"Chen Sheng, I, Yihe, can exchange Wharf for Wharf on any terms." Niubijian came to Chen Zhiwen silently and said.
"Really?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.
"Of course." Newbijian said.
"If I want to buy land, will Mr. Niubijian agree?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"You" Niubijian's face immediately turned livid, but this was a shareholders' meeting, and so many media reporters were taking photos. He didn't dare to really lose face, otherwise, he would become a joke to the whole of Hong Kong.
"So if you can't give me what I want, let's just rely on our strength." Chen Zhiwen shrugged. In fact, the current qualifications of the Yihe Group are only a bunch of land and properties in Land's hands that are of some value. Various other messy investments are also large in scale, but few of them have truly achieved scale.
For example, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong is indeed very famous, but it is only developing in Hong Kong. Jardine has no intention of expanding it and learning the business model of large Western hotel management groups.
In later generations, the number and scale of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel was not as good as the Shangri-La Hotel established in the 1970s.
In the same way, Maxim's Food Company, a well-known subsidiary of Jardine Matheson, is only operating within Hong Kong. Even though it acquired many food businesses of Dairy Milk Company, it still cannot become a success.
In fact, if these industries were run by Chen Zhiwen, they would definitely be able to develop appropriately internationally. However, he is not very interested in these small industries, and it is impossible to exchange them for the rights and interests of Wharf.
Besides, it’s hard to say whose land will belong to it in the future.
"Okay, farewell." Niubi said politely, holding back his emotions.
The two parties on the stage were quiet for the time being, but the people in the audience didn't care. After voting, they only needed to wait for the results. They also chatted casually, but basically everyone would ask the other party which company they voted for and what the follow-up should be. What investments to make, etc.
Another half hour passed.
The results of the vote came out, and the vote share that agreed to remove the current board of directors was 54%.
After getting this result, many people in the audience immediately applauded. Maybe half of them were really "trusted", but the other half may be really happy. The Jardine Matheson Group, which has dominated Hong Kong for nearly a hundred years, was defeated by the Chinese today. Wharf took away one of its wings.
Niubijian's face was still so ugly, but he was not disappointed. He seemed to already know the outcome of today. Looking at Chen Zhiwen who was laughing and laughing, he took the initiative to walk over and said, "Sheng Chen, congratulations on becoming the new head of Wharf. Chairman.”
"I would also like to thank Jardine Matheson Group for its long-term investment in Wharf over the years, especially Harbor City. Rent will be collected in another year." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
When Newbijian heard this, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. Although the funds for Wharf to build Harbor City mainly came from stock market financing, Jardine Matheson Group has also spent a lot of energy and resources on this project over the years. , I finally waited until it was about to bloom and bear fruit, but it was snatched away by others, and now I have to be thanked by others.
But reason still calmed him down and said: "Chen Sheng is too polite, but since Chen Sheng has become the new owner of Wharf, there is no need for me, Yihe, to hold shares of Wharf anymore. If you are interested, , I can sell my shares to you."
"Sorry, I don't need these shares. I don't want to trigger the acquisition invitation." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "But I think there are still many people in Hong Kong who are willing to take over these shares. You can find the right person to trade."
"Chen Sheng should only have 40%, right? If I sell you another 10%, it won't trigger a takeover offer." Newbijian said.
"The current problem of Wharf is that it is too short of funds, so I am also planning to make a separate capital injection into Wharf. However, this will naturally increase the shares in my hands. Therefore, I accept Mr. Newbigan's kindness." ." Chen Zhiwen said still politely.
Although Wharf's capital chain problem is not as good as that of Hutchison, a project with a total investment of HK$2 billion but no income during the investment period is enough to bring down any real estate company in Hong Kong. Only Jardine Matheson Land is behind it. I could barely hold on until the day when it was almost finished. And if there are more funds, the finishing work of the Harbor City project can also be completed faster.
"Okay, then I'll say goodbye. I'll write a resignation letter to the board of directors." After saying this, Newbijian left with his subordinates.
"In the end, I have to resign myself." Chen Tianfu said with a smile. Today, his son is attacking the largest British capital in Hong Kong, so he will naturally follow him. However, during the conference just now, he just sat down like an ordinary person. Now that the meeting is over, he comes up.
"It's the last face of the empire." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "We can't let us send a letter of dismissal. That would be too stingy. Instead, we will be laughed at by all walks of life in Hong Kong."
"That's true." Chen Tianfu said: "Now that Wharf has been acquired, it can be considered a great success."
"The shareholders' meeting is considered a success. It will be over soon. Let's go back first." After getting the result he wanted, Chen Zhiwen naturally no longer needs to stay here. He can just do the rest by himself. .
"Hey, Chen Zhiwen is gone?" Some sharp-eyed people below discovered this situation.
"There won't be any more privatization acquisitions?" Others immediately became nervous.
"No way, isn't it been rumored that Chen Zhiwen will fully privatize Wharf? After the privatization of Hutchison, Chen Zhiwen has made billions today?"
"I don't know, maybe it will be announced in a few days."
At the venue, various voices were bustling. Chen Zhiwen didn't want to care about what these people were thinking. Stock market acquisitions would inevitably bring a large amount of money into speculation. These people were not ordinary investors. He didn't care whether these people were It's not that they were cheated. After all, the purpose of these people entering the game was to suck blood from themselves.
The next day, resignation letters from Newbijian and a group of former Wharf executives and directors were delivered to Chen Zhiwen's desk. Chen Zhiwen naturally accepted them all and immediately named several people who had performed well at Hutchison Whampoa to work in related positions at Wharf. Position.
Unlike Hutchison Whampoa, which involves huge businesses, Wharf's current main business is real estate and ports. Ordinary workers and middle-level workers in the port area have not left a large number of jobs. For ordinary people, when the boss changes, they will change. As long as it doesn't affect your salary.
As for real estate, basically the only business under construction is Harbor City. In other places, Wharf actually holds a lot of land, but it has not been developed because of the losses of Harbor City. For real estate companies, it is simply a waste.
There are actually many British-funded companies in Hong Kong, but many of them use their land to develop it together with Chinese capital, and both parties benefit together. In fact, Chinese-owned real estate companies have also approached Wharf before, but they were all rejected. Dangtang Yihe , how is it possible to develop it together with some small real estate companies and then split it in half? Whether it is Land or Wharf, the ultimate goal is to develop the property with the highest value and then hold it to collect rent.
The mentality of completely pursuing one's own life is also the main reason that led to the acquisition of Wharf, whether in the previous life or this life, because as long as one develops one's own land with a normal mentality, then Wharf will never be short of funds, nor will it be affected by financing. And lost control.
For Chen Zhiwen, it is much easier to take over this kind of real estate company. There is no need to stabilize the entire management team like Hutchison did at the beginning.
Galaxy Building:
"Sheng Chen, this is the current asset status of Wharf. Please check it." The person who came was none other than the new general manager of Wharf, named Zhao Lilin. He is a top student who graduated from Stanford University in the United States. After returning to Hong Kong from the United States, he worked at Jardine Matheson After working in the group for several years, he later moved to Hutchison. After the acquisition by Chen Zhiwen, he became a key training target. In the past few years, Zhao Lilin performed very well and completed several large-scale projects on his own.
After acquiring Wharf, Chen Zhiwen arranged for him to become the general manager of Wharf.
"Let me take a look. Please tell me briefly." Chen Zhiwen took the document and said.
Complicated documents usually seem to take a long time, but if someone explains the key points, it will seem much faster.
Zhao Lilin said: "Okay, Mr. Chen, Wharf currently has three main businesses. The first is the port terminal business. Currently, the No. 1 berth of Kwai Chung Terminal is directly owned by Wharf, and the number of containers handled every year is almost 400,000 boxes. .
The second business is the Star Ferry, which currently monopolizes the shipping business on both sides of Victoria Harbor. The efficiency is not very high, but it is relatively stable.
The third is the real estate and warehouse business. The Wharf used to have many docks and warehouses on both sides of Victoria Harbor. Later, after the opening of Kwai Chung Pier, these ports and warehouses became the reserves for the real estate business, with a total area of almost 7 million square feet. , the largest piece of land is the land under the current Harbor City. The biggest advantage of these lands is that they all have 1,000-year use rights. . "
"It's simpler and easier to deal with." Chen Zhiwen looked at the description on the information again, nodded and said.
Needless to say, the port business is almost the same as Hutchison Whampoa's existing one, but on a smaller scale. The Star Ferry is a ferry. It once played a decisive role in Hong Kong. However, with the opening of the Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel and the completion of the future tunnel subway, The importance may not be that high.
The real wealth of Wharf is these massive amounts of land, many of which are warehouses and directly used for commercial purposes. There is no need to go to the Hong Kong government for extremely costly "industrial-to-commercial conversion".
The 1,000-year use right is actually the use right that comes with the land when it is sold from the Hong Kong government. In the era a few decades ago, the land had a 1,000-year use right, but in recent decades it has begun to be tightened and has become 99 years, 70 years, 50 years. Land with 1,000-year rights of use is considered a relatively rare asset in Hong Kong today. Only some established companies will hold part of it. Even Hutchison, which was once one of the four largest foreign banks, does not have a few such pieces of land because it does not have a long history. .
"Starting from the third page, there are financial issues. The current Harbor City project costs almost HK$200 million every year. This is a huge pressure on Wharf. The Star Ferry, Kwai Chung Port No. 1 and The rents of a large number of properties have been invested, but it is still not enough. But the good news is that Jardine is very conservative and does not use loans excessively, so the current financial pressure of Wharf is not very great." Zhao Lilin continued said.
"How big is the annual gap?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.
"It's about HK$70-80 million. In the past, Jardine Matheson raised money in the stock market to solve this problem. Now, if this method doesn't work, can we consider borrowing from a bank?" Zhao Lilin asked.
"Loans are also possible, but when Harbor City itself is not open, ordinary banks may not dare to lend so much." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "Let's just pick a few pieces of land in non-core locations, and don't use them in Hong Kong." For the island pick, it will be fine in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. I will use it to cooperate with some Chinese real estate companies, so that we can get cash quickly and open Harbor City as soon as possible. In this case, the entire Wharf can operate normally." Chen Zhiwen thought about it. Want to say.
If when he acquired Wharf, Harbor City had not yet started construction, and he did not have sufficient funds, then in the golden age of the 1970s, he would not have been able to invest a huge amount of funds into this project, even if Harbor City In the future, the annual rent can be tens of billions. After all, there were too many gold investments in the golden age.
But now this project is almost completed, and some shopping malls have begun to be renovated. If the funds are sufficient, it may be able to open in another year. In this case, it is natural to let it be completed normally.
As for taking out land to cooperate with Chinese capital, it is a similar logic. With so much land owned by Wharf, it is impossible to build properties all by itself and then collect rents. This is the idea of Jardine, and then it drags itself to death. In the future, if you want to run your own business, you only need to keep prime locations such as Times Square and Ocean Terminal for future generations.
"Okay, then I will compile a list and show it to you later." Zhao Lilin nodded and said.
"One more thing, I currently hold almost 40% of Wharf's shares. I am going to find a suitable time to let Wharf conduct a private share increase on me to increase my equity to 49.9%. However, because of the previous For acquisitions, the stock price is still too high. If you release some news, say that Jardine Matheson Group wants to cash out its shares because it has lost its controlling stake in Wharf, but no one has taken over." Chen Zhiwen continued.
"Okay, I understand." Zhao Lilin is a smart man himself, so he naturally understands what his boss means. This can not only suppress the stock price that has been overheated due to the acquisition war, but also allow the shares in Jardine He's hands to be sold. If you don’t go out, you can kill two birds with one stone.
(End of chapter)
