The rise of Hong Kong's wealthy families

Monday, January 30, 1984

There are still two days until the Spring Festival holiday. The streets have already been decorated with lights and colorful decorations. Merchants are advertising promotions in an attempt to make more money before the Spring Festival. However, the employees within the company are working very hard, and it seems that the bustle of the outside world cannot affect them. Every cent.

He Jiahao was sitting in the office of Manulife Development Company, constantly reading the annual reports of all companies. Fortunately, he had a method of reading, otherwise these annual reports would have taken several days.

"Boss, 30% of Land's shares have been acquired." Shen Dingqian said very happily. He holds 30% of Land's shares and is already the largest shareholder of Land.

He Jiahao nodded expressionlessly and acquired 30% from the stock market. If he continued to acquire, his intentions would be exposed, so he had to prepare for a comprehensive acquisition, which also involved another link: the acquisition of Jardine Matheson Company.

"Where are the shares of Jardine Matheson Company?" He Jiahao glanced at Shen Dingqian and asked.

At this point, Shen Dingqian replied with some guilt, "About 10%, which does not meet the boss's requirements."

"Yihe Company does not have many scattered shares in the stock market. Most of them are in the hands of some companies, and I dare not buy in large quantities for fear of attracting the attention of the securities department of Jardine Matheson Company." Shen Dingqian explained quickly.

He Jiahao thought for a while and said, "You go and collect the shareholder information of Land Company and Jardine Matheson Company. When the time comes to initiate the acquisition, we need to deal with them. There are still two companies that need to continue to acquire the stocks. We are going to initiate a comprehensive acquisition." , the more low-priced stocks the better.”

"Okay. Hutchison Group has some original shares of Land Company and Jardine Matheson Company. Should I contact Huo Daban?" Shen Dingqian suggested.

Hutchison Group does hold a lot of shares in the two companies, probably between 3% and 5%. Ho Ka-ho read similar information when he took over Hutchison Group. I can’t remember the specific number, but I have an impression of the approximate figures. .

"Don't worry! Holding it by Hutchison Group is equivalent to holding it by Manulife Development. You mainly focus on stock acquisitions and data collection in the stock market." He Jiahao waved his hand and rejected Shen Dingqian's suggestion.

If you take the shares of Hutchison Group now, the shares acquired here will definitely be less. After all, if it exceeds 35%, it will trigger the early warning line for a full acquisition. He Jiahao does not want to be warned by the Securities Regulatory Office and have to deal with it in the future.

After Shen Dingqian left the office, He Jiahao continued to read the annual report.

It is still a period of crisis, but specialized companies such as Towngas Company, Tramway Company, China Bus Company, and Hong Kong Electric Company have not been affected too much. Their income and profits are still stable. They are also one of the main sources of income for Manulife Development Company. It can be seen that there are special companies How important a company is.

The China Gas Company's profit in 1983 was HK$380 million, the tram company's profit was HK$86 million, the China Bus Company's profit was HK$210 million (mostly from land sales), and Hong Kong Electric's profit was HK$520 million, which is an exaggeration.

Of course, Ho would not put so much money in the accounts of his subsidiaries, so he proposed to distribute dividends and reserve a small part as the company's working capital. Among them, Towngas Company would pay a dividend of 300 million, the tram company would pay a dividend of 50 million, and the China Bus Company would pay a dividend of 160 million. , but Hong Kong Electric Company has the least, only 100 million, because the power plant project in Shenhai City still requires a large amount of investment, too many dividends, and a rights issue to raise funds later, which is too troublesome.

Moreover, Hong Kong Electric Company has gone through a major management purge. Ma Shimin has completely taken control of Hong Kong Electric Company. This person was personally recruited by Ho Ka-Hao, so he is a bit special and can retain a large amount of funds. However, Ho Ka-Hao also told Ma Shimin that this The money is a special fund. If you want to use it, you must tell him.

Ma Shimin is very clear about the future layout of Hong Kong Electric Company, but it does not prevent Ma Shimin from using it for other purposes. In Ho Ka-ho's plan, Hong Kong Electric Company is the flagship company of the Ho family in the energy field. In the future, it will enter Australia, Europe, America and other places, so he didn't want anyone to ruin his plan.

Manulife Development Corporation received more than HK$300 million in dividends. Although it is not much, it is enough to do other things.

So He Jiahao called Shen Dingqian again and asked him to collect some information on Wheelock's current situation so that he could make a judgment and decide the time to attack.

Shen Dingqian worked very quickly and sent the documents of Defeng Company over in the afternoon.

"Boss, this is a document from Wheelock Company."

He Jiahao took the document and read it carefully. These are troubled times and we must be cautious. This is an acquisition case involving three large companies. Although it will not cause the liquidation and bankruptcy of the subordinate companies, heavy losses are certain after all.

Wheelock has suffered serious losses in the shipping business, but it is still a large company with the largest market capitalization in Hong Kong. This can be seen from the fact that the former chartering king was willing to spend 2.2 billion Hong Kong dollars to acquire Wheelock. Carver Department Store is very interested, this is a good thing passed down by the He family.

Moreover, Federal Real Estate Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wheelock Company, is a high-quality listed real estate company. Together with another real estate trust (also a real estate company), it is enough to make people salivate, because these two companies have the Mid-levels of May Road, There are properties such as Plantation Road and Garden Terrace (originally owned by the Cheung Yu-liang family), and there is even a Wheelock Building worth more than one billion in Central.

If Ho is asked to spend 3 billion to win Wheelock, Ho will take action without hesitation.

What's more, he has a huge amount of funds in his hands, up to 20 billion Hong Kong dollars.

"Does the boss want to acquire Wheelock Company?" Shen Dingqian asked. As the deputy general manager, responsible for the daily affairs of the company, he naturally knew that the company had huge funds in its accounts.

He Jiahao thought for a while, nodded and said, "Well, although Wheelock Company has suffered heavy losses in shipping, it is still a large company with assets of several billion. With a few adjustments, it can be compared to Hong Kong Electric Company."

Shen Dingqian agreed with his boss, but it was too crazy to attack three large companies at the same time. If he lost 10 billion, it would be a bit outweighing the gain.

Shen Dingqian didn't know that He Jiahao still had 1 billion US dollars in savings in the United States, and thought that these were all the boss's funds.

"Boss, I think Wheelock Company's matter can be postponed a little longer. We are now starting to deal with Land Company and Jardine Matheson Company. We don't have enough manpower and funds. If some of the details are missed, there may be consequences. It will lead to losses." Shen Dingqian advised.

Of course, He Jiahao knew that what Shen Dingqian said was very reasonable, but he didn't know that there was a Chinese who was already eyeing Wheelock. If he didn't enter the market in advance, he would lose more.