Chapter 796: A Storm Is Brewing!

The circles of Hong Kong’s political and business worlds are small; business dealings—and even marital ties—are inevitable.

This is especially true for the major corporations and prominent families, whose ties are so deeply intertwined that they are impossible to untangle—a veritable web of complexity!

In such an environment, it is virtually impossible to maintain absolute confidentiality.

Stellar Corporation’s meeting didn’t start until noon, yet by a little before 1:00 PM, many major corporations and prominent families had already learned the gist of what was discussed.

Of course, this included the British expats at the British-owned conglomerate as well.

As the undisputed rulers of Hong Kong’s political and business circles, such news naturally couldn’t be kept from them.

When they learned that Li Yi had amassed a colossal sum of over 60 billion Hong Kong dollars and explicitly intended to target members of their British-owned conglomerate, everyone was stunned.

However, after the initial shock, Dolsons and the others’ first reaction was disbelief. First, they thought it was impossible for Starry Sky Company to have that much capital.

60 billion Hong Kong dollars—and in cash, no less. How could that be possible?

It’s important to note that, given the importance they attach to Li Yi, they have been investigating Starry Sky’s financial situation all along.

Although the company has indeed raised a significant amount of capital over the past few months, the total amount is only around 15 to 16 billion Hong Kong dollars, with fluctuations not exceeding 10%.

This is why he proposed raising 10 billion Hong Kong dollars yesterday; in his view, having 10 billion Hong Kong dollars on hand would be sufficient to fend off any attack on Star Company.

Although they had learned through wiretapping the Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s meetings that those individuals were preparing to raise funds, upon discovering today that most of the listening devices had ceased to function, Dolsen and his team realized the other side had detected something amiss and must surely know that the contents of their meeting had been compromised.

Under normal circumstances, the agenda for last night’s meeting would inevitably have been altered—or even scrapped entirely.

Even if, by some stretch of the imagination, the other side were confident enough to make no changes and continue raising funds according to the original plan, how much could they possibly raise?

After all, the entire Chinese Chamber of Commerce consists of only about thirty people. Even if each contributed one hundred million, that would still amount to less than three billion—a far cry from six hundred billion.

Consequently, Dolsen and his associates’ first reaction was that Li Yi was merely bluffing, trying to intimidate them.

But just to be on the safe side, he ordered his intelligence network to investigate the financial transactions of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce members.

They didn’t know until they looked into it, but once they did, they were immediately struck with cold sweat.

The investigation revealed that Li Futao, the head of the Li family, had withdrawn 2 billion Hong Kong dollars from his personal account today and transferred it to the account of Star Investment Company.

He Dongying, the head of the He family, had similarly withdrawn 1 billion Hong Kong dollars from Standard Chartered Bank—their long-standing partner—that morning and sent it to Star Tower.

The Luo family and the “Ship King” had done the same, each withdrawing 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The other members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce were no different—some withdrew three to five hundred million, others one or two hundred million. When added up, the total amounted to a staggering 15 to 16 billion.

Add to that the private funds of Li Yi and Star Investment’s other major shareholder, Huang Lixing, and the total really does come to nearly 60 billion!

Faced with this realization, the executives of the British-owned conglomerate were instantly dumbfounded.

Especially Dolsons, the Duke, Powell, and the others—they felt as though they were under the gaze of the Grim Reaper.

It wasn’t that they were cowards, but rather that they knew their place.

As veterans of the financial world, they knew full well that in that realm, whoever had the most money called the shots and could do as they pleased.

More importantly, the current state of companies across Hong Kong’s business sector was truly dire. Affected by the stock market crash and the uncertain political situation, Hong Kong had suffered a double whammy in both the stock and real estate markets over the past year, with trends continuing to decline.

This market downturn has led to another serious problem: the depressed stock prices of listed companies, with many firms suffering from a severe mismatch between their stock prices and their actual assets.

To put it simply, some companies may have assets worth 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, but the combined market value of their shares may be only 6 or 7 billion.

This situation is very common in Hong Kong, affecting more than 90% of all listed companies.

It’s one thing for companies with relatively concentrated shareholdings—such firms still have the capacity to weather crises.

Take, for example, the family-run companies affiliated with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Although their management models may be somewhat outdated, the majority of their shares are held by family members, making it difficult for outsiders to meddle.

However, when it comes to companies with more dispersed ownership, if someone decides to make a forceful move, it’s easy for them to find an opening to exploit.

The logic is actually quite simple: if something worth ten dollars is currently priced at five, buying it yields a five-dollar profit.

Now, apply this to a company: if you have sufficient capital to aggressively buy up all the shares of a company whose stock price is below its actual value, the profits can be substantial.

Of course, this assumes there is no fierce resistance. If the other side also has substantial funds to prop up the stock price, the outcome may not be as favorable as imagined.

Clearly, many have already realized that Star Investment has suddenly concentrated such a large amount of capital—it’s obviously aiming for a hostile takeover, targeting these large conglomerates to buy at the bottom.

They had already employed the same tactic last year, successfully snatching Wharf Holdings from Jardine Matheson.

Upon receiving this news, Dolsons quickly convened a meeting with the members of the British Investment Group and briefly outlined the situation to them.

To address the potential crisis, under Dolsons leadership, the 94 core enterprises affiliated with the British Capital Group signed a mutual defense pact.

Under the terms of the agreement, should any company come under attack by Starry Sky, the others must provide full support.

At the same time, to ensure the safety of every company, Dolsen decided to increase the planned funding from 10 billion Hong Kong dollars to 20 billion. The Sassoon family would cover one-third of this amount, with the remainder to be shared by all member companies.

To boost the morale of the alliance members, Dolsen also assured everyone that the Empire and the British Hong Kong government would stand with them.

With Dolsen’s assurance, coupled with the very real threat posed by Star Company—and, more importantly, the fact that no one knew which company Star Company would target first—

Driven by this fear of the unknown, the members of the British-owned consortium—in a rare display of unity—rallied together and eagerly raised funds.

Meanwhile, as the two major groups frantically stockpiled “ammunition,” the atmosphere of tension within Hong Kong’s business community grew increasingly thick.

………

Just as Dolsen and the others had reached a conclusion at their meeting at Castle Manor, Li Yi made his next move.

At 2:00 p.m. on March 21, after Pang Feiyan had assembled the trading team, Li Yi personally led them to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The reason for choosing this stock exchange over Old Li’s Far East Stock Exchange was primarily that all the companies listed here were major British-owned conglomerates, including Huifeng Bank, Jardine Matheson, Hang Seng Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Swire Properties, Kadoorie Holdings, and more!

Besides, they had come with the intention of making a big splash—there was no need to operate on Old Li’s turf, lest they accidentally harm their own people!

When Li Yi and his group entered the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the escort of a large contingent of security personnel, they immediately drew the attention of a large crowd of investors.

It didn’t take long for people to recognize them as representatives from Star Investment, with none other than the renowned Li Yi leading the group.

Li Yi made no attempt to hide his identity. Upon entering the exchange, he immediately instructed the lobby manager who had come to greet him to summon the exchange’s general manager, all while greeting the ordinary investors who had gathered to watch the spectacle with a warm and friendly demeanor.

While winning over the crowd, news of Li Yi’s appearance at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange spread like wildfire.

In a very short time, all the major factions on Hong Kong Island were aware of the situation.

Subsequently, these major players reacted swiftly!

After Li Yi met with the general manager of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, massive sums of money were transferred through various channels into Starry Sky Company’s stock trading account at the exchange.

In less than twenty minutes, the account—which had previously held only tens of millions—was injected with a massive 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

With this influx of funds, everyone knew that Li Yi meant business.

Seeing this, some were inexplicably excited, some fell silent as if struck by fear, while others began to stir restlessly, sharpening their knives!

In an instant, the entire Hong Kong stock market was gripped by panic, with a storm brewing on the horizon…

……….