Chapter 289 I Want to Acquire It Directly
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 exchanged a meaningful glance with Lin Haoran.
Lin Haoran, understanding his intentions, smiled and nodded.
After chatting a little more with Tang Kun at Tang Tower, Lin Haoran also bid farewell and left.
"Mr. Henry, please drive to 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, supposedly his private office.
President Liu had built his fortune through trade and later expanded into real estate, finance, and investment.
He had become quite influential in the UK's financial circles, and his headquarters was located in the heart of London's financial district.
"Yes, Mr. Lin. Please sit tight," Henry replied before starting the car and smoothly leaving Chinatown.
About twenty minutes later, Lin Haoran arrived at the underground parking of a thirty-plus-story building.
Accompanied by Li Weiguo and Henry, he entered the building, went through a security check at the reception, and took another elevator directly to the 31st floor.
One minute later, Lin Haoran arrived at the 31st floor—President Liu's executive office floor.
To have a personal net worth of over one or two hundred million pounds and thousands of employees under him—he was no simple figure.
At that moment, President Liu personally came out to welcome Lin Haoran.
"Haoran, you're finally here. Come in and have some tea with me," he said with a hearty laugh.
"Uncle Liu, sorry to keep you waiting," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
Li Weiguo and Henry stayed in the lounge while Lin Haoran followed President Liu into a spacious office of three to four hundred square meters.
In the expensive London financial district, using such a large space for a private office was a luxury indeed.
The office was lavishly decorated, with a panoramic 90-degree view over much of London.
"Uncle Liu, you really know how to enjoy life.
This office is even grander than mine in Hong Kong," Lin Haoran commented.
"When you get old, and you've earned enough money, you realize that you can't take it with you.
So why not enjoy it while you're alive?" President Liu laughed.
"I agree, Uncle Liu.
At our level, money really is just a number—we should enjoy life," Lin Haoran replied sincerely.
"Come, sit down," President Liu invited him into a small tea room partitioned off inside the office.
Drinking tea while enjoying the high-altitude view of London—it was indeed an elegant way to enjoy life.
Today, surprisingly, the weather was clear and bright—the best weather Lin Haoran had seen in his week in the UK.
As they sat down, Lin Haoran asked curiously,
"Uncle Liu, this Wing Shing Building—it isn't entirely yours, is it?"
The name sounded very Chinese, unlike typical British naming styles.
"You guessed right.
I bought the entire building six years ago.
Its value has doubled since then, and I make millions of pounds a year just in rental income.
I only use three floors myself; the rest are leased out.
The occupancy rate in the financial district is extremely high," President Liu said proudly.
But to Lin Haoran, doubling the value over six years wasn't particularly impressive.
In Hong Kong, buildings could easily triple or quadruple in value over the same period.
Of course, London was a historic global city—the starting point was already high, so slower appreciation was natural.
"You truly are a leader among Britain's Chinese businessmen," Lin Haoran said, smiling but keeping his deeper thoughts to himself.
"By the way, Haoran, about investing in Supplee Logistics Company—have you thought about it?" President Liu asked directly.
Over the past few days, President Liu had learned even more about Lin Haoran's stunning business accomplishments.
The more he learned, the more he realized Lin Haoran was like a financial consortium unto himself.
If Supplee could align with him, even Squid Capital would not be unbeatable.
"Uncle Liu, honestly, I've been so busy studying the UK market that I haven't had time to investigate Supplee thoroughly.
My understanding is still based only on what you and Uncle Tang told me," Lin Haoran said, shaking his head.
"I've prepared detailed information for you—here, take a look.
Everything is real; feel free to verify it independently," President Liu said, handing over a file.
The document contained about ten pages of dense English text—not surprising for a British company.
"It's all in English, but that shouldn't be a problem for you.
You graduated from the University of London, after all," President Liu added with a smile.
"No problem. I can read it," Lin Haoran replied, starting to skim through it.
The file included Supplee's history, market share, and annual financial reports—all very detailed.
Even the recent impacts from DHL's entry into the market were documented.
Previously, Supplee's market share had been stable, but it had dropped by 30–40% over the past six months.
No wonder their stock price had halved.
Supplee mainly operated within the UK but also had logistics operations in Australia, Canada, the US, and Hong Kong.
Its overseas markets were relatively small, mainly handling large cargo shipments.
Last year, Supplee had nearly ten million pounds in profit.
But for the first half of this year, profit had dropped below three million pounds.
Even if that pace continued, it would struggle to hit six million pounds for the year—an alarming decline.
After spending about ten minutes reading, Lin Haoran closed the file.
"Haoran, even though our market share has dropped, the decline has stabilized.
Our remaining customers are loyal.
This strong foundation is our greatest asset.
Everyone fears DHL's backing, but I don't believe they can sustain years of loss-making operations.
If you invest, I believe retaining our position as the UK's second-largest logistics company is well within reach," President Liu said earnestly.
Lin Haoran nodded and smiled, asking,
"If I'm interested, how much equity would you offer?"
"Ten million pounds for 20% equity. Absolutely no problem," President Liu replied immediately.
"We've discussed this at the board level already.
Previously, Supplee had strong cash reserves and paid regular dividends.
But DHL's market attack came right after our last dividend payout, so we found ourselves cash-strapped.
Our monthly profit is now just a few hundred thousand pounds—far from enough to fight a price war.
With a ten-million-pound injection, we'd have the strength to fight back and win," President Liu explained.
"Ten million pounds?
Uncle Liu, shouldn't you be able to invest that yourself?
If you did, you might even control the company," Lin Haoran asked, puzzled.
After all, ten million pounds—around 110 million Hong Kong dollars—was not an astronomical sum.
President Liu gave a bitter smile and said,
"Honestly, Haoran, I only became a shareholder three years ago by buying a 10% stake.
I was persuaded by a key local partner.
At the time, I had excess cash and thought it would be a safe investment.
Since last year, however, I've poured massive resources into real estate projects in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh—financed by heavy borrowing.
I owe banks tens of millions of pounds.
Even the rental income from this building mostly goes toward debt repayment.
You know how it is—many so-called billionaires look wealthy on the surface but actually have very tight liquidity.
I hope you understand," President Liu explained, still smiling bitterly.
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