However, he was a little curious. The chairman of Xizhen Properties's board of directors was clearly Mr. Lin Xiaoze, whom he had presumptuously sought an audience with that morning, but now it was this Mr. Lin Xiaosen who was sitting in the main seat of the board and speaking to him.
Lin Xiaosen nodded slightly. "Mr. Tang, you said someone is planning to buy up our shares in the stock market? I'm Mr. Tang how you got this information? Was it from those tabloids on the street, or from an anonymous tip received from a brokerage firm?"
"A tabloid? Anonymous news?" Tang Boqi looked at Lin Xiaosen in confusion.
The secretary, Lü Jiansheng, took out a copy of "China Hong Kong Business Weekly" and an anonymous letter received by Studwell's securities firm from the folder in front of him, and handed them to Tang Boqi.
Tang Boqi quickly glanced through the anonymous letter and the newspaper, which clearly seemed to be trying to say something like, "Song Tianyao is going to buy up Xizhen Properties shares, and the stock price of Xizhen Properties will definitely rise. We urge all shareholders to follow suit."
"I've noticed this slow but steady growth in Xizhen's stock price since last December," Studwell said as Tang Boqi checked the newspaper. "While I'm not sure if the buyer acquiring Xizhen Properties's stock is Mr. Song Tianyao, I think that so far, from December to now, the total trading volume of Xizhen Properties 'Xizhen Properties stock is only 5.6 million shares, roughly 6% of the issued shares. Let's assume that all 6% of the shares are held by Song Tianyao in multiple names. But over six months, he's only slowly accumulating 1% each month? That seems unlikely." Mr. Tang, you mentioned signs of a large-scale acquisition. Moreover, the spread of this news will draw more attention to this stock. Hostile takeovers shouldn't be done this way. I think the other party is more likely to use this news to quickly boost the stock price in a short period, then sell off their shares. These five million shares were almost all bought at between Hong Kong dollars 0.6 and HK$0.8 per share. Combined with this news, if the other party mobilizes some funds to push the price up and quickly sell, the possibility of making a profit is even higher. Today's stock price is already close to Hong Kong dollars 1 per share, which indicates that the other party has already begun preparing to push the price up."
Tang Boqi didn't tell Studwell that he had swept up all the sell orders in the exchange today. Indeed, on the surface, Song Tianyao's acquisition of 6% of Xizhen Properties's shares in just six months didn't seem like a large-scale acquisition. If Tang Boqi hadn't known Song Tianyao's personality—his penchant for high-risk, high-reward strategies and long-term planning—he might have said the same thing as the Foreign Devil consultant.
"If Song Tianyao intends to..." Tang Boqi wanted to begin his analysis, but hesitated for a moment before finally stating definitively, "To slowly raise the stock price of Xizhen Properties, ultimately to paint a rosy picture for more retail investors who are watching from the sidelines, attracting them to enter the stock market and compete for Xizhen Properties shares?"
"Then what is his purpose? To let retail investors rush in and drive up the stock price, then find someone to take over his shares and make a profit? Isn't that the same thing I just said?" Studwell said, spreading his hands, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at Tang Boqi.
"I know the reason you all seem so unconcerned about this news is because you hold enough shares of Xizhen Properties, making it seem like Song Tianyao's attempt to acquire Xizhen Properties is like an ant trying to move Mount Tai—a pipe dream. The major shareholder of Xizhen Properties is the Lin Family. Even though the issuance of new shares a few years ago diluted the Lin Family's holdings, most of those shares were still bought up or underwritten by several companies in the Jardine Group. Given the relationship between Jardine and the Lin Family, it's essentially equivalent to the Lin Family temporarily storing their shares with Jardine, using Jardine's funds to grow and expand. But what if Song Tianyao doesn't intend to sell his shares and make a profit? I mean, perhaps his purpose in driving up the stock price is to force the Jardine Group companies to sell their shares and make a profit. I don't know the total number of Xizhen Properties's shares currently in circulation, but it shouldn't exceed 30%, which certainly doesn't pose a threat to the Lin Family. Even if he buys them all, he can't shake Xizhen Properties. But his real aim is to..." What about the Jardine Group companies that are gradually shifting their focus away from Hong Kong? This high price is practically creating a golden opportunity for those companies to cash out. Retail investors will scramble for shares due to the rising stock price, becoming their buyers. Shares that should have been held by British companies will fall into the hands of retail investors. For Song Tianyao, it's easier to get those shares from retail investors than to deal with the Britain."Tang Boqi's thinking seemed to become clearer as he spoke, as if he had seen through Song Tianyao's plan: " The Lin Family and Jardine are like two lions, and their relationship has been tested for decades. If Song Tianyao directly proposes to Jardine to acquire Xizhen Properties shares, Jardine will immediately inform everyone present. The Lin Family can certainly allocate funds to deal with it calmly. But what if, because of the soaring stock price, the Lin Family can't offer the high price that Jardine wants to buy back their shares, and the Jardine Group companies insist on selling shares on the market when the stock price is high enough? What will happen if the number of Xizhen Properties shares in the stock market increases?"
"Ha~" Studwell was the first to laugh out loud, his laughter filled with contempt.
Tang Boqi ignored Studwell's words and continued to look at Lin Xiaosen: "Song Tianyao is a very clever fox. He won't try to take on two lions at once. The retail investors in the stock market are just rabbits in his eyes. Before, when the stocks were in the lion's hands, he was powerless, but once they're in the rabbit's hands, that's when he'll truly make his move!"
Studwell, standing nearby, had already given up on talking to Tang Boqi. In his opinion, Tang Boqi's words were entirely based on conjecture.
Lin Xiaoze lowered his eyelids slightly, holding a teacup in his hand, gently stirring the tea leaves in the water with the lid, and smelling the aroma of the tea.
Lin Xiaosen, standing in the center, remained noncommittal to Tang Boqi's rambling words, and smiled as he said, "Mr. Tang, there's something you might not understand about China person because you grew up in United States. Why is Song Tianyao so determined to acquire Xizhen Properties as you suggest? China person believe in having a reason for everything. If he had the funds to acquire Xizhen Properties, he could have easily established his own real estate company and acquired land from the Britain companies that were preparing to withdraw. Why is he targeting Xizhen Properties?"