Hong Kong.

The senior management of New Era Hotel Group Holdings gathered together, and the person who presided over the meeting was Lin Zuhui. In the entire conference room, foreigners accounted for more than half, which made Lin Zuhui a little stunned.

Of course, this is his policy, because he wants to let the 'Hong Kong-funded hotel' go out, and with the strong development momentum of the Hong Kong hotel, let everyone see the strong vitality and strong competitiveness of the national brand overseas.

In the previous life, it was difficult for mainland enterprises to go out, in addition to the reason of sight and ability, there was also the inconvenience of capital going overseas:

First of all, when it comes to ability, most of them only know how to buy, buy, buy, but they do not have a real meaning to integrate resources and strengthen management, and in the end they sell things again, and it is inevitable to lose money;

Secondly, they always like to chase high, and Westerners can see this, and they are very happy to sell it to you at a high price when the market is good, anyway, there is hope to get it back in the future, such as the office buildings in Manhattan, whether it is Japanese or Chinese, they have suffered a big loss.

Finally, when it comes to funds, it is very convenient for Xiangjiang's funds to go to sea, and they are not subject to any supervision.

In summary, Lin Zuhui feels that it is time for New Era Group to strengthen its investment in the hotel field, and quickly build a 'Marriott Group' affiliated to the Chinese through global mergers and acquisitions, integration and other means.

Originally, even if there was no Lin Zuhui, Hong Kong's Hong Kong hotels would have developed very well abroad, and the previous Hutchison Whampoa, New World Hotel Group, Great Eagle Group, Hang Lung Group, and Shangri-La Hotel Group were all world-class hotel groups, and their strength should not be underestimated.

Of course, once Lin Zuhui is gone, then he will either not do it, or he will do his best to create a truly international hotel group.

There is no need to worry about funds, there were 200 billion non-recurring profits at the end of the 90s; There is no need to worry about management experience, after years of development, New Era Hotel Group Holdings has world-class management experience.

"The Langham Hotel London was acquired for £105 million, and I agreed to this project. But what are your preparations for the subsequent development of this hotel? ”

The Langham, London, the first luxury hotel in Europe, was unveiled in 1865. The castle-like structure is a huge building, and you can feel its rich history at a glance.

Managing Director Colbert said: "Following our investigation and planning, we intend to spend £80 million on a complete refurbishment and upgrade of this hotel. Of course, if we want to fully expand the hotel industry in Europe and the United States, we must ensure that we condense the essence of local culture and become a conglomerate of international culture. and combines the modern atmosphere, the ancient and the modern, the retro and the innovative"

It stands to reason that the acquisition of such a historic and landmark hotel in London must be to dig deep into its own value, combined with the atmosphere of modernity, so as to achieve the words 'luxury, luxury'.

Lin Zuhui said: "How many years do you have to renovate? ”

First, it was London, which was very inefficient; Second, it is a historical landmark, which is difficult to renovate.

Coubert said: "It is expected to be 2~3 years"

Lin Zuhui nodded, this answer is acceptable. But he immediately said: "The acquisition of The Langham Hotel in London is because I want to own a chain of luxury hotel brands, so I suggest that you continue to expand The Langham Hotel and do not stop." ”

Cowbert nodded and said, "Okay." However, now that the company has begun to vigorously develop the hotel group, but the group's business is fragmented, I suggest learning from Marriott's integration last year, dividing the hotel business into two parts: asset-heavy and asset-light, and operating independently. Then the heavy assets will be unified under the Langham Hotel Group, and the name of the New Era Hotel Group Holdings will be abandoned, after all, this name does not match the truth. ”

Lin Zuhui thought for a while, and then said: "Yes, the reorganization of the group's assets is a major event, you can sort out the plan and hand it over to me." ”

"Okay, boss."

The hotel asset-light is 'hotel management services', New Era Group acquired an American hotel management group very early, and then has been developing, and has now managed tens of thousands of hotel rooms.

Of course, in the case of Furama Hotel, although there are also management parties, they only need to pay a 3% management fee; Moreover, this management does not involve the management of the entire hotel, simply put, it is to join an alliance, and the alliance gives Furama Hotel some management suggestions and reservation system; In fact, the management belongs to the hotel itself.

Assuming that the hotel business of New Era Group is divided into: Langham Hotel Group (heavy assets) and New Era Hotel Management (light assets), which is a very good plan.

In the new era, hotel management can cooperate with owners around the world to provide management services, charge 3~10% management fees, and can also strengthen hotel management experience.

Langham Hotel Group has two luxury brands: Langham Hotel and Atlantis

It has two mid-to-high-end brands: Miramar Hotel Group and Constellation Hotel (Canada)

In addition, there are a number of franchised hotels (owned by Langham Hospitality Group): Hilton Manila, Hilton Beijing (not open).

There are also some shareholding hotels: Peninsula Hotel (major shareholder), seven joint venture hotels in Beijing (Great Wall Hotel, etc.).

Lin Zuhui continued: "The Atlantis hotel project will be officially launched next year, you go to Dubai to find opportunities, you can cooperate with the local people to start this project, and we must build the world's top luxury hotel." ”

The Burj Al Arab in Dubai is already under construction, so Atlantis must be very attractive to the locals.

In the past year, New Era Hotel has been planning this project and has hired dozens of designers from around the world to create Atlantis, especially Disney's architectural designers, to create a water world.

Of course, the Atlantis Hotel has also been registered, and there is also an Atlantis resort in Panama, which almost ran into it.

Cowberg nodded and said, "No problem, we'll arrange a trip to Dubai right away." He knew that the owner had hoped to build the first Atlantis hotel in Sentosa, Singapore, but planning in Singapore was too slow.

As a result, Atlantis has identified two locations – Dubai and Singapore – and the third location – Sanya, of course, but in the 21st century.

This brand is a top luxury hotel brand, and it is almost enough to build three.

The Langham Hotel is a high-end brand, and if there are not 30 hotels in the world, they are sorry for the strength of the New Era Group.

Back in his office, Lin Zuhui was still thinking about the hotel field.

The hotel field does not make money, which is recognized, with a turnover of 100 yuan, the profit is only 6~8 yuan. Moreover, the market value of the hotel group's listing will not be high, and the Marriott Group was so good in the previous life, with a market value of only more than 50 billion US dollars.

The most profitable is Xiangjiang Development Real Estate, with a turnover of 10 billion yuan in the past two years to earn 60~7 billion yuan (before tax), of course, the market of each real estate company is different; Assuming that your land is the previous reserve land, then the land cost is low, and the gross profit is naturally large; Assuming that the official land auction in recent years is the last few years, the cost will naturally be much more.

Although Heung Kong Real Estate is profitable, Lin Zuhui must consider the group's integration, globalization, and planning for the future.

He called Liang Zhenxun and said: "Arrange some funds to prepare to short next year's Nikkei index futures index for March, May and June." ”

According to history, Japan has to have a Kanto land ~ earthquake in January next year, which will cause the Japanese stock market to fall, so it is just for the New Era Group to make some money.

Liang Zhenxun immediately asked: "Do you want to close the Sony stock you bought?" ”

New Era Group bought 5 billion Hong Kong dollars of Sony shares (converted to a market value of about 160 billion Hong Kong dollars), and has incurred a lot of losses!

It's just a long-term investment, and Lin Zuhui doesn't care. But now that I think about it, Sony only released PS this month, and short-term sales will not affect the market value at all, plus the earthquake will affect the Japanese stock market, and it is inevitable that it will fall in the first half of next year.

"Okay, all the withdrawal, don't transfer the funds back, just stay in Japan, and wait for the opportunity to enter again! The funds that are about to be withdrawn are used to short sell the Nikkei in Singapore, the United States, and Japan, but don't affect it too much, so as not to be mistaken for malicious short selling. Lin Zuhui said decisively.

"Okay"

It's not that you can't sell short, but you can't sell it maliciously. Although Lin Zuhui hates Little Japan, he will still do their business in the future, so he will naturally not offend others, and quietly enter the village, and don't want to shoot, which is the last word.

Liang Zhenxun left Lin Zuhui's office, and he thought in his heart that the boss had finally 'suffered' once, and it turned out that in Sony's stock, New Era Group had lost two or three hundred million. Of course, Liang Zhenxun believes that this is the normal performance of the stock god, and he can adjust his strategy in time.

In early December, Lin Zuhui urgently led Colbert and his party to the United States, intending to acquire the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Since the last meeting of the hotel group, Lin Zuhui felt that the Langham Hotel was not enough to support the development of high-end hotels, and the Langham Hotel Group also needed a high-end brand, so he finally chose the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

This hotel brand has developed very well in Asia in the previous life, with as many as 100 stores worldwide, and its hotel concept enjoys a high status in the world hotel industry.

Therefore, Lin Zuhui decided to start before Marriott, and did not wait for the restructuring of the New Era Hotel, after all, he seemed to remember that Marriott bought a 49% stake in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1995, and the two hotel groups first ran in for three years, and then Marriott Hotel Group spent $1 billion in 1998 to acquire the remaining 51%, thus making a wholly-owned holding.

On Lin Zuhui's private jet, he and Coubert and his party were having a meeting to discuss, and everyone was holding a copy of the Ritz-Carlton information, which had just arrived in Xiangjiang.

New Era Hotel Group already has a team dedicated to managing the global hotel business, especially in the past year, and has recruited many hotel elites.

Lin Zuhui looked at the information, and gradually knew that it was not difficult to acquire, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at this time only had 24 stores, although it had a great influence in the hotel, but it was precisely because it was too high-end and not listed, so the expansion rate was very slow.

The current president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is called Horst Schultz, who is also a co-founder, and as far as Lin Zuhui knows, he also founded the Capella Hotel in the future. Presumably after the sale of The Ritz-Carlton, he refounded Capella.

"Regardless of whether the acquisition is successful or not, we will move the hotel business headquarters to New York, USA, and then set up Asia and Europe business divisions, and you must take on new challenges."

Cobber nodded, knowing that his boss would either do it or expand like crazy. Generally speaking, capital is the biggest obstacle to expansion, but there is no pressure on this in front of the stock god, New Era Group itself has strong profitability, and this boss often brings rich non-recurring profits to the company.

"In this way, we have two high-end hotel brands that need to expand at a high speed, and our hotel group is not listed, so we need a lot of financial support from the group."

Lin Zuhui immediately said: "Funds have never been the pressure of the company, even if Langham Hotel Group is listed, it is also the 'return of the king', not to raise funds for development, but to raise funds for expansion." In short, Langham Hospitality Group will go public, but not in the last few years. ”

Corbett and the others suddenly knew it and said, "Hmm."

Lin Zuhui has already said that in the past few years, it is necessary to open high-end hotels on a global scale, especially in the mainland.

Washington, D.C., the headquarters of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel LLC, Chairman Holmes, President Horst Schultz and others met with Lin Zuhui and his party.

After a brief greeting, Lin Zuhui went straight to the topic: "We want to take a stake in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and learn the business philosophy of your hotel, I wonder if Holmes and Schultz have any intention of cooperating?" ”

Before the two sides met, there had already been a contact, otherwise there would not have been this meeting.

Holmes said: "Mr. Lin, although your company is very large, it is the world's top real estate company, but we discussed it and feel that your company's hotel business is not very strong, so what can inviting you to take a stake bring to The Ritz-Carlton?" ”

Lin Zuhui said calmly: "It's money!" If we buy 49% of your shares, you can be sure that you will be happy in your life. After all, you've been expanding aggressively over the past few years, and the Ritz-Carlton has grown up in debt and depleted of cash flow. ”

A word hits the nail on the head!

In 1983, The Ritz-Carlton, LLC was founded. Under the leadership of President and founder Colgate Holmes, as well as Horst Schultz, Joe Flaney, Ed Starlos and Hervey Hamuller, the company began to expand with new hotel projects across the United States. Within two years, five hotels were opened, including The Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, The Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Nick and The Ritz-Carlton in Naples. Continuing this rate of expansion, by the end of 1993, the Ritz-Carlton's number of exceptional luxury hotels had grown to 24, helping it win the Marcolm Bridge National Quality Award for the first time. That year, they also created their first hotel in Asia, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong.

Behind the frenzied expansion is an increase in debt and risk, after all, the Ritz-Carlton is not publicly listed, and the expansion is almost always financed by bank loans. Coupled with the sluggish economy in Europe and the United States in the past few years, the Ritz-Carlton's finances are not optimistic, at least it has been unable to expand.

President Schultz immediately asked, "You just took a stake in the Ritz-Carlton, and the management is still in our hands, right?" ”

The implication is that it has been loosened. After all, the company has a debt of more than $800 million, which is very worrying.

"We're hoping to have a break-in period, two or three years, because we've recently been consolidating the group's hotel assets and we're going to create a new hotel group," Corbett said. Over the next two years, we'll spend billions of dollars on our global hotel business. Therefore, if we have a good cooperation, of course, we hope that the Ritz-Carlton will be fully owned by our Langham Hospitality Group in two or three years. Because only in this way can The Ritz-Carlton have a steady stream of money to expand globally. ”

Ambition, Colgate Holmes and Horst Schultz and others saw the ambition of Lin Zuhui and others.

In this case, they looked at each other, and then Holmes said: "I can sell you 49% of the shares, but in the future, the initiative is still in our hands, because we don't want to hand over the Ritz-Carlton to a hotel group that has no strength." ”

They're sure they want to cash out, but they won't hand over the Ritz-Carlton to a hotel group that doesn't have the strength.

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "No problem, you make a price!" ”

After Holmes and the others exchanged words in a low voice, he said, "$800 million."

Slightly more expensive, although there are 24 five-star Ritz-Carlton hotels, they are not all asset-heavy, and some properties are leased.

Of course, the situation is pressing, and the Ritz-Carlton signboard is worth a lot of money, and Lin Zuhui is still counting on winning them all, so the initial cooperation should be pleasant.

After a few simple tentative words, seeing that Holmes and others did not let go, Lin Zuhui finalized the deal.

Money, it's the ability to spend it, and you can earn it from other places later.

He is now going to grab the money at the Marriott Hotel, get the cooperation between the two sides done, and then restructure the hotel assets in the first half of next year, and then use Langham as the flagship to start conquering cities around the world.

In the previous life, the world's top ten hotel groups, Chinese capital only had one or two seats, or even the last place, which is undoubtedly a pity. Since Lin Zuhui has come to invest, he has to get into the top five, or even the top three.

The funds for this acquisition, Lin Zuhui intends to make all loans, since the hotel assets are to be developed in recent years, even if the group's debt is 30 billion Hong Kong dollars, it will not hurt to double.

New Era Group has money, but now it needs to ensure the cash flow on the account, so there is no need to use it.

Before Jiuqi, he had a way to reduce his debts.

(End of chapter)