The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Which one?" Chen Zhiwen immediately became interested. In fact, he wanted to buy the farm. No matter when, as long as he had money, he could buy it. That is, because of the US government's slapstick operations, the oil crisis, inflation, and the banking infrastructure. Due to high interest rates and other reasons, farm prices are at a historically low level. I can take this opportunity to buy a large number of farms or reclaimable land at the most favorable price.

But a top basketball team, even if the NBA is not very famous now, may not be able to be acquired.

"Los Angeles, the Lakers." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "How is it? You want a basketball team in a big city, and I'm looking for it in the top ten cities in the United States. The owner behind the team expressed his willingness to talk about it!"

"Los Angeles Lakers?" Chen Zhiwen's eyes were full of small surprises. This was his favorite team in his previous life, especially Kobe, who was considered Jordan.

Although the current Lakers team is definitely different from the future, and he doesn't know the current ranking of the Lakers in the NBA, but it doesn't matter. As long as he activates his "money ability", he can completely form a fantasy superpower in the 80s/90s. Team.

This kind of team may have a large investment, but it has strong profitability, especially since the late 1980s, the influence of the NBA began to affect many countries from the United States, and the star effect will be greatly improved.

And this is what Chen Zhiwen wants. His Red Bull is a sports drink brand, and his own sports shoe brand Anta needs the endorsement of sports stars. Even Midea's consumer electronic products can also be endorsed by sports stars.

Of course, this is not the only one. Advertisements similar to Red Bull also rely on various other sports events and celebrity endorsements, but there is one with the highest reputation that always brings more traffic.

And if the team is in Los Angeles, it will be very convenient. At present, Midea and Red Bull's headquarters in the United States are in Los Angeles. In the future, it will be much more convenient for him to go to the United States to lead various things.

"However, the strength of this team can only be said to be medium, and there are no famous sports superstars in it. The advantage is that it is cheap. Tens of millions of dollars are enough. Do you want to think about it? If you want, I will arrange Morgan Did the people from Stanley go to talk?" Henry Morgan said.

"Yes, let's buy it first. The NBA doesn't stipulate that an owner can only buy one team, right? It's really inappropriate. I can just buy a few more teams." Chen Zhiwen said indifferently.

Now the strength is mediocre, and there are no superstars, then you just need to wait until a few years later to poach Jordan. Chen Zhiwen is not familiar with other people, but as long as you have money, you can poach mature members of other teams, or in the draft. Spend money and choose the best. As long as these people are not bad and cooperate with Jordan, that's enough.

"Okay, then I will arrange it when I return to the United States." Henry Morgan said.

Chen Zhiwen asked again: "Is there any news from Disney?"

"There is no news yet. After I go back this time, I will investigate again." Henry Morgan said: "Don't worry, we all understood what you meant when you met with Jason last time, and if we can't figure it out, you will go Looking for Goldman Sachs, don’t say that our family hopes to cooperate with you for a long time, because there is no such thing, and the merger and acquisition of a large company like Disney alone is enough for any investment bank to pay attention to.”

"Okay, let me know if there is any news." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this matter should not be delayed for too long, Hong Kong's own economy is in a very sensitive state at this time, originally he should not carry out large-scale overseas mergers and acquisitions at this time Yes, but the window for acquiring Disney is now. If it continues to drag on, it will be a time when the new CEO and management team are ambitious, and no amount of money will be given.

"It's natural." Henry Morgan said suddenly: "I heard that you had some friction with the Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong?"

"You also know this?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously. Although there is no way to keep this matter secret, there are only a few people who know about it, and the Hong Kong media has not received any news, otherwise it would have been exposed long ago. Logically speaking, Henry Morgan shouldn't have known.

"I didn't know about it from Hong Kong, but the United States." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "The Hilton family and the Morgan family also have a lot of cooperation. When you want to buy out the contract in Hong Kong, they found us and hoped that we would come forward. It may also be that our family has invested a lot in Asia recently, and we all think that our relationship in Asia is relatively strong."

"Your network is really powerful, and you can know about it after a circle." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile and shook his head. If the Hilton headquarters in the United States did not keep it secret, then the news would indeed spread, and by chance, Henry Morgan would know about it. How can I say that he is now in control of the American TV station, not to mention flattery, but there must be many people who take the initiative to make friends .

"It's a trivial matter." Henry Morgan said with a smile, "Why don't I act as a middleman, and you both take a step back, or it really hurts the friendship, and there is no need for it."

"I don't have a problem here, it's up to Hilton." Chen Zhiwen said indifferently. In fact, it's just a matter of price now. There is no such thing as a continuous contract. Some time ago, the Hilton Hotel Group proposed 250 million Hong Kong dollars. The buyout fee was clearly meant to kill Chen Zhiwen. Although this amount may be a drop in the bucket for the income of this land, it should not be spent if it should not be spent.

Therefore, Chen Zhiwen, as the owner, started another round of financial review of the entire hotel, not letting go of a penny. Although he had cleaned up the Hilton Hotel a few years ago, it may have been a long time, and Chen Zhiwen After the scale of other businesses grew, I didn't pay much attention to it. This time, the financial review quickly found out the problem, and sent 5 Hong Kong people and 2 Americans to the ICAC.

Although Laomei may care more about the interests of overseas people, this is a real illegal act carried out in the sphere of British influence. What can Uncle Sam say when he is caught? A few little people, can they still have diplomatic disputes with Britain for them?

At the same time, this is not the only thing that was found. What's more serious is that Hilton Hotel is suspected of deliberately transferring some of the owner's interests to the head office through some means. Although it is not very big, if Chen Zhiwen wants to make a big fuss, for example Lawsuits, or spending more money on publicity, once the scale becomes large, it will be troublesome for Hilton Hotels.

In fact, this kind of thing happens not only to hotel groups, but also to many franchise businesses. The legal affairs may also be prepared in advance. In addition, the capital of each black company is not much, and the owner may need to invest more in a lawsuit. Funds, and although Hilton is black, it can still guarantee the owner's profit, so basically all franchisees also turned a blind eye.

But if there is really a family with a lot of money who insists on tossing, then Hilton Hotel will also be in trouble. This may be the reason why Hilton Hotel found Morgan.

"Since it's a matter of price, what is your willingness?" Henry Morgan asked.

"120 million, this is my bottom line. If they don't agree, then I don't mind spending another 100 million Hong Kong dollars to fight a protracted cross-border lawsuit with Hilton in the United States." Chen Zhiwen shrugged. This number is actually not Chen Zhiwen's bullying, but the data calculated based on the contract and the income of the previous few years. Moreover, in the original history, Li Jiacheng only paid 150 million Hong Kong dollars, which was still a few years later. The current 1.2 Compared with the future 1.5, the value is actually even higher, and the exchange rate alone is different.

"Okay, let me tell you something. After all, Hong Kong is your territory. The Hilton Group probably wants to take the opportunity to make a fortune and leave." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

a week later:

United States, Hilton Hotel Headquarters.

"Mr. Morgan, please sit down." Hilton's CEO Brooke greeted politely.

"You can just call me Henry. The name Morgan, we have too many people in our family." Henry said with a smile.

"Well, Henry, we have received the news from you before." Brooke said: "We think the buyout price of 120 million Hong Kong dollars is too insincere. Since the Morgan family has come forward to reconcile, we can lower it a bit. 200 million Hong Kong dollars."

"Are you going to really fight a lawsuit with them in the United States? Do you know how powerful the person you are facing is? Although he is not an American, he has a very high influence in the United States. Do you think the American court Will you deliberately favor American companies because of your trivial matter?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.

"Of course I know his financial strength. Last year [Fortune] magazine concluded that although it is indeed very strong, our Hilton Group is not weak either." Brooke said confidently.

"If I tell you that the [Fortune] data is wrong, the fact is that Eric is worth much more than the above data, and he has at least 3 companies under his umbrella, and the annual profit is stronger than the Hilton Group , and his debt ratio is not high, are you really going to spend it with such a person? He is a young man, and a young man is very arrogant. If he really spends tens of millions of dollars in a lawsuit with Hilton, I don’t know Let's talk about the final result, but in the long run, Hilton should be fine, but as a professional manager, it won't do you any good, right?" Henry Morgan said with a light smile.

"Then I can't lose the interests of the board of directors," Brook said.

"You don't really think that in Hong Kong, on their territory, you have played with others in the end? Why bother? Let's accept it when you see it. That person is very close to the mainland. I heard that you are also interested in it." As for the mainland market, what do you think will happen in the future if things break out because of Hong Kong?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.

"The mainland is so big, and he has so much influence?" Brooke asked rhetorically, but his tone seemed not as tough as before. A few years after the opening of the mainland, the tourism industry has developed significantly, which has attracted the attention of international hotel giants. Besides, even if the economy in the mainland is poor, there are still many rich people with such a large base.

"The mainland is indeed very big, but there are only a few big cities in Yanjing, Shanghai, and Guangdong. I heard that you want to invest in Shanghai and are still looking for a partner. I actually don't know Eric's influence in the mainland. How powerful is it, but are you willing to bet? Besides, the conditions he offered are not too much, right?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.

Brook frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Well, I still need to discuss this matter with the board of directors. Please pass a message to your friends. We are just talking about business. No matter what the outcome is, we are not enemies."

"Okay, but it's better to hurry up. My friend has a big business, but he doesn't have time to spend here." Henry Morgan said with a smile, he already felt that Brooke was about to retreat.

A few days later, Hong Kong.

Li Haonan walked in with a smile, and said, "Sheng Chen, your relationship is more useful. Hilton has agreed to our request, 120 million Hong Kong dollars, and we will buy out the contract."

PS: I also wanted to write about this hotel, but I felt that it was meaningless, so I didn’t use the water, so I asked for a monthly pass.