Hong Kong Island's New Rich Era

Chapter 93 Wheelock

A few days later, Lina reported to him about Guan Shan's family situation. Guan Shan's wife was Zhang Bingqian, and the couple were currently getting a divorce.

They have a daughter, Kwan Ka Wai, who studies at Maryknoll Convent in Kowloon. She is very pretty and she is currently in contact with Kwan Ka Wai.

Liu Zhicheng nodded to show that he understood.

I also believe that Lina can become a good friend of Guan Jiahui because she is more realistic.

Half a month later, a shocking event happened in the Hong Kong business world: John Madden, chairman of Wheelock Group, suddenly made an announcement.

Due to the current poor performance of Wheelock, it has invited Jardine Matheson to propose a full acquisition in the near future.

As soon as this news came out, it caused a sensation throughout Hong Kong.

The four major trading companies in Hong Kong were once Jardine Matheson, Hutchison Whampoa, Swire and Wheelock. Among them, Jardine Matheson was the strongest, owning Wharf Holdings and Hongkong Land.

Hong Kong Land is the largest real estate company in Hong Kong. Its properties are everywhere in Central, the core area of ​​Hong Kong, and it collects hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in rent every year.

One can imagine Jardine Matheson’s transcendent presence in Hong Kong.

Before the split, Hutchison and Wheelock were of similar level, both were huge companies, but neither had any core business, and were a hodgepodge of enterprises.

For example, Wheelock's shipping business is good, but it is not as good as the charter king. Its real estate business is also okay, with land and two buildings in Central, but it is nothing compared to Hong Kong Land.

It also owns the high-end retail department store brand Lane Crawford, which in turn controls Dah Sing Department Store and China Department Store, two of the four largest Chinese department stores.

In addition, it also involves jewelry retail, cosmetics retail, trade and other businesses, which is definitely large and comprehensive.

However, due to the impact of the oil crisis, the shipping industry was hit first, followed by the retail industry. The real estate industry had just begun to recover and had been losing money for years, with no hope of profit.

However, although Wheelock has many bad aspects, it is undeniable that it has a huge influence in Hong Kong.

The number of its employees in Hong Kong is at least 10,000. If Jardine Matheson acquires Wheelock, its scale and influence will be further expanded.

Shen Bi certainly doesn't want to see someone even be able to suppress HSBC, the quasi-central bank of Hong Kong, as this is related to the question of who is the boss.

When Shen Bi looked at the sudden news, he was also confused, frowned, and was speechless for a long time.

Fak beside him was also thinking about the gains and losses, and what HSBC could do.

"What do you think?" Shen Bi broke the silence and asked.

"Now Jardine Matheson often goes against us in the board of directors. If Jardine Matheson acquires Wheelock, won't Newbigin be able to ride on our heads?" Fak thought for a while and said.

HSBC is very large, definitely larger than Jardine Matheson. If Jardine Matheson and Wheelock merge, it will threaten HSBC's super status in Hong Kong.

However, HSBC is also a listed company with a large number of directors on its board of directors, including Tran Shipping and Jardine Matheson Group, which are also directors of HSBC.

Although HSBC enjoys special legal protection in Hong Kong and its management has a higher say, there are always people who go against it on the board of directors, which certainly makes anyone unhappy.

"So what should we do? Stop this?"

Fake thought for a moment and said, "Let Hutchison Group intervene. Qi Dezun has always wanted to make a comeback."

"Hutchison is too small now. How can it swallow up Wheelock?" Shen Bi asked.

"As long as HSBC supports us, no one can't swallow anyone else." Fak said with a smile.

"Even if we support Jardine Matheson, what if Wheelock insists on having its own way?" Shen Bi thought for a moment and said.

“Wheelock and Jardine Matheson have a lot of businesses in the same competitive field? As long as Qi Dezun persuades Wheelock not to hand over its core financial information, Jardine Matheson will not dare to act.”

Fake looked at Shen Bi and continued, "For Wheelock, once this information is handed over, it will be useless. John MacArthur is not a fool, he will definitely be troubled."

When two companies negotiate an acquisition, the acquired party needs to provide a large amount of real information, including core information such as financial status, business operations, liabilities, etc.

Although listed companies will publish financial data every quarter, their core operating conditions are confidential, and these need to be disclosed to the other party during the acquisition.

If the company is acquired by many competitors in the same field, once the information is provided, it would be like running naked. If the acquirer goes back on his word, it would be a major loss for the acquired company.

Both Jardine Matheson and Wheelock have been operating in Hong Kong for a hundred years, and the conflict has also continued for hundreds of years.

At a critical moment, everyone will hold back. If Jardine Matheson cannot obtain Wheelock's core data, it will definitely not dare to acquire the company and will be hesitant.

Without access to core financial data, we don’t know how big of a hole the acquired company is. And since Wheelock took the initiative to request the acquisition, Jardine Matheson will be more cautious.

Similarly, Wheelock would certainly not dare to hand over its core financial data casually, otherwise it would be at the mercy of others.

"That's one way. You go find Qi Dezun. Jardine Matheson supports his acquisition of Wheelock, and tell John MacArthur about this through him." Shen Bi paused and said.

A few days later, the media photographed Hutchison's John Smith visiting Wheelock and interviewed him, saying that Hutchison would acquire Wheelock in full.

"'Snake swallowing elephant', where does Wheelock go from here?"

The next day, the media reported this big news, which stunned Liu Zhicheng. He then shook his head and smiled.

A butterfly flapped its wings in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and created a tornado in the Gulf of Mexico.

John MacDenzi has been very worried these days because Jardine Matheson's acquisition of him has made him unpopular both internally and externally.

It also caused a game of power among various parties. Not only did the British foreign companies come to him, but Liu Zhicheng also asked him to meet at the Jockey Club. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is located in Happy Valley in Wan Chai and is currently the only horse racing venue. There are also separate VIP rooms in the Jockey Club.

The VIP rooms at Happy Valley Racecourse are super luxurious. They are not only for watching horse racing, but also for entertaining friends and family and conducting business meetings.

Liu Zhicheng is now a member of the Jockey Club and has his own private room at the racecourse.

Now, after passing through a long corridor, we come to a room number marked A8. This is Liu Zhicheng’s exclusive private room in the Jockey Club.

The VIP room is similar to the luxury suites in star-rated hotels, except that it does not have a bed. It has all the food and drinks you need.

From the seats inside, you can see clearly through the window the entire racecourse, 360 degrees.

Not long after Liu Zhicheng arrived, there was a knock on the door.

Han Chunxi opened the door and came in, saying, "Mr. Liu, Mr. Madden is here."

John Madden is coming?

When Liu Zhicheng stood up and prepared to welcome him, John Madden walked in with a smile.

"Mr. Madden, nice to meet you."

"Hello, Mr. Liu."

Liu Zhicheng and John Madden shook hands and greeted each other.

After sitting down, John Madden asked, "Mr. Liu, do you like watching horse racing?"

"I just look at it occasionally, but I can't say I like it very much." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

The waiter here brought coffee to both of them, and there were about ten minutes left before the first horse race of the day.

It was already very lively outside, except for the sight of knights and horses appearing on the racecourse, showing the spectators their best form and guiding them to place bets.

Liu Zhicheng and others who were here naturally saw it clearly.

"Mr. Madden, why don't we play a game?" Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

John Madden was also very interested and said, "How does Mr. Liu want to play?"

"Let's see who guesses the ranking of the first horse race?"

People like them usually watch horse racing with some degree of gamble in mind.

"What's the jackpot?"

"Truth or Dare, when you answer a question from the other party, you have to tell the truth and not lie." Liu Zhicheng said slowly.

This was the first time John Madden had seen such a jackpot. He knew that today’s meeting was not simple, but he was certain that it was related to Jardine Matheson’s acquisition of Wheelock.

After thinking about it, he nodded and agreed. It was just one game, and Liu Zhicheng's luck couldn't be so good.

Liu Zhicheng and John Madden each placed a piece of written ranking number on the table.

This was how the two men predicted the result of the first horse race, leaving their assistants standing by stunned. A D game was decided.

“The horse race was about to start, and the two of them picked up the telescopes next to them and looked out.

The atmosphere of watching a horse race live is completely different from watching it live on TV or listening to it on the radio.

Looking out at the scene, in addition to seeing thirteen horses running directly out under the guidance of the knight.

Tens of thousands of spectators and tourists were shouting wildly in the auditorium.

A game lasts just over two minutes and then it ends. In fact, there are many games in horse racing, but they only guess at one.

Soon, the big screen at the racecourse showed the result of the first horse race of the day: the champion was number 7.

Liu Zhicheng and Mr. John Madden returned to their seats. Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Mr. Madden, I guessed right."

After saying that, he opened the note on the table. John Madden found it incredible since it was just a blank piece of paper.

"Hahaha, Mr. Liu is really humorous." John Madden couldn't help but laugh. Today was the happiest day in these days.

"Mr. Madden, the chances of this guess being correct are too small, unless you are cheating."

Liu Zhicheng glanced at John Madden and continued, "I see that Mr. Madden has been troubled recently, so I came here today to help him solve his problems."

Sure enough, John Madden was right in his guess, so he nodded and motioned Liu Zhicheng to continue.

"I am interested in the Federal Building and the International Building, and I can help Wheelock solve its urgent needs."

John Madden frowned after hearing this. Liu Zhicheng was willing to give him some time to think, and then he drank his coffee.

John Madden thought that Liu Zhicheng might have approached him today in order to join the team to acquire Wheelock, but he did not expect that he wanted to hollow out Wheelock.

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(End of this chapter)