Chapter 645: Screwed Over Again!

November 22nd. The battle between Starry Sky and the British-funded group over Hang Seng shares had now entered its sixth day!

Over the past six days, the two sides had not only been engaged in a frenzied battle for the floating shares on the stock market, but were also scrambling off-market to snap up shares held by all small and medium-sized shareholders.

After several days of intense clashes, the British-owned group, having spent a massive amount of capital, not only secured 19% of the 30% of free-floating shares but also acquired the 15% held by seven Chinese shareholders.

Although it cost them 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, they now control 85% of Hang Seng’s shares, securing a decisive victory in this battle for control.

However, their joy was short-lived when they discovered a shocking development: just before the market closed today, they had unexpectedly snapped up over 1.2 million shares of Hang Seng stock on the securities market.

At first, Smith and his associates didn’t think much of it, but upon closer inspection, they realized something was amiss.

It is important to note that they now control 85% of Hang Seng Bank’s shares. Of the remaining 15%, 6% is held by the bank’s founders, Ho Sin-hang and Leung Chik-wai, who have made it clear that they will not sell their shares.

A portion of the remaining 9% is controlled by Starry Company, while the rest is entirely held by retail investors.

Now, in a very short period of time, they’ve acquired 1.4 million shares—about 7% of Hang Seng Bank’s total shares. Where on earth did these shares come from?

It goes without saying that Star Company must have pulled out—they’ve decided to quit the game.

And that is exactly what happened. Just as Smith was reaching out to Hang Seng Bank’s Chinese shareholders, Li Yi ordered his people to high-profile buy up Hang Seng shares while simultaneously having others quietly dump their holdings.

By the time Smith and his team had acquired the shares held by those Chinese shareholders, Li Yi had already liquidated his entire position in Hang Seng Bank.

And most of those shares ended up back in the hands of Smith and his group!

And so, after spending over 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, the British-owned consortium not only successfully boosted Hang Seng Bank’s market capitalization from 3 billion to 6 billion Hong Kong dollars but also increased its stake in the bank to 92%!

On the surface, the British-funded group didn’t appear to have lost money, given Hang Seng Bank’s market value.

But Smith and his associates, having come to their senses, realized they had been outmaneuvered by Li Yi.

Although they had managed to fend off Li Yi’s offensive, their own 2 billion Hong Kong dollars had been locked up.

Upon realizing they had been deceived, Smith immediately made adjustments, dumping a large number of shares at a discounted price.

But with the market about to close, they managed to recoup less than 200 million Hong Kong dollars; the rest remained firmly in the hands of the group they controlled.

Smith knew that Li Yi had chosen this moment to liquidate his entire position because he was done playing the game.

This was just like his previous investment in gold: as soon as they entered the market, he promptly pulled out, causing the price to crash.

The result was a plunge in international gold prices, while their British-funded group remained stuck holding shares at the peak.

This time was no different. As expected, first thing tomorrow morning, the newspapers would be full of reports about Starry Company liquidating its holdings in Hang Seng Bank.

Once the competition for Hang Seng shares was gone, the price would inevitably plummet.

And indeed, things unfolded exactly as Smith and his associates had predicted. It didn’t even take until the next day; immediately after the market closed that very day, Li Yi gave an interview to a television station.

In the interview, he announced publicly that Star Company had sold off its entire stake in Hang Seng Bank.

He also noted that the investment in Hang Seng Bank had yielded a profit of 70 million Hong Kong dollars, but since the bank’s stock price was severely overvalued, he was now officially withdrawing from the battle for control.

As soon as the news broke, the entire population of Hong Kong Island was once again in an uproar.

Those unaware of the truth felt sorry for Star Company, believing that the “Dragon Slayer” had ultimately failed to defeat the British-funded conglomerate, that wicked dragon.

Those with an understanding of investment, however, applauded Star Company’s move. Any discerning observer could see that the British-owned conglomerate had been thoroughly outmaneuvered this time.

Hang Seng Bank’s stock had surged by nearly 100 Hong Kong dollars in just six days. When everyone was scrambling to speculate, the crowd followed the frenzy, but once the tide recedes, it will become clear that only the British-owned conglomerate’s crew is left swimming naked.

As expected, Hang Seng’s stock price will plummet as soon as the market opens tomorrow. Let’s hope it doesn’t fall below where it was a week ago.

But no one knows that this is merely a small prelude to Li Yi’s counterattack against the British-owned group; he hasn’t even unleashed his true killing move yet.

………

November 23: The Hong Kong stock market remains unchanged!

However, after the market opened today, everyone’s attention was fixed on Hang Seng Bank’s stock price.

It’s worth noting that at yesterday’s close, Hang Seng’s share price had soared to HK$276 per share—a full HK$100 higher than a week ago.

But everyone knew that was merely a battle between two major players vying for Hang Seng shares. Now that one side had explicitly withdrawn from the race, everyone was waiting for Hang Seng’s stock to plummet.

Sure enough, less than five minutes after the market opened, someone listed Hang Seng shares at HK$270 per share.

Yet, in stark contrast to the frenzied bidding of the previous days, the HK$270 price drew no interest whatsoever.

Twenty minutes later, the other party immediately adjusted the price, lowering the asking price to HK$260 per share.

But the result remained the same: many watched, yet no one made a move…

And so, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Hang Seng Bank’s share price slid from HK$276 per share all the way down to HK$240—a significant drop, to say the least.

More importantly, even at this dismal level, no one was willing to buy.

But just then, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange—it turned out that Li Yi had returned with a group from Starry Company.

Upon hearing this news, Hang Seng Bank’s stock price actually rebounded slightly.

However, when Li Yi once again stated that he would no longer invest in Hang Seng Bank’s stock, the share price plummeted once more!

But soon after, people noticed that while Star Company had stopped trading Hang Seng Bank shares, it had begun aggressively buying up shares of Hong Kong Island Telecommunications at the opening bell.

As the only telephone and telegraph company on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong Island Telecommunications had long been a cash cow for the British-owned conglomerate.

Stellar’s sudden acquisition of Hong Kong Island Telecommunications shares naturally caught the attention of the British-owned conglomerate.

Subsequently, Smith’s team received orders once again to block Star Company’s hostile takeover at all costs.

But this time they had learned their lesson. The British-owned conglomerate’s senior management instructed Smith to closely monitor Star Company’s moves while thwarting them, to prevent getting trapped at high prices.

Although the British-owned group was on guard, they never anticipated that Li Yi had no intention of getting entangled with them this time.

After driving Hong Kong Island Telecom’s stock price from HK$86 straight up to HK$120, he quickly liquidated his entire position.

Although the British-owned group didn’t suffer significant losses this time, Li Yi’s move still gave them quite a scare.

They had poured over 100 million Hong Kong dollars into the market just to make a splash; had they not acted quickly and exited in time, they would have been trapped at the peak once again.

Even so, on the 23rd, excluding losses from the Hang Seng Bank stock crash, Smith and his team lost another 3 million Hong Kong dollars on Hong Kong Island Telecom alone.

What was even more frustrating was that over the next few days, such sudden attacks occurred repeatedly. Multiple listed companies under the Jardine Matheson Group, HSBC Group, and Swire Group came under fire, leaving Smith and his team scrambling to respond.

However, what they didn’t know was that while Li Yi and the Star Company were drawing the fire of the British-funded groups, Li Futao’s team was quietly turning their sights on the New Territories Warehousing Center.

And this was Li Yi’s true objective—he was about to launch his final assault…

……..