight point two percent of the votes were in favour of re-electing the board of directors, and the proposal was passed!

Liang Zhonghao immediately gave the order: 'The number of votes in favour accounts for 68.2%, the proposal is passed! Starting now, the previous board of directors is dissolved and a new board of directors is elected!'

'According to the company's articles of association, every 5% of the shares held will automatically entitle the holder to a seat on the board of directors. Since my family owns six seats on the board, the previous six directors will remain unchanged for the time being.'

Ji Wei spoke up at this point: 'Our shareholding exceeds 20%, entitling us to four seats on the board of directors. I will recommend the specific personnel later, and for now the voting power is in my hands.'

Excluding Liang Zhonghao and Ji Wei's shareholdings, even if everyone else's shareholdings were combined, they could only have a maximum of nine seats on the board, which was still less than the two of them.

It was clear that Liang Zhonghao and Ji Wei also controlled the board, which had not yet finished electing its members.

A similar scene played out once again.

This was simply not letting anyone play.

Roland Kadoorie understood the situation and gave up on making a valiant struggle, sitting expressionlessly on the stool and watching what he considered to be a ridiculous farce.

Next, Liang Zhonghao continued to push forward, and the shareholders present who held seats on the board of directors voted again. The board of directors voted by more than half of the votes to approve Liang Zhonghao's proposal that Ji Wei serve as the new chairman of the board of directors.

In less than an hour, the title of chairman of the board of directors was transferred from Lawrence Kadoorie to Ji Wei.

From this moment on, Lawrence Kadoorie officially lost control of the Shangri-La Hotel Group.

When the meeting ended, the other minority shareholders left first, and the venue was left with only Liang Zhonghao, Ji Wei and Lawrence Kadoorie.

Lawrence Kadoorie looked at the two men mockingly and sneered, 'What, do you still have any plans against me?'

Ji Wei smiled and said, 'Mr. Kadoorie, you can't put it that way. In fact, I do have a proposal. I hope you will sell me the shares you hold in the Shangri-La Hotel Group.'