Chapter 288 Ten Million Pounds for 20% Equity
At noon, Lin Haoran, Tang Kun, and President Liu had lunch together at Tang Tower.
After the meal, President Liu bid farewell to Tang Kun.
Before leaving, he gave Lin Haoran a meaningful look.
Lin Haoran understood immediately and smiled, nodding slightly.
After chatting with Tang Kun for a while longer at Tang Tower, Lin Haoran also said his goodbyes and left.
"Mr. Henry, please take me to the Wing Shing Building in London's financial district," Lin Haoran instructed once he got into the car.
This was the address President Liu had given him, reportedly his private office.
President Liu had started in trade before branching into real estate, finance, and investments, and he had made a name for himself in Britain's financial circles, placing his headquarters in the heart of London's financial district.
"Yes, Mr. Lin, please sit tight," Henry replied, starting the engine and smoothly pulling away from Chinatown.
About twenty minutes later, Lin Haoran arrived at the underground parking garage of a thirty-story building.
Accompanied by Li Weiguo and Henry, he took the elevator to the first floor, checked in at the front desk, and then switched to another elevator, heading directly to the 31st floor.
One minute later, they arrived.
This was the executive office floor for President Liu's company.
A man with a net worth of over one or two hundred million pounds—clearly no simple figure—with thousands of employees under his command.
President Liu himself came out to greet Lin Haoran.
"Haoran, you're finally here. Come, let's have tea in my office," he said, laughing heartily.
"Uncle Liu, sorry to keep you waiting," Lin Haoran replied with a polite smile.
Li Weiguo and Henry stayed in the lounge while Lin Haoran followed President Liu into a spacious office of about three to four hundred square meters.
In London's financial district, where every square meter was worth a fortune, occupying such a large space was the height of luxury.
The office was lavishly decorated, with a 90-degree panoramic view of the city.
"You certainly know how to live, Uncle Liu.
This office is even grander than mine in Hong Kong," Lin Haoran remarked.
"When you get older and make enough money, you realize that you can't take it with you.
So why not enjoy it while you can?" President Liu said with a hearty laugh.
"I agree, Uncle Liu.
At our stage, money is just a number—we should enjoy life more," Lin Haoran said, sincerely acknowledging the sentiment.
"Come, have a seat," President Liu gestured toward a small tea room sectioned off from the office.
Drinking tea while overlooking London's skyline—he truly knew how to enjoy life.
The weather in London today was unexpectedly clear, the best day since Lin Haoran's arrival a week ago.
As they sat down, Lin Haoran couldn't help but ask,
"Uncle Liu, this building is called Wing Shing Building.
Is the whole building yours?"
The name had a distinct Chinese flavor—very different from typical British naming conventions.
"You guessed right.
I bought the whole building six years ago.
It turned out to be a great investment—its value has doubled since.
I only occupy three floors myself; the rest are all leased out.
In the financial district, the rental demand is very strong," President Liu said proudly.
However, to Lin Haoran, doubling in six years wasn't exactly impressive.
Back in Hong Kong, his father Lin Wan'an had bought a building in Sheung Wan six years ago that had since quadrupled or quintupled in value.
By comparison, London's real estate market appreciated much more slowly.
Of course, London, being a historic global city, had already started from a high baseline. Slow growth was natural.
"You truly are a leading figure among Britain's Chinese businessmen," Lin Haoran said with a laugh, keeping his true thoughts to himself.
"By the way, Haoran, have you considered investing in Supplee Logistics Company?" President Liu went straight to the point.
In recent days, President Liu had specifically investigated Lin Haoran's business history.
The more he learned, the more amazed he became at Lin Haoran's almost absurd ability to make money.
Lin Haoran alone was like an entire financial consortium.
If Supplee could attach itself to him, even Squid Capital wouldn't be unbeatable.
"Uncle Liu, to be honest, I've been busy surveying the UK market and haven't had time to investigate Supplee in detail.
All I know is from what you and Uncle Tang told me," Lin Haoran replied, shaking his head.
"I've already prepared detailed information about Supplee for you.
Here, take a look.
Everything is accurate—feel free to verify it independently," President Liu said, handing over a file.
The material wasn't overly thick but still filled more than a dozen A4 pages, all densely packed in English.
It was normal for a British company's documents to be in English.
"It's all in English, but that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?
You graduated from the University of London," President Liu joked.
"No problem, I can read it," Lin Haoran replied, smiling as he began flipping through it.
First, he quickly skimmed it to get an overview.
The file included Supplee's founding history, market share, annual financial reports—it was very detailed.
Such comprehensive data would be hard to obtain through independent investigation.
Lin Haoran then went back to the first page and began reading carefully.
President Liu sipped his tea quietly, giving him time to study it.
The early historical parts he read briefly.
The key points were the financial data and market share.
The reports even included updates after DHL's recent market entry.
Previously, Supplee's market share had been stable with little fluctuation.
But over the past six months, their market share had plunged by 30–40%.
No wonder their stock price had crashed.
Supplee mainly operated within the UK, with small ventures in Australia, Canada, the US, and Hong Kong—mainly for large cargo transportation.
Last year, Supplee had made close to ten million pounds in profit—a strong performer.
But this year, the first half showed profits under three million pounds—a huge drop.
Even if they maintained that rate, the annual profit would struggle to hit six million pounds.
And sustaining even that seemed doubtful.
After spending about ten minutes reviewing the file, Lin Haoran closed it.
"Haoran, even though our market share has dropped recently, the decline has stabilized.
The remaining customers are loyal, giving us a solid foundation built over thirty years.
That's our greatest strength," President Liu said earnestly.
"Many fear DHL's financial might, thinking new capital won't be enough.
But I believe DHL can't sustain loss-making competition forever.
They entered the UK to make profits, not to burn money indefinitely.
They won't survive two or three years of constant losses.
With your investment, we can firmly retain our position as the UK's second-largest logistics company!"
Lin Haoran nodded and smiled, asking,
"If I am interested, how much equity would you offer?"
"Ten million pounds for 20% equity. No problem," President Liu said immediately.
"We discussed it thoroughly at the board meeting.
Previously, Supplee had abundant reserves and distributed regular dividends.
Unfortunately, DHL launched its offensive shortly after our last dividend distribution, leaving us cash-strapped.
Reclaiming distributed funds from shareholders is nearly impossible.
Currently, our monthly profit is only a few hundred thousand pounds—far from enough to fight a price war.
But with a ten-million-pound injection, we'd have the firepower to compete and win back lost ground!"
"Ten million pounds?
Uncle Liu, you should be able to afford that yourself.
Why not invest personally and take control of the company?" Lin Haoran asked, puzzled.
Ten million pounds—just over 110 million Hong Kong dollars—was an amount Lin Haoran could easily spare.
President Liu chuckled bitterly and said,
"To be honest, Haoran, I only became a shareholder three years ago by buying out another investor.
My real interest isn't in logistics; it was a local partner who strongly urged me.
At the time, I had cash on hand and spent ten million pounds to acquire a 10% stake.
But over the past year, I've poured massive investments into real estate projects in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh.
I owe the banks tens of millions of pounds now.
Even the rental income from this building mostly goes toward paying off debt.
You know how it is—many billionaires look glamorous on the surface, but their actual liquid assets are tight.
I hope you understand," President Liu said with a self-deprecating smile.
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