Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 321: Land King Acquisition and Preparation for Future Crisis
The highlight always comes last.

The auctioneer continued, "In this auction, each bid must not be less than 50."

John Keswick, the representative of Landmark, raised his sign and said, "3000 million."

"Wow~~"

There was a sudden noise below, and Zhidi directly raised the price by 200 million.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Zhidi is quickly identifying its opponents, allowing those who are undecided to quickly settle down."

"Yes, this is also a statement to the outside world: I am determined to get this piece of land." Zheng Zhijie also said.

Yang Wendong added: "But how could others just give up such good land?"

Even if he knew that the real estate crisis would break out three years later, Yang Wendong would not give up the most core land or properties in Central.

From a long-term perspective, the real estate crisis in 66/67 was just a small fluctuation.

He will not let go of the best position from now until the early 90s, no matter what crisis may occur in between.

"3050 million." The representative of Hang Seng Bank immediately raised his hand, while Ho Sin Hang sat in the back with no expression on his face.

The representative of Swire also raised his hand and said, "3100 million."

"3150 million." The people from Jardine Matheson refused to give in at all.

"3200."

The price was quickly pushed up to 3400 million.

It is obvious that the amount of price increases by all parties has begun to slow down, and it is very likely that it has exceeded expectations.

"3400 million? Is there anyone who wants to bid higher?" the auctioneer asked politely.

Logically, he should have started hammering for the "first time", but he was still waiting, which was obviously tacitly approved by the auctioneer who also wanted to make more money.

Yang Wendong raised his sign, which immediately attracted the attention of the auctioneer. He said, "Auctioneer No. 16, the bid is 3450 million."

If the bidder only raises a placard and does not make a separate bid, it is the default minimum price increase.

Some reporters also began to focus their attention on Yang Wendong.

"Yang Wendong has not finished bidding in more than a dozen auctions. It is obvious that he came here just for the land king."

"Nonsense, given Yang Wendong's status, if he wasn't the Land King, how could he possibly come?"

Many reporters discussed this privately.

Yang Wendong's offer also moved He Shanheng, and then the representative in front of him raised the sign again.

"3500 million." The auctioneer became excited again.

Swire Properties followed suit, but without making a direct offer, it was obvious that it was also prepared to offer 50 directly.

"3550 million." The auctioneer said and then looked at the Swire representative.

At this moment, no one in the venue spoke or made any sound. Everyone was waiting to see how this piece of land would break the previous record.

The representative of Swire and the people behind them lowered their heads and negotiated while being filmed by the reporters, but eventually fell silent and stopped participating in the auction.

The meaning was obvious, and the auctioneer quickly looked at other people.

The representative of Hang Seng Bank seemed to hesitate for a moment and raised his hand.

"3600."

The auctioneer was very excited and looked in the direction of Jardine Matheson and Cheung Hsing Properties again. Now there were only these three left.

A few foreigners from Jardine Matheson seemed to discuss for a while and finally raised their hands.

"3650."

The auctioneer looked at Hang Seng again, while Ho Sin Hang frowned, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Yang Wendong raised his sign again and said, "3750 million."

Direct price increase of 100.

"It seems that Yang Wendong is determined to win. The price of this land is about to be raised to 1000 million."

"1000 million is too scary. The land price in Central Hong Kong is about to break the record again."

"Does Yang Wendong have so much money?"

"Why not? Last time they spent 5000 million US dollars to buy an oil tanker?"

"That's different. Tankers mainly rely on loans."

"Isn't it the same with real estate?"

The scene began to become lively again.

"3750 million." The auctioneer was very excited and looked towards the direction of the land: "Are there any other bidders?"

The foreigners from Jardine Matheson gathered together again, and no one knew what they were talking about.

At this moment, hundreds of people at the scene were waiting for these three people. Everyone hoped that the price could go up further. The higher the record-breaking housing prices in Central were, the more the housing prices in Hong Kong as a whole would eventually rise. Ultimately, most of the real estate developers here would be able to profit from it.

After a while, the three of them separated and stopped holding up the signs.

"3750 million, first time." The auctioneer said loudly. Although he wanted to wait, he couldn't really ignore the rules.

At the same time, he looked again at the several people who had just participated in the auction, but received no response.

"3750 million, second time." the auctioneer said again.

The scene returned to silence.

"3750 million, third time, deal." The auctioneer finally made the final decision.

“Pah pah pah pah pah pah~~~~”

Everyone at the scene stood up and applauded enthusiastically.

Perhaps most of these people just came here to join in the fun and participated in the auction without winning any land. However, those who can come here are, at the very least, real estate tycoons.

The record-breaking land price means that Hong Kong’s land prices will continue to rise in the future, and capital is also optimistic about the Hong Kong real estate market. In this way, everyone’s wealth will increase.

"Congratulations, Mr. Yang."

After the auction, Huo Yingdong came up to Yang Wendong and greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Yang, after Ho Tung, only a very few people competed with British capital for the prime land in Central. This time, you will become famous again." "Haha, I also hope that there will be more and more Chinese like me." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Mr. Huo also won two residential plots. Congratulations."

"All I have is less than half of Mr. Yang's. It's just a small thing." Ho Ying-tung shook his head and said.

Yang Wendong said: "In the future, Mr. Huo will definitely have the opportunity to compete with Jardine Matheson and Taikoo."

"I hope so." Huo Yingdong added, "I'll take my leave first."

"Okay, take care." After Yang Wendong saw the other person off, another voice came from behind him: "Congratulations, Yang Sheng."

Yang Wendong turned around and said, "Mr. He, there is no competition between us."

The last bidding was between him and Jardine Matheson.

"Yes, we still can't compare to Mr. Yang and Jardine Matheson's financial strength." He Shanheng said with a smile.

Yang Wendong said: "Mr. He is joking. In terms of funds, who can compare with banks?"

"The bank has a lot of money, but it's not their own." Ho Sin Hang shook his head and said, "Liu Chongxing is a lesson for us. Although I am also optimistic about real estate, I dare not go beyond that. The most I can do is build a property for my own use."

"This is a good thing. In fact, banks themselves can also earn dividends from the real estate market. If they really want to take over everything, they will probably end up overeating." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

One principle of doing business is that you cannot eat alone. Even if Changxing Industrial intends to control the entire industrial chain, it is just "control", not doing everything by itself. Some non-core ones will still be given to others.

He Shanheng smiled and said, "That's good too. It saves a lot of money. I can focus on the banking business."

"This is naturally better." Yang Wendong smiled.

If history had not changed, the Hang Seng Bank would have only lasted two years in the hands of the Ho family, and in early 1965, the Hang Seng Bank would have suffered a severe bank run.

The tragic thing is that even though Hang Seng Bank has developed rapidly over the years, it has not violated any regulations and its risk control has always been relatively reasonable. However, if faced with a bank run, no bank can withstand it, and Hang Seng was no exception, and was eventually acquired by HSBC.

Every auction of the highest-priced land will make headlines.

The next day, many newspapers published the incident, and many newspapers used the photo of Yang Wendong's final bidding as the cover headline.

[The land king was sold at a price of 1425 yuan per square foot, and the sticky note king Yang Wendong became the biggest winner of this auction]

This is the front page headline of Sing Tao Daily.

Land King, Post-it Note King, Winner, each word attracted the attention of many newspaper readers.

In Changxing Building, after reading the newspaper, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "This Sing Tao Daily is really good at boasting. I feel a little embarrassed when I see it."

This newspaper almost regarded Yang Wendong as the future pride of Chinese people. I don't know whether it was really exaggerating or over-praising.

"It's just that they are bolder. Ms. Hu also has this style in the industry." Zheng Zhijie smiled and said, "In fact, the Oriental Daily can also write like this, but they are a little concerned about your opinion."

"It's not good to be too exaggerated." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Send them a letter and ask them to be more restrained."

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

Yang Wendong asked again: "Has HSBC's first loan of 1000 million arrived?"

Even Changxing Group or Jardine Matheson cannot easily take out tens of millions of dollars of funds. Therefore, this kind of land king-level auction is funded in batches.

It’s the same with the bank. They will give money according to the plan, and then the next batch will be issued when the houses are built to a certain extent.

Everything is done to control financial risks.

Zheng Zhijie replied: "Not yet. They promised that the funds will arrive tomorrow. Once the funds arrive at the Lands Department's account, the Hong Kong government will officially transfer the funds to us."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said: "Notify Bei Jinming immediately and ask him to help me design an office building on this land according to the plot ratio given by the Hong Kong government;

In addition, the marketing department can be asked to go out and look for potential tenants. It is best to rent out all the houses before they are built, and sign a five-year contract first;
This way, HSBC may feel more at ease, as we will at least have rent to pay off the loan in the future."

The normal construction speed of an office building takes more than a year, so the building will basically be completed by mid-64.

Historically, Hong Kong's real estate began to decline after the run on Hang Seng Bank in 1965. Although the decline was not severe, all kinds of data were not good, including leasing.

When that time really comes and house prices fall, the banks will definitely put pressure on us.

You can’t control the house prices, but it’s good to have a stable rental income.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed immediately: "It is still very easy to rent properties in Central, Hong Kong now. A large number of companies want to come to Central."

"Okay." Yang Wendong smiled and asked, "How is Carrefour's recent property acquisition going?"

Zheng Zhijie replied: "During the Chinese New Year, I have negotiated two plots of land in Kowloon. On Hong Kong Island, I am also negotiating two plots of land in Admiralty and Causeway Bay. It has not been finalized yet, but the only issue left is the price."

Yang Wendong did some calculations in his mind and said, "That means after we acquire these plots of land and start opening new stores, we will have 41 Carrefour branches?"

Zheng Zhijie said: "Yes, there are 31 stores that have opened, 6 stores under construction, and these 4 stores have not yet completed the transaction."

"Not bad. Thank you for your continued acquisition of the property management." Yang Wendong asked again, "Is there anything like a dog-skin plaster that is blocking us over the Jardine Matheson?"

Zheng Zhijie replied: "Not really. Even in Hong Kong Island, there are many old buildings or land that has not been developed. I am negotiating with many places at the same time. They have no control over it. In the core business districts of Central, Admiralty and Causeway Bay, we already have branches. They can't do anything about it.

As for the Kowloon Peninsula, that is even more impossible, and that is our territory."

"Okay, let's continue to expand in this way." Yang Wendong said, "Liu Huayu has done an investigation before. Yifeng Supermarket's management has been very chaotic recently and has made obvious radical mistakes. We must take this opportunity to expand."

Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Okay, except for the residential business, all other real estate investments will be stopped, and I will focus on helping Carrefour purchase its own properties."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "How long is the lease of Changxing Real Estate usually for?"

Zheng Zhijie replied: "Mostly 3-5 years, but the rental price will be adjusted once a year according to market fluctuations. As you know, Mr. Yang, the housing prices have increased several times in the past few years, and the rent is about the same."

Yang Wendong then asked: "What about the penalty for breach of contract? If the house price drops and the rent drops, and they don't rent the house anymore, how much will they have to pay?"

Zheng Zhijie replied: "Usually it's half a year's rent, and there's a deposit. If they breach the contract, the deposit will be confiscated. If we breach the contract, we will have to pay the same compensation, but it's unlikely. It's adjusted once a year, and we won't do anything that would damage our business reputation."

Yang Wendong thought about it and said, "Then let's do this. Starting from this year, all properties that have expired can be rented out at a slightly lower price, but the penalty for breach of contract must be increased, and the lease must also be for 5 years."

After hearing this, Zheng Zhijie understood what he meant: "Mr. Yang is worried about the housing price?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It's possible. I'm just in case. How can housing prices keep rising in this world? Maybe housing prices haven't peaked this year, but it's hard to say in two years."

Although the real estate crisis broke out in 66 and 67, the direct cause was external factors; but in fact, even without external factors, Hong Kong's housing prices would inevitably face a crisis, because housing prices were already in trouble as early as 65.

Of course, external factors also have a great impact, causing housing prices to fall to an outrageous level.

Zheng Zhijie said: "Okay, I understand."

Yang Wendong added: "This does not need to cover all properties. It will mainly be implemented on Hong Kong Island. In Kowloon, unless it is a very large property or a property in the town center, the rest does not need to be taken care of."

By next year, many non-very important properties will be sold for cash.

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(End of this chapter)