The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

In early January, the Hong Kong MTR Corporation officially announced that it would openly accept tenders for the development rights of the original site of the General Post Office.

Various bidding companies frequently contacted the subway company to spy on the subway company's intentions, prepare bids and attachments, and submit them within the deadline. Open tendering provides an equal opportunity for all companies, and the contents of tenders are confidential.

The rule of winning a bid is that if you consider too much your own interests, you will have little hope of winning the bid; if the conditions are too favorable to the other party, you will have no benefit at all.

Each company kept the bidding content secret, leaving reporters to speculate.

A total of 30 consortiums and companies participated in the bidding, more than double the number of previous tenders for the Kowloon section. According to reports from the press, they are Cheung Kong Holdings, Land Corporation, Swire Properties, Golden Gate Construction, Japan-Australia Consortium, Fabermax Corporation, Carnival Group, Fok Ying Tung Group, Hang Lung Properties, Sun Hung Kai, etc.

Due to their inertia, the public opinion circles are unanimously optimistic about Cheung Kong Holdings and Land Corporation. As for which one of them it is, everyone has their own opinions.

Cheung Kong Holdings.

Lin Zhichao paced back and forth in the office, thinking about this bidding matter.

Bidding is no better than bidding. No one knows each other’s cards, so even Lin Zhichao doesn’t dare to ‘win it’. The bidding conditions were too favorable to the subway company. Not only was the Cheung Kong Group ‘unprofitable’, but more importantly, it was ‘making people laugh’.

Fortunately, Lin Zhichao knew some inside information, so the balance of victory came to the Yangtze River Industrial Group.

This time the tender is for the ‘Chater MRT station roof’, which is the original site of the General Post Office. In the early 1970s, Land wanted to acquire the original site of the General Post Office through land exchange, but was rejected by the Hong Kong government. This shows how "prosperous" this land is.

Although it is a prosperous land, the Yangtze River Industrial Group cannot say in the bidding document that it is used to collect rent; if it bids like this, the chance of bidding is very small.

The reason is very simple. The Hong Kong government grants the MTR Corporation land to the MTR Corporation at the original price. Therefore, the MTR Corporation needs to pay land fees to the Hong Kong government, and the MTR Corporation does not operate and can only obtain guaranteed loans from the Hong Kong government, so they are very short of money. cash.

If the cooperative commercial real estate is used to collect rent, it means that it will take ten years to pay back the capital (theoretically). It is currently difficult for the subway company to accept this plan.

Therefore, the first cooperation requirement is: all properties will be returned to the market through off-the-plan sales.

As a result, this beautiful building on the original site of the General Post Office is destined to be sold off-plan in layers and units. Of course, Lin Zhichao can also ask Victoria Harbor Real Estate or Universal Group to spend about 600 million and buy the entire building.

The cash raised from selling off-the-plan properties is not enough to impress the subway company.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao decided to first pay the land fee for the original postal address directly to the subway company in full; the profit sharing between the two parties was 51% for the subway company and 49% for the Changshi Real Estate Group.

Once the three favorable conditions are revealed, coupled with the strength of Cheung Kong Group in commercial real estate developers, the subway company will definitely choose Cheung Kong Group for cooperation.

In this way, Cheung Kong Group did not pay much more. The land fee paid to the MTR Corporation was only an advance payment and was not given to the MTR Corporation in vain. The subway company's profit is 2% more, but it breaks the "50-50 split" convention. In fact, it is only two to three million.

Thinking of this, Lin Zhichao called Huang Changhong and said: "I already know the terms of cooperation with the subway company, and I will definitely win the right to develop the Chater Station roof. You only need to be responsible for the technical part of the bidding document. That's it. !”

Seeing that his boss was so confident, Huang Changhong said: "No problem! This building covers an area of ​​22,700 square feet and can be built as a 37-story single-tower building mixed with commercial and office buildings. There is absolutely no technical problem. Don’t worry, boss, after all, the commercial buildings we develop are far superior to those of our competitors.”

This is not pride, but an ironclad fact.

Over the past few decades, Cheung Kong Group has developed more than a dozen high-quality buildings in Central. If you add in the buildings built for others, there will be more than 20 buildings. Needless to say, there are buildings developed by Cheung Kong Group in Singapore.

"Well, then there is no need to be distracted. After all, there are many projects. Let's not spend too much energy on it. You know, the land fee for this building alone costs about 240 million Hong Kong dollars, reaching 10,000 per square foot. If Including construction fees and taxes, the investment is expected to be as high as HK$450 million."

Huang Changhong said: "I understand!"

In fact, according to the current real estate trend, the value of this building next year will be HK$600 million, and the net profit will be HK$1.5. Cheung Kong Group can receive more than 70 million Hong Kong dollars, which is already a very generous profit.

The profit of HK$70 million is equivalent to 80 years of Sun Hung Kai Properties’ profit.

Lin Zhichao is just very confident, so he talks so easily.

The other side.

Li Jiacheng was also in the office, thinking about the bidding for Chater Station. He really wanted to participate, but found that he had no chance of winning due to his strength.

The current market value of CK Hutchison Properties is HK$250 million, which has increased five times since its listing. This is already a very remarkable achievement. You must know that as the leading real estate company, Yangtze River Industrial Group has a market value of just over 5 billion today, which is only more than 2.5 times higher than when it was listed.

The market value of Li Jiacheng's CK Hutchison Real Estate has increased so much - from HKD 50 million when it was listed to HKD 250 million today. One of the big reasons is that he issued new shares more than a dozen times and raised a lot of funds for bargain-hunting real estate. Of course, The stocks he held were also diluted.

Of course, as a result, CK Hutchison Properties' profits have also surged in recent years. Last year (1976), it created a profit of HK$18.5 million.

"To win the bid, CK Hutchison Properties must have a cash flow of HK$250 million, but now we have only HK$20 million in liquidity on our books. We can raise up to HK$30 million by issuing new shares. If we add in bank loans, we can't even get HK$100 million." .”

"It seems that I really have no chance to participate in this project!"

Li Jiacheng could only shake off the unrealistic ideas in his mind. In fact, there was still a practical problem. His company lacked experience in developing large projects, so the subway company would not consider it.

"The biggest hope of winning the bid this time is Cheung Kong Group. With Lin Zhichao's methods, he still has the upper hand against Land!" Li Jiacheng sighed again.

He sometimes thinks that if he had Lin Zhichao's luck, he would definitely be able to do better in the real estate field. But he always felt that he was always one step late.

Of course, the most critical thing here is that when he entered real estate, the strength of a company was insignificant.

Landmark meeting room.

Newbijian, Bao Fuda and others are also discussing the bidding for the development rights above Chater Station. The Jardine Department attaches great importance to this bidding.

At that time, Land lost its "Land King in Central (Victoria Harbor Centre)", which now seems to be very uneconomical. Commercial land in Central has risen to more than HK$10,000 per square foot. At this time, the cost of land in Victoria Harbor Center is worth HK$700 million, which has more than doubled in value.

The office space in Victoria Harbor Center is 700,000 square feet, and the rent is NT$10 per square foot. The annual rent alone can reach HK$80 million.

If you don't regret it, it's all fake.

However, no one in the Keswick family, who were the masters at that time, could cause trouble for them, and at that time, everyone also believed that the Jardine family was not suitable for fighting with Lin Zhichao.

Now that the tender for the development rights above Chater Station is being held, the Jardine Department attaches great importance to it again and has decided to go all out. At this time, the chief executives of the three companies of Jardine Matheson were all non-Keswick family - Newbijian, and Bao Fuda was the deputy general manager (second in command) of Land.

Niubijian said: "In this bidding, we still have an advantage. Land's central district redevelopment plan has achieved results. The Xinlishan Building was completed last year and was fully occupied. If we win this bid, we will This will connect Central to one another.”

He has been the head of the Jardine Department for two years and enjoys the feeling of having great power, so he does not take the Yangtze River Industrial Group to heart. Cheung Kong Industrial Group's strength in this area is not as strong as Land Development.

Bao Fuda said: "The subway company intends to use the proceeds from the 'station roof development rights' to raise subway construction costs, but they are still short of cash."

He also carefully studied the intentions of the subway company, so he pointed out the key points.

Newbijian said: "The subway company is indeed short of cash, but I think rent collection is more in line with the long-term interests of both parties. We can explain this in detail in the tender document. In addition, we can develop a new cooperation model - then It is to form a joint venture company. This joint venture company will first buy the land from the MTR Corporation for 200 million Hong Kong dollars, and then undertake the construction through loans. Later, it will repay the loan and income through rent collection. In this way, the MTR Corporation The company actually received HK$100 million in cash from us at the beginning, which can also ease their financial strain."

He adheres to Land's traditional model, which is to pay attention to rent collection; this is also the case with Wharf Group, which is all used for rent collection.

The fundamental reason why Land has been able to dominate Hong Kong for hundreds of years is that it relies on rent collection.

Therefore, both Newbijian and other senior leaders of the Jardine Department recognized this.

However, Bao Fuda came in in recent years. He was originally a senior civil servant in the Hong Kong government. He personally believes that Land's business methods are outdated. Otherwise, why would it be surpassed by Cheung Kong Holdings? Even other Chinese-owned companies such as Sun Hung Kai Properties are catching up. trend.

Thinking of this, Bao Fuda said: "The subway company may not be willing to collect rent for a long time, and would rather collect cash quickly from selling off-the-plan properties!"

Niubijian was stunned, not expecting the deputy to refute his opinion.

However, Bao Fuda was invited by the Keswick family and was a powerful figure in Land. After all, he was the chief executive of three companies, and his focus was also on Jardine Matheson.

Therefore, Niubijian explained: "If it is to sell off-the-plan properties, this project can earn a little over 100 million at most. If it is to collect rent, this project can earn many 100 million. I think that as long as the explanation is made clear, the subway company will not They will turn a blind eye. What's more, haven't we already given HK$100 million in cash to the MTR Corporation?"

A senior executive also echoed: "The joint venture company paid 200 million to buy this land. In fact, the MTR Corporation received 200 million and paid out 100 million. Besides, the MTR Corporation has a guaranteed loan from the Hong Kong government, so it may not be very short of money. If it is sold, The cash returned from the off-plan property is not enough for our land purchase. If we earn 100 million, we can only get 50 million Hong Kong dollars."

Bao Fuda was still worried and said: "Lin Zhichao from the Yangtze River Industrial Group has always had a very good vision. He can also see the intention of the subway company. I am afraid that he will sell off-the-plan properties to cooperate with this project!"

If he takes power in Land Development, he must learn from Chinese real estate companies and gradually change the conservative model. It's a pity that he is not the top leader of Land Land yet.

New York General Bao Fuda said this and could only grit his teeth and said: "Then based on the market's stock price of 240 million Hong Kong dollars for this land, we will form a joint company to acquire this land at this price, so that the subway company can withdraw 1.2 HK$100 million. Within three years, they built a 37-storey first-class commercial building. By then, the annual rent will be high, and the MTR Corporation will also enjoy long-term dividends."

He was only willing to give in to this one step!

Bao Fuda could only shake his head in his heart, but then he thought about it. If Niubijian loses this bid, his influence in the Jardine Department will be reduced after all. By then, the responsibility of holding three Taipan companies will obviously be cancelled, and he will have the opportunity to stabilize Taipan Land.

He is eager to prove that he is no weaker than those Chinese real estate developers, so he still hopes to be elected for the top position of Real Estate.

Then he stopped refuting.

Niubijian was also very proud. In his opinion, the conditions for the land were very good. He first invested 120 million into the joint venture, and the subway company actually received the 120 million.

This is something that other real estate companies would never have imagined. Even if it is for sale off-the-plan, it will take a year before it can be sold.

Newbijian thought smugly.

Universal Group.

Lin Zhichao listened to the work reports of Feng Yongfa and Lin Ruihai in the office, mainly about the secret purchase of Wharf Group stocks.

"Chairman, we currently hold 4% of the equity of Wharf Group, and the share price of Wharf is HK$17 per share (the share capital is already 100 million shares)." Lin Ruihai reported seriously.

His father gave him the lead in this acquisition, while Uncle Feng only participated in it and coached him. Lin Ruihai attaches great importance to it because he understands that Wharf Group is related to the future comprehensive development of Universal Group. If it does not succeed, their strength will be reduced sharply.

Lin Zhichao said: "The stock market this year is mainly stable and is expected to run at 400~500 points, which is very suitable for secret buying. In the next eight months, you should strive to secretly buy 2 points of Wharf stocks every month."

In fact, he did not regard the Jardine faction as a strong opponent, but the reason for being so cautious was because he was waiting for changes in the political environment.

In the middle of this year (1977), the doers came to power, and the political environment in Hong Kong became favorable to Chinese capital. This was the opportunity that Lin Zhichao had been waiting for.

Of course, he could also just go for a hostile takeover without considering the political environment; but if so, HSBC may not favor him, and may also favor Jardine by providing loans.

It is precisely because of changes in the environment that HSBC also began to think about its options. In its previous life, it led the acquisition of SITC Bank in the United States in 1978. This is the reason.

Lin Ruihai said: "In this way, we will own 20% of the equity in October, and the estimated cost is about HK$400 million."

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Ignore the cost! Acquisition according to the rhythm is, I am not considering the cost, but the political environment. If the new leader is, our Chinese capital will be more confident. It is time to change, we are Chinese people, I hope I can repay the country as soon as possible."

Lin Ruihai also had a very serious face. Patriotism was part of the education he received since childhood.

Of course, a businessman's patriotism does not mean "working hard" or "sacrifice oneself for others", but "charity within one's ability" and "investment in win-win cooperation".

Feng Yongfa was a little surprised. This boss had never dealt with the mainland before, for fear of getting angry. But he also understands that if he is an enlightened person, the boss will definitely be willing to deal with him. After all, it is a huge market.

After Lin Ruihai and Feng Yongfa left, Lin Zhichao started thinking in the office.

At present, Universal Group has actually begun to "go ashore". As early as the end of 1975, it invested US$350 million (accounting for 80% of the shares) in securities of nine office buildings in Manhattan.

For that investment, Universal Group paid HK$950 million in cash (the remainder was a loan).

The current liquidity of Universal Group is HK$4.1 billion, which is more than enough to acquire the Wharf Group.

Starting from the second half of this year, Universal Group will directly sell oil tankers once they expire.

Even if the price is not ideal, we will sell it decisively.

night.

Lin Ruijiang returned home for dinner. Ever since he got into trouble, he had become much more honest and would go home to visit his parents three days a week. In fact, the whole family of Dafang still lived in Villa No. 79 in Deep Water Bay at this time.

Lin Zhichao and his wife Wu Wenying live on the third floor, Lin Ruihuan and Luo Huijun live on the second floor, and Lin Ruijiang, Lin Ruikai, and Lin Huizhu live on the first floor. Lin Ruijiang often lived in a bungalow on the top of the mountain, Lin Ruikai always lived at home, and Lin Huizhu studied in the United States.

It's good. Lin Zhichao sometimes doesn't want his children from each lineage to live apart, so it's good to live together.

However, he still cared about the young people's ideas and allowed them to move out voluntarily.

"Have you picked out the land in Shi'ao?" Lin Zhichao asked while the family was having dinner.

He planned to ask Lin Ruijiang to go to Shi'ao to select a piece of land and then build a villa to prepare for the future.

Lin Ruijiang said: "According to the opinions you gave me, I chose a hilltop, but I need the approval of all the Shi'ao Owners Committee. It seems that you have to come forward."

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "I forgot that building a house over there requires the approval of the Shi'ao Owners Committee. I will go and do it for you soon. Don't worry about it later."

Lin Ruijiang said: "Many of the Shi'ao Owners' Committee are occupied by senior executives from Jardine, so they won't embarrass us!"

Lin Zhichao said: "If you are such a stingy Yihe executive, then what else are you going to do? Shouson Mountain or the top of the mountain is fine. But in more than half a year, the Yihe executive may really not give me face. "

"Why?"

"none of your business!"

"oh"

Lin Zhichao said while eating: "How was the discussion? Can you get married in the second half of the year, and then let me hold my grandson again?"

All of a sudden, everyone in the family became concerned.

Everyone knows that Lin Zhichao introduced a girlfriend to Lin Ruijiang, which means that it is almost a success.

"Yes! She just needs to pass the test of her parents. I recently invited them to dinner." Lin Ruijiang said honestly.

The third child is about to become a father, and his second brother is not married yet, so after he fell in love with Zhu Linlin, he was already rushing to get married and have children. In fact, after dating Zhu Linlin, he felt that his father's vision was really great. The girl was very smart and had a very good personality, and their relationship developed rapidly.

Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction: "Okay, I've solved a big thing."

The second child is what he is most worried about. He is not very old and has about five or six girlfriends.

He is romantic because he has a golden finger. If he just traveled through time, he might not bother. Because once a woman makes trouble, let alone the family, the family may fall apart if it is not built well.

After things between Lin Ruijiang and Zhu Linlin were settled, the first three sons were all married, which was considered a very good thing.

The fourth and fifth children are all under 23 years old, so there is no need to rush or rush them.

However, Lin Zhichao heard that Lin Ruidong, the fifth child, was dating the little princess of the Rockefeller family. Lin Zhichao was a little hard to make up his mind. Depending on how it develops, he could only let nature take its course.

The fourth child, Lin Ruikai, worked at the Media Group. Lin Zhichao prevented him from interacting with people in the entertainment industry. Before getting married, he had been working in the newspaper office.