We're building a super chaebol in Hong Kong

"So, that's what this is about!" Jardine Matheson was suddenly enlightened.

He had discussed this matter with the taipan of Hongkong Land as early as two months prior.

Initially, considering the immense repayment pressure, their private agreement was to sell this piece of land, which they had painstakingly acquired at auction last year, to a new buyer to replenish their funds and help both hongs weather this difficult period.

Therefore, in reality, Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land had jointly released the news of the land sale two months ago.

They first informed people within British consortia, hoping someone would be interested in the land.

The outcome, naturally, disappointed them.

Many British consortia already lacked confidence in Hong Kong's future, and the ongoing oil crisis and poor global economic conditions made them even more wary, wanting to keep their funds on hand to prevent unforeseen circumstances.

This year, cash flow was king. In the eyes of many in British consortia, assets were depreciating!

This was because Hong Kong's property market had not been very prosperous in the past two years.

Although there had been a period of explosive growth in the mid-1970s, it didn't last long.

Like the stock market, the property market also had its ups and downs.

In particular, the withdrawal of some British hongs further prevented Hong Kong's property market from experiencing the sustained boom that was imagined.

As these British hongs withdrew from Hong Kong, they had to dispose of their fixed assets in the region.

Many, eager to sell, even offered prices below market value, which dragged down transaction prices in Hong Kong's property market.

So, it can be said that the British hongs themselves were the real culprits, and the Chinese businesses were not to blame.

And Chinese businesses had been taking advantage of the British hongs for years, including Su Cheng's purchase of Tianyuan Building a few years ago, which was also bought from a British hong at below-market price.

Having failed to find a buyer among the British consortia, Jardine Matheson then spread the news to other consortia in Hong Kong, including Chinese consortia.

And now, even though the Persian Gulf War was over, American oil companies, in order to recoup their losses, clearly did not want the oil crisis to end.

Therefore, the crisis continued.

Subsequently, Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land's taipan, Bowes-Sayers, discussed the matter again and decided to lower the price.

HK$2.5 billion was then reduced to HK$2.45 billion, then to HK$2.4 billion, and finally to the current HK$2.386 billion.

And this price was exactly what Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land had jointly paid to acquire the land in the first place.

If they sold at this price, their investment for the past year would be for nothing.

Even putting such a large sum of money in the bank would have earned a considerable amount of interest.

But now, they wouldn't make a single penny.

Despite this, Jardine Matheson reluctantly discovered that even selling at the original price, no one was interested.

However, someone did inquire. Li Ka-shing of Cheung Kong Holdings, along with several other bosses of Chinese real estate companies, offered HK$1.8 billion, hoping Jardine Matheson would consider selling them the land.

This was also written in Wu Ge's intelligence report, and Su Cheng had noticed it, so he didn't care.

Li Ka-shing wanted to pick up a great bargain for HK$1.8 billion; even Su Cheng felt that the price cut was too severe.

Since making a fortune from Wharf's shares last time, Li Ka-shing now had a lot of capital on hand.

However, Jardine Matheson refused without hesitation to engage in such opportunistic behavior.

To this end, he flew into a rage in his office, smashing several cups, and then vented his anger on his forty-something female foreign secretary in the office before calming down.

He vowed that even if Li Ka-shing and his group raised the price, he would not sell to them.

However, as the repayment date drew closer, Jardine Matheson and Bowes-Sayers became anxious.

Bowes-Sayers even suggested that if it really didn't work, they should talk to Li Ka-shing and his group again, raise the price a bit, and just sell it.

Bowes-Sayers' situation was the same as Jardine Matheson's. He also faced the risk of being laid off. If this crisis could not be resolved smoothly, then his position as taipan of Hongkong Land would come to an end.

Of course, because Jardine Matheson held the dominant position, Bowes-Sayers sided with Jardine Matheson on many issues, and Jardine Matheson basically made the decisions on joint matters.

A loss was inevitable; they just hoped it wouldn't be too much.

However, Jardine Matheson was really unwilling to negotiate with Li Ka-shing and his group.

These people just liked to take advantage of others' misfortunes, wanting to ruthlessly cut them off when their company was in crisis.

Unexpectedly, Su Cheng appeared at this time, giving him a surprise.

Although he didn't know what price Su Cheng would offer, at least there was finally another potential buyer.

In this way, Jardine Matheson felt that he was finally more confident.

In fact, in Hong Kong, perhaps no bank was willing to provide a mortgage loan for this land, but in overseas banks, there were still many powerful top banks that could provide this mortgage loan.

However, even if a mortgage loan could be obtained, those foreign banks would assess it at around HK$1.5 billion, which was not even close to HK$2.386 billion!

"Yes, Mr. Jardine Matheson, you also know that Hutchison Whampoa Group's headquarters is now somewhat unable to meet their office needs, so I am considering building a new building for them, and you happen to be selling this land, which I think is quite suitable," Su Cheng said with a smile.

"Mr. Su also knows that we acquired this land for HK$2.386 billion. I wonder if Mr. Su can afford this price?" Jardine Matheson asked directly.

He didn't ask how much Su Cheng was willing to offer, which would mean being subject to price cuts. Although price cuts were inevitable, he didn't want to say it himself.

"Mr. Jardine Matheson also knows that this year's economic situation is not very good. I don't think that piece of land is worth this price. If it is sold at a price of HK$2.386 billion, I have no interest in it because it has already exceeded my assessed value for this land!" Su Cheng said very directly.

You acquired it at this price, but that doesn't mean I have to think that this land is really worth that much money. That was Su Cheng's direct meaning.

"Then I wonder how much Mr. Su can offer? Transactions are negotiated. Everything can be discussed!" Having been blunted by Li Ka-shing, Jardine Matheson was not so rigid on this matter.