The Industrial Giant Reborn

In later generations, especially in the mainland after 2000, five-star hotels are basically not very profitable. It can only be said that they can maintain capital or make a small profit because the local government needs to negotiate with large real estate companies during planning. , and then package and sell a certain project together. Otherwise, no real estate developer will be willing to build a five-star hotel, unless those who have assets but don’t know much about investment will consider it for the sake of stability.

In today's Hong Kong, this is actually the case. Five-star hotels are simply not comparable to office buildings of the same area. The former requires hard work to operate, while the latter just needs to collect rent while lying down. This is why Chen Zhiwen decided to demolish the Hilton Hotel. The reason is, otherwise, if Midea Group wants to build its headquarters building, it would not be difficult to find a piece of land.

But the situation in the Mainland is different now. In the early stages of reform, especially in cities with a higher degree of openness to the outside world, they often receive foreign guests and have fewer hotels, so they basically don’t have to worry about running out of business, such as the White Swan Hotel invested by Huo Yingdong. , the capital was fully repaid in 8 years. The hotels invested by my old man Chen Tianfu in Yanjing and Shenhai have very good returns, and the return rate is far higher than that of hotels in Hong Kong.

Now, the negotiations on Hong Kong have come to an end. The mainland has opened up more than a dozen cities this year. When it was not convenient to invest in real estate in the 1980s, it was most cost-effective to invest in hotels.

Land is now also its own wholly-owned subsidiary, the only one with a hotel chain business, although it currently only has 3 hotels.

"I also know a little bit about the hotel business in the Mainland. The income is indeed very high." Dong Youwei paused and said with some embarrassment: "It's just that there are still some problems with Land's funds. Several projects in Hong Kong are still under construction. , there is not much money to invest domestically yet.”

If it's just a hotel, that's no problem. With the size of the land, even if the debt is extremely heavy, you can still make some money. But what is the identity of the big boss? If it's just a hotel, he won't mention it specifically. But if there are more than ten It would be really stressful if twenty cities were built together.

"In terms of funds, you can try to cooperate with banks in the mainland. They can actually provide loans. If you need to buy overseas things, you can go to Standard Chartered Bank, but it should not be much. Mainland RMB is enough." Chen Zhiwen said : "In the future, we will invest more and more in the mainland. We cannot all rely on overseas banks. Cooperation with mainland banks can also bring benefits to them. It can be considered mutually beneficial. If you have any trouble, you can also ask them to come forward. Once it’s solved, go to the local ICBC. If there isn’t one locally, go to the provincial level. Each province should have an ICBC branch.”

If it's only a few hundred million, then Hong Kong can just borrow some. But Chen Zhiwen's goal is to build his own five-star hotels in major cities in the mainland. Currently, there are at least 20 cities where he can invest. It’s not worth the money, but if you want to invest, then invest a little bigger. Anyway, the demand for hotels in the mainland is also very high.

A large five-star hotel costs a lot. If you add 20 of them together, it will require a lot of funds, and it is a project in multiple places. In this case, it is best to cooperate with a local bank. Best of all, mainland banks have also started reforming since the beginning of last year, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was established on January 1 this year.

As a commercial bank, it is certainly not difficult to attract deposits, but when it comes to lending money out, considering the current losses in numerous projects in the mainland, it is probably not very high-quality. And for a foreign company with strong funds, the projects it invests in can be considered to have stable returns. This is a high-quality target in the eyes of banks overseas.

"Industrial and Commercial Bank of China? Okay, I will go to the mainland." Dong Youwei nodded and said, this can be regarded as the task assigned to him by Chen Zhiwen.

Currently, the scale of real estate in Hong Kong is very large, but there are not many things that need to be done. Just build the Exchange Square and several other projects step by step. The rest is to maintain rent collection and wait for the Hong Kong real estate market to pick up. This kind of When the debt is serious, even if you are jealous of the expansion of Hutchison and Wharf, you can only watch.

Other companies within the group have also made considerable investments in the country in the past two years. Naturally, Land also needs to invest. Even Land’s investment risk is the lowest, because as early as a few years ago, a lot of Hong Kong capital entered Judging from current data, building hotels in China is very profitable.

"Okay, let's go there and learn more about it. All hotels need to be bigger and have more rooms. In addition, in big cities like Yanjing, Shanghai, and Guangdong, you don't need to consider building just one. If it's suitable, you can build more. All you have to do is find the most suitable and high-quality city center location, and you don't have to worry about funds." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said.

There was no chain of five-star hotels across the country in the previous life, because it was very difficult to achieve this. First of all, overseas hotel giants all adopted an asset-light model, that is, they found local snakes, and then cooperated with them to build a local chain. People contribute money, they provide management, and then they make money together. But in the mainland, there is not enough money to build roads and bridges. How can we build a hotel with you? As for ordinary Hong Kong capital, it is enough to build a few buildings in the mainland. No one can build everywhere. They do not have the strength. From a profit perspective, this is not cost-effective. Investment in Hong Kong will definitely have a higher return rate. High, if Chen Zhiwen's interests in Hong Kong were not already too high, he would not have invested in this.

After the 21st century, there will be no shortage of various domestic hotels, and the real estate market will become more profitable, so no one will do this. A few real estate giants such as Wanda also wanted to build this hotel brand, but they entered the industry too late. What a huge loss.

The only opportunity was actually in the 1980s and 1990s. If you had a certain amount of capital and absolute courage and confidence, you could succeed.

Imagine that in the future, Mandarin Oriental Hotel will have its own large hotels in first, second, and third tier cities across the country, and because it recovered its costs very early, all the rest will be in vain. The most important thing is that being able to acquire the best land in each city at this time is much more valuable than the hotel above. If the hotel becomes old in thirty years, you can also choose to demolish it and build a shopping mall or a large office building.

"Okay, I understand, the geographical location, I will analyze the specific local conditions before making a decision." Dong Youwei nodded and said. This can be said to be the first time that Chen Zhiwen has carried out a large-scale operation in the name of Land after acquiring Land. Investment plan.

"Well, that's it. This matter is very time-consuming. You don't need to go yet. Arrange your people to go. You can just stay in Hong Kong. In addition, I will also ask Hutchison Whampoa to find someone to cooperate with you. Their people I have been in the Mainland for a long time and know a lot." Chen Zhiwen added.

"Thank you Chen Sheng." Dong Youwei said with a smile.

"Cultural Oriental Hotel also had plans to become asset-light before? Is there any progress in this business?" Chen Zhiwen asked again. After the previous acquisition of Land, the entire large-scale business within Land, Chen Zhiwen, Zhou Jiayang, and Dong Youwei We have also sat together to negotiate. Among them, Mandarin Oriental Hotel is taking the self-sustaining route domestically, while overseas it is adopting an asset-light model similar to that of international hotel giants.

"Our hotel brand has a low reputation, and the investment in a hotel can easily cost hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. At present, there is only one local real estate tycoon in the Bay Area who is interested in cooperation, and there is no progress in other Southeast Asian regions." Dong Youwei answered. said.

"It's also expected. This kind of industry itself is the most difficult in the early stages. Just keep working hard. If you succeed in winning the one in Wanwan, it will be convenient in the future." Chen Zhiwen didn't pay too much attention.

The self-owned hotels in the mainland are what he values ​​most. Overseas, this market has long been occupied by counterparts in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. Chain brands such as Hilton and Intercontinental have been operating globally for decades, with various successes. There are hundreds of examples, and it is not easy to compete with them. Even Kuok Henian established the Shangri-La hotel brand more than 10 years ago. After so many years, he can only build it by himself, and it is difficult to create a European and American model.

If you really want to make an international hotel chain, acquisition is actually the easiest. There are always opportunities to acquire one of the dozens of multinational hotels. However, at present, it is definitely not cost-effective. If you have the money, it is better to invest in Japan.

Wait until one day when the capital is too sufficient, then consider this issue again.

PS: Looking for monthly tickets at the end of the month (end of this chapter)