Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

Chapter 636 Hutchison Whampoa Management’s London Trip (2)

After ending the call with Wei Li, Lin Baicheng left the study.

"Miss He is here?"

Coming downstairs, Lin Baicheng saw He Chaoqiong chatting with Lin's mother, Zhao Huilan.

"Mr. Lin."

He Chaoqiong stood up and said hello.

"Miss He, you don't have to be polite."

Smiling, Lin Baicheng said to Mother Lin, "Mom, where is my little sister?"

Mother Lin replied: "She went to the room to clean up and said she would be down soon."

Lin Baicheng heard this and said: "We should pack it up earlier. There is no reason to keep Miss He waiting for her."

He Chaoqiong said immediately: "It's okay, it's still early."

While he was talking, Lin Qin came down with a handbag, and the female bodyguards behind him were carrying a large suitcase in each hand.

Mother Lin warned: "Girl, when you arrive in Los Angeles, remember to report to your family that you are safe as soon as possible."

Lin Qin responded: "Don't worry, Mom, I know."

Mother Lin then said: "As I said before, foreign countries are not as good as at home. Remember not to cause trouble, but don't wrong yourself. Your brother is a capable person now." The younger daughter was alone outside, and she was still a little worried. of.

Father Lin next to him also spoke up: "Your mother is right, you have to take care of yourself when you are out alone."

"Um!"

Lin Qin nodded heavily, knowing that his parents were caring about him.

Lin Baicheng saw this and said, "Mom and dad, don't worry. Xiaoqin will be fine. Usually bodyguards take her to and from school, so there's nothing to worry about inside the school. Besides, she's not alone outside this time." Not long after, my sister will be back before she gets married, and excluding the time for coming back early and taking the plane, there will only be ten days in between."

"That's different. It's so dangerous for a girl to be outside."

Even though Lin Baicheng said this, Lin's mother would still worry about Lin Qin.

"Mom, you really don't have to worry. I've been there for about half a year, and it's not my first time going to Los Angeles." Lin Qin also expressed relief to his parents when he saw this.

Because Lin Shufang's wedding was approaching, neither Lin's father nor Lin's mother accompanied Lin Qin to Los Angeles this time. In addition, Lin Baicheng also did not go to Los Angeles during this period, so Lin Qin was alone there. Lin's father and Lin's mother I'm a little worried. This is after Lin Baicheng's arrangements have been made.

If it were a middle-class family with no bodyguards and a rented place, the second elder would only be more worried.

After the meeting, Lin Baicheng personally sent Lin Qin and He Chaoqiong to the airport, sitting in his extended Lincoln.

Arriving at the airport, Lin Baicheng and Lin Qin met. He Chaoqiong and the two got on the private plane together.

“It’s so luxurious!”

After visiting the interior of the private jet, He Chaoqiong couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Although she is one of the eldest ladies of the He family, this is the first time she has seen such a luxurious private jet, or it should be said that it is her first time to visit a private jet. The He family does not have such a big toy.

In this day and age, there are still relatively few private jets, let alone luxury private jets that cost nearly $50 million. Almost 200 million Hong Kong dollars, which is not a small sum for the He family. The He family will definitely not spend so much money to buy a private jet.

Lin Baicheng said to the two women: "Xiaoqin, Miss He, you just wait here for the plane to take off. I will leave first."

"Brother, go and do your work." Lin Qin responded.

"Goodbye, Mr. Lin."

He Chaoqiong waved goodbye to Lin Baicheng.

After getting off the private plane, Lin Baicheng left the airport directly to find Yamaguchi Momoe and Matsuda Seiko who had not yet left Xiangjiang.

London, Saturday.

In the morning, Vancouver Thompson and Thiessen White came to the hotel together to find Weili and others.

After greeting each other, Thiessen White said politely: "Teacher Weili, how was your rest yesterday?"

Wei Li smiled and said, "Very good, I'm full of energy now."

"That's good. If there's anything wrong with the reception, don't be polite and tell us."

Thiessen White was very happy when he heard this, and continued: "It's still early now, how about I take everyone to visit Buckingham Palace first?"

"Okay, then I'll bother Mr. White and Mr. Thompson."

Weili did not refuse. It was true that he was British and had been to Buckingham Palace, but there were Chinese in the team, as well as several British people who had come to London for the first time. Not every British person has been to London, and even if they have been, they may not have the time or money to visit the famous attractions.

Thiessen White immediately said: "It is our task to entertain the big class and his group."

Afterwards, the group left the hotel and headed to Buckingham Palace under the leadership of Thiessen White.

Buckingham Palace is naturally where the Queen of England lives, but the Queen no longer has many rights. Buckingham Palace was even bombarded during World War II, and part of the building was destroyed. The Queen's Gallery, which is now open to the public, was built on the old site.

Time passed slowly during the group's visit.

Although the distance between Buckingham Palace and Downing Street is not that far, and a walk of about one kilometer is enough, Wei Li and the others arrived at No. 10 Downing Street half an hour in advance and waited here first.

However, only Weili dined with the Prime Minister, while the others were hosted by Thiessen White and Wyattana Thompson.

In the blink of an eye, half past eleven came, and Wyatt Thompson took Weili to see Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher.

"It's an honor to meet you, Prime Minister!"

As a British person and a professional manager, it is an honor for Weili to meet the most powerful person in his country.

"Weili Taipan, welcome to London."

Mrs. Thatcher had a professional smile on her face.

This time, Hutchison Whampoa came to London to invest, which was led by her, because it was related to the measures she would implement after being elected, so she was very concerned about it, and even took the time to meet in person with Wei Li, who was just a professional manager.

After Mrs Thatcher was elected Prime Minister, the four measures implemented were, in summary, the privatization of state-owned enterprises, currency control, cutting welfare expenditures and cracking down on the power of trade unions.

Among them, the privatization of state-owned enterprises is to sell state-owned enterprises controlled by the British government to private individuals, allowing private capital to develop good enterprises and improve the predicament of poor management of state-owned enterprises. The deeper purpose is to allow companies to make money, allow workers to have stable jobs, reduce the unemployment rate, and allow people to have more money in their pockets, thereby stimulating the economy.

However, there is a problem here. Some companies are profitable and are high-quality assets; some companies are losing money every year, which is nothing more than a problem of losing less and losing more.

Mrs. Thatcher was only elected as Prime Minister in May last year, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises has just begun. Therefore, it is of course impossible to privatize all high-quality assets at once. Even if the government is short of money, non-performing assets must also be privatized. .

However, the purpose of privatizing state-owned enterprises is to provide workers with stable jobs, and capitalists will never run a loss-making enterprise. Once the capitalists take over, it is entirely possible for the capitalists to reduce expenses through layoffs, which is the same as the government privatizing state-owned enterprises. The purpose of transformation is not met.

Therefore, for any privatized enterprise, the government will sign an agreement and contract with the capitalist who takes over, requiring the capitalist to guarantee the number of employees in the company after taking over, and not to let the enterprise go bankrupt. Anyway, it will not give the capitalists any loopholes to take advantage of.

But if this happens, not all companies will have capitalists willing to take over. After all, no one is willing to do a losing business.

It is not that there are no high-quality assets among state-owned enterprises that suffer losses every year. The problems of these enterprises are simply due to poor management or lack of capital injection. Therefore, there is no shortage of capitalists to take over such enterprises.

But after all, there are fewer companies with high-quality assets, and more are non-performing assets with serious losses. Many of them have technology or equipment that cannot keep up with the market, or the products they produce cannot find a market for sales, so the companies suffer serious losses.

If no one takes over the companies with non-performing assets, then Mrs Thatcher’s policy of privatizing state-owned enterprises cannot be said to be a success, or even a failure, because the government will sell off all high-quality assets and leave only non-performing assets, which will only increase Government burden.

In this case, the government with Mrs. Thatcher at its core must find buyers for those non-performing assets, thereby improving the situation and allowing the privatization of state-owned enterprises to proceed smoothly.

Hutchison Whampoa has made huge returns on its investments many times, and the last one was a profit of US$1.5 billion. London is not blind, so how could it not be known about this?

After Mrs. Thatcher asked people to investigate Hutchison Whampoa, Lin Baicheng and Hutchison Whampoa came into her sight. She wanted to privatize several non-performing asset companies from Lin Baicheng or Hutchison Whampoa.

As for how much money can be obtained through alms, of course the more the merrier.

Of course, Mrs. Thatcher still hopes that Lin Baicheng can develop the company well after taking over, so she will still give her the support she deserves, and she is not simply trying to steal Lin Baicheng's money. After all, only if the capitalist who takes over develops the enterprise well and can make money can it serve as a model and allow more capitalists to take over other enterprises.

The most important thing is to continue the implementation of the privatization policy of state-owned enterprises.

What benefit would it have to Mrs Thatcher herself to have Hutchison Whampoa or Lin Baicheng lose money in England? As a prime minister, she has no time and will not do this.

Because it was a business meeting, although the lunch was not as good as entertaining state guests, it was not bad and was very sumptuous.

Of course, if it's a private dining, it's another story. The Prime Minister will never waste taxpayers' money, at least on the surface it must be that way.

After chatting for a while.

"Does Hutchison Whampoa have any investment plans?"

Mrs. Thatcher went straight to the point and did not ask Hutchison Whampoa if it wanted to invest. This was a matter of course.

Wei Li said: "Mr. Lin intends to let Hutchison Whampoa enter the automobile manufacturing industry, and hopes to get the support of the Prime Minister."

"Car manufacturer?"

The current situation of the domestic automobile market immediately appeared in Mrs. Thatcher's mind. The middle and low-end automobile market is mostly occupied by Japanese cars. That is, the high-end market is still the exclusive territory of domestic brands. If there is capital to enter this industry to change this situation, then Not bad.

As for the issue that Lin Baicheng, the boss of Hutchison Whampoa, was Chinese, Mrs. Thatcher didn't care at all. As long as the car company and manufacturing base were in Britain, whether the boss was British or not had no impact.

What is important is the recruitment of workers and the improvement of employment rate after the car companies are operational. This is the most important thing.

"Our country's automobile manufacturing technology has always been at the forefront of the world, and Rolls-Royce is a world-renowned brand. When Hutchison Whampoa enters this industry, as long as it is willing to invest, it will definitely make a difference."

"That's what the prime minister said."

Wei Li naturally would not refute, he said: "Hutchison Whampoa has no foundation in the automobile industry, and everything has to be started from scratch. Therefore, Mr. Lin decided to directly acquire existing automobile companies, which can save the company a lot of time."

Mrs. Thatcher asked: "This is a good choice. Do you have a goal?"

Weili did not show off and said directly: "We want to acquire Bentley Motors, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce, and acquire Bentley's brand, technology patents, production lines and everything else."

"Bentley?"

Rolls-Royce is the largest car company and the largest car brand in Britain. It is the pearl of Britain. Therefore, if Weili wanted to acquire Rolls-Royce, Mrs. Thatcher would naturally reject it immediately. There is currently no sale. The possibility for foreign companies.

However, if you are selling a Bentley, although it is a bit difficult, it is not impossible. It just depends on whether it is worth it.

"Bentley is an important part of Rolls-Royce, and it is not easy to acquire it. Moreover, one thing you don't know yet is that there are already companies that want to acquire Rolls-Royce."

"Prime Minister, can you tell me which company it is?"

Weili asked nervously. Hutchison Whampoa's first target was Bentley. If it couldn't be acquired, it would acquire other car brands' technology. But he didn't expect that someone would already be eyeing Rolls-Royce.

"There's nothing that can't be said. It's the defense company Vickers."

Vickers is a military industrial company and has its eyes on Rolls-Royce's most important engine technology. However, after acquiring Rolls-Royce, it will definitely let Rolls-Royce continue to produce cars.

Weili knew that Vickers was a military industrial company, so he said: "Prime Minister, what Vickers is interested in is definitely Rolls-Royce's aero-engine technology. What Hutchison Whampoa needs is Bentley's car-making technology. The two are not the same." Conflict, I wonder if the Prime Minister can help broker this acquisition?"

"After Hutchison Whampoa acquires Bentley, do you have any plans?"

Mrs. Thatcher is certainly capable of helping, but again, whether it's worth it or not is very important.

"If the acquisition of Bentley is successful, the company will invest a lot of money in technology research and development. The car manufacturing plant will also depend on the size of the existing factory, but the company will definitely have new car plans."

Weili could only give a general explanation. After all, he didn't know much about Bentley now, so he couldn't provide more specific conditions.

After hearing this, Mrs. Thatcher said: "Well, I will arrange for someone to help you visit Rolls-Royce and conduct research on Bentley. The specific situation will be discussed after the investigation is completed."

"Thank you Prime Minister for your support!"

Wei Li was overjoyed when he heard this. The fact that he was not rejected immediately meant that he had a chance.

"Bentley is a high-quality asset. If Hutchison Whampoa acquires Bentley, it will have to pay a corresponding price." Mrs. Thatcher pointed out.

"this is necessary."

Wei Li didn't think so much now, thinking that the price was just a higher premium.

This ended the meeting. After lunch, Wei Li and others took their leave.

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