Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 371 369 [Acquisition of Xiangjiang Electric Light Company]

Rumors?!
Li Wendi rejected this option from the bottom of his heart, because he was already a tycoon in the Hong Kong business community, and doing these things would be really beneath his status, even if the electric light company was worth the price and it might not be effective.

Shortage of funds?!
Although the debt ratio of the Hong Kong Land Development is not low, the property market has been rising so rapidly and the company is a landlord in Central, so its debt ratio is actually decreasing automatically. However, funds are indeed in short supply. As for evidence, it is really hard to find.

"Mr. Feng, do you have any information on this?" Li Wendi asked with a smile.

Feng Jingxi smiled mysteriously and handed Li Wendi a document, "Mr. Li, take a look at this first."

Li Wendi flipped through the documents and smiled. "The investment of the Hong Kong Land Development in Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries failed, resulting in a loss of 13 billion. This is really good news."

"I also got this information through a friend. There were only some rumors before, but I didn't expect it to be true. But speaking of it, the confidentiality work of the Swire Properties was very good and it was covered up so tightly." Feng Jingxi laughed.

Sun Hung Kai Securities owed Li Wendi a favor regarding the resale of the China Railway Building. Feng Jingxi was a stubborn person and was not willing to keep owing favors to others. Now it was the perfect time to repay the favor.

"Mr. Feng's news is timely. This matter has great potential and can even create some real scandals for the Landmark Company."

After leaving Sun Hung Kai Securities, Li Wendi immediately went to Qinian Newspapers and handed the information to Ho Kei-kwan, asking her to make a big deal out of it and make shareholders lose confidence in the current situation of the Hong Kong Land Development. The core content was to ask shareholders to hand over the shares of the Electric Light Company to him.

In this regard, He Qijun is already a veteran and knows how to take advantage of the public's curiosity and expand the matter.

The next day, the front-page headlines of major newspapers were all "Handland's failed investments in Southeast Asia", accompanied by some analysis, accusing Handland of concealing such important information as a listed company.

Some newspapers began to speculate whether Swire Properties really had enough funds to win this acquisition battle, which could turn into a sniping war as Swire Properties needed to make up for its investment losses of 13 billion in Southeast Asian countries.

Some other newspapers analyzed the various investments made by the Hong Kong Land Development since the 70s and found that it had paid nearly 30 billion yuan but had not yet received any concrete returns. They then raised the question: Whether the Hong Kong Land Development has become empty and needs to find a large amount of funds to fill the gap.

The Hong Kong Land Development Company immediately held a press conference, saying that the company's operations were good and that there was absolutely no such thing as a failed investment in Southeast Asia. The company was ready to sue the companies that spread the rumors.
Unfortunately, all major newspapers published the relevant evidence, while the Swire Properties Group remained silent and did not present any evidence.

So this reception was a failure and indirectly caused panic among investors.

At this time, Li Wendi notified Sun Hung Kai Securities and re-quoted the purchase price, slightly lowering the price. This move caused even more concern among shareholders.

If the matter about the Jardine Matheson Company was not true, even if Li Wendi lowered the price, did he really not want the Electric Light Company anymore?

As a result, a large number of investors began to flock to Sun Hung Kai Securities to register to sell shares of Hong Kong Electric Company.

As a result, in just two days, the New Kowloon Investment Co., Ltd. formed by Li Wendi and Hutchison Whampoa Company acquired 22.4% of the shares of the Electric Light Company, and held a total of 38.4% of the shares of the Hong Kong Electric Company, spending 27.12 billion yuan, of which 21 billion yuan was provided by Li Wendi personally and private companies.

Of course, this 21 billion yuan of funds almost emptied the funds in the accounts of companies such as Xingguang Real Estate Company, Hengxin Investment Company, and Junfu Jewelry. Fortunately, these companies have their own sources of funds and will not encounter difficulties in capital turnover for the time being.

According to the proportion of capital contribution and shares, Li Wendi personally controls 80% of the shares of New Kowloon Investment Company, while Hutchison Whampoa Company only holds the remaining 20%.

However, Li Wendi asked Michael Reese of Wharf Holdings to send people to Hong Kong Electric Company to start taking over some important departments, such as the Finance Department, which meant that Hong Kong Electric Company was under the management of Wharf Holdings.

Of course, these actions were blocked by Connor, but according to the Company Law promulgated by the Hong Kong Government, the New Kowloon Investment Company, as the major shareholder, has the right to audit the accounts.

Connor began to panic, regretting why he did not agree to Li Wendi's conditions some time ago. Now he was afraid that the loss was too great.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Central
"Mr. Li's methods are indeed powerful. He has once again defeated the Hong Kong Land Development and successfully acquired the Hong Kong Electric Company." Connor's face looked a little ugly, but he had to compliment Li Wendi.

After all, he wanted to gain more benefits from the Hong Kong Electric Company from Li Wendi.

Li Wendi certainly knew Connor's purpose, but Connor did have some value. The Hong Kong Electric Company had been run by Connor for many years, and he had a lot of trusted confidants within the company, so it was easy for him to get things done.

Li Wendi also didn't want to mess up the electric light company, so he didn't refuse to meet with Connor.

"Mr. Connor, let's get straight to the point. I'm running out of time." Li Wendi didn't give Connor a good look.

"Okay! I'm willing to help Mr. Li take over the electric light company. I wonder what I can get?" Connor said.

Li Wendi shot back, "What do you want? The previous conditions are no longer possible, Mr. Connor, please don't mention it again."

"I know! I want to retain my 4% stake in the Hong Kong Electric Company without dilution, and have a seat on the board of directors." Connor believed that with so much land under the company, no matter how Li Wendi operated it, he would inevitably get half of the profits of the electric company. As long as he retained 4% of the shares, he and his family could still get 2% of the profits from the development of the numerous lands.

Li Wendi shook his head. "That's impossible! If the electric light company needs to raise funds for rights issue, no shareholder can avoid it, otherwise the equity will definitely be diluted."

"Mr. Li, aren't you worried that the business performance of the electric light company will take a sudden turn for the worse? This will harm everyone's interests, and it will also be an obstacle for Mr. Li to send people to manage it in the future." Connor tried to persuade Li Wendi.

Li Wendi sneered, "Making trouble?! For those who do not break the law, I will ban them in Hong Kong. For those who break the law, I will put them in jail for life. I think as a major shareholder, I have the right to post this kind of announcement in the company, Mr. Connor?"

"Mr. Li, I just want to protect my own interests. I don't mean to go against you." Connor was really worried about being tricked by Li Wendi.

"I can't guarantee that your equity won't be diluted, but I can give you 0.5% of the profits from the land development under the Electric Light Company in the form of company cooperation." Li Wendi continued, "This is my final condition."

Connor thought about it, then sighed and said, "Okay! 5/1000 is 5/1000. If new shares are issued in the future, can I have priority?"

"Of course!" Li Wendi said. With Connor's help, Myles can control the electric light company faster. Li Wendi plans to distribute dividends to repay part of the debt.

After the acquisition was completed, the heat gradually dissipated, and another thing began to occupy the front page headlines. The head of Hutchison Whampoa was replaced. Li Jiacheng became the new head of Hutchison Whampoa and reached an agreement with Carrian Company to acquire Golden Gate Building for 16.8 billion yuan.

In just half a year, Jianing Company made a profit of 6.8 million yuan from the Golden Gate Building transaction. Suddenly, Jianing Company's stock price soared, with the increase on the first day exceeding 40%.

Li Wendi had previously bought a lot of shares of Hanmei Company (the listed predecessor of Jianing Company). Together with the investment of Hengxin Investment Company, it accounted for 6% of the total share capital of Jianing Company. Now these shares are worth 8500 million yuan, with a profit of up to 5700 million yuan.

In fact, Li Wendi also wanted to buy more shares of Jianing Company, but unfortunately the new company established by Chen Songqing and Zhong Zhengwen controlled 75% of the shares of Hanmei Company. Buying too large a quantity would attract Chen Songqing's attention.

According to the information Li Wendi had obtained, Hutchison Whampoa not only acquired the Golden Gate Building, but also purchased some shares of the Carrian Company from Chen Songqing, about 10%, and at the original price of 3.8 yuan.

According to Li Wendi's memory of his previous life, the share price of Jianing Company would rise to 15 yuan, and Hutchison Whampoa Company could earn more than 1 million yuan in cash from this project. Combined with the income from the Golden Gate Building, Hutchison Whampoa Company could make a profit of 4.8 million yuan.

No wonder Li Jiacheng was tempted and dared to take the risk.

Li Wendi has no intention of bursting this bubble. If Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings grit their teeth and come up with the 16.8 billion yuan, Li Wendi's situation will be bad.

There is no impenetrable wall in Hong Kong, and doing such things will damage your reputation.

Moreover, Li Wendi was thinking of asking Li Jiacheng to help him take the blame.

In fact, Li Wendi had no time to care about the mess involving Li Jiacheng, Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong Holdings and Carrian Group, because he was trying to recover and repay the 15 billion yuan mortgage loan.

At the end of the acquisition war, the Hong Kong Land Development Co., Ltd. acted very quickly and decisively sold a large number of Hong Kong Electric Company shares, making a profit of more than 3 million yuan, but the Hong Kong Land Development Co., Ltd.'s share price fell a lot.

Even though Bao Fuda announced the profit this time, it still failed to save the decline of Hong Kong Land Development. In order to restore the share price of Hong Kong Land Development, Bao Fuda shifted the acquisition target to Hong Kong Telephone Company.

The predecessor of Hong Kong Telephone Company was Hong Kong Telegraph Company, which was not yet listed. It was 80% controlled by British Cable & Wireless and 20% by the Hong Kong Government.

This company is also a specialized company that specializes in telephone and telegraph communications in Hong Kong. It has monopolized the communications industry in Hong Kong and is a strong cash cow.

The most important thing is that communications can develop into many fields such as data communication, fax, computer communication, satellite communication, etc.

Nowadays, many means of communication rely on wired telephones. The profits of the Hong Kong Telephone Company are really terrifying, and seem to be better than those of the electric light company.

Unfortunately, even if Li Wendi had the ability to acquire the company, Cable & Wireless and the Hong Kong government would not sell it to Li Wendi, a Chinese.

This time Bao Fuda achieved his goal. The share price of the Swire Properties began to rise. In just three days, it reached the original price and there is a trend of continued growth.

After seeing this news, Li Wendi fell into deep thought. He remembered that in the 90s, Hong Kong Telecommunications Company (developed from Hong Kong Telephone Company) became the second largest company in terms of market value among the top 20 blue-chip stocks in Hong Kong, second only to HSBC.

The Hong Kong Electric Company ranked 12th, and the market value gap between the two was as much as 3 times.

In the previous life, the Swire Properties Group had to give up this extremely high-quality company due to its own debts. Perhaps in this life, the Swire Properties Group will be able to swallow this piece of fat meat.

"Man proposes, God disposes." Li Wendi shook his head, a helpless look on his face.

Hong Kong Electric Company
Under the introduction of Maris, Collis, the former executive vice president of the Hong Kong Electric Company, became a popular boss. However, the power of this boss was weakened a lot. Li Wendi transferred an assistant from Wheelock Company and Cheung Kong New Group to help Collis manage the company.

Naik, the former president of Po Fook Development Company under Wheelock Group, and Qin Gerui, the former deputy manager of the investment department of Cheung Kong Group, served as Corris's left and right deputies, taking away nearly half of Corris' power.

"The Phase 3 and 4 projects at the Heung Kong Tsai and Tai Kok Tsui sites will be developed in cooperation with the Cheung Kong Group. The plan will be based on market rules. The construction costs will be borne by the Cheung Kong Group, and the profits will be split in half." Li Wendi certainly would not allow the Heung Kong Electric Company's land development projects to exclude the Cheung Kong Group, as there were huge rewards involved.

"Mr. Li, please rest assured! We have already sent someone to contact Changxin Group, and the contract can be signed in a few days." Corliss said first. Although he was the boss of the company, he knew very well that his two deputies could replace him at any time, so he had to gain Li Wendi's trust.

"That's good! You should also prepare dividends and increase the company's stock price at the same time." Li Wendi ordered.

The three of them responded in unison.

As the executive director of the electric light company, Mai Lisi was responsible for supervising and regulating the company. Before Corliss, he was already familiar with some of the company's affairs. "Now that a large number of factories have moved to the New Territories, the company's power generation capacity has a lot of surplus. We have to find a way to transmit the electricity, otherwise it will affect the company's profitability."

Chris remained silent. He had no way to stop it. The land prices in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon City had risen sharply. How could the factory be kept?

"The north is now open. Corris, you will lead the team in person to talk to the officials from Guangdong Province. Can we transmit our excess electricity to them? As for the price, we will do it according to their price. If the other party has the intention to jointly establish a power station, you can agree to it. I will discuss the specific conditions with them in person." Li Wendi knew that this was the only way for the electric light company.

Corliss glanced at Li Wendi and said, "Mr. Li, the electricity price in the north is too low. We can only recover the cost."

"It's okay, as long as we can recover the cost. Our goal is not to make money, but to enter the power station business in Guangdong Province in advance." Li Wendi thinks that as long as we don't lose money, there will be big profits in the future.

"Yes! I will do as you say." said Corliss.

(End of this chapter)