Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 177 [Asset Arrangement]

In the early 70s when Chinese capital was listed in large numbers, the stock market was quickly linked to the local markets. After more than half a year of integration, the two are now inseparable. In other words, if the stock market collapses, Hong Kong's local markets will not be able to escape, and may even suffer a more tragic decline, because local markets still have physical assets in hand, while the stock market is virtual.

Zhang Yan's business has always been in the stock market, real estate, and decoration and construction. The stock market can no longer sustain, and the real estate and decoration and construction will also enter a recession, so Li Wendi thinks it is necessary to continue to remind Zhang Yan.

“After clearing out your stocks, don’t rush to buy real estate.” Li Wendi said calmly as he looked at the fish darts floating in the sea breeze.

Zhang Yan opened his eyes slightly wide. He really planned to cash out and then buy a large amount of properties. After all, the real estate market was hot.

"Why?" Zhang Yan asked after calming down.

Li Wendi put down his fishing rod, glanced at Zhang Yan, and said expressionlessly, "Since the second half of this year, there have been dozens of companies listed in Hong Kong, nearly 7% of which are real estate companies, and many of the remaining 3% are companies that are inseparable from real estate. It can be said that the Far East Club (Far East Stock Exchange Co., Ltd.), the Gold and Silver Club (Gold and Silver Securities Exchange Co., Ltd.) and the Kowloon Club (Kowloon Securities Exchange Co., Ltd.) are the stock trading markets for real estate companies. Once the stock market goes wrong, do you think the real estate market will be spared?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yan's eyes widened even wider, like two gongs. If Li Wendi hadn't said this, he naturally wouldn't have thought of the key. Once he acquired the property and a stock market crash occurred, the local market would not be able to hold on, and he would be at risk of bankruptcy.

"Then what should I do?" Zhang Yan calmed down a little, "With so much money in hand, I can't just deposit it in the bank and earn interest, right!?"

In the capital market, depositing money in a bank to earn interest is a very bad idea, or it can be said to be a way of living a life of idleness and waiting for death.

Li Wendi smiled and said, "In a crisis, those who have cash flow will be the biggest winners. If you don't have the patience to wait for even a moment, Ayan, just wait for bankruptcy."

At this moment, Li Wendi seemed to be touched by what the business leaders said about self-cultivation. When the future is uncertain, one must first maintain the current position so that he can make better moves, instead of rushing to find the next target for investment like Zhang Yan.

Starting from lecturing Zhang Yan, Li Wendi has planned to start selling a large number of non-quality properties of his three companies in January. Except for some high-quality properties in Central, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay, the rest have been slowly sold off to recover funds.

In fact, it takes a long time to sell properties and land. If you are too anxious to sell them, your competitors will definitely take the opportunity to lower the price, just like Bao Ligui and his son did in the past.

The sales started in January and all of them were barely sold out in March. Maybe the price of the properties and land was not the highest, but it was definitely not the cheapest.

Monday, September 12
Li Wendi was in charge of Changxin Real Estate Company. He re-examined the company's real estate, land and other assets, and screened out the real estate, land and some stocks that needed to be sold.

It was eventually discovered that the sale was worth nearly $3000 million.

"The stock market and real estate markets have been extremely hot recently. HSBC executives have repeatedly called on Hong Kong citizens to invest rationally. Now I feel the same way. The current stock market and real estate markets are artificially hyped up. Once a crisis comes, the stock market will break through the dam like a flood and drown everyone. So I decided to sell part of Changxin Real Estate Company's assets in advance, recover the funds, and wait for the crisis to come." Li Wendi said to Zhang Wentao with a heavy face.

Zhang Wentao certainly didn't understand the decision made by Li Wendi, but what Li Wendi said made sense. The operation of a business must be prudent.

"Yes, I will make the arrangements immediately. Do we still need to participate in the acquisition of the building on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai?" Zhang Wentao asked.

Li Wendi put down the documents and said, "Continue to participate. As long as the price does not exceed 2000 million, you can get it."

"Competing for commercial buildings in Wan Chai is not just about investment, it can also enhance the reputation of Changxin Real Estate Company. It's free advertising, so why not do it?" There are countless powerful real estate companies in Hong Kong. Changxin Real Estate Company has only a little reputation in the industry, and is far less famous than the old real estate companies such as Chinese Estates Company and Kam Hing Real Estate Company.

Don’t forget that Cheung Kong Holdings rose to prominence in the bidding for the HarbourFocus Twin Towers in 1977, defeating Hong Kong’s leading real estate company, Hong Kong Land Development, making the name of Cheung Kong Holdings famous across Hong Kong.

From then on, Cheung Kong Holdings became famous and many companies came to it to request cooperation. Cheung Kong Holdings also made a lot of profits, laying a solid foundation for seizing Hutchison Whampoa.

In the afternoon, Li Wendi came to China Entertainment Properties again and told Wang Tichuan the same thing. He also approved Wang Tichuan's report to fire 19 employees.

These 19 employees are all Cai Ziming's confidants. Although they did not prevent Wang Tichuan from taking over Zhongyu Real Estate Company, they also did some shady things. Li Wendi naturally could not tolerate such people. If Zhongyu Real Estate fell into a period of weakness in the future, these people would become fatal links.

Moreover, Cai Ziming has already cashed out a large amount from the stock market and obtained a considerable sum of funds to establish a new company. Now is the time for him to make a big move. These 19 employees also want to follow him. After all, Cai Ziming will not treat them unfairly, and they also believe that Cai Ziming can make a comeback.

Li Wendi was also happy to see this scene. 19 people were able to leave safely, saving a lot of effort.

Zhongyu Real Estate Company has about 40% of its business in the catering industry, and Li Wendi is thinking about whether to sell this industry as a package.

However, he quickly rejected this idea because he remembered Luo Xurui's operations in this regard. Li Wendi did not think that his ability was better than Luo Xurui's, so he prepared to follow suit.

Lo Yuk Shui is the son of Lo Ying-shek, the owner of Great Eagle Properties. He left the family company in 1982 and then earned nearly 1 million yuan from the stock market, real estate and other projects in two years. In the first half of 1984, he joined hands with Willis of Asia Securities to launch a takeover of Regal Hotels Company, a subsidiary of Great Eagle Properties, and the acquisition was successful.

Due to Luo Xurui's lack of funds, Asia Securities had to temporarily control Regal Hotels Group, and he was only the second largest shareholder.

So in 85, Luo Xurui injected 4800 million yuan into the Century City Company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, and successfully acquired Century City Company. Century City Company had catering business under its umbrella, and Luo Xurui retained all these industries. Century City Company also became the parent company of Regal Hotels Company.

With such a powerful predecessor leading the way, Li Wendi felt that there was no need to make any changes and could just copy it completely.

Li Wendi admires such people very much. Although he is born into a wealthy second-generation family and started from a higher level than most people, Luo Xurui is definitely the best among the rich second-generations. He is ten times better than those second-generations who just guard the family business. Especially the acquisition of his father's company is a typical case.

Both Luo Xurui and Liu Luanxiong are second-generation rich people. Both started to make their fortunes in the mid-80s. However, Luo Xurui's history of making his fortune is more innocent. He did not do much to attack others. At most, he took advantage of the situation to rob his father Luo Yingshi's company.

However, Li Wendi thinks that he cannot achieve the same level as Luo Xurui, because Luo Xurui has a good father, has been in charge of a listed company for many years, is familiar with the operation of Hong Kong companies and has unusual connections, and his father Luo Yingshi will also help him secretly.

Li Wendi only knew that he was a 'prophet' in his previous life, and he also wanted to seize the previous fortunes of those tycoons in the late 70s, so he needed to grow up urgently, and there seemed to be no other way except to rob.

Li Wendi couldn't help but get excited when he thought of this. The stock market crash in 73 was a great opportunity for him. Perhaps he could use the funds from the three companies to acquire high-quality companies and complete his adventurous expansion plan.

When the real estate market recovers in 76, he will become the boss of a large real estate company, and will be not much different from people like Li Jiacheng.

(End of this chapter)