Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 902 The Land That Took the Bait

As the grand finale of the auction, the Central land king was naturally placed last. The land plots auctioned earlier were basically arranged in order of price from low to high.

Each consortium decides its own goals based on its own circumstances. This information was released earlier, but the pre-sale price was not disclosed, as it is a secret of the Hong Kong government.

The first plot of land to be auctioned was a 5-square-foot commercial site in Kwun Tong, which can be used to build office buildings or shopping malls. The Hong Kong government also restricted the purchasers to hold 40% of the property for more than 5 years.
This is also a lesson learned by the Hong Kong government in the past. In the early years, without restrictions, some developers only cared about their immediate interests and disregarded the gains and losses of their customers, which caused a lot of trouble. Therefore, the Hong Kong government mandates that real estate investors retain a certain percentage of their properties at auctions.
Of course, there is another purpose, which is to limit too many new homes on the market, as this will inevitably impact property prices. Therefore, certain restrictions are necessary, which has become an important means for the Hong Kong government to control property prices.
Ultimately, the land was acquired by Hang Lung Group for HK$7.6 million.
Soon, the second plot of land went up for auction;
Yang Wendong didn't pay much attention to these small plots of land in front of him. Although they were in good locations, he would basically not get involved in them personally.

These aren't even the most prime locations. When the real estate market experiences a crisis in the future, I can buy in at roughly the same price.
The only exception is some extremely prime land, which is very difficult to acquire even during a real estate crisis. So in such cases, there is no need to worry about the timing. In any case, compared to housing prices more than ten years from now, today's fluctuations are meaningless.
The case with this piece of land is a prime example. However, he wants to play the long game and catch a big fish. His ultimate goal is Jardine Matheson, so he must let Jardine Matheson acquire this land, thereby increasing Jardine Matheson's debt.
If I succeed in the end, not only will I be able to keep this land, but the fruits of a century of operation by Jardine Matheson will also be mine.

After an hour, the auction of 12 plots of land of varying locations and sizes was finally completed, leaving only the last plot of land up for auction.

"The land to be auctioned now is a waterfront site located on the west side of Connaught Place in Central, between Connaught Road and Harbour View Road, with a total area of ​​14.4 square feet. This site was originally the site of the Fire Services Department."

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange's trading hall will also be moved here in the future. The new building must be called the Exchange Building and cannot be renamed. We hope that the successful bidder will consider all of this before bidding. The design of the future building must take the above two factors into account.

Because this plot of land is located by the sea, the plot ratio requirement is below 15, which allows for the construction of taller buildings. However, the specific requirements still need to be reviewed by the Hong Kong government.

The auction has officially begun. The starting price is HK$6 billion, and each bid must be at least HK$50 million higher. Please raise your paddles to place your bids now.

Many real estate developers and reporters at the scene were already mentally prepared for this price, but they were still shocked when they heard it. There has never been such a high land price in Hong Kong's history. It is probably rare to find land with a starting price of US$12 billion in the world.
The combined value of just over a dozen plots of land is probably about the same as this record-breaking plot.

Yang Wendong felt somewhat helpless. Hong Kong's development over the past 20 years has ultimately been completely driven by the real estate market. The price is estimated to be surpassed only by Tokyo's Ginza district in the future.

However, this is an inevitable trend. Developed countries have all followed this path, and the mainland will be the same in the future. It is something that cannot be stopped by human effort.

Since we can't stop it, let's join in and have a bite of this cake;
The first bid came from Japan's Seibu Group: "61 billion."

The fact that the first bidder immediately increased the price by 100 million demonstrates the capital market's optimism about this land.

Jardine Matheson glanced at Yang Wendong and the others who hadn't made a move, and immediately raised his paddle: "62 billion."

Yang Wendong glanced at Zheng Zhijie, who understood and immediately raised his paddle: "63 billion."

Multiple consortia began a bloody bidding war, and the price quickly reached 70 billion, a price that sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.

Some reporters were so engrossed in the scene that any photo taken at that moment could become tomorrow's headline news.

"71.5."

After waiting for a while at the venue, Zheng Zhijie announced the new price;
Obviously, by this point, the price had exceeded the limits of many people, or perhaps some conglomerates knew they had no chance of winning the bid and thus began to try to muddy the waters.

After all, the more consortia involved, the more indirectly it proves that the real estate market is still strong, which is beneficial to everyone present. That's why many auctions also have people who participate but don't win a bid.

"71.5 billion, is there anything higher?" The auctioneer was also extremely excited. With such a high price, his photo might even appear in history books in the future.

At the location of the Hongkong Land Group, Niu Bijian and Bao Fuda looked towards Yang Wendong's side and then raised their placards, saying: "72.5 billion."

"Wow~"

The scene was shocking. Just after the price exceeded 7 billion, the bids from all parties stopped increasing by 50 million each. Now, Hongkong Land has added another 100 million, which is enough to show how optimistic they are about the real estate market.

All eyes turned to Yang Wendong. Now, everyone knew that the only real contenders for this land were Yang Wendong and Zhidi.

Yang Wendong frowned, seemingly discussing something with Zheng Zhijie, and remained silent for a while;
This made the auctioneer above somewhat embarrassed. He wanted to wait, but the rules were there, and there was a time limit, so he said, "72.5 billion once, 72.5 billion twice."

Just as he was about to announce the third successful transaction, Zheng Zhijie suddenly raised his hand: "73.5 billion."

After raising his hand, he immediately started scratching the back of his head, as if it was a little itchy.
This action was perfectly normal, but it was noticed by Bao Fuda, who then asked in a low voice, "This should be Yang Wendong's bottom price. If we bid again, we can secure this land."

“Then the minimum is 74 billion. This price is really…” Niu Bijian hesitated a bit.

Paul said, “It’s already over 70 billion, a few hundred million more won’t matter. Don’t forget, land prices in Hong Kong follow the auction. If the price of this land is high, the entire Central district will rise in price, and our assets in Central will increase by several hundred million out of thin air. So, even if the auction price is too high, it’s still good for us.”

"Alright." After thinking for a moment, Niu Bijian nodded in agreement.
At this moment, all eyes were on them, and he didn't have much time to hesitate any longer.

Paul Johnson quickly raised his hand: "74 billion." Knowing that Yang Wendong was about to give up, they were not stupid and would not add another 100 million, but would only accept the minimum price required by the Hong Kong government.

The entire scene erupted in another frenzy, with countless spotlights shining upon it. Yang Wendong closed his eyes, having already achieved his goal. This was practically the limit of the price; any higher and even Landmark would probably not dare to take the land.

If I were to overstep my bounds and acquire the land, although I wouldn't necessarily lose money in the future, my strategic plans would be affected.

"74 billion for the first time." The auctioneer looked at the location of Changxing Group, as everyone knew that only this company was likely to continue bidding.
"74 billion, second time." The auctioneer understood immediately when he saw that Yang Wendong remained unmoved.

"74 billion. Third time." Even though he wanted to delay, there were limits to the rules. In the end, the auctioneer brought down the gavel.

"Clap clap clap clap clap clap~~~~" A round of applause rang out, and everyone was as happy as if they had gone mad;
The success of the land auction will inject tremendous vitality into the current real estate market, and more funds will be involved.
HK$74 billion is equivalent to US$15 billion. Such a large sum of money is a huge amount even in Europe and the United States; the mainland, which is next door, sometimes doesn't even have that much in foreign exchange reserves.

Last year, Hong Kong's total export trade amounted to only HK$160 billion. This piece of land is equivalent to the hard-earned results of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people in a year.
The real estate market is so magical that it makes countless countries and capitals submit to its allure.

After the auction ended, the Hong Kong government, as the host, invited everyone to a lavish banquet next door, which Yang Wendong naturally attended as well.
Niu Bijian and Bao Fuda approached Yang Wendong, raised their glasses, and said with a smile, "Mr. Yang, we should thank you for showing mercy just now."

"Haha, Mr. Niu Bijian, you're too kind. It's just normal business competition, nothing to do with showing any mercy." Yang Wendong also raised his glass. In the business world, one still has to give face on the surface.

Niu Bijian said, "Mr. Yang's main businesses should be overseas now, otherwise Jardine Matheson would not have this opportunity today. I really envy Mr. Yang's ability to achieve such great success overseas. I hope that in the future, Jardine Matheson Group can cooperate with Mr. Yang overseas."

"Of course, but our businesses seem to be different," Yang Wendong countered.
His businesses span food, electronics, infrastructure, finance, and more, while Jardine Matheson's investments mainly consist of various mines and farms. It's not that he doesn't have any similar businesses, but there aren't many.

Niu Bijian nodded and said, "Yes, we can only say that we will discuss it again when there is an opportunity in the future; however, we do have a new cooperation opportunity in Hong Kong."

"What opportunity?" Yang Wendong asked.

Niu Bijian said, "This time, Hongkong Land acquired the land king, but the funds involved also need to be borrowed from banks. Even HSBC cannot handle such a large amount of funds, so we hope that Hang Seng Bank can also participate."

“No problem, Hang Seng Bank has already cooperated with your company before,” Yang Wendong readily agreed.
To create an opportunity for myself, I need to cause Hongkong Land to fall into a debt crisis in 83/84; but the prerequisite is that I also need to become one of the major creditors.

It's important to know that in the next few years, many companies in Hong Kong will be on the verge of bankruptcy due to debt, but only Carrefour has truly collapsed; the others have managed to survive.

The fundamental reason is that when a group is heavily indebted, creditor banks do not dare to exert excessive pressure, otherwise they may really go down together. Therefore, both parties will basically sit down and negotiate how to overcome the difficulties together.
At times like these, creditor banks and debtor companies are truly in the same boat.
Therefore, only by becoming a creditor bank can one truly pressure Jardine Matheson.
Therefore, in previous years, Hang Seng Bank gave Hongkong Land a small discount in order to become Hongkong Land's long-term partner bank.

"Haha, okay, thank you very much, Mr. Yang," Niu Bijian said with a smile.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Niu Bijian and the others left. John Swire, the head of the Swire Group, came over and raised his glass, saying, "Mr. Yang, it's been a long time. It seems you rarely attend gatherings of Hong Kong's high society these days."

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "I've been frequently overseas lately, so naturally I haven't had time to get involved in things here in Hong Kong."

That's one aspect. Another aspect is that, given the current size of the Cheung Hing Group, he basically looks down on the so-called "high society" in Hong Kong. Making friends with these people is not very meaningful to him. In the whole of Hong Kong, only the Governor of Hong Kong, HSBC, and Jardine Matheson are likely to catch his eye.
"I heard you've become a major shareholder of Coca-Cola. Congratulations! I wonder if Watsons has any plans to collaborate with Coca-Cola in Hong Kong?" John revealed his purpose for the visit.
Yang Wendong laughed and said, "John, are you worried that I will steal your business from Swire and Coca-Cola?"

John Swire replied, "If you were me, wouldn't you be worried?"

Yang Wendong said, "I do have this concern, but it seems I don't need to tell you, do I?"

His relationship with Swire Group was neither bad nor good, so there was no need for him to explain anything.

John said, “I understand. I just hope there won’t be any conflict between us. Coca-Cola is also one of my group’s main businesses. Your company has already partnered with Pepsi, and I hope all of this will remain the same.”

"So what?" Yang Wendong followed up with a question. He knew that the head of Taikoo Group was a smart man and wouldn't think that he could change anything with just a few words.

John said, “My Swire Group owns a lot of land that we can develop together with you. The only requirement is that you do not interfere with my Coca-Cola business.”

Although Swire Group and Coca-Cola have a good relationship, times have changed. This year, Coca-Cola changed its CEO and Yang Wendong became a major shareholder of Coca-Cola. Naturally, Swire Group has many concerns.
Swire Properties Group itself is not very good at land development, so cooperating with Yang Wendong's real estate company is also beneficial to its real estate business.

"I can't promise you anything right now. Let's see how it goes later." Yang Wendong didn't refuse, after all, the other party had shown sincerity. Whether or not they could cooperate would depend on further negotiations.

John smiled and said, "Okay, I will send the relevant information to Changxing Real Estate Company immediately. I hope you can make a decision as soon as possible."

"Okay," Yang Wendong nodded and said.
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)