The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Chen Sheng, I, Jardine, can exchange Wharf with any conditions." Niu Bijian came to Chen Zhiwen and said silently.

"Really?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.

"Of course." Newbijan said.

"If I want to buy land, will Mr. Niu Bijian agree?" Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"You..." Niu Bijian's face immediately turned livid, but this is a shareholders' meeting, so the media reporters are taking photos, he doesn't dare to really lose face, otherwise, it will become a joke of the whole Hong Kong.

"So you can't give me what I want, everyone should speak according to their strength." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said. In fact, the current qualification of the Jardine Department is just a pile of land and properties in Landmark's hands. The scale of other messy investments is also large, but very few of them actually reach a large scale.

For example, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong is indeed well-known, but it only developed in Hong Kong, and Jardine didn't even think about expanding it to learn from the business model of large western hotel management groups.

In later generations, the number of Mandarin Oriental hotels is not as large as the Shangri-La Hotel established in the 1970s.

In the same way, a relatively well-known Maxim's food company under Jardine Matheson Co., Ltd. only circulated in Hong Kong. Even if it acquired many food businesses of the milk company, it still failed to achieve success.

In fact, if Chen Zhiwen were to manage these industries, they would definitely be able to develop properly internationally. However, he is not very interested in these small industries, and it is impossible to exchange them for the rights and interests of Wharf.

Besides, it's hard to say who will own the land in the future?

"Okay, goodbye." Newbi said politely, holding back his emotions.

The two parties on the stage were quiet for the time being, and the people in the audience didn't care. After voting, they just had to wait for the results. They also chatted casually, but basically everyone would ask the other party which company they voted for and what to do next. What to invest in, and so on.

Another half hour passed.

As a result of the vote, 54% of the votes agreed to remove the current board of directors.

After getting this result, many people in the audience applauded immediately. Maybe half of them were really "trusting", but the other half, maybe they were really happy. The Jardine Group, which has dominated Hong Kong for nearly a hundred years, was defeated by the Chinese today. Wharf has taken away one of its wings.

Niu Bijian's face was still so ugly, but he was not disappointed. He seemed to know the end of the day. Looking at Chen Zhiwen, who was laughing and laughing, he took the initiative to walk over and said, "Chen Sheng, congratulations, you have become the new manager of Wharf. Chairman."

"I would also like to thank the Jardine Group for their long-term investment in Wharf over the years, especially Harbor City, which will be able to collect rent in a year." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

When Niu Bijian heard this, his heart almost jumped out of anger. Although Wharf's construction of Harbor City mainly came from stock market financing, Jardine Group has also spent a lot of energy and resources on this project over the years. , I finally waited until the flowering and fruiting, but was snatched away by others, and now I have to be thanked by others.

However, reason still made him calm down, and said: "Chen Sheng is being polite, but since Chen Sheng has become the new owner of Wharf, there is no need for me, Jardine, to hold shares in Wharf. If you are interested , I can sell my shares to you."

"Sorry, I don't need these shares, and I don't want to trigger the acquisition invitation." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "However, I think there are still many people in Hong Kong who are willing to take over these shares. You can find suitable people to trade."

"Chen Sheng should only have 40%, right? If I sell you another 10%, it won't trigger a takeover offer." Niu Bijian said.

"The current problem of Wharf is that the funds are too scarce, so I am also planning to make a separate capital injection into Wharf, but in this way, the shares in my hands will naturally increase, so I appreciate Mr. Niu Bijian's kindness " Chen Zhiwen still said politely.

Although Wharf's capital chain problem is not as good as that of Hutchison, a project with a total investment of 2 billion Hong Kong dollars but no income during the investment period is enough to drag down any real estate company in Hong Kong, and Jardine Land is behind it. Barely made it to the day when it was almost finished. And if there are more funds, the finishing work of the Harbor City project can also be done faster.

"Okay, then I will leave. I will write a letter of resignation to the board of directors." After Niu Bijian finished a sentence, he left with his staff.

"In the end, I still have to resign myself." Chen Tianfu on the side said with a smile. Today, his son took action against the largest British capital in Hong Kong, so he naturally has to follow. However, during the meeting just now, he just sat down like an ordinary person. Now that the meeting is over, he will come up.

"The last face of the empire." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "We can't let us send a letter of dismissal, it's too petty, and it will be laughed at by all walks of life in Hong Kong."

"That's true." Chen Tianfu said: "Now that the Wharf warehouse is in hand, it can be regarded as a great success."

"The general meeting of shareholders is considered a success, and it will end soon. Let's go back first." Having obtained the result he wanted, Chen Zhiwen naturally doesn't need to stay here any longer, and he can do the rest by himself. .

"Huh, Chen Zhiwen is gone?" Some sharp-eyed people below discovered the situation.

"Will there be no more privatization acquisitions?" Others immediately became nervous.

"No way, isn't it rumored that Chen Zhiwen will definitely privatize Wharf? After Hutchison was privatized, Chen Zhiwen has made billions today?"

"I don't know, maybe it will be announced in a few days."

The venue was bustling with voices of all kinds, and Chen Zhiwen didn't want to care about what these people were thinking. A stock market acquisition would inevitably bring a lot of money into speculation. These people were not ordinary investors, so he didn't care if they were Not being tricked, after all, the purpose of these people entering the arena is to suck blood from themselves.

On the second day, the resignation letters of Niu Bijian and a group of senior executives and directors of Wharf were delivered to Chen Zhiwen's desk. Position.

Unlike Hutchison, which involves huge businesses, Wharf's current main business is real estate and ports. The ordinary workers and middle-level workers in the port area have not left a large number of jobs. For ordinary people, they will change when the boss changes. It doesn't affect your salary.

In terms of real estate, basically the only business under construction is Harbor City. In other places, Wharf actually holds a lot of land, but it has not been developed due to the loss of Harbor City, and it has been put on the original site. This is not used to developing land. For real estate companies, it is simply a waste.

In fact, there are many such British-funded companies in Hong Kong, but many of them take out the land and develop it together with Chinese-funded companies. , how can it be possible to develop with some small real estate companies and then split half and half? Whether it is Hong Kong Land or Wharf, the ultimate goal is to develop properties with the highest value and then hold them to collect rent.

The mentality of completely pursuing one's own food is also the main reason that led to the acquisition of Wharf. Whether it is in the previous life or in this life, because as long as you develop your own land with a normal attitude, then Wharf will never be short of funds, nor will it be because of financing. And lost control.

For Chen Zhiwen, taking over this kind of real estate company is much easier. There is no need to stabilize the entire management team like Hutchison did back then.

Star River Building:

"Chen Sheng, this is the current asset status of Wharf. Please check it." The person who came was the new general manager of Wharf. His name was Zhao Lilin. He was a top student who graduated from Stanford University in the United States. After working in the group for several years, he switched to Hutchison and became a key training target after Chen Zhiwen acquired it. During these few years, Zhao Lilin performed very well and completed several large-scale projects by himself.

After Wharf acquired it, Chen Zhiwen arranged for him to become the general manager of Wharf.

"Let me see. Tell me more briefly." Chen Zhiwen took the document and said.

A cumbersome document, it seems that it usually takes a long time, but if someone tells the key points, it seems to be much faster.

Zhao Lilin said: "Okay, Mr. Chen, Wharf currently has three main businesses. The first is the port and terminal business. At present, the No. 1 berth of Kwai Chung Wharf is directly owned by Wharf, and the annual container throughput is almost 400,000 boxes. .

The second business is the Star Ferry, which currently monopolizes the shipping business on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The profit is not very high, but it is relatively stable.

The third is the real estate and warehouse business. In the past, Wharf had many terminals and warehouses on both sides of the Victoria Harbour. Later, after the Kwai Chung Terminal opened, these ports and warehouses became the real estate business reserves, with a total area of ​​almost 7 million square feet. , the largest piece of land is the land under the current Harbor City. The biggest advantage of these lands is that they all have 1,000-year use rights. . "

"It's relatively simple, and it's easier to handle." Chen Zhiwen looked at the description on the information again, nodded and said.

Needless to say, the port business is similar to that of Hutchison Wong, but the scale is smaller. The Star Ferry is a ferry. It once played a pivotal role in Hong Kong. However, with the opening of the Hung Hom Submarine Tunnel and the construction of the future tunnel subway, The importance may not be that high.

The real wealth of Wharf lies in these huge amounts of land, many of which are warehouses, which are directly commercial land, and there is no need to go to the Hong Kong government to carry out the extremely costly "industrial transfer".

The 1,000-year use right is actually the use right that comes with the land when it is sold from the Hong Kong government. In the era of decades ago, the land had a 1,000-year use right, but it has been tightened in recent decades and has become 99 years, 70 years, 50 years. Land with 1,000-year usufruct rights is considered a relatively rare asset in Hong Kong today. Only some established companies will hold some of it. Even Hutchison, which used to be one of the four major foreign firms, has few such lands because of its insufficient history. .

"From the third page onwards, there are financial issues. The current Harbor City project costs about 200 million Hong Kong dollars a year. This is a huge pressure on Wharf. The Star Ferry, Kwai Chung No. 1 Port and A large number of properties have been invested in the rent, but it is still not enough, but the good news is that Jardine Matheson is very conservative and does not use excessive loans, so the current financial pressure of Wharf is not too great." Zhao Lilin continued Said.

"How big is the gap each year?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"It's about 70 to 80 million Hong Kong dollars. In the past, Jardine used to raise funds from the stock market to solve this problem. Now, if this method doesn't work, can you consider getting a loan from the bank?" Zhao Lilin asked.

"Loans are also available, but if Harbor City itself has not opened, ordinary banks may not dare to lend so much." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "Well, you choose a few pieces of land in non-core locations, not in Hong Kong. Daocha, just in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, I will use it to cooperate with some Chinese-owned real estate, so that I can get cash quickly, and open Harbor City as soon as possible, so that the whole Wharf can operate normally.” Chen Zhiwen thought for a while want to say.

If Harbor City hadn’t started construction when he bought Wharf, and he didn’t have enough funds, then in the golden age of the 1970s, it was impossible for him to invest a huge amount of money in this project, even if Harbor City In the future, the annual rent can be tens of billions. After all, there are too many gold investments in the golden age.

But now this project is almost completed, and some shopping malls have already started to be renovated. If the funds are sufficient, it may be opened in another year. In this case, it is natural to let it be completed normally.

As for taking out land to cooperate with Chinese capital, the logic is similar. With so many lands owned by Wharf, it is impossible to build properties on their own and then collect rent. Jardine had this idea, and then dragged itself to death. In the future, if you want to run your own business, you only need to keep the prime locations such as Times Square and Ocean Terminal in the future.

"Okay, then I'll make a list and show it to you later." Zhao Lilin nodded.

"One more thing, I now hold almost 40% of the shares of Wharf. I am going to find a suitable time for Wharf to carry out a targeted share increase for me to increase my equity to 49.9%. However, because of the previous For acquisitions, the stock price is still too high, so you should release some news, saying that Jardine Group wants to cash out its shares because it lost its controlling stake in Wharf, but no one will take over." Chen Zhiwen continued.

"Okay, I understand." Zhao Lilin himself is a smart person, so he naturally understood what the boss meant. This can suppress the overheated stock price due to the takeover war, and at the same time make the stocks in Jardine's hands scrapped and sold. If you don't go out, you can kill two birds with one stone.