Chapter 752 Development Plan for 200 Million Square Feet of Land in Hung Hom

Chapter 752 Development Plan for 200 Million Square Feet of Land in Hung Hom

Chapter 752 Development Plan for 200 Million Square Feet of Land in Hung Hom

In terms of potential, HK Electric is still not as good as Hutchison Whampoa, unless we deliberately give it some resources. Now we just need to get them first, and we can talk about the future later. The investment in domestic infrastructure is not what we want.

Richard Xin smiled and said, "Okay, no problem. I will definitely cooperate with Changxing Group."

He also felt relieved. It seemed that Yang Wendong did not intend to transfer Hutchison's high-quality assets through some means. This also showed that Yang Wendong really wanted to run Hutchison well.

Yang Wendong went on to say: “The third thing is real estate. Hutchison currently has a lot of real estate businesses, whether they are developed or not. I don’t ask about these. It’s your business.

However, the old port land that Whampoa Company once owned in Hung Hom has a total area of ​​200 million square feet, which is not worse than the former Harbour City land. I plan to develop this land. What do you think? "

After listening to this, Richard Xin immediately said, “Mr. Yang, in fact, after Hutchison Whampoa acquired the container terminal and the Hung Hom and Whampoa terminals were gradually abandoned, Qi Dezun also thought about developing this piece of land;
But the problem is that the port land is industrial land. If it is to be converted to commercial land, a large amount of "industrial to commercial" fee will be incurred. Such a large piece of land would cost more than 4 million before the real estate crisis. In addition, the population of Hung Hom is not that dense, so in the end it was judged that the risk was too great and nothing was done. "

"Haha, that was in the past. At that time, the land price was high and the economy of Hung Hom was average. Qi Dezun's decision on this matter was not wrong. If it were me, I would make the same choice." Yang Wendong smiled and shook his head and said, "But it's different now. Although the economic crisis is over, the real estate price is still not high, far less than the peak period of 71 and 72;
The economy of Hung Hom is now much stronger than before. First, the Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel has been opened to traffic, connecting Hung Hom directly to Hong Kong Island. Second, Hong Kong Island is crowded. Hung Hom and the coastal areas of Kowloon will sooner or later become new economic centers. Third, Hung Hom's industrial development is also very strong. With Berkshire Hathaway, it will sooner or later become Hong Kong's new textile industry center."

The time is different, and the choice of the same thing is also different;
In the early years, Hung Hom's economy was very ordinary. Apart from being the terminus of three express trains from the mainland, there was basically nothing else.

But things are different now. With the transfer of low-end manufacturing in the United States, the unrest of labor unions, and Yang Wendong's lobbying, Buffett and Berkshire's top management have given up the plan to revive domestic factories in the United States and instead focused on supporting factories in Hong Kong.
Although Hong Kong had textile industry decades ago, it was all low-end. Berkshire brought various mid-to-high-end materials and processes, which also brought opportunities for transformation to Hong Kong's textile industry. Many textile factories were also opened in Hung Hom, close to Berkshire factories, which naturally brought a large number of jobs and economy to Hung Hom, and also attracted more people to Hung Hom.

And there is one most important thing, that is the shoemaking industry. As long as Nike develops in the United States, Yang Wendong will also build a shoemaking factory in Hung Hom. With Nike's development speed, it will definitely be able to surpass the sum of all high-end textile industries in Hong Kong.

Richard nodded and said, "Mr. Yang is right, but Hutchison can't afford this amount of money."

The price is definitely cheaper now that we are converting industrial properties into commercial properties than in 71. However, no matter how cheap it is, for such a large area, the amount will be in the billions. Hutchison Whampoa is now barely able to pay the salaries of its poor employees.

Yang Wendong said: "You don't have to worry about this. You can estimate a reasonable price for this land based on the current industrial land price, and then I will let Changxing Real Estate purchase 50% of the shares;
After the funds enter the joint venture company, I will arrange for negotiations with the Hong Kong government to carry out industrial-commercial transformation. Once completed, the joint venture company can jointly develop the land.”

Historically, when the economic crisis had just ended, Li negotiated with the Hong Kong government to convert the land from industrial to commercial. Because the land price was low at the time and other reasons, the price was very cheap, which made Hutchison Whampoa make a net profit of HK$50 billion plus a 17-square-foot commercial plaza.
What Yang Wendong has to do now is to advance this plan by ten years. He may not make 50 billion, but according to inflation, it is likely to be about the same. If he can convert the two plots of land into cash earlier, he can use such a large amount of money to invest in other places. If he seizes a golden opportunity, the final paper data will easily exceed 50 billion.

"Okay, I understand. I will negotiate with Changxing Real Estate about the joint venture." Richard Xin agreed.

This is also the basic operation of many companies. They have land but cannot develop it, so they form a joint venture with other companies that are capable of developing it. The final distribution of profits depends on the resources and strength of each party, but generally it is half to each person because neither side can leave the other.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, that's it for Hutchison's affairs. Apart from these three matters, you can make the other decisions first. Deal with those useless small companies quickly. I will arrange a team to cooperate with you."

The company's assets, whether purchased or sold, will have a very strong gray interest chain. This is true not only for the newly acquired Hutchison Whampoa, but also for other subsidiaries. Such things are strictly monitored by the auditors of the headquarters office.

Just like the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Yang Wendong did not completely trust the headquarters office. After all, they were all human beings and they might unite. So sometimes, he would randomly arrange for a third-party audit agency to conduct a re-investigation afterwards and reversely check previous events.
Over the years, some corrupt officials were found and naturally sent to the police station.

For a company with tens of thousands of employees, it is normal to have some corruption. It is impossible to prevent it completely. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, couldn't do it. But as long as we monitor them at all times and restrict the infinitely expanding evil hearts of these people and make them dare to do only a little, that will be enough.

After returning to his car, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "The acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa is finally completed."

"Yes, next, we just need to deal with Hong Kong Electric." Fang Xianming was also very happy;
Following his boss, he successively took over several British giants. This is also a huge achievement for him. Maybe in the future when someone writes the history of Hong Kong's business, his name will be mentioned.

Yang Wendong said indifferently: "There is basically no big problem with HK Electric. Just like Hutchison Whampoa, the power generation business can be handed over to the current management. For the real estate business, we can cooperate with Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Hing Properties respectively.
You are responsible for this matter. I will not get involved too much. As for real estate, you can go find Zheng Zhijie later and tell him about Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Electric's cooperation in developing the shared land. I have mentioned it to him before, and he knows what to do. "

Although HK Electric is large in scale, its business structure is simple. It currently only operates power generation and related supporting facilities. It does not engage in other businesses, including real estate. It previously handed the business over to Hutchison Whampoa, but due to problems with Hutchison Whampoa and the real estate crisis, the business was shelved.

As for the power generation business, he does not need to change the management. At most, he can arrange for some Chinese to go in and learn, so as to prepare for the future expansion into the domestic market.

"Okay, Mr. Yang." Fang Xianming agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "In addition, I plan to meet the Governor of Hong Kong. Our presence in Hong Kong's business community has been getting bigger and bigger recently, so I have to go talk to Murray MacLehose and discuss the issue of the Hung Hom Port land." "Will Murray MacLehose take care of this?" Fang Xianming was a little uncertain.

Yang Wendong said: "Industrial-to-commercial conversion is one of the important sources of income for the Hong Kong government. Murray MacLehose is naturally concerned about it. Such a large project can bring a lot of income to the Hong Kong government. I have to talk to him like doing business."

In the early years of Hong Kong, many plots of land were used for industrial purposes, many of which were located in Hong Kong Island or some prosperous areas. When they were sold, they were really remote places, but after decades, some locations have become extremely expensive.
Many real estate developers naturally have their eyes on these locations, but they must convert the land from industrial to commercial, that is, they must pay a sum of money to the Hong Kong government based on the price difference before they can build residential buildings or office buildings, hotels, etc.

It is difficult to get a discount for this amount because if there is a discount, real estate developers will all go to purchase industrial land instead of participating in the Hong Kong government's real estate auctions. This is unacceptable for the Hong Kong government, which relies on revenue from land sales. Only in a few cases will there be a chance for a turnaround.

The change of ownership of Hutchison Whampoa also caused a stir in Hong Kong. No one could have imagined that Yang Wendong would take over a Hutchison Whampoa company that was so heavily in debt.

Some people were immediately full of confidence in Hutchison's future, and Hutchison's share price was immediately pulled up by a large number of buy orders; while some people thought that Yang Wendong was stupid for taking on such a hot potato;
The next day, all the media in Hong Kong also reported this incident on their cover. No matter how Hutchison Whampoa has fallen, it was once one of the four largest foreign companies in Hong Kong. Now it has been acquired by the Chinese, and it is still the same person.
The Wharf Holdings was once the right-hand man of Jardine Matheson. By this calculation, Yang Wendong alone acquired one and a half of the four major foreign companies.
There were also some news in the newspapers suggesting that people buy Wheelock's shares because Yang Wendong might acquire Wheelock next. As a result, Wheelock's share price actually went up a bit. I don't know whether this is a good news or a bad news.

Many reporters also wanted to intercept Yang Wendong and ask about his future development plans for Hutchison, but they basically could not find him. Yang Wendong's whereabouts were kept absolutely confidential internally, which was also for security and privacy considerations.

But in general, the change of ownership of Hutchison Whampoa cannot compare with the previous Wharf Holdings in terms of social impact. After all, Wharf Holdings is a well-established company and has had violent conflicts with the Jardine Matheson Group. Although Hutchison Whampoa is not small in scale, it is on the verge of bankruptcy. Many people think that Yang Wendong made a mistake in acquiring Hutchison Whampoa.

Everything in the outside world had little to do with Yang Wendong. He also knew that what he was doing today was actually not as sensational as the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa by Li Jiacheng in history, because at that time, Hutchison Whampoa had returned to normal with the support of HSBC. Old Li was completely a snake swallowing an elephant and picked up a bargain, while today he was picking up a mess;

But no one knows that as long as this mess is maintained in the early stages and prevented from going bankrupt, the profits to be gained from it will be staggering when the Hong Kong real estate recovers in the future.

Three days later, Yang Wendong also arrived at the Governor's Mansion:
"Hello, Mr. Governor of Hong Kong." Yang Wendong said politely;
Not to mention anything else, the fact that the Hong Kong government did not interfere in his actions could be considered as a help to Yang Wendong, regardless of whether the Hong Kong government was under pressure or not.

MacLehose smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Yang. You are very famous in Hong Kong these days."

"I'm just doing what a businessman should do." Yang Wendong replied calmly.

MacLehose nodded and said, "Haha, that's right. As a metropolis preparing for internationalization, Hong Kong will not care about Chinese, British or other capital. What Mr. Yang did can actually be regarded as a certain publicity for Hong Kong's financial policies."

"That's perfect." Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.

If it weren't for the war that the mainland fought in the 50s, if it weren't for the fact that the mainland is now on good terms with Europe and the United States, then what I have done in Hong Kong during this period of time would probably be courting death;

Of course, if this were not the case, he would not be so foolish as to forcibly acquire British capital. There are many opportunities in the overseas market, and he will also have his own opportunities.

MacLehose added: "Mr. Yang, as a government, I hope to see Hong Kong's economy recover as soon as possible and that all the people can have stable jobs. As long as you can provide these, then other aspects, as long as they are not illegal, will not be a problem."

"No problem. I am also willing to provide more jobs for Hong Kong." Yang Wendong naturally knew what he needed to do to satisfy the Hong Kong government. He said, "There is just one problem. The main shopping mall structure of Harbour City is almost completed. Although there are still some office buildings behind it, the demand for workers is not that high."

After acquiring Wharf Holdings, Yang Wendong immediately mobilized funds to build Harbour City. Now the main structure of the shopping mall has been completed, and even the decoration is almost done.

Once this is completed, the workers who were urgently hired will naturally become unemployed. The construction industry is generally different from factories and adopts a contracting system. The company itself will not recruit long-term workers unless they are some cutting-edge technical personnel.

Upon hearing this, MacLehose frowned and said, "This is indeed a problem. Although the Hong Kong real estate market has recovered, it is just the beginning and all companies are still relatively cautious in this regard."

Yang Wendong took the opportunity to say, "Mr. Governor, I have an idea. Hutchison is planning to develop the land at Hung Hom Port. Such a large land will surely be able to accommodate these construction workers, and even recruit more."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)