Chapter 568: A Great Success at the Pier Auction

“The price has more than doubled.”

"This is the first time that Chinese investors have been so generous in bidding at an auction, and the auction is for a port terminal."

Many reporters were filming and discussing at the edge of the auction;

In previous years' various auctions, except for the real estate market where the British foreigners did not participate much, other aspects were basically decided by the foreigners. Today's auction was for the core interests of British Hong Kong, but the first one was successfully bid by a Chinese capital consortium.

This has great historical significance for the struggle between Chinese and British capital in Hong Kong;
As time entered the 70s, the rise of Chinese capital in Hong Kong had almost become a consensus among many Chinese people, especially Yang Wendong. Now everyone was waiting to see when a large-scale conflict would occur between the two consortiums.

This auction obviously counts as one of them.

After the first auction, there was a 5-minute break, during which everyone took the opportunity to discuss the follow-up matters. Yang Wendong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you relieved?" Su Yiyi asked with a smile.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, according to the Hong Kong government's rules, I can only take over one pier, at least on the surface. Then it will be up to Bao Yugang and Qi Dezun."

Although they have been given enough support, Jardine Matheson, Swire, and the US, Japan, and UK financial groups are not pushovers. In terms of financial strength, these companies combined are stronger than Yang Wendong. Whether they can win actually depends on their confidence.
Whoever has greater confidence in Hong Kong's future and dares to take greater risks will win;

For anyone else, investing in Hong Kong's port is risky. Just like asking Yang Wendong to invest in docks in Eastern Europe and South America today, that would definitely be considered very carefully.

Five minutes passed quickly and the bidding for the second pier began. Yang Wendong withdrew from the battlefield and came to Bao Yugang's position. Bao Yugang intended to get Pier No. 5.

The starting price was still HK$7500 million. Pao Yu-kang immediately raised the price by HK$500 million, and then Jardine Swire followed suit.
In the end, the price reached 1.6 million. Bao Yugang was so eager to buy it that he continued to bid. The price soon reached 1.75 million, which was higher than Yang Wendong's previous price.

"Bao Sheng, you can't give up at this point. A dock is also of great significance to your fleet." Yang Wendong said;

He also owns 16% of the shares, so naturally he doesn't want Bao Yugang to give up.

"Don't worry, I know." After Bao Yugang said this, he immediately turned around and held up a sign saying: 1.8 million.

This price immediately shocked everyone. Even Sanders, who was watching the show on the side, couldn't help but look at Bao Yugang. But after seeing Yang Wendong next to Bao Yugang, he also understood.

Shen Bi next to him said, "Sir, it seems that Yang Wendong is now integrating the power of the Chinese financial groups and tying them all to his ship."

"That's normal. That's what a smart person should do. No matter how big a single tree is, it's hard to make it work. Only when a boat is built can it be smooth and stable." Sanders was not too surprised. He said, "Yang Wendong has been looking for partners in Southeast Asia for a long time, and even in Europe and the United States. It is inevitable that Hong Kong will also be the same. It's just that the Chinese financial groups were too weak before."

No matter how big a Chinese consortium is, if it does not have enough allies, it will ultimately be unable to succeed alone. However, if multiple consortiums share the same interests and each has its own power, they can work together to become more powerful.

Shen Bi added: "In order to prevent Yang Wendong from getting too many docks, the Hong Kong government came up with a policy that a single consortium can only control one dock. However, this also allowed Yang Wendong to give up the dock interests at ease, and then profit from other places. Instead, it strengthened the alliance of the Chinese consortium. I don't know whether it is right or wrong."

"Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong, but there's nothing we can do about it at the time." Sanders sighed and said, "You know Yang Wendong's financial strength. If there is no legal restriction, he is likely to take over multiple docks, and the profits from Hong Kong's industry will no longer be available to us British capital."

HSBC has conducted special investigations into many of Changxing Group's overseas businesses. Although it could not find out the details, it still knows the approximate scale.

It can be said that this is a giant lurking in Hong Kong. A large number of its businesses, funds, and properties are overseas. In addition, since it is not a listed company, it has no obligation to report its development status to the outside world, which has led to many misjudgments by many British financial groups, including Jardine Matheson.

In addition, Yang Wendong is very confident about the future of Hong Kong. If there are no restrictions, the interests of the British consortium may be snatched away soon. Although restrictions will make Chinese capital unite against the outside world, it will at least threaten the interests of existing British capital later.

Shen Bi continued, "It is true that they have nothing to do with British capital, but it has nothing to do with HSBC. As long as we are the only central bank in Hong Kong, Hong Kong's wealth cannot be separated from us."

"That's right." Sanders nodded and said, "Our interests are not in British capital but in Hong Kong. The rise of Chinese capital actually has little impact on us."

Shen Bi added: "But the problem is that among the Chinese banks, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia still pose a great threat to us. They are developing too fast."

"Alas, I originally wanted to acquire Hang Seng in 65, but I didn't expect Yang Wendong to intervene, which led to Hang Seng's survival. Although it was seriously damaged, it has basically recovered in the past few years." Sanders said with emotion: "Now with the funding from Yang Wendong and Ho Sin Hang's own ability, it will indeed be a big threat to my HSBC;

If you manage HSBC in the future, you must be careful. But the good thing is that due to the restrictions of Hong Kong Banking Law, Yang Wendong's group cannot cooperate directly with Hang Seng. "

For large conglomerates, the next successor is not chosen at random, but is trained several years in advance;
Shen Bi was the successor chosen by Sanders. He was capable, had good relations with Chinese financial groups, and even had some connections with the north.

"Changxing Group now mainly cooperates with Citigroup and Standard Chartered, and has cooperated with us less in recent years," Shen Bi said with a frown.

Sanders nodded and said, "That's normal. Changxing Group's core capital has begun to invest overseas. They naturally need to cooperate with local financial groups and banks overseas. Naturally, they will not give priority to us."

"I think HSBC should also find a way to invest overseas and not just stay in Hong Kong." Shen Bi suddenly said, "Also, Hong Kong's geographical location is always an unstable factor. Any local consortium, including Yang Wendong, will plan to invest overseas after their business scale in Hong Kong grows."

Sanders agreed: "You have a point, but I am about to retire, so you can only do this in the future."

"Okay, but I need some resources now to investigate the overseas financial industry." Shen Bi said.

Sanders agreed, "No problem." After the two chatted for a while, the third pier was officially auctioned.

Yang Wendong and Bao Yugang have both obtained corresponding docks, and there are no other Chinese investors on the scene except the two of them;

It’s not that other Chinese investors look down on the wharf, but the Hong Kong government has very strict restrictions on participants in the wharf auction. They must have relevant shipping experience. There are only a few suitable Chinese in Hong Kong. Other shipping tycoons, such as the Dong family and the Zhao family, have clearly stated that they will not participate. The core reason may be that they believe that mobile assets are the safest.

There were more participants in Pier 4, including Jardine Swire, Hutchison Whampoa, the US-Japan consortium and even a company from London, England. In the end, Jardine won the pier for HK$1.75 million.

Yang Wendong saw Qi Dezun who had finally given up, and went over to ask, "Qi Dezun, you're not going to give up, are you?"

Qi Dezun smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yang, I won't give up. There is still one last pier."

"If you fail at the last dock, you will have no chance." Yang Wendong said calmly.

Qi Dezun nodded and said, "I know, but the way Yihe acted before was that they were determined to take over a dock. It would be too much of a loss for me to go head-to-head with them."

Yang Wendong said: "Tai Gu is not someone you can easily mess with."

Although there is competition between the big conglomerates, if they are not the only choice, they will tacitly avoid each other when appropriate to avoid unnecessary internal friction;
For example, when bidding for the first wharf, many consortiums did not increase their bids after seeing Yang Wendong’s performance. Otherwise, there would have been internal friction and Yang Wendong would have spent tens of millions more. But this is meaningless and would only offend people. When the next auction comes, others may turn against you.

Therefore, in any commercial society, although competition exists, it is not disorderly competition, and there are more or less some rules;

Qi Dezun smiled and said, "I know, but if you participate in this kind of auction, you will definitely have to compete with big financial groups. So it would be better for me to choose Taikoo."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you later." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

From Qi Dezun's perspective, he naturally did not want to go against Jardine Matheson, the largest British-owned financial group in Hong Kong. Even though Swire was also very strong, it was still inferior in comparison.

Soon, the final auction began, and several consortiums immediately launched a full-scale competition, the most obvious of which were Swire and Hutchison;

"8500 million", "9000 million". The price after multiple biddings soon reached 1.6 million, which was almost the same as the previous three prices.

"1.7 million." Qi Dezun raised his hand and raised the price by 1000 million.
This is also a move to intimidate others during the auction, such as what Yang Wendong did before. If the capital is strong, then others will consider the pros and cons and whether it is worthwhile to follow suit;
However, although Hutchison Whampoa is now a rising star among British financial groups in Hong Kong, it is still inferior to Swire.

"1.75 million." Swire Group also raised a sign.

"1.85 million." Qi Dezun raised the price by another million;

This immediately attracted everyone's attention, including the reporters, who turned their cameras and aimed them at Qi Dezun.

"Qi Dezun is indeed a man of great courage. No wonder he can succeed." Yang Wendong also praised.

Facing himself, Pao Yue-kong and Jardine Matheson, Qi Dezun remained motionless. But when he met Swire, although the opponent was stronger, he had to be ruthless.

Swire hesitated for a moment, but still raised the sign: 1.9 million.

"2 million." Qi Dezun's expression was calm as he quoted the highest price today.

There was an uproar at the scene. The representatives of the Hong Kong government were extremely happy at this moment. Such a large amount of income was enough to rival the Hong Kong government’s fiscal revenue for two years.

The people from Taikoo were also stunned. The people from Shi Huaiya's family hurriedly discussed with each other. The auctioneer in front did not urge them, but waited at ease.

But after a long while, there was no more bidding, and the audience was booed. Finally, the auctioneer looked at the Shi Huaiya family and said, "2 million once, 2 million twice, 2 million three times, deal."

"Good~"

The auction was completely over, and everyone on the scene cheered. Such a high transaction price was enough to show that many Hong Kong financial groups were optimistic about the future of Hong Kong's economy;

As a result, both the stock market and the real estate market will be greatly stimulated tomorrow.

"Pah pah pah pah pah~"

Amidst applause, everyone stood up and prepared to leave the venue.

Su Yiyi asked curiously, "I didn't expect that we didn't get the highest price in this auction. Instead, Qi Dezun bid the highest price."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)

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