After Li Guangyu sent Bao Yugang and others away, he asked Gan Qin to notify Zhou Liang Shuyi and Liu Tianci to come to his office to make arrangements for the next report.
For more than a month, the competition between Wellcome, Hengyu and Watsons supermarkets showed no sign of stopping. The small shareholders of Hutchison Whampoa were in trouble, and Henry Keswick was not feeling well either.
Some shareholders of Jardine Matheson Holdings Group are quite dissatisfied with Wellcome's operation. Wellcome has been continuously not making money, which makes them who hold the belief that if you don't make a profit, you will lose money, they begin to put pressure on Henry Keswick
.
In fact, they themselves understand quite well that if Wellcome Supermarket does not want to close down, it must continue to keep up, but they don't care about this at this time, they only focus on investing and making money.
Now the situation in Wellcome Supermarket is very clear. The Li Group is trying to drag Wellcome on in this regard, leaving Wellcome in a dilemma.
Some of them even suspect that Wellcome is not the ultimate goal of the Li Group at all. The Li Group is probably holding back Wellcome now, causing the Jardine Group to have financial problems, and delivering a fatal blow to the Jardine Group when the opportunity comes.
Henry Keswick had long known that these small shareholders would not be satisfied if Wellcome Supermarket dragged on like this. He had planned to do it for three months at the time, but now he couldn't hold back anymore.
He himself also received some news that some shareholders at Hutchison Whampoa were not satisfied. He also planned to wait for a while to communicate with them about the supermarket retail market, work together with those shareholders, and negotiate with Li Guangyu to end this situation.
situation.
I just didn't expect that Li Ka-shing and Li Guangyu were ruthless enough. Those shareholders were unhappy, and the investment company jointly established by them directly acquired the shares of these shareholders in two layers at a premium to the market price.
Faced with the strength of Li Ka-shing and Li Guangyu, those small shareholders had no choice but to give up their shares in the end. They had no choice but to withstand the pressure of the Li Group and several major families. Besides, Xiangjiang China Investment
The company's two-tier premium has already given them enough profit.
As a result, Li Ka-shing, Li Guangyu of Cheung Kong Group and Heung Kong China Investment Company now hold more than 70% of the shares. No one on the Hutchison Whampoa board of directors can influence Li Ka-shing's decision.
In fact, what Henry Keswick didn't know was that several major funds owned by Li Guangyu secretly held 12.5% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares. He personally held a total of 20% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares.
Henry Keswick himself also wants to buy back the shares of these dissatisfied shareholders, but unfortunately he does not have so much funds at the moment.
Henry Keswick said: Everyone, we have been very happy to cooperate. The development of Jardine over the years is obvious to all. You have also gained huge benefits during your investment in Jardine. This time the problem of Wellcome Supermarket was not caused by us.
Yes, if we don't follow up, the small and medium-sized supermarkets that are now closed will be the fate of our Wellcome.
One shareholder said: Keswick, our family has been cooperating with Jardine for decades. This time in the Xiangjiang retail market, I don’t see Wellcome having any chance of winning. We want to drag down Watsons and others like this.
The hope of Hengyu Supermarket Group is almost zero. Why don't we cut the knot quickly, complete the clearance of supermarket goods as soon as possible, and convert these stores to other uses? In this way, we can still reap higher profits.
Henry Keswick was absolutely unwilling to admit defeat and withdraw from the Xiangjiang retail market at this time. He knew very well that if he gave in on Wellcome this time, the Li Group would focus on other industrial companies in his hands.
Step by step, Jardine Matheson may end up like Wheelock and Hutchison Whampoa, and be packaged and acquired by a Chinese-owned family.
Henry Keswick said: I know what some of you think, but now we are all grasshoppers on the same rope. Once Jardine falls, your life will not be easy. Wellcome Supermarket is just not profitable now.
That's all, our other groups are still achieving good results, and I hope everyone can support my equal order, so that Wellcome can't fall like this.
These shareholders are not Chinese families. They know the attitude of the Li Group and some Chinese-owned families. They regard Xiangjiang as their own territory and do not allow other families and forces to interfere with the Xiangjiang market.
The Li Group has been suppressing the British-funded groups, and people like Zheng Yutong have taken action against the established Kadoorie family. They obviously want to expel the non-Chinese family forces in Xiangjiang.
However, these shareholders also have their own little calculations in mind. They can't see clearly how Xiangjiang will develop in the future. They prefer to get the profits in their hands. Once something happens here, they can also return to their hometown or go to other places.
Commonwealth countries to develop.
If there were no signs of recovery in the Hong Kong stock market, some people would even have plans to transfer their shares. Now the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index has been slowly climbing from the lowest point of more than 600 last year, and has now reached a position of more than 800 points.
, the market value of several listed companies in Jardine has also recovered.
One shareholder said: Keswick, when do you think this Hong Kong retail dispute will end? What's the point of dragging it on? We can't be free porters.
Henry Keswick said: I can’t count the end of this. Now the three major supermarkets are in this situation. We at Wellcome are not making money, especially Watsons and Hengyu Supermarket Group. Neither am I.
I hope to see this situation continue, but if the Li Group does not stop such activities, we at Wellcome must continue to follow.
These shareholders became even more dissatisfied after hearing this, which meant that their investment could not earn profits at all, and all their funds were trapped in it. They were not willing to continue like this.
A shareholder said: Keswick, we will give you one month and hope that you can end this situation or come up with a plan to deal with Wellcome. If things do not turn around, we will not rule out transferring the shares in our hands by then.
possible.
The shares of Henry Keswick's family and his cousin Jardine's family are enough to control the Jardine Matheson Group, but he is still different. These shareholders have sold their shares. Once these shares flow into the market, it will be very big for Jardine Matheson.
of blow.
Moreover, he was very worried that the Li Group would come inside to cause trouble. If you look at Swire Holdings, you would know that after Li Guangyu became the second largest shareholder, many things in Swire Group would be affected by the Li Group.
Henry Keswick said: Please be more patient with Jardine Matheson. You have to see that the Xiangjiang stock market is recovering. Selling your shares at this time will cause great losses to you. At the same time, I will also find a way to negotiate with Li.
The consortium will communicate in the retail market and try to end this situation as soon as possible.
The major shareholders are now reluctant to transfer their shares just like this. They also hope that the Hang Seng Index can once again reach the highest point in early July last year.
The reason for transferring the shares at this time is just to make Henry Keswick pay attention. If Wellcome Supermarket doesn't work, it should be ended early so that they can invest their funds in other places.