The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

On March 18, Cheung Kong Group released its annual performance report. Last year (1979) it earned a profit of HK$1.05 billion, including HK$310 million in non-recurring profits (gold speculation); and announced that it would receive a dividend of HK$0.32 per share. The capital involved is HK$182 million.

For a time, the market value of Cheung Kong Group immediately exceeded HK$10 billion, heading towards a higher market value. Cheung Kong shareholders were delighted and said that Lin Zhichao was the most profitable entrepreneur.

Cheung Kong Group.

In his office, Lin Zhichao received Bruja (British), chairman and president of the Hong Kong Electric Lighting Company.

In fact, even though Bruga is the chairman and president of HK Electric, he is actually just a part-timer because HK Electric is a publicly listed company. If any company acquires 34% of HK Electric's shares, it will naturally obtain the position of chairman of the board of directors.

Hong Kong Electric is a good company, but Lin Zhichao is not in a hurry to acquire it.

His acquisitions of Wharf Group and Hutchison Whampoa were based on the idea that acquisitions were necessary, so the moves were inevitably big. As for the next acquisition, he was not so urgent. After all, he was not selling antiques, but he had the idea that he had to buy them.

Bruga quickly explained his intention: "Sir Lin, I wonder if you are interested in Hong Kong Electric's power plant site project in North Point?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Of course! Hong Kong Electric's land in North Point has great development potential and can be used to build large-scale private housing estates and hotel commercial parts. It would be an honor for us at Cheung Kong Group if we can cooperate."

Sure enough, it is the shadow of a famous tree. Due to the reputation and influence of Cheung Kong Group in the real estate field, many companies have come to seek cooperation.

These companies include Nanhai Cotton Mill, Nanyang Cotton Mill, Yinan Industrial, Kwong Sang Hong, etc. They have abundant land resources but no real estate development experience, so they have sought cooperation from Cheung Kong Group.

The Cheung Kong Group only needs to spend a sum of money to build the foundation, and then only one year later, it can "fund the war with war" by "selling off-plan properties" and obtain considerable profits.

At the same time, Cheung Kong Group still has 1.3 million square feet of reserve land in its hands, which can build more than 10 million square feet of residential floor space. It also owns 300,000 square feet of commercial land in Admiralty, which can build more than 5 million square feet of residential space. Commercial building floor.

Bruga then said: "It seems that Sir Lin has studied that land!"

Lin Zhichao said: "I have indeed researched it. After all, there is such a large land in the urban area and it is idle. It is difficult not to be noticed."

This piece of land is about 200,000 square feet and is the former site of Hong Kong Electric's power plant. As the city became increasingly prosperous and people pursued environmental protection, power generation ceased in the late 1970s.

In fact, Bruga personally came to ask for cooperation, which was actually to test whether Lin Zhichao had any ideas about HK Electric. Although he is not a shareholder, he also hopes to be aware of his own destiny. What's more, if Lin Zhichao intends to acquire HK Electric, he can sell it in advance, and he can continue to be competent as president in the future.

Seeing that Lin Zhichao didn't seem to be planning to acquire it, Bruga quickly discussed with Lin Zhichao the general development intention of the "North Point Power Plant Site".

In 1968, Hong Kong Electric built a fully computerized power plant in Ap Lei Chau that used fuel to generate electricity. Together with the North Point Power Plant, there were two power plants producing electricity. In the face of Hong Kong's increasing demand for electricity, in September 1978, the Hong Kong government officially approved Hong Kong Electric to build a larger-scale power plant on Lamma Island.

The North Point Power Plant stopped generating electricity in 1979, and the Ap Lei Chau Power Plant will also stop generating electricity in the mid-1980s. These projects are very good!

"According to the size of this land and the surrounding planning, almost 14 residential buildings and 1 hotel building can be built, which can encircle a square city." Lin Zhichao said.

"The land replenishment fee for this piece of land should be quite high, right?" Bruga said.

"It should be fine! At present, Hong Kong's population has increased to more than 5 million, and the demand for housing has increased significantly. The Hong Kong government is also aware of this situation, so it will not be embarrassed. Moreover, I am currently discussing with the Hong Kong government the land supplement fee for the Whampoa Dockyard. This land can be made cheaper." Lin Zhichao said calmly.

He predicts that this land will have 2,400 residential units, each unit is 450 to 1,250 square feet, and the total floor area is almost 1.8 to 2 million square feet. For residential units alone, based on next year’s average price of 1,000 yuan per square foot If so, you can earn 2 billion.

There is also a hotel building worth at least 500 million, as well as shopping malls and other properties, so the total sales can reach more than 2.5 billion. No matter what, Changshi Group can guarantee a profit of at least 400 million.

Of course, Lin Zhichao plans to sell off-the-plan properties as soon as possible and cannot delay it until after 1982, otherwise profits will be reduced. Of course, sales can also be made in 1982, but don't wait until the second half of the year.

There is definitely enough time. Generally, it only takes nine months to obtain the land before you can start to obtain the pre-sale permit. It would take one year to sell out all 2,400 residential units.

"Mr. Lin is indeed a veteran in the real estate field. This project has taken shape very quickly in your hands!" Bruga praised.

"I'm just making a rough plan, but our Cheung Kong Group has many real estate experts, so we can definitely follow the established plan. If we cooperate, Hong Kong Electric's profits will increase significantly next year and beyond!"

"Haha, that makes sense!"

The two parties quickly reached a preliminary cooperation agreement and left the rest to their subordinates.

This project is the "City Garden" large-scale housing estate in the previous life. As for the hotel, it is called "City Garden Hotel".

When Bruga left.

Hong Kong Electric is not cheap. If it is acquired now, it will cost at least 2 to 3 billion Hong Kong dollars to obtain 34% of the equity, which means the total value is 7 to 10 billion; because Hong Kong Electric's annual profit is also 6 to 7 billion, and it is still growing. middle.

There is no rush!

Lin Zhichao quickly extinguished his thoughts. First of all, he has been too aggressive in the past two years and should take a few years of rest. Secondly, Hutchison Whampoa cannot afford such a large amount of cash, and Changshi’s cash flow is almost impossible. Finally, Anyway, it belongs to you in the end, so why rush for a while.

Later in the day, Hutchison Whampoa also announced its annual financial report. Last year's full-year profit was HK$480 million, including non-recurring profits of HK$120 million, which shocked industry professionals.

After all, Hutchison Whampoa's profit in 1978 was less than 260 million. Now it has soared by 80%, which can be described as rapid growth. People generally attribute the credit to Lin Zhichao, because he officially became the ex-officio chairman of the board of directors in 1979.

Hutchison Whampoa's conference room.

All the senior executives looked at Lin Zhichao with respect. At this time, everyone clearly felt that the chairman of the board of directors had further grasped the management power of Hutchison Whampoa. The more obvious change is that President Wei Li seems to be quite cooperative.

This made Richard Chaxin a little anxious. He had originally hoped that Wei Li and Lin Zhichao would be at odds so that he would have the opportunity to become CEO; but now, unexpectedly, the two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding.

After the meeting started, Lin Zhichao took the initiative and said: "The retail business of Cheung Kong Group and Watsons' retail business have some overlap. Therefore, I plan to merge RT-Mart Supermarket and PARKnSHOP Supermarket and combine them with Watsons. After the merger, the two businesses will This supermarket will surpass Wellcome Supermarket in scale, and it will be a good opportunity to fully develop at that time, and completely widen the gap with Wellcome Supermarket in one fell swoop. What do you think?"

Although he is the major shareholder owning 46% of Hutchison Whampoa and is also the chairman of the board of directors, he always seeks everyone's opinions, which is quite modest. Because he knows that most of Hutchison Whampoa's management are foreigners, and we don't have a tacit understanding yet, so don't act too hastily.

With annual retail sales of more than HK$3 billion, Watsons is the largest retail group in Hong Kong. Lin Zhichao later plans to hand over 7-11 convenience stores to Watsons, but he will have to wait until Watsons is privatized by Hutchison Whampoa.

Wei Li immediately said: "I think mergers are inevitable. In the supermarket field, Wellcome, PARKnSHOP, and RT-Mart rank first, second, and third respectively, but the gap is not very big. If RT-Mart and PARKnSHOP merge, they will exceed There are many Wellcome supermarkets.”

Afterwards, no one objected, after all, this was obviously a good thing.

At this time, Xia Boyin said: "7~11 convenience store is the largest convenience store in Hong Kong, surpassing the second place OK convenience store by a lot. If Cheung Kong Group sells RT-Mart, then only 7~11 will be left in the retail business, and Cheung Kong Group is also not good at trading.”

The implication is that 7-11 convenience stores should also be sold, since they are all your own businesses anyway.

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Don't rush this! Because the business does not overlap, Watsons took over hastily, which will affect the development of 7~11 convenience stores. However, the two managements can communicate more to form a mutual sharing of resources to prepare for future mergers. prepare for."

He simply took the bait!

Hutchison Whampoa also has many senior Chinese employees, but they are not at the top level. These senior staff are the cornerstone for Cheung Kong Group to completely take over Hutchison Whampoa in the future. Now that there is linkage in the retail sector, it will naturally be very beneficial to Cheung Kong Group.

The foreign senior officials in the conference room had no doubt that he was there, and they all agreed with this view. How could they have so many Taoisms?

The next meeting once again became Lin Zhichao's home court, and he arranged real estate business. The Aberdeen Center, with an investment of 800 million, must be sold as soon as possible; the Whampoa Dockyard land compensation fee continues to be negotiated with the Hong Kong government, but the design plan can be carried out; some other real estate projects must also be sold as soon as possible.

Of course, Hutchison Whampoa's business is very comprehensive, and the proportion of real estate business is not particularly large.

At the end, Lin Zhichao arranged another major investment: "Recently, international gold has plummeted by more than 140 US dollars per ounce, and has fallen below 500 US dollars per ounce. I think this is an opportunity, so I suggest that Hutchison Whampoa invest another 2 HK$100 million to buy gold spot at the bottom, as a financial investment project, wait until it returns to 600 US dollars per ounce before releasing it."

Richard Richard was the first to say: "The skyrocketing price of gold is very risky. Should we be more cautious? For example, just invest 100 million Hong Kong dollars."

He did not object directly because Wei Li seemed to have reached a tacit understanding with Lin Zhichao now.

Lin Zhichao said: "It is precisely because of the plunge that I believe gold cannot be lower in the short term. At least before the U.S. election, gold is very likely to rise to $600 per ounce again. This is because the U.S. economy is sluggish, and gold is everyone's Passionate about investing.”

Weili said: "I don't think there is much risk in investing 200 million Hong Kong dollars. This is spot money, and gold does hold its value better."

In January and February, gold was above US$600, and even reached above US$800 in January (only for one day); but after March, gold plummeted by more than US$140.

The reason why Lin Zhichao is so confident is that he believes that within a few months of this year, gold will exceed US$600 per ounce. After all, he still has 60% of the gold spot that he has not sold.

This investment was approved quickly again.

In this way, Lin Zhichao is confident that Hutchison Whampoa's profit this year will reach more than HK$500 million. Because there are many places where Hutchison Whampoa will use money in the future, it is necessary to accumulate more energy.

In the office, Lin Zhichao received the visiting Chen Zengxi, and the two chatted on the sofa.

"Mr. Lin, what do you think about the bidding for the nine stations of the third phase of the subway?" Chen Zengxi asked.

The first and second phases of the Hong Kong MTR have been fully opened, and the third phase of the MTR is currently under construction. In fact, these three phases are all the same line, they are just being built and opened in sections.

The first phase is Central-Admiralty-Tsim Sha Tsui, which opened in October last year; the second phase is Tsim Sha Tsui-Jordan-Yau Ma Tei-Mong Kok, which opened in December last year.

The third phase is Shek Kip Mei-Kowloon Tong-Ngau Tau Kok-Kwun Tong, with a total of nine stations.

Recently, the MTR Corporation put out a bid for the property development rights above the nine stations, involving eight commercial buildings and a private housing estate with 8,000 residential units, with a medium-sized floor area of ​​up to 7 million square feet.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Cheung Kong Industries has recently cooperated with Nanhai Cotton Mill, Hong Kong Electric and other companies on many real estate projects, so for this nine subway station project, it does not plan to bid. Judging from Chen Sheng's appearance, he plans to flex his muscles. I’m here to wish you all a winning bid in advance!”

The two companies that have the closest cooperation with the MTR Corporation are Cheung Kong Group and Hang Lung Properties. The former cooperated with Chater Station, Admiralty Station, and also participated in the Mong Kok Station Overbuilding (10%); the latter won the property development rights for the Kowloon Bay Auto Repair Factory (Telford Garden with 5,000 residences), and dominate the development rights above Mong Kok Station - Mong Kok Building.

Now that Lin Zhichao announced his withdrawal, Chen Zengxi was overjoyed, but he still said politely: "Changshi Group has an excellent reputation and has attracted cooperation from many companies, which is admirable. However, I calculated the development rights of these nine stations. , the total cost is about 7 billion, and the sales can be as high as 18.3 billion. If the Changshi Group is willing to join, it can just sit back and enjoy the profits without spending any effort."

What he wants is dominance, so it is better for Cheung Kong Group to join.

Lin Zhichao said: "It's better not to participate! I believe there are many real estate companies that have ideas for this project. Since Changshi Group already has enough projects in hand, of course it is better to leave it to everyone."

Chen Zengxi nodded and said, "Okay, I admire Lin Sheng's thoughtfulness."

Of course he would not suspect that Lin Zhichao was avoiding risks. After all, Lin Zhichao also said that currently cooperating with six or seven companies to develop their land is not to tighten the front line.

But in fact, the reason why Lin Zhichao did not participate in the shares was because he knew that this project was risky. Because the top managers of the nine stations were signed one after another, it would be good to be able to get one of the top managers by mid-1982, but then there would be losses later.

In the previous life, Hang Lung lost 400 million in tart subscription fees, and naturally other shareholders also suffered losses.

Next, the two discussed the 'Amoy Garden'. This project will be sold out this year and is expected to bring a total profit of more than 200 million to Cheung Kong, Hang Lung and Wharf. It can be said that everyone is making a lot of money. Full.

Finally, Chen Zengxi asked: "Mong Kok Center will be launched in June. Does Mr. Lin have any suggestions or ideas? As far as I know, Mr. Lin attaches great importance to rent-collecting properties?"

Mong Kok Center is the development right above the ground in Mong Kok. Although it only has 22 floors, it has a commercial area of ​​500,000 square feet.

Lin Zhichao originally had no idea, but Chen Zengxi reminded him that he could choose to speculate in buildings. If you hold it until the first half of next year, you may easily earn more than HK$150 million in profits.

In fact, the building in Central is the most hyped, but it's just that Lin Zhichao has no goals. He does have some high-quality buildings in his private hands, but he is reluctant to sell any of them.

Anyway, I’m not short of money, so I’ll keep it for An An to collect rent!

"Changshi Group can consider taking over. We will discuss it with the general shareholders later."

Chen Zengxi said: "No problem!"

He took the initiative to speak out to suit his interests and make friends with Lin Zhichao. At the same time, he could also collect rent cash in one go, saving all shareholders worry and effort.

At the same time, Hang Lung Real Estate is preparing to acquire Taoda Huatong and develop its remaining land; however, the early cooperation in the ‘Taoda Garden’ involved the Cheung Kong Group, and Chen Zengxi was also worried that the Cheung Kong Group was also eyeing this piece of fat.

Therefore, they had nothing to lose by giving Lin Zhichao a 'benefit' first. As a result, Hang Lung Real Estate will have fewer rivals when it participates in the acquisition of Taoda Huatong (a company that produces soy sauce factories and other condiments).

In fact, Lin Zhichao had no intention of acquiring Taoda Huatong. Instead, he had recently been in contact with He Tian from Lixing Development and was preparing to acquire 40% of the company's equity and participate in its property reconstruction projects.

Lee Hing Development was listed in 1972. He Tian was the chairman of the board of directors. At that time, it was a real estate company that raised 50 million yuan. But after all, He Tian was not a real estate professional. Therefore, after many years of development, the market value of this company was only more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars, with almost no What progress. Corporate conservatism is the main reason.

In this acquisition, Lin Zhichao adopted the mode of issuing new shares to acquire Lixing Development. After all, facing the 11 billion Changshi Group, the proportion of new shares issued is not large, and Lin Zhichao himself still holds 68% of the shares (after dilution).

Compared with the heads of other listed companies, Lin Zhichao’s shareholding has always been very high. This is because he rarely issues rights issues or new shares. The company itself has always been huge and has reached a critical value in the local market.

"Boss, Mr. Du Huilian is here!" Zhou Fuzhao walked into Lin Zhichao's office with a foreigner.

Lin Zhichao stood up and welcomed him: "Philip"

To Huilian's Chinese name is Philip Tose, and his English name is Philip Tose. When these foreigners come to work in Hong Kong, they will take a Chinese name to adapt to the local environment. Of course, many people in Hong Kong also have English names, including Lin Zhichao.

The three of them immediately sat down on the sofa. At this time, Du Huilian was still the head of British Vickers Securities in Hong Kong. This company had not yet been acquired by Wanguo Baotong. However, last time the Yangtze River Industrial Group purchased Hong Kong stocks worth 300 million, it invited Du Huilian as its economic advisor.

"Philip, Cheung Kong Group is planning to set up a US$100 million fund to invest in the London stock market, so I would like to ask you to be a consultant and let British Vickers Securities act as a securities company."

Du Huilian was surprised and said: "Mr. Lin is more optimistic about Prime Minister Thatcher's policies?"

In fact, many people knew that Lin Zhichao had a close relationship with Thatcher and was received every time he went to London.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "Yes, as far as I know, the Thatcher government is more inclined to the free economic market, so I am optimistic about the British securities market in the future."

After thinking about it, Du Huilian said: "In terms of market return rate, Hong Kong stocks have the greatest potential. Why doesn't Mr. Lin focus on Hong Kong stocks and invest a smaller proportion in the London market?"

Lin Zhichao said: "I also have a lot of personal investments in the Hong Kong stock market, so the market cannot accommodate it, so I can only invest long-term funds in the London market."

Du Huilian nodded, and at the same time he also thought that this man must have been buying the bottom of Hong Kong stocks in the mid-1970s.

The reason why Lin Zhichao asked Cheung Kong Group to invest US$100 million in the London stock market is also a strategic arrangement. The first is that the Hong Kong dollar will depreciate in the next three years, and the second is that Cheung Kong Group will invest in real estate projects in London, so first start with the stock market. Make some money.

In the 1980s, the British stock market index rose by about 300%, and consumer goods stocks rose by about 400%, so the rate of return was very high.

The two parties quickly reached an agreement. In fact, Lin Zhichao was naturally recruiting talents by doing so. Although Du Huilian will not work directly for Lin Zhichao, just like lawyer Li Yeguangda, he will not refuse a rich man's solicitation. He will not do less work, but he also has his own career.