Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 370 Chapter 371 [The biggest acquisition war is coming]

In fact, the acquisition of Yongan Group can no longer be considered a sniper case, otherwise Luo Qihong will also be branded as a "stock sniper".

Luo Qihong really didn't care about the tens of millions of yuan in profits from the sniper case. To him, the properties under the Wing On Group were more valuable and had more prospects.

After a month of tossing and turning, the Chinese Strategy Company's attack on Liao Chongxing's enterprises is coming to an end, and Liu Luanxiong has begun selling stocks to recover funds.

According to Luo Qihong's estimate, Chinese Strategy Company can obtain a profit of more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars, which is only one-eleventh of the normal market value of Liu Chongxing Enterprises, but it will make more money than most of Liu Luanxiong's sniping cases.

a.

Dehe Real Estate Company signed an acquisition contract with Sino Land Development Co., Ltd. and held a press conference to announce that Admiralty Financial Plaza was sold to Dehe Real Estate Company for HK$18 billion, with the first installment payment of HK$3 million.

This transaction caused a huge sensation and brought Dehe Real Estate Company into the public eye in Hong Kong, allowing Hong Kong citizens to know about this large unlisted real estate company.

Reporters have always been very sensitive to such news, so they had to dig deeper and found out that Dehe Real Estate Company has such rich property assets, such as Dehe Plaza in Admiralty, New Sun Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui, and 50% of the equity in China Hong Kong City.

It is estimated that the asset value of Dehe Real Estate Company exceeds HK$60 billion, which is much higher than the market value of major real estate companies on the market. This shows how powerful Dehe Real Estate Company is.

"Luo Daheng seems to be less than 30 years old, but his net worth has exceeded 150 billion yuan, which is more than many wealthy people of the older generation."

"150 billion is just a conservative estimate. I think Mr. Luo's net worth is more than 2 billion. He is one of the richest Chinese in Hong Kong and may be rare in the world."

Luo Qihong could not have imagined that a single transaction would cause such a commotion.

Li Jiacheng's Office of Cheung Kong Holdings
Hong Xiaolian sat opposite Li Jiacheng and reported on her work, saying, "According to reliable information, Dean Securities is buying a large amount of telecommunications company stocks. Luo Qihong himself also bought telecommunications company stocks at HSBC with a 2x leverage, totaling 10 billion yuan."

Li Jiacheng stopped what he was doing and glanced at Hong Xiaolian. "You mean Luo Qihong wants to acquire the telecommunications company?"

"No! I suspect Luo Qihong may have other tricks or conspiracies." Hong Xiaolian felt that Luo Qihong would not do anything in vain.

"Don't worry, Cable & Wireless will not give up the telecommunications company. No one will be allowed to challenge the 49% stake." Li Jiacheng said in an unquestionable tone.

Seeing Li Jiacheng's certainty, Hong Xiaolian didn't know what to say, so she changed the subject and said, "Luo Qihong has bought a lot of properties and land in Central. He wants to challenge the position of Hong Kong Land. I wonder where he got such a huge amount of funds?"

"It is difficult to successfully challenge the position of Hutchison Whampoa. Even if the floor area exceeds that of Hutchison Whampoa, the value of the commercial building cannot win. However, if we successfully acquire Hutchison Whampoa and then split it up, Luo Qihong will definitely replace Hutchison Whampoa and become the most powerful real estate company in Central." Li Jiacheng had a smile on his face, as if he didn't care much about it.

"In fact, real estate investment is not what Luo Qihong is best at. What he is best at is securities and stock investment. Over the past few years, he has made more than 1 billion yuan in profits in the securities market, and even reached 2 billion yuan."

"This ability is beyond the reach of us, and it is one of the reasons why I have been tolerant of him. If it were not for this man, the electric light company would have been in my pocket long ago."

"His Realty Corporation raised funds through a rights issue to acquire the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay and the World Trade Center under Hong Kong Land. Was this an attempt to hinder our acquisition of Hong Kong Land?"

"Maybe, but he doesn't dare to make any big moves. He doesn't care about other people, and he has to give some face to Cheng Yutong, so there won't be too many unexpected situations in the acquisition of Hong Kong Land."

"There is one more thing. Dehe Real Estate Company is collecting information on Canada's Canterlot Energy Company and seems to have the intention of acquiring the company." Hong Xiaolian reported.

Hearing this, Li Jiacheng finally frowned and thought deeply. He had not even told Hong Xiaolian about the matter of Cantera Energy Company, but Luo Qihong still took action against him. Is it really such a coincidence?

Unfortunately, he couldn't stop Luo Qihong openly, otherwise he would inevitably become an enemy of Luo Qihong.

"Forget it, let him go for the acquisition. We should focus on the things at hand." In his heart, Li Jiacheng still hoped that Luo Qihong would give up the acquisition of Cantera Energy.

By mid-November

In response to the pressure from Dragonair, Swire Group chose to list Cathay Pacific Airways on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to strengthen its image as a Hong Kong company.

Cathay Pacific stated in its prospectus that this move will bring Cathay Pacific closer to Hong Kong and enable Cathay Pacific to be more active in handling Hong Kong's international aviation affairs and obtain more direct benefits.

Although Cathay Pacific Airways is listed, Swire Group still holds a 55.8% stake and has a firm control over Cathay Pacific Airways. It is impossible for outsiders to challenge its position.

Due to the favoritism of the Hong Kong government, Dragonair still encounters many difficulties in expanding its business. For example, it cannot get involved in the regular flights between Hong Kong and Beijing and Hong Kong and Shanghai, which have the largest number of passengers. It can only apply to operate routes from Hong Kong to 14 major cities such as Chengdu, Ningbo and Dalian.

Such a predicament has caused Dragonair's shareholders to lack confidence. Some have considered transferring their shares, but have not taken action due to face reasons.

In fact, Luo Qihong really wanted to help Dragonair, but considering Cao Guangbiao's working style, he couldn't help but hold back.

He could be a military strategist, but he didn't want to stand in front of the stage. Unfortunately, Cao Guangbiao was determined to increase his chances of winning, and followed the principle of whoever came up with the idea should participate in the execution, which made Luo Qihong quite disgusted.

While Luo Qihong was thinking deeply, Bai Jinyan walked in excitedly, shouting, "Ah Hong, the Hong Kong Land Development has announced that it will spin off its wholly-owned subsidiary Dairy Farm International and list it on the stock market."

Dairy Farm International was acquired by Hong Kong Land Development in 72, and a full acquisition was launched that year as the company's shareholding limit of 50% was reached.

Today, Dairy Farm International is no longer as powerful as it used to be. Its land has been replaced by worthless plots of land owned by New World, and its only remaining businesses include milk supply and ice factories.

Luo Qihong was stunned for a while before he said, "Did the Land Development Company discover the acquisition by Li Jiacheng and his gang?"

Bai Jinyan shook his head gently. "I don't know. I guess it's not. It may be a step to release the mutual control."

"There is another thing. There is a rumor within Hong Kong Land that Mandarin Oriental Hotel will also be spun off and listed."

This action is clearly intended to break up the Swire Properties into smaller units, which can not only reduce the debt ratio, but also reduce the company's assets and reduce the temptation to Chinese companies.

"No, Simon Keswick must have discovered something, otherwise why would he split and list the company with such fanfare?" Luo Qihong stood up suddenly, his eyes becoming unusually sharp, "How much equity do we hold in Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Land?"

"Not much, around 4%." Bai Jinyan was startled and his face turned pale.

"Keep buying, and be more cautious." Luo Qihong hopes to take advantage of an opportunity, although the hope is slim.

(End of this chapter)