Reborn Tycoon Rise

In commercial struggles, price wars have become a kind of war without gunpowder. Many times, the boss and the second runner-up in the industry will engage in fierce price wars for market share and customers. This will lead to the formation of "killing a thousand enemies." A situation in which one loses eight hundred to oneself.

Unlike the imaginary old three and four who take advantage of the situation and overtake smoothly, in fact, the tailgaters who "sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight" are the real serious victims of the price war.

In the mainland of later generations, there are countless similar cases:

Meituan and Ele.me were at each other’s throats, and Baidu Waimai disappeared.

When the war between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola became more and more fierce, the great happiness disappeared.

Wanglaoji PKed Jiaduobao, and then He Qizheng failed.

In the past year, the same was true for the retail industry in Xiangjiang.

Parknshop Supermarket and Wellcome Supermarket, backed by the two top consortiums in Hong Kong, launched a fierce price war.

Today PARKnSHOP is bleeding heavily, tomorrow Wellcome will drop prices, PARKnSHOP will buy one and get 5 free, and Wellcome will launch a 100-yuan door-to-door service...

The two sides went back and forth, and the price concessions became lower and lower. Ordinary citizens in Xiangjiang were the happiest. Seeing that they were taking advantage at first, they desperately stocked up on daily necessities. The toilet paper in PARKnSHOP supermarket was once sold out.

However, the low prices for one consecutive year have also made these people settle down. They have long been accustomed to low prices and no longer hoard goods. At the same time, they only go to these two supermarkets for shopping. The rest can be cool and cool. go.

Many other supermarkets in Xiangjiang are the "third" in this price war. Many of these are the assets of small companies or branches of overseas chain retail groups in Xiangjiang. In just one year, the turnover of these supermarkets has It has been reduced by about half. The people who are still willing to shop in supermarkets are basically people from nearby. Because they are lazy or don’t buy enough things, there is no need to go far to Parknshop or Wellcome supermarkets.

In the early stages of the price war between Parknshop and Wellcome, these supermarkets were able to persevere, firstly because some funds could be invested in the short term, and secondly because they judged that the price war would not last long.

But in the business world, a misjudgment may lead to heavy losses or even bankruptcy. The price war that lasted for nearly a year forced a large number of ordinary supermarkets to close their doors, or sell them to Parknshop and Wellcome Group at low prices.

Even some overseas supermarkets have chosen to stop. These companies are indeed rich, and many of them are retail giants, with asset scales even exceeding those of Jardine Matheson or Midea. However, their main markets are still large countries. There is no need for cities like Xiangjiang to invest too much. Many, after encountering attacks from local consortiums and encountering Sino-British negotiations that may have political crises, they will naturally choose to let go.

Although Land's senior management had not experienced some of the cases in later generations in the Mainland, they understood the purpose of PARKnSHOP's price war, so they also cooperated tacitly.

A year ago, Land Group's real estate projects were worth billions of Hong Kong dollars, and the entire price war between Wellcome Supermarket and Parknshop might not be able to lose 100 million a year. Short-term losses would be exchanged for future growth in the retail industry. Taking it a step further to monopolize the business, Land's top executives also thought it was a good deal.

However, God’s calculations are not as good as those of man. The real estate crisis caused by the Iron Lady’s fall spread to the entire Hong Kong. After Land lost Wharf, its investment became extremely aggressive. At the same time, it carried out several projects worth billions to billions of Hong Kong dollars, and incurred debts. Up to more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

At this moment, Bao Fuda heard what Xu Zhi meant. Obviously, the other party wanted to completely monopolize the entire retail market in Xiangjiang.

"Sorry, Wellcome Supermarket will not be sold." Bao Fuda decisively refused. Although retail profits are not as good as real estate, it is one of the most important industries in people's livelihood. Real Estate also values ​​Wellcome.

Xu Zhi smiled and shook his head and said: "Bao Fuda, a wise man doesn't tell secrets. I am determined to win the retail market in Xiangjiang. Any obstruction by anyone or any company will only cause a lose-lose situation for both parties."

After Bao Fuda heard this, he asked coldly: "Xu Sheng, are you threatening?"

"If you insist on understanding it this way, it's not impossible. Retail will become the core industry of Watsons. I will separately invest US$500 million to develop the entire Asian market, and Xiangjiang is where the company is headquartered. I am the market in Xiangjiang. Determined to win!" Xu Zhi said with a smile. Direct investment of US$500 million is naturally impossible, but if you use the profits of supermarkets to invest in a cycle, the scale will not be smaller than this figure over time.

"With US$500 million, Xu Sheng is really rich!" Bao Fuda said with a frown. Today, in Xiangjiang, there are less than 20 companies with a market value of more than US$500 million. Although the investment of US$500 million mentioned by the other party is not a one-time investment, it still means It was still a shock to come out.

And Bao Fuda knew that the other party could take it out. As the headquarters of Jardine Matheson Land, Xiangjiang, the information of all competitors or large listed companies was the focus of others.

The real estate crisis has affected almost all companies in Hong Kong, but Midea Group has not been affected. Its electronic products are sold all over the world and its annual profits are as high as hundreds of millions of dollars. In Hong Kong, only HSBC's profits can exceed it.

Although the main business of Evergrande Real Estate owned by Xu Zhi is real estate, it has always been focused on rent collection. It also owns a lot of land, but none of it has been developed. According to the paper figures, it has indeed suffered a lot of losses, but the overall The company is still doing well because it has not financed expansion.

The same was true for Land Land in the past, but after losing the Wharf, it began to expand on a large scale, which also led to the current heavy debts.

As for Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Electric, the main businesses of the two companies are terminals and power generation, which are permanent and stable incomes.

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "Until it reaches my goal, Parknshop Supermarket will remain in its current state. Mr. Bao Fuda, I hope you will still consider my suggestions carefully."

Bao Fuda said: "If Direct Land is willing to sell Wellcome, then Bank of East Asia will stop asking us for additional mortgages."

"Yes, as long as your company's operating conditions no longer deteriorate, I can agree that we don't need to provide more mortgages for the time being." Xu Zhi nodded in agreement. Now is not the time when Land is at its weakest. If it cannot be defeated in one blow, there is no need. It was too tense.

"Then what price is Xu Sheng willing to pay?" Bao Fuda asked after pondering for a moment.

"HK$520 million, including all Wellcome Supermarket properties held by Land Group." Xu Zhi reported his price.

"You even want the property where the supermarket is located?" Bao Fuda frowned.

"Yes, I want them all." Xu Zhi nodded and said.

In the supermarket industry, the most important cost is often rent, but in Xiangjiang, rent accounts for a higher proportion of the cost.

Although Parknshop and Wellcome once controlled more than half of the retail market in Hong Kong, they rarely held the properties of their own supermarkets.

The reason is very simple. At the beginning, PARKnSHOP was backed by Watsons and Wellcome was backed by Dairy Farm International. Although these two companies were not small in scale, their main business was not real estate. In order to quickly occupy the market, all funds must be used in On the cutting edge, renting has become the best choice.

After Watsons was privatized by Xu Zhi, although more funds were injected, it was the peak moment of the real estate industry in Xiangjiang. Xu Zhi certainly would not acquire properties at this time. Until the past two months, the real estate industry The market collapsed and the future of Hong Kong was uncertain. Many property owners were eager to run away. So Parknshop acquired some real estate at a very low price, increasing the proportion of its self-owned properties to 20%.

This ratio is even higher in Land and Land, because since Land acquired the Milk Company in 1974 and took over Wellcome, it began to slowly acquire the properties of Wellcome Supermarket. Until today, at least half of the properties in Wellcome Supermarket are owned by Land.

Now that Xu Zhi acquires Wellcome, he must also acquire the properties behind it. Nowadays, housing prices have fallen, which is a good time to acquire it. Not to mention, if he does not acquire it, in the future, these will become the backbone of his own supermarket. of vampires.

"If you include the property assets of Wellcome Supermarket owned by our Land Company, HK$520 million is not enough." Bao Fuda shook his head and said.

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "It is naturally impossible to decide the price now. All we need is to finalize the deal."

Bao Fuda glanced at Chen Songqing, nodded and said: "Okay, I will arrange a professional team to evaluate the specific prices of Wellcome Supermarket. When the results are out, I will notify Xu Sheng."

"Okay." Xu Zhi nodded and agreed, acquiring Wellcome and basically controlling more than 50% of the daily necessities retail market in Xiangjiang.

Chen Songqing laughed and said: "Okay, today's negotiation is very successful. Everyone gets what they need, and we can develop together in the future. Come on, cheers."

"Cheers." Xu Zhi also raised his glass and took a sip.