Chapter 14: Lin Haoran’s Acquisition Target
Companionship is always brief.
The next morning, after having breakfast with his parents, Lin Haoran left the Lin family villa and drove alone toward Causeway Bay.
In Causeway Bay, he picked up the two brothers, Li Weiguo and Li Weidong, before heading to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Central.
It was worth noting that in the 1970s, Hong Kong’s securities market structure was quite complex and somewhat chaotic. The Far East Stock Exchange, the Kam Ngan Stock Exchange, the Kowloon Stock Exchange, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange formed a four-way competition, each occupying its own share of the market.
Among these four exchanges, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange—one of the oldest in Hong Kong and also the strongest at the time—became the preferred listing venue for many British-funded companies, providing them with an important financing platform and market opportunities.
The companies Lin Haoran targeted were all listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
At 8:30 a.m., Lin Haoran had already arrived outside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where he also met Su Zhixue, who had been waiting.
In fact, Su Zhixue had arrived as early as 8:00 a.m. The night before, as soon as he returned home, he could not contain his excitement and immediately told his wife that the medical expenses had been secured.
His wife was overjoyed upon hearing this and even shed tears of excitement, repeatedly urging him to work diligently for Lin Haoran.
To their family, the money Lin Haoran had lent for the medical treatment made him their savior.
“Chairman Lin, you’re here,” Su Zhixue greeted him nervously upon seeing Lin Haoran.
“Mm. From now on, just call me Mr. Lin.”
“Mr. Lin, what should I do?”
“Come with me first. I’ll arrange the money you urgently need this afternoon after work.”
“Alright, Mr. Lin. Thank you very much.”
Lin Haoran did not rush into the exchange.
Instead, he went to a nearby commercial building beside it.
The building rented out small offices, dividing each floor into many compact units.
“How much for renting an office?” Lin Haoran asked the staff in charge.
“We have offices ranging from 100 square feet to 2,000 square feet. The price is per square foot…”
In the end, Lin Haoran rented a 200-square-foot office—less than 20 square meters.
He did not need a large space; this small office was enough.
The office already had a telephone line installed, though it was disconnected. As long as the service was reactivated, it could be used again.
It also came with basic furniture like desks and chairs, so there was no need for additional setup.
“Zhixue, from now on you will work here. Your duties are very clear—as my private stock trading operator, your daily work will involve collecting market information, analyzing data, and executing trades. Simply put, you buy and sell whatever I tell you, and you execute my instructions precisely.”
“Alright, Mr. Lin.”
Su Zhixue felt a weight lift from his chest.
These tasks were familiar to him, and he was confident he could handle them.
“Another important point: everything you do here must be strictly confidential. You must not tell anyone—not even your wife, and not my father.”
This was the most important condition. Lin Haoran did not want his stock market operations to be exposed.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Lin. I won’t reveal anything. That’s an industry rule anyway; if we leak information, we won’t survive in this business,” Su Zhixue promised.
Lin Haoran naturally trusted him—after all, his loyalty level was already 100.
“Alright, the stock exchange should be open by now. Let’s go.”
He handed over the office key and stood up to leave.
It was now 9:30 a.m., the opening time of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Trading hours were 9:30–12:00 and 1:00–4:00 p.m.
After leaving the building, the group headed straight into the trading hall.
Since the five million Hong Kong dollar loan had not yet been approved, he was not in a hurry to trade heavily.
His priority now was to understand the market situation and identify targets.
Lin Haoran currently had nearly 2 million HKD in available funds, including 1.2 million transferred from Huafeng Cement Factory’s finance department and several hundred thousand of his personal savings.
That 2 million was already a significant amount. If good opportunities appeared, he could use it to make early moves before the loan arrived.
After walking around the trading hall, Lin Haoran quickly lost interest.
Large transactions did not need to be executed on-site.
He then quickly and carefully opened several stock trading accounts under his personal name.
With that done, he left the trading hall with Su Zhixue and returned to the rented office.
“Zhixue, start collecting detailed information on Kowloon Wharf and Qingzhou Yingni. I need especially detailed data on Qingzhou Yingni.”
Yes—besides Kowloon Wharf, his next target was Qingzhou Yingni.
In his memory, Li Ka-shing had abandoned his attempt to acquire Kowloon Wharf and then turned to Qingzhou Yingni, likely around 1978—this year. He was not yet sure whether Li had already begun his move.
If not, then this would be a rare opportunity.
Lin Haoran was fairly confident that Li Ka-shing had not yet made a move on Qingzhou Yingni, since Cheung Kong had only just abandoned the Kowloon Wharf acquisition and it had not been long.
For him at this stage, Qingzhou Yingni was an ideal target.
Buying Kowloon Wharf stocks was only to profit from price movements—he did not yet have the strength to acquire such a massive conglomerate.
But Qingzhou Yingni was different. He intended to acquire it.
This company, like Huafeng Cement Factory, was also engaged in cement production and sales.
The difference was that Qingzhou Yingni was the oldest cement company in Hong Kong and also the largest in scale.
Since he intended to compete for the inheritance of Wan’an Group, acquiring the largest cement company in Hong Kong and becoming its controlling shareholder would make a strong statement—his elder brother would have nothing to compare with.
More importantly, beyond competition, what Lin Haoran valued most were Qingzhou Yingni’s land holdings.
As far as he knew, the company not only had a strong business foundation but also owned significant coastal urban land. This was precisely why Li Ka-shing had later targeted it.
Wan’an Group’s main source of income was real estate. In other words, it was fundamentally a property development conglomerate.
If he could acquire control of Qingzhou Yingni, then once he became heir to Wan’an Group, the two companies could cooperate in real estate development.
(End of Chapter)
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