Early April.

"Sir Lin, this is the tender for Container Terminal 7, and the reference price!" Ma Shimin handed a file bag to Lin Zhichao and said seriously.

The tender for Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 7 is imminent, and Ma Shimin has also done a lot of careful work for this matter. After all, the container terminal is now fragrant, and there are many domestic and foreign consortiums that covet the No. 7 Kwai Chung Container Terminal, and they will miss the front foot if they are not careful.

Today, Hutchison Whampoa owns Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 4 and Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 4 and No. 6, with a total of 6 berths, of which Kwai Chung Container Terminal 6 has 4 berths.

The Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 7, which is about to be tendered, is a large terminal with 4 berths, and once it is won by Hutchison Whampoa, it will establish Hutchison Whampoa's absolute supremacy in Hong Kong's container terminals.

Lin Zhichao took out the bidding materials from the file bag and looked at them seriously.

The reference price of No. 7 Kwai Chung Container Terminal is 4.09~4.39 billion Hong Kong dollars (Ma Shimin's analysis), and the content of the tender is still after winning the bid, and reclamation and construction will start immediately, which is expected to cost 2.5~2.8 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In other words, the entire Kwai Chung Container Terminal 7 needs to invest 7 billion Hong Kong dollars, which can be described as a huge investment.

At Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 6, Hutchison Whampoa only invested HK$2 billion.

Of course, although the berths of the two wharves are both 4, the yard area, whether there are container buildings, commercial land, etc., these conditions are different; Moreover, the container terminal is getting busier and busier, and the more business there is, the more valuable the representative is, and the Hong Kong government naturally hopes that everyone will compete for this terminal, because the Hong Kong government is also short of money.

"Well, I think it's pretty good, the information is placed here for me, I'll take a look at it, and I'll notify you if there's any problem!"

"No problem, I think the highest price is more reassuring, you mean?"

"Okay, the price of 4.39 billion Hong Kong dollars can win the bid steadily, and I believe that other consortia cannot afford this price."

Lin Zhichao readily agreed to the price because Kwai Chung Container Terminal 7 is very important to Hutchison Whampoa.

Today, Hutchison Whampoa has five core businesses planned by Lin Zhichao: real estate development, port terminals, retail, telecommunications, and energy.

Importantly, all five businesses extend to North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

This year, Hutchison Whampoa's profit of more than 3 billion is already a certainty, although it has only passed the first quarter, but Lin Zhichao has already made a prediction. Therefore, the development of Hutchison Whampoa is not short of money.

Next, Lin Zhichao said: "At the British Great Eastern Telegraph Office, we have not been able to enter the board of directors for a long time, and it seems that this acquisition is only making a little money, and there is no possibility of cooperation." ”

Ma Shimin was suddenly a little ashamed, and Hutchison's overseas expansion was led by him. But the only thing that has really 'succeeded' today is the acquisition of Husky, because it has gained control.

The acquisition of Husky is indeed the credit of the boss, not the credit of Hutchison Whampoa's management.

The London office, which was established in 1985, has successively acquired Pearson and the British Great Eastern Telegraph Company, but there is no chance to reach further cooperation, so the only way to cash out the shares in hand is high and get a little profit.

Ma Shimin said: "Investing in Dadong Telegraph is not completely fruitless, and it can be regarded as a sign of our determination to invest in telecommunications. We are now in the process of searching for a mobile phone business in the UK and are preparing to make an acquisition to take the first step towards our overseas telecommunications. ”

Lin Zhichao nodded, telecommunications business is generally divided into overseas telephones, national/local telephones, mobile phones, and pagers. Among them, overseas telephones, national/local telephones, and fixed telephone services are generally in state-owned enterprises in a country or a region, because they involve national security (submarine cables) and so on.

Hong Kong's fixed-line telephone service is currently exclusively owned by the 'Hong Kong Telephone' under the British Great Eastern Telegraph Company, but it will soon tear a hole, and the urban landline will come up with a second or third license.

In this era, telephone bills are very expensive, especially for some enterprises in Hong Kong, and it is normal for them to spend hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars per month on fixed lines.

"Well, Hutchison Telecom's overseas expansion is inevitable, the local market is too small! In addition to the UK, the paging market in Australia can also be considered, and then further into the mobile phone market in the future. ”

"Well, we'll study it carefully, and I'll come up with a plan for you later!"

Hutchison Whampoa's real estate business, in addition to the 'Whampoa Garden' under development, also included Laguna City, Harbour Plaza (with an equity stake) in the 90s, as well as real estate investment in Japan.

Hutchison Whampoa's retail business, Watsons and ParknSHOP Supermarket, has already left Hong Kong and has hundreds of stores in the Asia-Pacific region.

Container terminals, which are still under development in Hong Kong;

The telecommunications industry is moving out of Hong Kong.

In the energy industry, HK Electric and Husky are its representatives.

As for business such as trade, it is no longer a core industry.

In a large private room of the New World Hotel, Lin Zhichao, Zheng Yutong, Lee Shau-kee, Wong Ting-fong, Kwok De-sheng, and Lee Ka-shing were discussing major matters behind closed doors, and all service staff were dismissed.

Everyone sat on the sofa with more serious expressions, not like they were chatting, among which Zheng Yutong was the most serious.

It turned out that it was the Chinese-funded tycoons who were eyeing the struggling Hongkong Land Company, especially Zheng Yutong's peeping at the remaining high-quality Central properties of Hongkong Land, and wanted to 'kill them all'.

Zheng Yutong has always disliked acquisitions, but now when he is about to retire, he wants to 'take the limelight' and win Hongkong Land. Of course, with Zheng's financial resources, it is not possible to acquire Landmark, after all, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse.

At present, Hongkong Land also has properties in the hands of: Alexandra Building, Hong Kong Club Building, (Landmark Plaza, Gloucester Building, Lobby and Duke's Building), Prince Building, Taikoo Building, 9 Queen's Road Central, which is only the property in Central, as well as the World Trade Tower, Excelsior Mall in Causeway Bay, and the Digands Pavilion luxury residential project in Mid-Levels.

Based on these alone, Hongkong Land is still the third largest real estate company, second only to Cheung Kong and Wharf Group, and its market value is higher than that of Sun Hung Kai and Henderson.

Importantly, Hongkong Land's asset value is actually much lower than its market capitalization, and its net asset value should be around HK$20 billion (compared to more than HK$30 billion in previous lives).

Moreover, Hongkong Land also spun off the Dairy Farm Company and the Mandarin Hotel, and with such a scale, it can be seen that Hongkong Land has a really thick heritage.

At this time, the structure of the Jardine Matheson system also underwent earth-shaking changes, and in 1986, the Keswick family invited American investment banker Paul Weishi to carry out the restructuring of the group:

In October 1986, Hongkong Land announced the spin-off of Dairy Farm International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group, and later announced the spin-off of another wholly-owned subsidiary, Mandarin Oriental.

In February 1987, Jardine Matheson announced the formation of a new listed company, Jardine Matheson Strategies (Ethe), under which Etheson directly controlled the shares of Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm International and Mandarin Oriental, of which Hongkong Land held a 26% stake. Hongkong Land originally held the equity of Jardine Matheson, which was changed to be held by Zhice.

Yizhi decoupled, and the seven-year-old relationship of mutual control ended.

Jardine Etheson holds 19% of the shares, and Etheson holds 26% of the shares. Of course, the Keswick family, the majority shareholder, also holds a considerable stake in both companies.

After the major restructuring of the Yizhi system, Yice replaced the holding function of Jardine Matheson. In this way, there are two lines of defense on the periphery of Jardine Matheson, the outermost one is Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm International, Mandarin Oriental and other companies; The second is the Jardine Matheson strategy.

In this way, Jardine Matheson became a "city within a city".

The Keswicks strengthened their stronghold, but at the same time weakened their control over Hongkong Land. Hongkong Land's two wings (Milk and Mandarin) set up their own doors, and Hongkong Land's strength was greatly reduced.

Moreover, Hongkong Land is still placed on the periphery of the Jardine Matheson system, and market participants believe that this is a signal that the Keswick family intends to put the property on the market, and Jardine will be sold at the price, and the one who chooses the highest will win.

It is in this situation that Zheng Yutong is eyeing the fat of Land, and he knows that with his own strength, he is undoubtedly hitting a stone with an egg; So, he recruited a number of Chinese-funded tycoons, and even invited Lin Zhichao, the 'number one killer of Jardine Matheson', to take charge.

Before the stock market crash, Zheng Yutong negotiated with the Keswick family of Jardine Matheson on behalf of the new consortium, and Zheng Yutong offered 12 Hong Kong dollars per share to acquire 26% of the shares in Yice, which was 5% higher than the market price.

However, Simon Keswick did not agree that the price was still lower than Hongkong Land's net asset value, but said: "The door is always open, The problem lies in the price." ”

The Keswick family, and did not close the door!

This made Zheng Yutong feel a lot of hope, so he was even more energetic.

On the contrary, it was Lin Zhichao, who had the idea of joining in the fun, anyway, he was not taking the lead, and it was not bad to drink soup together.

In the private room, Zheng Yutong said: "Now, the six-month period is about to pass, and it is time for us to attack again!" ”

Why did you stop for six months in the middle, which is affected by the big stock market crash:

First, it has a certain impact on everyone's confidence;

Second, according to the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Acquisitions, the purchase price of the proposing party cannot be less than the value of the shares of the acquired company purchased by the acquirer within 6 months. Before the stock market crash in October, some of the shares of Hongkong Land absorbed by large Chinese investors were more than 7 yuan. After the outbreak of the stock market crash, Hongkong Land's share price fell to 3.95 yuan, and then the stock price rebounded with the broader market, and hovered around 5.5 yuan this month (1988.4). In order to avoid being constrained by the Takeovers and Mergers Code and needing to acquire Hongkong Land at the high price before the stock market crash, the Chinese investors waited for the six-month deadline to expire before resuming their offensive.

There is another reason in this, the consortium formed by the Chinese tycoons wants to privatize the land, and then divide the bones; And without patience, everyone runs Hongkong Land together. Therefore, in this way, after the purchase of 26% of the equity in the hands of Yice, the follow-up is to fully acquire the shares of Hongkong Land in the market.

So, the lower the price, the better.

Everyone nodded, and Zheng Yutong continued: "My idea is to write directly to Hongkong Land that we will appoint two additional directors to Hongkong Land at Hongkong Land's annual general meeting on June 6. After all, we also currently own a 9% stake in Hongkong Land. ”

The release of the news is to force Yihe.

The key point of this acquisition is that Yice took the initiative to sell its shares, so that the price of the Chinese tycoons is the lowest. Once the individual shares are acquired from the market and the public acquisition is carried out, it will be like the acquisition of Wharf Group by the Global Group, and the stock price will be speculated from 13 yuan to 100 yuan.

Everyone looked at Lin Zhichao, which means that you have dealt with Hongkong Land many times, and you are the most sure.

Of course, everyone also understands that Lin Zhichao is 'focused on participation' in the acquisition of Hongkong Land, and does not take the lead.

Because of this, everyone will be happy, after all, everyone has a share of the final cake.

Lin Zhichao said: "Then Ah Tong and Ah Ji will enter the board of directors of Hongkong Land, and you will be the boss in this acquisition!" ”

Zheng Yutong and others were overjoyed, after all, Lin Zhichao took the initiative to give up the position of the leader, which shows that it is really just 'focusing on participation'.

A few days later.

It is rumoured in the market that the Chinese-funded consortium has taken control of a significant amount of Hongkong Land's shares and intends to write to Hongkong Land requesting that a proposal to appoint Cheng Yu-tung, chairman of New World, and Lee Shau Kee, chairman of Henderson Land, be added to Hongkong Land at the annual general meeting on 6 June.

As soon as the news broke, Hongkong Land's share price soared by HK$6.23, a premium of about 10% this month.

Jardine Headquarters.

Simon Keswick and Bavis are plotting.

"Lin Zhichao did not take the lead in this acquisition, which means that he is not the main sponsor, so there is no need to be nervous!" Simon Keswick analyzed seriously.

If Lin Zhichao takes the lead, he will have three points of timidity in his heart in advance.

After all, through the analysis of the events of that year, Lin Zhichao played Niu Bijian and Bao Fuda around, whether it was the smoke bomb in front of the bidding Exchange Square (the news released in the media was worth more than 8.5 billion), or the sale of Jianing and Land's 'Miramar Hotel Old Wing', and even the stock price gouging when acquiring HK Electric, there must be Lin Zhichao's shadow.

There is only one purpose, that is, the land is in debt, and in the end it is easy to be slaughtered. As for why Lin Zhichao is so sure that Hongkong Land will be in debt, it is very simple to think about it now, once 'Huaying talks about Hong Kong', Hong Kong will not be unknown.

Bao Weishi said: "The Chinese tycoons are testing us, why don't we beat them!" ”

Simon Keswick relied heavily on this investment banking expert and immediately said, "How do you beat them?" ”

Bao Weishi said confidently: "Now the outermost are Hongkong Land, Mandarin Oriental, and Dairy International, of which Dairy International is the retail industry, and the Chinese-funded bigwigs will not pay attention to it, because whoever buys it is against Lin Zhichao, and Lin Zhichao himself has given up the idea of acquiring Dairy International." After the discharge of Milk International, only the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Landmark, which are somewhat risky. Therefore, I propose that Mandarin Oriental issue 10% new shares to Yice at a price of HK$4.15 per share, so that Yice's shareholding in Mandarin Oriental will increase from slightly lower than 35% to 41%. ”

After listening to this seemingly somewhat incompatible suggestion, Simon Keswick did not ask questions, but thought about it seriously.

After a while, Simon Keswick said:

"Wonderful! They know how to take advantage of the benefits of buying in six months, so why shouldn't we?

First, although Yice touched the full takeover line, six months had passed, and the highest price in these six months was completely affordable and had no temptation to the shareholders of Mandarin Oriental, so even if the public general takeover, everyone was very uninterested, and finally Yice strengthened its control over Mandarin Oriental with only a small amount of money;

Second, we used this trick to tell the Chinese tycoons that Mandarin Oriental can do this, and Hongkong Land can do the same. ”

Hongkong Land can also issue 10% of the new shares and sell them to Yice.

Kill two birds with one stone!

Finally, Simon Keswick said: "In addition, I plan to go to Xinshe to lobby the mainland officials that if they want to take over Hong Kong peacefully, they don't have to wipe out all our British capital." I believe that some mainland officials have made it clear that maybe things will not come to the last step. ”

Bao Weishi nodded and said, "Makes sense!" These Chinese capitalists are aggressive, but now there are mainland officials to support them, and they were not so imposing in the 70s. ”

Simon Keswick said: "Well, in the early seventies, even Lin Zhichao had to put away his edge against our British capital. As soon as he came to power, Lin Zhichao jumped out for the first time to buy British capital"

He knows Lin Zhichao very well, and he is indeed a character!

It is no wonder that later generations also invested in the mainland and made a lot of money. Simon Keswick is still a little more powerful than his brother and father.

On April 28, Jardine Matheson and its controlled Mandarin Oriental issued a joint statement that Mandarin would issue 10% new shares to Yice at a price of HK$4.15 per share, increasing Yice's stake in Mandarin from just under 35% to 41%.

Market participants believe that Yice's subscription of Wenhua's new shares will inevitably exceed the 35% trigger point for a comprehensive acquisition. Yice proposed a full acquisition as usual. However, since the purchase price of HK$4.15 was lower than the actual net asset value of Wenhua of HK$6, the response of Wenhua's existing shareholders was lukewarm, which was in the heart of Yice's desire to strengthen its controlling power in Wenhua by not having to use huge sums of money and exceeding the trigger point for a general takeover.

Jardine Matheson's move can be called a killer copper, disrupting the deployment of the Chinese-funded consortium. If the Chinese-funded consortium pursues and fights fiercely, Yice and the controlled land will immediately do the same, and Yice will also not have to spend a huge amount of money to control the land.

The Huazi consortium held an emergency meeting, and the consortium added a new member: Rong Zhijian of CEFC Group. In order to prevent Yice and Hongkong Land from diluting their shares, it was decided to cut through the mess quickly and solve the problem quickly.

A week later, the Jardine headquarters in the Alexandra Building.

After the Hong Kong stock market closed, Cheng Yutong, together with Chinese giants Lin Zhichao, Lee Shau Kee, and Rong Zhijian, went to the headquarters of Jardine Matheson to meet with Simon Keswick and other senior executives of Jardine Matheson.

The two sides were at suffrage, and the Chinese-funded consortium offered to buy about 26% of the shares of Hongkong Land held by Yice at a price of HK$8.4 per share.

"Impossible!" Simon immediately shot back: "It must be 12 Hong Kong dollars per share, which is the price you are willing to pay before the stock market crash in October!" You can't go back on your word! ”

Zheng Yutong also replied: "According to the law of acquisition, as long as the price offered by the acquirer is more than 2% higher than the market price, it will take effect, not to mention that now our price is 4% higher than the market price." ”

Simon insisted that it must be HK$12 a share.

Lin Zhichao was caught in the middle, and wanted to say, Ah Tong, you just agree, 12 Hong Kong dollars is also acceptable.

It's a pity that he has already relinquished the lead, so naturally he won't interfere too much.

When negotiations between the two sides reach an impasse.

Zheng Yutong couldn't hold back and said aggressively: "If you can't talk on the table, then we'll see you in the market!" We will announce tomorrow that we will fully acquire Hongkong Land shares at a price of $8.4! 4% higher than the market price, Hongkong Land's public shareholders will respond! ”

Simon Keswick said, "You can, and we can accompany you!" ”

The two sides parted unhappily.

The Chinese-funded consortium was about to make a full acquisition from the market, and ushered in the persuasion of the new agency.

Everyone thought to themselves that if it was acquired from the market, Jardine Matheson might not have the strength to fight, and even if it was acquired, the cost would be frighteningly high.

In the end, everyone died down, which can be regarded as giving the mainland officials a face, after all, everyone knows that they will enter the mainland to do business in the future.

At the beginning of May, three companies, Jardine Matheson, Yice and Hongkong Land, announced the suspension of trading.

On the same day, Yice announced the purchase of Hongkong Land shares held by New World, Cheung Kong, Henderson and CITIC at a price of HK$6.8 per share, accounting for 8.2% of Hongkong Land's total issued shares.

The sudden extinguishing of the Hongkong Land acquisition war has greatly disappointed market participants.

The acquisition of this 8.2% stake increased its stake in Hongkong Land from 26% to 34%, which did not trigger a full acquisition and greatly strengthened its controlling ability.

Cheung Kong Group still holds a 1% stake in Hongkong Land and intends to hold it for a long time. (End of chapter)