Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 339 337 [Is there a conspiracy? ]

Monday, December 77, 1
The subway company has officially started accepting bids from major companies for the development rights of the properties above two subway stations. As many as 34 consortiums have participated in the bidding, among which the old British real estate company Hong Kong Land has the highest chance of winning the bid.

Central is the home base of Hong Kong Land Development. Hong Kong Land Development certainly does not want anyone to own commercial buildings lined up like Landmark Plaza in the heart of Central, threatening their position.

Although Li Wendi has the "prophecy", he is still nervous. No one dares to say that there will be no butterfly effect.

Winning these two subway station projects is extremely important, as it is related to Li Wendi’s next third step plan.

This project is undoubtedly a tactical victory over the Hong Kong Land Development. Only by defeating the Hong Kong Land Development twice can the Cheung Kong Group truly cross the "threshold" and become one of the top three of the Five Tigers of Chinese Capital, thus truly threatening the position of the Hong Kong Land Development.

The 34 consortium members were all "unhappy" that day, until 5 pm, when the head of the subway company announced the name of the winning company in front of everyone, and then they left in despair.

The female reporter stepped forward bravely and grabbed an opportunity to ask a question, "Excuse me, why was Changxin Group the winner? Can you reveal some details about the company's winning bid?"

Other reporters were also full of anticipation. This news was really too explosive. The popular land company was defeated by the Cheung Kong Group again.

The person in charge laughed and said, "The only bright spot of Changxin Group is that they are willing to pay 5000 million yuan of profits in advance to let the subway company get through the difficulties first."

5000 million!
Changxin Group Corporation is really generous!
Some members of the company who have not yet left could not help but sigh when they heard the news. Paying profits in advance was something they had not expected, and there were also great dangers involved.

Cheung Kong Holdings Office

After hearing this news, Li Jiacheng thought about his gambling agreement and felt that it was really close. He sighed, "Li Wendi is really my nemesis. The conditions he offered are always higher than mine. If I had known, I would have directly asked for 4% of the profit and then increased the proportion of the gambling agreement."

"If this is the case, the subway company will definitely choose my plan."

In Li Jiacheng's opinion, Li Wendi won because of his good conditions, not because he provided 5000 million yuan in working capital for the subway company.

Hong Xiaolian was distressed and didn't say a word. After all, this had already become a fact and it would be futile to say more.

Landmark Company Taipan Office

Niu Bijian sat in the main seat with an extremely heavy expression on his face. Bao Fuda sat opposite him with a sad look on his face as well.

The foreign secretary rushed in and reported, "The head of the subway company just announced another tender for the development rights of the property above the subway station. It's the land of the Kowloon Bay Vehicle Repair Shop."

Bao Fuda lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said to his secretary, "Pay close attention to the movements of Changxin Group to see if they are interested in this project."

Seeing Newby nodded, the secretary said yes and walked out of the office.

"Do you think Li Wendi will also bid for the property development rights above the Kowloon Bay MTR station? Changxin Group may not have the funds to do so, right?" Niu Bijian asked with a frown.

Bao Fuda retorted, "Li Wendi is a guy who doesn't play by the rules. He has accomplished things that others think are impossible. Shouldn't we learn from this lesson?"

“Moreover, this project covers an area of ​​more than 20 square feet. Once completed, it will generate several hundred million in profits, which can slightly make up for our previous losses and even use the profits to strengthen Hong Kong Land’s presence in Central.”

"At least we can achieve our goal by not letting Li Wendi and Changxin Group get it."

Newby sensed something strange. The enemy of their Jardine Matheson Company should be all businessmen, but now it has become just Li Wendi. He seemed a little depressed.

"Okay, then let the Hong Kong Land Company bid for the Kowloon Bay vehicle repair shop project."

Li Wendi of the Cheung Kong Group was also very excited. This is a commercial building in Central covering millions of square feet. If its own commercial buildings in Central are included, the Cheung Kong Group will have more than 150 million square feet of rentable area in Central, which is comparable to the Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Before Li Wendi could be happy for long, the secretary came in and asked, "Mr. Li Jiacheng, Chairman of Cheung Kong Group, wants to see you."

Li Wendi thought carefully and guessed that Li Jiacheng was probably here for the Kowloon Bay MTR station project, so he said, "Please invite Mr. Li Jiacheng in."

Soon, Li Wendi saw Li Jiacheng, stood up from his seat, walked over to him, and said with a smile, "Mr. Li, how are you these days?"

The two held hands together, and Li Jiacheng smiled and responded, "Not bad! Congratulations to Mr. Li for winning the bid for the development rights of the properties above Central and Admiralty stations!"

The two sat down, the secretary brought them a cup of tea, and they chatted for a while.

"Mr. Li, do you have any big project this time?" Li Wendi asked with a smile. He was in a very good mood.

"Mr. Li, what do you think of the Kowloon Bay subway station project newly announced by the subway company?" Li Jiacheng asked bluntly.

Li Wendi took a sip of tea and said, "Changxin Group has just won two subway station projects. I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to bid independently." Li Jiacheng instantly understood what Li Wendi meant and said, "Why don't we form a consortium and jointly bid for this project? What do you think, Mr. Li?"

"Haha!! Changxin Group will not refuse Mr. Li's kind invitation." Li Wendi thought that he had left Li Jiacheng behind by a distance, and the current cooperation was beneficial to Changxin Group, so why not do it.

The acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa was completely given to Li Jiacheng for free by HSBC, and it has nothing to do with Li Jiacheng's strength. According to the original history, it would have been given to Li Jiacheng in 79, or perhaps earlier.

"I have studied the subway company for quite some time. I think we can give the subway company 51% of the profit share, we will take 49%, and Changxin Group will take 25%. What do you think, Mr. Li?" Li Jiacheng suffered a small loss, but it was almost negligible.

Li Wendi shook his head. "This project is led by Cheung Kong Holdings. Cheung Kong Holdings should take 25% of the profit share, and Changxin Group should take 24%."

"Okay, thank you Mr. Li for your concession!" Li Jiacheng continued to discuss some details with Li Wendi.

When Li Wendi thought it was almost over, Li Jiacheng proposed a project that shocked him.

"Mr. Li, when I was researching this project, I found that there is a very high-quality piece of land opposite the Kowloon Bay MTR station project. If we can get it, it will be very suitable for our company." Li Jiacheng kept it a secret.

Li Wendi's heart skipped a beat. He knew that the piece of land that Li Jiacheng was talking about was the factory land of Taohua Datong Food Company, but he still pretended not to know, "Oh? Mr. Li, tell me about it."

"There is a food company called Taohua Datong near the Kowloon Bay MTR station. The factory site covers an area of ​​22.6 square feet, which is slightly smaller than the area of ​​the Kowloon Bay MTR station project."

"If we jointly acquire Taohua Datong Food Company, we will naturally have the final say on the factory land," said Li Jiacheng.

In his previous life, Li Jiacheng had just won the Central and Admiralty subway station projects and had no extra funds to bid, so the project was jointly won by Hang Lung Group and Hopewell Holdings. Later, Hang Lung Group acquired Taohua Taitong Food Company and even changed the name of the food company to Taoda Property Company in the 80s. In the 90s, it was once ranked tenth in the list of the top ten real estate companies in Hong Kong.

Li Wendi suddenly had a headache as he had to develop three subway station projects and acquire a large food company. He even suspected that Li Jiacheng was locking up his funds.

"Mr. Li, what you mean is that even if we can't get the Kowloon Bay MTR station project, we can still acquire Taohua Datong Food Company and develop this 22.6 square feet of land?" asked Li Wendi.

Li Jiacheng nodded slightly. "It would be best if we could set up a new company to take charge of the two projects. Besides, there are still a lot of properties that need to be rented out after the projects are completed, and the new company can just continue to manage them."

"Mr. Li, what you said makes sense! Let's give the new company a random name. The last commercial building in Wan Chai that we built together was called Xinjiang Building, so let's call the new company Xinjiang Investment. What do you think, Mr. Li?" Li Wendi said with a smile.

"Okay! Then we'll call it Xinjiang Investment." Li Jiacheng continued, "After the acquisition is successful, how do you plan to deal with Taohua Datong Food Company's food manufacturing industry?"

"Is Cheung Kong Holdings interested in the food industry?" asked Li Wendi.

Li Jiacheng shook his head. "Cheung Kong Industrial Company has no intention of operating a food company. Should Changxin Group take over?"

Li Wendi did not reply to Li Jiacheng immediately, but started to think about it. Taohua Datong Food Company is engaged in pickled vegetables. This kind of business does not have a good profit margin (compared to real estate), but it is somewhat consistent with Li Wendi's plan.

So Li Wendi responded, "Changxin Group is willing to accept the food industry, Mr. Li will have to take care of it when the time comes."

"No problem! The food industry is just a bonus, Changxin Group can take it at a low price." Li Jiacheng was of course willing to do Li Wendi a favor.

After Li Jiacheng left, Li Wendi could summon Zhang Wentao and others.

Li Wendi briefly explained the cooperation with Cheung Kong Holdings, "Can the group's funds afford it? If not, we can combine the subsidiaries. If not, I can also participate personally."

The senior executives present all took a deep breath at the boss's 'swallowing' plan.

The finance manager responded that "there is no way the funds in the account can support the next two projects. The gap is at least 7000 million yuan."

Li Wendi's expression tensed up in vain, and he looked at Zhang Wentao and Bai Hui from the investment department, "What about you? How much money can you allocate?"

"Residential buildings in the Wong Tai Sin area can be pre-sold in advance, and some of the funds can be recovered to raise about 3500 million yuan." Zhang Wentao answered first.

Bai Hui continued, "The investment in the stock market is worth about 6800 million yuan, which can all be cashed out gradually."

"Wen Tao will raise 2000 million, and Bai Hui will cash out 5000 million, so we can raise 7000 million." Li Wendi added, "If funds are tight, I can take over some of the company's properties and redeem them when the company has sufficient funds."

After Li Wendi arranged the next matters, he separately instructed Zhang Wentao to pay attention to the recent actions of Cheung Kong Holdings and report any abnormalities.

Zhang Wentao smelled something unusual. Changxin Group had just reached two cooperation agreements with Cheung Kong Holdings, but now it was monitoring Cheung Kong Holdings' every move. Could it be that Cheung Kong Holdings wanted to trick Changxin Group?
"Okay, don't think too much! It's just better to be safe than sorry." Li Wendi said lightly.

He was just suspicious and had no solid evidence. Besides, both projects were of extremely high quality, and the possibility of using them as bait was too small.

(End of this chapter)