Chapter 482 Cooperation with Hutchison Whampoa
Chapter 482 Cooperation with Hutchison Whampoa (asking for monthly tickets at the beginning of the month)
"The Cheung Hing Group spent HK$4.5 million to build the tunnel and the pier, demonstrating its strong confidence in the future of Hong Kong."
"The Hung Hom Tunnel is about to be built. What impact will it have on Hong Kong's housing prices?"
“How will the completion of the container terminal affect Hong Kong’s economy and manufacturing industry?”
Various media outlets invested a lot of resources in promoting this rare local business news, and TVB even broadcast the news during prime time.
However, the popularity did not last for a few days, and the impact on Hong Kong's housing prices was not significant and remained at a very low level.
Yang Wendong did not find it strange when he saw this situation. The entire Hong Kong society now lacks a safe haven and confidence. His actions were seen as foolish behavior by many people. Perhaps only a minority of groups would have some impact.
After the infrastructure is acquired, construction will not start in the short term because Hong Kong has no experience in this area and Changxing Group still needs to bid internationally. So this project seems to be very expensive, but in fact it has little impact on the cash flow of Changxing Group.
Such a large project also requires support from the government, so during the previous negotiations, HSBC, as the Hong Kong government's "quasi-central bank", was also brought in. In the future, almost 9% of the funds for infrastructure will be provided by HSBC, and the interest rate is not high. This is also a responsibility of the quasi-central bank.
On the other hand, Changxing Real Estate's targeted acquisitions are also continuing. Many groups who want to immigrate or even want to secure their funds at all costs are willing to sell their properties after communicating with Changxing Real Estate, and the asking price is very low.
July 7, Changxing Building:
"An office space in Central costs only HK$160 per square foot. In 64, this price was not available without HK$1000." Yang Wendong said with a smile as he looked at the information handed over by Zheng Zhijie.
Zheng Zhijie said: "Yes, this is still Central. Many commercial office buildings in Admiralty and Causeway Bay have dropped to 100 per square foot. In Kowloon, it is even lower, with prices ranging from to . Some are even more exaggerated, selling for money, especially small properties."
"We won't bother with properties that are too small or too remote. There's no point." Yang Wendong continued, "Let's proceed according to the original plan. If there are other new properties with large areas and good locations, we can also consider them. Just tell me in advance."
Yang Wendong does not participate in the decision-making unless it is a large office building or special commercial property. However, he also needs to know in advance about the acquisition of medium-sized properties. This is also a control over financial rights. After all, these currently insignificant properties will be worth several small targets in the future.
"Okay, no problem." Zheng Zhijie continued, "Mr. Yang, there are rumors in the market that Wheelock intends to sell a lot of properties. I want to contact them."
"Yes, it is much more convenient to buy directly from such a large enterprise than to buy in bulk." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Other companies such as Swire and Hong Kong Electric can also do the same, which is much more convenient."
Although he has ideas about these British assets in the future, it is still a matter for the future and there are many uncertainties, so it is best to get the one that can see the property now.
Moreover, British capital has no idea about real estate operation. They first acquire their land, and then develop it 68 years later to make more money, and then buy their stocks in return. This is nothing more than a self-circulating business model.
"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.
At this moment, the phone in front of the desk rang. Yang Wendong pressed the hands-free button, and the voice of his assistant Xiaoying came from outside: "Mr. Yang, Qi Dezun from Hutchison Whampoa called and wanted to meet you."
"Qi Dezun?" Yang Wendong heard and said, "Okay, what time?"
Xiaoying said: "He said it's according to your schedule."
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Then let's have him come to my place tomorrow morning."
It is no secret that Changxing Group has invested in Hutchison. After all, the listed company has gained a new director and major shareholder, which must be announced to the public.
Therefore, even if Qi Dezun was invited to Changxing Group, it would not matter if outsiders knew about it, as they were already business partners with equity ties.
"Okay." Xiaoying said and hung up the phone.
Zheng Zhijie said: "Qi Dezun is looking for us at this time, is he looking for funds? Besides us, there are many people who are also buying stocks and real estate at low prices, and Hutchison is one of them."
"Maybe." Yang Wendong said, "But he is a smart man and knows that we are also acquiring properties. If he just wants to acquire land, I might as well invest the money myself."
"So he has his eyes on a certain British company?" Zheng Zhijie asked uncertainly.
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Maybe. We still need to gradually test the bottom line of the Hong Kong government. He is British capital, which makes things much easier. Even if he wants to acquire Jardine Matheson one day, the Hong Kong government won't care."
The core interest of the British Hong Kong government is to maintain British capital, but it will not protect any particular British capital unless the Governor of Hong Kong has a good relationship with the British capital consortium. Therefore, the Hong Kong government generally does not intervene in malicious mergers and acquisitions between British capitals.
Zheng Zhijie also said: "There are quite a few medium-sized British-owned companies, many of which are better than the Golden Gate Group and Huangpu. It's a pity that it's a bit inconvenient for us, otherwise we could have taken action directly a long time ago."
"We'll know when we meet Qi Dezun tomorrow." Yang Wendong said, "I also want to see what he wants to do."
The next day, Qi Dezun came to Changxing Group under the leadership of his assistant Xiaoying.
"Hello, Mr. Yang and Mr. Zheng." Qi Dezun greeted them in very fluent Cantonese.
"Mr. Qi Dezun, please take a seat." Yang Wendong said politely.
Qi Dezun said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, the two major projects of Hung Hom Tunnel and Kwai Chung Pier have started construction. The future scale of Changxing Real Estate will definitely be able to surpass that of Hong Kong Land."
“Compared with Swire Properties, there is still a big gap. The dozen or so buildings in Central will be the real wealth gathering place in the future.” Yang Wendong shook his head and said.
Even now, the value of large projects is far greater than that of the Central Building. In the early 70s, the Jardine Matheson Group planned to exchange the Kangle Building with Pao Yu-kong for a 20-ton tanker, but was rejected by the latter. This became something that Pao Yu-kong regretted for the rest of his life.
But in the future, whether it is infrastructure or oil tankers, even if there is room for appreciation, it will be very small, but the appreciation of real estate is much greater. This is similar to the fact that in 90, a Santana could be exchanged for 4 houses in Puxi, and 30 years later, a house in Puxi could be exchanged for 4 Rolls-Royces.
Qi Dezun nodded and said, "Yes, real estate is a miracle. Its value does not lie in its cost or its future earnings, but in changes with the wealth of the entire society. This is incomparable to any infrastructure." "Qi Dezun, I heard that your Hutchison is also constantly acquiring properties? Then why did you come to me today?" Yang Wendong asked with a smile.
Qi Dezun said: "The properties acquired by Hutchison are far inferior to those of Changxing Real Estate, so I want to change my mindset and directly acquire those British companies that hold a large number of properties. Their stock prices are also very low because they have debts.
I can buy them at a low price now, and when the real estate market recovers in the future, the value of the real estate can double, but their debt will not increase much. In this way, I can buy more real estate at the lowest cost. "
"In theory, it's correct." Yang Wendong asked curiously, "But are you so confident that Hong Kong's real estate market will recover?"
This is quite strange. Many British capitals now want to run away. Only Swire, Jardine Matheson and Wheelock have their roots in Hong Kong. If they leave, they will suffer heavy losses. Their interests are tied here, so they can only continue to wait. However, they will not increase their investment and are also cashing out their assets appropriately.
Only Qi Dezun did the opposite. He took advantage of the current expansion. In history, relying on stronger capital and British identity, Hutchison's expansion speed far exceeded that of Li Jiacheng, Li Shau-kee and others who were also bottom-fishing. In the early 70s, it became one of the four major trading companies, second only to Jardine Matheson.
Qi Dezun smiled and said: "I have confidence in Hong Kong because I came here in the 30s and have had contact with people from the mainland. I know the mainland very well. They obviously want to use Hong Kong as a channel for the mainland to the outside world, otherwise there would be no Hong Kong today.
Since Hong Kong was fine 18 years ago, it will certainly be fine today and in the future.”
"Well said. How do you want us to cooperate?" Yang Wendong asked with a smile.
Qi Dezun said: "It's very simple. Mr. Yang can directly raise funds from me, and then you don't have to worry about it. I will handle the acquisition, and you just have to wait for the profits."
"I'm raising funds? Wouldn't that also increase my shares?" Yang Wendong asked back.
Qi Dezun said: "Yes, but Yang Sheng must give me the voting rights of the shares after financing."
"That won't work." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "How about this, we work together. Although you have the stock market, banks or other means of financing, the funds you can obtain are also limited.
So how about we join forces, for example, we can acquire the same company together, and we can determine the number of shares in advance?"
There are too many medium-sized British companies in Hong Kong, and the economic crisis in 67 was relatively short. If I were to personally go in and make the acquisition, I would probably not be as efficient as Hutchison Whampoa.
The future Hutchison Group is not actually a single company, but a large conglomerate with Hutchison as the main body, connected through various equity interests, which controls many listed companies in the top 100 by market value. Of course, Jardine Matheson and Wheelock are similar.
With the help of Hutchison, he could gradually extend his capital to these subsidiaries. The most important thing was that Qi Dezun, like the future big scammer Chen Songqing, was a person who would use all kinds of means to drive up stock prices, even illegal means. The stock bubble that he invested in with him would be very large, and this might bring him much higher returns than investing in a company alone.
"That's fine." Qi Dezun thought about it and agreed.
Although there are some hidden dangers here, Yang Wendong is a Chinese, and the Hong Kong government will not allow him to swallow up too many British companies. If another British company proposed such cooperation, he would not agree.
Yang Wendong asked again: "Which companies do you think are promising?"
Qi Dezun replied: "Junyi Warehouse, Anderson, Harbour Engineering, and Huangpu Group."
Listening to Qi Dezun mentioning the many companies in one breath, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Qi Dezun, you are really ambitious. With so many companies, the scale added together would probably be bigger than Huidefeng, right?"
Needless to say, the core industry of the Huangpu Group is the Huangpu Wharf. Although the wharf is gradually declining, the large tract of land is still there, and it is valuable in the eyes of those who are interested.
Junyi Warehouse was a very famous chain warehouse in Hong Kong in the early years. It had no industry but a lot of land.
Anderson is a stone mining company, and many of the building materials in Hong Kong come from it;
Haigang Engineering is a construction company, similar to the Golden Gate Group, but slightly inferior.
The scale of each of these companies is far smaller than that of top foreign firms like Wheelock, but when combined together they are very large.
Qi Dezun smiled and said, "It is precisely because of their large scale that I want to acquire them."
“But with so many companies, it may take you many years to acquire them one by one or obtain controlling rights,” Yang Wendong added.
Qi Dezun said: "Yes, this is a long-term plan. My short-term target is Jun Yi Cang. Apart from the land, his other businesses are not very good. The stock price has fallen to the lowest point, which makes it convenient for me to acquire it."
"Okay, then how about we split it 55-? Each of you buy half of the shares, and when the shares are almost enough, you come forward to buy them?" Yang Wendong said.
"Okay." Qi Dezun also agreed.
After a while, when Qi Dezun left, Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, Qi Dezun is treating us as a bank. He wants to use our funds to help Hutchison expand its scale."
"I know." Yang Wendong said, "But as Hutchison expands, these assets will gradually fall into my hands. You have to know that Qi Dezun can come forward to conduct peaceful and friendly acquisitions with these high-quality British companies, but I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult for us.
Through Hutchison, we will gradually control these enterprises. When the time is right, won't Hutchison still be ours? "
"But didn't you sign a voting rights waiver agreement against Hutchison in order to reassure Qi Dezun?" Zheng Zhijie asked.
Yang Wendong said: "That was only 20% at that time. You think that with Hutchison's current madness, it will inevitably raise funds on a large scale to dilute its shares. The proportion of shares for which I gave up the voting rights agreement will become lower, and the shares I let Fang Xianming acquire are normal.
When the time is right, I will sell all my previous stocks, and then all restrictions will be gone.”
In history, Hutchison's market value was 72 billion in 70. Now that I have my own push, the market value may be higher. I only need to sell the shares in the early stage, and when Hutchison's stock price collapses due to over-expansion, I can take it back.
As for HSBC and Li Jiacheng, they can go wherever is cooler.
Of course, history has changed now. The crisis in 73 was purely an economic crisis. My own influence may cause changes in time, but this crisis should still be there, because any crisis is caused by excessive investment in the early stages. This should be the same whether Yang Wendong is there or not.
PS: Ask for monthly tickets at the beginning of the month
(End of this chapter)