Chapter 484 Taking over 3M Hong Kong Industry
Chapter 484 Taking over 3M Hong Kong Industry
Time soon came to August, and the ups and downs in the real estate and economic markets continued. Many people emigrated and left. Even the Changxing Group began to be affected because many middle and senior managers resigned and emigrated.
However, Yang Wendong had been prepared. On the one hand, his production capacity had been gradually transferred to Singapore. On the other hand, Hong Kong had established a leadership replacement system a long time ago. If anyone left, someone else would take over quickly. It was just that too many people left, so it was not to the point where there was no impact at all.
Instead, its own suppliers are more affected, which is not something Changxing Group can control. No matter where they are, when something big happens there, they will inevitably be affected. Fortunately, Yang Wendong also knows that it will only take half a year and he can just endure it.
On the 12th, Yang Wendong was reading the latest newspaper, which was not his own. Changxing Media did not join in the fun during this period, but remained neutral. Other newspapers were relatively more lively.
After a while, Wei Zetao and Zheng Zhijie came, and Yang Wendong asked them to sit down.
"Thank you." After Wei Zetao sat down, he said, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Zheng and I came here to ask for your advice on two things."
"What's the matter?" Yang Wendong asked.
Wei Zetao said: "Mr. Yang is also aware of the recent situation in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong people have emigrated, and many foreign investors have withdrawn, including 3M. They also want to leave, so they want to ask us if we want their tape factory in Tuen Mun."
"3M is leaving too?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "The tape factory must be very large now, right?"
The entire Changxing Group's entrepreneurship was initially carried out in cooperation with 3M. In the early days, in order to have its own glue, it purchased patents and technologies from 3M, and then produced them in Tuen Mun. After it reached a certain scale, and Hong Kong itself was a place suitable for foreign investment, 3M also came to invest in adhesive tapes.
This is an industry that did not exist in Hong Kong in history, but due to the influence of Yang Wendong, its scale has become very large.
Wei Zetao said: "Yes, last year the production of tape exceeded 3000 million rolls, the output value exceeded HK$7000 million, and the number of employees was about 1500."
"How much did they offer?" Yang Wendong asked.
Wei Zetao replied: "They didn't say that. They just said if we are interested, they can give us last year's financial report and then calculate the price."
Yang Wendong said, "But the problem is that the factory's previous channel was 3M. Who will we sell it to after we take over? We don't have a channel for adhesive tapes."
Wei Zetao said: "3M has also promised to maintain last year's purchase volume within three years, and the price is the same. As long as there is no problem with our quality, we can also be its supplier after three years.
Based on our cooperation with 3M in other fields, as long as the price and quality are right, long-term supply should be possible.”
"Then can we develop the glue market ourselves?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Wei Zetao said: "Of course, after we buy it, it will be our factory. We can naturally sell it separately, even make a brand, or do OEM for other brands. Everything is free. I have confirmed this with the people at 3M."
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Do you think we should take over? The tape industry may have a large market, but the profit is probably very low. The competition is too fierce, and we have to build a channel specifically for it."
Wei Zetao analyzed: "Mr. Yang, I think we should take over. First, it is for the sake of our own glue factory. Now 3M factory has accounted for half of our glue factory's orders. If it closes, our losses in the glue factory will be huge;
Secondly, this industry may not make a lot of profit, but at least it can maintain the economy of Tuen Mun, which is also of certain help to us. Otherwise, nearly 2000 people would be unemployed, and many of our real estate investments in Tuen Mun would suffer losses in the future.
Third, adhesive tape has many uses in modern industry, even in home appliances and cars. It will be helpful for Honor Electronics to develop home appliances and have its own adhesive tape industry in the future. It just requires a lot of investment in research and development, but it will also be good for our glue industry."
"What you said makes sense." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, then, contact them first, but don't show that you really want it. Lower the price. If the price is low enough, you won't lose money anyway. Since they don't think Hong Kong is promising, it's impossible for them to take a large sum of money and leave."
"Okay, then I will prepare to negotiate with them now." Wei Zetao agreed.
Yang Wendong said: "You guys try it first, if you can achieve results, then the group will support you."
Like many industries, the group will carry out multiple types of business. These are not formulated by the boss Yang Wendong, so the help provided in the early stage is not very great. However, if there is strong growth potential, special support can be obtained.
Seeing that the two had finished their discussion, Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, this is the recent acquisition of real estate business. Please take a look."
After that, he handed over a stack of information. Yang Wendong took it and took a look, then said, "Okay, just keep buying. Are there any whole buildings for sale in Central recently?"
During this period, there are many properties for sale in Central, and Changxing Real Estate basically bought all of them. There are large areas and multi-story properties, but no whole buildings. Zheng Zhijie shook his head and said, "There are none at the moment. The only ones who own whole buildings in Central are those large British companies. They are actually selling some of their properties, but they are too deeply tied to Hong Kong and are unlikely to leave in the short term."
"Then let's wait and see." Yang Wendong nodded.
Zheng Zhijie said: "However, there are whole buildings for sale in Admiralty and Causeway Bay. I have already communicated with the owners. There are also many street shops, the same is true."
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Okay, we want all of these, especially the shops, which are irreplaceable assets."
Office buildings can be built again, and after housing prices skyrocket, they can be built very high. A building can have an area of hundreds of thousands of square meters, but street shops are linked to the land, and these are the core assets.
"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.
In the following month, Changxing Industry negotiated smoothly with 3M and eventually invested HK$1100 million to buy 50% of the shares of the joint venture. Thus, 3M (Hong Kong) Adhesive Tape Factory was renamed Changxing Adhesive Tape Factory.
All American managers left and former Chinese executives took over the company.
On September 9, Yang Wendong came to the Tuen Mun Glue Factory for an inspection. After walking around, he asked, "Is there anything on the tape that we don't produce ourselves?"
Wei Zetao said: "At present, our tapes are mainly divided into two types. The most produced is this commonly used transparent tape, and the other is paper tape;
The glue for both types of tapes is produced by us, the paper for the paper tape is also produced in Taiwan, and the transparent film for the scotch tape is produced by the nearby Tin Ka Ping Chemical Factory.”
"Does the Tian Jiabing Chemical Factory intend to run away?" Yang Wendong asked with a smile.
Wei Zetao shook his head and said, "No, I have talked to Tian Sheng before. He is planning to open a factory in Hong Kong. Yang Sheng, do you want to make this membrane yourself?"
"Not for now. You just need to control the purchase price with Tin Ka Ping's factory." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "With the current production capacity, there is no need to do everything by ourselves. If we can grow bigger in the future, we can consider this matter. Tin Ka Ping has a good reputation in Hong Kong, so let's cooperate normally for now."
Although he also wants to make every effort to sustain the industrial chain, even BYD in its previous life could not do this, and a company cannot eat all the meat and soup. This is the case with Huahan in the real estate industry. It is not well-received by its peers in Hong Kong, and it needs to leave some soup for others when appropriate, so that it can attract many people.
"Okay, I'll talk to Tian Sheng." Wei Zetao replied.
Yang Wendong added: "By the way, do you know circuit boards in the electronics industry?"
"Circuit board?" Wei Zetao was stunned for a moment and said, "I'm not sure, I've never heard of it."
Yang Wendong said: "This is a future industry that I am optimistic about. In the future, adhesive tape will be needed on circuit boards and many other circuits. You can contact Wang Zhiqun and discuss this with him. Your adhesive tape factory can develop in this direction."
Adhesive tape is a traditional industry that has been around for nearly a hundred years. Yang Wendong is not willing to invest too many resources in this industry because if he wants to compete directly with those old-established companies, the cost-effectiveness is too low and he may even suffer losses.
However, the electronics industry is brand new and it also needs tape, so it is okay to give some guidance. If the industry under your company develops in this direction, it is also a good thing. However, it is hard to say how high the success rate is, after all, there are too many old companies with a lot of technical reserves.
It all depends on chance and ability.
"Okay, I'll go find Mr. Wang to find out." Wei Zetao added, "Watsons is also producing some products for medical companies and has some channels. The medical industry also needs tapes, and I also want to develop in this direction."
"That's fine. I won't restrict you. You can decide for yourself. Tell me when you have achieved results." Yang Wendong didn't care too much.
This tape factory can only be said to be a medium-sized enterprise within the Changxing Group. It may report its financials at the end of the year, but as long as it has not developed, we can just observe it.
Time quickly came to the beginning of October.
On the 6th, Zheng Zhijie and Fang Xianming came to Yang Wendong's office together.
Fang Xianming said, "Mr. Yang, this is the stock data of several companies that I recently acquired. Among them, Huangpu Group holds 8.2%, Jinmen Group holds 13.1%, Jardine Group holds 2.2%, Hong Kong Land Group holds 2.5%, Wharf Holdings holds 4.3%, and there are also some small companies."
"The Kinmen Group's stock has been fluctuating greatly recently. I guess they have some doubts internally, right?" Yang Wendong replied after reading it.
(End of this chapter)