Chapter 270 Watsons for Sale

Chapter 270 Watsons for Sale

Chapter 270 Watsons for Sale
"Okay, I'll find a time to ask him out." Yang Wendong nodded.

Doing business in Hong Kong still requires HSBC. Even though his own Changxing Industrial now has tens of millions of profits a year, this amount of money is simply not enough to invest in real estate and shipping.

Only by utilizing the leverage of banks can one expand his business, and the largest bank in Hong Kong is HSBC.

Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng can only be regarded as the leading young banks, but in terms of scale, they are still far behind HSBC.

If it is a medium-sized enterprise, it does not matter who it cooperates with. It will choose the one that offers the best cooperation conditions. However, large-scale enterprises, especially those involving shipping, are definitely not something that small local banks in Hong Kong can participate in. Even if HSBC enters, it will have to bear considerable risks.

The next day, in a bridal shop in Central Hong Kong:
Bai Yushan is trying on a wedding dress, and there is a "mirror man" who looks exactly like her next to her, helping and giving her guidance.

After a long while, they finally came out of the fitting room. Yang Wendong glanced at them and asked, "You two look alike. Are you sure you want to be bridesmaids?"

"Yes, my sister is getting married, so of course I have to be the bridesmaid?" Bai Yujie said as a matter of course.

"Okay, it's up to you, but you have to change the color of your clothes, right?" Yang Wendong didn't say anything more.

Two people who look the same, wearing white clothes together, although the clothes are different, it is still a bit easy to confuse them
Bai Yujie ignored Yang Wendong, whispered a few words to her sister in the wedding dress, and then trotted back to change clothes.

"Come, sit down. This dress is not convenient to wear." Yang Wendong stepped forward and twisted up part of the wedding dress.

"Well," Bai Yushan said after sitting down, "Don't you want to try on some clothes?"

"I've tried it on a long time ago and I had the suit custom-made a long time ago." Yang Wendong shrugged.

Men's clothes are much simpler than women's. This is why, in the global clothing market, the majority are women and children, with the men's market lagging far behind.

But the advantage is that it is simple and clear. The success of HaiLan Home in its previous life was actually due to grasping this point.

"Oh." Bai Yushan said again: "Then I will try on clothes faster, so that you won't be too bored here."

"No, take your time and try it. There's no rush." ​​Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I have a lot of newspapers to read here. Even if I don't come here, I often read newspapers in the office."

In an era without much entertainment, reading newspapers has become the best way to pass the time.

After traveling to Hong Kong for more than four years, he almost forgot what it was like to use a smartphone and surf the Internet on a computer.
He also got used to killing time by reading newspapers and various books.

"Okay." Bai Yushan said with a smile.

Yang Wendong added: "Pick a nice wedding dress carefully. This is the only chance you will get in your lifetime."

"Yeah." Bai Yushan nodded and said, "We still have to hurry up. We still have to have dinner with Mr. Sanders later."

"There's still a little over an hour and a half left, so there's no rush." ​​Yang Wendong said, "Then you go first."

"Okay." Bai Yushan took another sip of water and headed towards the locker room.

Several employees in the store immediately surrounded her like stars surrounding the moon.

After everyone went in, Yang Wendong lowered his head and looked at the newspaper again. During this period, there were a lot of ZZ things, and he was very concerned.

At noon, after Bai Yujie was sent away, Yang Wendong and Bai Yushan dressed in formal attire and came to a high-end Western-style coffee shop near Central:
"Hello, Mr. Sanders."

In a private room, Yang Wendong met Sanders.

"Mr. Yang, Cassie, or should I be Mrs. Yang?" Sanders said with a smile.

Yang Wendong said: "It's all right. It will only take less than a month."

His wedding with Bai Yushan will be held next month, but this time it will not be on such a large scale. It's not that Yang Wendong doesn't want to, but it's restricted by Hong Kong customs.

"Congratulations," Sanders said.

"Thank you." Yang Wendong added, "I would also like to congratulate Mr. Sanders on becoming the boss of HSBC."

"Haha, Mr. Yang is really well-informed." Sanders smiled and said, "In fact, the reason why I can become the boss of HSBC has a lot to do with the fact that I have been promoting cooperation between HSBC and Chinese companies over the past few years.

Over the past decade or so, Chinese-owned enterprises in Hong Kong have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, which has brought unprecedented business opportunities to Hong Kong's banking industry. On the contrary, British-owned enterprises, although now large in scale, do not seem to have any growth trend. "

"This is also the result of the support of Hong Kong banks." Yang Wendong also said: "Without the support of the banking industry, it would be difficult for Chinese factories, real estate companies, and even shipping companies in Hong Kong to develop."

Not to mention real estate and shipping, these two industries are absolutely dependent on banks; the same is true for industry.

Most of Hong Kong's factories relied on banks in the early days. Liu Chong Hing and Hang Seng, two rising stars in the banking industry, actually developed by seizing this opportunity.

Sanders nodded and said, "Well said, this is how our bank and your company should cooperate. I hope that we can continue to maintain this cooperation model in the future."

"I hope so too." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "This year Changxing Shipping will continue to purchase second-hand cargo ships around the world. I hope HSBC can provide financial support."

Although there are more than 20 second-hand cargo ships nowadays, the number is obviously not enough. Not to mention old shipping companies such as Swire and Wheelock, it is still far behind those of Tung Chao Yung and Zhao Congyen.

Therefore, he will continue to purchase ships. Even if Changxing Industrial does not need so many ships one day, the rapidly growing global trade will still need them, and in the short term there will also be a demand for transporting grain from the mainland and water from Hong Kong.

"Mr. Yang is planning to buy old ships on such a large scale?" Sanders was a little surprised and asked, "With Mr. Yang's financial situation, can he buy new ships? Even if you want to buy a large number, can I or the Japanese bank provide loans?"

"I know. I will buy new ships, probably in the second half of this year." Yang Wendong replied, "But I won't stop buying second-hand ships. Relatively speaking, the purchase speed of second-hand ships is definitely much faster."

No matter how many advantages new ships have, they still have to be built one by one. Not to mention how many docks or other buyers there are, even at the fastest speed, it takes about 10 months to build an ordinary -ton cargo ship, and larger ones will take even longer. Second-hand cargo ships are old and difficult to maintain, but they are sold quickly, and can increase Changxing Shipping's tonnage in a very short time, so that it can make the most comprehensive preparations for the shipping crisis caused by the Middle East crisis.

"It seems that Mr. Yang wants to become the shipping king of Hong Kong as quickly as possible." Sanders smiled and asked, "How many tonnage cargo ships does Mr. Yang plan to purchase in the second half of this year?"

HSBC has already relaxed restrictions on shipping investment, so of course it has to seize this market, especially for big clients like Yang Wendong, who often require loans of several million or even tens of millions of dollars. For such a large project, it is only right for the HSBC boss to come forward in person.

Yang Wendong said: "I can't give a definite number now, but the tonnage will not be low, so I may purchase a large oil tanker or a super-large cargo ship, the tonnage of each ship may be around 5 to 10 tons."

When the container era is about to come, it will be risky to continue to purchase new 10,000-ton ordinary cargo ships on a large scale; the risk is not that you will lose money, but that with the same investment now, purchasing these ships may result in a lot less profit.

However, large cargo ships or oil tankers that transport bulk commodities will not be replaced; at most their tonnage will become larger and larger.

Therefore, second-hand ships buy small 10,000-ton cargo ships, and new ships need to be gradually purchased larger ships to ensure their competitiveness, because the larger the tonnage of the ship, the lower the transportation cost per unit weight.

As early as 1959, shipping magnate Tung Chao Yung purchased a 10-ton tanker from Japan. It is said that he recovered his investment in three years, and the rest was pure profit.
"Mr. Yang also wants to enter the tanker market? The risk is quite big." Sanders asked back.

Yang Wendong said: "It is a bit risky, but isn't that how business is? Risk and profit coexist?"

In the early days, Changxing Shipping did not operate oil tankers. Although it had insurance, if an oil leak really occurred, the losses would be considerable.

However, as its scale expands, its ability to resist risks has become much stronger. In addition, modern oil tankers adopt a multi-tank model, which can reduce losses and pollution even if an oil leak does occur.

Moreover, this kind of thing itself has an extremely low probability of happening. There are so many oil tankers sailing on the sea every year in the world, but there will not be a large-scale oil spill in several years.

"Well said." Sanders nodded and said, "If Mr. Yang wants to buy a new ship, HSBC will naturally give its full support.

If it's a second-hand cargo ship, that's fine, but the interest rate will be a bit higher, which is also the rule of the banking industry."

"No problem, I understand." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

The profit of risky industries is naturally higher. For example, the oil transportation business he wants to do is much more expensive than other goods because of the high risk.
Sanders did not know the future, and did not know that there would be a shipping crisis in the future. Therefore, mortgaging his second-hand ship was indeed risky, and naturally required high interest.

"I wish us a pleasant cooperation." Sanders raised his coffee cup as if he was toasting.

"Same." Yang Wendong did the same thing.

Sanders paused and asked, "Mr. Yang, I heard that your Four Seasons Hotel is about to start construction?"

"Yes, let's start digging the foundation." Yang Wendong nodded.

Just a few days ago, Four Seasons Hotel officially signed a cooperation agreement with Bei Jinming Architects, and then engineers from Bei Jinming Architects began to direct the digging of the foundation for the building.

With such a big commotion, it's normal for Sanders to know about it with his eyes and ears.

"Congratulations, Mr. Yang. You will soon become a hotel tycoon in Hong Kong." After Sanders finished speaking, he said, "Mr. Yang, in fact, you can also choose HSBC for your real estate investment in Hong Kong."

"If the conditions are favorable, I will naturally not refuse." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

In fact, it was not just that he deliberately chose Chinese banks to cooperate in real estate business, but also that when it came to real estate business in Hong Kong, the loan terms of HSBC and Standard Chartered were always inferior to those of Chinese banks.

This is normal. Just like the relationship between the four major domestic banks and many small banks in the past, the conditions of small banks will definitely be better.

As a time traveler, he knows which "small banks" will have problems in the future or not. If there is no risk, he will naturally choose small banks.

"Well, I understand, but HSBC has stronger financial strength. Considering the scale of Mr. Yang's future real estate investment in Hong Kong, it is obviously more convenient to choose HSBC," Sanders said with a smile.

Yang Wendong also nodded and said, "Okay, I will consider HSBC if there is a chance."

"OK." Sanders nodded and said, "Mr. Yang, I have some news that may interest you."

"What news?" Yang Wendong asked curiously.

Sanders did not answer directly, but asked: "Does Mr. Yang know Watsons?"

"Watsons? Of course I know. They sell soda and Chinese medicine." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "Why did Mr. Sanders mention Watsons?"

In its previous life, Watsons was best at the retail business. One of its branches, ParknShop, was one of the only two retail supermarket chains in Hong Kong. Another directly branded cosmetics store was opened all over the world, making it one of the world's largest cosmetics retail business giants.

But all these are actually the efforts of Mr. Li. After acquiring Hutchison Whampoa in the 80s, he focused on developing Watsons' retail business, which led to the Hong Kong retail giant in its previous life.

The real history of Watsons can even be traced back to the early 19th century. In its early years, it opened a drugstore and sold soda.

However, although it has a long history, earlier than HSBC and Jardine Matheson, its development was too poor. It was only after it came into the hands of Li Jiacheng that it was developed and flourished.

Sanders said: "This Watsons is also an old customer of HSBC, but in the past few years, their business development has been too poor and the company has suffered heavy losses;
So the current management wants to sell its own company, but Jardine Matheson and Swire have clearly stated that they are not interested. As a creditor bank, I also want to find a suitable buyer for it.”

"You want me to acquire Watsons?" Yang Wendong was a little interested, but he didn't show it on his face: "But such a company has nothing to do with my business. What would I do if I acquired it?"

It is one thing to think about it, but you must not show it casually, and you need to belittle it verbally, so that it is in your own interest.

Sanders said with a smile: "Although Watsons is indeed not very good, it is indeed the largest pharmaceutical sales company in Hong Kong, and it also has a soft drink production company and sales channels in Hong Kong;
Isn’t Mr. Yang interested in these? With Mr. Yang’s ability, perhaps he can develop these two businesses.”

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I wish you all a happy Chinese Valentine's Day
(End of this chapter)