Chapter 175: Becoming a Director of Land Holdings
After Chen Shoulin gave a brief report to Lin Haoran, he immediately convened a simple board meeting at the company. In the meeting room, Chen Shoulin informed all Hongkong Electric Holdings board members about the cooperation they had reached with Land Holdings. Hongkong Electric Holdings becoming a shareholder of Land Holdings, and holding such a significant amount of shares, was naturally seen as a great benefit. There was no reason for anyone to oppose it.
The North Point Electric Road Power Plant site had long been listed as a key development project for Hongkong Electric Holdings this year. Now, jointly developing it with a real estate giant like Land Holdings was only logical. Moreover, even if other directors had objections, it was useless. Chairman Lin Haoran and Executive Director Chen Shoulin both agreed to the cooperation plan. Lin Haoran, holding 49.9% of the shares, had the highest voting power in the group. Coupled with Executive Director Chen Shoulin's voting rights, even if all the other directors united in opposition, they couldn't change the outcome.
On the morning of February 8th, at 9:30 a.m., Lin Haoran left his villa on Sik On Street. His destination was Gloucester Tower in Central, the headquarters of Land Holdings. Before going, Lin Haoran had already agreed by phone with Chen Shoulin to meet at the lobby of Gloucester Tower. Upon arrival, he saw that Chen Shoulin had already arrived ahead of time, accompanied by Hongkong Electric Holdings' legal counsel. The three of them, along with their bodyguards, took the elevator directly to the 51st floor.
The 51st floor was where Land Holdings' General Manager Bowers' office was located. All of Land Holdings' senior offices and the board meeting room were on this floor. Exiting the elevator and guided by staff, they smoothly arrived at Bowers' office. Inside, Lin Haoran not only saw Land Holdings' General Manager Bowers but also Jardine Matheson's Taipan Percy Niblett. Standing beside them were several other foreigners, who, judging by their attire, were clearly senior executives or shareholders of Land Holdings.
"Mr. Lin, Mr. Chen, welcome," Bowers stood up warmly to greet them as they entered. Percy Niblett also rose and walked over to shake Lin Haoran's hand. "Mr. Lin, we have prepared the initial draft of the cooperation agreement. In a moment, Mr. Chen and you can move with us to the adjacent meeting room where we will review the agreement in detail. If there are no issues, we can proceed with signing," Percy Niblett said in a good mood.
"Hongkong Electric Holdings and Land Holdings cooperating— from now on, we are all on the same side," Lin Haoran replied with a smile.
Time almost up, the group exited the office and walked down the corridor for about a dozen meters until they reached a spacious meeting room of over one hundred square meters. In the meeting room, Lin Haoran, Chen Shoulin, and Hongkong Electric Holdings' legal counsel represented the Hongkong Electric Holdings side. Meanwhile, Land Holdings was represented by Percy Niblett, Bowers, and their legal counsel.
"Mr. Lin, Mr. Chen, all terms and details agreed upon for this cooperation are clearly written into the agreement. Please review it carefully, and if there are any issues, we can amend it immediately before signing," Bowers said, handing several copies of the draft agreement to Lin Haoran and his team.
Percy Niblett and the others did not re-read the documents, clearly indicating that they had already reviewed them thoroughly. After finishing his call yesterday afternoon with Lin Haoran, Chen Shoulin had spent more time finalizing details with Bowers, so today there was little left to negotiate.
Lin Haoran, Chen Shoulin, and the legal counsel carefully scrutinized every clause and detail of the draft agreement, ensuring nothing was overlooked. After a quick scan, Lin Haoran personally found no major issues and waited patiently for Chen Shoulin and the legal counsel to finish.
After a few minutes, the legal counsel spoke up: "Chairman, Executive Director, the agreement is generally well-crafted. I only suggest a minor amendment regarding Clause Five, which stipulates that if Hongkong Electric Holdings sells its shares, Jardine Matheson shall have the right of first refusal. I recommend adding a condition: while Jardine has first refusal, if their offered price does not meet our expectations and there is a higher offer from another party, we retain the right to sell to the higher bidder. This would ensure flexibility and properly protect our interests."
Both Lin Haoran and Chen Shoulin nodded approvingly at this suggestion, recognizing the lawyer's thoroughness and professionalism. Indeed, with such a revision, the agreement would be more cautious and balanced.
Chen Shoulin then handed the document back to Bowers and Percy Niblett and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, our legal counsel's suggestion is quite straightforward. You heard it too. If you can incorporate this condition, we can proceed."
Essentially, the legal counsel was clarifying that while Jardine would have priority to buy, they couldn't unilaterally dictate the sale price; otherwise, Hongkong Electric would lose its right to negotiate freely. Although Lin Haoran had no actual intention to sell Hongkong Electric's Land Holdings shares to anyone, he still appreciated the clause, as it would make it clear to outsiders that he had no ambitions toward Land Holdings.
"This amendment can be added," Percy Niblett said after brief consideration, "however, regarding the sale price, we need to establish a reasonable cap to ensure transparency and fairness. I propose that the maximum allowable sale price shall not exceed 120% of the prevailing market price at the time. For example, if the current price is HK$5 per share, the maximum price would be HK$6 per share."
"We don't know whether you might secretly arrange a deal with others by first offering us an unacceptable price and then working behind closed doors to sell the shares to another consortium with unclear intentions. That would be very unfavorable for us. To avoid potential unfair transactions, this is our bottom line. Otherwise, our priority right would just be a formality," Percy Niblett, the taipan of Jardine Matheson, quickly pointed out the key issue.
"I can agree to that, but I hope the price cap for transactions is raised from 120% to 130%. 120% is too low," Lin Haoran said without hesitation. He wanted these measures to lower Jardine Matheson's guard against him, allowing him to secretly proceed with his plans to absorb Land Holdings shares. As for selling shares to others, that was never going to happen. If he could acquire Land Holdings himself, why sell it?
"Alright, I agree," Percy Niblett said directly. Raising the cap by 10% would not have a significant impact. In Percy Niblett's view, Hongkong Electric becoming a shareholder in Land Holdings wasn't about flipping shares for profit. It was no different than if Land Holdings had directly invested cash into the joint real estate development company.
He assumed that Hongkong Electric's demand for this condition was merely a safeguard, in case the company encountered financial difficulties and needed to liquidate assets later. Otherwise, there was no reason to worry.
Ultimately, neither side had any further objections. Soon, a revised version of the agreement was prepared. After a final careful review to ensure there were no outstanding issues, two identical copies were printed, ready for signing.
"Taipan, the invited media reporters have arrived. They are waiting outside," an assistant quietly reported to Percy Niblett.
"Invite them in. Let's begin the signing ceremony," Percy Niblett ordered.
Shortly after, several reporters carrying cameras entered. Judging by their uniforms and badges, they were from the Hongkong Commercial Daily, the South China Morning Post, and the Asian Wall Street Journal. There weren't many reporters present. Notably, the Oriental Daily, Hong Kong's top-selling newspaper, wasn't among them — not surprising, given that the British financial groups didn't hold Oriental Daily in high regard due to its reputation.
The British conglomerates preferred to invite journalists from outlets they had long cooperated with to report such news. Both sides took a copy of the agreement, and in front of the reporters, Lin Haoran, Chen Shoulin, Percy Niblett, and Bowers formally signed on behalf of their respective parties.
Afterward, Lin Haoran and Percy Niblett shook hands, as did Chen Shoulin and Bowers, while the photographers captured the moment. The deal was officially concluded.
At this stage, the reporters still didn't know the full details of the agreement. It wasn't until reporters began asking questions that Bowers, as the host, explained the specifics of the cooperation.
Immediately, the reporters realized they had stumbled upon major news.
They hadn't expected that after a young Chinese entrepreneur had taken over Hongkong Electric, the company would become a major shareholder of Land Holdings.
Owning over 6% of Land Holdings was no small feat. Among the known shareholders, it would rank within the top five.
Jardine Matheson remained the largest shareholder, originally holding about 20% of Land Holdings through itself and Jardine Securities. However, after this financing arrangement, their stake was diluted to about 18.72%.
Of course, given Jardine's cautious approach, they would undoubtedly move to repurchase more shares to restore their holdings.
The reporters eagerly took notes, knowing this story would create a sensation among Hong Kong's citizens.
Especially since the central figure was Lin Haoran — this young Hong Kong entrepreneur who had made wave after wave of impressive moves.
"Mr. Lin, on behalf of Land Holdings, I formally invite you to join the board of directors," Percy Niblett announced in front of the gathered media.
Given that Hongkong Electric now held 6.4% of Land Holdings' shares, it was only natural that Lin Haoran should be appointed to the board.
After all, anyone holding that significant a stake deserved a seat.
"I am deeply honored to become a board member of Land Holdings," Lin Haoran said solemnly.
As soon as he finished speaking, warm applause filled the room. Everyone welcomed Lin Haoran's arrival as a new director.
All of Land Holdings' board members were present. Of course, they had already approved this arrangement during the prior internal board meeting. Now they were simply announcing it to the public.
Lin Haoran understood that Land Holdings and Jardine Matheson would likely implement a cross-shareholding strategy within the year. This was a defensive move, driven by rumors of Chinese entrepreneurs plotting to acquire Land Holdings or even Jardine itself.
Since the rumors hadn't spread publicly yet, Percy Niblett had not yet begun the strategy.
Now, as a member of the Land Holdings board, Lin Haoran would be privy to any such plans as soon as they arose. Percy Niblett could no longer hide these things from him.
Thus, joining the Land Holdings board was highly advantageous.
It was equivalent to Lin Haoran inserting a spy into Land Holdings — and that spy was himself!
Any major decision at Land Holdings would now require his participation and input.
This would give him critical time and information to prepare for moves against the company.
Now, the path to eventually acquiring Land Holdings seemed even more promising.
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