Hong Kong Island's New Rich Era

Chapter 38: Decision to Take Action
It is now 1975. Judging from the current land and housing prices, the land owned by the Whampoa Group has little development value.

But with the 'stock-land pull', Hong Kong's economy is about to take off, and the value of the land will be infinitely magnified at that time.

After Li Chaoren acquired Hutchison Whampoa, the first thing he did was to demolish the Whampoa Shipyard in Hung Hom and convert it into Whampoa Garden, a super community that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

This is a project with a net profit of more than 5 billion Hong Kong dollars. Through the Whampoa Garden project, Li Chaoren has accumulated abundant cash flow, which enables him to handle other real estate projects with ease.

In fact, the most valuable asset of the Whampoa Group is not its land, but its dock property.

Hao Qingwen used a slide to show another company sign: Hong Kong International Terminals Limited.

"Hong Kong International Container Terminals is a subsidiary of the Whampoa Group. The company has invested in the construction of four terminals at Kwai Tsing Port, which will be officially put into operation next year."

"Mr. Liu, since Hong Kong is a free port, it has a special status in the world and has become a distribution center for global maritime cargo. If you can control a container terminal, it is equivalent to controlling a money printing machine."

Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but pause when he saw Hao Qingwen's vision. He didn't question his words, but thought that this guy might also be a time traveler, as he had such a sharp vision.

In the past, before the new century, the world's largest container port in terms of throughput was the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in Hong Kong. If this wasn't a money printing machine, what was it?
Controlling a wharf at Kwai Tsing Port is equivalent to collecting money on the spot. Every container placed on the wharf must pay a fee to the wharf owner. The wharf is a continuous money printing machine.

Currently, there are only three terminals in operation at Kwai Tsing Port, all of which belong to Wharf Holdings, a subsidiary of the Jardine Matheson Group. Wharf Holdings' terminals and Star Harbour terminal properties are also a huge piece of fat meat that people are salivating over.

Pier No. 4, which is currently under construction, is invested by the Huangpu Group, which will also invest in the construction of Piers No. 6, No. 7, and No. 9 in the future. Even if it does not win the bid in the future, it will still be able to get a piece of the pie.

Since the Whampoa Group controlled the land of Kwai Tsing Port, he could ask to use the land as equity.

If everyone could have the vision like Liu Zhicheng, able to see through the development in the next few decades, who wouldn't be drooling?
Today's meeting was originally about the acquisition of an electrical appliance chain store, but now it has turned into a real estate and port acquisition.

Liu Zhicheng questioned, "Mr. Hao, how come you've been talking about real estate and ports for so long? I asked you to work on a chain store merger plan, right?"

Hao Qingwen immediately said, "Mr. Liu, don't worry."

After saying that, he immediately adjusted the slide, which showed 'ParknShop Supermarket'.

"This is a department store that Hutchison started to build in 1973 using the idle land of the Whampoa Group. In addition to large supermarkets, they also invested in building small stores throughout Hong Kong, a total of dozens of stores. If we acquire them, it will be just right for us to build our chain of electrical appliance supermarkets."

Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but applaud in his heart. This was really a good investment project. Not only could it solve his plan of building a chain of electrical appliance supermarkets, but it could also be used to invest in the future and lay a stable foundation for himself to delve deeper into other industries.

After listening to Hao Qingwen's introduction to the situation of the Huangpu Group, Liu Zhicheng took the lead in applauding, which was an affirmation of him.

Hao Qingwen smiled and said modestly: "Mr. Liu, Manager Huo has done a lot of work before, I just made a summary."

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Manager Huo, you have worked hard! This applause is also for you."

From this small detail, we can see that Hao Qingwen is a smart person who does not take credit for himself, because he knows that the next step is his time to show his talents.

Liu Zhicheng glanced at the people in the conference room and asked, "Does anyone have anything to add?"

After a moment, Huo Haiqing said: "The main thing is how to acquire it next?"

"Yeah," Liu Zhicheng responded, "That's what I wanted to ask. If we send a purchase offer to Hutchison, do you think Qi Dezun will sell it?"

Hao Qingwen said affirmatively: "I think it will be sold. Qi Dezun has no other options. Creditors have asked Hutchison to liquidate and repay debts." "After the liquidation, the assets will definitely be greatly discounted. In order to keep some of his property, Qi Dezun will definitely be happy to sell it as long as the price is right."

In fact, Qi Dezun is now looking for investors to sell Hutchison assets, hoping to cut losses to preserve Hutchison International, his core business.

But because Hutchison had heavy assets and liabilities, few people dared to take over.

"If a company as large as Hutchison goes bankrupt, it will affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of citizens. The Hong Kong government will definitely intervene and will not allow it to go bankrupt," said Liu Zhicheng.

In fact, as Hong Kong's quasi-central bank, HSBC's takeover of Hutchison International reflects the Hong Kong government's intention to ensure the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens.

"Mr. Liu, whether the Hong Kong government intervenes is one thing, but Hutchison International has run out of money. Since the stock market crash, it has been unable to repay the bank's loans. It is the creditors' right to apply to the court for liquidation."

This is normal. As a creditor, the bank will definitely try every means to recover the debt.

If you ask Liu Zhicheng if he can acquire the company, he will definitely answer: Yes. But if you ask him how to acquire the company, he is not as smart as Hao Qingwen and his friends.

"So what acquisition methods do you have?"

Hao Qingwen said hurriedly: "As long as we persuade Qi Dezun to transfer his shares, we can take over the company. Qi Dezun's Hutchison International is the major shareholder of Whampoa Group, holding more than 60% of the shares."

"But Mr. Liu, Huangpu Group is not only unfavorable, but also in debt. Pier 4 and ParknShop Market are both under construction, which requires a lot of funds. You should be mentally prepared?"

Hao Qingwen is optimistic about the future potential of Whampoa Group, but its financial statements are a huge money-losing pit. Many Hong Kong consortiums were interested in Whampoa Dock at the beginning, but were scared off by the debt.

Although he was only responsible for coming up with a plan, he had to explain the benefits and disadvantages in detail to prevent Liu Zhicheng from making a wrong judgment.

As for how Liu Zhicheng makes decisions, it is determined by his courage and strength.

Liu Zhicheng sent everyone away and only took Hao Qingwen back to his office.

He said, "Mr. Hao, your proposal is very attractive. I am very tempted. But at present, it is not so easy for Chinese capital to acquire British capital of this scale. It must have some tricks."

After that, he took out a document from the safe and said slowly: "This is a document from Indonesia. Take a look. Should we add fuel to the fire?"

"Indonesia?" Hao Qingwen was a little puzzled, but he still took it and took a look.

The document was in both Indonesian and English, which frightened Hao Qingwen so much that he quickly asked, "Is this true?"

"I said that I have been paying attention to Hutchison for a long time. I originally wanted to make a fortune in the stock market, but I didn't expect to use it now."

"What Liu Sheng wants to say is exposed? Will Hutchison International go bankrupt? Then we will end up with nothing?"

"Don't worry about this. How could one of the four major trading companies go bankrupt? This is related to the reputation of the British. And the Hong Kong government will not agree to its bankruptcy." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

　Dear readers, today is a critical moment. The author must shamelessly ask for follow-up reading, follow-up reading, and follow-up reading! Currently, the trial promotion is in progress. The follow-up data of this chapter will determine whether it can be promoted to the second round of recommendations. Please follow up reading, follow up reading, and follow up reading! I have nothing to repay you, but thank you!

(End of this chapter)