The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Cheung Kong Group.

"Boss, Li Sheng is here!"

"good"

Later, Li Jiacheng came to Lin Zhichao's office and said with a smile: "Lin Sheng, I'm sorry for bothering you!"

Lin Zhichao greeted him with a smile and said: "I am now semi-retired. I sit in the office every day waiting for people to report to me and for VIPs to visit and chat. Come, let's sit down and talk!"

Immediately, at Lin Zhichao's signal, the two sat on the sofa, and the assistant made tea for them.

As early as the mid-to-late 1970s, Lin Zhichao no longer regarded Li Jiacheng as a potential rival, and he naturally felt close to him in his heart. After all, Li Jiacheng's abilities were still very admirable and his character was also very good. In his previous life, he was the first to achieve success, and he was highly praised in front of him, otherwise he would never have had a bad reputation.

In this life, because the plastic flower business was stopped by Lin Zhichao, when he later entered the real estate industry, his financial strength was weak; when it went public in 1972, CK Hutchison Real Estate only raised HK$10 million, making it a typical mosquito-listed real estate company in Hong Kong (the lowest There are two real estate companies that raised HK$7.5 million).

However, Li Jiacheng's grasp of the real estate situation and his professional skills in real estate allowed him to become one of the top ten real estate companies in 12 years. As early as the peak of real estate in the early 1980s, CK Hutchison Group was already the 14th largest real estate company in terms of market capitalization, and Eagle King was only 20th at that time (with a market capitalization of 800 million, but the Luo Yingshi family also had Regal Hotels and Baileys). protect two listed companies).

As a result of the Sino-British negotiations, Great Eagle misread the situation and almost went bankrupt. On the contrary, Li Jiacheng raised hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars at his peak and took the opportunity to buy land at the bottom in 1983 and 1984. Now he is the tenth real estate company.

Of course, after Swire Properties was privatized, CK Hutchison Properties was just tenth, followed by: Cheung Kong, Wharf, Land, Sun Hung Kai, New World, Henderson, Hang Lung, Sino, Hysan, and CK Hutchison.

Land suffered the worst. It lost Exchange Square, Victoria Harbor Center and Star Plaza, which is equivalent to losing half of its strength. Its market value is only the same as that of Sun Hung Kai. You must know that in its previous life, Land's market value was more than double that of Cheung Kong Properties.

"A-Cheng, you took the initiative to come to the door, but what project do you want me to cooperate with?" Lin Zhichao said intimately while sipping tea.

The two were already familiar with each other when plastic flowers were popular; later it was Lin Zhichao who recommended Li Jiacheng to join the Real Estate Chamber of Commerce, so there was no conflict.

In Li Jiacheng's heart, he must only be grateful. After all, he relied on the plastic flowers developed by Lin Zhichao to make a fortune.

Li Jiacheng immediately put down his teacup and said, "Lin Sheng, I heard you have a good relationship with Mr. Madden from Wheelock!"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "It can only be said that it is a cooperative relationship, and the personal relationship is actually average. The Madden family has been wary of waiting for Hong Kong, how can they sincerely associate with us Chinese."

He is telling the truth. Even though he and Madden have collaborated a lot, their relationship is that of 'friends', but not 'good friends'.

Li Jiacheng nodded, with a resolute expression on his face. He said seriously: "I heard that the Madden family and the Zhang Yuliang family are at odds within Wheelock. The relationship is even so bad that they are tit-for-tat on the board of directors. There are even rumors outside that the two families are at odds with each other. Wheelock Group will be spun off.”

Lin Zhichao looked at Li Jiacheng in surprise. He did not expect that Li Jiacheng would target the Wheelock Group. You know, the market value of Li Jiacheng's CK Hutchison Real Estate is just over 2 billion, while Wheelock's market value is more than 1.5 billion.

What's more important is that this kind of business war will definitely reach the "full acquisition line". It is completely idiotic to want to control a family-controlled company with a shareholding of just over 34%.

For example, Guo Desheng's acquisition of KMB and Bailibao's acquisition of CMB were unsuccessful because although these two companies are public enterprises, they are controlled by several Chinese families.

On the contrary, if Hutchison Whampoa acquires Hong Kong Electric, it only needs Land to sell its shares, and it can control the company with 34.7% of its shares.

However, Lin Zhichao soon stopped being surprised by Li Jiacheng's behavior, because he was originally a "hunter", so he said: "Do you want to acquire Wheelock Group?"

Li Jiacheng said without concealment: "I think Madden has always been wary of Hong Kong, so he has been developing shipping, which is contrary to Lin Sheng's behavior in shipping. The shipping industry has been in recession in recent years, which has also greatly affected Wheelock. Based on these The reason is, I think the Madden family has the intention to withdraw from Hong Kong!"

The implication is that I am interested!

Lin Zhichao said: "Then what you are asking me for is that you want me to introduce Madden to you? You must know that the Zhang Yuliang family's shareholding is expected to greatly exceed that of the Madden family, probably more than 30%."

The Zhang Yuliang family's equity holdings in Wheelock should not exceed 35%, because their strength has dropped sharply.

Li Jiacheng nodded and said, "Well, I'd like to ask Lin Sheng to introduce me. As for the Zhang Yuliang family, I have a deal with them. They actually have the idea of ​​​​fading out of Hong Kong; what's more, although the Madden family only holds more than ten percent of the shares, But Wheelock is an AB stock system, and although B shares have only 1/10 the market value of A shares, they enjoy the same voting rights.”

Lin Zhichao said curiously: "With the acquisition of Wheelock Group, a comprehensive acquisition is inevitable. With the scale of CK Hutchison Real Estate, it will be difficult to swallow it, right?"

It’s not the United States. Is there really such a fierce person in Hong Kong?

It's quite normal in the United States. Lin Zhichao even knew a Canadian real estate businessman whose company had a market value of only US$600 million, but later annexed the third US department store worth US$4 billion. After the merger, he was still not satisfied and annexed a US$10 billion second department store. department store, directly surpassing the number one Macy’s Department Store. Just after acquiring the Second Department Store, everything collapsed. Except for cheap investment banks and financial consultants (with commissions of hundreds of millions of dollars), everything else was in a mess.

Li Jiacheng immediately said: "Cheung Hutchison is really hard to swallow, so I hope Lin Sheng will join us, and we can split up the assets of Wheelock Group afterwards. Wheelock Group has always been the blue lantern of Hong Kong listed companies, with rich assets, but its stock price has always been underperforming Average, so this business is guaranteed to make a profit."

Hey, that was the original idea!

After thinking for a while, Lin Zhichao said: "Forgive me for not agreeing to Acheng's joint plan! I have some friendship with the Madden family. As the saying goes, a friend's family business cannot be bullied. What's more, once we take over the Madden family's stocks, we will offend the Madden family. The Zhang Yuliang family, even if the Zhang Yuliang family wants to fade out of Hong Kong, they will not surrender and will definitely seek new opponents to join the game. By then, we will have vicious internal competition, which is consistent with my style."

He has worked on British-owned listed companies, but he has not maliciously acquired Chinese-owned companies. Even if he had a conflict with the Zhang Yuliang family, he would not directly come forward to seize someone's property.

Li Jiacheng was suddenly disappointed. Recently, he had been thinking about any British-funded companies that he could move, and Wheelock was already the best target. But he couldn't eat it at all, so he hoped to join forces with Lin Zhichao. Even if the Wheelock Group was divided up, he felt that his strength would increase.

"What Lin Sheng said is true, but I was a little abrupt! After hearing what you said, I also plan to give up the acquisition of Wheelock Group!" Li Jiacheng admitted defeat frankly.

In fact, he understood that without the support of Lin Zhichao, he was not strong enough to acquire Wheelock Group.

To acquire Wheelock Group, based on the current market value premium of 25%, it would probably cost HK$1.9 billion (full acquisition). Once a business war breaks out, the price will obviously be much higher.

Lin Zhichao nodded, thought for a moment and then said: "Actually, there is no chance at all! If the Madden family really intends to fade out of Hong Kong and sell its shares to others, then the Zhang Yuliang family will definitely be looking for a buyer. Cheng, you can go there then Contact us. When things develop to that extent, I can arrange for Hang Lung Bank to provide you with a loan!"

He had conflicts with Zhang Yuliang's family, and it was impossible for Zhang Yuliang to turn to him for help.

But if he helps Li Jiacheng acquire Wheelock Group, it will be equivalent to supporting a big family again. The important thing is that Hang Lung Bank can provide loans and get one more business. Wheelock is a high-quality asset, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to repay it.

Li Jiacheng suddenly felt that things had changed, and then said: "Thank you Lin Sheng!"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "You're welcome, normal business dealings, I am very optimistic about your abilities, Cheng!"

In the end, Li Jiacheng returned home with a full load.

In fact, he himself was very worried about this acquisition. Unless Lin Zhichao agreed to join forces, he felt that there was hope of victory. Although there was no alliance in the end, it was still good news. Wheelock might not be able to get involved.

Time flies and we arrive in 1985 in a blink of an eye.

On New Year's Day, Lin Zhichao and his family went to Discovery Bay Golf Club for vacation, and his father-in-law and mother-in-law were also reunited.

Tang Zhongyuan is 80 years old this year and is still working hard at his job and is the chairman of the board of directors of Oriental Group. The eldest son Tang Xianqian shares the management of the textile and garment industries, and the younger son Tang Youqian shares the real estate business. The family works together, and Oriental Group is also ranked in the blue chip industry.

In addition, the Tang Zhongyuan family also owns a huge textile and garment industry in Africa. These assets have not been listed on the market. In recent years, the Tang Zhongyuan family has also purchased a large number of assets in the United States, Canada, Australia and other European and American regions.

The wealth of this family is already very rich!

Lin Zhichao and Tang Zhongyuan sat together, and the others formed separate teams.

"Zhichao, if the fourth and fifth phases of Discovery Bay are not developed by Cheung Kong Group, they only need to pay a fee to Hong Kong Industrial!" Tang Zhongyuan said.

Lin Zhichao was stunned for a moment, then said: "Father-in-law is not confident in this project?"

Tang Zhongyuan shook his head and said: "It's not that there is no confidence, but Discovery Bay is so huge that giving up these two projects will have no impact. But recently, Oriental Real Estate plans to develop the 'Oriental Textile' land in Tsuen Wan, and there is a little lack of energy. "

Lin Zhichao actually understood that Tang Zhongyuan still had "lack of confidence and lack of experience". After all, he was only a half-way monk.

Discovery Bay has sold three phases. The first phase is low-density bungalows (real estate speculation), and the second and third phases are modern-style residences (required). But in fact, they are basically bought by real estate speculation. In the past few years, Real estate is at a trough, and the fourth and fifth plans are on hold.

Tang Zhongyuan hopes that the Cheung Kong Group will launch the fourth and fifth phases of modern-style residences to increase the influence of this area; because the sixth phase of the project is a leisure-style shopping mall and is built with post-modern style techniques to become a landmark in Discovery Bay. Birutai is designed with modern Chinese techniques.

It’s about to involve the business part. If you don’t have enough popularity, wouldn’t it be difficult to succeed!

In fact, Cheung Kong Group also holds just over 30% of the shares of Hong Kong Industrial International, the parent company of the Discovery Bay project. Hong Kong Industrial International was listed in 1981 and privatized in 1984, and also accumulated a lot of funds.

Lin Zhichao said: "Okay, I will let the company discuss the specific plan later!"

Tang Zhongyuan nodded, and then he happily talked about the plan to rebuild the 240,000-square-foot "Oriental Textile Factory" in Tsuen Wan.

That piece of land was purchased in the late 1940s. At that time, it cost only 4 to 8 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, and the total cost was less than 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars. Today, it is obviously worth hundreds of millions. At its peak in 1981, the value could reach more than 200 million.

Tang Zhongyuan’s idea is to build a residential building on this land first, and later build a comprehensive shopping mall + office building - Oriental Plaza.

"The model of using residential buildings to cultivate businesses is very feasible." Lin Zhichao commented.

"Well, with your words, I feel relieved. I have moved the garment factories to industrial buildings in Kwun Tong and North Point and to produce part of the production capacity inland!" Tang Zhongyuan said vividly.

Among Oriental Group's businesses, textiles have declined, but the garment industry is still huge, and it even has its own casual clothing brand. (End of chapter)