The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Time flies, and it’s September 1984 in a blink of an eye.

Not long after New Year's Day, the old real estate company Carnival Real Estate announced its suspension and liquidation, which immediately confirmed the unrest in Hong Kong's business community in the past two years.

Peng Guozhen, the founder of Jianian Real Estate, is a veteran real estate powerhouse. In the 50s, he also invested in commercial buildings with Xu Aizhou, Lin Zhichao and others.Throughout the 60s and 1972s, Peng Guozhen was regarded as a real estate powerhouse. When he went public in 4500, he raised [-] million Hong Kong dollars and was considered a medium-sized real estate developer.

The decline of Carnival Real Estate was caused by the stock market crash in 1973. It misread the situation and instead invested in a 66-square-meter commercial land in the center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the construction of a huge commercial complex, Capital City. Unfortunately, the oil crisis broke out subsequently. , resulting in unsatisfactory sales and slow development of this project.

Errors in investment strategies resulted in Carnival Real Estate only making a profit of HK$1977 million in 440; other real estate companies had already taken advantage of the oil crisis to buy Hong Kong land at the bottom.By the time Carnival Real Estate moved to Hong Kong, it was already the late 70s. At that time, a real estate project already cost hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, or even easily one billion Hong Kong dollars. It was no longer something Carnival Real Estate could afford to develop, and it could only develop small and medium-sized sites.

In 1981, Carnival Real Estate once again misread the situation and followed the footsteps of Land and Carnegie Group, which ultimately resulted in a huge strategic mistake. Other real estate developers had clearly discovered that something was wrong.

In the end, its founder Peng Guozhen died of illness last year, leaving a mess and soon it was completely closed down and liquidated.

Although the collapse of Carnival Real Estate does not have as big an impact as the liquidation of Carnival Group in September last year, it still alarms many property buyers - the future of Hong Kong is uncertain and the real estate situation remains at a low ebb.

Therefore, Hong Kong businessmen are either thinking about immigration at this time, or they are holding back!

Only a few determined businessmen are taking advantage of the low prices to stock up on 'strategic supplies'.

Monday, May 1.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, many offices in Central are already empty, and the crowds and traffic queues on the streets have long since dispersed.

In Land's office, Simon Keswick is waiting anxiously. He has sent people to the Victoria Harbor Center to invite Lin Zhichao, the chairman of Cheung Kong Group and Hutchison Whampoa, to discuss the transfer of Hong Kong Electric Light.

He has been very anxious recently. On one side, banks led by HSBC are collecting debts, and on the other side, the CKH Group is pressing harder and harder.Of course he understood that the Hong Kong Electric Lighting Company could not be saved, but the Cheung Kong Group still wanted the 'Exchange Plaza'.

If Land loses Exchange Square, its position in Central will be greatly affected.Therefore, even if Land's debt is frighteningly high, Simon Keswick hopes to sell other assets to ease Land's situation.

However, it was obvious that Lin Zhichao did not give him such illusions. Cheung Kong Group secretly purchased Land shares in the market, which made Simon Keswick feel a little scared.

What he faced was not a wolf, but a tiger.

In the end, he decided to discuss the Hong Kong Electric Lighting Company with Lin Zhichao first, and then discuss the Exchange Plaza according to the situation!
Representatives from both parties have already negotiated the price of Hong Kong Electric, which is a total of 28.5 billion Hong Kong dollars. At this price, the real estate is at a disadvantage because the current situation is unfavorable.

After a while, a staff member quickly came to Simon Keswick's office and said, "Taipan Ximen, Sir Lin and the others are here!"

Simon Keswick immediately stood up and said, "Okay, go to the conference room!"

Anyway, let’s get through this level first.

After a while, representatives from the Changshi Clan, headed by Lin Zhichao and Ma Shimin, and representatives from the Jardine Clan, headed by Simon Keswick, exchanged "friendly" greetings.

"Ximen Taipan, new year and new atmosphere, I also hope Land can have a new atmosphere!" Lin Zhichao said his blessing cheerfully.

"I accept Sir Lin's blessing. Under the leadership of Sir Lin, the Cheung Kong Department has been rising step by step every year, which is very admirable." Simon Keswick also said gracefully.

Today, since the two people, or the two teams, have come together, they must of course reach an agreement on the Hong Kong Electric deal, so there is no need to talk about anything else.

For example, after Land sold Hong Kong Electric to Li Jiacheng in his previous life, only three years later, Li Jiacheng still led a group of wealthy people to acquire Land.

This is what shopping malls are like. As long as the methods are not illegal or unethical, you can be regarded as a conscientious businessman.As for the means, everyone just depends on who is smarter.

Killing you while you are sick is the rule on the battlefield, and it also applies to shopping malls.

Later, Lin Zhichao, Ma Shimin and others started looking at the information.

Hong Kong Electric is a group enterprise that wholly owns 9 wholly-owned companies including Hong Kong Electric Company, Fortress Electric (electrical appliance retail), Jiayun (engineering), and 5 companies including International City (real estate, Cheung Kong also has a stake) Associate companies, whose businesses include electric power, real estate, engineering, industry, trade, retail, insurance, etc.

The profit in 1983 was as high as 7.18 million Hong Kong dollars. This is the approximate figure just calculated.

Although Lin Zhichao was reading the information, he was actually determined to acquire the Hong Kong Electric Group.It can be said that Exchange Square is not a non-buy, but Hong Kong Electric Group can really be a non-buy.

The Comparative Exchange Plaza is just a 'fixed asset' with no huge potential for development and is nothing more than rent collection.The Hong Kong Electric Group is different. Not to mention its two large-scale housing estates, it is simply a high-quality asset due to the increase in electricity profit and the overseas development potential of power projects.

Lin Zhichao only spent two hours and actually finished reading it. After that, he left Ma Shimin and others to work overtime while he went back to sleep.

The next morning, Cheung Kong, Hutchison, Land and Hong Kong Electric did not suspend trading; until noon, the four companies took the initiative to request the stock exchange to suspend trading.

At the press conference in the afternoon, Lin Zhichao, as chairman of the board of directors of Hutchison Whampoa, officially announced that Hutchison Whampoa has purchased the Hong Kong Electric Lighting Group from Land for a total price of HK$28.5 billion.

As soon as the news came out, there was a huge uproar in the entire scene.

A reporter immediately asked: "The Sino-British negotiations have not yet ended, the future of Hong Kong is uncertain, and the entire Hong Kong business community has not invested in any major projects. Everyone is very worried and vigilant. May I ask Mr. Lin, is Hutchison Whampoa's acquisition considered gambling?" "

Many reporters felt that this question was a good one!

At this time, in Hong Kong, if you are either thinking about immigrating or staying on high alert, who dares to invest?

Lin Zhichao smiled and said, "If I had the same idea as everyone else, do you think I would be here today?" Everyone laughed at first, and then fell into deep thought.

Looking at Lin Zhichao's more than 30 years of business career, the biggest impression is that he is good at grasping the situation.

Many people suddenly realized!
They understood that what Lin Zhichao meant was that he relied on this kind of bargain hunting, or grasping the situation, to achieve today's impressive record.Hong Kong lists Lin Zhichao as the "head of the four major families", which is actually promoting the other three families.In fact, the combined wealth of the other three families is not as much as Lin Zhichao's.

The reporter immediately asked: "So, Mr. Lin is very optimistic about Hong Kong's economic prospects. Can you tell me your reasons?"

Lin Zhichao said: "My reason is that instead of worrying about the progress of the negotiations, it is better to open your heart. No matter what the outcome is, Hong Kong has its own charm, value and potential, so we must firmly believe that Hong Kong will be better tomorrow! Moreover, acquisitions Hong Kong Electric is not the only major project investment in Hong Kong since the "Huaying Negotiations", because Cheung Kong Group invested in the "Changjiang Plaza" in Admiralty last year. This project has a total investment of more than HK$25 billion. Moreover, Cheung Kong Group has promised to In the next year, we will invest no less than 100 billion in projects in Hong Kong."

The Chinese people at the scene burst into warm applause!
This is the first time that Lin Zhichao has stood up and said something to strengthen the confidence of Hong Kong people!

Next, the reporter asked: "Mr. Lin, how long has Cheung Kong Holdings conducted research on acquiring Hong Kong Electric?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile; "Actually, I don't do any research personally, it's all done by my colleagues! It's true. People who are familiar with me know that the debt ratio of my company is very low and the cash flow is sufficient. Whenever we When a certain amount of cash flow has been saved, it is time to think about new areas for investment. In this way, there are actually many choices, and HK Electric is not a must-buy. However, everyone may understand that HK Electric is actually urgently sold by the original owner. Of course, HK Electric The lamp has this franchise, and it is an indispensable asset like electricity, so it is actually a good choice. I didn’t do much research on it, but my colleagues did research until late at night yesterday.”

If Simon Keswick had been there, he would have spit out a lot of phlegm!

Yes, HK Electric will indeed be put up for sale, but the decision will never be made so quickly.

The scene burst into laughter again. In this laughter, there was admiration. This 'god of management' is best at seizing the opportunity.Everyone is tightening their belts, but companies such as Cheung Kong and Wharf have sufficient cash flow.

The following press conference went smoothly.

Ma Shimin, Hutchison's president who has just been in office for one year, has also become the subject of reporters' attention.

"The entire acquisition process took a total of 16 hours, of which eight hours were spent on research proposals."

"Sir Lin combines the advantages of Chinese and European and American business: like European and American businessmen, Sir Lin directed us to comprehensively analyze the acquisition target, and then gave him a clear answer. Then he shook hands and implemented the transaction. This is the Eastern way of doing business. , crisp and clean.”

Ma Shimin's words also confirmed the reporters' suspicion, that is, Lin Zhichao has many advisers around him, so now he only needs to make a decision.

The next day.

The media throughout Hong Kong have reported on the event of "Hutchison Whampoa's acquisition of Hong Kong Electric", and even the stock market has risen.

In particular, newspapers in the Mainland even crowned Lin Zhichao as a "national hero" who "increased the morale of the Chinese and destroyed the prestige of the British."

Compared with Lin Zhichao's endless prosperity, Simon Keswick has no joy and relief because Land's debt problem has not been resolved.

If it were a previous life, after Land sold Hong Kong Electric, dozens of syndicates arranged to provide a portfolio loan, Land could be relieved.But in this life, Land lost the "Victoria Harbor Center" and "Star Tower" buildings, and its debt increased by nearly HK$20 billion.

Therefore, after the sale of Hong Kong Electric, Simon Keswick did not relax his vigilance, because he knew that the competition with Lin Zhichao would continue.

Just a week later, Simon Keswick was once again negotiating with Cheung Kong Group on the sale of Exchange Square.The difference this time is that Simon Keswick has decided to sell in order to obtain the commitment from Cheung Kong Group - not to acquire shares in Land and Jardine Matheson within ten years.

There is nothing wrong with this condition. After the sale of Exchange Square, Land owns only seven buildings in Central. These buildings have been established by others over a hundred years, and there is no need to kill them all.

How could Hong Kong be considered a cosmopolitan city without British capital?
Ever since, Lin Zhichao agreed to Simon Keswick's conditions, and the two parties negotiated the price of the Exchange Square.

The land price of Exchange Square was HKD 59.8 billion when Land Land purchased it. Construction fees of HKD 10 billion (including interest) have been invested, and the total cost is HKD 70 billion. Subsequent construction fees of 15 to 20 billion will be needed.

Cheung Kong Group is only willing to give HK$60 billion, leaving Land with a loss of HK$10 billion.The reasons are also very good: first, when Real Estate bought this land, it was already inflated by one billion; second, the current real estate prospects are still unclear, and it is inevitable that Real Estate will lose money on this project.

Seeing that Cheung Kong Group was resolute, Simon Keswick stepped back and added an additional condition: Cheung Kong Group would transfer the Land shares in its hands to the Jardine Group in batches at market prices within three years.

Cheung Kong Group agreed!
Ever since, at the end of January, before the Hong Kong business community had digested the news of "Hutchison's acquisition of Hong Kong Electric", the media published the news that "Cheung Kong Holdings acquired the Exchange Plaza from Land with a check of HK$1 billion." project'.

For a time, public opinion was shocked!
"Sir Lin is mighty!"

"I asked why Cheung Kong Holdings lost to Land and Exchange in Exchange Square and Hong Kong Electric. It turned out that it was just a long-term strategy to catch the big fish!"

"It makes sense! At that time, Cheung Kong Group had a lot of cash in hand. Even if it lost the Exchange Square due to a mistake in the bidding, there was absolutely no reason for Hongkong Land to win Hong Kong Electric. Now it seems that Lin Sheng had already seen that the situation was not right at that time, and decided to place a land first horse."

"But now, Land has become the king of debt. Its liabilities are much higher than its asset value, and it is almost bankrupt. It is still losing money!"

Hong Kong citizens all admire Lin Zhichao's cleverness!

On the other side, Simon Keswick was finally relieved and said in an interview with the media: "Landmark is no longer in a state of life and death!"

Two assets were sold for HKD 88.5 billion. Although it cannot be said that Land and Land has become completely passive, at least it has eliminated the biggest threat!

The media analyzed Simon Keswick's words one after another, and many versions suddenly appeared.

Of course, within a month, Lin Zhichao's investment in Hong Kong has reached 88.5 billion Hong Kong dollars. In addition, the Yangtze River Plaza invested last year (1983) reached 25 billion (excluding land costs), and the total investment is as high as about 115 billion.

In this way, confidence in the entire Hong Kong economy has had a very positive effect. (End of chapter)