The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Chen Sheng, the good news is that Jardine Matheson has stopped the acquisition plan of Wheelock, and John Maseng is also preparing for the sale of the two buildings of the Federal Building and the International Building." During the phone call, Diss said this The news was told to Chen Zhiwen.

"Okay, thank you Mr. Diess." Chen Zhiwen was quite happy after hearing this. Just like what happened in history, Wheelock still failed to provide detailed financial and operating information about itself, which led to Jardine having to stop. Among them, in addition to this point, HSBC must have used a lot of resources to prevent this from happening.

Regarding this matter, Chen Zhiwen is actually unwilling to see Jardines actually acquire Wheelock. Although after the acquisition of Wheelock, Jardines will have a little difficulty in funding in the early stage, but Wheelock's land assets are also very rich. With the rise of land prices in Hong Kong, Jardine's comprehensive strength will be stronger, so when HSBC finds him, he is still willing to help, and he can also get certain benefits from it.

Of course, there is not much I can do, the most I can do is to cause trouble for Jardine. In the past two months, Baijia Supermarket has begun to squeeze Wellcome Supermarket frantically, deliberately opening the supermarket next to Wellcome, and then immediately sacrificed it. At the same time, a large number of property acquisitions are also being carried out simultaneously.

Seeing this trend, Jardine didn't have much time to react, and could only follow suit by throwing money at it. Otherwise, it wouldn't take half a year for Wellcome to be completely swept out of the market.

Naturally, Chen Zhiwen is not very happy about burning money, but the low-interest loans provided by HSBC and the fact that he does not need to pay rent after purchasing a property is an advantage in itself. In addition to the cheap supply of goods brought by Xinghe Trading Company, it just remains unprofitable. The state is enough to cause Wellcome Supermarket to suffer huge losses.

No matter how much money Ren Land has, one of its businesses loses several million Hong Kong dollars a month, and it needs to invest tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars every month, and there is no hope for the future, it is enough for Niu Bijian and Bao Fuda to have a headache.

In fact, this still has the advantage of his prophet. Chen Zhiwen knows that Jardine will not acquire Wheelock, but the people of HSBC do not know, and it is normal for such a large enterprise acquisition to be discussed for a year or so, so HSBC hopes to have Chen Zhiwen, whose strength has impacted Jardine, came to attack Jardine in other fields, interfered with Jardine's acquisition plan, and therefore agreed to a huge low-interest loan plan.

I just didn't expect that Wheelock and Jardine, seeing some conflicts, immediately shut up and let HSBC toss for nothing. But for HSBC, it is also a victory, because they stopped Hong Kong's largest two companies. Merger of British companies.

As for how HSBC intervened in the acquisition of Wheelock by Chinese capital or Southeast Asian capital, Chen Zhiwen didn't know, and there was no need to know.

On the other end of the phone, Diss continued, "However, Mr. Chen, because Huodoli has a cooperative relationship with both of you, so it is inconvenient for us to intervene in the acquisition of two buildings this time, but I can provide you with the corresponding market price. Consider both sides."

"Oh, okay, what do you think is the market price?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Diess said: "Based on the housing prices and land prices around the Federal and International Buildings, the current value of these two buildings should be between 500 and 700 million Hong Kong dollars, and the specific amount depends on professionals to measure the oldness of the buildings , internal equipment status, tenant status of the two buildings and financial status in recent years.

I have already negotiated with John Ma Ben, and he is willing to provide the income status and debt status of the two buildings in the last three years. "

The information requested by Jardine previously involved all of Wheelock’s business, and the acquisition of the building was just simple rent and debts. It didn’t matter if outsiders knew about it. After all, such information was transparent. The rent is not much different from the nearby buildings.

"Okay, let's discuss this matter ourselves." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

December 3rd, The Peninsula Hotel:

"Mr. Ma Ben, hello, Mr. Zhang, hello." Chen Zhiwen specially booked a presidential suite, and met John Ma Ben, the head of Wheelock. However, John Ma said that he still needs to bring another person here, named Zhang Yuliang, who is one of the directors of Wheelock.

When Chen Zhiwen heard Zhang Yuliang's name, he immediately agreed.

In later generations, in 1986, Li Jiacheng overwhelmed Bao Yugang, the boat king, and was ranked as the richest Chinese in Asia by Forbes for the first time, and the Li family became the first family in Hong Kong.

However, in an interview with a reporter, Li Jiacheng publicly stated that he is only the richest man on the surface, and in Xiangjiang, the wealth surpasses him by more than a palm.

Although this number may be exaggerated a bit. But in Hong Kong, there are still many invisible rich people, and Zhang Yuliang is one of them. If it were not for the outbreak of the Wheelock War in 1985, most Hong Kong people would never have imagined that Wheelock, one of the four major British foreign firms, , its largest shareholder is actually a Chinese family.

The Zhang family has been doing business in Xiangjiang since the beginning of the 20th century. It started by selling western medicine. In the 1950s, it started to set foot in real estate. In 1962, Zhang Yuliang, the fourth son of the Zhang family, built two buildings in the Central District, the Federal Building and the International Building, with family funds. These are the two buildings that Chen Zhiwen has his eyes on.

In the 1960s, a Chinese family was able to buy two pieces of land in the core area of ​​Central, and build two buildings with their own funds. Among them, the Federal Building was the tallest building in Xiangjiang at that time. The strength of the family can be seen. It is estimated that they did not have this ability in that year. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were the first Chinese family in Xiangjiang at that time.

But such a family, such a large investment, because the investment was not through a listed company, and the Zhang family deliberately spent a little money to control the media, ordinary people at that time did not even know their existence.

At the end of the 1960s, Wheelock intended to get involved in the two buildings of the Federation and the International and several high-quality lands of the Zhang family in Hong Kong, but suffered from lack of money, so they carried out an equity transaction, and the Zhang family became the largest shareholder of Wheelock .

However, given the low-key behavior that the Zhang family has always maintained, they have no interest in controlling Wheelock. Otherwise, Zhang Yuliang would be the first to acquire the Big Four in Hong Kong history. However, having said that, it is also because of this that John Ma Deng made this deal, and the premise must be that the Zhang family does not interfere with Wheelock.

Knowing that Zhang Yuliang was also coming to meet, Chen Zhiwen knew that the possibility of acquiring the Federal and International Building this time was very high, because as far as he knew, the Zhang family was planning to transfer funds out of Hong Kong just like John Maseng. , They will definitely sell the real estate.

"Chen Sheng, hello." John Ma said.

"Chen Sheng, I have admired your name for a long time." Zhang Yuliang on the side also shook hands and said: "In recent years, the most popular person in Hong Kong is Chen Sheng. The acquisition of Hutchison has really increased the prestige of us Chinese."

"Where, if the Zhang family hadn't kept a low profile, I'm afraid the Zhang family would have become a well-known family in Hong Kong long ago." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"It is also because of my low profile that my Zhang family has the status in Wheelock today." Zhang Yuliang said with a smile: "As a person, I actually know that I have no business ability, so I mainly focus on investment and do not participate in the direct management of Hong Kong shopping malls. , I don’t have the ability of my father, so I will try my best to maintain the family wealth.”

"This is already a very good achievement." Chen Zhiwen said: "Investing in capable people is also a kind of ability in itself, and the return may be higher. It has always been more difficult to defend the country than to fight the country."

The saying that the wealth cannot last for three generations was widely circulated in ancient China. In fact, the fundamental reason is that the second and third generations simply do not have the ability of the first generation. If the huge wealth is in their hands, the lack of management ability will ruin the family property.

If it is just a waste of eating, drinking and having fun, and then hand over the family wealth to professional people, as long as you choose loyal and capable people, it will not decline no matter what.

Don't be afraid of the second generation's ruin and prodigal family, but fear the second generation's hard work. This is the truth of most wealthy families. Only a few like Li Jiacheng who raise their children have the ability to pass on the family with peace of mind.

"I can only comfort myself like this." Zhang Yuliang nodded and said.

"Then since you're all here, let's have a formal discussion." Chen Zhiwen said, "Since the two of you are here, you intend to sell the Federal and International buildings. My people have already seen these two buildings. The financial data and debt data of the building, this is my offer."

After Chen Zhiwen finished speaking, Lin Yanming, who had been standing behind, handed the two envelopes to John Ma Ben and Zhang Yuliang respectively.

John Ma and Zhang Yuliang took the envelope and opened it. Both of them frowned immediately. John Ma said, "Chen Sheng, the Commonwealth and International Buildings are both located in Central and close to Victoria Harbour. They are only 520 million yuan. The Hong Kong dollar is too little?"

"I don't think the locations of these two buildings are really good, but the floors are not high, the utilization efficiency is too low, and it has been built for more than ten years, and the interior decoration is also aging. If you want to continue to accept high-quality tenants, at least It needs to spend an estimated 100 million yuan for decoration." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

This valuation is estimated by a professional agency based on the nearby housing prices. Considering the large transaction, there will definitely be a certain discount. The result of the calculation is that in the original history, in 1980, Wheelock put the two buildings together. The building was sold to a consortium headed by Cheung Kong for 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars. It is still more than three years ago, 520 million, which is about the same. In the past three years, the Hong Kong real estate market has more than doubled on average, but the housing price base in Central Relatively high, the rate of increase is not as high as the average, almost double.

"Even without decoration, this location can be rented at a very good price." Zhang Yuliang said with a smile.

"It used to be possible, but Hongkong Land's Central District reconstruction plan will be completed in a few years. By then, Hongkong Land will have all kinds of well-furnished high-quality properties. How can we compete?" Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

Since it is a long-term rental business, anyone will value the rental price. Only those like Chen Zhiwen, who know that the future housing price will rise against the sky, will not care.

But John Maben and Zhang Yuliang don't know this. In their cognition, how much money can be rented out has a great impact on the price of office buildings. Office property, also need to refer to the rental price of its property.

"This price is still too low." Zhang Yuliang said with a frown.

"Then I have another proposal." Chen Zhiwen said again: "Wheelock, Kwun Tong, Sha Tin and some land, I can take them all. In terms of the amount, I can also increase it a bit."

"Is Chen Sheng really so optimistic about Hong Kong's real estate industry?" Zhang Yuliang asked.

"Everyone has their own opinions. I am optimistic about the real estate industry in Hong Kong, and the two are optimistic about the global shipping industry. In this transaction, I will get the real estate, and you will get a lot of money. Everyone gets what they need." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile .

There is still one party that has not mentioned it, and that is HSBC that facilitated the transaction. Chen Zhiwen bought the two buildings mainly from HSBC. Although the interest rate is low, HSBC must not make money. , will definitely invest in the shipping market again. Shipbuilding itself is an industry that requires more capital than real estate, and HSBC can make a lot of money.

If this transaction is concluded, the three parties are very satisfied, at least for now. If there is no avalanche in the shipping market in a few years, it may become a relatively successful transaction in the history of Hong Kong.

"Okay, but I will have a lot of land in Sha Tin and Kwun Tong. What kind of land does Chen Sheng want?" John Ma Deng suddenly became interested again. He himself does not understand real estate operations. He also makes profits by selling land or cooperating with Chinese-funded companies. Now that he has decided to develop in the shipping market, he is naturally short of funds. At this time, it is good to sell Wheelock's unprofitable land. Choice, anyway, Wheelock has a lot of land.

"Wheelock has a lot of land, how about this? I will send my Galaxy Properties to visit Wheelock Properties. After they have negotiated with each other which ones can be traded, we will discuss the price. How about it? The two buildings of Federal and International, How about calculating the price together then?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

He didn't worry about the other party's remorse at all, because there are only a handful of people in Hong Kong who have this kind of financial resources, and these companies have their own development plans, and they will not mobilize a large amount of funds at will to suddenly do other things, even if they are also with them. Like Chen Zhiwen, he has more confidence in the future real estate market.

But in the current shipping market, it is all about picking up gold in the sea. A ship can pay back its capital in more than a year, and another ship can be earned in three years. Second-hand ships have already reached sky-high prices, even more expensive than new ships. , because of the construction cycle of new ships, second-hand ships may have earned back the cost of the ship.

Also because it is so popular, a lot of capital is rushing into it with envy. Wheelock, as a large group whose main business is shipping, naturally wants to rush in, but this requires a lot of money.

Everyone is drunk and Bao Yugang is alone. He has seen too much capital entering the shipping industry. After another calculation, the number of orders from major shipyards around the world will exceed the market demand by 100 million tons in the early 1980s. Putting it in, this will inevitably lead to the collapse of the entire market, and there will be a story of Bao Yugang's acquisition of Wharf in the future.

However, other shipping kings in Hong Kong did not have this vision. Wheelock was also acquired by Pao Yukang in 1985. The fundamental reason was also because of the huge losses in the shipping industry.

"Okay, then let's talk about it next time." Zhang Yuliang nodded and said.