After New Year's Day.

Lin Zhichao made an appointment to meet Hu Yingxiang of Hopewell Real Estate and asked him to come to his office.

Hopewell Real Estate finally recovered in 1979 (the fuse of the stock market crash in 1973, the market value fell by 93%), the real estate profit of that year was 70 million Hong Kong dollars, and then the construction of Wan Chai Hopewell Center, the annual rent of 8000 ~ 90 million Hong Kong dollars.

In the early 80s, Hopewell Real Estate turned to the mainland, and in 1981 and 1984, it twice suggested to the top management that China should build at least three expressways - the Beijing-Tianjin line, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen line, and the Shenyang-Dalian line.

Hu Yingxiang is a high-achieving student in a professional architecture class, so some people say that Hong Kong is too small, and he can only go to the mainland to realize his ambitions.

"I came to you, I have an idea for you to sum it up!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

"Lin Sheng, please speak!" Hu Yingxiang said curiously.

Lin Zhichao nodded, then took out a map of Hong Kong, pointed to Lantau Island and said: "Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport has entered the 80s, and the load has been increasing day by day, and I think an international airport should be reclaimed in this place." In addition, Lantau Island will also build a cross-sea bridge, an undersea tunnel, and develop industrial zones and residential areas; Finally, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Zhuhai Expressway connecting Hong Kong, Yangcheng and Macao can also be built. ”

He just made a simple comparison, obviously not really studied it in depth, because Lin Zhichao knew that Hu Yingxiang was a professional planner, and he was also a planner of the Hong Kong government and a civil servant.

Hu Yingxiang suddenly showed interest, and while looking at the map, he said: "What does Lin Sheng mean is that this large-scale project is invested by our private consortium?" This is the largest project in Hong Kong since the opening of the port, even surpassing the MTR project. ”

Lin Zhichao said: "Yes, the total investment is expected to be about 25 billion!" However, once we get permission from the Hong Kong government, we can use the profits from the residential area to support some of the investment. What's more, the undersea tunnel and the cross-sea bridge are infrastructure projects that stabilize cash flow."

Hu Yingxiang nodded and said: "Indeed, once this project is successful, it will not only bring huge economic benefits to Hong Kong, but also bring considerable profits to investors. Since Lin Sheng called me, did he plan for me to design and plan for this project? ”

Although the project invests 25 billion yuan, it actually only needs one-tenth of the start-up capital, and the rest can be completed through bank loans.

Lin Zhichao called him, thinking that he wanted to use his skills.

"Well, civil engineering is not Cheung Kong's strengths, Cheung Kong's strengths are building projects, if I hope you can come up with a rough plan, and then we will invest in partnership and publicly announce it, and apply to the Hong Kong government for the approval of the plan."

"Okay, I'm very interested in this project, I didn't expect Lin Sheng to have such a creative idea, it's true, I also considered this kind of plan, but I don't have such courage."

"Haha, that's just right!"

The two quickly reached an agreement, with Hu Yingxiang going to work on the plan, and then Cheung Kong Group and Hopewell Real Estate applied to the Hong Kong government for approval, and publicly announced the plan.

Hu Yingxiang excitedly left Cheung Kong Group, but he didn't know that a smile appeared on the corner of Lin Zhichao's mouth.

This smile is not a sneer and a sneer, just a very relaxed smile.

In fact, Lin Zhichao knew that this plan would not pass, after all, there were many places involved. In the previous life, the mainland and the Hong Kong government had been arguing with each other for a long time on the airport plan.

It's not that the mainland wants to stop the Hong Kong government from building an airport, but that it involves the new government in 1997 and whether there is money to run it!

In the joint statement, it is stipulated that the Hong Kong government cannot sell more than 50 hectares of land every year, which is because the mainland government is worried that the Hong Kong government will sell all the land, and how will the new Hong Kong government obtain fiscal revenue in the future?

Since Lin Zhichao knew that the private consortium could not handle this 'Western Seaport-Lantau Strategic Development Plan', why did he still sell it?

In fact, Lin Zhichao has three ideas:

First, it has prompted the Hong Kong government to pay attention to the new airport plan in advance, even if it is two years in advance, which can be regarded as a great merit, because Kai Tak Airport has already begun to overload.

Second, once this plan comes out, then the new airport on Lantau Island will be 'revealed', and even if it is not approved, the public will know that Lantau Island will be chosen for the new airport in the future, and then Discovery Bay Phases 4 and 5 will be more profitable.

Third, if it passes, then Cheung Kong Group will make a huge profit, although this possibility is very small. What's more, whether it passes or not, it can bring huge influence and credibility to Cheung Kong Group.

In short, he doesn't lose money anyway, and there is a free 'worker' - Hu Yingxiang.

After a while, Lin Ruihuan came to the office.

"Father, the plan for Tylfull Place in Singapore is ready!" He handed Lin Zhichao a stack of information.

Lin Zhichao nodded, and didn't look at it directly, this plan was already final, and he was not in a hurry.

At present, Cheung Kong Asset Group has two large-scale commercial projects under construction - Changjiang Plaza and Exchange Square, and Singapore Tylfull Place will be the third large-scale commercial project.

Cheung Kong Group can be described as the real king of real estate, and its commercial real estate can be called enviable, and it will soon become a soft enterprise for rent collection. Not only that, Cheung Kong Group is also a large developer of real estate in Hong Kong, which is a little more than the supply of the second place Sun Hung Kai, although the gap is not large.

"How's business going in Japan?" Lin Zhichao asked.

Lin Ruihuan replied: "Everything is going well, we have once again obtained a piece of land in the Tokyo business circle and the second phase of three comprehensive commercial office buildings, and Cheung Kong Group is ready to inject Higashida Enterprise at any time to continue to invest in the Japanese real estate business."

Lin Zhichao nodded with satisfaction, Cheung Kong Group injected a total of 400 million US dollars, and Victoria Harbour Investment injected a total of 600 million US dollars, at least to leverage more than 3 billion US dollars of investment. In the future, the harvest will be ten times the increase in value (leverage X real estate appreciation X yen appreciation), and Cheung Kong will be able to share 30~4 billion US dollars in profits.

"What about the company's cash flow?"

"Very good, and billions of loans are readily available!"

"Well, I see!"

Hong Kong can no longer accommodate the expansion of Cheung Kong Group, and Japan has also been laid out, so it seems that the only way to expand is to Europe and the United States. But this matter is not urgent, step by step.

After the Hang Seng Index rose to 1,200 points at the end of last year (1984), it rose to only 1,380 points in January 1985.

After that, it fluctuates repeatedly in the first half of February, giving the feeling that it seems that the potential has been exhausted.

Just when investors and stock commentators were in a hurry, on February 14, news suddenly came that the Qiu Teck Puat consortium from Kenzhou announced that it had purchased 14% of the shares from the Madden family and was ready to fully acquire Wheelock shares from other shareholders at a price of 6 yuan for A shares and 6 jiao for B shares, involving funds of 1.9 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The news was a shot in the arm, and the stock market immediately stopped falling and recovered.

Regarding Xiao Ma Deng's secret acts, Zhang Yuliang is the most anxious. At this time, although Zhang Yuliang had already lost his mind because of the "Ninety-Seven" issue, he never expected that Xiao Ma Deng would come like this, which caught him off guard.

If the takeover is successful, where will he put the face of this major shareholder? Does that keep him from worrying?

"Obviously I'm the major shareholder! Madden, why didn't he inform me? A truth that is too simple makes Zhang Yuliang feel ashamed.

To put it simply, it's like your own house, and others start demolishing it without your permission.

What's more, once the Khoo Teck Puat consortium succeeds, how should the shares in his hands be handled? Suppose the Khoo Teck Puat consortium takes a 51% stake and declares it successful, wouldn't he be left to the slaughter?

Over the years, due to being secretly 'suppressed' by Lin Zhichao, Zhang Yuliang felt that his family's business was not going well.

Back then, the Zhang family made a windfall of about 20 million Hong Kong dollars in the 'Peninsula Campaign', and it was the first time to intervene in the real estate industry (1953).

After such a start, I didn't expect that the wealth of the Zhang family now is only 38% of Wheelock's equity, plus only 6.7 billion Hong Kong dollars in assets.

In 1981, Cheung Yuliang bought half of the shares of Wheelock House and Madden Building, but the real estate crashed quickly, and finally Wheelock Federal Real Estate bought back half of his shares at a discount.

came and went, Zhang Yuliang lost another 300 million!

"Find someone to join the anti-takeover!"

"Who are you looking for? Lin Zhichao is the most powerful, but unfortunately he is not used to me, I will not look for him even if I die! ”

For a while, Zhang Yuliang was embarrassed.

Although there are many consortia in Hong Kong, there are not many that can win compared to the Chiu Teck Puat consortium.

"Zhang Sheng, Li Sheng of Changhe Real Estate, I hope to visit you, and I left a phone number!"

Just as Zhang Yuliang was thinking about it, Li Jiacheng took the initiative to contact him.

Because Li Jiacheng knew that although he had a good relationship with Zhang Yuliang, Zhang Yuliang must think that he had no strength and would not think of himself.

When Zhang Yuliang heard this, he knew that Li Jiacheng might be interested, and although he doubted his strength, he still called back.

Soon, the two sides made an appointment at the Mandarin Hotel.

At noon, the Mandarin Hotel.

Li Jiacheng got straight to the point and said: "Zhang Sheng, now that the Khoo Teck Puat consortium has 'maliciously' acquired Wheelock Group, and many shareholders have gone to sell their shares in the morning, do you have any countermeasures?" ”

Hearing that many shareholders went to sell their stocks, Zhang Yuliang was not surprised.

Wheelock's stock, known as the 'Blue Lantern', has long been a stockholder - tasteless food, it is a pity to abandon it.

Wheelock mainly invested in real estate and shipping, and later developed into insurance, finance, department stores, manufacturing and trading. Its subsidiaries and associated companies are: Harriman Development, Main Fortune Development, Lane Crawford Development, Commonwealth Land, Property Trust, Wheelock Shipping and Associates. The number of listed companies under it is the highest among all foreign banks.

According to the published figures, Wheelock's operating performance is not bad, but its listed stock is called the "blue lantern".

What is a "blue lantern"? The traditional customs of China, whenever there is a festive event, there must be lanterns and red lanterns hung high; And only during funerals, blue lanterns are hung.

It turns out that Wheelock's stock has always been the latest to rise in the past stock market rally. When the rising wave of blue-chip stocks such as HSBC, Swire and Hutchison was coming to an end, Wheelock started slowly. As soon as seasoned investors saw Wheelock's stock rise, they knew that the day of a stock market correction was not far off. As a result, Wheelock's stock became a "blue lantern" – a signal that the stock market was "finished".

For a long time, Wheelock has disappointed investors again and again with its internal and external approach and development strategy.

For example, in the issuance of AB shares, the major shareholder clearly holds a large number of B shares with only one-tenth of the A share price, but allows them to enjoy the same rights as A shares, which is called taking advantage, and the whole Hong Kong will be the only one. (Some companies imitated, but under the influence of public opinion, the Hong Kong government stopped in time)

For example, directors (or directors' families) take advantage of public companies, most notably Federal Realty, which has been making a profit on rents from two buildings for more than a decade. The company was debt-free and non-growing, and its earnings increased year after year, but dividends did not move, and over the years, Federal Real Estate amassed a large amount of cash. The cash was kept in Wheelock's parent company for a long time, and the interest rate was much lower than the interest on a one-year fixed deposit, so that the parent company made a lot of gains on this alone, while Federal Real Estate suffered a loss of interest. There are also property trusts. There are a lot of things like that.

For example, Ma Deng has always distrusted Hong Kong's future, so he has invested heavily in shipping. At the end of 1983, Wheelock Shipping had 29 vessels with a deadweight of 1.4 million tons, a debt of $2.18 billion due to the shipping industry downturn, and a further $680 million to complete the construction of the vessels. Faced with a long-term recession in the shipping industry, the debt-ridden Wheelock Shipping Company was forced to sell its ships at a low price and seek support from Wheelock & Co. and its peers. As a result of the active sale of ships, by the first half of 1984, Wheelock Shipping Company had reduced its liabilities by HK$560 million and its capital commitments by HK$468 million, but at the same time incurred a loss of HK$64.72 million. In March, there was even news that Wheelock could be liquidated due to debt problems. Wheelock's woes sparked a conflict between Wheelock's two major shareholders, George Madden and Zhang Yuliang.

Various factors have led to the unfavorable rise in the stock of Wheelock Group.

But in fact, as long as anyone controls the Wheelock Group, it is equivalent to controlling a number of listed companies - as many as seven listed companies, including Federal Real Estate, Real Estate Trust, Wheelock Shipping, Harriman Development, and United Enterprises.

When Zhang Yuliang saw Li Jiacheng say this, he said: "Could it be that Li Sheng is interested in Wheelock?" ”

Li Jiacheng nodded and said, "If Zhang Sheng has an idea, I am willing to form a consortium with you to carry out a reverse takeover!" ”

He was clever enough to propose a consortium to reverse takeovers, which would have two benefits:

First, he earned fame and justice;

Second, if Zhang Yuliang intends to withdraw, he will not kill him.

Sure enough, Zhang Yuliang shook his head and said: "My biggest hope now is that someone can accept the shares in my hand, and then defeat the Qiu Teck Puat consortium to take revenge. ”

In fact, he also hopes to cash out and leave!

Li Jiacheng was overjoyed, he made the right bet, so he said: "Since Zhang Sheng thinks so, then I won't hide it from you, I can take over the shares in your hand with Qiu Deba's bid." ”

Zhang Yuliang was a little surprised, Qiu Deba offered a price of 1.9 billion yuan to fully acquire Wheelock Group, so the 38% stake in his hand is also worth 722 million Hong Kong dollars. The market value of Changhe Real Estate is only a little more than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, but it can come up with such a large amount of money.

Terrible!

If this person has a background, he may be able to achieve the level of the 'Four Great Families'.

Pity!

"Li Sheng, I hope that someone will defeat Qiu Depua, and there will be no suspense, so you just buy the shares in my hand, so do you still have the strength to fully acquire Wheelock Group?"

Li Jiacheng said: "No problem! I know Zhang Sheng's thoughts, and I am also worried about whether I have the strength to defeat the Khoo Teck Puat consortium. Truth be told, I've been promised the full support of a large syndicate of banks. ”

Although he has always been calm, at this time, the British-funded foreign banks in Hong Kong that can be used by him have the last chance left, and he has to fight for everything.

What's more, he understands a truth, that is, if Qiu Depuat wins, then he can also make a profit, because it is a comprehensive acquisition.

Zhang Yuliang said: "Really? ”

Li Jiacheng said: "I don't dare to joke about this! If Zhang Sheng is willing, we can sign the contract tonight and announce the anti-takeover plan! ”

At this time, Wheelock shareholders thought that there were no competitors, and the stock was a bit hot, and it was already sold in large quantities, so the anti-takeover must be fast.

Zhang Yuliang understands that Li Jiacheng will not joke about this, after all, he bought the equity in his hands with real money.

"Okay, then we'll get ready right away!"

Li Jiacheng nodded and said, "I will also confirm with the syndicate behind me!" ”

Last time, Lin Zhichao did clearly support him, but after all, it was verbal support, and he needed to confirm it again. (End of chapter)