Hong Kong Island's New Rich Era

Chapter 39 Reluctant Cutting of Flesh
If any large-scale enterprise goes bankrupt, the losses caused will be unacceptable to any government.

What will happen to its partners, suppliers, and customers? Some of its related companies will also go bankrupt.

The larger the company, the greater the risk. If Hutchison went bankrupt, it would cause a run on the creditor banks, and the consequences would be incalculable.

"Mr. Hao, you have to seize the opportunity. I suggest you contact the board of directors of Huangpu Group first and ask them about the price of ParknShop supermarkets. Test their reaction first. If they don't react, you can light a fire and force them."

If the Hutchison board of directors reacts strongly, it means that the other party is really at the end of the road. If the other party reacts calmly, it will add fuel to the fire and force them to the end of the road.

After Hao Qingwen received Liu Zhicheng's instructions, he immediately drafted documents to inquire about the price.

After the inquiry document was delivered to the Huangpu Group's board of directors, there was no response on the first day.

Still no response the next day.

On the third day, there was still no response.

"Hutchison's Indonesian port was confiscated by the government, and hundreds of millions of investments were lost." This was the fourth day, and an unknown tabloid was the first to report it.

"According to our newspaper, the Indonesian port project of Palu, which Hutchison Group won the bid for in 1972, has been suspended due to the oil crisis... Hutchison Group has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promises... The Indonesian government has decided to take back the port development rights."

Anyway, the Indonesian government is going to take back the port development rights of Palu Port, which will cause hundreds of millions of losses to Hutchison Group. Attached is a photocopy of the document issued by the Indonesian government to the Hutchison project company.

That evening, Hong Kong's evening papers reprinted the news. After a day of natural fermentation, the news was reprinted by major evening papers and had become a topic of conversation among Hong Kong citizens that night.

The next morning, Hao Qingwen received a call from Qi Dezun's secretariat, who asked Hao Qingwen very politely whether he was really interested in acquiring Hutchison's assets.

He also expressed that Qi Dezun was holding a private social gathering at the weekend and wanted to invite Liu Zhicheng to attend. The other party wanted to confirm whether Liu Zhicheng was willing to attend.

Hao Qingwen reported the news to Liu Zhicheng, who nodded and agreed to the appointment without hesitation.

When Liu Zhicheng arrived at Qi Dezun's home on time at the weekend, he saw that he looked haggard, a little thin, with gray hair, and looked obviously older.

Qi Dezun's tone was still so strong and powerful, and he greeted Liu Zhicheng with a smile on his face. They first had a barbecue dinner together, and then went to the teahouse to drink tea and discuss business.

At first, Qi Dezun and Liu Zhicheng only talked about social relationships and never discussed business. He was an expert on Chinese and could speak Cantonese very well, and he was familiar with all the Chinese "social relationships and accidents".

"Mr. Liu, how did you come up with the idea of ​​acquiring ParknShop? The supermarkets are still under planning, and most of them only have storefronts."

Qi Dezun deliberately tried to get close to Liu Zhicheng, hoping to extract some information from him that would be helpful in the negotiations.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and replied, "I want to enter the manufacturing industry and open a chain of electrical appliance stores. I need a number of stores. After investigation, I found that Hutchison has a number of ParknShop stores, so I came to you to ask."

In order to improve his bargaining chips, Qi Dezun said with a smile: "All ParknShop stores are carefully located and well-planned. No matter what kind of store you want to open, it is an excellent choice."

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Since Qi Sheng, do you mean to sell it to me?"

"Since Mr. Liu wants it, there is no reason for me not to sell it as long as the price is right."

Qi Dezun paused, looked at Liu Zhicheng and said, "To be honest, part of ParknShop's equity is under Watsons." "Mr. Liu, you know that I'm in financial trouble now, and my shareholders don't trust me. Even if I want to sell ParknShop to you, I can't do it, and the shareholders' meeting will definitely not approve it."

In fact, this was Qi Dezun's delaying tactic. Seeing that Liu Zhicheng really wanted to buy, he wanted to tempt him with the aim of raising the price of chips or getting him to buy more assets so that Hutchison could overcome its difficulties.

Liu Zhicheng would definitely not be fooled by this foreign devil. He stood up and was about to leave, saying, "Then I can't make things difficult for you, Qi Sheng. I don't want ParknShop anymore."

Qi Dezun immediately reached out and grabbed his arm, with a slight tremor in his movements. He had finally found an investor who wanted to buy Hutchison's assets, so how could he let him go?

"Mr. Liu, don't be impatient. Didn't I just say that? As long as the price is right, there is no deal that cannot be made."

"Oh, Qi Sheng, do you have any ideas?"

"In fact, the solution is simple. That is to make the shareholders trust me again. If you, Mr. Liu, not only buy ParknShop supermarkets, but are also willing to buy Whampoa Group as a package, so that I have funds to solve the current financial difficulties, I think Watsons shareholders will be happy to exchange ParknShop assets to you."

Liu Zhicheng suddenly understood that Qi Dezun was being hesitant just now because he wanted him to take more money so that he could buy more Hutchison assets.

It seems that Hutchison International has reached the end of its rope and has reached the end of its rope.

This was exactly what Liu Zhicheng wanted, but he was not in a hurry to express his opinion. He just asked: "How much money does Qi Sheng need to solve the current difficulties?"

"One hundred million Hong Kong dollars."

As Qi Dezun spoke, he kept pondering Liu Zhicheng's intentions in his mind. Seeing that Liu Zhicheng did not express his opinion, he continued speaking.

"Mr. Liu, the 67.7% stake in Huangpu Dockyard is lower than this figure, and it must be in cash, otherwise I will not transfer it."

With this 100 million yuan, Hutchison will be able to temporarily overcome its debt crisis, and Qi Dezun will be able to reorganize its business.

In fact, Liu Zhicheng has always been thinking in his mind that Hutchison is full of treasures, so how can he buy more industries from Qi Dezun.

Liu Zhicheng shook his head and said, "Mr. Qi, the market value of Huangpu Dockyard is less than 100 million, and the debt is so high. I can't buy your shares at a premium. The maximum I can pay is 70 million."

Qi Dezun explained, "Mr. Liu, to be honest with you, ParknShop is a joint venture with Watsons, and Pier 4 is a joint venture with Junyi Warehouse. I need to take assets from these two companies to replace them all with Huangpu Group. If I don't have million, I can't solve these problems."

In order to make one last effort for Hutchison, if he could make this deal with Liu Zhicheng today, he would use 100 million in cash to keep Hutchison alive. If Liu Zhicheng refused the transaction and directly sold the controlling stake of Hutchison to HSBC, Qi Dezun would completely leave the company.

Time seemed to stop, Liu Zhicheng was thinking, and Qi Dezun was quietly waiting for his answer.

"Mr. Qi, if you include Hebao Company, I am willing to take out 130 million in cash."

Qi Dezun was so angry that he almost vomited blood when he heard this, but he had to hold it in. As the Chinese proverb goes: If you keep the green mountains, you will never be afraid of running out of firewood. Otherwise, he would lose the opportunity to make a comeback.

The business world is so cruel that no matter how big a company is, if it doesn't have funds, it will be forced to cut losses.

(End of this chapter)