Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 348 349 [Investment Begins Adjustment]

Two days later.

Sima Gao also announced that Hutchison Whampoa shareholders could sell their shares directly to Sima Gao at a price of HK$23 per share without having to accept the acquisition by both parties.

This approach is actually intended to relieve small shareholders of Wharf Holdings from worrying that Sima Gao will cancel the acquisition proposal because he has acquired less than 50% of the shares.

Because of this announcement, Sima Gao’s shareholding further increased to 38.3%.

However, Aigo Company remained silent and stopped raising the purchase price.

"According to our actual investigation, it is difficult for Sima Gao to increase its shareholding to 41%, while our shareholding is 42.8%. There is no need for us to consider competing with Sima Gao for shares. We only need to wait for the expiration of the full acquisition period, hold a shareholders' meeting, and gain control of Chinese Estates Holdings." Liang Botao said.

"I heard that Wei Li and Luo Xurui of Century City Company have frequent contacts. Is it possible that the two of them will join forces and Feng Bingfen will withdraw?" Liu Luanxiong said worriedly, "Luo Xurui is much more difficult to deal with than Feng Bingfen."

Luo Qihong said, "The Li family has already withdrawn, and Feng Bingfen Group is in crisis and urgently needs funds to turn around, so it is understandable that they withdraw."

"As for whether Luo Xurui will join the game, it is a little difficult to judge, but in my opinion, Luo Xurui will not join the game, because Century City Company has not yet completed its business plan. Once he joins the game, it will be easy for Luo Xurui to fall into crisis."

"I think we can try the attitude of Century City Company and announce to the public that there is a third party interested in Hutchison Whampoa and actively negotiate to purchase the Hutchison Whampoa shares held by Aimi Gao. This third party includes Luo Xurui of Century City Company." Liang Botao suggested.

"This is a good idea. Luo Xurui will definitely express his position under the pressure from reporters." Liu Luanxiong was very satisfied with this suggestion.

Thursday, May 4

Century City Company publicly denied the rumor, stating that it had no intention of acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and that the company's next plan is still to reorganize the assets and businesses of its subsidiaries.

At the same time, there was a major change in the equity of Sima Gao Company. The Feng Bingfen family sold all of their Sima Gao Company shares to Wei Li's Asia Securities. After this change, Asia Securities fully owned Sima Gao and held 40.1% of China Resources Land. Sima Gao remained unchanged in terms of the acquisition conditions.

At this point, the battle between the Feng and Li families for Hutchison Whampoa can be said to have come to an end. The dispute over Hutchison Whampoa turned into a fight between Wei Li and Liu Luanxiong, and the nature of the war also evolved from a fight between aristocratic families to a confrontation between new corporate masters.

Dean Securities Investment Company Office

Bai Jinyan was very envious of Hutchison Whampoa, which had assets worth more than 20 billion yuan. If he could swallow it up, there would definitely be many benefits.

"Congratulations! You have acquired another large company with assets worth tens of billions of yuan."

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "I have already made an agreement with Liu Luanxiong that I only want China Entertainment Properties, and the rest will belong to Aigo, so you should congratulate me for getting a small company with a market value of 3 million yuan."

".What's so outstanding about China Entertainment Real Estate Company?" Bai Jinyan asked. She knew Luo Qihong. He would not do anything without profit and would never do business at a loss.

"The Entertainment Building next to the Landmark atrium is very eye-catching and has a better location than many buildings in Central." Luo Qihong smiled and said, "If it is rebuilt, its value will not be lower than that of Grade A commercial buildings in places like Wan Chai."

Bai Jinyan suddenly realized, "No wonder, you're interested in the Entertainment Building. Are you planning to privatize this company?"

"Yes." Luo Qihong nodded. "Let the family company privatize it. Zhaoan Real Estate Company already has enough assets and properties. It's time to strengthen our family's strength."

"Should we set up a large group company?" Bai Jinyan explained, "You have too many industries, including securities investment, real estate development, trade, energy, department stores, etc. If you have a group company to manage them, you can save a lot of time to make other plans."

Luo Qihong thought for a moment and thought that what Bai Jinyan said made sense. A person's energy was very limited. Think tanks and management groups were very important in the development of group companies and families. "Well, it's time to form a group." Luo Qihong asked cautiously, "How much equity do you want to hold in the new group?"

Bai Jinyan hesitated for a while and said, "Let's calculate it according to the proportion of De'an Company's assets. I'll take whatever it is."

"According to the current asset value, De'an has properties worth HK$57 billion, and this number is still growing."

"You hold 10% of the shares of De'an Company. After the new group is established, you will hold 5% of the shares and serve as the director and deputy general manager of the group, and continue to be responsible for all affairs of De'an Investment Company." Luo Qihong said, "The shares of Zhao'an Real Estate Company must be released and given to the new group."

"Should the released funds be invested in the US market?" Bai Jinyan asked.

"Yes, we have begun preparing to transfer some of our assets. The United States and Australia will be our main investment areas." Luo Qihong said thoughtfully.

"Australia? What specific industries are you investing in?" Bai Jinyan asked.

Luo Qihong replied, "Red wine, minerals, agriculture and energy, with natural gas and electricity being the main energy sources. It would be best if we could control some leading companies."

Bai Jinyan's eyes lit up. If these industries were controlled, Australia would very likely become the Luo family's backyard, and the assets would be hidden.

"What about the United States? Is it mainly finance?" Bai Jinyan asked again.

"No, it's high-tech. The family will not control any leading companies in the United States. It will only be investments that can be withdrawn." Luo Qihong said that this decision is changeable.

The capital in the United States is too powerful. The family is just a newcomer. How can it defeat those families that have accumulated capital for hundreds of years? If they are swallowed up by the opponent's political game, Luo Qihong's crying will be useless.

In his previous life, Li Jiacheng did not invest heavily in the United States because there was too much capital there and it would be easy to get killed.

Luo Qihong also has such a concern. He can lose money, but he cannot be swallowed up without leaving anything behind.

"I see. When will the Japanese assets be withdrawn?" Bai Jinyan said worriedly, "Japan's economy seems to be thriving, but in fact it is already hollow. I'm worried that it will suddenly collapse."

"Since the Plaza Accord was signed last year, Japan is doomed to fail, but it can still be profitable for the time being." Luo Qihong thought for a moment, "Let's cash out some assets, starting with marginal assets. It's not advisable to hold too many core assets."

The invested capital is too large, and cashing out takes time, and cannot be completed in just a few months.

Late September

The deadline for AMG to acquire Hutchison Whampoa expired, but no shareholder accepted the offer, so the acquisition was declared a failure. AMG still holds 43.5% of Hutchison Whampoa shares. As for Sima Gao, the deadline was extended by 14 days, from April 4 to May 26.

Then the news came out in the market that Wu Xian, chairman of Sing Tao Newspaper Group, sold the land at 73 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui to United Group for HK$3 million, making a book profit of nearly HK$6 million, with her and Yisheng Pacific Company each receiving nearly HK$1 million in profits.

In just half a year, the profit was over 35%, which is quite a huge profit.

This move naturally caused a strong reaction in the market, and more people flocked to local cities.

Among them, some speculation groups began to focus their main energy on land speculation, while reducing their efforts in speculation on completed properties.

(End of this chapter)