America: My Time

Chapter 69 Preparation
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Preparations for Establishment

"You're being unreasonable!" Faced with John's domineering attitude, Chung Chor-hung felt helpless but powerless to resist.

“I know, but this is my decision!” John didn’t want to reason with Cherie Chung. You can’t reason with a woman. You have to be tougher on such a strong woman. Besides, letting her go now could easily lead to something serious. After all, those thugs might still be watching in the dark. He didn’t want to see anything happen to his woman.

Although there was a slight problem with his itinerary, it did not affect John's plans. He was simply accompanied by the beautiful Zhong, and with her by his side, he was very happy to conduct his research on the retail industry.

The Asian retail industry had great potential in the 1980s, but a complete system was needed to quickly establish a foothold. Creating a new retail brand would be too costly, both in terms of time and money, so acquisition was the best option.

After careful consideration, John realized that the most suitable acquisition target was still Hong Kong Land, specifically its subsidiary Dairy Farm International. Dairy Farm International's comprehensive portfolio was a feature unmatched by other retail companies. A successful acquisition would provide John with a solid foundation across supermarkets, pharmacies, and food products, allowing him to quickly establish a foothold in the Asian retail industry.

However, funding remained a major issue. Acquisitions weren't the problem, but subsequent expansion was. Although he still had some funds, it wasn't enough to complete his plans. Faced with this funding problem, John realized that securing financing for the game world was now extremely urgent.

While they were anxious, Morgan Stanley and Wall Street were even more eager. They wanted the game world to raise funds and go public as soon as possible, so that everyone could see the game world's powerful money-making ability in just one summer season. It was practically a powerful money-printing machine.

With its North American expansion still incomplete and the gaming market possessing immense potential, who wouldn't be tempted by such a high-quality company? Everyone wants a substantial share in the initial funding round, making it a fiercely competitive battleground where not all investment banks have a chance!
Although the acquisition target was identified, completing the acquisition would not be an easy task. After all, he had just had a contest with HSBC and Sir Michael Sandberg, and at this time, his attempt to acquire Dairy Farm International, a subsidiary of Hongkong Land, would inevitably encounter resistance from them.

Given Sir Michael Sandberg's character, if he knew that John intended to acquire Dairy Farm International, he would definitely not stand idly by, but would do everything in his power to block it, making his acquisition more unpredictable. This is not the situation John wants to see.

Regret? No, John has no regrets at all. It would have been a foolish decision to have done nothing in the face of Sir Michael Sandberg and HSBC's provocations, which would have brought him even more trouble in the future.

I still have plenty of time to prepare. After all, this is not the worst time for Hong Kong real estate. Only when Hong Kong real estate has fallen to its most terrible trough will I be able to make a move to acquire it without any obstruction and achieve my goal. I have that much patience.

Time flies, and a week passed quickly. Although Zhong Meiren was initially resistant, she gradually resigned herself to John's presence. When sending Zhong Meiren back to Hong Kong, Huang Xizhao also brought some of ATV's management personnel to Taiwan to take over the preparatory work for Phoenix TV.

Huang Xizhao didn't care that her boss had a new beauty by his side, since such things are quite common in the entertainment industry.

After Huang Xizhao took over the preparation work for the TV station, John led him to communicate with the people in Taiwan and officially handed over the preparation work for the TV station to Huang Xizhao. Although this put more pressure on Huang Xizhao, he was willing to bear this pressure.

Phoenix Group has not yet completed its integration. Hong Kong and Japan are still operating independently. Now that the establishment of the television station in Taiwan has been handed over to him, Huang Xizhao is excited. He feels that once Phoenix Group begins its integration, he will be the CEO!

"Xi Zhao, the establishment of Phoenix TV can be slower, but the necessary departments cannot be omitted. Moreover, you understand the Phoenix Group's expansion direction for television stations, so the issue of satellite television should be considered during the establishment process."

“Boss, I understand, I will arrange everything carefully. However, RTV’s talent pool is not yet sufficient to support both Hong Kong and Taiwan stations, so we need to cultivate our own talent. Hong Kong has RTV’s training program, but we don’t have that kind of environment in Taiwan.” Poaching! That was John’s first thought, but he quickly abandoned it. Poaching talent, whether in Hong Kong or Taiwan, is not easy; talent needs to be cultivated. Soon, John thought of the Taiwan Arts University, a good option to solve Phoenix TV’s talent crisis.

"Sunset Glow, the Taiwan Arts University can solve some of your problems. As for how many problems it can solve, that depends on your abilities!"

When John mentioned the Taiwan Arts University, Huang Xizhao was taken aback. He knew about the university, but could he really find the talent he wanted there? And could a recent graduate really shoulder this heavy responsibility? He had some doubts.

However, Huang Xizhao also understands that something is better than nothing. Perhaps the university really has the talent it needs, at least the manpower problem will be solved. As for training, if it doesn't work out, they can first put him on an internship at ATV. Only after solving the problem of whether or not they have talent can they think about other things.

“Boss, I will communicate with the art university, but it will take time. Building a TV station from scratch takes time to prepare, and I can’t keep focusing on this place. There are still many things to take care of in Hong Kong!”

For Huang Xizhao, time was extremely tight. Hong Kong Television was already actively preparing for its expansion, and now with the addition of Phoenix Television, his time was even more limited.

"I don't have too many requirements regarding the time. It's obvious that it's impossible to set up a station and start broadcasting this year, as the time doesn't allow it. So you don't need to feel too much pressure. You just need to do a good job of the preparatory work in Taiwan, and focus on the expansion in Hong Kong. Once the preparatory work in Taiwan is completed next year, Hong Kong will also make changes accordingly. We have enough time to improve Taiwan, but we don't have that much time in Hong Kong. Do you understand?"

Although Huang Xizhao had made preparations in advance, he did not expect the time to be so tight. Could he really complete the preparations for both Hong Kong and Taiwan in a year? Huang Xizhao was somewhat worried, after all, this was no small matter, but the work of two television stations.

John also needs to prepare for the satellite TV station project. Communication satellites require advance preparation and cooperation from multiple parties, at least Japan's. Once Asia completes the transition to satellite TV, everything will become more standardized, but this will require significantly more funding. With such substantial financial needs, he needs time to prepare.

"Boss, I understand!"

"No, you don't understand. Here in Taiwan, you need to select the personnel to take over in advance. Only in this way can you make reasonable allocation of personnel in both places and achieve resource sharing."

John believed that even if Phoenix TV in Taiwan completed its establishment and began broadcasting, it would be impossible to catch up with Hong Kong TV in the short term; everything would still revolve around Hong Kong TV. If Huang Xizhao could not control personnel transfers in Taiwan, he would naturally be unable to integrate the talent resources of both places.

Resource sharing is not something that can be achieved by simply talking about it; it requires a lot of preparation and effort, and Huang Xizhao is at the center of it all.

At this moment, Huang Xizhao finally understood his boss's intention. Although this added more pressure to his life, it also gave him more motivation.

"Alright, don't overthink it. I'm leaving everything to you. I believe you can do it all. Once we achieve resource sharing, neither the three major television stations in Taiwan nor TVB will be a match for Phoenix Group. The whole of Asia is our goal!"

(End of this chapter)