The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Lin Zhichao brought his son Lin Ruihai to Harbor City, and during the on-site inspection, it seemed as if this place had become Lin's property.

"Rui Hai, let me ask you - how does this Wharf Group develop the Wharf land?"

Lin Ruihai knew that his father was testing his homework skills, so he said seriously: "The Harbor City site is adjacent to the Ocean Terminal, Hong Kong Hotel and Ocean Center built in the early days of Wharf. The site area is 430,000 square feet, and five buildings are planned to be built. Luxurious residences, three high-end office buildings, two luxury hotels, a huge three-story shopping mall and complete recreational facilities. Due to the control of the Hong Kong Airport Ordinance, the building height cannot exceed 61 meters, so the site area and building height Not quite symmetrical.

In order to solve this appearance problem, Wharf divided Harbor City into three groups of buildings with different shapes in terms of design. They are fan-shaped buildings along the coast and rectangular buildings near Canton Road. All buildings are 17 storeys high and are located in On a huge 3-story platform, each building is independent but actually connected to each other.

The total development cost of the Harbor City plan exceeds NT$2 billion and is divided into five phases. It is expected to take more than 10 years to build what is known as "Asia's largest and most successful comprehensive commercial center" on the original waterfront dock warehouse lot. Among them, three high-end office buildings are named Global Shipping Center, World Business Center and World Financial Center respectively from south to north, providing about 800,000 square feet of rental space. The five luxury residences are named Ban Tao Pavilion, Gui Zhi Pavilion, Xiu Tong Pavilion, Pinlan Pavilion and Xiantao Pavilion from south to north. They provide a total of 375 residential units. They are elegantly designed and fan-shaped. They are close to the harbor and have a view of Victoria Sea. A bird's eye view. The two luxury hotels are Marco Polo Hotel and Prince Hotel. They have more than 800 rooms and are both managed by the famous Peninsula Group. The three-story podium across the 11 buildings is a huge shopping mall that can provide about 350,000 square feet of rental area. , with more than 600 boutiques, about 50 restaurants, and a parking lot with 669 parking spaces, it is like a country of its own.

The entire project is expected to be largely completed by the early 1980s. "

At the end of the story, Lin Ruihai was already a little excited. Such a huge commercial complex was about to belong to the Lin family.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "At present, there is not much problem with the development of Harbor City. After we take over the Wharf Group, the most important thing is to use the land of the Hong Kong Tramway Factory in Causeway Bay."

Lin Ruihai immediately said: "Does my father think that first-class commercial buildings and shopping malls should be built on the land of the tram plant?"

Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction: "That's right! Causeway Bay has developed into a retail business area with unlimited prospects. If the land of the Tram Main Factory is built into a plaza, a high-rise shopping mall and two skyscraper office buildings, it will also become the most successful in Causeway Bay." Commercial complex."

Lin Ruihai immediately admired his father, who really took one step at a time and considered three steps.

"Okay, I'll take note of what my father said."

The Wharf Group owns a lot of land and assets, the most important of which are the Harbor City and the Tramway Main Factory (Times Square), followed by the Hong Kong Tramway, the Star Ferry, as well as some terminal land, Kwai Chung Container Terminal shares, etc., which can be said to be of great value. Fei.

Today, Lin Zhichao already owns 30% of the shares, and the cost is only 900 million Hong Kong dollars. The remaining 19% or so of the equity, even if it costs HK$100 per share, is only HK$2 billion at most.

The price is too low!

Thinking of this, Lin Zhichao decided to settle the matter in one fell swoop this year.

after one day.

Lin Zhichao, Lin Ruihai and his son came to the headquarters of Jardine Matheson and Co., Ltd. in Sanlishan Building. They were invited by Newbijian.

He is not worried about what tricks Niubijian dares to play. After all, in Hong Kong, Lin Zhichao is truly powerful. If he doesn't dare to accept the appointment, he will be disadvantaged.

In the conference room of Jardine Matheson, Lin Zhichao and Lin Ruihai and his son represented Universal Group, and Newbrick and Bedford represented Land. The two sides sat down.

Niubijian was not in the mood to be polite to Lin Zhichao, and said directly: "Mr. Lin, the hostile acquisition of the Wharf Group will damage the good moral character you have always maintained. If you are willing to give up your equity, we at Jardine are not only willing to buy it at the market price, but also to buy the land. We are also willing to exchange objective properties.”

Lin Zhichao was stunned. He didn't expect Niubijian to use this trick. He smiled and said: "In terms of properties, I don't think there is any single property that can be compared with the Wharf Group!"

Newbijian immediately said: "The Wharf Group does not belong to you yet. We, Jardine and Land, still have strong strength and abundant capital. It is still unknown who will lose and who will win. But if you are willing to suspend your troops, we can immediately come up with high-quality products." Property Exchange.”

Seeing this, Lin Zhichao decided to tease Niubijian, and said: "It's not impossible, why not use the Prince's Building, Swire Building, and Golden Gate Building in the Central District."

Swire Building and Prince's Building are both located on Chater Road, the heart of Central. Just by looking at the location, you can tell that this is Land's core asset. Paul Chater was the founder of Land.

As for the Golden Gate Building, after Land acquired the Golden Gate Building, Land purchased the building from its subsidiary; this building was to the west of the Shangri-La Hotel, separated only by a road, which later became the Bank of America Building.

Newbijian and Bedford were stunned, as if they had met a giant python with its mouth wide open. Newbijian even sneered several times to relieve his anger.

"Mr. Lin, this is impossible. The most we can do is use the Golden Gate Tower and the residences in Mid-levels to pay off the debt."

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Then there's no need to talk about it at all. Let's see the real deal! Newbijian Taipan, then again, today's predicament of the Jardine Department was actually caused by the Keswick family, but in the end it was still You need to take the blame, so I feel a little sorry for you." At the end of the sentence, it was as if I was pitying Niubijian.

Niubijian's cheeks turned red and he said in a low voice: "Who will win or lose has not yet decided. Mr. Lin is just taking advantage of others' danger, so why should he act as a hero."

Lin Zhichao said: "Then you are wrong! Times make heroes. Nowadays, Chinese capital is at its peak, while British capital is in trouble. This is what we in China call the tide of change. Of course, we will wait and see next!"

The two sides had a fierce confrontation and broke up on bad terms!

To be honest, Lin Zhichao was still worried about whether Niubijian was wrong, so he agreed to Lin Zhichao's request in one go!

Unexpectedly, Prince's Building and Swire Building were completely the opposite of Land, so they naturally refused.

Today, Hongkong Land's properties in Central include: Alexandria Building, Gloucester Building, Landmark Plaza, Prince's Building, Swire Building, Mandarin Hotel, and Duke's Building. These seven properties are in one area, and there is another The Golden Gate Tower is a long way away.

After the two parties separated.

Niubijian held an emergency meeting of Land's senior management. He said: "Lin Zhichao is still secretly buying shares in the market, although the stock price is close to 50 Hong Kong dollars. If it were anyone else, I would bet that it would give us time, but now we are facing He is a powerful businessman who spans shipping, industry, and real estate, so we don’t have much time left. We must gather funds as soon as possible and take the lead in launching a counter-takeover."

Bedford said: "Land's properties in the UK have been sold and will be taken back to Hong Kong immediately. Some more properties in Hong Kong will be sold to raise funds. The most important thing is that Land's shares can be exchanged for Wharf shares at a large price difference. This way As soon as it was acquired, it was like the acquisition of Dairy Milk International, which was competed by shareholders for transfer."

Newbijian immediately said: "What properties can Land Land sell?"

Bao Fuda said: "The Railway Building on Des Voeux Road, the Golden Gate Building on Harcourt Road, as well as: 20 villas at Turtle Bay on Tai Tam Road, the 48-unit Clear Water Bay Phase II project, and a 44-unit building on Broadcasting Road. Residential units in buildings and mid-levels”

Newbikin suddenly felt a heartache. There was no problem with selling the other properties, but it was really not cost-effective to sell the Golden Gate Building now.

But it is indeed not the core property of Land, so he said: "Arrange the sale! If you can keep the Wharf Group, giving up these properties is nothing."

Bedford said: "Should we avoid Lin Zhichao and sell the property to companies with good strength such as Sun Hung Kai, Hang Lung, and New World?"

He believes that if Lin Zhichao gets Land and sells properties on a large scale, he will definitely be wary.

Newbijian thought about it and then said: "The sale of the Golden Gate Building will definitely not escape Lin Zhichao's eye. Instead of doing this, sell other properties to Sun Hung Kai first. When only the Golden Gate Building is left for sale, we will see what the price is in the open market. The higher one is more. Moreover, we have to arrange the acquisition immediately. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be to us. I heard that Lin Zhichao is still selling a large number of ships."

"good"

After some discussion, Land began to make a tight layout.

On the other hand, Lin Zhichao, although he is determined to take over the Wharf Group this year, is actually not panicking at all.

Because he knows that in the end, it’s about comparing who has more money, that’s all.

A board meeting is being held in the Wharf Group's conference room.

Suddenly, Niubijian proposed: "The recent sharp rise in Wharf's stock is a good opportunity for the company's development, and major decisions may be made at any time. Therefore, I hereby ask all directors to introduce their recent major schedules to avoid the board of directors not being able to go smoothly convene.”

Except for the senior executives of the Jardine Department, everyone probably thought that there was no problem with this, so the directors described it generously.

When it was Lin Zhi's turn, he said honestly: "I have to go overseas for a long time in mid-November. I have to attend the Paris International Tanker Conference (President of the International Tanker Association); and then I go to Frankfurt to attend a banking conference. meeting (Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of HSBC Bank); after finishing these trips, I have to go to the United States to handle some official business; after finishing these trips in the United States, I may have to meet with Mexican President Bordillo. It will take about half a month."

Everyone was stunned. Lin Zhichao's schedule was so tight, and every one of them was important international affairs. At worst, he was dealing with American official business. It must be a big business. After all, he had an investment of 350 million U.S. dollars, which should have increased a lot now!

In fact, Lin Zhichao now owns a private jet, and it only takes one day to go to Europe and the United States, so he may go abroad once a month, but this trip is really intensive.

Niubijian was overjoyed. It was already late October, and Lin Zhichao had not yet initiated a formal acquisition, which meant that it was not expected to be made public until December.

So once Lin Zhichao leaves Hong Kong, they will have a chance to land!

Subsequently, Newbijian also reported on his itinerary, and specifically mentioned that he would also travel to Singapore and Southeast Asia.

After the meeting.

Lin Zhichao returned to the office of Universal Group and summoned Lin Ruihai. He asked: "Today, Niubijian asked about the directors' schedule for no reason. What do you think it was for?"

Lin Ruihai didn't doubt it at first, but when his father asked, he suddenly felt that something was a little abnormal, and said tentatively: "Are you trying to find out whether we are suitable for public acquisition?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and shook his head. Lin Ruihai was still too young. It was obvious that Landmark wanted to take advantage of Lin Zhichao's business trip to initiate a formal acquisition and catch him off guard.

"Don't you think about it, will they take the initiative to launch a counter-takeover?"

Lin Ruihai doubted: "Does Land have no strength?"

Lin Zhichao was speechless. Land did seem to have no strength on the surface, and its market value was not as high as that of Wharf Group at that time, but if it tried its best, it might not be known. What's more, there will be help from Jardine Matheson later.

"Go and contact Lawyer Li and your Uncle Feng. We will have a meeting later."

"OK"

That night, Lin Zhichao, Lin Ruihai, Feng Yongfa, and Li Yeguang were in the office, having a secret meeting.

"I'm very suspicious that Land wants to take advantage of me leaving Hong Kong to launch a counter-takeover. Do you think we should start in advance or pretend not to know?" Lin Zhichao asked relaxedly.

Lin Ruihai suddenly felt ashamed. His father's suspicion was obviously very likely. Land, which he also looked down upon, had the strength to launch a counter-takeover.

Li Yeguang immediately said: "If Land launches a counter-takeover, the only way is to exchange Land's shares for Wharf Group's shares. This is their old trick. If the price difference is big enough, it will still be attractive to stock investors."

Feng Yongfa said: "Boss, our funds have been put aside and we can complete the acquisition at any time. Just organize a formal acquisition immediately. By the time you fly overseas, we have already won."

Lin Zhichao thought about it and realized that he had planned to put the time to December - to end this year successfully and get off to a good start next year (Hutchison Whampoa).

"In this way, let Land launch a counter-takeover first, and then let us make the formal acquisition based on their bargaining chips, which they cannot afford. I have a private jet and can fly back to Hong Kong at any time; we have sufficient funds and do not need to go through the bank. I really want to I wonder what effect Newbijian’s thought-provoking good idea will have!”

In the face of absolute strength, playing tricks like these will only make people laugh.

Perhaps Newbrickian didn't know that the cash in Universal Group's hands could almost privatize Wharf Group.

Of course, Lin Zhichao couldn't be stupid.

The three people nodded one after another. They really did not see the possibility of failure, not to mention that Lin Zhichao had now guessed Niubijian's intentions.

Li Yeguang said: "Which financial company does Lin Sheng plan to hire?"

Lin Zhichao said: "Of course it is Huoduoli Financial Company, and HSBC will fully support me!"

Today's HSBC, not to mention Wharf Group, even Hutchison Whampoa will support it. Because Lin Zhichao had the bargaining chip they needed so much.

In fact, Lin Zhichao's strength over the years has indeed made HSBC fearful. After Shen Bi came to power, he obviously became alienated from Lin Zhichao.

After all, Lin Zhichao is different from Bao Yugang and Li Jiacheng in his previous life. He is a overlord spanning multiple industries, and his influence in Hong Kong's business community exceeds that of HSBC.

Time flies and it’s Tuesday, November 15th in a blink of an eye.

Lin Zhichao took a private jet and flew towards Europe, accompanied by Shen Bi, the chief executive of HSBC Bank, and Boy, the vice chairman of the board of directors. Because there is a World Bank conference in Frankfurt this time, and Lin Zhichao is also the vice chairman of HSBC (with no real power), everyone happened to make an appointment to go to Frankfurt, Europe.

Before that, Lin Zhichao had to attend an international tanker conference.

After boarding the plane, he took Shen Bi and Boyi to visit the private jet, and then the three of them sat down in the living room on the first floor.

Shen Bi sighed: "Mr. Lin has strong financial resources. No wonder the Wharf Group is bound to win."

Even without 200 million Hong Kong dollars, I'm afraid I won't be able to win this plane. After all, the Boeing 747 airliner costs 25 million US dollars, plus the modification cost, it is almost that much.

Being able to use such an airplane seat on a private jet shows how huge Lin Zhichao's wealth is.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Even so, if there is a takeover war, please ask HSBC to provide financial support!"

What he wants is an attitude and hiding of his wealth. After all, he took out 2 billion in cash at once and even saved the bank. The kidnapper must be drooling.

Shen Bi immediately said: "No problem! Regarding Universal Group's acquisition of Wharf Group, we at HSBC fully support it. Even Hutchison Whampoa in our hands can also sell some shares to Mr. Lin."

Boy echoed: "HSBC and Mr. Lin have cooperated for almost 30 years, and the friendship between Mr. Lin and former chairman Sandus has been passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, we at HSBC are willing to continue to cooperate with Mr. Lin to jointly explore overseas market."

The two of them were so happy, obviously they had investigated something.

The last time Shen Bi heard what Lin Zhichao said, he immediately went to investigate what had happened to the top twenty banks in the United States in the past few years.

Finally, they discovered that SITC Bank had undergone tremendous changes this year, and Audrey Investment Company spent US$200 million to acquire 51% of its equity.

Audrey Hepburn?

Isn’t this a Hollywood actress who became the mother of Barbie? Later, she became a female tycoon in the American business world. In the hearts of children around the world, she was the most beautiful mother, and her influence vaguely surpassed that of the Queen of England.

They couldn't figure out what the relationship between Lin Zhichao and Audrey Hepburn was, until they learned about a subtle thing, that is, Audrey Hepburn's son turned out to be of mixed Asian descent; Hepburn attended Lin Zhichao's son's wedding

Things soon became vague and the answer emerged.

Although it is incredible, how could an Eastern businessman capture a woman who is comparable to a queen?

But HSBC doesn’t dare to bet on authenticity!

Putting aside all problems, there is no doubt that Lin Zhichao is the best successor to Hutchison Whampoa. If Lin Zhichao takes over Hutchison Whampoa, the company may soon usher in great development, and the shares in HSBC's hands will also rapidly increase in value.

If Shen Bi hadn't been worried that Lin Zhichao was too domineering in Hong Kong, he wouldn't have other ideas.