Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 335 333 [Development rights of the property above the Central Admiralty MTR station]

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Central
Huang Tingfang and his son hosted Li Wendi for a banquet here. The table was filled with Cantonese dishes, and the aroma was fragrant.

Li Wendi ate heartily without any hesitation. Even if today's negotiations were not pleasant, he would not feel embarrassed at all, because he, Li, could fully afford the meal.

"I heard that Mr. Huang's Sun Hung Kai Properties Investment Company has invested a considerable amount of money to buy a lot of land near the Tsim Sha Tsui East area, preparing to build a business empire. He is really bold!" Li Wendi said with a laugh.

"I'm not as strong as Mr. Li. Sun Hung Kai Properties is really weak. It can only do some real estate development in the less prosperous Tsim Sha Tsui East area. How can it compete with the Hong Kong Land Development like Mr. Li?" Huang Tingfang laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Mr. Huang, you are too modest. Sino Real Estate is very powerful. Sino Real Estate must be one of the top 20 real estate companies in Hong Kong." Li Wendi and Huang Tingfang's father and son were not close friends, so they were not allowed to chat for too long. So he got straight to the point. "My secretary said that Mr. Huang wanted to talk to me about the upcoming auction?!"

"Yes!" Huang Tingfang also said directly, "There will be three plots of land in Tsim Sha Tsui East for sale at this auction. Mr. Li should be very interested. Sino Real Estate Company also wants to acquire them. But if we compete with each other, I am afraid that the only one who will get the bargain is the Hong Kong government. So let's invite Mr. Li out for a chat. Maybe we can come to a conclusion over the dinner table."

"There are more than just our two families interested in the land in Tsim Sha Tsui East. Mr. Huang, do you plan to talk to each family one by one?" Li Wendi asked with a smile.

Huang Tingfang's expression paused for a moment, and he said, "There are many people bidding, but there are probably not many powerful companies that are determined to get the land in Tsim Sha Tsui East. Mr. Li is one of the strongest opponents."

Li Wendi nodded and asked, "Which plots of land did Mr. Huang take a fancy to?"

"Mr. Li, please speak first. The three pieces of land are almost the same." Huang Tingfang was very humble. It seemed that he did not want to really become enemies with Li Wendi. Perhaps it was because he was an outsider.

"No. 66 Mody Road, where is Mr. Huang?" Li Wendi chose the best piece of land. No. 66 Mody Road was exactly the center of Tsim Sha Tsui in his previous life.

Huang Tingfang was a little surprised. He thought Li Wendi wanted to bid for the two best pieces of land, but it turned out that he only had his eyes on No. 66 Modi Road.

"Since Mr. Li is interested in No. 66 Mody Road, Sun Hung Kai Properties will compete for the remaining two plots of land. What do you think, Mr. Li?" Huang Tingfang continued to test.

"This is Mr. Huang's freedom. I can't interfere." Li Wendi said with a smile, "Hong Kong real estate developers are not very interested in the Tsim Sha Tsui East area. Mr. Huang is going to get a great bargain."

"It's not a bargain. Sino Real Estate may not even be able to bid for a piece of land in Tsim Sha Tsui East." Huang Tingfang said, "On the contrary, the powerful Cheung Hsin Group is likely to become the landlord in Tsim Sha Tsui East."

"Even if we take over this piece of land, the Changxin Group will only have 6 to 7 square feet of land in the Tsim Sha Tsui East area. Mr. Huang, please don't joke." Li Wendi said modestly.

A verbal agreement was reached in just a few words, although it didn't have much effect, but everyone was well-known and would not turn against each other unless it was absolutely necessary.

Li Wendi got 10% of the shares of Kowloon Motor Bus Company from Lei Juekun as he wished, increasing his shareholding in Kowloon Motor Bus Company to 38.8%, becoming the largest shareholder of Kowloon Motor Bus Company.

As promised, he began to raise the share price of Wharf Holdings, but unfortunately, Lei Juekun did not sell a large number of stocks. After checking, it was found that Lei Juekun had actually sold 24.7% of Kowloon Motor Bus Company shares to Hutchison Whampoa.

Li Wendi was of course very angry, but it was too late to help. Even if he targeted Lei Juekun now, he could not prevent the Hong Kong Land Development from becoming a member of the board of directors of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company.

After calming down, Li Wendi felt that the matter did not seem so serious, because he and Sun Hung Kai Properties held a total of 57.8% of the shares and could fully control the board of directors. It was just that the way they did it was a bit ugly.

Kowloon Motor Bus Company Board Meeting
The CEO of Hong Kong Land Development, Foo Tat Wai, personally led his subordinates to attend the event. Many directors went to curry favor with him and said many good things about him.

Li Wendi and Guo Desheng watched coldly, without any intention of stopping it. To the two of them, these people combined were not enough to influence the decision of the board of directors.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, headed by Guo Desheng, seldom cooperates with British companies. It has built its strength by developing large amounts of land in the New Territories and other places. Li Wendi originally thought that Guo Desheng's strategic direction had little to do with British companies, but now it seems that Guo Desheng really dislikes foreigners. As for the reason, Li Wendi is not sure.

"Okay, everyone! Now that everyone is here, let's start the board meeting now." Li Wendi glanced at Bao Fuda who was sitting in the lower left seat. "I don't think I need to introduce the two new directors next to me, Mr. Bao Fuda and Mr. Jankos. Let's start today." Li Wendi was interrupted by Bao Fuda. "Wait, Mr. Li! I want to make a brief introduction of myself and the expectations of Hong Kong Land Development for Kowloon Motor Bus Company."

Li Wendi made a gesture of invitation and said, "Mr. Bao Fuda, please feel free to come."

Li Wendi felt that this little trick was harmless. If he was really angry, Li Wendi would be at a disadvantage.

"Kowloon Motor Bus Company owns a large number of parking lots and repair shop lands. I suggest setting up a real estate company to assist Kowloon Motor Bus Company in developing these lands. The huge profits obtained can be returned to the directors and shareholders." Bao Fuda wanted to use this to destroy Li Wendi and Guo Desheng's purpose.

Li Wendi was well prepared and had predicted this kind of thing to happen, so he smiled and said, "Mr. Bao Fuda's suggestion is very good, but these lands were granted to the company by the Hong Kong government. If these lands are developed, the future development of Kowloon Motor Bus Company will inevitably be seriously affected."

"Mr. Li, the impact should not be significant. Compared with the huge profits, I think Kowloon Motor Bus Company can afford it." Bao Fuda retorted.

"There are still many places in the New Territories that don't have bus routes, such as Tin Shui Wai. If there is no support from the Hong Kong government, and the company doesn't have a nearby repair shop or parking lot, will the bus have to drive back to Kowloon? Crude oil is not cheap now, and the increased cost is likely to cause the company to make a profit or a loss." Li Wendi asked solemnly, "Can you afford these losses? Do you want to use the profits from land development to make up for these losses? Do you want to be stabbed in the back by the people of the New Territories?"

"The Land Development Company is wealthy and powerful, so they can afford this little bit of profit. Aren't you guys any less dependent on them?" Li Wendi finally said with a sneer.

Perhaps only Hongkong Land, Wendy Lee and Sun Hung Kai Properties here can look down upon these losses.

"Mr. Li, what you said makes sense! I suggest that we put this resolution on hold for now and discuss it again when we have the chance."

"Kowloon Motor Bus Company's annual profit dividends are not bad, so there is no need to change it."

The directors all said one thing and I just ignored Bao Fuda's suggestion.

Seeing this, Li Wendi put forward a proposal he had prepared: the company would agree with the Hong Kong government to open multiple bus routes and establish multiple parking lots and repair shops to meet the travel needs of people in new towns and marginal areas.

This proposal was naturally passed smoothly because it was the responsibility of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company. Only Bao Fuda raised any objections, but Li Wendi chose to ignore them.

Mid June

The Hong Kong MTR Corporation announced that the development rights of the properties above the Central MTR station and the Admiralty MTR station would be open for tender in January 77, which made many consortiums excited.

Both subway stations are located in the most prosperous areas of Hong Kong. If the company wins the two bidding projects, it will benefit greatly in terms of profit and reputation.

Many powerful companies have begun to unite and want to form a consortium to bid for tenders. It is not that they do not have the ability to complete a tender, but the funds involved are too large, which will seriously affect the development plans of their subsidiaries.

As Changxin Group is a leader among Chinese real estate companies, naturally many real estate companies came to it wanting to form an alliance and bid together for the development rights of the two superstructure properties. However, Li Wendi rejected them all.

The reason is that he plans to form a consortium consisting of Cheung Kong Group and its subsidiaries, Wharf Holdings and Starlight Properties to bid for the two development rights.

In the previous life, Cheung Kong Holdings did not cooperate with other companies and bid on its own. Under Li Jiacheng's operation, Cheung Kong Holdings won the bid for two development rights.

Li Wendi was very clear about Li Jiacheng's operations in his previous life, so he decided to further reduce the profit distribution and let the subway company take a larger proportion of the profits. He even considered whether he needed to sign a gambling agreement.

Finally, Li Wendi decided to reduce the consortium's vested profits to allow the subway company to make more profits. This plan should be able to defeat Li Jiacheng. After all, when Li Jiacheng's profit distribution plan was announced in his previous life, everyone was shocked.

(End of this chapter)