Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 355 Chapter 356 [Not the right time]

Late September

After Luo Qihong returned from Japan, he facilitated a major investment by Nikkatsu Films in the United States, involving 5 million US dollars. He also fired three senior executives of the company and filed a lawsuit against one of them.

Before he could even get comfortable in his chair, he heard some bad words.

"Sing Tao Daily" published a report: The listed companies controlled by Hong Kong's top 10 family conglomerates account for 56.02% of the total value of Hong Kong's stock market. The top three are the Li Ka-shing family, the Keswick family, and the Pao Yue-kong family. The fourth is the Cheng Yu-tung family, and the Lo Chi-hung family is only ranked tenth.

In fact, Luo Qihong has a lot of assets, but the most important one in his hands, De'an Securities Investment Company, is not listed, and Dehe Real Estate Company is a private company and is not included at all.

If included, the Luo Qihong family would rank higher, at 6th place.

This report caused an uproar. People with insight knew that Hong Kong's economy had been controlled by family-run conglomerates. Despite calls for the Hong Kong government to step in to provide checks and balances, it was of no avail.

Because the Hong Kong government follows a free economy, it will never intervene in the economy unless there is a crisis.

Deep Water Bay Golf Course
The club was swung, and the white ball flew out with some grass clippings and landed in the distance.

Bang bang! !
Luo Qihong applauded, walked closer to Cheng Yutong, and said, "Uncle Tong, this shot is great. It looks like the 5 yuan is a sure loss."

"Don't let the water go, otherwise the cost will double." Cheng Yutong said with a smile. He was also very satisfied with this shot.

"No, no, Uncle Tong is the head of the fourth largest family consortium in Hong Kong. Who dares to offend him?" Luo Qihong said jokingly.

"You're not bad either, ranking 10th." Cheng Yu-tung handed the golf club to the caddy next to him and said, "The same goes for those people from the Hong Kong Economic Journal. Why don't they include your unlisted companies and overseas assets?"

"Uncle Tong, if all your assets were counted, I might not even be ranked tenth," Luo Qihong retorted.

"Uncle Tong and Luo Sheng, you are all big tycoons. My Aigo company is the weakest and not even in the top 30." Liu Luanxiong interrupted.

"America Group owns China Estates Holdings and Star Ferry, and its total market value is not low. HK$35 billion puts it firmly in the top 30 chaebols." Zheng Jiachun looked serious.

Cheng Yutong sighed and said, "You youngsters are amazing. I thought it was amazing that Hong spent three years to become a famous tycoon in Hong Kong, but I didn't expect that you, Liu, are even more amazing. You have expanded your assets more than ten times in just one year."

"Uncle Tong, if it weren't for Luo Sheng's guidance, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today. Luo Sheng is the best." Liu Luanxiong was a little excited.

"Big Liu, please don't put all the credit on me. Many people in the market are already saying that it was me who disliked Li Fusu and instructed you to mess with the Bank of East Asia. Aren't you confirming the rumors by saying that?" Luo Qihong said with a wry smile.

"Haha!! If it wasn't for Liu Luanxiong taking over Hutchison Whampoa, I would have suspected that it was you who was behind this, trying to dampen the vigour of the Li Guanchun family." Cheng Yutong laughed heartily.

"Mr. Luo, I have stated many times that these things have nothing to do with you. Unfortunately, those reporters don't believe me and keep messing with me. I have no way to deal with it." Liu Luanxiong hurriedly explained. If Luo Qihong misunderstood, it would still have an impact on him.

"It's just a joke, Liu, don't take it too seriously." Luo Qihong waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care about it.

Actually, there is no point caring about it, it is a fact.

"Liu, when do you plan to end the Bank of East Asia business?" Zheng Jiachun asked.

"Brother Chun, this matter may not be over until late August. The current stock price is not high enough." Liu Luanxiong said with a smile.

"Well, can you please notify me when you are done? I also have some shares of Bank of East Asia." "It's a small matter. I will notify you in advance when the time comes." Liu Luanxiong agreed readily. This was a good opportunity to get in touch with the Zheng family.

Compared with Luo Qihong, Liu Luanxiong prefers to deal with Cheng Yutong and his son because Cheng Yutong is a very honest person.

"Uncle Tong, I heard that several seniors are planning to launch a surprise attack on the Jardine Matheson Group. Is this true?" Luo Qihong asked softly. This was still a secret matter and should not be known to the outside world for the time being.

Hearing this, Cheng Yutong looked around and said, "It's not convenient to talk about this here. Let's talk about it after the game."

"Okay!" Luo Qihong smiled.

Liu Luanxiong's face was full of shock. These people were actually going to attack Jardine Matheson Group again. He really wanted to get involved, but unfortunately he didn't have the status to do so, so he could only listen.

At about 9:, everyone finished playing golf and returned to the club's private room to have breakfast.

"Ah Hong, who told you that?" Cheng Yutong put down his knife and fork, stared at Luo Qihong and asked.

Luo Qihong chewed his food for a few times and replied, "Uncle Tong, don't worry, the channel I got the news from is very safe. This matter is very secret and it is difficult for the outside world to know about it."

Cheng Yutong nodded. "This matter was initiated by Mr. Li from Cheung Kong Holdings. He invited me, Henderson Lighting and Sun Hung Kai Properties, but not even the charter king. Can I ask Mr. Li if he can include you?"

Luo Qihong waved his hand and said, "No need. Since Li Jiacheng has no intention of taking me to play, there is no need for me to force it. However, I will also acquire some of the shares of the Land Company. The more money I make, the better. Uncle Tong won't mind, right?"

"There's nothing to worry about, but don't acquire too many shares to prevent the Keswick family from finding out." Cheng Yutong still gave another reminder, hoping that Luo Qihong would not go too far.

"Uncle Tong, I know my limits and it won't affect your acquisition." Luo Qihong explained briefly.

"Well, that's the best." Cheng Yutong looked at Liu Luanxiong again and said, "Big Liu, you can also buy some stocks, but not too much."

Liu Luanxiong was silent for a moment. "Uncle Tong, I plan to acquire the Windsor House in Causeway Bay and the Harcourt House in Wan Chai from Hong Kong Land in the near future. The funds involved may exceed 20 billion yuan. Will it affect your acquisition?"

Cheng Yutong thought for a moment and said, "If the Hong Kong Land Company doesn't sell the properties to you, it will sell them to someone else, which will also affect the acquisition. It would be better for you to take over these two properties."

"Well, I try to avoid acquisitions as much as possible," said Liu Luanxiong.

"Uncle Tong, how confident are you about this acquisition?" Luo Qihong asked casually when he saw that the atmosphere had become a little cold.

"Half and half, if it was in 84, when the Jardine Matheson Group was at its weakest, we might have had a 7% chance of winning. Now, Jardine Matheson Group has escaped from its biggest crisis. Although there are big flaws in the mutual control of Jardine Matheson Group, the amount of funds required is huge." Cheng Yu-tung said with a lack of confidence.

"The Hutchison Whampoa Company escaped the bankruptcy crisis, but it still has a lot of debts. Billions of dollars in debts plus the flaws in mutual control will give Simon Keswick a headache. Even if he cannot swallow up Hutchison Whampoa, he can still make a lot of profit, which will seriously hurt Jardine Matheson Land." Luo Qihong is not optimistic about this acquisition either.

It’s not that the four major family chaebols don’t have the strength, but they are facing an approaching global economic crisis, and the longer they delay, the more disadvantageous it will be.

Of course, the heads of the four major families all know this truth, but they still hope to save a considerable amount of money, which will result in missing out on opportunities.

If Luo Qihong were to do it, he would definitely not be stingy with funds. He would use even 1 times the funds to quickly tackle the tough bone of the Jardine Matheson Group.

(End of this chapter)