Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 333 [Collaborative Conspiracy]

Wheelock Company Meeting Room
Li Wendi, Zhang Wentao and other senior executives were sitting in the conference room. Opposite them were the senior executives of Wheelock Company headed by John Madden. The atmosphere was quite serious.

“Mr. Li, Wheelock will not sell the land in Hong Kong Island. We can only develop it through cooperation. This is the resolution passed by the board of directors,” John Madden said in a deep voice.

In fact, Li Wendi brought so many people here purely to give face to John Madden, to let the other party feel his sincerity and to satisfy John Madden's vanity.

"That's a pity! Your company is committed to becoming a leader in shipping and wants to compete with Mr. Bao Yugang of Global Shipping Company, so I think your company is in great need of funds." Li Wendi pretended to sigh and said, "Since your company has no intention of selling, Changxin Group should be a suitable partner. What do you think, Mr. Madden?"

Li Wendi has dealt with John Madden many times and has some understanding of this man's personality and work style. He likes to cooperate with companies with similar strength and divide those companies into 369 levels to show the status of Wheelock.

“Of course! But it still takes time to prove whether Changxin Group can cooperate happily with Wheelock Group,” said Madden.

Li Wendi signaled a senior male in the company and asked him to start distributing the prepared plan documents. "This is a plan that I am personally responsible for. You can take a look at it first."

Seeing that everyone was looking through the documents, Li Wendi continued, "Wheelock's Federal Realty and Real Estate Trust own a large amount of land in Hong Kong Island, including Central. The current land market is already showing the situation in 69 and 70. If we jointly develop these lands now and wait until they are completed and sold in 78, we will definitely get very high profits. By then, Wheelock can use these profits to expand its presence in the shipping industry."

There are two main reasons why Li Wendi cooperated with Wheelock and Company: to increase his understanding and penetration of Wheelock and Company and to accelerate Wheelock and Company's expansion in the shipping industry in order to increase the extent of Wheelock and Company's losses in the shipping industry.

Moreover, during this period, if anyone coveted Wheelock, he could naturally help Wheelock fight back.

"Can the profits really be as stated in the plan, with you only getting 45% of the profits but having to pay for all the construction costs?" Madden looked at Li Wendi in disbelief. Based on his understanding of Li Wendi, he was a guy who would not do anything without profit. Nowadays, all the cooperation in the market was for each side to get 50% of the profits, so Li Wendi's automatic giving up of 5% of the profit share seemed to have a special meaning.

"Of course! I know that many companies have contacted Wheelock, so if Changxin Group wants to win these cooperation projects, it naturally needs to have more advantages than others." Li Wendi said with a smile, covering up the deepest reason.

Hearing the reason, Madden smiled and said, "Mr. Li and the Cheung Hsin Group are very sincere, and Wheelock has fully felt it. However, the project involved is too large. In fact, we can take it slowly. I can first take out the 7.8 square feet of land in North Point and Plantation Road in Mid-Levels Central and cooperate with the Cheung Hsin Group to develop a luxury residential building that will satisfy the citizens of Hong Kong."

Li Wendi certainly would not force Madden, and said with a smile, "Okay, then let's start the first phase of cooperation. If Wheelock Group needs partners for other projects, Mr. Madden must think of the Evergreen Group first."

"Don't worry, Mr. Li! Wheelock Group values ​​partners like Mr. Li the most." Madden said with a smile.

Next, their senior management conducted a comprehensive discussion on the details of the cooperation. The Changxin Group hopes to cooperate with Harriman Development Company, a subsidiary of Wheelock Group.

In Li Wendi's impression and understanding, the most high-quality industrial companies of Wheelock Group are Harriman Development Company, which is responsible for building construction, Federal Realty Company, which has extremely rich properties, and Lane Crawford Development Company, a leader in high-end department stores.

If Xia Liwen Development Company can be merged into Wenyan Construction Company, it will be a great improvement to the construction capabilities of Li Wendi's construction company.

Lane Crawford Development Company can fill the gap in the department store sector of the Changxin Group, and even allow Li Wendi to enter the supermarket industry through it.

All of this needs to be done gradually, unless Li Wendi has the cash flow and financial resources of a charter ship king.

The hot summer has gradually passed, and Hong Kong has entered October, with the weather cooling down significantly.

Changxin Group has already acquired Jianfeng Garment Investment Company, Gad Electronic Manufacturing Company and China Gas Company from Li Wendi. Zhang Wentao even wanted to take over Yonggao Company from Li Wendi so that Changxin Group could obtain the large area of ​​land in Central, which would facilitate the construction of Changxin Group's Central headquarters building in the future.

Today, the Cheung Kong Group has once again made the front-page headlines of Hong Kong newspapers. The reason is that relying on the profits from residential development in real estate, the Cheung Kong Group not only took over three companies from Li Wendi, but also aggressively acquired many small companies. After absorbing their high-quality properties and land, it restructured its debts and assets and sold them to others again, allowing the Cheung Kong Group to acquire a large number of high-quality assets at a very small cost.

The newspapers were all praising the Changxin Group. They listed the companies and assets controlled by the Changxin Group. Of course, they could only check listed companies, such as Ducheng Real Estate Company, which they could not understand thoroughly.

Changxin Group controls China Entertainment Real Estate Company, Metropolitan Real Estate Company, Mingcheng Real Estate Company (indirectly controlled), and China Gas Company.
Among them, Cheung Kong Group directly or indirectly owns the Central Entertainment Building, Lijing Building, Liancheng Building, Kanghe Building, and Gongbei Building (bought from Hengyao Real Estate Company). The five small and medium-sized commercial buildings in Central are priceless, with a value of more than 4 million yuan.

Changxin Group owns 2 Grade A commercial buildings and 3 small commercial buildings (under construction) in Sheung Wan, and several industrial buildings in North Point, Kowloon Bay and Yau Tong Industrial Zone, with a total construction area of ​​more than 200 million square feet and a value of more than 1 million yuan.

Its subsidiary Mingcheng Real Estate Company has many industrial buildings under construction, no less than 8. China Entertainment Properties Company also has a lot of land under construction in Causeway Bay and eastern Tsim Sha Tsui. All of the commercial buildings it is building are integrated shopping malls and office buildings, and are very valuable.

According to statistics from these media, the assets of Changxin Group have exceeded 10 billion yuan, while the market value is only half of its assets. Newspaper reports even listed other companies under Li Wendi, the controller of Changxin Group, such as Wharf Holdings, Junfu Jewelry, Qinian Newspapers, and Yonggao.
The outside world is dumbfounded by the company assets controlled by Li Wendi. The Wharf Holdings and Cheung Kong Holdings alone are enough to stand out from the crowd. After all, Cheung Kong Holdings is no weaker than the "Five Tigers of Chinese Capital".

Such reports caused the share prices of Changxin Group and its listed companies to soar, which was very dazzling in the sluggish stock market.

Seeing this, Li Wendi immediately summoned Zhang Wentao and Bai Hui, the new manager of the investment department, to inquire about the fundraising and share offering. "The current Changxin Group is hot in the stock market. Is it a good time to raise funds and offer shares?" Li Wendi continued, "Changxin Group's strength in Central Commercial Buildings is still very weak. I hope to have a large amount of funds to acquire properties in Central."

Although Bai Hui has just taken over the affairs of the Investment Department, she has already worked in the Investment Department of Changxin Group for several years and is one of Lin Dongmei's confidants, so she has a strong control over the department and her abilities are naturally not bad.

"I suggest raising a small amount of funds and offering shares first to test the market. Large-scale fundraising and offering shares may not be able to sustain the market as the current market conditions are not that good." Bai Hui gave a relatively conservative suggestion.

Zhang Wentao is not very familiar with this aspect, but he has some understanding and cognition (Li Wendi reminded him). "I agree with Manager Bai's suggestion. If this small-scale fundraising and share offering is completed, I suggest doing it again at the beginning of next year. I think the funds from this share offering can be used to acquire some commercial buildings and shopping malls in Central and Wan Chai. The funds are insufficient, so I plan to join hands with China Entertainment Properties to acquire them." Zhang Wentao also said more about his own field.

"Okay, then you discuss it with Ti Chuan yourself." Li Wendi nodded, "Announce the Changxin Group's fundraising and share offering. You must also prepare the plan as soon as possible and strive to complete the share offering plan in November." "Yes!" The two responded in unison.

Tsim Sha Tsui Happy Tea House
The dining table was filled with various snacks, the flavors mixed together and were a bit strong.

"Mr. Li is really amazing. The assets of his company are worth more than 20 billion yuan, and his personal assets are several hundred million." Chen Xingzhou laughed and said, "Compared with Mr. Li, oh, no, there is no comparison."

"Mr. Chen, you are too kind!" Li Wendi wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and said, "It's all because I'm brave and lucky. If I had bad luck, I would have been 'destroyed' every time."

"Mr. Li, you are too modest. There are many courageous people, but none of them can achieve as much as Mr. Li." Chen Xingzhou certainly did not agree with Li Wendi's humble words.

Although Chen Xingzhou also has three listed companies under his name (a small listed company was acquired after the stock market crash), the market value and asset value are not high. Some companies even have debts exceeding 3%. They are just struggling to survive and waiting for the city to recover its 5-year glory.

The two chatted for nearly half an hour, which was a long time for CEOs of listed companies like them.

"The jewelry and watch industries are more prosperous than the real estate industry recently. My Junfu Jewelry Company has made a lot of money, and Chen's Jewelry Company should be doing about the same. But I think your brother is not very suitable for running the jewelry industry." Li Wendi's intentions were obvious, and he almost asked Chen Xingzhou bluntly: Do you want to seize Chen's Jewelry Company?
Chen Xingzhou had heard about his father Chen Fenben and elder brother Chen Xingting's actions in the jewelry industry. They had done some bad things to Junfu Jewelry Industry. Li Wendi now wanted to take revenge, which he could understand and take over. However, he was still somewhat excited about taking over Chen's Jewelry Company.

"Mr. Li, do you want to help me take over Chen's Jewelry Company? But my father and my eldest brother hold a high proportion of shares in Chen's Jewelry Company, so it's hard for us to have a chance." Chen Xingzhou said with a serious expression.

"The high proportion is not a problem. Our chance is that your father is in poor health, and the company will be run by your eldest brother." Li Wendi smiled. If Chen Fenben managed the jewelry company, Li Wendi thought it would be difficult to have a chance, and it would take a lot of manpower and material resources to set up the game, which didn't seem worth it.

"Mr. Li's intention is to create operational problems at Chen's Jewelry Company, and then instigate my eldest brother to pledge shares to borrow money to solve the problem. Finally, we will take over the shares and complete control of the company?" Chen Xingzhou is not a fool. Having run the company for many years, he is very familiar with some common methods.

"That's about right! I will provide part of the funds, and when Mr. Chen has sufficient funds, we can redeem it. How about that?" Li Wendi spread his hands and said.

"Okay! What exactly does Mr. Li want to do?" Chen Xingzhou nodded and asked.

"Mr. Chen is a member of the Chen family. You should persuade those small shareholders to sell their shares in Chen's Jewelry Company to you. As for your eldest brother, as far as I know, your eldest brother has always wanted to enter the real estate industry and has made a lot of moves recently. I plan to start from this aspect." Li Wendi smiled sinisterly.

Dealing with Chen Xingting is not much easier than dealing with Chen Fenben. Li Wendi feels that as long as Chen Xingting is made to think that he has a chance to become a real estate tycoon, this guy will definitely go crazy. Once he tastes the sweetness, he will lose all his rationality.

Qi Nian Newspaper Company
The opportunity to acquire Tianqi Newspaper finally came, and He Qijun hurriedly found Li Wendi, hoping to get some advice from him.

"There are many competitors for the acquisition of Tianqi Newspaper. Even Brother Jian wants to take it over." He Qijun said helplessly.

Li Wendi felt that it was more because of the involvement of Yuanhe Newspaper that made He Qijun somewhat cautious and did not want to compete with the family business.

With the support of Li Wendi, Qinian Newspaper Company is sure to become one of the top three newspaper companies in Hong Kong, while Yuanhe Newspaper Company is relatively weaker and has few opportunities for expansion.

So He Qijun began to think about giving in, although she was also reluctant.

"If we don't make a move, it will be difficult for Yuanhe Newspaper to take over Tianqi Newspaper. There are so many competitors, which one is weaker than Yuanhe Newspaper?" Li Wendi shook his head and smiled, "I understand that you want to take care of Yuanhe Newspaper and the He family, but Qinian Newspaper Company is a listed company. As a manager, you have to be responsible for the shareholders."

"Yeah!" He Qijun nodded.

"In fact, this is a very good opportunity to let Brother Jian and the others see a real acquisition case. This is not comparable to the last acquisition case." Li Wendi didn't want to keep accommodating the He family. Kindness and power should be equally important. This is something he has just learned.

He Qijun obviously didn't want to continue this topic, and said, "Zhao Tianyi, the owner of Tianqi Newspaper, doesn't want a cash transaction. Instead, he wants to exchange it with properties of equal value. This idea has caused many people to withdraw from the acquisition competition, and they all think it is not cost-effective."

Li Wendi smiled and said, "It's really not worth it! The value of the property is rising, but the value of Tianqi Newspaper is stagnant. No one is willing to exchange a newspaper with little prospects for something more promising."

"Then we should withdraw too?" He Qijun didn't quite understand what Li Wendi meant.

"Properties can be good or bad. You can exchange them for properties that don't have as good prospects." Li Wendi said cunningly.

"Then I will immediately start buying some properties that are not of good quality." He Qijun pondered for a moment.

"Well! You can choose those companies whose business conditions are not very good, and you can lower the price a little bit." Li Wendi said.

Companies with poor operating conditions need to sell some properties to operate, so they will be in a hurry, so the price will not be too high. Moreover, we can use this opportunity to control these companies, perhaps by acquiring them at a price lower than the market price, which will be very beneficial to Qinian Newspaper Company.

"Okay, I understand!" He Qijun nodded.

Li Wendi felt that He Qijun was becoming more and more dependent on him. When they first met, He Qijun was still very capable and had focused on improving his abilities. But now that he had him as a backer, the improvement in his abilities had begun to stagnate, and there were even signs of regression, which Li Wendi was not willing to see.

(End of this chapter)