In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 426 Target Hong Kong Telephone Company
After receiving the good news from Motorola, Lin Haoran did not waste any time and directly called Ma Shimin, the general manager of the Hong Kong Land Group, who was far away in Hong Kong.

"Mr. Ma, how is the privatization process of the Swire Group progressing?" Lin Haoran asked with a smile as soon as the call was connected.

“Boss, according to the latest feedback from Waldo, we currently hold more than 98.5% of the shares of Hong Kong Land Group, and there are very few shares left in the hands of retail investors.

However, as the acquisition process progressed, the pace did slow down. In fact, it was due to the general strong willingness of shareholders to sell that we were able to achieve such remarkable results in such a short period of time.

As for the shares that have not yet been acquired, based on past experience, the company believes that these shares are mainly dispersed in the hands of two types of shareholders: one is the shareholders who bought the shares of Hong Kong Land Group in the early years and have immigrated overseas. They may not understand the privatization situation;

The other category is the shareholders who do not care much about the small amount of shares they hold and may even intend to keep them as souvenirs. Therefore, it is indeed quite difficult to achieve a 100% shareholding ratio.

Based on this, Huoduoli Company suggested that we could start preparing to apply to the Securities Regulatory Commission to announce the success of privatization, and they would assist us in all our work! "Ma Shimin reported the current situation in detail.

Lin Haoran nodded and said, "Okay, then let's apply to the Securities and Futures Commission. You take care of this matter for me. I have almost finished handling things in the United States and am preparing to return to Hong Kong. I hope to hear good news from you when I return to Hong Kong."

Today, although the Swire Properties Group has been delisted, the privatization work has been ongoing.

But after all, as long as the Swire Group does not announce the successful privatization, this company cannot be considered as his private enterprise.

"Boss, please rest assured. I will work with the Huoduoli Company to get this matter done for you as soon as possible!" Ma Shimin promised.

"Is there anything else going on at the Jardine Matheson Group during this period?" Lin Haoran continued to ask.

"Nothing has happened to the Jardine Matheson Group, but there is one thing that has caused a significant impact on Hong Kong due to the operations of the Jardine Matheson Group during this period." Ma Shimin reported immediately.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Lin Haoran suddenly became curious.

"Boss, during this period we have put more than 68 real estate projects up for sale, and we have finally raised HK$ billion through these real estate projects.

A total of more than 20 real estate companies of all sizes in Hong Kong participated in the bidding, so in a short period of time, Hong Kong's real estate projects were actually quite saturated.

Last week, the government sent invitation letters to real estate companies of a certain scale in Hong Kong, including our Hong Kong Land Group. The government will hold an auction of official land on January 1981, 1, and will put five plots of land up for auction.

The locations of these plots of land are extremely good. They are very rare and scarce plots in Hong Kong. One of them is located more than 73000 meters east of the Connaught Building in Central, with an area of ​​ square feet.

In addition, the remaining plots are distributed in Hennessy Road Causeway Bay, the south side of Central Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui East, etc. It can be said that the locations of the plots are extremely advantageous.

The starting price is also quite standard, but what is unexpected is that, as far as I know, so far only three real estate companies have accepted the invitation and will participate in the auction. Moreover, their willingness to bid does not seem to be strong, they are just giving face to the government.

In the past, there would be at least a dozen real estate companies participating, and the final bidding would be fierce. This is the first time in recent years that such a situation has occurred in the auction of government land." Ma Shimin answered in detail.

Lin Haoran felt a little emotional. After all, his actions had a certain impact on Hong Kong's real estate, and the government was the first to bear the brunt. He hoped that the Hong Kong government would not blame him.

“In that case, the Jardine Matheson Group should also sign up to participate in the auction. If we can buy it at a low price, we will take it as long as the price is not too outrageous!” Lin Haoran thought about it and said directly.

These rare plots of land are not ordinary plots of land.

If we don’t get it this time, we may not be able to get it in the future.

Anyway, the Swire Group now has a lot of funds in its hands, with more than HK$10 billion available.

Although part of the funds are needed for the project and billions of Hong Kong dollars are needed to repay the loan, he can use these funds before the repayment.

Moreover, even if this part of the funds is deducted, the Swire Group still has billions of Hong Kong dollars to use.

Today, the Hong Kong Land Group is more financially well-funded than ever before.

"Boss, why do you suddenly want to buy land again?" Ma Shimin asked curiously, but he did not object. Instead, there was a smile in his tone.

Obviously, he is very supportive of this approach.

"These plots of land, as you said, are scarce resources. If we don't buy them this time, we may not have a chance in the future. Although we all predict that Hong Kong will soon face a real estate crisis, I don't think this crisis will last too long. Once the crisis is over, Hong Kong's real estate market will surely usher in a new round of skyrocketing prices.

Therefore, once these high-quality plots of land are missed, it may be difficult to get them back in the future.

Although we have handled more than 30 real estate projects during this period, we do not think those projects are of high quality, so we are willing to deal with them in order to reduce the debt ratio of the Swire Properties Group.

Now, the Swire Group has sufficient funds and no longer has to worry about debt, so we have no problem with funding.

Moreover, as far as I know, high-quality official land is becoming less and less. Every time you auction one more piece, there will be one less piece, so you should try to get as much as you can!" Lin Haoran explained.

"Boss, I completely agree with what you said. I was planning to find a time to discuss it with you, but I didn't expect you to bring it up so directly!" Ma Shimin said with some surprise.

At this moment, Ma Shimin deeply felt that his boss's business philosophy coincided with his own.

When it comes to group management, I’m highly aligned with my boss, and that feels really good.

Hearing this, Lin Haoran smiled and said, "Mr. Ma, we are thinking alike. This is tacit understanding. The development of the Landmark Group requires tacit cooperation like you and me to go further."

Although Lin Haoran does not understand business management, he has a clear understanding of the general development direction, which is mainly due to his general understanding of the major trends in the next few decades.

As for Ma Shimin, in the absence of specific information about the future direction, he was able to come up with the same idea as Lin Haoran, which demonstrated his forward-looking thinking.

With his keen insight and rich experience, he foresaw the direction of industry development, and his ideas coincided with Lin Haoran's.

This kind of management talent is exactly what Lin Haoran needs.

He traveled all the way to Singapore to personally invite Ma Shimin to return to Hong Kong. This was a huge profit!

Ma Shimin nodded in agreement and continued, "Boss, regarding the land auction, after I finish talking to you, I will immediately start preparing and contact the auctioneer to inform them that we will participate in this auction.

At the same time, I will maintain close communication with the company to speed up the privatization process and strive to give you a satisfactory answer before you return to Hong Kong."

Lin Haoran nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good, Mr. Ma, I have always trusted you to do things. Under your management, the Hong Kong Land Group has been developing steadily, and I believe this time will be no exception."

"Thank you for your trust, boss!" Ma Shimin laughed.

"By the way, Mr. Ma, I called you this time because there is a more important matter that needs your attention. The Hong Kong Land Group had previously intended to acquire the Hong Kong Telephone Company. Although it ultimately failed, as far as I know, we still hold 10 million shares of the Hong Kong Telephone Company, is that right?" Lin Haoran continued.

"Yes, boss, the Hong Kong Land Group does currently hold 10 million shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company." Although Ma Shimin did not understand why the boss mentioned Hong Kong Telephone Company, he still answered truthfully.

"Today I met with Robert Galvin, the president of Motorola. I think you must have heard of mobile phones, right? Although it is still a technology that has not been commercialized yet, it has been reported by many news media over the years.

I plan to develop commercial mobile phone business in Hong Kong, and cooperation with Motorola is crucial. At present, we have reached a preliminary cooperation intention and intend to jointly invest to establish a mobile communications company.

Therefore, I decided to let the Hong Kong Land Group restart the plan to acquire Hong Kong Telephone Company. As the largest communications company in Hong Kong, once we successfully acquire Hong Kong Telephone Company, we can use it to cooperate with Motorola. "Lin Haoran directly explained the purpose of this call.

Considering that the Hong Kong Land Group has now almost become Lin Haoran's private enterprise, and it already holds 10 million shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company, and its financial situation is good, he believes that the most appropriate choice is for the Hong Kong Land Group to execute the plan to acquire Hong Kong Telephone Company.

Since he has reached a preliminary agreement with Motorola to jointly invest in establishing a mobile communications company in Hong Kong, the acquisition of Hong Kong Telephone Company will provide strong support for his cooperation with Motorola.

The Hong Kong Telephone Company not only has a solid foundation in communication technology, but also has a profound historical heritage. Since its establishment in 1925, it has gone through more than years.

In Hong Kong, this company has an extremely high market share in the communications market and almost monopolizes the entire industry.

Therefore, the acquisition of Hong Kong Telephone Company is of great significance to promoting cooperation with Motorola.

(End of this chapter)