Chapter 320 Central Land King Auction

1963 2 Month 12 Day:
In a building near the Hong Kong Lands Department, a large number of luxury cars gathered here at the moment, and there were also many reporters who came here, holding cameras and taking pictures.

"Here comes the Landmark man, John Keswick."

"The Keswick family is here. It seems that Jardine Matheson takes this auction very seriously."

“Of course, the land in Central is always contested every time a land purchase is made.”

"People from Swire are here too, as well as Wheelock. These land kings in Central always make big news when they show up."

"Mr. Ho from Hang Seng is here too."

"Hang Seng Bank has been really impressive lately. I heard that they opened several new branches in Kowloon Peninsula at once."

"Mr. Yang from Changxing Real Estate is here too."

Under countless spotlights, the bodyguard opened the door skillfully, and Yang Wendong and Zheng Zhijie got out of the car.

Many reporters rushed over immediately, but were then stopped by countless security guards. This is the norm here. Large auctions and conference venues will have many security guards to prevent reporters from harassing real estate tycoons.

Reporters also spare no effort. Any word they get from any real estate tycoon may affect the market and even the real estate prices.

"Mr. Yang, please come this way." A man in formal attire stepped forward and said.

Yang Wendong also followed the instructions and came to an independent elevator, but met an acquaintance.

"Mr. Huo." Yang Wendong said politely, "Long time no see. Mr. Huo, are you here for the Land King as well?"

Huo Yingdong said with a smile: "I'd rather not participate in this kind of land king-level event. There are a few residential plots that I'm more interested in."

"Mr. Huo is too modest." Yang Wendong smiled.

The two of them entered the elevator, and with only their own people around them, Huo Yingdong asked, "Mr. Yang, I see that Changxing Real Estate seems to have shrunk its operations recently. Could it be that they think the current housing prices are too high?"

Yang Wendong replied: "Not really, it's just that the direction of investment has changed because my Carrefour supermarket has started competing with Jardine Matheson in the property sector, and I don't have an advantage in this area;

So we planned to buy land in a suitable location and build properties ourselves, but the cost would be much higher, so we started to shrink some of our real estate business after making a trade-off.”

Even if it is not a listed company, it is a large-scale enterprise and any movement will attract attention.

Many financial journalists or colleagues will also pay attention to these. Even Yang Wendong, knowing the future, has been collecting various information from many consortiums. It is not the very secretive kind, but large investments, personnel transfers, etc.

"I see." Huo Yingdong nodded and said, "It is indeed a headache to compete with the Jardine Matheson Group, especially for those in the service industry. The cost of a property can kill the opponent.

As far as I know, Maxim's Foods is facing the same situation as you, but they don't have that much money. "

"Maxim's? I've tried their cakes before, but I didn't expect that they were also targeted by Jardine Matheson."

Yang Wendong also knew about this company, but he simply liked the taste of this catering company rather than having any ideas about it. There are too many industries in Hong Kong, and he would not get involved unless the market potential was huge. Even if he was optimistic about it, he would at most invest in it.

Huo Yingdong added: “Mr. Yang, Jardine Matheson is different from you. Many of your businesses are about opening up new industries and new markets and making money from overseas people;
But Jardine Matheson focuses on developing in Hong Kong. They participate in whatever makes money. If others succeed in a certain field, they will use their property advantages to defeat them. "

"Once you have a prime commercial location, you can really do whatever you want." Yang Wendong nodded.

This model is similar to a certain Antarctic creature on the Internet. You don’t have to do anything yourself. You just have to wait for others to make it and prove that this business direction is good. Then, hey, you did a good job, now it’s mine.
Huo Yingdong went on to say: "But when I think about it carefully, British companies all seem to be similar, and Taikoo may be a little stronger."

Yang Wendong said: "Yes, they are just living off their old capital, but this capital is so thick that it can probably last for many years."

In the early years, a lot of land in Hong Kong Island was worthless. You didn’t even have to spend money to buy it. You could get the property rights by just reclaiming the land. But now, these lands are worth a fortune.

It can be said that all the wealth that Hong Kong has developed over the years has turned into the value of the land.

"Haha." Huo Yingdong laughed, "I hope that one day, Mr. Yang can make them spit out all these books."

"I hope so." Yang Wendong said with a faint smile: "Aren't we here today to compete with them?"

Overall, there is not much competition in Hong Kong's real estate market because there are still too many undeveloped areas; but areas like Central and Causeway Bay are limited, so if you want a piece of this cake, you can only compete or even snatch it.

When he started his business in the early years, he always avoided competition with Hong Kong's traditional forces, but now that he has reached his current scale, if he wants to grow bigger, he must face competition head-on, especially Hong Kong's real estate market.

In terms of rate of return, apart from a few Internet companies or Walmart stocks which are investment opportunities that only occur once in a decade, no other industry can compare with Hong Kong real estate.

Moreover, their influence will inevitably grow in the future. It is hard to say whether the butterfly effect will affect companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Even if the American Internet will still dominate the world, it is hard to say whether they will be selected.

But the rate of return on real estate in Hong Kong is impossible to change.

"Haha, Mr. Yang is right." Huo Yingdong nodded and said, "In the real estate sector, British capital actually doesn't understand operations at all and is far inferior to our Chinese capital." Yang Wendong said, "Then let's start from today."

Huo Yingdong also said: "I wish Mr. Yang a successful start today."

"Thank you." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

After Huo Yingdong left, Yang Wendong said to Zheng Zhijie, "Old Zheng, after this matter is over today, help me check this Maxim's Food."

"Meixin? Okay, actually I am also their customer." Zheng Zhijie said with a smile

Yang Wendong added: "If they are the opponents of Yihe, then we can also give them a push from behind."

"I understand." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

After entering the venue, looking around, I saw many Chinese real estate company bosses. Today, it is not just the land kings who are participating. Ordinary real estate companies are also participating for other land.

"Mr. Yang."

A familiar voice came from behind him. Yang Wendong turned around and saw that it was He Shanheng, so he said, "Mr. He, long time no see."

He Shanheng smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, we cannot cooperate this time because of competition. It's a pity. I hope you can understand."

"Of course, Hang Seng Bank has developed so well in recent years, so it is natural for it to build a new headquarters." Yang Wendong smiled.

This is human nature. Normal people will not let this affect cooperation, not to mention that normal competitors are not enemies.

"That's good." Ho Shanheng said, "Mr. Yang, if there are only you and I left bidding later, can we discuss it in advance to prevent the Hong Kong government from taking advantage?"

Yang Wendong asked: "How do we negotiate? Can you give it to me?"

Currently, they are the only two Chinese who are interested in this land. Although there are many other Chinese investors who can afford it, they will basically not participate.

If it is a project that is sold directly for cash after development, Yang Wendong might consider cooperating if he encounters a strong competitor to avoid being outmaneuvered by the bidding party.

But if both sides want to maintain their own position, that would be difficult.

The Hong Kong government’s auctions are often overt schemes. Everyone wants the prime land, and in the end they make the profit themselves.

Ho Sin Hang said: "Hang Seng can make concessions in other areas, or if there are similar plots of land in the future, I can choose not to participate."

"Mr. He, I will not give up this piece of land." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Mr. He, you might as well consider this proposal to avoid a lose-lose situation."

"Then it all depends on the bottom price in both of our minds." He Shanheng also saw that Yang Wendong would not give up.

Yang Wendong said, "Mr. He, in fact, with Jardine Matheson here, everything is hard to say."

"Haha, that's right, I was overthinking it." He Shanheng smiled.
He also understood that both parties did not want to have a direct conflict of interest, otherwise it would cause the other party to suffer too much loss. There would always be a gap in their hearts, but no one dared to give up the huge benefits.

Soon, the auction officially began:
The previous plots of land were all used for warm-up, but for many companies, they are already regarded as the "land king" at their company level, and many medium-sized real estate companies are very enthusiastic to participate in the auction.

Yang Wendong looked at it for a while and suddenly asked, "Old Zheng, among the British companies bidding, are there any medium-sized real estate companies?"

Zheng Zhijie shook his head and said, "No, among the British companies, those that focus on real estate are either large companies or small ones. There are fewer and fewer medium-sized ones, mainly because they are unable to compete with Chinese companies or have been acquired by big foreign companies such as Jardine Matheson, Swire, and Wheelock."

"Yeah," Yang Wendong nodded.

The first to be killed by the rise of Chinese capital are medium-sized British companies. Since there are so many small companies, they can always survive and do some small business, but they are currently unable to compete with the large ones.

Zheng Zhijie added: "Moreover, large British real estate companies actually have no development experience. Basically, they are just like Hong Kong Land, buying land or owning their own land, building houses and then renting them out."

"It's indeed outdated." Yang Wendong smiled.

This was the way it was done in the early 50s. Ever since Huo Yingdong created pre-sale properties and shared areas, Chinese real estate has completely entered a high-speed development path, but British capital is still clinging to its former wealth.

"make a deal."

The auctioneer shouted, and a residential land with a total price of HK$670 million was successfully auctioned, and the winner was Huo Yingdong.

He was seen smiling and bowing to the people around him.

At this time, the auctioneer said again: "Ladies and gentlemen, the next plot of land is also the last plot of land for this auction, 213 Queen's Road, Central, with an area of 2.63 square feet and a starting price of HK$2800 million."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)

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