At this time, it would be absolutely false to say that Lawrence Kadoorie does not regret it.
For the sake of an insignificant stake in the Hong Kong Telephone Company, he has allowed the loss of the pearl in his family's hands to be imminent. The management rights of this hotel were passed down to him by his father, Eli Kadoorie, but now, at a time when the family's strength has surpassed its previous peak, it has been lost.
The Kadoorie family has lost face!
He is already in his eighties and has not much time left to live. If he goes to heaven in the future, how will he face his father?
Not only that, but he has also attracted the ire of the Jiuding Consortium.
He had thought that the Taikoo Consortium would be able to help, but who knew that the Jiuding Consortium's methods were so sharp that before Taikoo could react, the matter was already settled.
But since things have come to this, it is too late to regret, and all that Rowlands Kadoorie can think of is to quickly make up for the losses or avoid even greater losses.
If the Swire Group doesn't give a damn, then he will have to make Norman Shiya's life difficult!
Rowlands Kadoorie secretly made a decision in his heart, that if the worst comes to the worst, he will just surrender and avoid even greater losses. What does the Swire Group have to do with him!
Norman Shiya also heard something amiss in the tone of Lawrence Kadoorie. His heart sank, and after a moment of contemplation, he said slowly, 'Lawrence, I really deeply regret what has happened over the past two days. I didn't expect the Jiuding Consortium to act so quickly, so quickly that we simply didn't have time to react. They had already planned it well in advance.'
Roland Kadoorie said, 'Norman, I understand all of this, and I'm not blaming you. I just want to know, what should I do next? Judging from the current situation, our Kadoorie family is in the most dangerous time.'
'My shareholding has already been diluted, and I can't predict what will happen next, nor can I stop it.'
'Moreover, the company controlled by our Kadoorie family is China Light and Power, which is a listed company. If it is also attacked by them, it will be a huge problem.'
'Norman, I must prepare sufficient funds to guard against risks. I can only withdraw from the acquisition of the shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company.'
After saying this, he looked at Norman Shi Yaohuai with burning eyes.
He must have Norman Shi Yaohuai's affirmative reply, otherwise he would find it difficult to rest assured!
Norman Shi Yaohuai was in a mixed mood and nodded slightly, saying, 'The newly acquired shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company can all be transferred to me.'
'As for the shares held by the Shanghainese Shanghu Hotel Group, it depends on your own choice.'
'You can rest assured about China Power Company. The two of us together hold 45% of the shares, so the risk is very small. The second largest shareholder, Standard Chartered Bank, has a close relationship with us and is in a tense competitive relationship with Jiuding Bank, so they are unlikely to sell their shares to them.'
Hearing Norman Shiawei say this, Rowland Kadoorie thought back to the performance of the Standard Chartered Bank representative yesterday, and his heart settled slightly. He had more confidence in Standard Chartered Bank.
However, Norman Siah Wei did not make many substantial promises after saying that, and Roland Kadoorie was not satisfied. He said in a deep voice, 'Norman, no matter what, I still need to prepare sufficient funds, and you must support me.'
Norman Siah Wei nodded without hesitation and said, 'No problem. I will contact financial institutions and raise another 200 million Hong Kong dollars within the next two days to ensure that I can support you at any time.'
'By the way, Roland, aren't you still the chairman of the board of directors of Baoyuan Investment Hong Kong Limited? The Schroder Group is far more powerful than our Swire Group, so don't forget to ask for help from there.'
Baoyuan Investment Hong Kong Limited is a financial investment company that provides high-quality asset management and investment services to its clients. It has three major shareholders: the Schroder Group, with a 45% stake; Standard Chartered Bank, with a 35% stake; and the Kadoorie family, with a 20% stake.
Schroders was founded in 1804 and has a history of more than 170 years. It is an internationally renowned asset management group headquartered in London and a financial giant in the UK. In the future, Schroders will manage assets of up to 260 billion US dollars worldwide.
Although Schroder Group is the largest shareholder of Baoyuan Investment Hong Kong Limited, it has handed over the management rights to the Kadoorie family, which shows that Schroder Group still has a lot of trust in the Kadoorie family.
That was why Norman Shi Yawei had suggested that Roland Kadoorie approach this financial giant for help.
Roland Kadoorie nodded and said indifferently, 'I understand...'
...
On the way back, Roland Kadoorie leaned back in the leather seat of the car, carefully pondering how to dispose of the shares he held in the Shangri-La Group.
Losing it was a foregone conclusion, but he was not willing to sell the shares directly to Ji Wei. Even if it was useless to struggle, he had to delay it as long as possible and make things more difficult for Ji Wei and Liang Zhonghao.
At times like this, the shares held might not be impossible to use as a bargaining chip.
Halfway through, Roland Kadoorie went to Baoyuan Investment Xiangjiang Co., Ltd. again, and instructed the company's employees to set up an acquisition team to secretly acquire shares of China Power Company.
He was forced to do this as a last resort, as he did not have the financial strength to fully acquire China Power Company.
The Kadoorie family currently holds a 34% stake in China Power Company. As long as the Kadoorie family holds more than 35% of the shares, they will have to make a general offer to all shareholders for a takeover, as long as China Power Company is listed.
When this news leaked out, it was obvious that the Jiuding consortium would step in to cause trouble. At that time, the stock price would soar, greatly increasing the Kadoorie family's acquisition cost. With the Kadoorie family's strength, the probability of failure was too high, and it would be easy for the Jiuding consortium to suppress the stock price. After the acquisition failed, there would be heavy losses, and the stocks purchased at a high price would be sold at a low price, reducing the shareholding ratio to below 35%.
It was precisely this concern that made Lawrence Kadoorie think of letting Baoyuan Investment Xiangjiang Co., Ltd., which he had set up, make the acquisition, and then transfer the equity to his family's name in one fell swoop when the time came.
Even if it wasn't transferred, it didn't matter if it was in the hands of Baoyuan Investment Xiangjiang Co., Ltd. With the support of the Schroder Group and Standard Chartered Bank, there was no need to worry about anything going wrong.
There was no more secure way to be your own white knight!
Roland Kadoorie thought he was doing a very safe thing, but he didn't know that Standard Chartered Bank was a time bomb.
As soon as he arranged to secretly buy shares in China Power Company, the news reached the ears of Standard Chartered Bank President Giles Liddell.
When he first heard the news, Giles Liddell thought he had heard it wrong. After confirming it again and again, he immediately ordered his subordinates to keep an eye on the China Power Company stock acquisition team's every move in real time.
Immediately afterwards, he sent someone to pass the news to Xia Yu.
Xia Yu, who was preparing to go to Rothschild & Sons (Hong Kong) Ltd., became even more confident about taking over China Light & Power after hearing the news.
Roland Kadoorie can buy it if he wants to, just wait until the peaches are ripe and then take it all in one go, and it will be worth it even if Standard Chartered Bank switches sides.
The victory of Shanghaishang Hotel Group is already set, and the plan to compete for China Light & Power also has the initiative, so the least successful Hong Kong Telephone Company must make an effort.
With the resources of the Rothschild family, it is only natural to make full use of them.
The Shi Yuhuai family may not give him face, but they dare not not give the Rothschild family face, right?
Soon, Xia Yu quietly arrived at Rothschild & Sons Hong Kong Limited and met Charles Rothschild, who had been waiting in the company for a long time.