A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Zhang Shounian and Wu Xinhe arrived at Chen Guangliang's office together.

The former is the general manager of Ping An Investment Bank, while the latter is the deputy general manager of Cheung Kong Holdings, specifically responsible for finance.

Today, Cheung Kong Property Holdings has evolved into Cheung Kong Holdings Limited, primarily through the acquisition of Vitasoy. Cheung Kong Holdings Limited mainly engages in real estate development, property investment, hotels, and beverage and food businesses.

Zhang Shounian spoke first, saying, "Boss, the descendants of the two founding families of Lane Crawford—the Nickwood family and the Karen Miller family—have sold their 16% stake to us. Currently, Ping An Investment Bank holds 26% of the shares, making it the largest shareholder of Lane Crawford."

Lane Crawford was founded in Hong Kong in 1850 (some say 1849), and is a long-established and famous British-owned department store.

Lane Crawford owns two large department stores in Hong Kong, all selling European and American brand-name goods, with customers mainly being wealthy people and high-income earners; at the same time, Lane Crawford also engages in export trade.

What Chen Guangliang was interested in was Lane Crawford's headquarters building on Bea Street, which had a land area of ​​about 1.8 square feet and could be merged with the Hong Kong Hotel, which had already been acquired.

"In that case, let's acquire Lane Crawford's shares through a public market and completely privatize Lane Crawford. Of course, the main entity will be Cheung Kong Holdings."

In this day and age, acquisitions and privatization are still relatively unfamiliar concepts to most people.

Zhang Shounian graduated with a master's degree from the United States. Over the years, he has occasionally traveled abroad for research. He has some understandings and some misunderstandings.

"Should we acquire the shares publicly from the secondary market, or should we act as financial advisors and publish an acquisition notice in the newspaper?"

Chen Guangliang said, "At the current stock price, with an attractive premium of around 40%, a public announcement in the newspaper to acquire the company would be a 100% acquisition. I want a quick and decisive victory!"

Lane Crawford's current market capitalization is around HK$900 million, even after nearly a year of growth.

Zhang Shounian then said, "We did some research, and Lane Crawford's assets, including the Central location, are valued at HK$600 million. Its value shouldn't exceed HK$1500 million. That's why the descendants of the two founding families in the UK readily sold their shares (at a premium of just over 30%). I think a 30% premium will inevitably lead to a correspondingly enthusiastic market."

Chen Guangliang emphasized, "What I demand is a swift and decisive victory."

Zhang Shounian thought for a moment and said, "Then let's set a 35% premium!"

"Okay, just do as you say!"

In this way, Cheung Kong Holdings actually benefited from the acquisition.

Moreover, due to the sale of shares by the two founding families, this acquisition was a 'friendly acquisition'.

At present, Chen Guangliang does not want to make a hostile takeover of a company, so as not to arouse the suspicion of Jardine Matheson Group, which would be detrimental to future acquisitions of Wharf Holdings and other companies.

At the start of the second half of the year, a major event occurred in Hong Kong's business community: Ping An Investment Bank, the financial advisor of Cheung Kong Holdings, published an advertisement in all Hong Kong newspapers stating that Cheung Kong Holdings would spend HK$62 per share (a 35% premium over the market price) to acquire all of Lane Crawford's shares; in addition, Cheung Kong Holdings had already acquired all the shares of the two major shareholders, the Nickwood family and the Karen Miller family, and currently holds 26% of Lane Crawford's shares.

The news sent shockwaves through Hong Kong and Kowloon.

"My goodness! This is the first time a Chinese-owned company has acquired a British-owned company in Hong Kong. It seems that Chinese-owned companies are about to rise!"

"It's not that Chinese-owned enterprises have risen to prominence, but rather that Mr. Chen Guangliang himself transcends Chinese-owned enterprises. He is a world shipping magnate and the true richest Chinese person."

"I wonder why Cheung Kong Holdings acquired Lane Crawford. Could it be that they also want to start a department store business?"

Lane Crawford is a high-end department store with only two large stores in Hong Kong, giving it a "lonely" feel. In reality, it has far less development potential than Wing On and Sincere!

Amidst the uproar in public opinion, British-owned conglomerates were also taken aback.

It is true that Chen Guangliang is extremely wealthy, but he has never acquired a British company before. This sudden announcement has left all British investors in disbelief.

The once invincible British conglomerate is now being challenged by someone who actually dares to do so; it's a psychological feeling.

Jardine Matheson.

John Keswick, who had just betrayed Chen Guangliang, frowned as he looked at the South China Morning Post and said with great dissatisfaction, "These descendants of the Nickwood and Cullen Miller families are really greedy for money. They actually sold their shares to the Chinese. They are traitors to us British."

A Jardine Matheson executive said, "But now that Chen Guangliang is openly buying up shares on the market, those shareholders will surely gladly hand over their shares. Should we..."

John Keswick immediately waved his hand and said, "I won't get involved in this kind of thing!"

Jardine Matheson has just suffered a loss of over HK$100 million in assets in mainland China, which is a huge blow to its economy. So why would it spend a huge sum of money to stop Chen Guangliang's acquisition at this time?
CK Asset Holdings has become the de facto majority shareholder of Lane Crawford, and Lane Crawford is not a particularly remarkable asset.

Like John Keswick, many British business leaders and executives in Hong Kong, while unhappy about Chinese capital acquiring British capital, especially through an open acquisition, also understood that Chan Kwong-leung was a powerful figure and that Lane Crawford was not a particularly valuable asset, at best just a high-end department store.

Stock market investors in this era are very unfamiliar with terms like "public takeover" and "full takeover".

Therefore, after CK Asset Holdings announced the acquisition, minority shareholders simply saw the 35% premium as a good opportunity to make money and sold their shares to CK Asset Holdings. Some British-owned companies, however, remained unmoved and continued to observe the situation.

A week later, when CK Asset Holdings announced that it had acquired a 70% stake in Lane Crawford, some British shareholders realized that the situation was beyond repair and handed over their shares.

The acquisition cost Cheung Kong Holdings nearly HK$1200 million.

That day, Chen Guangliang brought Zhang Shounian, Wu Xinhe, and Yan Kuan to the Lane Crawford Building on Pedder Street.

Lane Crawford's president, Dufresne, along with the entire management team, welcomed the four. After all, the die was cast, and they were somewhat uneasy about the fate of the entire management team.

In the conference room, Chen Guangliang first reassured everyone, saying, "Although Cheung Kong Holdings has acquired 90% of Lane Crawford's shares, it has no intention of participating in its operation for the time being. Therefore, we will continue to appoint you to your current positions to manage Lane Crawford."

Dufresne said with some disbelief, "So, Cheung Kong Holdings acquired Lane Crawford Group simply because they are optimistic about the growth of high-end department stores?"

Chen Guangliang shook his head and said:
"No! Lane Crawford's high-end department stores will only gradually give Hong Kong people a feeling of being too high up to stand, becoming only an option for the rich, so the market won't be very large. Our acquisition of Lane Crawford doesn't mean we won't interfere in anything."

"First, Lane Crawford's headquarters needs to be relocated to another site for redevelopment. The current Lane Crawford Building will be merged with our Hong Kong Hotel building. We need to invest in a large-scale project." "Second, while Lane Crawford is developing itself, I hope to acquire Dah Sing Department Store and Chung Hwa Department Store in Hong Kong. Of course, this is not something that can be done in a hurry."

"Finally, Lane Crawford needs to expand its business, venturing into interior design, antiques, jewelry, and cosmetics."

"Please remember these three points. We will be appointing three new directors to participate in this process later."

The die is cast, and even the Western management team at Lane Crawford readily agreed.
Cheung Kong Holdings spent HK$1200 million on this acquisition, which is quite a significant price.

But for Chen Guangliang, the most important thing was to take over Jardine Matheson!
John Keswick finally had a sudden realization!
"Chen Guangliang, he actually wants to oppose Jardine Matheson, and even put his hand on the ground!"

"Damn it, they already own two properties next to the Gloucester Tower. Are they planning to build two top-notch commercial buildings on these two plots of land?"

"This person's method of revenge is far too naive!"

He wouldn't understand Chen Guangliang's true thoughts.

That is to merge the two plots of land to build a shopping center, which is connected to an office building, which is the combination of Landmark and Gloucester in the previous life.

In its previous life, Landmark exchanged Jardine House, located across Pedder Street, for Lane Crawford. Lane Crawford actually benefited from this transaction because Jardine House occupied a larger area.

However, Landmark certainly didn't think that way. After merging Lane Crawford Tower and Gloucester Tower (second generation), they built the new 36-story Gloucester Tower and the adjacent Landmark Plaza. This property is one of Landmark's core properties in Central.

Now, Chan Kwong-leung is merging the Hong Kong Grand Hotel and Lane Crawford Building. Once he completes the new building, Jardine Matheson will surely be shocked – a sharp sword has been inserted into their heart.

In August, Chen Guangliang was enjoying a family vacation at his villa in Repulse Bay.

Except for Chan Man-kit, the entire family was present, including Audrey Hepburn who brought her two children to Hong Kong for a vacation, participating in the family's efforts to strengthen bonds.

Chen Wenjin, the eldest son of the second wife, came to the side of the four parents. He is 20 years old this year and will graduate in a year.

"Sit down, don't be shy!" "Yes, Dad, and Mommy and Daddy!"

Chen Wenjin sat down casually, meeting Chen Guangliang's gaze, while politely avoiding the three mothers. Especially the new third mother, who was incredibly young, only four years older than the eldest brother and five years older than himself, yet he now had to respectfully call her 'Third Mother'.

It's nothing, we rarely get to see each other anyway!

Chen Guangliang then took out some materials and said, "This is a toy I've been thinking about recently! Of course, she's not just a toy, but a spiritual sustenance for countless children after the war. She is Barbie. Barbie's body is made of plastic, her hair is a wig, and her clothes are miniature versions of clothing that can be changed. For us Chinese, she is a doll with golden hair. I hope she will become a globally loved Barbie doll, and be operated as a brand—Barbie. This kind of doll is like an adult, with long limbs, fresh and charming. Although she has a good figure, she is tightly wrapped in beautiful clothes. Her face also exudes the mystery of a Hollywood actress, but it should highlight her pure beauty."

Chen Wenjin and Audrey Hepburn both picked up the documents and began to read them carefully.

This Barbie doll was drawn by Chen Guangliang in this life based on some female figures in magazines (Marilyn Monroe) and his memories from his previous life.

Looking at the doll, Chen Wenjin asked curiously, "A global Barbie doll, Dad, how can I make that?"

He is an American citizen and believes that this business should naturally be done by him, but his father has always been very ambitious, and he is always worried that he will not be able to do it well.

"Don't say anything that shows a lack of confidence! Currently, there are no dolls made of plastic, with wigs and clothing in the world (I don't know if they've appeared in German bars yet), so we need to hurry up and assemble a team, design them, and apply for patents. Also, your third aunt will hold 50% of the shares and serve as the chairman, and you will hold 50% of the shares. The two of you will work together. Consider this an opportunity for you to gain experience. If you don't succeed, it means you're not good enough yet. After all, I've prepared the plan, and you just need to work hard."

Chen Wenjie looked at Audrey Hepburn and said, "That's great! Even though she wasn't blonde, she was still very representative of Audrey Hepburn's image."

"Don't look to your third aunt as a reference. Hollywood has Marilyn Monroe, who is a good role model. You will be in charge of this company, and your third aunt will focus more on her two younger brothers."

"Ok"

Jiang Meiying then said, "But Wenjin still has a year left before graduation!"

Chen Guangliang said, "That's why we call it assembling a team. I believe this kid can handle it. And this Barbie doll can be launched and patented next year."

Chen Wenjin immediately patted his chest and said, "I can handle both."

Chen Guangliang said with concern, "The incubation of a classic toy brand may take decades to deeply resonate with people around the world. Therefore, we cannot be too hasty and must proceed step by step. The US designs and incubates the brand, while Hong Kong can handle the OEM manufacturing; it's an industry chain."

"It's father."

Meanwhile, Chen Wenjie's team had already found and bought a poorly managed hotel near the Boston highway.

He and his team arrived at the Holiday Inn headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

This year, Holiday Inn only recently began to allow 'franchising'. After the founders raised funds to establish the first few Holiday Inn hotels, Mr. Wilson quickly realized that it would be difficult for one person to carry out large-scale hotel expansion to meet the ever-increasing demand from customers. So he began to allow investors to purchase the right to use the Holiday Inn brand, so that they could build and operate the hotels themselves.

Wilson was somewhat taken aback when he saw that Chen Wenjie was an Asian, while his team was mainly composed of Europeans and Americans.

However, he quickly returned to normal, because Chen Wenjie was eloquent and quite capable.

“Mr. Wilson, we hope you can personally lead a team to inspect our hotel and give us customized advice and solutions! We will not only invest in this one hotel, but possibly two or three, over a period of two years.”

"No problem. Since you've already purchased the hotel property, we naturally won't delay. After all, Holiday Inn is currently focused on rapid expansion. However, I have a question: Is Mr. Chen's investment a personal one?"

“We also have a partner, but with a small stake; it’s mainly my personal investment. I’m an international investor from Hong Kong, but we’ve resolved the relevant legal issues, and the team is more localized.”

Wilson said, "Wow, that's impressive! You actually trusted our Holiday Inn right away!"

The two had a pleasant conversation and quickly reached an agreement. (End of Chapter)