July 18, 1975, Hutchison Building:
Hundreds of Hutchison Group shareholders from different places in Hong Kong came here to participate in the shareholders' meeting held by the new major shareholder. At the same time, representatives from Hong Kong and overseas banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of East Asia, Guang'an Bank, Sun Hung Kai Bank, Sanka Bank of Japan, and Development Bank of Singapore came. Among them, Shen Bi from HSBC came in person.
Many reporters from Hong Kong media also came to Hutchison Building, but they were not allowed to enter the shareholders' meeting. This also caused many reporters to complain. However, the shareholders' meeting is a private meeting and is not obliged to be open to reporters.
For this meeting, Hutchison Group temporarily transformed a large conference room, and hundreds of people took their seats under the leadership of Hutchison staff.
"Sheng Chen, the view from this office is really good. Apart from Kang Le Building, there are few places like this in Hong Kong." In Chen Zhiwen's office, Shen Bi looked at the scenery in the distance and said with a smile.
"No way, the height is not as high as the Kangle Building." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Shen Bi came in person, so naturally he couldn't be treated like others. Chen Zhiwen personally invited him to his office, and representatives from other banks also I was arranged to go to the VIP lounge, and I would not go to the venue until the meeting time.
"Sheng Chen might consider building the tallest building in Hong Kong." Shen Bi said with a smile.
"Without a good location, what's the point of building the tallest building? In the real estate industry, the most important thing is always location, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"So, Chen Sheng wants to build a super building in Central?" Shen Bi asked.
Chen Zhiwen smiled and asked: "Who wouldn't want to? I heard that HSBC is also planning to build a new building?"
"Yes, but the design plan hasn't been released yet." Shen Bi nodded and said. This is no secret. HSBC has long been the largest financial group in Hong Kong. If it weren't for the label of "official central bank", HSBC would not be able to invest in businesses other than finance. Otherwise, the so-called four major foreign banks combined would not be enough for HSBC.
"I have also heard that, I wonder if HSBC is considering listing the Harbor Engineering Company as a construction contracting supplier?" Chen Zhiwen said suddenly.
"Chen Sheng started looking for new business for Hutchison Group so quickly?" Shen Bi said with a smile.
"There is no way, Hutchison now has tens of thousands of employees, so we must have business to support it." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"The main business of Harbor Engineering seems to be the development of ports, tunnels, and roads. It is not good at large office buildings, right?" Shen Bi asked.
"It's not that I'm not good at it, it's just that the business focus is different. Hutchison Building is a masterpiece of harbor engineering. I can only say that the person who came up with this name was an idiot." Chen Zhiwen said.
Harbor Engineering is a construction company under Hutchison. Hutchison's main business is ports. As the scale of the port increased, there was a higher demand for new ports and later maintenance, so they established their own business company, Harbor Engineering, which is very He specializes in port construction, and later gradually began to be involved in real estate construction business. Hutchison Building is a port engineering design and construction company.
But with the word "harbour", the first impression seems to be that it is not a regular construction company. It has cut off its meridians, and can only hang out at the port.
"I need to think about it." Shen Bi nodded and said.
"Okay, but even if we can't cooperate with the HSBC New Building, we can cooperate in other aspects in the future." Chen Zhiwen said that the HSBC New Building is like a chicken that lays golden eggs. It will probably be difficult to get in. It is the most expensive building in the world. HSBC is also a global construction company bidding. Not to mention seaport projects, even Kinmen Construction, which is good at building buildings, is probably not going to get it. However, HSBC will not only build headquarters in the future, and there may also be opportunities for cooperation in the future.
"Okay, but this shouldn't be an issue that needs to be discussed today." Shen Bi said with a smile: "Although Chen Sheng is already the largest shareholder of Hutchison, the problems Hutchison is facing now still need to be solved."
"Yes, so I need Mr. Shen Bi's support." Chen Zhiwen said.
"I have always supported you, but I also want to know how Chen Sheng can get Hutchison out of its current predicament." Shen Bi asked.
"In the second step, I will inject 200 million Hong Kong dollars into Hutchison. In this way, at least the bank's loan repayment will not be a problem for at least half a year." Chen Zhiwen said: "After half a year, we will look at Hong Kong's economic situation and Hutchison Remember the internal situation and then make next plans."
"If so, of course that's good, but what is the first step?" Shen Bi asked curiously.
"The first step is to privatize Hutchison today." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Privatization?" Shen Bi was shocked. This showed that Chen Zhiwen was very optimistic about Hutchison, so he wanted to privatize it. What was surprising was that even if Hutchison was like this, privatization would require hundreds of millions of funds, plus injections. Hutchison's HK$200 million adds up to almost US$100 million, which is almost the maximum limit of Citibank's previous credit line.
But I just don’t know if he has any other trump cards?
"Yes, although I am the controlling shareholder, Hutchison's situation is too bad. Next, I will have a major operation on the entire Hutchison. Although those small shareholders do not have a large share, it will still be very troublesome if they continue to cause trouble, especially On issues such as fund-raising, if a small number of them disagree, it will slow down the entire progress, which will only further affect Hutchison's reform." Chen Zhiwen explained in a very "official" way, the bigger reason is naturally to have exclusive access to future real estate. As a result of the appreciation, Hutchison is now one of the companies with the largest land holdings among listed companies in Hong Kong. However, the location of the land cannot compare with Land.
"As long as your funds are in place, it won't be a problem for me." Shen Bi thought for a moment and said, "Sheng Chen, I don't know what the credit line Citibank gave you is based on, but you have to control the risks of your own companies. , Galaxy Real Estate itself is also a super-risk operation, and it will be better now that the price of industrial land has rebounded. If there are problems with debts overseas, and the same is true here in Hong Kong, it will only cause greater trouble than Qi Dezun before. "
"Don't worry, I've been controlling my risks." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
The funds for the previous acquisition of Hutchison came from the speculation on oil derivatives during the oil crisis. However, the privatization of Hutchison and the future capital injection into Hutchison came from Citibank, and the collateral was naturally Wal-Mart's stock.
Could Walmart's stock be in trouble? It is almost impossible. Wal-Mart is expanding rapidly now. From 1972 to 1997, it has been a smooth journey. At least 9 of the 10 new stores can make money. Especially after reaching a large scale, the procurement cost is getting lower and lower. Thanks to Chen Zhiwen's cooperation, Galaxy Trading purchases a large amount of cheap clothing, hardware, and daily kitchen and bathroom necessities from Asia, which also reduces Wal-Mart's procurement costs to a certain extent. Otherwise, it would not be too cheap to buy in the United States.
Wal-Mart's stock can rise by an average of 35-50% in a year. The longer the time goes by, the higher the value of the stock in Chen Zhiwen's hands. The loan he applied for this time for Hutchison will only become less and less risky. In theory, Wal-Mart's stock price will rise again in half a year. For some, he can borrow another 20 to 30 million US dollars.
Of course, it will no longer be needed at that time. Hutchison will sell a bunch of junk assets and get back more or less funds. Real estate and stock prices will rebound, and Hutchison's own risks will be greatly reduced.
"It seems that the benefits of Red Bull are really good. I was really wrong at first." Shen Bi said with a smile when he saw Chen Zhiwen's confidence.
"Red Bull is a high-end drink with high profit margins, so banks are naturally optimistic about it. As long as we occupy the European market, the value will be even higher." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Everyone in Hong Kong believed that Chen Zhiwen's funds came from Red Bull, and he naturally also By extension, the same is true for Shen Bi. This can be regarded as the benefit of not having the Internet. Across the Pacific Ocean, the cost and difficulty of checking information are very high. It is not necessary and no one will go to such trouble.
"I have to say, I admire you." Shen Bi said with a smile: "When Bao Yugang started his business, I saw all kinds of perfect perseverance, self-confidence, execution, management ability, and wisdom. These were gathered together to achieve his success. The world’s shipping king, but Chen Sheng seems to be able to catch up with him with just one drink.”
"Sometimes, many inconspicuous little things contain huge wealth. If the most inconspicuous socks on our bodies can be sold all over the world, they will also be the top rich people in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen said.
"What about Hutchison's future? Will it also go global?" Shen Bi asked.
"Yes, after Hong Kong stabilizes, it is inevitable to go global. In the simplest terms, what Hutchison is good at is ports, so my goal for Hutchison is to become the world's largest port operator. Maybe in the future in this regard , and we need to cooperate with HSBC." Chen Zhiwen said with some "painting", in fact, this goal was achieved by Lao Li in later generations, and it should be possible in his hands, but at this moment, he is indeed inducing Shen Bi, and now Hutchison , the more support you get from HSBC, the faster it will develop in the early stages.
"I like Mr. Chen's ambitions. I also hope that HSBC can become an international bank. You and I have a lot in common on this." Shen Bi said with a smile.
"Dong dong dong" An Qi's voice came from outside the door: "Chen Sheng, Mr. Shen Bi, the shareholders' meeting has been arranged. Richard and Zhou Jiayang are already waiting."
"Okay, we'll go there right away. Also, let representatives from other banks go to the scene." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
"Mr. Shen Bi, the shareholders' meeting is about to start, please come." Chen Zhiwen stretched out his hand to signal.
"Okay, let's go together. It might be a lot better if we go in together." Shen Bi said.
(End of chapter)
