The Industrial Giant Reborn

On July 18, 1975, Hutchison Building:

Hundreds of shareholders of Hutchison Group from different places in Hong Kong came here to participate in the general meeting of shareholders held by the new major shareholder. At the same time, there were also representatives from Hong Kong and overseas banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of East Asia, Guangan Bank, Sun Hung Kai Bank, Sanhua Bank of Japan, and Development Bank of Singapore. Among them, Shen Bi from HSBC Bank came in person.

Reporters from many Hong Kong media also came to Hutchison Building, but they were not allowed to enter the site of the general meeting of shareholders. This also caused complaints from many reporters, but the general meeting of shareholders is a private meeting, and there is no obligation to open it to reporters.

For this meeting, Hutchison Group temporarily remodeled a large conference room. Under the leadership of Hutchison staff, hundreds of people took their seats.

"Chen Sheng, the view from this office is really good. Except for the Kangle Building, there are very few such views in Hong Kong." In Chen Zhiwen's office, Shen Bi looked at the distant scenery and said with a smile.

"No way, the height is not as high as the Kangle Building." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile, Shen Bi came in person, so naturally he couldn't be treated the same as other people, Chen Zhiwen invited him to his office, and the representatives of other banks also came. I was arranged to go to the VIP lounge, and I would not go to the scene until the meeting time.

"Chen Sheng can consider building the tallest building in Hong Kong." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Without a good location, what's the use of building the tallest building? In the real estate industry, the most important thing is location, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"So, Chen Sheng wants to build a super building in Central?" Shen Bi asked.

Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile: "Who doesn't want to? I heard that HSBC is also planning to build a new building?"

"Yes, but the design plan hasn't come out yet." Shen Bi nodded and said. It's not a secret. HSBC has long been the number one consortium in Hong Kong. If it weren't for the title of "official central bank", HSBC would not be able to invest in businesses other than finance. Otherwise, the so-called four major foreign firms combined would not be enough for HSBC to fight.

"I've also heard about it. I wonder if HSBC is considering listing Harbor Engineering Company as a construction contractor?" Chen Zhiwen said suddenly.

"Chen Sheng started looking for new business for Hutchison Group so soon?" Shen Bi said with a smile.

"No way, Hutchison now has tens of thousands of employees, so there must be business to support them." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"The main business of the harbor project seems to be the development of ports, tunnels, and roads. Is it not good at large office buildings?" Shen Bi asked.

"It's not that I'm not good at it, it's just that the business focus is different. Hutchison Building is a masterpiece of harbor engineering. I can only say that the person who named it was an idiot." Chen Zhiwen said.

Harbor Engineering is a construction company under Hutchison. Hutchison’s main business is the port. After the scale becomes larger, the demand for new port construction and later maintenance is higher, so it established its own business company, namely Harbor Engineering, which is very He is good at port construction, and later slowly began to get involved in real estate construction business. Hutchison Building is the design and construction of harbor engineering.

But with the word "sea port", it makes people feel that it is not a conventional construction company at first glance.

"I need to think about it." Shen Bi nodded and said.

"Okay, but even if the HSBC New Building can't cooperate, we can cooperate in other aspects in the future." Chen Zhiwen said, the HSBC New Building is a chicken that lays golden eggs, and it may be difficult to get stuck in it. This is the most expensive building in the world. HSBC is also a global construction company bidding, not to mention harbor projects, even Golden Gate Construction, which is good at building buildings, probably won’t get it, but HSBC will not only build headquarters in the future, and there may be opportunities for cooperation in the future.

"Okay, but this should not be an issue that needs to be discussed today." Shen Bi said with a smile: "Although Chen Sheng is already the largest shareholder of Hutchison, the problems that Hutchison is facing now still need to be resolved."

"Yes, so I need Mr. Shen Bi's support." Chen Zhiwen said.

"I have always supported you, but I also want to know how Chen Sheng can get He Ji out of the current predicament." Shen Bi asked.

"In the second step, I will separately inject 200 million Hong Kong dollars into Hutchison. In this way, at least within half a year, at least the bank's loan repayment will not be a problem." Chen Zhiwen said: "After half a year, we will look at Hong Kong's economic situation and the situation of Heji. Remember the internal situation, and then make the next step.”

"If so, of course it's good, but what is the first step?" Shen Bi asked curiously.

"The first step is to privatize Hutchison today." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Privatization?" Shen Bi was taken aback. This shows that Chen Zhiwen is very optimistic about Hutchison, so he wants to privatize it. What is surprising is that even if Hutchison is like this now, privatization will require hundreds of millions of funds, plus it needs to be injected Hutchison's 200 million Hong Kong dollars, add up to almost 100 million US dollars, which is almost the maximum limit of the previous credit line of Citibank.

But I just don't know, does he have any other cards?

"Yes, although I am the controlling shareholder, Hutchison's condition is too bad. Next, I will have a major operation on the entire Hutchison. Although those small shareholders have a small share, it will be very troublesome if they keep making troubles and objecting, especially On the issue of fund-raising, if a small part of them disagree, it will drag down the entire progress, which will only affect Hutchison reform even more." Chen Zhiwen explained in a very "official" way, and the bigger reason is naturally to have exclusive access to future real estate As a result of the appreciation, Hutchison is now one of the companies with the largest land holdings among listed companies in Hong Kong, but the location of the land is not comparable to Landmark.

"As long as your funds are in place, my side is naturally not a problem." Shen Bi thought for a while and said: "Chen Sheng, I don't know what mortgage the credit line given to you by Citibank is based on, but you must control the risks of your own companies. , Galaxy Real Estate itself is also an ultra-risky operation, it is better now that the price of industrial land has rebounded, if there is a problem with overseas debts, and this is the case here in Hong Kong, it will only cause bigger troubles than Qi Dezun before."

"Don't worry, I've been controlling my risks." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

The funds for the previous acquisition of Hutchison still came from the hype on oil derivatives during the oil crisis, but this time the privatization of Hutchison and Future’s capital injection to Hutchison came from Citibank, and the collateral was naturally Wal-Mart’s stock.

Could something go wrong for Walmart stock? It’s almost impossible. Now Wal-Mart is expanding rapidly. From 1972 to 1997, it’s been smooth sailing. At least 9 of 10 new stores can make money. With Chen Zhiwen's cooperation, Xinghe Trade purchased a large amount of cheap clothing, hardware, and kitchen and bathroom daily necessities from Asia, which also reduced Wal-Mart's procurement costs to a certain extent. Otherwise, it would not be too cheap to buy in the United States.

Wal-Mart’s stock can rise by an average of 35-50% a year. The value of the stock in Chen Zhiwen’s hands will increase as the time goes by. This time, the loan for Hutchison will only become less and less risky. In theory, Wal-Mart’s stock price will rise again in half a year. Some, he can borrow another 20 to 30 million US dollars.

Of course, it will not be needed at that time. Hutchison will sell a bunch of junk assets and get back some funds more or less. The real estate and stock prices will rebound, and the risk of Hutchison itself will be greatly reduced.

"It seems that the benefits of Red Bull are really good. I was really wrong at the beginning." Seeing Chen Zhiwen's confidence, Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Red Bull is a high-end drink with a high profit margin. Banks are naturally optimistic about it. As long as they occupy the European market, the value will be even higher." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. In Hong Kong, everyone thinks that Chen Zhiwen's funds come from Red Bull. Let it go, Shen Bi is the same, this is also the benefit of not having the Internet, across the Pacific Ocean, the cost and difficulty of searching for information is very high, it is not necessary, no one will go through such a hassle.

"I have to say, I admire it." Shen Bi said with a smile: "When Bao Yugang started his business back then, I saw all kinds of perfect perseverance, self-confidence, executive ability, management ability, and wisdom. The world's ship king, but Chen Sheng seems to be able to catch up with him with only one drink."

"Sometimes, a lot of inconspicuous little things are the huge wealth contained in them. Let's say that the most inconspicuous socks on our bodies can make the world, and that is the top richest man in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen said.

"What about Hutchison's future? Will it go international?" Shen Bi asked.

"Yes, after Hong Kong stabilizes, it is inevitable to go international. In the simplest terms, what Hutchison is good at is the port. Then my goal for Hutchison is to become the world's largest port operator. Maybe in the future , but also need to cooperate with HSBC.” Chen Zhiwen said somewhat “painting cakes”, in fact, this goal was realized by the later generations of Lao Li, and it should be possible in his hands, but at this moment it is indeed inducing Shen Bi, the current Heji , the more support you get from HSBC, the faster you will develop in the initial stage.

"Chen Sheng's ambition is big enough. I like it. I also hope that HSBC can become an international bank. In this regard, you and I have a lot in common." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Dong dong dong" An Qi's voice came from outside the door: "Chen Sheng, Mr. Shen Bi, arrangements have been made for the shareholder meeting. Richard and Zhou Jiayang are already waiting."

"Okay, let's go there right away. In addition, let the representatives of other banks go to the scene." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

"Mr. Shen Bi, the shareholders' meeting is about to begin, please." Chen Zhiwen gestured with his hand.

"Okay, let's go together, if we go in together, maybe it will be much better." Shen Bi said.