Chapter 395 Target: Bank of East Asia!
Not long after receiving Ma Shiming's report call, there was finally news regarding the bank information that same day. On the morning of December 8th, Lin Haoran finally received a call from Cui Zilong.
"Boss, the bank information has been fully collected. Since most of the banks involved this time are private rather than listed companies, gathering intelligence was quite challenging. However, our efforts have paid off — the information collected is very comprehensive and should meet your requirements!" Cui Zilong reported over the phone.
"Bring the materials to the villa at Stubbs Road. I'll be waiting for you at home," Lin Haoran instructed directly.
"Understood, boss. I'll bring them right away!" Cui Zilong said hurriedly before hanging up.
Twenty minutes later, Lin Haoran met with Cui Zilong, who had rushed over, carrying a briefcase, presumably filled with the information Lin Haoran needed.
Leading him into the study on the first floor, Lin Haoran poured him a cup of hot tea.
"Boss, these are the materials we collected this time. They are very detailed. I estimate it won't be easy for you to finish reading them in a short time, so I had people compile summaries of each bank's strengths and weaknesses. You can first look at these summaries to decide which banks you're interested in, then dive into the detailed reports," Cui Zilong said as he placed a thick stack of documents beside Lin Haoran.
Although Cui Zilong didn't know exactly why the boss wanted all this bank information, he understood well enough not to ask unnecessary questions.
The materials were indeed voluminous, easily several hundred pages thick! It was no wonder that gathering all this had taken four days.
Glancing through, Lin Haoran saw that the banks included, besides those Ma Shiming had previously mentioned like Dah Sing Bank, Wing Lung Bank, Chiyu Bank, Nanyang Commercial Bank, and Bank of East Asia, also Guangdong Bank, Jinghua Bank, Zhejiang First Bank, Hong Kong Commercial Bank, Dao Heng Bank, Far East Bank, Hang Lung Bank, Chinese Bank (Hong Kong), Ka Wah Bank, Wing On Bank, and many more.
The collection was indeed very thorough, covering 25 banks in total, excluding only HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.
However, Lin Haoran quickly noticed an important fact.
Even among these supposedly local Hong Kong banks, many had already been acquired by foreign capital.
For instance, Guangdong Bank was 100% acquired by Pacific Bank of the United States.
Jinghua Bank was 92% acquired by International Commercial Trust Bank Group.
Zhejiang First Bank was 95% acquired by Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of Japan.
Dao Heng Bank was 100% acquired by Hong Leong Group of Malaysia.
Guangan Bank was 100% acquired by Fuji Bank of Japan.
Wing Hang Bank had 51% of its shares acquired by Irving Trust Company of the United States.
Reading further, Lin Haoran was shocked to realize that excluding these foreign-controlled banks, there weren't many viable options left at all.
"Boss, although it's easier to obtain a banking license in Hong Kong now, a few years ago the government restricted the issuance of new licenses. This led many foreign banks wanting to enter Hong Kong to either set up finance companies or acquire existing licensed local banks. That's why most of Hong Kong's local banks are now controlled by foreign capital," Cui Zilong explained, sensing Lin Haoran's puzzlement.
Lin Haoran sighed. He hadn't expected Hong Kong's banking sector to be so heavily infiltrated by foreign capital. Acquiring a foreign-controlled bank would undoubtedly be much more difficult, with the sellers being powerful and acquisition costs high.
Thus, for now, he decided not to consider banks under foreign control.
"Mr. Cui, if I wanted to acquire a local bank, which one would you recommend?" Lin Haoran suddenly asked.
The information was overwhelming, and he was a bit too lazy to sift through it all. Since Cui Zilong had spent the last few days collecting the data, he likely had useful insights.
Realizing Lin Haoran's intention, Cui Zilong nodded, finally understanding why he had been tasked with gathering the information.
After thinking carefully, Cui Zilong analyzed: "Boss, after thorough consideration, I think you should choose between Hong Kong Commercial Bank, Dah Sing Bank, and Bank of East Asia. Although all three have some foreign shareholders, the foreign ownership percentages are not high.
Specifically, Hong Kong Commercial Bank's foreign shareholders include Tokai Bank of Japan and Bangkok Bank of Thailand, each holding 10%, with total foreign ownership at only 20%. Dah Sing Bank has a single foreign shareholder, Standard Chartered Bank, holding 7.5%.
As for Bank of East Asia, its foreign shareholders include Société Générale and Huaxia Construction Investment (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Among the three, Bank of East Asia is undoubtedly the largest and most powerful local bank, ranking among the top five local banks, only behind HSBC and Hang Seng Bank. However, this also means that acquiring it would be the hardest, as it's controlled by the famous Lee family, one of the Four Great Families of Hong Kong.
By comparison, Hong Kong Commercial Bank and Dah Sing Bank would be easier to acquire, with lower foreign involvement and no strong local family backing."
Lin Haoran nodded, his eyes scanning the information provided while weighing his options internally.
Choosing which bank to acquire wasn't just about foreign ownership ratios and size. He also had to consider acquisition feasibility, cost, and future development strategy.
Among the banks, Bank of East Asia was the most renowned. Even in his previous life, it remained a famous institution with total assets approaching one trillion Hong Kong dollars decades later.
Moreover, he himself had once opened an account at Bank of East Asia, making him very familiar with it.
As for Hong Kong Commercial Bank, he honestly hadn't heard much about it — likely it had either been merged or gone bankrupt later.
Dah Sing Bank, on the other hand, he had heard a little about, but its reputation was nowhere near that of HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, or Bank of East Asia.
Lin Haoran picked up Bank of East Asia's dossier and began reading.
"Huh, Bank of East Asia is already a listed company?" Lin Haoran asked, surprised.
He hadn't paid much attention to this detail before.
"Boss, Bank of East Asia went public quite early. It's one of the few long-established listed banks in Hong Kong. Two years ago, it was among the top thirty listed companies by market cap. Although its ranking slipped recently due to the surge in real estate stocks, it still firmly ranks among Hong Kong's top fifty, with a current market value of around 2.5 billion Hong Kong dollars," Cui Zilong explained with a smile.
As a listed company, Bank of East Asia piqued Lin Haoran's interest.
Had it been possible to acquire Hang Seng Bank, he would have preferred it. Since that wasn't an option, choosing the next best — Bank of East Asia — wasn't bad.
The key was whether it was possible to acquire.
Lin Haoran turned to the shareholder distribution of Bank of East Asia.
The Lee family owned 32.3%, making them the controlling shareholder.
Société Générale held 5.99%, and Huaxia Construction Investment (Hong Kong) Ltd held 4%.
The remaining shareholders each held less than 2%, not worth mentioning.
Thus, no shareholder had more than 50% ownership!
Meaning that public shareholders controlled over 50% of Bank of East Asia?
In that case, there was indeed a real possibility of an acquisition!
The only trouble would likely come from the Lee family.
Bank of East Asia was founded by the Lee family and had been in their hands for over sixty years. The family was considered one of the Four Great Families of Hong Kong, on par with the Li family Lin Haoran knew.
Acquiring Bank of East Asia would mean offending the Lee family.
However, after thinking for a while, Lin Haoran let go of his concerns.
Given his current wealth, he was likely many times richer than the Lee family. Why should he be afraid of offending them?
Although the Lee family was still a prestigious name, Lin Haoran's status was now even higher. Even the Li family was trying to befriend him now.
Moreover, most importantly, acquiring Bank of East Asia was a legitimate business move.
With that in mind, Lin Haoran made an initial decision.
Still, he didn't rush to act. Instead, he spent some time chatting with Cui Zilong, hosting him properly after delivering the materials.
After chatting for over half an hour, Cui Zilong finally bid farewell.
Once he left, Lin Haoran picked up the materials again and carefully studied the information about Bank of East Asia.
Looking back, he thought if he had known so many banks were already foreign-controlled, he wouldn't have asked Cui Zilong to investigate so many. He could have gotten the right materials much sooner.
But now that it was done, there was no point complaining.
After several hours of reading, Lin Haoran finally finished reviewing Bank of East Asia's dossier. He then skimmed briefly through the information on Dah Sing Bank and Hong Kong Commercial Bank again.
Ultimately, Lin Haoran made his decision.
His acquisition target would be Bank of East Asia!
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