Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 301 Chapter 302 [Small tricks to counterattack]

"Luo Sheng is a filial son." Huang Tingfang turned serious. "The Japanese have taken advantage of the appreciation of the yen to carry out acquisitions in Southeast Asia, breaking many market rules. They should be taught a lesson."

It seems that the Japanese not only act in a domineering manner in Hong Kong, but also in Singapore and other places.

Luo Qihong said, "There is no way. The Japanese are rich. They have messed up the American market. How can they take us seriously? We can't expel them from the country."

"The Americans themselves created this, and they deserve it." Huang Zhixiang said angrily, "For the sake of these trade deficits, they are pushing the yen to appreciate. I don't think the Japanese will be able to keep going for long."

The disadvantages of currency appreciation are huge, as it affects export trade, and it is not feasible to rely solely on domestic economic cycles.

Luo Qihong nodded and got to the point. "I came to visit Mr. Huang this time because I want to form a consortium with Sino Real Estate to bid for the Admiralty Section 2 project. I wonder if Mr. Huang has reached an agreement with other companies?"

Let's be frank. Sino Land has made great strides in the Tsim Sha Tsui East area and has bid for many subway station projects, but it just couldn't beat Hang Lung Group. So peers all know that Sino Land would definitely be interested in the Admiralty Section 2 project.

"Not yet. How much share does Luo Sheng want to take?" Huang Tingfang asked with a smile.

"2% is enough." Luo Qihong raised two fingers and smiled faintly.

Huang Tingfang was quite familiar with Luo Qihong's background and had done some research on it. Naturally, he knew Luo Qihong's hidden strength, and that Zhaoan Real Estate was also strong.

"It's so little, what other conditions does Luo Sheng have?" Huang Tingfang asked Luo Qihong with a deep gaze.

Luo Qihong laughed and said, "Sure enough, I can't hide it from Mr. Huang. The conditions are very simple. I know Mr. Huang wants to sell it for profit, so I hope he can give priority to me when selling it. How about it?"

"Based on my understanding of Luosheng, the companies under Luosheng can still take on this project on their own if they pool their funds. Why do you want to join a consortium?" Huang Tingfang asked with great interest.

"I have invested heavily in the stock market, and Zhaoan Real Estate Company has gone too far in property acquisitions. My private company is involved in this 2% stake, so this is the only way to alleviate the situation." Luo Qihong's explanation was very convincing.

The authenticity of the words can be verified, after all, those are large sums of money spent and invested.

"Okay, then I'll give Mr. Luo 2% of the equity, and we'll have a pleasant cooperation!" Huang Tingfang shook hands with Luo Qihong. He didn't want to have another strong opponent.

It is obvious that the Admiralty Section 2 project can make a lot of money. Making money from other people is making money, and making money from Luo Qihong is also making money. There is no difference at all.

The reason he asked so clearly was because he suspected Luo Qihong had bad intentions. Now that Huang Tingfang's curiosity had been satisfied, there would naturally be no problem with cooperation.

"It's a pleasure working with you!" Luo Qihong said.

"Mr. Luo, if you need help with any good projects in the future, you can come to me." Huang Tingfang still recognized Luo Qihong's strength, and Luo Qihong was an investment expert and would be of great use to the Huang family.

"That's easy." Luo Qihong responded ambiguously. He just owed Huang Tingfang and his son a small favor. There was no need to repay the favor with a big project.

The three then went to a law firm to sign the contract. Since the law firm had relevant contract content, it was quickly done.

Early December
Luo Yingshi's son Luo Kangrui acquired the Harbour Engineering Company at a low price and allowed the Ruian Company to go public through a backdoor listing.

This son was the first of Luo Yingshek's four sons to start his own business. Shui On Properties was founded in 71. In the first few years, it survived under the care of his father Luo Yingshek, and most of the projects it contracted came from the Eagle Properties Limited.

In his previous life, Luo Qihong had heard of the Luo Yingshe family, which had five outstanding members. The three sons all set up their own businesses. The most outstanding of them was Luo Xurui, who, like his own family, was among the top 3 chaebols in Hong Kong.

Luo Kangrui was less capable. By the end of the 80s, his personal assets were only HK$13 billion. However, the Luo Yingshe family was unique in Hong Kong, as all of his four sons were outstandingly capable.

"Ah Hong, we hold 13% of the shares of the Harbor Engineering Company. According to the news released by Luo Kangrui, our equity will be diluted by half, and we will be able to hold approximately 7.5% after the issuance of new shares." Bai Jinyan said.

"Isn't the Harbor Engineering Company on the verge of bankruptcy? Why did Luo Kangrui take a fancy to this company? Is it because of its strength?" Luo Qihong asked casually. If Luo Kangrui didn't have some relationship with Luo Xurui, he wouldn't care too much.

"It should be. The Harbour Engineering Company participated in the Hung Hom Tunnel project and has experience in the construction of container terminals. It is a very strong company, but it encountered a period of major crash and its stock price is very low." Bai Jinyan explained the details.

Speaking of the experience in building undersea tunnels and docks, Luo Qihong was somewhat interested. After all, he would definitely enter this industry in the future, so it would be good to make preparations now.
"No wonder others say that Luo Yingshi has five outstanding sons. It turns out that none of his sons is weak in ability." Luo Qihong said with a sigh.

"Luo Kangrui has always been very low-key. This acquisition may be for the purpose of raising funds to expand the scale of operations." Bai Jinyan said, "We expect that we can make a lot of profit from it, but the specific figure is difficult to estimate."

"After the new shares are issued, how many shares will Luo Kangrui hold?" Luo Qihong asked.

"About 65% of the shares." Bai Jinyan replied.

"If Luo Kangrui raises funds for share offering, we must follow suit and avoid having our equity diluted again," Luo Qihong gave the order.

"Why? Responding to the capital raising and share offering is not very beneficial for us." Bai Jinyan was puzzled.

"Because the Luo Yingshi family doesn't produce useless people, Luo Kangrui holds such a high stake, so he can use his personal funds to develop Ruian Company. There is no need to go public through a backdoor listing." Luo Qihong explained, "Since we want to go public, we naturally have to borrow money from shareholders to develop. Then Luo Kangrui will definitely increase the stock price and then sell off some of the shares to cash out. We can follow him and our interests will definitely be maximized."

"You have so much confidence in Luo Kangrui. Aren't you worried that this guy will mess things up?" Bai Jinyan said jokingly.

"If we mess up, someone will cover us, so why should we be afraid?" Luo Qihong smiled. The capable second generation has this advantage. "That's true." Bai Jinyan laughed, "I suggest that we cash out and leave immediately after Luo Kangrui raises the stock price. There is no need to wait for Luo Kangrui's next plan."

"What's the reason?" Luo Qihong asked Bai Jinyan with interest.

"Because the signal of the stock market recovery is already very obvious, we don't need to put all our eggs in one basket. We can use these time differences to continue to make profits." Bai Jinyan said, "And Luo Kangrui is not Luo Xurui, he may not be able to make our profits several times."

Luo Qihong thought about it and felt that it was true. He didn't know much about Luo Kangrui. What if this guy really couldn't meet expectations? Wouldn't that be a loss? It's better to stop while you're ahead. Anyway, you can make money from other companies.

"Okay, let's do as you say." Luo Qihong said.

Bai Jinyan handed over another report. "Problems within Aimico have reappeared. Liang Yingwei is unwilling to be lonely. He has digested the power that Liu Luanxiong gave up, and now he is reaching out to the new product departments. Liu Luanxiong is very dissatisfied."

"Didn't Liu Luanxiong fight back?" Luo Qihong opened the report and started reading.

Bai Jinyan said, "Of course there will be a fight back. Liu Luanxiong fired all the employees who had contact with Liang Yingwei, and also extended his hand back to the Classical Fan Department as a means of revenge against Liang Yingwei."

Luo Qihong pondered for a moment and said, "It's not easy for me to intervene in this matter. We are not a major shareholder. I can only send someone to inquire about the situation. I hope they don't go too far and affect the share price of Aigo."

"Should we take this opportunity to exit? Aimico's current stock price is pretty good, we can make a lot of money." Bai Jinyan said, "We are mainly worried that the two of them will cause a 'big dragon and phoenix' (trouble) and affect us."

"That makes sense. However, Liu Luanxiong is a capable person. I'd better talk to him first and see how he reacts." Luo Qihong still didn't want to offend Liu Luanxiong. The title of stock market sniper is not a false reputation.

"Well, then I'll wait for your news before taking action." Bai Jinyan nodded.

Hexiang Trading Company Meeting Room

The secretary poured everyone a cup of hot coffee, and brewed it according to each person's habits. For example, Luo Qihong didn't like the bitter taste of coffee, so he would add more sugar.

After Luo Qihong took a sip, he asked, "How much did the car dealership lose?"

After discussions between Ohno Hemu and Hengchangxing Enterprise Company, they decided to open a Mitsubishi car dealership opposite Hexiang Trading Company's car dealership, and to use low prices to suppress Hexiang Trading's car dealership, causing a sharp drop in car sales.

"We didn't sell any sedans, but the sales of trucks were not affected," Wen Jiatao reported.

"Is it a problem with the car's quality, reputation or sales price?" Luo Qihong continued to ask.

"It's a bit of both, but the price factor plays a bigger role." Wen Jiatao thought for a moment and replied.

"If it is a quality issue, we cannot change it. However, since sedans are no longer profitable, we will sell them at our cost price, adding in all the costs such as labor and then setting a price. Trucks also need to be reduced appropriately. As for how much to reduce, it will also be decided after an investigation." Luo Qihong could only take such measures.

"Okay." Wen Jiatao nodded in agreement. "Some Japanese suppliers suddenly want to stop cooperating with us and no longer provide us with goods. What should we do?"

"What percentage of businesses have stopped cooperating?" Luo Qihong didn't expect that Ohno Hemu was so powerful, but he didn't regret it. If he lost his Japanese suppliers, he could replace them with those from Hong Kong or South Korea.

"About 6%." Wen Jiatao's eyes flickered.

"Don't worry! These are just some minor things. We will immediately look for new suppliers of goods from Hong Kong and South Korea, and ask the Japanese De'an Investment Company to help spread these things and portray us as victims. At the same time, we will announce that those companies that stop cooperating with us will be included in our blacklist." Luo Qihong said, "Investigate who is behind these things?"

"Yes!" Wen Jiatao wrote and drew on the notebook.

"This guy Ohno Hemu has a lot of enemies in Hong Kong. Should we find someone to teach him a lesson?" Zhang Zuoyao asked coldly.

Luo Qihong laughed and said, "No, we are legitimate businessmen, not gangsters, so we shouldn't do these things."

"Business matters should be resolved with business means. We are currently the one being beaten. We cannot strike back with big means, but we can strike back with small means."

"Mitsubishi Motors has been established for many years, so it should have a lot of second-hand cars. We can completely refurbish them into new cars, and then sell them at a low price, and also provide a one-year warranty. I think we can beat Hengchangxing Enterprise in terms of price."

"Boss, it's hard to say. A new car is a new car. How can a used car compare to it?" Wen Jiatao retorted.

"It all depends on how we do it. If the usage is no different from a new car, we will have succeeded."

Wen Jiatao said cautiously, "Let's find a professional automotive engineer to evaluate it. It's too early to tell."

"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you." Luo Qihong would certainly not do these things himself.

a few days later
The Commercial Daily, owned by the Ho Tung family, announced its official cessation of publication, ending its 54-year history.

This newspaper had shown its glory in the hands of Ho Sai-lai, but the news it published were all news and comments with Taiwanese flavor, so it did not have much reputation.

However, the news of the suspension of publication had a significant impact in upper-class circles. Many people believed that this was a signal, and some people began to reconsider immigration.

(End of this chapter)