In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 198 Citizens’ Reactions
After reaching a deal with Lin Haoran, Li Mingze realized that the young man in front of him had secretly taken advantage of the opportunity to control 19.9% ​​of the shares.

In other words, Lin Haoran actually held more shares than him at this time.

Adding on the shares they had just transferred to Lin Haoran, the shares they controlled exceeded 50%.

At this moment, even Li Mingze had to admire Lin Haoran's courage.

"Mr. Lin, do you remember the last time I mentioned inviting you to join the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce?" After the equity transfer was settled, Li Mingze did not rush back, but started chatting with Lin Haoran.

"Of course I remember, I've been looking forward to it!" Lin Haoran said with a smile.

"I submitted your information before the New Year, and it happened to be the Spring Festival. These days, because it is the New Year period, you know that everyone has their own things to do, and a lot of work in the Chamber of Commerce has been suspended. So in a few days, you should receive a formal invitation from the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and then you will be able to become a formal member." Li Ming continued.

"Well, I can understand that." Lin Haoran nodded in response.

He was not in a hurry to join the Chamber of Commerce, nor did he have too many expectations.

Because with his current situation, he is considered one of the top people in Hong Kong's business world. In this situation, many people are doing things according to his mood, instead of him doing things according to other people's moods.

The biggest benefit of joining is just getting to know more people, which makes it easier to work together in the future.

With his current status in the business world, he would actually meet anyone he approached, and many people were willing to establish good relations with him.

"Also, regarding the China Gas Company, I will go over there tomorrow to complete the handover with you. Mr. Lin, you can rest assured. This matter also needs to be announced to the public. Given the current complicated situation, it would be best if it was done in the presence of the media.

I will go back tonight and make arrangements. Mr. Lin can go to the headquarters of China Gas Company in Crucian Bay before 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. At that time, the change of position will be completed in the presence of reporters and media. Since Jardine Matheson announced tonight that they will go there tomorrow, they will definitely go there tomorrow. These things also need to be dealt with, such as solving them all at once. "Li Ming returned the topic to the company.

Jardine Matheson's action had failed, but they were completely unaware of it at the moment and must have been dreaming of taking over the China Gas Company.

Now, Li Mingze, who was forced to give up the controlling stake in China Gas Company, was naturally happy about the failure of Jardine Matheson's takeover!
Although he has now signed a share transfer agreement with Lin Haoran, he is still the chairman of China Gas Company until the position of chairman is officially replaced.

"Okay, I'll trouble you Mr. Li with this matter. Also, I'll trouble you to invite the media." Lin Haoran said with a smile.

He continued chatting with Li Mingze and others for more than half an hour before sending them out.

At this moment, looking at the time, it was already past six in the evening.

Back in the general manager's office, Lin Haoran said to Chen Shoulin, "Mr. Chen, I will still serve as the chairman of the board of directors of China Gas Company, and you will serve as the vice chairman of the board of directors. From now on, the management rights of China Gas Company will be handed over to you. Is that okay?"

China Gas Company also has a general manager, who is also a professional manager. After all, Li Mingze cannot be in the company often. He has other companies to manage, and his role is more to preside over the overall situation. Therefore, China Gas Company naturally needs a professional manager who can focus on the company.

"Boss, of course there is no problem, don't worry!" Chen Shoulin said with a smile.

Chen Shoulin was naturally very clear that his boss's position as chairman was purely a nominal position, and the daily management was basically left to him, a professional manager.

Except for some major events, such as the acquisition of China Gas Company, the boss Lin Haoran will attach great importance to it and get involved.

The China Gas Company was merged into the Hong Kong Electric Group and became a listed subsidiary of the Hong Kong Electric Group. For Chen Shoulin, apart from greater power, there are other benefits. At least he can receive the salary from China Gas Company in the future, and the performance commission from the Hong Kong Electric Group will be higher.

To put it simply, after the China Gas Company is merged into the Hong Kong Electric Group, Chen Shoulin's income will increase accordingly. This is naturally a good thing for him. Although his work will become busier, it is all worth it.

After saying goodbye to Chen Shoulin, Lin Haoran did not return to the Deep Water Bay villa, but went directly back to the Shi Xun Road villa where he had not been for a few days.

In the villa, there were two people whom Lin Haoran had already given holiday to go back and celebrate the New Year. They would not be back until the fifth day of the New Year.

In addition, two servants also volunteered to stay and celebrate the New Year.

Although the servants hired by Lin Haoran are all Filipinos, they are actually Chinese from there.

In Hong Kong, Filipino Chinese maids are the most popular because not only are they inexpensive, they also provide high-quality services, are obedient, and can speak Chinese.

In a blink of an eye, the night passed and it was the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, February 2th.

The weather today is not very good. It is raining and the worst thing is the cold rain.

The temperature in Hong Kong has dropped to around ten degrees Celsius, and the actual perceived temperature is even lower.

When Lin Haoran went out, he deliberately wore a warmer suit.

When he arrived at the China Gas Company headquarters in Crusoe Bay, Chen Shoulin was already waiting for him in the parking lot.

He looked at the time. It was around 8:40 in the morning, which left some time before the 9 o'clock that Li Mingze had told him.

"Mr. Chen, how long have you been here?" Lin Haoran greeted Chen Shoulin with a smile.

"Boss, I just arrived a few minutes ago. When I saw that your car was not in the parking lot, I guessed that you hadn't come yet, so I waited for you here." Chen Shoulin replied.

"Well, let's go upstairs together."

The two walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

The headquarters building of China Gas Company is not tall, with only eight floors, and Li Mingze’s chairman’s office is on the fifth floor.

Walking into Li Mingze's office, it seemed that he had been waiting here for a long time. The other three shareholders were also in the office.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Chen, good morning!" Seeing Lin Haoran and Chen Shoulin, Li Mingze and the other four greeted them one after another.

"good morning!"

"We have already invited the media last night, and they are all here now. We didn't invite too many, just Oriental Daily, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Hong Kong Economic Journal, and South China Morning Post," Li Ming continued.

"These few media are enough. By the way, have the people from Jardine Matheson come?" Lin Haoran asked with a smile.

"Not yet. I guess he thinks the acquisition of China Gas Company has been 100% successful, so he's not in a hurry to come over." Li Mingze also laughed.

He couldn't wait to know what the reaction would be when Niu Bijian and other senior managers of Jardine Matheson knew that they had put in so much effort but ultimately failed to obtain the controlling stake in China Gas Company. Just thinking about it made him look forward to it!
For Li Mingze, his Li family has many businesses, and although losing the China Gas Company is a pity, it is not a big deal.

At least, before he left, he did not turn China Gas Company into a British-owned enterprise, and he successfully sold his shares at a not low price.

Therefore, he can accept the current situation.

The Li family can accept the current result, and everyone is happy.

Last night, after he returned, he immediately convened a meeting of the main members of the Li family.

Although the media had not had time to report on the announcement made by Jardine Matheson, the top management of the Li family naturally already knew about it.

Therefore, they were all very worried about how to deal with the shares of China Gas Company held by the Li family.

After all, once control is lost, the profits that can be made are greatly reduced. Everyone knows what will happen to China Gas Company after Jardine Matheson takes control, so there is not much point in continuing to hold shares.

As a result, unexpectedly, Li Mingze actually brought back such good news.

You know, if sold at this price, the value of the stocks in the hands of the Li family is nearly 1 million Hong Kong dollars. Now, under the attack of Jardine Matheson, the Li family was able to escape unscathed and obtained huge funds. This is naturally a good thing for the Li family!
As the head of the Li family, he was even more respected by the Li family members.

So, under this circumstance, Li Mingze naturally came with a happy mood to deal with the aftermath of China Gas Company.

"Mr. Li, is that the Oriental Daily in your hand?" Lin Haoran looked at Li Mingze and asked when he saw the newspaper in his hand.

"Yes, it's the Oriental Daily. It has reported the news announced by Jardine Matheson last night. Mr. Lin, you haven't read it yet? Let me show you." Li Mingze smiled and handed the newspaper to Lin Haoran.

It has been some time since Lin Haoran acquired Oriental Press, but few people know that the ownership of this Hong Kong's leading newspaper company has quietly changed hands.

He had no intention of making the news public.

For Lin Haoran, there is no substantial benefit to him whether he makes the matter public or not.

In addition, as a non-listed company, Oriental Press is privately owned and naturally does not need to proactively disclose such information.

Lin Haoran was holding the latest edition of Oriental Daily. The headline on the front page read: "Breaking news, Jardine Matheson announced that it has successfully acquired China Gas Company!"

The article describes in detail the news announced by Jardine Matheson last night.

"Holds 40.7% of the shares of China Gas Company!"

Seeing this extremely high shareholding ratio, everyone would think that Jardine Matheson had truly succeeded in the acquisition.

"Let's go. It's nine o'clock in the morning. I have already told the media reporters to hold a press conference at nine o'clock in the morning to announce some things." Li Mingze looked at the time on his watch and said.

For him, things need to be done from beginning to end. It doesn't mean that he will just ignore China Gas Company after selling the stocks. At least he needs to deal with these matters well and then hand over the matter to the new boss Lin Haoran before he can officially sever ties with China Gas Company.

So, the group left the office, took the elevator, and went down to the third floor of the building.

There is a relatively large training room here. At this time, the tables and chairs in the training room have been moved to the back, so it looks very spacious and can easily accommodate more than a hundred people.

At this moment, in addition to some of the China Gas Company staff, there were also reporters and photographers from four media outlets in the training room.

Seeing Li Mingze and others come in, everyone's eyes turned to them.

No one was surprised that Lin Haoran appeared here, because many people knew that the Hong Kong Electric Group held shares in China Gas Company. What's more, these people were media people, so it was natural that they couldn't be unaware of it.

Therefore, when these people saw Lin Haoran, they just thought that he came here on behalf of the Hong Kong Electric Group and did not think of anything else.

When these media reporters received the invitation from China Gas Company last night, their first reaction was that Li Mingze should announce his resignation.

Apart from this incident, they couldn't think of anything else that was worthy of China Gas Company holding a press conference.

Because everyone also believed that when Jardine Matheson announced that it already held 40.7% of the shares, the matter was basically settled.

That is, Jardine Matheson has completely taken over the China Gas Company, and the company is about to become a British-owned enterprise.

Therefore, many citizens actually felt uncomfortable with the news this morning.

"It's really unexpected that Jardine Matheson has acquired China Gas Company!"

"Who says it's not true? But there's nothing we can do. Jardine Matheson is too powerful. It's normal that Mr. Li Mingze can't resist their forced acquisition."

"Hey, I have to save some gas in the future. I hate being made money by these foreigners!"

"Me too. I always give priority to Chinese brands when it comes to things that Chinese companies have. These foreigners just like to look down on us!"

"Ah, the most annoying thing is that the China Gas Company still has our "China" name, but is about to be controlled by foreigners. It's really hard to accept."

We are all Chinese, so naturally we support the growing strength of Chinese capital.

Moreover, the older generation of Hong Kong people basically immigrated to Hong Kong because of the war, and many of them have a patriotic sentiment.

Therefore, events like Lin Haoran's acquisition of Hong Kong Electric Group, Bao Yugang's acquisition of Wharf Holdings, and Li Ka Shing's acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa, all shocked the citizens, but also made them proud of them.

However, today, ordinary citizens have to face a piece of unpleasant news: the China Gas Company is about to be transformed into a British-owned enterprise.

Such news is indeed depressing.

But even though they have many dissatisfactions in their hearts, they are powerless to change this fact.

Jardine Matheson was already a powerful force in Hong Kong, and its acquisition of China Gas Company was, to some extent, a normal occurrence in business competition.

(End of this chapter)