Chapter 593: British Capital Pressure

Zheng Zhijie also nodded and said, "Qi Dezun is really a master in management. Under his leadership, the market value of Hutchison Trading Company has increased almost a hundred times. It is really amazing. I didn't expect that there is such a self-made person among the British."

Strictly speaking, Qi Dezun acquired Hutchison Whampoa under Wheelock and then gradually made his fortune; but no matter what means he used, as long as it was not illegal, or even not discovered, and then he made it bigger, that was a skill.

Yang Wendong also said: “Yes, there are actually quite a few capable people among the British ghosts, but the descendants of big business families are not so good;
This has nothing to do with Chinese and British capital. The descendants of Chinese families from decades ago are no longer in good shape. It is good enough to be able to stabilize the family wealth. Many people have fought their way up from the bottom, so they are naturally capable. "

Although Hong Kong is just a city, it has produced many entrepreneurs and working emperors, both Chinese and British.

Qi Dezun, Ma Shiming, Shen Bi and others are all very capable.

Among the Chinese, there are many who are able to build a top Chinese family from scratch, but their descendants are often just average, and it is actually good enough if they can keep the family business.

The future of the Yang family may also be like this. This is not something Yang Wendong can control. He can only try his best to cultivate the next generation, but he cannot control the next generation. The founding emperors of ancient times had no choice but to let each generation do its best.

Zheng Zhijie smiled and said, "Yes, now our group has many British people coming for interviews, some of whom are senior executives of other large groups."

"If you have the ability, you can take it." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "In the future, our group's core business will gradually expand overseas, and your real estate company may also be involved, so we need a lot of foreigners to participate. It is always easier for them to negotiate with customers in Europe and the United States."

After 12 years, the Yang family has become one of the top financial groups in Hong Kong, but from a global perspective, it is still far behind some giants, and even compared with many large groups in Japan, it is far behind.

Although it will continue to develop in Hong Kong in the future, the upper limit of its scale is limited by the city of Hong Kong; if it wants to become bigger, it will have to go out of Hong Kong, go to overseas markets, and compete with international giants.

This is also the goal of life. Otherwise, if a person has no goal and no motivation, it is too easy to be decadent. Many rich people have already achieved financial freedom, but they still work hard to make money because life needs direction.
Of course, you can't be too obsessed, or even make illegal profits even though you are financially free. This is unnecessary.

Zheng Zhijie asked curiously, "Real estate in Europe and America? We are not very good at this, right? Mr. Yang, are you referring to hotels and shopping malls?"

It is still possible to invest in real estate in Southeast Asia and even Japan, but it is not so easy in Europe and the United States, as there are local giants as well and the laws are completely different.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Yes, real estate is not just about building houses, that's too low-end, the real high-end is office buildings, hotels and shopping malls;
It is not realistic to invest in residential construction overseas. Most countries do not allow foreign investment in residential construction. However, hotels and shopping malls are still possible. We even consider joining them first.”

In the past, the mainland was basically a self-made real estate company, with no foreign investment. Only a small number of Hong Kong investors could occasionally participate in some projects under the central government's special permission.
However, there are fewer restrictions on shopping malls and hotels. For example, the well-known Central Plaza in Shanghai in the past was invested by Thai Chinese capital.

Zheng Zhijie nodded and said, "I've thought about it before, but it's more difficult to convince local capital in Europe and the United States to cooperate with us and join our hotel."

"Forget about the first hotel. The best way is to build it ourselves." Yang Wendong said, "I still have a lot of funds in the United States. I can directly build a Four Seasons Hotel. If it is successfully operated in the future, it can serve as a model to attract other local investors to join."

In the past, most large hotel chains were franchised. This is because the industry is extremely investment-intensive. If a hotel brand built its own properties, it would not be possible to grow big in a few hundred years.

On the contrary, local capital investment and hotel brand professional operation of hotels is a perfect cooperation model, which can expand rapidly. With more hotels, it can also reduce operating costs and increase management experience, saving money and making profits for investors, achieving multiple goals at one stroke.
Zheng Zhijie said: "That's fine too. Has Mr. Yang chosen a city address?"

"Los Angeles or New York, send someone to investigate the specific location." Yang Wendong said, "Also refer to Bei Jinming's suggestions. He is a great architect himself, an American, and has designed other hotels before."

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

Yang Wendong asked again: "Has Bei Jinming finished the design drawings for the Kangle Building?"

It has been two months since the successful bid for the land king, so the time should be about right.

Bei Jinming replied: "Bei Jinming's design drawings are ready, but the model building is still under construction. It is estimated that it will take another week to complete, and then it will be sent to Hong Kong immediately.

Several other companies are similar and will arrive in Hong Kong after mid-August, and the time we give is also within 8 months.

"Okay, let's talk about it when the time comes." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

The design of large buildings is time-consuming in itself, especially since Hong Kong has never built a super-high building before. Designers also need to understand Hong Kong’s various weather conditions, foundations, regulations, etc., which naturally takes some time.

The next day, Qi Dezun came to Changxing Building and said with a smile when he saw Yang Wendong, "Mr. Yang."

"Come, have some tea, British Da Hong Pao." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "I've seen Hutchison's business recently, and it's developing very well."

"I also have to thank Mr. Yang for his help in the financial field. Both Hang Seng and Citibank have been of great help to me." Qi Dezun replied.

Yang Wendong said: "That's what I should do. I am also a major shareholder of Hutchison Whampoa, so I should naturally provide help in this regard."

Yang Wendong did not abandon the companies he invested in, although if he did so, these companies would also be able to develop successfully. After all, the people he invested in were all successful people in the future. However, if these capable people could get his help, the effect would only be better.

The simplest level is finance. Even if these emerging companies have a promising future, if they are far smaller than the current giants in terms of scale, banks may be hesitant when it comes to loan financing for projects involving high risks.
Yang Wendong knew the future, including their capabilities and the future of Hong Kong, so he was naturally confident and encouraged banks to provide loan support to these companies.
However, what he knows is what he knows, but he is the only one who knows the risk. Others do not know it. Therefore, there is still an agency fee required for the guarantee. According to industry rules, the greater the risk on the surface, the higher the guarantee fee. But even so, for these companies, being able to obtain financing is the most important thing.

Qi Dezun also smiled and said, "That's good. Let's work together to make Hutchison Whampoa bigger. Sooner or later, Hutchison Whampoa will become a giant like Jardine Swire & Wheelock."

"I am also very confident about this. You definitely have the ability." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But to become a giant, you need not only superficial scale, but also some core industries;

For example, Jardine Matheson owns Hong Kong Land and Wharf Holdings, Swire owns Cathay Pacific, Wheelock owns a large number of shipping vessels, and my Changxing Group also owns a large number of industries;

As for Hutchison, a container terminal can barely be considered, but I don’t quite understand why you want to sell part of your shares to the Swire Group.”

"Mr. Yang, I knew that you called me here today for this matter." Qi Dezun smiled faintly and said, "There are two reasons for this;
The first reason was that John Swire proposed to me an exciting cooperation proposal. Swire and Hutchison Whampoa invested HK$3 million to build a large dock in Tsing Yi Island to build various ships. In this cooperation, Hutchison Whampoa and I held 60% of the shares.

"60%, does that mean I'm giving the dock to you?" Yang Wendong nodded, then said, "It looks good, but it's not as valuable as the dock, right?"

Hong Kong is the cargo center of Asia. Such a location inevitably means that there are a large number of docks that need to be maintained and repaired. In the early years, Hong Kong even had shipbuilding, which later gradually evolved into ship repair and ship dismantling.

Changxing Shipping started planning to build its own shipyard many years ago to repair its own ships and undertake external business. However, it is difficult for such a traditional industry to compare with the British-owned shipyards that have existed for decades. At most, it no longer needs to rely on others.

Swire and Hutchison Whampoa were once the largest dock repair centers in Hong Kong. Swire is relatively larger, but this cooperation is mainly based on Hutchison Whampoa. It is obvious that Swire is making concessions.

Qi Dezun smiled and said, "Yes, it's not as good as that. But he only wants 1/4 of the shares, and then Taikoo's ship will have priority at Pier 5, which is actually what Taikoo wants."

"That's right." Yang Wendong nodded.

The most important thing for a shipping company is time, because ships burn money every moment, and their early loans are also very strong. Only when they are running can they generate income;
But when you arrive at the port, you have to follow the arrangements, just like an airplane, the difference is that an airplane cannot fly for a long time, otherwise the airport below cannot escape responsibility if something goes wrong, but a ship can only stay in the sea indefinitely, and you can't do anything if you wait for a long time;
Qi Dezun added: "In addition, in the real estate sector, Swire Group has also expressed its willingness to cooperate with me. If these are used well, it may be possible to earn hundreds of millions in the next few years."

"So this is the second reason?" Yang Wendong asked back.

British capital basically does not play the real estate game, but Qi Dezun is an exception. He is still very strong in this regard. The fact that Hutchison Whampoa was able to grow into one of the four major trading companies in less than ten years is enough to explain everything.

Qi Dezun shook his head and said, "This doesn't count. The real estate cooperation is just a verbal agreement. After all, it's a long time in the future, so we can only talk about it later. But he shouldn't deceive me, so it's better to top it up a little bit;
Another reason why I am willing to sell my port shares is the pressure from the Hong Kong government and some British capital. "

"Pressure from the Hong Kong government? The Governor?" Yang Wendong said quickly.

The Governor of Hong Kong is about to leave, so he is unlikely to do such a thing. Moreover, it is too low to put pressure on businesses. Even if he really does this, there is no need for him to step in.

Qi Dezun said: “No, it was George from the Lands Department. He didn’t say it directly, but hinted that I should consider the interests of British capital in Hong Kong;

On the British side, it was HSBC that put pressure on me. It blocked loans for several of my projects, and the other side said something similar. "

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So that's how it is."

Obviously, British Hong Kong and British capital are not happy with Hutchison Whampoa.

Qi Dezun sighed and said, "I can't afford to offend the Hong Kong government and HSBC right now, otherwise many of my projects will run into problems. The conditions proposed by Swire are similar, and I won't lose anything, so I can only agree."

"We have a saying in Chinese that goes 'When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.'" Yang Wendong smiled and said, "This is actually quite normal. Merchants should not fight with officials, nor should they fight with big merchants."

Qi Dezun agreed, "Yes, I can only bear it. When the day comes when my scale is larger than Taikoo, I will definitely let the Shi Huaiya family enjoy the same treatment."

"Good, you have ambition." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "As long as we join forces, the scale of Hutchison will sooner or later exceed that of Taikoo. I also hope to see this day sooner."

Qi Dezun is not a fool. He knows the importance of the port. He might consider it only if Swire takes Cathay Pacific's shares in exchange.
But now that we are being oppressed by many parties, and the conditions are still okay on the "surface", we have no choice but to give in;
This kind of thing is very common. In history, after Li Jiacheng acquired 20% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares, the weak Jardine Matheson did not want to compete with Chinese capital, so it approached HSBC. The two British consortiums joined forces to force Li Jiacheng to give up.

However, Li Jiacheng was also quite smart. He directly gave the shares to Pao Yue-kong, who had more capital. Then Jardine Matheson lost one arm of Hutchison Whampoa, and he got Hutchison Whampoa.

Qi Dezun nodded and said, "Okay, thank you Yang Sheng."

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(End of this chapter)

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