"Which one?" Chen Zhiwen immediately became interested. In fact, he wanted to buy the farm. As long as he had money, he could buy it at any time. That is, due to the recent scandals of the US government, the oil crisis, inflation, and the banking infrastructure, Due to high interest rates and other reasons, farm prices are at historical lows. You can take advantage of this opportunity to acquire a large number of farms or reclaimable land at the best price.
But a top basketball team, even if the NBA is not very famous now, may not necessarily be able to acquire it.
"Los Angeles, Lakers." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "How about it? If you want a basketball team from a big city, I'm looking for it in the top ten cities in the United States. My staff asked several companies and got a rejection, but the Los Angeles Lakers The boss behind the team expressed his willingness to talk!”
"Los Angeles Lakers?" Chen Zhiwen's eyes were full of surprise. This was his favorite team in his previous life, especially Kobe Bryant and Jordan.
Although the current Lakers team is definitely completely different from the future, and he doesn't know the current ranking of the Lakers in the NBA, it doesn't matter. As long as he activates his "money ability", he can completely form a fantasy super team in the 80s/90s. Team.
This kind of team may have a large investment, but it itself has strong profitability. Especially starting in the late 1980s, the influence of the NBA began to affect many countries from the United States, and the star effect will be greatly increased.
And this is what Chen Zhiwen wants. His Red Bull, a sports drink brand, and his own sports shoe brand Anta, all need sports stars to endorse them. Even Midea's electronic consumer products can also be endorsed by sports stars.
Of course, this is not the only one. Advertisements like Red Bull also need to rely on various other sports events and celebrity endorsements, but having the most famous one can always bring more traffic.
Moreover, if the team is in Los Angeles, it will be very convenient. The current headquarters of Midea and Red Bull in the United States are in Los Angeles. In the future, it will be much more convenient for him to go to the United States to lead various things.
"However, the strength of this team can only be said to be average. There are no famous sports superstars in it. The advantage is that it is cheap. Tens of millions of dollars is enough. Do you think carefully about whether you want it? If so, I will arrange for Morgan Stanley's people went to talk?" Henry Morgan said.
"If you want, buy it first. The NBA doesn't stipulate that an owner can only buy one team, right? It's really inappropriate. I can just buy a few more teams." Chen Zhiwen said nonchalantly.
Now the strength is average and there are no superstars. Then we only need to wait until Jordan is poached in a few years. Chen Zhiwen is not familiar with the others, but as long as he has money, he can poach mature members of other teams, or in the draft. Spend money to choose the best. As long as these people are not bad and cooperate with Jordan, that will be enough.
"Okay, then I will make arrangements when I return to the United States." Henry Morgan said.
Chen Zhiwen asked again: "Is there any news from Disney?"
"There is no news yet. After I go back this time, I will go find out more." Henry Morgan said: "Don't worry, we all understood what you meant when you met Jason last time. If we can't figure it out, you will go When you go to Goldman Sachs, don’t tell me that our family hopes to cooperate with you in the long term. That’s just not the case. The merger and acquisition of a large company like Disney alone is enough for any investment bank to take it seriously.”
"Okay, inform me as soon as possible if there is news." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this matter should not be delayed for too long. Hong Kong's economy is in a very sensitive state at this time. Originally, he should not conduct large-scale overseas mergers and acquisitions at this time. Yes, but the window period for acquiring Disney is now. If it continues to be delayed, when the new CEO and management team are launched, it will be an ambitious time, and it will be impossible to give more money.
"This is natural." Henry Morgan suddenly said: "I heard that you had some friction with the Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong?"
"Do you know this too?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously. Although this matter cannot be kept secret, there are only a few people who know about it, and the Hong Kong media has not received any information, otherwise it would have been exposed long ago. Logically speaking, Henry Morgan wasn't supposed to know.
"We don't know it from Hong Kong, but from the United States." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "The Hilton family and the Morgan family have a lot of cooperation. When you wanted to buy out the contract in Hong Kong, they found us and hoped that we would come forward. Maybe it’s because our family has invested a lot in Asia recently, and everyone thinks our connections in Asia are relatively strong.”
"Your network is really powerful. You can find out about this even if you go around a lot." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile and shook his head. If the Hilton headquarters in the United States had not kept it secret, the news would indeed have spread, and by chance, Henry Morgan would have known about it. How can I say that he now controls the American television station? Not to mention flattery, but there must be many people who take the initiative to make friends with him. .
"This is a small matter." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "How about I be the middleman and both of you take a step back. Otherwise, it really hurts the harmony, so there is no need for this."
"I have no problem here, it just depends on Hilton." Chen Zhiwen said nonchalantly. In fact, it is just a price issue now. There is no contract that can keep buying. Some time ago, Hilton Hotel Group proposed a HK$250 million offer. The buyout fee is clearly meant to kill Chen Zhiwen. Although this amount may be only a drop in the bucket in terms of the income from this land, it is money that should not be spent.
So, as the owner, Chen Zhiwen started another round of financial review of the entire hotel, not sparing a penny. Although he had cleaned up the Hilton Hotel a few years ago, it may have been a long time, and Chen Zhiwen Other businesses were not paid much attention to after they became large-scale, but this time the financial review quickly identified problems and sent 5 Hong Kong people and 2 Americans to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Although the United States may care more about the interests of overseas people, this is a real illegal act committed within the British sphere of influence. What can Uncle Sam say if he is caught? Could it be possible for a few little people to have a diplomatic dispute with Britain over them?
At the same time, this is not the only thing that has been investigated. What is even bigger is that the Hilton Hotel is suspected of deliberately transferring some of the owners' interests to the head office through some means. Although it is not a big deal, if Chen Zhiwen wants to make a big fuss, such as a fight in the United States A lawsuit, or spending more money on publicity, once the scale becomes large, it will be troublesome for Hilton Hotels.
In fact, this kind of thing happens not only to hotel groups, but also to many chain and franchise businesses. Legal aspects may also be prepared in advance. In addition, each company does not have much funds. If the owner files a lawsuit, he may need to invest more. Funds, and although Hilton is a dirty business, it can still guarantee the profits of its owners, so basically all franchisees turn a blind eye.
But if someone with a lot of money really insists on making trouble, the Hilton Hotel will also be in trouble. This may be the reason why the Hilton Hotel found Morgan.
"Since it is a price issue, what is your willingness?" Henry Morgan asked.
"120 million, this is my bottom line. If they don't agree, then I don't mind spending another 100 million Hong Kong dollars to fight a long-lasting cross-border lawsuit with Hilton in the United States." Chen Zhiwen said with a shrug. This number is actually not Chen Zhiwen's bullying, but a figure calculated based on the contract and the income of previous years. Moreover, in the original history, Li Jiacheng only paid 150 million Hong Kong dollars. That was still a few years later, and the current 1.2 Compared with the future 1.5, the value is actually higher, and the exchange rate alone is different.
"Okay, let me tell you something. Hong Kong is your territory after all. The Hilton Group probably just wants to take the opportunity to make a fortune and leave." Henry Morgan said with a smile.
One week later:
United States, Hilton Hotel Headquarters.
"Mr. Morgan, please take a seat." Hilton CEO Brooke greeted politely.
"Just call me Henry. There are too many people in our family with the name Morgan." Henry said with a smile.
"Okay, Henry, we have received the news you sent before." Brooke said: "We think the buyout price of 120 million Hong Kong dollars is too insincere. Since the Morgan family has come forward to mediate, we can lower it appropriately. HK$200 million.”
"Are you really going to fight a lawsuit with them in the United States? Do you know how financially powerful the person you are facing is? Although he is not an American, his influence in the United States is also very high. Or do you think that the American courts Would you deliberately favor American companies because of this trivial matter of yours?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.
"I certainly know about his financial strength. Last year [Fortune] magazine concluded that although it is indeed very strong, our Hilton Group is not weak either." Brooke said confidently.
"If I tell you that the [Wealth] data is wrong, the fact is that Eric is worth far more than the data above. Also, he owns at least three companies whose annual profits are greater than those of the Hilton Group. , and his debt ratio is not high. Are you really prepared to spend time with such a person? He is a young man, and young people are very arrogant. I really don’t want to spend tens of millions of dollars to litigate with Hilton. Let’s talk about the final result, but in the long run, Hilton should be fine, but as a professional manager, it won’t be any good, right?” Henry Morgan said with a smile.
"Then I can't lose the interests of the board of directors." Brook said.
"You don't really think that in Hong Kong, on other people's territory, you can finally outplay others, right? Why bother? Just accept it when it's good. He has a very close relationship with the mainland. I heard that you are also interested in it. Regarding the mainland market, what do you think will happen in the future if there is a falling out due to the Hong Kong incident?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.
"The mainland is so big, and he has such great influence?" Brooke asked again, but his tone seemed not as tough as before. A few years after the mainland reopened, the tourism industry has developed significantly, which has attracted the attention of international hotel giants. Besides, even if the mainland's economy is poor, there are still many wealthy people based on such a large base.
"The mainland is indeed very big, but there are only a few big cities like Yanjing, Shanghai and Guangdong. I heard that you want to invest in Shanghai and are still looking for partners. I actually don't know Eric's influence in the mainland. How powerful is it, but are you willing to gamble? Besides, the conditions he offered are not too excessive, right?" Henry Morgan said with a smile.
Brooke frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Well, I still need to discuss this matter with the board of directors. Please tell your friends that we are just doing business. No matter what the outcome is, we are not enemies."
"Okay, but we have to hurry up. My friend has a big business and he doesn't have time to spend here." Henry Morgan said with a smile. He already felt that Brooke was showing signs of retreating.
A few days later, Hong Kong.
Li Haonan walked in with a smile and said, "Sheng Chen, your relationship is more useful. Hilton has agreed to our request. For 120 million Hong Kong dollars, we will buy out the contract."
PS: I originally wanted to write something about this hotel, but I felt it was meaningless, so I stopped writing. Please vote for me.
(End of chapter)
