In mid-April, Lin Zuhui went to New York to inspect the office market in Manhattan, New York.

During this period, he listened to the advice of family office investment advisers, and was not optimistic about the prospects of the Manhattan office market, mainly because many institutions and large companies have left Manhattan, and the office buildings there will not perform well in the short term.

Then he had another meal with Warren Buffett and heard a relatively insider news that the New York government was going to set up a special company RTC to collect the non-performing assets of bankrupt banks, and then sell the assets to pay off the debt.

Then I met with John Reid, chairman of the board of directors of Citibank, and learned that Citibank is still cautious about lending commercial real estate.

For a while, Lin Zuhui soon woke up!

The office building in Manhattan cannot be invested in the last two or three years, otherwise you will be ashamed!

First of all, he remembered that the basis for investing in Manhattan commercial real estate was that Buffett had invested in a commercial property near New York University in 1993, and he had a 150% return in five years. No, there is this ROI because he bought the discounted goods (non-performing asset auctions), and because it is a commercial property near New York University, because the university can't move away.

Secondly, if it is said that Manhattan's office buildings will boom in the future, there must be a reason, and the biggest possibility is that the Internet and financial industries have developed. As far as Lin Zuhui knows, before 1995, the U.S. banking industry was in the process of merger and reorganization, and the S&P 500 bank index soared by more than 250% in the following five years; As for the Internet, it will not flourish until at least 1994. All things considered, New York office buildings may not be able to flourish until after 1994 and continue until 2007, during which they experienced nine years of recovery, but recovered within a year.

In the end, the five-year return is 150%, as if the annual return is only 20%. Although it is good, the timing of all aspects is important, and more importantly, the risk is too great.

For three reasons, Lin decided to postpone his investment in Manhattan office buildings, or to invest a small amount in the future.

Fortunately!

If you don't learn from the Japanese capital and a certain enterprise in your previous life, otherwise you will not only lose money, but also be ashamed!

This is also one of the main reasons for Lin Zuhui's cautious investment:

In the previous life, Japan's Mitsubishi Land invested in the Lo K. Phil Center in Manhattan, spending $1.4 billion to buy 15 office buildings in 1989, and by 1996, it was only $1.1 billion; Combined with the appreciation of the yen during this period, Mitsubishi Land lost 88 billion yen (more than 800 million US dollars) in this business. Like Mitsubishi Land, the U.S. real estate purchased by Japanese investors in the late eighties almost went out at a loss.

In the previous life, in the 21st century, there was a certain company that went to Manhattan to buy a building, and it was also out of the game.

Therefore, not only the dollar can harvest the wealth of various countries, but even the edifice of the United States can buy the wealth of various countries.

Lin Zuhui secretly regretted that he shouldn't brag in front of Zheng Yutong and others;

But fortunately, he didn't take action, otherwise he would have really fallen from the altar in the future.

Monday, April 20.

Lin Zuhui came to his ACN Center office, and his heart was a lot more steady. and warned himself that in recent years, the New Era Group should be cautious in investing at sea, so as not to tilt the big ship; It is not enough to capsize, after all, the New World Group has grown into a warship-level company.

After a while, Liang Zhenxun came to his office and said, "Boss, the preparations for the rights issue are ready!" ”

Raising funds still has to be fundraised, and money is still useful!

Therefore, Lin Zuhui said: "Then make an announcement!" ”

"Okay!"

Then, Lin Zuhui said: "I'm going to take out $250 million, and I want to invest in a U.S. stock!" ”

Liang Zhenxun immediately asked: "How much do you need to prepare for the investment of Manhattan office buildings?" ”

Lin Zuhui said: "It's not a good time for the time being, I went to inspect it, and it's not optimistic. So invest in securities, and the rest of the funds will be used to develop the real estate industry in Hong Kong and the mainland! ”

"Okay, I got it!"

After Liang Zhenxun left, Lin Zuhui relaxed. As the so-called goose plucking, this time I went to New York, more or less to gain something.

So, he plans to arrange for New Era Group to invest in Microsoft stock.

At present, Microsoft's market value has risen to $23 billion, with an average annual return of more than 30% in the later period, and an increase of more than 20 times by 2000, which is very worth investing.

Lin Zuhui's Hengjin Investment holds only 2% of the shares, and it is offshore and decentralized, which is not very eye-catching.

The new era group reinvested more than 1%, which is naturally an open investment.

In this way, New Era Group's investment in Citibank and Microsoft stocks, and then in the future in the United States, is a stable investment.

In the morning, Gao Yi of Chinese Estates brought Swire Group Chairman Shi Yadi and Swire Properties Jian Jifu to Lin Zuhui's office.

was able to come to the door so quickly, Lin Zuhui was also quite surprised.

But no matter what, the door-to-door is a guest, not to mention that Lin Zuhui and Shi Yadi have many face-to-face friends.

He politely stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "What kind of wind sent you two distinguished guests to my office!" ”

Shi Yadi responded with a smile: "Naturally, it was Mr. Lin's wind that introduced us to your office. ”

Lin Zuhui invited a few people to sit down, and said pretending not to know: "What's the explanation? ”

Shi Yadi said seriously: "That's right, we want to buy the two buildings in Quarry Bay that Chinese Estates bought last year!" ”

Lin Zuhui was suddenly embarrassed, and picked up the teacup and drank tea.

Shi Yadi immediately continued: "I know this is a bit abrupt, after all, with Mr. Lin's vision, he must have seen the prospect of the Xiangjiang office building. Therefore, we are willing to buy at a premium of 30%! ”

Swire Group did not dare to play tricks in front of Lin Zuhui, so the offer was reasonable. Of course, this only seems reasonable, but in fact it is far from meeting Lin Zuhui's appetite.

Originally, he bought these two buildings with two thoughts in mind:

First, speculating on buildings; Second, invest in buildings.

It's all a sure-fire deal, but in fact, it's a little more about speculating in buildings, and the development prospects of Quarry Bay are still limited.

Lin Zuhui put down the teacup and said, "Mr. Shi Yadi, it is better for us Chinese to buy your three buildings in Quarry Bay." Truth be told, there are eight buildings that could be rebuilt, and my intention was to rebuild them all and connect them together as a long-term development plan. At that time, some tenants who cannot afford Central and Wan Chai can open up a second office space. ”

Shi Yadi and Jian Jifu suddenly had a stool on their faces, because Lin Zuhui's thoughts coincided with them. There are two reasons why Swire Properties is cheeky and comes to buy this time: first, the rise of office buildings in Hong Kong is a trend; Secondly, Quarry Bay is Swire Properties' old nest, where eight commercial buildings can be redeveloped one by one and planned as a commercial hub under the prospect of office development.

And now, Lin Zuhui put forward this point of view, which shows that the value here is very high.

Shi Yadi immediately said: "Mr. Lin, we have three, and we only have two. Moreover, Quarry Bay means something different to us at Swire Properties. We are willing to continue to negotiate the price! ”

Lin Zuhui thought for a while, and then said: "Thirty percent is impossible, I will wait until the end of the year to pay this price, and the long-term investment is even more profitable." If it doesn't work, we can jointly develop the commercial center here, with independent property rights, but unified planning and redevelopment. In this way, not only is it more efficient, but it also gives you the best of both worlds. ”

Shi Yadi didn't want to cooperate, he just wanted to buy it back, gritted his teeth and said: "We are willing to pay fifty percent of the price!" ”

When things got here, Lin Zuhui also bargained: "If you have to, we can also be an adult, but the price is 1.65 billion, and it is impossible to lose a cent." Or, you can come back to me in two years to negotiate the price! ”

Two years later, 1.65 billion yuan may not be able to buy these two buildings, and it can also collect two years of rent.

Seeing that Lin Zuhui is so resolute, Shi Yadi also knows that others understand the market very well and will not easily hand over the two buildings. As for two years later, I need to pay more for it.

"1.65 billion, deal! But we want to keep the price of this deal secret so as not to cause too much influence on the market! ”

He is not worried about the impact of the market, but about the unfavorable acquisition negotiations for other buildings.

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "Next year's annual report of our company will definitely be made public. ”

"There's no problem with this!"

"Oh well! Since this cooperation has not been successful, I hope we can cooperate next time! ”

Shi Yadi responded: "Very happy! This is also a collaboration, but we want to use this Quarry Bay as a long-term development plan for the company. With the strength of the New Era Group, it may not be willing to make a long-term plan for ten or twenty years! ”

Lin Zuhui said generously: "It's really too long, it doesn't fit my style of doing things!" ”

Gao Yi of Chinese Real Estate couldn't help but admire his boss, it was obvious that his subjective consciousness was to speculate in real estate, and he said it so magnificently. In less than half a year, he earned more than 50 percent, with an amount of more than 500 million, which is too easy.

The South China Morning Post Building and the Toppan Building spent less than 1.1 billion in total, and now they have made more than 500 million, which is indeed a big profit.

In fact, Lin Zuhui is not a ruthless person, if the price is 1.8 billion, maybe Swire will agree at the end of the year. The two buildings themselves are not worth so much of a premium, but in terms of the overall plan, he can appreciate another one or two percent.

After Shi Yadi and Jian Jifu left, Lin Zuhui said to Gao Yi: "In July, we will start to rent Central Plaza and International Baotong Center, and we must do a good job in management. For reputable enterprises, the rent can be appropriately discounted and prepared for long-term investment. Beware of straw sandal companies to avoid loss of credibility. The lease term should not be too long, and rents have been on the rise in recent years. ”

Chinese Estates is not a simple rent collection company, but an excellent commercial real estate management company. Shopping mall management is a profound industry, how to attract world-renowned brands to come, how to allocate the structure of shopping malls, how to manage. These are very challenging for management.

Over the years, Chinese Estates has accumulated a lot of experience in this area, and has long inspected shopping malls in Europe, the United States and Japan, so as to further strengthen its management strength in this regard.

In this way, not only can the shopping mall network in Hong Kong be well managed, but also the shopping mall network in the mainland.

Gao Yi nodded and said, "Well, we must take care of it." In particular, Central Plaza, which is the flagship commercial center of our New Era Group, will surely be managed into the best commercial center in the world. As for the Citi Center, we will also cooperate with Citi to create a core financial area in Asia. ”

Lin Zuhui said with satisfaction: "The International Treasure Center can be regarded as accumulating experience in financial buildings for our team. Later in the magic city, I will also invest in a world financial center, so the team needs to learn more. ”

"Okay!"

Lin Zuhui is an important shareholder of Citibank, and although he does not have the right to participate in the management, it does not affect the relationship between Lin Zuhui and Citibank in the slightest. In addition, Lin Zuhui himself is the owner of the bank, and he has the reputation of a god.

Therefore, the Magic City World Financial Center, New Era Group will not miss it.

(End of chapter)