The rise of Hong Kong's wealthy families

Throughout the party, the Chinese and the British were clearly distinct and not on the same channel at all. There were very few people talking between the Chinese and the British.

There are currently three major foreign banks in Xiangjiang: Jardine Matheson, Swire Pacific, and Wheelock (Hepu International has been divided up). Although the projects operated by these three foreign banks have many overlaps, each has a different main business.

Jardine Matheson Land owns a large number of commercial buildings and shopping malls in Central, Wharf has a large number of land under construction in Tsim Sha Tsui, and owns two container terminals in Kwai Chung.

Swire Pacific's main focus is on Cathay Pacific and its large properties in Quarry Bay.

Wheelock's main business is shipping and it owns a large number of residential properties in Central.

In today's era, British capital is still in power in Hong Kong, and Chinese capital is a rising landowner. There have been several recent cases of Chinese capital acquiring large British companies. Naturally, the two groups are somewhat unhappy.

Ho Jiahao believes that when the ownership negotiations are concluded, the clarion call for a collective attack on British capital will be sounded, and he will also consider taking advantage of Jardine.

After chatting with Zheng Yutong, Li Zhaoji and others, the banquet ended. He Jiahao informed Huo Jianning about his conversation with Li Jiacheng.

Huo Jianning was silent for a moment and said, "It is more likely that the funds will be locked up. The funds required for the Tin Shui Wai project are too large. Other tycoons are grabbing land near Hong Kong and Kowloon. No one should be willing to participate in the Tin Shui Wai project. Li Jiacheng is looking for you, the boss. I'm afraid it's Have an attitude of giving it a try, otherwise you won’t give up easily.”

"Traffic in Tin Shui Wai is the biggest problem. There is not even a decent main traffic road. Li Ka-shing is busy negotiating with the Hong Kong government on the cement road issue, not to mention the KMB company. It seems that Li Ka-shing doesn't care about me. No hope."

"Does the boss want to take these shares?" Huo Jianning looked at He Jiahao and asked.

He Jiahao nodded, "Well, if it's tens of millions, I can consider it. I'll find a time to talk to John Madden of Wheelock. This project won't lose money."

"Wheelock should rush to sell its shares in Weicheng Company. John Madden is crazy about shipping." Huo Jianning said.

Early September

Ho met with John Madden, chairman of Wheelock Company, at the Peninsula Hotel, mainly to discuss the sale of the International Building, the Federal Building, and the sale of shares in Weicheng Company.

"Mr. Madden, long time no see!" He Jiahao said hello.

"Hello, Mr. Ho!" John Madden responded, but not very enthusiastically.

"Congratulations to Mr. Madden, you are about to become the new world shipping king." He Jiahao said with a smile. Wheelock has eaten a large number of Bao Yugang's ships and built ships in Europe and Japan. It is only a matter of time before the total tonnage surpasses Bao Yugang, and Madden likes fame, so naturally he wants to praise this addicted Jew.

"Haha, Mr. He is so grateful!" Madden grinned and looked at He Jiahao with a much friendlier look.

"I asked you to come out today because I heard that your company is planning to sell its International Building and Federal Building to see if I can buy them."

John Madden pondered for a few seconds, "These two buildings are indeed planned to be sold, but the price is a bit high, 1.6 billion."

"It's a bit high. The two towers at the Admiralty Admiralty Center are only 1.1 billion. What does Mr. Madden think of 1.2 billion?" After careful consideration, He Jiahao gave a price that was not high.

Madden frowned, "1.2 billion is too low, 1.5 billion is the bottom line."

He Jiahao knew that 1.5 billion could not be the bottom line and was just Madden's lie, so he quoted another 1.3 billion.

After repeated testing by the two, a price of 1.37 billion was finally tentatively agreed upon. Madden still needed to go back to discuss with other shareholders before he could truly finalize it. He Jiahao naturally understood.

"Mr. Madden, I wonder if it is possible to sell Wheelock's shares in Weicheng Company?" He Jiahao asked.

Hearing this, Madden's eyes glowed, he calmed down and said, "Mr. He is interested in Weicheng Company? Wheelock temporarily holds 18% of Weicheng Company's shares. What price can Mr. He offer?"

It seems that Madden has no hope for the Tin Shui Wai project, otherwise he would not be so eager to sell.

"How about 20 million?" He Jiahao raised two fingers and said with a smile.

Madden felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on him, and he became sober. "It is impossible to sell it at this price, the minimum is 60 million."

"The Tin Shui Wai project is full of difficulties. Not only do we have to negotiate with Hong Kong government agencies, but we also have to find transportation. Even if all these problems are solved, no one may be willing to buy commercial housing, and they may face losses. 60 million is really too high, 30 million, maybe. ." He Jiahao pointed out the key points.

The original land of 488 hectares, which is 43.92 million square feet, only cost 70 to 80 million, but now 18% needs to pay 60 million. This is a huge profit.

Madden was anxious to get rid of this project. After much consideration, he finally lowered the price, "50 million!"

"35 million!"

In the end, it was won at a price of 40 million, and He Jiahao was naturally very happy. In two years, the Hong Kong government will take back this piece of land, and 2.258 billion funds will be withdrawn, which is enough for Weicheng Company to get a Kingswood Villas for free.

In fact, it is difficult for Weicheng Company's project in Tin Shui Wai to succeed. To develop a real estate, bank loans are generally needed to reduce financial pressure, but the first step is difficult, and no bank is willing to lend.

This is not for political reasons, but because banks are very unfavorable about this project. Even HSBC does not dare to lend out these billions for fear that it will become a bad debt and cause heavy losses to the bank.

Li Jiacheng will naturally not invest too much, because he also has many projects on hand that need to be developed. "Goods rotate" is his business philosophy. The land of Whampoa Dockyard near Hung Hom alone is enough for him to develop for several years.

Hua Yun, on the other hand, does not have such a huge amount of funds and has no experience in developing large-scale housing estates. This project is destined to be delayed for a relatively long time.

Ho Jiahao had a bug in his previous life, so he naturally knew that the 2.258 billion from the Hong Kong government would become the start-up capital of Kingswood Villas, and he could also use this to negotiate transportation and other issues with the Hong Kong government, so the project was considered alive.

In this negotiation, He Jiahao will spend 1.4 billion. Among them, he plans to let Huamei Real Estate buy the International and Federal Buildings. He will take out 200 million from the company's account, and the remaining 1.17 billion will be used in the form of bank loans. In a few months, Later, another 400 million yuan was raised through rights issue. The annual rent of the two buildings was about 80 million yuan, which was just enough to repay the interest generated every year. The remaining loan was paid off before the collapse in 1982.

In this way, Huamei Real Estate Company will reach a higher level.

According to Ho's plan, Huamei Real Estate will absorb Manulife Development's shares in Hutchison Group and most of Hutchison Group's high-quality properties. However, all this will take time. Huamei Real Estate cannot afford so much loan funds now. Pressure, after all, this is a huge project involving more than 3 billion yuan, try to complete it before 1985.

Today, Huamei Real Estate Company only has tens of millions of working capital in its account and needs to raise funds, of which a lot of funds are left to develop real estate.