Chapter 396 Large-Scale Sale of Properties to Recycle Funds
With a target in mind, Lin Haoran naturally needed to make arrangements before heading to the United States. That afternoon, after having lunch at home, he went to Wanching Building.
The 31st floor of Wanching Building housed the Hong Kong office of Universal Investment Company. The entire floor was very quiet, no longer as bustling as it had been. Employees greeted Lin Haoran politely when they saw him, but after turning around, whispers and private discussions quickly resumed. This was understandable, as rumors of Lin Haoran facing a financial crisis had been spreading wildly across Hong Kong.
As employees of Lin Haoran, they couldn't help feeling uneasy, privately speculating whether the boss would cut costs by dismantling the Hong Kong team of Universal Investment Company. Just a few days ago, Su Zhixue had led a team to New York, and some employees had been reassigned to securities or financial departments of companies like Land Holdings Group and Wanching Group.
As a result, the number of employees in the Hong Kong office had sharply decreased from over three hundred to fewer than seventy. The office was now gradually shifting toward a model similar to Jardines Securities Company, focusing on providing stock trading services to major investors and fund managers with stock absorption needs.
Thanks to its outstanding performance over the past two years, Universal Investment Company had indeed managed to attract a certain number of clients. However, its foundations remained relatively shallow. In Hong Kong's competitive market, facing historic and powerful financial securities firms like Jardines Securities Company and HSBC Watertory Company, Universal Investment Company, despite its recent brilliance, was still at a competitive disadvantage — hungry, but not starving.
Thus, the current sixty-plus employees were more than enough to handle the existing business volume.
Lin Haoran wasn't particularly concerned. With his increasing strength in Hong Kong, he no longer set his sights on most of the local listed companies. Consequently, his demand for stock acquisitions in Hong Kong had greatly diminished.
Now, as long as the company could maintain self-sufficiency by bringing in external business, it was already doing very well without needing him to subsidize it. Lin Haoran had no plans to completely dismantle or move Universal Investment Company's Hong Kong office to the U.S., because Hong Kong remained his main base.
Even if his future acquisitions of Hong Kong enterprises would greatly decrease, they would not cease entirely. For example, his current plan to acquire the listed East Asia Bank required the operations of Universal Investment Company. He could not trust such sensitive operations to external securities firms.
Thus, maintaining a team in Hong Kong was still necessary.
In the future, as business improved, expanding the team would not be difficult. Hong Kong had plenty of financial talent, and if needed, poaching professionals from competitors like Jardines Securities would be a simple and effective strategy.
"Boss, have you had lunch? If you need, I can arrange for the canteen to prepare some special dishes for you," said Dai Shi, the current head of Universal Investment Company's Hong Kong office and deputy general manager, trying to appear calm and attentive, despite feeling a bit nervous at Lin Haoran's sudden visit.
Dai Shi was one of the original employees of Universal Investment Company. When Lin Haoran had first organized his trading team, he had first recruited Su Zhixue from Wan'an Company, who then introduced Dai Shi as the second member.
Today, Dai Shi, a loyal employee with a loyalty rating of 92, had been promoted by Lin Haoran last year to deputy general manager.
A few days ago, veteran employees like Han Zixing, Shi Zhisheng, Qi Fen, and Zhao Lin had all left with Su Zhixue for the United States. Because Dai Shi had to manage the Hong Kong team and his family preferred staying in Hong Kong, he remained behind as the person in charge locally.
Although Su Zhixue had moved to America, he still nominally held the title of general manager in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong office continued to appear as the company's headquarters, but since the main business had shifted to the U.S., Su Zhixue needed to personally lead the expansion there.
"No need, I've already eaten. What about you?" Lin Haoran smiled.
Dai Shi, still a bit tense in front of Lin Haoran, replied, "Boss, I just returned from the canteen."
Lin Haoran nodded. "Come with me to the office. I have something to assign to you."
The two entered Lin Haoran's private office. This had once been the place he frequented most before acquiring Land Holdings Group. Now that he had taken control of Connaught Centre — once Hong Kong's tallest and now its second-tallest building — he preferred working from there. Wanching Building had lost its appeal.
Lin Haoran had even considered moving Universal Investment Company's office to Connaught Centre but was holding off until Land Holdings Group's privatization was complete.
"Just sit wherever you like. No need to be stiff. You're now the leader of Universal Investment Company's Hong Kong team. A senior executive must carry himself with dignity!" Lin Haoran said with a relaxed smile, noticing Dai Shi's slight nervousness.
Although Universal Investment Company dealt with massive sums behind the scenes, its small employee count meant that even its senior executives lacked the natural authority of those managing thousands or tens of thousands of people, like top Hong Kong executives such as Ma Shiming and Chen Shoulin.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Dai Shi composed himself before speaking again.
"Boss, what are your instructions?" Dai Shi asked seriously.
"You know I'm heading to the U.S. soon. Before that, I need you to form a small team — I'll screen the members myself — just enough to form an acquisition group. The task is to quietly acquire East Asia Bank shares from the secondary market, like we've done before with other companies. It's critical that we operate covertly to avoid pushing up East Asia Bank's stock price.
There's no strict quota for how much to acquire; just absorb as much as possible. My mid-term goal is to surpass the Lee family's 32% holding and gain significant control over East Asia Bank. The long-term goal is full control — becoming the absolute majority shareholder.
With Zhixue away, you'll need to handle the situation carefully. Do well, and your rewards will naturally follow," Lin Haoran instructed carefully.
At the moment, because the privatization of Land Holdings Group had not yet been officially completed, Lin Haoran couldn't tap into its funds. Thus, his available capital was tight.
Although Universal Investment Company's accounts still showed about 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, ongoing expenses for privatizing Land Holdings Group and daily buybacks drained tens of millions to hundreds of millions daily, depleting funds rapidly.
Moreover, Su Zhixue was establishing the U.S. branch and planning investments in promising American companies, which also required huge sums.
Thus, the 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars would soon be exhausted.
Nevertheless, Lin Haoran was not panicking. He had no intention of seeking new loans.
Amidst the swirling rumors about his financial troubles, Lin Haoran had already secretly instructed Burton to begin selling off properties and assets held under Wanching Group's Wan'an Real Estate Company and Qingzhou Cement Company.
Doing so during the financial crisis rumors made it look even more plausible that he was short on cash, further reinforcing public belief without hurting market sentiment.
In any case, property prices in Hong Kong had almost peaked. Even if they rose another 10% early next year, it would already be quite impressive.
Over the past year or two, Lin Haoran had methodically directed his companies to invest any surplus funds into land and property. Wan'an Real Estate Company and Qingzhou Cement Company alone had invested over one billion Hong Kong dollars.
With the assets of Wan'an Building and the completed tower project in North Point, selling these now would yield substantial funds.
Over the past year, Hong Kong property prices had doubled, with prime land prices tripling or more!
Now, it was harvest time.
By selling off large quantities of land, residential buildings, and office towers, Lin Haoran would easily secure ample funds.
Originally, he had planned to wait until early 1981 — the forecasted property market peak — to sell. But given the success of the rumor campaign, and Hong Kong's widespread belief that he faced a financial crisis, he now believed that selling immediately was the perfect move.
The properties sold by Land Holdings Group had gone directly to real estate companies, without impacting the overall housing prices.
Transaction volumes remained high, so selling these properties wouldn't be difficult, and prices would still be very attractive.
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