The happy time is always short-lived, after ten days at sea, starting from Hong Kong, arriving in the Sea of Japan, and then going around the waters of South Korea, and then returning to Hong Kong again.

In Hong Kong at the beginning of September, the temperature was a little more comfortable than the hottest time in the previous summer, but in the event of a strong typhoon, it was still so uncomfortable, even Chen Zhiwen, who did not need to go out, was not in a very good mood when he looked at the heavy rain pouring outside the building.

The typhoon was too big, and many projects of Hutchison, Galaxy and Dad's Hengyi Real Estate were suspended, and even on the day when the rainstorm was the strongest, Midea's industrial park was seriously affected, and many workers took leave.

There was a knock outside the door, and Chen Zhiwen looked back and saw that it was Zhou Jiayang.

"Chen Sheng, recently, PARKnSHOP has acquired 11 new shops, which cost almost 27 million Hong Kong dollars, of which we paid 7 million ourselves, and the remaining 20 million are all loans from HSBC." Zhou Jiayang reported.

"Okay, continue to acquire, no matter what, you won't lose." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said that the location of PARKnSHOP Supermarket as his new store will basically not be bad, even if it is not a commercial center, it will be a center for residents to live.

Moreover, when these stores are acquired, they will be where PARKnSHOP is located, which can continuously provide the company with a large amount of income and the largest cash flow in the supermarket industry.

"The acquisition is still going on, but Bao Fuda wanted to meet you two days ago, and I delayed it for a few days because you were on vacation before." Zhou Jiayang continued.

"What's the use of seeing a Bao Fuda, you tell him, let Niu Bijian come over in person, lest he can't be the master at that time." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said.

Hongkong Land's Taipan is Bao Fuda, but this is also nominal, the entire Jardine Matheson is the three giants, Jardine Matheson is the boss, and Hongkong Land and Wharf are the two wings, but Hongkong Land and Wharf's Taipan are only responsible for daily management, and any larger things are basically Jardine Taipan has the final say.

"Okay, I'll talk to Bao Fuda on the phone later." Zhou Jiayang nodded and said, "Hongkong Land came to us this time, probably to discuss the matter of Parknshop and Wellcome with us. ”

"That's expected." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Over the years, Chen Zhiwen's business expansion has been mainly in overseas markets, without any conflict with Hong Kong local companies, and the acquisition of industrial real estate or property in the past few years is also a land property that no one wants during the real estate crisis.

Even after the acquisition of Hutchison, a large number of businesses were sold, and the only real estate business was to develop its own land properties, or to find Swire to buy a few plots of land, without competing with anyone, but this expansion of PARKnSHOP was an exception.

Jardine Matheson's previous support for Wellcome made it clear that he wanted to control the retail supermarket market in Hong Kong, and Chen Zhiwen also knew this, but there would be more important things to do in 75 years, so he naturally put the supermarket aside first, and stabilizing Hutchison was the most important time last year.

And now that the funds are abundant, it is natural to enter the market, and it is impossible for Costco, the future global supermarket giant, whose boss is located in Hong Kong, but the retail market is controlled by others.

Costco's model is not suitable for Hong Kong, but Hong Kong's model is suitable for Asia and the mainland in the future, the importance of Hong Kong's local market is not high, but this is a starting point, is the preparation of Asian retail layout, after Hong Kong obtains a monopoly position, and then expands externally, is Chen Zhiwen's requirement for PARKnSHOP, and Southeast Asian countries, it is not difficult to enter, but various cultures are different, which will make the operation more difficult, therefore, it is inevitable to need a stable rear.

In this case, it is a matter of time before and Jardine Matheson, if Chen Zhiwen planned Wharf two years ago, he was still more cautious about the two giants of Jardine Land, and was unwilling to collide, now, the two sides are completely at the same level at the capital level, although the Jardine Department is still not to be underestimated, but it is definitely not very worried.

"How's the Wharf acquisition?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"During this time, we acquired another 0.7% of the shares, and we are still close to 20%, and it is estimated that it will be reached in October, and in October, Wharf will have another share increase financing, and we can get at least another 3% increase in shares." Zhou Jiayang replied.

"Okay, just keep up at this pace, don't be impatient, and don't cause Wharf's stock price to rise sharply." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, when he takes away the Wharf from Jardine Matheson, it is estimated that the British capital in the entire Hong Kong will explode.

However, at today's level, it is normal to have a conflict of competition with British capital or Jardine Matheson, unless Chen Zhiwen really wholeheartedly develops overseas markets and abandons Hong Kong, but it is obviously impossible.

Let's just say that now, if anyone wants to sell the building in Central, at this stage when housing prices are just starting, Chen Zhiwen will not give up, and Hongkong Land is naturally the same, interests are the root of all cooperation or conflicts.

And, if history hadn't changed because of him, another big event would soon have happened in Hong Kong.

Connaught Building:

"Chen Zhiwen wants to see me directly?" Niu Bijian asked with a frown.

"Yes, there is news from his subordinates that Chen Zhiwen needs to talk to someone who can make decisions directly on the spot to talk to him." Bao Fuda's face was a little ugly, and Chen Zhiwen's words directly hit his fragile heart.

Although he is the nominal executive of Hongkong Land, the entire Hongkong Land is controlled by Jardine Matheson, and the same is true of the Taipan of Wharf, the entire Jardine Matheson Department is under the control of Niu Bijian, and he is just a puppet.

But this can't be blamed on him, the entire Jardine family has been like this for a hundred years, when the Keswick family dominated the Jardine family, the Taipan of the Land and the Wharf was a puppet, with no real power, just responsible for management, and all major matters were decided by the Keswick family.

"Also, although on the surface it is only a small supermarket property investment, which may be less than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, behind this is the beginning of whether our two companies will have a long-term confrontation." Niu Bijian nodded and said: "This is also good news, which shows that Chen Zhiwen is not willing to really fight with us, even if he doesn't give in, maybe we can find a way to reconcile." ”

"Then meet up, they'll be at the Hilton Hotel in 3 days." Bao Fuda said.

"Okay, reply to the message, we will definitely arrive on time." Niu Bijian said.

Three days later, the typhoon ended, the torrential rain passed, and there was still a lot of rain on the streets, and many people were still wearing rain boots, avoiding puddles one after another.

Several Mercedes-Benz came downstairs to the Hilton Hotel, but unexpectedly, they happened to meet Niu Bijian and his party who also came.

Although there has never been a formal exchange, before Chen Zhiwen acquired Hutchison, at the charity banquet of HSBC, Chen Zhiwen met Niu Bijian, but at that time, Niu Bijian could not look down on an unknown Chinese.

And now Niu Bijian naturally knows Chen Zhiwen, although Chen Zhiwen has been using strong capital power to control his photos not to appear in the print media, and can do it, but for Niu Bijian, it is definitely not difficult to get Chen Zhiwen's photos.

"Chen Sheng, hello." Niu Bijian greeted him in very fluent Cantonese.

"Mr. Newbijian, I've been looking up for a long time." Chen Zhiwen smiled and shook hands and said, before the public acquisition of Wharf, there is no need for him to go against Jardine Matheson, even if it is the expansion of Parknshop Supermarket, it can be discussed.

"My fame is far worse than Chen Sheng." Niu Bijian smiled and said: "I'm just a wage earner, Chen Sheng is a figure in the Hong Kong business community. ”

"It doesn't make a difference, Shen Bi also works part-time." Chen Zhiwen said lightly.

A person's influence mainly depends on how many resources he has, not how many assets, in Western companies, especially companies with scattered shares, the people in charge of such companies are these part-time workers, and a sentence can mobilize a large amount of funds, such as Cook of Apple in later generations.

If you look at these people by their worth, it is too inaccurate, the value is only suitable for the wealth benchmark of the first generation of entrepreneurs, such as Li Jiacheng, Bao Yugang, Chen Zhiwen and so on, just say Bao Yugang, 74 years by the American media called the richest Chinese in Asia, but the real bigwigs in Hong Kong are HSBC and Jardine Matheson, Bao Yugang is far behind.

"Chen Sheng said with a smile, HSBC, but Hong Kong's central bank, is still different." Niu Bijian said with a smile.

"With Jardine's current scale, we may be able to surpass HSBC one day." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile, this is actually not wrong, Niu Bijian, like Qi Dezun, has always hoped to make Jardine bigger, more than the scale of HSBC, but the mess from the Keswick family is a bit big, plus the 73 years of oil crisis made Jardine suffer heavy losses, over the years, Niu Bijian has also been trying to control Jardine's overseas investment without major problems.

In the original history, Li Jiacheng and Bao Yugang were sandwiched back and forth, and slapped Jardine Matheson twice through Wharf before extinguishing Niu Bijian's ambition.

This is actually HSBC's deliberate behavior, Niu Bijian is too arrogant, Bao Yugang is HSBC's weapon, otherwise, if HSBC does not borrow money, Bao Yugang will not be able to forcibly buy Wharf.

"Then borrow Chen Shengji's words." Niu Bijian smiled, then looked at Chen Zhiwen's car, and said: "Chen Sheng, as the most successful person in Hong Kong, you drive this Mercedes-Benz, which seems to be a little too ordinary, so I will send you a Rolls-Royce." ”

"Thank you, but that's not necessary, I still like Mercedes." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

Rolls-Royce is actually an ordinary one million Hong Kong dollars, which is a drop in the bucket for Chen Zhiwen or Jardine Matheson, Chen Zhiwen wants to buy it easily, at this time, receiving a "gift" from Niu Bijian is not conducive to the negotiation of the meeting.

And the reason why Mercedes was chosen is also because this is a specific bulletproof car.

"Okay, then please." Niu Bijian nodded and said, he didn't bother with the issue of gift-giving, this was actually just a kindness, he naturally knew that Chen Zhiwen would not accept it.

Several people took a special elevator to a conference room above the Hilton Hotel.

"Chen Sheng, I'll just say it bluntly, Jardine Matheson Group decided to take the retail supermarket industry as one of Jardine Matheson's main businesses a few years ago, as far as I know, Chen Sheng also has his own supermarket in the United States, and the scale is not small, so why waste money in a small market like Hong Kong?" Niu Bijian said directly.

"The supermarket in the United States is the supermarket in the United States, and it has nothing to do with Hong Kong, besides, with the assets of Jardine Matheson, the scale, if you really pay attention to the retail industry, the time of the past few years is enough to easily open hundreds of new Wellcome supermarkets in Hong Kong, but now there is no such thing." Chen Zhiwen said calmly.

Costco has recently become famous in the retail industry in the United States, especially after opening a new milestone on the East Coast, which has attracted the attention of many media and retail giants, Chen Zhiwen, the boss behind it, has naturally been dug up, not an equity issue, Costco is a non-listed company, and there is no need to announce shareholders, but Chen Zhiwen has been to Costco many times, and there are naturally many people around him who know the actual situation.

And Chen Zhiwen didn't want to keep it hidden, the scale of a supermarket is getting bigger and bigger, and it is not a pure investment, it involves the employment of tens of thousands of people, it must be impossible to hide.

In Hong Kong, under the strong media control of Chen Zhiwen, ordinary people do not know about this matter, but Niu Bijian and other bosses of Ocean Bank or Chinese-funded real estate companies still know. This is also why Niu Bijian is also willing to discuss with Chen Zhiwen, because these people in Hong Kong don't know how many hole cards Chen Zhiwen has overseas.

"We weren't in a hurry to develop." Niu Bijian said.

"And what do you want? I've invested in dozens of new stores, so I can't invest in vain, right? Chen Zhiwen said.

"It's not a problem, these shops, I can buy them at a high price." Niu Bijian said boldly.

"It's impossible, the retail industry is the strategic development direction I have set for Hutchison, and I will not give up, but I think Mr. Niu Bijian can consider selling Wellcome to me, and the price can be discussed." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

If Jardine Matheson really considered selling Wellcome, Chen Zhiwen would still be willing to bid for it, removing a competitor, plus it only takes a year or two to truly dominate Hong Kong's retail supermarket industry.

"Retail is also the direction of development that Jardine has specified." Niu Bijian said.

"Then it's up to each to see what they can do." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said, "Let's do our own thing." ”

"But Hong Kong is not so big, after a long time will inevitably meet again, when the time comes, we have invested in hundreds of supermarkets, hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, then it will be impossible to stop, will inevitably face a tragic price war, it is not good for you and me, so I hope that when we have not all been evil, discuss what to do first?" Niu Bijian said sincerely.

"And what does Mr. Newbijian think?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"We will demarcate the territory, and then we will do our own in the future, just like CLP Power and HK Electric, but I don't mean to distinguish Hong Kong Island and Kowloon like them, as for how to distribute it, it depends on the future." Niu Bijian smiled and said, "What does Chen Sheng think of this idea? ”

"It sounds good, but it is difficult to do in reality, and PARKnSHOP was originally ready to quickly occupy the market, and this distribution agreement may not come out when PARKnSHOP opens all over Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

(End of chapter)