Chapter 48: The Market Value of Wheelock Marden Shares Controlled Exceeds 100 Million

Over the next few days, as widely anticipated by the market, Wharf Holdings stock became the hottest focal point in the Hong Kong stock market. Its frantic price movement far exceeded most people's imagination.

Despite closely monitoring every single price fluctuation and trading volume change in Wharf Holdings stock, Frank Lim’s team did not rashly plunge into this fierce tug-of-war.

The reason was that their current available funds amounted to just over ten million Hong Kong dollars. In a capital feast as grand as the battle for Wharf Holdings, this was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket, entirely incapable of stirring up any substantial ripples.

At this stage, Wharf Holdings stock was no longer what it used to be. With daily trading volumes exceeding one hundred million Hong Kong dollars, Frank Lim lacked even the qualifications to stir up trouble in it.

He might as well keep the funds to continue acquiring Green Island Cement stock.

On Tuesday, market enthusiasm reached unprecedented heights, and Wharf Holdings stock performed particularly eye-catchingly. Its unit price surged straight up from an opening of 40.8 Hong Kong dollars, hitting an astonishing peak of 56.9 Hong Kong dollars per share. By the closing bell, the final trade firmly settled at 56.2 Hong Kong dollars per share. The market’s frantic frenzy drove all retail investors wild.

Entering Wednesday, although the rate of increase slowed down, Wharf Holdings stock maintained its strong momentum, with its peak price climbing as high as 61.2 Hong Kong dollars per share.

However, by Thursday, market sentiment underwent a subtle shift. Some relatively rational investors felt that the stock price was already too high; to guard against a potential sharp decline later on, many chose to sell off their holdings. Consequently, after touching a high of 62.9 Hong Kong dollars per share, Wharf Holdings' stock price pulled back slightly, ultimately closing at 60.3 Hong Kong dollars per share. This adjustment seemed to signal that the market was gradually returning to rationality. This day also provided both Sir Yue-kong Pao’s camp and Hongkong Land an opportunity to snap up a considerable amount of stock.

On Friday, the market was reignited by insider rumors, and Wharf Holdings stock ushered in a new round of explosive growth. The stock price leaped directly from around 60 Hong Kong dollars, surging past the major milestone of 72 Hong Kong dollars per share at its peak, and finally closed with the last transaction executed at 70.8 Hong Kong dollars per share, drawing a high-octane conclusion to the week's wild market activity.

Amidst these turbulent changes in the stock market, while Frank Lim did not directly participate, he acted as an observer, witnessing firsthand the heart-pounding movements of Wharf Holdings stock and the fierce capital contest between the Pao family and Hongkong Land.

The sheer intensity of this business war not only gave him a profound appreciation for the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of the stock market, but also allowed him to witness the brutal competition, strategic gaming, and conflicting interests in the commercial world.

Watching the stock price continue to climb, Frank Lim’s mood grew increasingly joyful.

If he were to sell the shares he currently held today, he could instantly cash out one hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

His total investment in Wharf Holdings had amounted to a mere forty million Hong Kong dollars; now, his profits far exceeded expectations, realizing his vision of doubling his capital.

Originally, during the most intense moments of Friday, the final day, Frank Lim had hesitated somewhat as to whether he should sell off all these shares.

After all, once executed, a massive fortune would securely fall into his hands, adding further ammunition to his business war with Li Ka-shing.

Yet, upon reflection, he realized that a large portion of this one hundred million Hong Kong dollars might not necessarily be successfully converted into Green Island Cement shares. After all, Li Ka-shing had already entered the fray, and his opponent's capital far surpassed his own; Frank Lim’s team simply could not compete with Li Ka-shing’s team in terms of financial resources.

If there were enough pending sell orders on the stock market, he wouldn't be afraid—he could simply use massive funds to buy up 51% of Green Island Cement's stock directly, leaving even someone as formidable as Li Ka-shing helpless.

The problem, however, was that the pending sell orders for Green Island Cement on the open market were quite scarce.

Therefore, it was better to wait for the right opportunity: while selling Wharf Holdings stock at a high price, he could simultaneously make Sir Pao owe him a personal favor.

Once Sir Pao could dispel Li Ka-shing’s covetous desires toward Green Island Cement, Frank Lim would be able to easily manipulate Green Island Cement to his liking.

Judging from the fierce contest between the Pao family and Hongkong Land, this competition seemed unlikely to reach a definitive conclusion in the short term. Both sides were determined to capture as many Wharf Holdings shares as possible, making a protracted war inevitable.

The reason lay in the fact that the ownership of Wharf Holdings stock was extremely dispersed, and combined with the company’s massive total market capitalization, concentrating a sufficient number of shares in a short period of time was as difficult as scaling a dangerous peak—an immensely arduous task.

Both sides would need patience and strategy, gradually approaching their respective goals through prolonged positioning and combat.

Thus, Frank Lim was not worried that Wharf Holdings stock would experience another sharp crash anytime soon. Based on the data he had gathered, it was fundamentally impossible in the short term.

As for Green Island Cement.

During the trading sessions from Tuesday to Friday, Frank Lim acutely perceived that because both sides exercised considerable restraint while absorbing shares, Green Island Cement's stock price had not climbed significantly, instead hovering steadily between 5.0 and 5.2 Hong Kong dollars per share.

Against the backdrop of both parties' cautious operations, this stagnation in stock price directly led to a gradual decrease in retail sell orders for Green Island Cement on the market, as there was insufficient momentum to drive up trading volume.

Taking today—Friday—as an example, the total daily trading volume barely reached around 700,000 shares, a figure that appeared particularly sluggish compared to previous days.

Reviewing the past four days, from Tuesday to Friday, despite their unremitting efforts, Frank Lim’s team had only managed to successfully purchase 1.068 million shares, with an average transaction price of 5.11 Hong Kong dollars per share.

Had this been before Li Ka-shing intervened in the market, such a milestone could likely have been achieved effortlessly in less than two days.

Looking at Li Ka-shing’s team, based on market trends and public information, Frank Lim deduced that the number of Green Island Cement shares they had absorbed over these four days had likely exceeded 1.5 million shares, demonstrating formidable financial muscle and operational capability.

Of course, given the current conditions of the stock market, it would certainly be impossible for Li Ka-shing to surpass the volume of shares held by Frank Lim solely through open market absorption within a matter of months.

After all, if they did not raise their bidding price to absorb Green Island Cement's pending sell orders, the available orders on the market would only dwindle further, making acquisition impossible even if they wanted to.

It all depended on when Li Ka-shing would resolve to raise his bid to absorb shares.

However, judging by Li Ka-shing’s past actions, he generally refrained from exposing his targets until he was certain he had secured a sufficient share of stock.

If Li Ka-shing followed this pattern once again, the time remaining for Frank Lim was still quite abundant.

What he feared most was that Li Ka-shing might secretly acquire a block of shares directly from certain major shareholders, thereby achieving an overtaking on a bend.

To this point, combining Frank Lim’s operations from recently and the past month or so, his cumulative holdings of Green Island Cement stock had reached a staggering 10.104 million shares. This figure was not only a testament to his investment strategy and execution capability, but also marked a significant milestone: his shareholding proportion in Green Island Cement had officially broken through the crucial 20% threshold.

This was undoubtedly a milestone worth celebrating, representing the fact that he had firmly established a foothold in this stock market game.

If he were to leak this news to Green Island Cement’s board of directors, they would undoubtedly invite him to become a board member.

However, Frank Lim was not yet prepared to make the news public.