The news of Nie Bijian's sad resignation quickly swept across Hong Kong like a storm, arousing widespread concern from all walks of life.
No one expected that this Taipan of Jardine, who used to be on par with Taipan Shen Bi of Huifeng Bank, would end his glorious career in such a hasty and low-key manner.
Suzhou City remained silent on this matter and did not disclose the reasons behind it to the public. Niubijian himself also remained silent under questioning by the media and did not reveal any inside information.
Therefore, the real reason for Nie Bijian's resignation seems to be shrouded in fog and has become a major unsolved case over Hong Kong.
However, in the top circles of this prosperous city, some powerful men with strong insights into world affairs have their own speculations in their hearts, and more or less have their own conjectures and interpretations, which makes this The incident added a bit of mystery and complexity.
After being deprived of his position, Nie Bijian did not choose to return to the UK sadly, but chose to stay in Xiangjiang and wait for the opportunity.
He placed all his hopes on those British shareholders and firmly believed that his experience was closely related to them.
Before the final conclusion of the incident settled, he vowed not to give up and was determined to continue to seek a turning point in Xiangjiang.
Every possibility of returning to Yihe is precious to him.
Years of leadership have allowed him to establish an unshakable position in Jardine Matheson and the Hong Kong business community, and he is accustomed to standing at the pinnacle of power and glory.
Therefore, he will never give up easily, but will seize every opportunity and try to make a comeback.
At the same time, Su Cheng decisively seized the opportunity and pushed Ma Shiming to quickly take over the helmsmanship of Jardine Matheson Group.
Ma Shiming, an experienced business leader who is over 40 years old, has already accumulated profound management wisdom and practical experience during his years of hard work in Hong Kong Electric Group.
Therefore, when he officially became the executive director of Jardine Matheson, he was able to quickly integrate into and take control of the overall situation. He was familiar with the daily operations and management of Jardine Matheson, showing extraordinary leadership and decision-making ability.
In a luxurious villa located on Plantation Road in Xiangjiang, Nie Bijian has rarely stepped out of the mansion since he was deposed.
He stayed behind closed doors, but he did not withdraw passively from the world. Instead, he actively played the role of a middleman, frequently contacting shareholders of all parties in an attempt to reverse the situation.
During many years of glorious career at Jardine Matheson, Nie Bijian not only accumulated rich management experience, but also gained a lot financially.
Although he is a professional manager, he has already become a billionaire due to his profound influence on companies such as Jardine Matheson and Land.
However, things are unpredictable, and Gui Bijian never expected that from the moment he stepped down early, his position in the hearts of the Keswick family and even the British shareholders had quietly slipped.
Even if British forces once again control Jardine Matheson, it will be difficult for him to regain his former position as the top leader.
For British shareholders, the value of a strong man who is still at the helm of Jardine Matheson is naturally different from that of a man who has lost power now.
Therefore, all of Nui Bijian's current efforts seem to be just meaningless struggles, and it is difficult to rewrite the established destiny.
Despite major setbacks in their careers, with the tacit cooperation of the Keswick family and Tuibijian, they miraculously succeeded in uniting all British shareholders and formed a force that cannot be ignored.
For a long time, Jardine Matheson has had relatively few Chinese shareholders. Except for the important Chinese shareholder in Suzhou, almost all of the other influential shareholders are British.
After some careful statistics, they were pleasantly surprised to find that with the collective efforts of everyone, the total number of shares they held was as high as 30.2%.
This number is not only eye-catching, but also means that their combined shareholding power has exceeded the proportion of shares held by Su Cheng personally.
This discovery undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for them to regain their strength and strive for more voice.
Although they feel helpless regarding the shares controlled by the Land Group, they also know that the position of the Heung Kong Securities Regulatory Commission favors British interests.
Therefore, they hope to seek opportunities to prohibit Land from further increasing its holdings of Jardine Matheson Group's shares through the support of the Securities Regulatory Commission.
After completing contact with all British shareholders of Jardine Matheson, they did not rush into action, but adopted a more careful strategy.
They turned to contact the British shareholders of Land Group, intending to take this step to further consolidate their influence in Jardine Matheson Group and lay a more solid foundation for future counterattacks.
The Jardine Matheson Group and the Land Group have been one entity for a long time. The connection between the two is close and natural, which has laid a solid foundation for their collaboration.
After two months of careful planning and unremitting efforts, the Keswick family successfully convinced the British shareholders of Land Group with a series of attractive promises and benefit sharing, and reached consensus one by one.
Today, the British shareholders of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group have closely united to build a sharp line of attack.
They stood side by side, forming an impenetrable front, aiming directly at Sioux City.
In the blink of an eye, time passed to March 1982.
Just as many shareholders of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group jointly filed a complaint with the Xiangjiang Securities Regulatory Office, Suzhou City also quietly laid an important chess piece.
He directly prompted the Land Group to sell part of its shares, and this mysterious buyer was none other than Su Cheng himself.
This action may seem ordinary, but in fact it has a hidden meaning.
With the successful completion of the transaction, Sioux City’s Land Group shares quietly climbed to 49.99%, accurately stopping before the 50% threshold, thus avoiding the triggering of a privatization acquisition of Jardine Matheson Group. Mandatory regulations.
This strategy not only demonstrates Su Cheng’s profound business insights and precise operating techniques, but also lays the foundation for subsequent layout and games.
Although Su Cheng has the ability to easily acquire Jardine Matheson, he has no intention of privatizing this long-established company because in his view, this is not necessary.
Similarly, he has no plans to privatize Land Group.
Su Cheng knows that excessive privatization of enterprises may become a heavy burden, even though he currently has sufficient funds and does not need to worry about economic pressure.
However, the future is full of uncertainty, and things will be unpredictable in a few decades.
Therefore, he prefers to maintain the current structure of the company and flexibly respond to future changes and challenges.
Therefore, retaining the status of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group as listed companies is actually a wise decision for the Su family to reduce future risks.
On this basis, Sioux City carefully planned another round of equity adjustments. Su Cheng continued to transfer part of the Land Group shares held by Jardine Matheson Group to himself, making Su City's shareholding ratio in Land Group accurately reach 49.99%.
This move not only enhanced Su Cheng’s control over the two groups, but also brought his equity structure in the two groups to a delicate balance - both remained within A shareholding level of 49.99%.
Such a layout not only avoids triggering any possible forced acquisition or privatization clauses, but also reserves more strategic flexibility and operating space for the Su family in the future.
After completing this series of equity adjustments, Sioux City was not in a hurry for Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group to announce this major change.
He understands that the timing of the announcement needs to be just right. The silence at this moment is precisely to prepare for a more powerful counterattack in the future.
Through detailed intelligence collection and analysis, Sioux City has understood the movements of British shareholders.
He naturally knows very well that these British shareholders will never give up control of Jardine Group easily. After all, they have been secretly preparing for nearly half a year to regain Jardine.
This persistence and determination make Su Cheng full of expectations for the upcoming competition.
Of course, in fact, he doesn't care very much. For him, these British people don't want to take advantage of him.
He waited patiently for the next move from British shareholders.
He wanted to know what strategies these former rivals would adopt to try to regain control of the Jardine Matheson Group;
He wanted to witness with his own eyes how they would fare in this business game. Use all your strength to try to turn things around.
Su Cheng himself was fully prepared, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to his opponent.
On March 15, the Xiangjiang Securities Regulatory Office held a press conference. At the meeting, Chairman Mai Si solemnly read out an important statement.
The statement pointed out that Mr. Su Cheng did not consult the Securities Regulatory Commission in advance when he carried out the acquisition of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group. This move was considered to violate the "ensure fairness to all shareholders" stipulated in the Code of Mergers and Acquisitions. "Basic principles.
Therefore, the Securities Regulatory Office formally requires the shares held by Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group to be sold and returned to the open market to maintain market fairness and transparency.
If both parties fail to respond positively, the Securities Regulatory Commission will have to intervene and directly handle the internal dispute between the two.
This opinion letter was quickly delivered to Su Cheng.
He flipped through the pages gently, with a faint smile on his lips, thinking to himself: "That's it?"
These British shareholders may have naively thought that just because the total number of shares in their hands exceeds Sioux City's previous shareholding ratio can easily regain the helmsmanship of Jardine Matheson Group.
Or perhaps, they imagine that after Land Group’s Jardine shares return to the secondary market, they can take the opportunity to make massive acquisitions, thus achieving a comprehensive overtake of Sioux City.
However, they ignored a crucial point - Su City had already laid out the plan.
As early as February, he had quietly taken control of 49.99% of the shares of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group. This arrangement was completely unknown to the British.
With Sioux City’s almost absolute control, his opinions undoubtedly carry a decisive weight.
Almost any major decision can be realized under his leadership without relying too much on the nods of other shareholders.
Therefore, Su Cheng just smiled indifferently at the British shareholders' wishful thinking and already had a countermeasure in mind.
Soon after, Su Cheng held a press conference in person to respond positively to the decision of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Office.
At the meeting, he showed a high degree of respect and cooperation and announced that the shares of Jardine Matheson Group held by Land Group and the shares of Land Group held by Jardine Group would all be sold to the secondary market in accordance with market rules.
Immediately afterwards, Suzhou City also unexpectedly announced two important transaction contracts: one was a formal agreement for Jardine Group to transfer part of Land Group’s shares to him, and the other was for Land Group to transfer part of Jardine Group’s shares to him. and the agreement to transfer the group shares to him as well.
These transactions not only demonstrate Suzhou City’s deep-rooted control over the two major groups, but also herald another important move in its strategic layout.
With the comprehensive reorganization of the boards of directors of the two groups, all the original British-owned board members have withdrawn from the stage of history, and have been replaced by new directors who are completely trusted and personally selected by Suzhou City.
Therefore, the adoption of these two transaction contracts was naturally unanimously approved by the new board of directors, ensuring the legality and compliance of the transaction.
As for why it has not been made public yet, Su Cheng said with a smile that this is just to maintain market stability and the need for expected management. When the time is right, it will naturally be announced.
After Su City announced the news, there was an uproar everywhere in Xiangjiang. Both Niu Bijian and other British shareholders were in deep shock and confusion.
They never expected that individuals from Suzhou City had quietly acquired 49.99% of the shares of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group. This astonishing fact completely shattered their original layout and illusions.
Faced with such a situation, they couldn't help but feel helpless.
Even if all the shares held by Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group return to the secondary market, it will only add more liquidity to these two already well-funded groups and take back control of them. It is almost useless for the goal of power. The opponent holds 49.99% of the shares, how can they still fight?
Unless they acquire the other 50.01% of the shares, which is simply impossible.
What's more, the stock prices of the two groups are currently at a high level. If you want to acquire a large number of shares through the open market, you will undoubtedly need to pay an extremely high price.
At this moment, the British shareholders deeply realized Sioux City’s unfathomable business wisdom and layout capabilities. They realized that in this business competition, they might have been at a disadvantage from the beginning.
The attempt to regain control of Jardine Matheson now seems to be nothing more than an unrealistic and naive fantasy.
With its excellent business vision and operational capabilities, Sioux City has already built its companies into stars in the capital market, and its stock prices have naturally been pushed up to eye-catching levels by market enthusiasm.
The reason is that the companies controlled by Suzhou City are all leaders in the industry. Not only do they have outstanding performance and huge profits, they have also won the favor of the majority of investors with their generous dividend policies.
Take Hong Kong Electric Group as an example. Although there have not been many dividends in the past few years, last year’s unprecedented dividend feast surprised many shareholders to find that the amount of dividends they received far exceeded the initial amount. cost of holding shares.
This news was like a shot in the arm, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of the market. The stock price of Hong Kong Electric Group soared, and its market value exceeded the HK$30 billion mark in one fell swoop. It became a shining pearl in the Hong Kong stock market, and also a shining pearl in the Hong Kong stock market. There are giants among listed companies.
Because of the precedent of Hong Kong Electric Group, it is natural for the stocks of Jardine Matheson Group and Land Group to rise sharply. (End of this chapter)