In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 179 Establishing an Intelligence Department
After negotiating with the Ma family, the next natural step is to finalize the deal as soon as possible.

Originally, Lin Haoran planned to purchase Oriental News Company through the Hong Kong Electric Group. In this way, he could save HK$2 million and control Oriental News Company at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

However, considering that the deal with the Ma family needs to be finalized as soon as possible, otherwise if the Ma family changes their mind and eventually leads to the termination of the deal, everything he has done will be in vain.

Although he can make the final decision on the acquisition of Oriental Press through the Hong Kong Electric Group, the Hong Kong Electric Group is a listed company after all. Even if he has a controlling stake, he still has to go through the board meeting process. This back and forth process will take a lot of time.

Today, he still has nearly 40 billion Hong Kong dollars in funds on hand, and 2 million Hong Kong dollars is available to him at any time.

Moreover, once he sells Changye Building at the beginning of next year, he can get back at least HK$300 million.

Chang Yip Building is located in the core area of ​​Wan Chai and is 18 stories high. Compared with the Wan An Group Building in Causeway Bay, it has greater advantages, but its floor area is slightly smaller.

Once he sells this building, he will not only get Hong Kong's largest newspaper company for free, but also make at least 100 million Hong Kong dollars for free.

Therefore, it is a very cost-effective deal if you pay for it yourself.

From the time the Ma brothers agreed to the deal, to when Lin Haoran had someone audit the assets of Oriental Newspaper Company, to when the contract was signed, to when the funds were transferred, to when Lin Haoran actually became the boss of Oriental Newspaper Company, the entire process took just over three hours.

It can be said that this was a quick deal.

"Mr. Ma, it's a pleasure working with you. I hope your Ma family can create a new world in Taiwan again!" Lin Haoran shook hands with Ma Chengkun and said with a smile.

"Thank you for your good wishes!" After shaking hands with Lin Haoran, Ma Chengkun turned around and looked at the office. From now on, this place no longer belonged to him.

There is reluctance, sadness, and relief.

The sale of the Ma family's only remaining property in Hong Kong was too sudden. Even though the deal has been completed, he still feels a little unreal.

At this moment, in the office of the general manager of Oriental Press Company, there were two other people besides Lin Haoran and Ma Chengkun.

One is the actual manager of Oriental Press, the company's deputy general manager Cui Zilong.

One is Han Ning, the financial director of Oriental Press Company.

Oriental Press is a private company, so even if something big happens, like a change of boss, there is no need to issue an announcement to the public. It is not as complicated as a listed company.

And Lin Haoran has no plans to make this matter public for the time being.

As long as the top management of Oriental Press Company keeps this matter secret from the outside world, the fact that he becomes the new boss of Oriental Press Company will definitely not be leaked in a short period of time.

He has his own considerations as to why he plans not to announce it for the time being.

Before this, when the Jardine Matheson Group reached that deal with him, Lin Haoran felt that Niu Bijian had suspected whether he had set his sights on the Jardine Matheson Group.

Therefore, in order to keep a low profile, he has no plans to make the matter public, but at least keep it secret for a while.

Acquiring companies one after another is too high-profile.

Of course, now that the Hong Kong Electric Company has acquired shares in the Hong Kong Land Development, it would not matter much even if they knew about it. After all, Universal Investment Company acquired the shares secretly rather than announcing its goals in a high-profile manner.

"Mr. Lin, and Mr. Cui and Mr. Han, I'm going back first. See you later!" Ma Chengkun knew that this place had nothing to do with him anymore, so he didn't stay any longer.

"Goodbye, Mr. Ma." Lin Haoran waved to him and said with a smile.

At this moment, the two senior executives, Cui Zilong and Han Ning, looked at Ma Chengkun with complicated expressions as he turned and left.

No one had ever thought that in just half a day, their boss would be replaced by the famous Hong Kong new business tycoon Lin Haoran.

"Mr. Cui, Mr. Han, let's sit down and have a chat." Lin Haoran said to the two senior executives of Oriental Newspaper Company with a smile.

"Okay, boss." They said in unison.

Then he followed Lin Haoran to the sofa in the office and sat down.

The two did not dare to underestimate the new boss Lin Haoran.

As workers of news organizations, they naturally knew Lin Haoran very well.

"Mr. Han, tell me about the financial situation of Oriental Newspaper Company." Lin Haoran first looked at Han Ning.

"Boss, our Oriental Newspaper Company has four main sources of income. One is the rental income from the Changye Building. This 4-story building, except for the 18th and 6th floors which are used by our Oriental Newspaper Company, the other 7 floors are rented out. The monthly rent can reach more than one million Hong Kong dollars.

One is the income from newspaper and magazine advertising. Our monthly revenue from this is about HK$2 million. The income is relatively stable and is also the largest source of income for our company.

One is the income from newspaper and magazine distribution. The income is obtained through the sale of newspapers and weekly magazines, whether it is subscription or retail. The larger the circulation, the higher the income. For example, our Oriental Daily is the best-selling newspaper in Hong Kong. The lowest sales volume is more than 100,000 copies, and the highest is even close to 300,000 copies. The sales volume of Oriental Weekly magazine is also 50,000 to 100,000 copies per month. The total income here is between 1 million and 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

One is book publishing, such as martial arts novels, popular science books, etc., which can generate hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars in revenue for us every month;
Apart from this, we also increase our revenue by hosting various events such as press seminars, exhibitions etc.

These activities can not only increase the newspaper's visibility, but also attract more sponsors and partners, thereby adding additional sources of income.

In addition, we also provide value-added services, such as market research, data analysis, news copyright reprinting, etc. These services can also bring in a certain amount of income, but not much. Basically, our monthly revenue is around HK$500 million. Now our business has reached a bottleneck state. The revenue is very stable. In a year, the total revenue is also HK$ to million.

However, our expenses are not small, with an average monthly expenditure of about HK$3 million. Fortunately, we own the properties, so we not only do not have to rent them out, but we also have rental income. In addition, our newspaper sales have consistently ranked first in Hong Kong for many years, so our company is a leader in Hong Kong's newspaper industry in terms of both revenue and profit.

In addition, we also have business overseas, mainly in areas with a large number of Chinese in Southeast Asia, but the overseas business now has a small market share and the profit is almost negligible. At present, the company has more than 554 million Hong Kong dollars in its account. "Han Ning reported the financial situation of Oriental Press Company to Lin Haoran in detail.

Ma Chengkun was quite honest. When he sold the company to Lin Haoran, he did not take away the company's available funds.

Lin Haoran listened to Han Ning's report silently.

Lin Haoran did not find it strange that Oriental Press Company only made a profit of about HK$3 million a month, which included the income from renting the building.

After all, he bought Oriental Press not because he expected it to make a lot of money, but because he saw how it could help him, such as intelligence, public opinion, advertising and other capabilities, which made it worth buying.

"Okay, Mr. Han, then you go out and work first. By the way, don't tell anyone that I've become a boss." Lin Haoran reminded.

"Okay, boss. I got it." Han Ning respectfully left the office.

Lin Haoran turned his gaze to Cui Zilong who was still sitting nearby.

This deputy general manager is quite an amazing person. He was promoted by Ma Xizhen a few years ago and he is very talented in corporate management.

Although he was only in his thirties, he was able to manage such a large Oriental Newspaper Company in an orderly manner, making the sales of Oriental Daily News rank first in Hong Kong. It can be said that he made an indelible contribution.

Cui Zilong: [Loyalty: 79/100]

In terms of loyalty, Cui Zilong's loyalty to Oriental Press Company can only be described as average, not as high as imagined, which is over 80 or even higher.

However, it is also possible that the Ma family has completely withdrawn from Oriental Press and is somewhat disillusioned with the company, so his loyalty does not seem to be very high.

"Boss, I wonder what your plans are for my position?" Cui Zilong faced Lin Haoran calmly.

He believed that after Lin Haoran acquired Oriental Press, he would definitely replace the key senior executives with people he could trust, so he did not have much confidence in whether he could stay in office.

However, Cui Zilong felt that with his abilities, he would be able to make a living in other companies even if he left Oriental Press, so he didn't feel too nervous.

"Mr. Cui, I know you and I know you are a capable person, so I want to promote you to be the general manager and continue to take charge of the management of Oriental Press. As for me, you also know that I have a lot of companies under my control, including Qingzhou Yingni Company, Wan'an Group, and Hong Kong Electric Group, so I definitely don't have much time to take care of this side. What do you think?" Lin Haoran asked with a smile.

Cui Zilong seemed a little surprised when he heard Lin Haoran's words.

He didn't expect that Lin Haoran not only did not fire or demote him, but directly gave him the position of general manager.

Although he had previously held the management rights of Oriental Press, he was ultimately only a vice president, and this management power was somewhat mismatched.

But from Lin Haoran's words, he could hear that Lin Haoran really intended to continue to give the management rights to him, rather than find someone else to replace him.

However, for Cui Zilong, this is ultimately a good thing.

"Boss, thank you for your trust. I will never let you down!" Cui Zilong said solemnly to Lin Haoran.

At this moment, his loyalty also increased from 79 to 85.

Seeing this loyalty, Lin Haoran nodded, this is normal!

"Although I will not intervene too much in the daily operations of the company, I will pay close attention to the situation here. At the same time, I need you to be responsible for some important things. I hope you will not let me down." Lin Haoran looked at Cui Zilong and said seriously.

"Boss, please give me your instructions!"

"I hope you can use the existing resources of Oriental Press Company to set up an intelligence department for me to collect important information in the business world and report to me in a timely manner. In addition, when I have specific intelligence needs, I will also instruct you to obtain relevant information. Do you understand what I mean?" Lin Haoran said solemnly.

In this age of information explosion, we are surrounded by all kinds of information and intelligence at all times.

From news events learned from newspapers, television and even passerby gossip, to the ever-changing market trends, information is everywhere, and this information can often become the key factor in everyone's accumulation of wealth.

As the famous saying goes: "Put information and intelligence first, and wealth will follow. How much you gain often depends on how much you know." This sentence has accurately stated the importance of information in the pursuit of wealth.

The time for obtaining information also varies. The earlier you know it, the greater benefit you can get from it.

Why was Lin Haoran able to build up such a huge fortune in just two years? It was because he was a time traveler and knew a lot of information that others didn't know in advance!

As for the vision of Oriental Press Company, Lin Haoran does not expect to be able to predict intelligence on events that have not yet occurred. He only hopes to receive relevant information immediately within a short period of time after the event occurs. Such timeliness is sufficient to meet the needs.

Some of the top business conglomerates in Hong Kong basically have their own intelligence departments, such as Shen Bi of Bank of Hong Kong, Li Jiacheng of Cheung Kong Holdings, Niu Bijian of Jardine Matheson, Bao Yugang of Wharf Holdings and so on. Their intelligence capabilities may be strong or weak, but they all have their own sources of intelligence information.

Therefore, it is very necessary for Lin Haoran to set up his own intelligence department.

(End of this chapter)