Chapter 340 Shock Across the Room
Niu Bijian's early defection had indeed greatly benefited Lin Haoran's takeover of Jardines Matheson.
The cooperation of the senior executives of Jardines Matheson made this obvious.
If Niu Bijian hadn't switched sides first, these people certainly wouldn't have surrendered so easily.
Facing the current situation, Henry Keswick knew that no matter how much he argued here, it would be useless.
He could only retreat for now and think of another way to see if there was any chance of reclaiming Jardines Matheson.
Thus, the board meeting ended quickly.
The moment it concluded, Henry Keswick hurriedly left the conference room.
Another key figure, Bofuda, also silently slipped away.
Since the meeting had already decided to dismiss him from Jardines Matheson, the former executive director's figure looked particularly desolate as he departed.
He never imagined that on an ordinary day like this, he would find himself unemployed.
Many senior executives came over to greet Lin Haoran.
From their expressions, it was clear that at least outwardly they had surrendered, meaning Jardines Matheson would not fall into chaos due to the management shakeup.
Outside the meeting room, the head of security at Connaught Centre had been waiting for a long time.
Seeing everyone coming out, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had intended to report to Bofuda but was only given a brief signal by him before Bofuda simply walked away.
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, the security chief sensibly turned to Niu Bijian.
"Is there something you need?" Niu Bijian asked, turning to him.
"Mr. Niu Bijian, nearly 200 reporters have gathered downstairs. If we don't respond soon, I'm afraid they'll cause a disturbance," the security chief said with a bitter smile.
These nearly 200 people were not from 200 different media outlets — each outlet had sent two or three reporters.
Even so, the scene was astonishing.
In Hong Kong, with its small size and rapid news spread, nearly all the relevant reporters had gathered in just a few hours.
Everyone knew that Lin Haoran had shown up at Jardines Matheson and was about to make an announcement.
The magnitude of the news was clear even without guessing — it would be huge.
Thus, more and more reporters had arrived.
"Perfect. Let's just hold a press conference then. Send someone to make preparations downstairs. We'll head down shortly to meet them," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
He would take this opportunity to publicly announce two major events:
that he had successfully acquired Jardines Matheson and, indirectly, gained control over Jardines Matheson.
The plot to acquire these two companies had been brewing since the beginning of the year.
Now, with results finally in hand, Lin Haoran couldn't wait to make it public.
This would mark a massive victory for the Chinese consortiums in Hong Kong.
Following Lin Haoran's official takeover of Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson, it would symbolize the complete surpassing of the British consortiums by Chinese ones.
Today, the Chinese consortiums already controlled Jardines Matheson, Jardines Matheson, Hongkong Electric, Wharf Holdings, and Hutchison Whampoa.
In contrast, the British consortiums now only had Huifeng Bank, Swire Group, and Wheelock.
Moreover, Jardines Matheson still held 33 million A shares of Wheelock, giving them about 11.8% ownership but only 7.4% voting rights due to Wheelock's A/B share structure.
Still, with 7.4% voting rights, Jardines Matheson was one of Wheelock's key shareholders.
If Lin Haoran wished to launch an acquisition bid against Wheelock in the future, he already had a solid foundation.
It was fortunate that neither Jardines Matheson nor Jardines Matheson had implemented an A/B share structure, allowing Lin Haoran to leverage his overwhelming voting power to seize control easily.
Otherwise, it would have been much more difficult.
Preparing for the press conference was not difficult.
After Niu Bijian gave the order, the first-floor lobby of Connaught Centre was quickly transformed into a temporary conference venue.
"Mr. Lin—or rather, Boss Lin—the downstairs preparations are complete. Let's head down together," Niu Bijian said respectfully, having clearly accepted his new role.
In front of Lin Haoran, he was no longer the once-glorious head of Jardines Matheson, but merely an employee, one who could be dismissed at any time.
If he didn't adjust his attitude now, he wouldn't be able to hold onto his position much longer.
"Good. Let's go meet the reporters," Lin Haoran responded with a smile, feeling quite satisfied with Niu Bijian's attitude adjustment.
Who would have thought that just a few months ago, this same Niu Bijian had looked down on Lin Haoran, thinking he could easily deal with a Chinese businessman?
Though he had later been forced to apologize publicly, the humiliation he felt must have been deep.
But now, there was no room left for resentment.
Lin Haoran, Niu Bijian, Su Zhixue, and Chen Shoulin took the elevator down to the first-floor lobby.
Meanwhile, Burton led the financial team straight to Jardines Matheson's finance department to audit the company's finances and ensure no manipulations had occurred.
Jardines Matheson handled billions in funds — a little accounting trick could easily make millions disappear.
As the absolute controlling shareholder now, Lin Haoran wasn't about to let that happen.
Even smaller companies, like Qingzhou Cement, could pull off tens of millions in shady moves.
For a giant like Jardines Matheson, the risk was even greater.
While the company's market value approached ten billion Hong Kong dollars, its real value was even higher.
Just Connaught Centre alone, once Hong Kong's tallest building and still its second tallest, was worth several billion Hong Kong dollars.
Beyond that, Jardines Matheson owned numerous high-rise commercial buildings in Central, Wan Chai, and Causeway Bay, each worth over a billion.
Its title as the "King of Central" was well-deserved.
Despite its debts totaling tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, the company's assets and profitability easily overshadowed those liabilities — for now.
In a few more years, debts could rise to over 100 billion, but for now, in late 1980, they were manageable.
Now that Lin Haoran had officially taken control, he would ensure Jardines Matheson wouldn't repeat the mistakes of reckless expansion like in another timeline.
With proper management, the company would avoid falling into massive debt.
Soon, Lin Haoran and his team arrived at the first-floor lobby.
Under tight security, the hundreds of gathered reporters were arranged in an orderly fashion in a designated area.
A proper stage had even been set up, making the press conference look quite formal and professional.
Seeing Lin Haoran and Niu Bijian approach the stage, the crowd stirred.
But with security maintaining order, silence soon returned.
At the stage, Lin Haoran was handed a microphone.
He passed it briefly to Niu Bijian, who then respectfully handed it back to Lin Haoran.
Facing the sea of eager reporters, Lin Haoran smiled and said:
"I'm sure you're all curious about why I'm here at Jardines Matheson today, and why Mr. Niu Bijian is standing beside me."
Many reporters nodded enthusiastically.
Some had been waiting for three hours.
They had even witnessed Henry Keswick leaving the building with a dark face, further stoking curiosity.
Finally, the long-awaited announcement was coming.
Everyone watched Lin Haoran intently, their excitement palpable.
"I, Lin Haoran, officially announce the following:
Starting today, I am the controlling shareholder and Chairman of Jardines Matheson.
Furthermore, from now on, Jardines Matheson will become a subsidiary of Jardines Matheson.
Mr. Niu Bijian will continue to serve as head of Jardines Matheson, reporting directly to me.
That's all I have to announce for now," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
Each sentence he spoke struck the room like a thunderclap.
Was this real?
Had Lin Haoran truly taken control of both Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson?
Historically, Jardines Matheson had been Jardines Matheson's parent company.
How could it now be the other way around?
Everyone was in shock, disbelief written across their faces.
The news had come too suddenly, too overwhelmingly.
Jardines Matheson and Jardines Matheson—
Were they now Chinese enterprises?
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