Time flies, and it soon becomes 78 years.

After New Year's Day, Shen Hongbing, the person in charge of Taohua Datong, brought good news.

"Chen Sheng, last month, we sent people to 16 major pepper-producing cities in the mainland, with the help of the local agricultural bureau, found the corresponding peppers, and then brought them back, we have tested many times, and found that Guizhou, Sichuan, Fujian peppers are very good, the taste is very good, not only our company people think so, we also went to PARKnSHOP supermarket to test some social groups, including some ghosts." Shen Hongbing said as he put three bottles of packaged hot sauce on the table.

"Sit down first." Chen Zhiwen said first, then picked up three bottles of hot sauce and observed, it looked like the colors were all about the same, and then took a little sister-in-law and tried the flavors respectively.

"It seems like it's all good." Chen Zhiwen said that the tastes are very good, and he can tell the difference, but it is difficult to say which one is good and which one is bad.

"At present, the best feedback we have received is the chili pepper brought back from Guizhou, but considering that the number of test people is too small now, and we are not sure about the taste in Europe and the United States, I am going to send these three to American supermarkets for testing, and then select the best ones as our products." Shen Hongbing said.

"Okay, then you go and try it, Costco now has almost 40 supermarkets, if it's not enough, go to Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart will definitely charge for it, and you can see how to control it yourself." Chen Zhiwen continued.

In fact, in his memory, he has long known that the main raw material of Lao Gan Ma in later generations is from Guizhou, similarly, Guizhou's chili pepper in later generations, is also known as one of the best pepper producing areas in the world, Guizhou's chili pepper is not very spicy, but the taste is very good, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce has never relied on spicy to win, but a balance between spicy and taste, both are indispensable, in fact, it is too spicy, it is self-extermination, because few people like it.

But he basically won't interfere in this kind of thing, unless it involves a major investment, otherwise, just let his subordinates find the right way for themselves.

"Okay." Shen Hongbing nodded and said, Taohua Datong is now operating independently, and the Galaxy Group above basically does not interfere, so naturally it also needs to be responsible for losses and profits.

"You Taohua Datong is responsible for the hot sauce, and the profits will also belong to you in the future." Chen Zhiwen said again: "But now that the hot sauce is sent to the United States, it will take a while to test, and I have another task to entrust to you, you know instant noodles, right?" ”

"Instant noodles?" Shen Hongbing nodded and said: "I know, instant noodles are very popular in Japan, and there is also a certain market in Hong Kong, but there are already a few manufacturers that produce instant noodles, are we going to make instant noodles?" ”

"It's not you, it's Red Bull, this is the next business I have prepared for Red Bull, and they have already started to recruit talents in food seasonings, but they are not as professional as yours now, so I entrusted you to research ingredients and seasonings." Chen Zhiwen said.

Hot sauce, this industry actually came up with an accident, which can be regarded as filling a gap in the market. However, due to its low frequency of demand, even the domestic market in the future is far less than the normal food or snack market, or even a fraction of the scale.

Therefore, this business was given to Taohua Datong, and after the acquisition of this company, it is always necessary to let him develop a little, if it has been decadent and kept as it is, it may affect other acquisitions in the future.

After all, not every acquisition can get enough shares, this kind of business M&A case is actually not common, the most common acquisition in the history of global business is still with the consent of a large number of shareholders on the other side, so if the performance of several companies acquired by oneself has skyrocketed and the stock price has doubled, then there is even more reason to convince outsiders.

Even the previously acquired Jingzhou Yingxiao, he will not get other people's land and then throw it aside at will, but in the cement business, he is indeed powerless at present, so he can only wait for the mainland to be reopened in a few years, and then let Jingzhou Yingxiao enter.

However, some of the future potential of large-scale industries, of course, or their own son company holds, instant noodles this is naturally the case, although Japan, Hong Kong, Wanwan instant noodle market has been controlled by others, but the mainland next door, is a super large market for instant noodles, from the 90s began to erupt, until the mobile Internet era after the impact of takeaway, only to stop the upward trend.

As for the overall state of the economy, the 80s are definitely worse than the 90s, but the consumer market is still very large, and a Jianlibao in the 80s has annual sales of hundreds of millions of dollars, and in the era of bad economy, instant noodles are more practical than drinks.

"Okay, I understand, I'm going to set up a special team to work with Red Bull." Shen Hongbing said that he also knew the status of his company, and it would be good to be able to get a hot sauce, after all, he knew that his own group head office has strong terminal retail resources in the European and American markets, and can send a large number of Hong Kong goods to the European and American markets. Hot sauce, although it is not as frequent as ordinary snacks, is much stronger than its own soy sauce or something.

It's February soon, but for some investors, it's like going to heaven.

In January, many institutions found that Wharf, a stock whose stock price has not fluctuated much for several years, suddenly rose sharply, and the daily trading volume began to increase.

Financial reporters or experts, these people, go to the battlefield by themselves, that is, they will lose eight out of ten, but by relying on countless judgments on the stock market, as long as they guess correctly many times, they can gain a large group of followers. Faced with the situation that someone bought a large number of Wharf stocks, it was natural to immediately announce it, or through TV interviews, or through newspapers.

As soon as the news came out, it attracted countless shareholders to buy Wharf stocks, and some professional investment institutions also saw the opportunities inside, and joined in, for a while, Wharf's stock price skyrocketed, and soon rose from 10 Hong Kong dollars to 30 or 40 per share, and at the end of February, the stock price once exceeded 50, and the market value of Wharf also rose from 1 billion Hong Kong dollars to nearly 5 billion Hong Kong dollars, almost surpassing Hongkong Land.

"Son, you are really amazing, the Wharf shares I acquired before, as soon as I sold them, I made 40 million Hong Kong dollars, I knew that I should have bought a little more, and I could have earned 100 million." In the Chen family's villa, Chen Tianfu looked at the analysis of the Hong Kong stock market on the TV station and said with some regret.

"It's good to be able to earn so much, thanks to Li Jiacheng." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, after his own side stopped, he told his old man that he could take advantage of the Wharf stock price in December when the stock price of Wharf was just rising to buy a little more, Chen Tianfu also believed his son's words, and decisively started 20 million Hong Kong dollars, and now at the peak, he made a lot of money by throwing out blood, which is more than developing a few ordinary communities.

"Then you've made a lot of money over there." Chen Tianfu asked with a smile.

"I made some, 100 million, I can't sell too much, and I also have to consider that when I buy it in the future, my base is too low and unsafe." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

When Wharf's stock price reached HK$40 per share, Chen Zhiwen ordered to sell some of the shares that had been acquired at a low price to recoup a certain amount of money, and then recover it when Wharf's stock price fell in the future.

But no matter what, he also has to ensure that there are at least 25% of the Wharf shares in his hand, otherwise he will sell too much, and if he wants to buy back too much in the future, it will lead to a sharp rise in the stock price, so this time he also sold 5% of the shares, according to the previous investment, almost 150 million Hong Kong dollars, but considering that the stock price of Wharf is unlikely to fall back to 10 Hong Kong dollars a share in the future, how much he earns, it depends on when and at what price these stocks will be recovered.

"Li Jiacheng is a little too composed, and now that the stock price has reached such a high level, with the scale of Cheung Kong Industrial, there is no way to continue." Chen Tianfu said with some emotion.

"HSBC has intervened, and Li Jiacheng can't play even if he has the capital." Chen Zhiwen said: "However, the first half is over, and the second half has just begun. ”

"Then if Shen Bi is looking for you the same, what will you do?" Chen Tianfu said.

"I'm not Li Jiacheng, Shen Bi can semi-threaten Li Jiacheng, but he can't threaten me, and the relationship between Jardine Matheson and HSBC itself is not very good, Jardine has already begged HSBC once, and if I do it again, I'm afraid Niu Bijian may not be able to pull this face." Chen Zhiwen said.

Chen Tianfu said: "However, from HSBC's point of view, Shen Bi does not want any consortium in Hong Kong to exceed HSBC's scale, Jardine Matheson has always been a big problem for HSBC before, but now you are one of them, and then buy Wharf, Shen Bi definitely does not want this kind of thing to happen." ”

"It makes sense to say this, but under the general trend, Shen Bi has no choice." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Later, Bao Yugang borrowed 2.1 billion Hong Kong dollars from HSBC in 1980 with a phone call, this kind of rapid loan that seriously violated the banking law was obviously Shen Bili's behavior against public opinion, which was not that he had a good relationship with Bao Yugang, and because the scale of Hongkong Real Estate at that time had increased significantly, and the Harbour City with Wharf was about to be completed, the scale of Jardine Matheson had begun to threaten the status of HSBC, so he cut off one of Jardine's wings by Bao Yugang's hand. In the process, HSBC can also earn a sum of interest from Bao Yugang's blood.

Bao Yugang was heavily dependent on HSBC at that time, and now Chen Zhiwen is not, the acquisition of Wharf, the ambition is to win, just a harbour city that can collect 10 billion Hong Kong dollars in rent in the future, it is worth everything, such a big income, in the future to feed back so many real industries to themselves, will produce greater economic benefits.

"Then you are going to buy his shares from Li Jiacheng?" Chen Tianfu asked.

"Yes, but we have to wait for the market to be rational, as long as Li Jiacheng announces that he will give up the acquisition of Wharf under the pressure of HSBC, the stock price will naturally fall, and I can buy a little more in the stock market at that time, so it is almost the capital of the showdown with Jardine Matheson." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Let things develop like history, it is his deliberate behavior, the biggest advantage is that he does not have to be the first to come forward, if he is the first to come forward, then Wharf's stock will not only rise to 50 Hong Kong dollars, whether it is shareholders or major investment institutions, obviously more believe that Chen Zhiwen's financial resources can buy Wharf.

When Li Jiacheng announced that he would abandon the acquisition, although the stock price of Wharf would not fall to the low price it once was, almost twenty or thirty Hong Kong dollars, this price was also acceptable to Chen Zhiwen, after all, he has been buying Wharf shares, and the cost of the acquisition will definitely increase in the later stage, and it is impossible to maintain the original price.

"Okay, if you need funds, I can come up with a sum of money in the near future." Chen Tianfu paused and said: "In May, the Central subway station will be pre-sold, according to the current trend of rising housing prices, it is estimated that it can earn more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, and Admiralty will be pre-sold in August, and it is estimated that the income will be a little less than that of Central, plus many projects have also begun to close, and I should be fine with 500 million Hong Kong dollars here." ”

"It shouldn't be needed, but let's keep it for now, even if the acquisition of Wharf is not needed, there will be other places that need it in the future." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

"Okay." Chen Tianfu said.

A few days later, Cheung Kong headquarters:

"The day after Mr. Li Ka Shing announced that he would abandon the acquisition of Wharf, the share price of Wharf has fallen back to HK$28, a drop of more than 40%, and a large number of shareholders have suffered heavy losses." On TV, TVB is broadcasting Hong Kong's financial news, and the focus is naturally on the follow-up of Wharf's acquisition.

"The stock price is falling so fast, my share is less than 1%, and it's too late." Li Jiacheng shook his head and said.

"The stock price you acquired before was very low, and it was only recently acquired at a high price, and the overall entry level should be less than 20 Hong Kong dollars." A woman about the same age as Li Jiacheng comforted on the side, it was Li Jiacheng's wife Zhuang Yueming.

"Actually, it's not a matter of money, it's just a pity that I missed the opportunity to acquire Wharf, if Wharf is in my hands, the efficiency of development is definitely much higher." Li Jiacheng shook his head and said, Wharf is not only Harbour City, it also has a large number of high-quality land, but it is a pity that the current Jardine Matheson Department is conservative in operation and has invested a lot of money in the construction of Harbour City, resulting in no investment in other places, and a large amount of high-quality land has been wasted.

"That can't be helped, although Jardine Matheson has heard that there have been problems with overseas investment in the past two years, but the skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and it is not something you can pry now, besides, Jardine Matheson also invited HSBC to come forward, we do real estate in Hong Kong, even if there is the Canadian Imperial Bank behind it, but it is impossible not to cooperate with HSBC, especially if you want to continue to grow, you must rely on HSBC." Zhuang Yueming said.

"It's only like this now, but it's strange to me that according to my estimates, in three months, I should have been able to receive 20%, but now it's only 12%, and the stock price has gone up." Li Jiacheng said with some puzzlement.

"You mean there are fewer liquid shares in the market?" Zhuang Yueming also graduated from a prestigious university, and has been assisting Li Jiacheng in the industry in his early years, and only in recent years has he begun to focus on the education of his two sons, but he still understands the stock market.

"There is a possibility, but this thing is also difficult to predict accurately, maybe I think too much, or many people want to wait for Jardine Matheson to fight back, and then hold on to the stock and wait and see." Li Jiacheng said.

"But looking at the stock price trend, since 40 Hong Kong dollars, the trading volume has increased significantly, but the stock price has fluctuated very little, indicating that someone is selling a lot, and there are many people in the market who speculate that you will join forces with several Chinese giants to buy Wharf, which is also in line with this strategy." Zhuang Yueming analyzed.

"You mean there are other players operating the stock? But the only people who can do this are those who own a large number of Wharf shares, is it Jardine Matheson who directs and acts? Li Jiacheng asked.

"It's really possible, HSBC is willing to come forward, then Jardine Matheson executives should also think that we will definitely withdraw from the acquisition, so they take advantage of the high price to cash out the part, and wait for us to give up the acquisition, the stock price falls and then take it back, isn't it a double win?" Zhuang Yueming said.

"It's really possible, everyone thinks about it." Li Jiacheng said with a smile.

After he decided to give up Wharf, he was also ready to take advantage of the high price to cash out part, but now Cheung Kong has become the focus of attention, and a large number of Wharf shares cannot be hidden, so after the appropriate sell-off, the cessation of the acquisition was officially announced.

"Everybody's smart, too." Zhuang Yueming said with a light smile that his side is the rise of entrepreneurship, and Jardine's Niu Bijian and others are also elites from tens of thousands of Jardine employees.

There was a knock outside the door.

"Come in." Li Jiacheng saw that it was his assistant and said.

"Li Sheng, Mrs. Zhuang." The assistant walked in and said, "The secretary of the board of directors of Hutchison Whampoa has just called, and their chairman Chen Zhiwen wants to make an appointment with you to meet in the presidential suite of the Hilton Hotel in three days." ”

(End of chapter)