The Wharf acquisition turmoil slowly dissipated over time. It lasted for three months in total. From Li Jiacheng's start to Chen Zhiwen's final success, many people watched it very lively, and some media newspapers also opened Created a page dedicated to tracking reports.
However, in terms of popularity, compared to Chen Zhiwen’s previous acquisition of Hutchison, it is much smaller. After all, even if the process was not very exciting the first time, it was still very exciting. The second time, it may feel good, but it is also I feel at peace.
If there will be a third or fourth time later, it may be normal and the process will be familiar.
After Zhao Lilin selected three pieces of land with medium locations and medium areas, Chen Zhiwen invited Li Jiacheng, Li Shauji, and Zheng Yutong to have tea, and then discussed the cooperation plan.
Originally, Chen Zhiwen's plan was to allocate several pieces of land to them. As for who wanted which piece, they would decide on their own. However, Li Jiacheng proposed that they all form a joint venture to develop these lands. As for the shares, Chen Zhiwen, as the land holder, 50%, Li Ka-shing 20%, Lee Shau Kee and Cheng Yutong 15% each.
These pieces of land were first injected into the joint venture, and then bank loans were used to pay Wharf, because Wharf now also needs funds to develop Harbor City. For subsequent development, the construction company will advance the payment, and the joint venture company will pay a small amount of cash. It only needs to quickly build one piece of land. When the property on this piece of land reaches the time when it can be pre-sold, it can quickly obtain a large amount of funds, and then develop other For several plots of land, wait until all projects have reached the pre-sale time, then recover the funds, settle the construction balance and bank loans, and the remaining profits will be divided equally according to the number of shares.
This plan is quite radical, and if something goes wrong during the process, losses may occur.
Li Jiacheng calculated the profits for everyone with pen and paper on the spot, and after ensuring that these projects could make a profit of HK$50 million, Chen Zhiwen, Li Shauji, and Zheng Yutong nodded and agreed, and he would be responsible for everything. It provides an appropriate amount of funds (land) and bank credit.
After signing the contract, several people quickly established a new joint venture company. One week after the land injection, Wharf received 80 million in funds from the joint venture company, which was used to purchase three pieces of land.
After Zhao Lilin received the funds, he immediately started the acceleration plan for the Harbor City project. Previously, due to the outbreak of the Wharf takeover war, Jardine almost stopped the construction of Harbor City. Now that the funds are in place, construction will begin 24 hours a day immediately so that it can be completed in the shortest possible time. Let Harbor City open within time.
Chen Tianfu, who got the news, also ran over, found his son and said: "Awen, why are you cooperating with Li Jiacheng and those people for the Wharf land? Is it okay with me or Galaxy Real Estate?"
"Dad, your funds should not be recovered until August, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.
"Yes, the Central and Admiralty MTR station property projects will not be available for pre-sale until August. Now the house prices have risen too fast. I estimate that after deducting taxes and bank loans, the net profit will still be HK$200 million. This can be It’s a real profit.” Chen Tianfu said with a smile.
Chen Zhiwen said: "I am very optimistic about the future of Wharf Harbor City, but it has not yet opened and is sucking the blood of Wharf every year, so I must complete it as quickly as possible, so that one plus and one minus, Wharf can regain its true status as one of the top ten financial groups in Hong Kong."
"That's okay. Then when the project I'm working on is finished, in about the second half of the year, we can develop the Wharf or Hutchison Whampoa sites together. Your Galaxy Real Estate has several big projects on hand, and they can be scheduled around that time. Let's sell it, we just have enough funds and land, so we can make hundreds of millions easily." Chen Tianfu thought for a while and said.
"Okay, let's talk about it then." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. The money he has received from Li Jiacheng and others is enough to maintain Harbor City for half a year. After half a year, some funds will still be needed. If the money is returned by then, If you need to develop land, it is naturally better to use your own funds.
The month of April is coming soon.
Henry Morgan came to Hong Kong again.
"Eric, congratulations on acquiring another big company in Hong Kong." Henry Morgan said with a loud laugh when they first met.
"Please sit down. The United States is also very concerned about Hong Kong's business?" Chen Zhiwen said with a faint smile.
"The Los Angeles Times reported on your acquisition of a local company called Wharf in Hong Kong, and also mentioned Jardine Matheson. In fact, Jardine Matheson Group is somewhat famous in the United States. Its real estate company was once rated as one of the world's most famous real estate companies. The three major real estate companies,” Henry Morgan said with a smile.
"That's because there are very few real estate companies like this in Europe and America, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
The natural property tax policies in Europe and the United States restrict the unlimited expansion of real estate companies. There are also large real estate companies in the United States, but they are generally developed and sold. There are also some held, but the scale is not very large. However, in Hong Kong, Land holds a large number of very high-value properties. If we only look at the field of real estate, Land's scale is indeed ranked high in the world.
"It can't be said that. In fact, there are many people in the United States who hold a large number of commercial office buildings, but they will not be owned by the same company. Maybe it is for the sake of keeping a low profile. You also know that this is the best way to hide wealth. ” Henry Morgan explained with a smile.
"That's true." Chen Zhiwen nodded. The super rich want to hide their assets. There are actually very few channels. The stock market is not possible, because capable people and even reporters may find out the information. It is also not possible to do business, where a large number of items and funds are traded. It cannot be hidden from society, but real estate can. Its daily transactions are only rent, which is not worth much compared to the entire house. As long as it is held through different companies, it is difficult to contact the same person. The most important thing is that there is no social Movement, as long as you don't buy conspicuous buildings like the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building.
"Eric, acquiring such a large company should bring considerable financial pressure. If there is any need, I can ask J.P. Morgan to give you a preferential loan discount." Henry Morgan said with a smile.
"No need for the time being." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and asked: "Now JP Morgan Chase is starting to lack customers?"
"No, the interest rate is too high now, so high that many companies dare not borrow money." Henry Morgan said helplessly.
"Maybe I will need it later, and I will contact you then." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.
Since the outbreak of the first oil crisis, hyperinflation has appeared around the world, which has persisted for several years and cannot be reduced. This is a fatal economic blow to European and American countries. In order to suppress inflation, the Federal Reserve began to continuously raise interest rates, causing the United States to The banking industry has been hugely affected. It is the same as in other countries. Interest rates are rising. If it were not for the continued rise in housing prices that led to a huge short-term economic bubble, life in Hong Kong would be very difficult.
However, in this environment of high inflation and high interest rates, the price of gold has increased significantly. Before 1978, it was not an exaggeration, but by 1979, the increase exceeded everyone's imagination. This is why Chen Zhiwen has been saying Prepare for the “golden” opportunity.
In about a year, the price of gold can triple. This ratio is not an exaggeration. Occasionally, special stocks can even triple five or ten times. However, gold is the world's largest trading commodity after oil and can accommodate huge amounts of funds. This means that huge profits can be obtained in the short term, but stocks that can multiply several times cannot. The total market value of such stocks It can't be high, and it can't accommodate too much capital at all.
"Oh, when will it be? How much money will be needed?" Henry Morgan asked curiously.
"It's a lot, but it's just a drop in the bucket for your Morgan Bank." Chen Zhiwen smiled and didn't want to waste more words on this matter, so he changed the subject and said: "Henry, you came to Hong Kong, don't you just want to do something for me?" Is JP Morgan looking for clients?”
"Of course not." Henry Morgan didn't care about the bank's affairs anymore. After all, his own affairs were the most important, so he said: "I came here mainly because of this. This is a new thing that has suddenly become popular in the U.S. market in the past six months. .”
After speaking, Henry opened the suitcase next to him and took out a flat rectangular box inside. At first glance, it looked like electronic products.
"Is this Atari's home game console?" Chen Zhiwen immediately knew what it was when he saw the shape and the ATARI letters on it.
"Do you know this stuff?" Henry Morgan said in surprise: "I didn't expect that Eric, you in Hong Kong, could actually know what happened in the United States recently. It seems that I am too worried."
"Actually, when Atari was released last year, I asked someone to buy one from the United States." Chen Zhiwen told the truth. He actually knew that Atari had been working hard on home game consoles in the past two years, so he naturally arranged for people to do so. Keeping an eye on Atari, when the first-generation home game console was born, he bought ten pieces at once, then brought three of them back to Hong Kong, and left the remaining seven to the American team.
"That's it." Henry Morgan nodded and said, "A month ago, I went to a bar once and met a few people playing the Space Invaders arcade game. We started chatting casually, and then the person said In other words, it would be great if this game could be transferred to the ATARI at my home.
I didn't know about home game consoles at the time, so I asked a few more questions, and then the man took me to his house to have a look, and I discovered that many of Atari's former arcade games had been transferred to this small box. This small box only costs a few hundred dollars. It can be connected to a TV and can also play many games. When I saw this thing, I knew that our arcade was going to suffer. "
"Henry, you really have a lot of vision." After hearing Henry's description, Chen Zhiwen couldn't help but praise him. He was a little surprised that Henry Morgan, a businessman, had such a vision.
"I don't understand technology, but I only see that this is more playable and cheaper. As for arcade machines, there is no commercial advantage at all." Henry Morgan shook his head and said.
"You are right. This home game console is indeed the natural enemy of arcade machines, but things are not as pessimistic as you think." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"What should I say?" Henry immediately became energetic. He is a smart man, and smart people also have the troubles of smart people. For example, when he feels that the career he has finally built may be destroyed, he feels very depressed. Now that I have hope, I naturally feel more energetic.
Chen Zhiwen said: "Home game consoles are better than arcade machines in every aspect, as you mentioned in terms of cost and playability, but the popularity of this thing is not that fast, and it is impossible to do so in just a few years.
The second thing is game copyright. Without good game copyright, this thing will not become popular. Atari or other game companies have basically had no success in the arcade market in the past few years. Now that they have moved to the home game console market, they will not be so popular. It’s almost successful, and look at the space, it’s so small, it needs to be compatible with a variety of different games, and it needs to feed back the signal of the handle and send the signal to the TV. The difficulty here is far more than the arcade machine we customize specifically for a game, so In terms of experience, home game consoles will not be able to catch up with arcade machines for at least three years. "
"What about three years from now?" Henry Morgan asked.
"Three years are enough for us to achieve high results in the arcade market. Besides, you can't really expect that arcade machines, like cars, can be used for a lifetime, right?" Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "One more thing, Electronic products, in fact, the smaller the space, the more difficult it is to develop technology. Even three years later, our arcades can still develop high-performance games. In this regard, home game consoles are at a disadvantage. And you also know the development of the semiconductor industry. The cost is getting lower and lower. In the future, the terminal prices of our arcade machines will only become cheaper and cheaper, so the market can still expand. Maybe when arcade machines only cost a few hundred dollars, there will be specialized arcade game stores, and the market will still be It’s always been there.”
"What you say makes sense, but the market will definitely be greatly affected." Henry Morgan said.
Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "Of course, arcade machines will exist for a long time, but the era of huge profits for arcade machines may be coming to an end soon."
With the development of the semiconductor industry, chip performance is getting stronger and stronger. Not only games, but other industries are also gradually developing. People will have more and more entertainment methods. Arcade machines that charge huge fees cannot survive for a few years. Even in the original history, by 1981, which was the third year after "Space Invaders" made 100 million US dollars in the US market, the entire arcade market was no longer good. No matter how good your arcade game was, everyone would Playing games at home.
With the emergence of high-performance games, arcades began to revive in the mid-to-late 1980s. However, the rise of computers in the 1990s gave arcades another blow, and there was no chance for them again. Later, in the 21st century, although there was a new trend in game arcades, the things inside were completely different from today's arcade machines.
However, in developing countries where computers cannot be afforded, cheap arcade machines also have a large market, but they are basically pirated and have nothing to do with game companies.
"Eric, from what I know about you, since you have seen it all, that means you are also preparing to make a home game console?" Henry Morgan asked tentatively when he saw that Chen Zhiwen was still talking and laughing confidently.
"Yes, last year, I had already arranged for the American team to study in this direction." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
(End of chapter)
