Hong Kong's new giants

The participation in the bidding this time is not in the name of New Era Group itself, but an investment company established by New Era Group in Brazil; of course, the Brazilian National Committee for Privatization must know that this investment company comes from the consortium of Xiangjiang—New Times Group.

The New Era Group has invested in Brazil for two years, and the relationship here is very good, so it is eligible to participate in this auction.

"Who are those people?" A group of financial groups asked.

Of course, the difficulty of inquiring was not high, and soon everyone knew that Yuan Tianfan represented the largest consortium in Xiangjiang—the Brazilian investment company under the New Era Group—Lancy Investment.

"The company of the world's richest man? My God, Mr. Lin Zuhui is not interested in the 1.04 million shares, right? That is 41% of the shares with voting rights (more than 3.8 million shares in the total share capital, about 2.5 million shares with voting rights) .”

For a while, representatives of the SA consortium headed by Brazil National Steel (which has been privatized), the world's mining giant Anglo-American, and Brazil's largest industrial giant Waterlandim all sank.

The world knows that Lin Zuhui is very rich. Last year it was 260 billion US dollars, 2 billion US dollars more than No.80 Bill Gates.

(PS: Bill Gates should double this year, reaching about 360 billion U.S. dollars; of course, if calculated according to the list in July, Lin Zuhui’s wealth should be more than 400 billion U.S. dollars. So, theoretically, Bill Gates in this life may Only two years for the richest man)

However, people from the Brazilian National Committee for Privatization showed a smile. They only care about how much the privatization premium can reach, and they don't care about who wins the auction.The reason is actually very simple. Although the shares have been auctioned off, the president of CVRD is still appointed by the President of Brazil, and the government still has great decision-making power over CVRD.

Soon, the auction will start, and the first auction will be the highlight, that is, the 1.04 million equity auction, especially this one that only accounts for more than 27% of the equity, but accounts for 41% of the voting rights. Waterlandim Corporation needs.

After the auction started, Yuan Tianfan didn't ask for a price. The boss explained that he wanted to buy the equity, but it was too hot.Preferably less than 20% equity, most suitable for New Era Group.

After a lengthy auction, SA, a consortium headed by Brazil's National Steel Corporation (with a large proportion of U.S. capital), won it for 33.38 billion reais (31.3 billion U.S. dollars).During the whole process, Yuan Tianfan did not participate in the placard raising.

"Gentlemen and ladies, next is the 16.3% equity auction, a total of 6275.5 million shares, with 3% voting rights... Now, start the auction!"

This voting right is better than nothing, so in theory the price is much cheaper than before.

At this time, Yuan Tianfan began to raise his placards!

His idea is very simple, if he takes this part of the equity, the boss will definitely be in a good mood; even if he can't take it, there will be opportunities later, the important thing is that the previous funds will be consumed.

After a while of asking prices, the representative of the national steel company (alone) shouted: "13 billion reais"

Originally, this price was hardly followed by anyone, but Yuan Tianfan still shouted: "13.05 billion reais"

All of a sudden, Langxi Investment finally attracted the attention of all consortiums!

"Japanese consortium?"

"Is it Mitsui & Co.?"

For a while, everyone's first reaction was the Japanese consortium. In Brazil, there are many Japanese expatriates, and Japan prefers to invest in Brazil.

"I heard it's a Xiangjiang consortium!"

"Xiangjiang? The Xiangjiang consortium actually invests in iron ore?"

People were talking about it, Yuan Tianfan wasn't afraid of talking about it, he was the boss if he was rich.If the 16.3% stake can be won, the boss will never blame himself, because the boss said that iron ore will usher in a big explosion in the millennium, especially the strong demand in the mainland.

And Yuan Tianfan also knew how huge the amount of funds of the New Era Group was, so he was very confident in his heart!

In this way, the price began to continue to climb.

"13.95 billion reais." Yuan Tianfan shouted a 'sky-high price', and he was already preparing to retreat. After all, this 16.3% is just a stock with little voting rights, and this price is already very high.

However, the Brazilian national steel representatives on the other side were ashen-faced. It was obvious that the price was already too high.

In fact, Brazil's national steel industry already has a heavy proportion of American capital, and it was privatized as early as 1992.

"Idiots, the group of idiots of the National Committee for Privatization actually let in Xiangjiang Capital. What else do they have besides money, can they find a market for Vale's iron ore?"

"Could it be that the official is interested in the mainland market behind Xiangjiang Capital, and wants to export iron ore to the mainland?"

For a moment, everyone seemed to understand, and couldn't help but gasp.

"Forget it, the price is too high, there are still opportunities in the future!"

"That's right, there's no need to pay too much, and this one doesn't have much voting power, so it's not worth it!"

The auctioneer was also very excited at this time. Thanks to the addition of 'Lancy Investment', this auction will not be so lifeless and become more dynamic!

"13.95 billion reals, the second time, is there anything else to follow?"

……

"13.95 billion reais, the third time, the transaction. Congratulations to the Lancey consortium for winning!"

Yuan Tianfan did not expect that the auction would be so successful and other financial groups would be so conservative.

In fact, he didn't know that these financial groups were far less optimistic about Vale than Lin Zuhui.

The reason why Lin Zuhui is optimistic is because in the long run, the demand in the mainland is far from beginning.

In the following auction, Yuan Tianfan no longer participated, but because Brazil National Steel lost 16.3% of its shares, he started to make efforts later, which made this auction much higher than expected.

The auction is about 70% of the equity, and the government has reserved about 30%; of course, because the government still has administrative management rights, it can expand the capital of Vale.

Of course, the expansion of capital is not for the government to take power in Vale, after all, there would be no need for privatization.

The iron ore industry requires huge investment every year. When it was nationalized before, Vale’s annual investment accounted for 40%; and the purpose of privatization is better development, so the annual investment in the future will account for the proportion of profits. It will reach about 70%, which is the ideal state.

Of course, even so, Lin Zuhui guesses that the annual rate of return will not be lower than 30% (calculated in ten years), and this investment is quite cost-effective.

……

However, when Lin Zuhui learned that Yuan Tianfan had won 13.95% of Vale's equity at 13.08 billion reais (16.3 billion U.S. dollars), he immediately expressed his affirmation on the phone; and he himself was naturally very happy.

He came to Brazil this time and carried out many activities, including meeting with the Brazilian president and dealing with the government here; in addition, he also inspected the investment here.

In fact, his biggest investment in Brazil before was the Langham Hotel in Sao Paulo.

The property of the Langham Hotel in Sao Paulo is a Spanish colonial-style building that was purchased, and then refurbished with huge sums of money. The entire investment is as high as 1.85 million US dollars.

As for other investments, they are all small things. After all, the Asian financial crisis has also had a huge impact on countries such as Brazil, Russia, and Argentina.Therefore, it is not the best time to invest.

Chapter 6 and Four [Information Technology Giants]

Back in Xiangjiang, it is already mid-May, the real estate in Xiangjiang has entered the final stage of madness, and various records have been crazily refreshed:

The 330 residential units in East Point City, Tseung Kwan O received more than 27000 registered subscriptions within three days, breaking the highest record of registered subscriptions in Hong Kong's history, with an oversubscription of 88 times and frozen funds of 95 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Entertainment Building was sold for HK$39.6 billion at a unit price of HK$2.2 per square foot, setting a new record for office sales.

In early March, Sino Land and its major shareholder, the Huang family, won a piece of non-industrial land in Siu Sai Wan, Chai Wan at a high price of 3 billion, setting a record for Hong Kong government land auction (excluding bidding projects).

The British Hong Kong government, facing retreat, then sold two sites at Jute Road Gold in Stanley and Huanhai Street in Kowloon at prices of 55 billion and 60.6 billion respectively.

Crazy real estate records were set one after another, and the prefectures and cities in Xiangjiang seemed to have reached their peak.

With such a good market, New Era Group's shipments are naturally smooth, and the price is very ideal.

Take the four buildings of Legu Real Estate acquired in the late 80s as an example. At that time, the cost price was only 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. In addition to the later merger and reconstruction, the total investment was only a little over 30 billion Hong Kong dollars; but now, the four buildings are sold in total. 108 billion Hong Kong dollars, which can be described as a huge profit.

The same is true for the Entertainment Building. When the August 4th stock market crashed, it was only worth 5 million Hong Kong dollars. Afterwards, it cost 9 million Hong Kong dollars to rebuild, and the total cost was only 39.6 million Hong Kong dollars. It was sold for [-] billion Hong Kong dollars. That’s not counting, the rate of return on the rents collected in these years is amazing.

Within five months, New Era Group has cashed in 5 buildings, 3 shopping malls (two more are being prepared for sale), and three mid-level luxury housing projects (there is No. 1 May Road in preparation), making a profit of nearly 300 billion ;

At the same time, the New Era Group had almost nothing at the official land auction;

There are various indications that the New Era Group is 'bearish' on the property market in Hong Kong. The media reacted one after another and began to report on the actions of the New Era Group.

And when New Era Group announced that it had acquired a 102% stake in 'Vale' in Brazil at a price of 16.3 billion Hong Kong dollars and entered the field of mineral investment, Hong Kong media was in an uproar.

A lot of media wanted to inquire about the news, and finally Chen Bin, the president of New Era Group, came forward and accepted a simple interview.

It's still a cliché:

"For New Times Group, Heung Kong is too small, so seeking global investment is inevitable."

"Judging from the previous overseas investment projects of New Era Group, they are undoubtedly very successful."

"Xiangjiang is still the headquarters of New Times Group, and the group has no intention of reducing Xiangjiang's investment. Taking IFC as an example, the investment in the entire project is as high as 460 billion Hong Kong dollars, and New Times Group holds 6% of the shares. This investment alone is huge. With Cyberport investment..."

Although there are some loopholes, the prefectures and cities of Xiangjiang still go their own way, and have not restrained themselves because of the abnormal behavior of the New Era Group.What's more, in some people's eyes, New Era Group is just 'not chasing high'.

New Era Group.

Chen Xiaofen came to Lin Zuhui's office to report on the work.

"Boss, sell 1 May Road later this month, leaving the two best units."

The two largest and best units are reserved, of course, because Lin Zuhui wants to keep them for future use, including the second floor of Diligende Pavilion, leaving two top-floor duplex units.

The other two mid-level luxury housing projects did not have any residential units, and they were all sold out.

Lin Zuhui nodded and said with satisfaction: "It's progressing well! What about other housing projects?"

Chen Xiaofen said: "The situation is also very good. By the end of June, I am confident that 5000 residential units will be sold, accounting for 80% of the sales target for the whole year."

In fact, there is such a situation in Hong Kong: In May last year, the Hong Kong government released a message - during the period from January 5 to May 1994, 1 residential real estate projects approved by the government to sell uncompleted properties can provide residential buildings. There are more than 1996 units, but as of May 5, only 62% of the units have been launched on the market, and the remaining 4% of the units have either not been launched or are reserved for internal subscription.

That is to say, many real estate developers may not sell their real estate, so they keep it in their hands to collect rent, or choose an opportunity to resell it.

Now that the market is so good, New Times Group doesn't care so much. It completed 5000 residential units in the first half of the year, which is obviously "dumping" (6200 residential units are planned for the whole year).

Of course, there is a big gap in the property market in Xiangjiang, which can be absorbed even if tens of thousands of residential units are launched.If there hadn't been a financial crisis in Southeast Asia, Xiangjiang's bubble would not have popped so quickly.

Lin Zuhui thought for a while and said: "This progress is not bad, but we will try to sell another 1200 units in July and August, and strive to complete this year's goal ahead of schedule."

Chen Xiaofen has already guessed some thoughts of the boss, probably because the boss thinks that the property market in Xiangjiang has risen too fast and is about to enter a period of adjustment, so they are sold out ahead of time.Of course, as for the sharp drop in the financial crisis, even Lin Zuhui's closest people would not have guessed it.

"no problem!"

After Chen Xiaofen left, Lin Zuhui showed a smile, knowing the historical trend feels great.

New Times Group has not only cashed out office buildings, shops, and residences at high prices, but has also been striving to sign long-term contracts for rent in the past year. Of course, they are trying their best to sign long-term contracts, which are not mandatory.

……

Media Building.

Lin Zuhui sat in the office and listened to the work report of the presidents of the four major subsidiaries of Wanhui Media Group. He was very satisfied with the results.

At present, Wanhui Media has four major businesses: media, animation, games, and software.

The media department is an old-fashioned business. Although Xiangjiang experienced the "media war" in 1995, the paper media was in a slump; however, Wanhui Media is still the largest media group in Xiangjiang. The second "Economic Daily", "Ming Pao" for intellectuals, the best-selling magazine "Men's Wear" and many other best-selling paper media.

In the animation department, with four major IP Japanese manga-style comics and the new best-selling comics that followed, Wanhui Comics has become famous all over the world, and it has also driven the transformation and progress of the entire Xiangjiang comics industry.

The game department has produced many classic works so far, representing: "Pokémon" series, "Resident Evil" series, "Legend", "Age of Empires", etc. The entire game department has as many as 500 employees, becoming the world's largest A very famous game company in the world.

The development of the software department is even stronger. At present, the number of employees has reached 1000. In addition to software development, outsourcing business has also been carried out.

When Luo Bencheng, president of the Comic Business Department, finished his report, Lin Zuhui handed him a piece of paper and said, "Someone gave me an idea and hoped that Wanhui Comics would complete it into a complete work. You organize a project team."

Luo Bencheng was ecstatic in his heart. One must know that Wanhui Comics can achieve today's results, and the four big IPs hand-picked by the boss are absolutely important.Although, in the past few years, they have flocked to some good works and achieved some achievements overseas, but the four major IPs are like gods, although these four IPs are also divided into big and small gods.

"No problem, now we have a lot of talents, and local talents are enough to complete it!" Robbencheng said confidently.

Lin Zuhui nodded. He also knew that in recent years, Xiangjiang has attracted a lot of local "manga-style" editor-level talents, especially the three major serial IP works, which have already joined the local editor-in-chief and screenwriter.These three major IPs have a characteristic, that is, where they are released, they are released in the name of the studio, and they do not highlight a certain person. It is also considering that the Japanese main writer has suddenly succumbed. Of course, there has been no dispute yet. Probably those Japanese The editor also knew that Wanhui Media only let them work part-time from the beginning.

Luo Bencheng looked at the information on the paper, and suddenly fell into it.

""Death Note", reasoning style comics..."

There is not a lot of information, Lin Zuhui does not want to rack his brains to recall "Death Note", so it is enough to make a general style; whether it can surpass the original work of the previous life is not so important, what is important is to take this IP as his own .

Finally, Lin Zuhui said: "The core focus is still on the serialization of "Detective Conan", "Pokémon", and "One Piece". These three big IPs are enough for us to eat for 100 years, so we must pay attention to them."

The peripherals of the animation industry are too big, such as theatrical versions, movies, figures, toys, T-shirts, etc. Man Fai Comics’ annual net profit is as high as 15 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is the reason why piracy is rampant.

Robinson nodded and said, "Okay!"

Next, came the game department—Gao Kelin, the president of The Ninth City.

In the United States, a game studio only has 30 people, and the Ninth City has a full 500 people, which can be described as a strong army; of course, many of them are fresh graduates who have just graduated from Xiangjiang, and the Ninth City is just recruiting and training. .

There are many people, but they are not idle. The ninth city has a lot of work tasks and projects. In order to better sales, the company divides the game department into: console/handheld game department and PC game department. There are many major departments; under the two major departments, there are many working groups.

"Boss, the sales volume of "Age of Empires" in the United States has exceeded 130 million, and the total global sales volume is 300 million sets."

Lin Zuhui said in a good mood: "Okay, this result is better than the brother company Blizzard Entertainment's "Warcraft"!"

Gao Kelin nodded, and said: "The growth rate is indeed faster than that of "Warcraft", but the pricing is quite different, but I believe that the global sales volume must be much higher than that of "Warcraft."

Lin Zuhui nodded. He owns four game development companies, namely: Kingsoft (ancillary business) in the Mainland, Blizzard Entertainment, Activision, and The Ninth City.

Among them, Blizzard Entertainment is still the development trend of the previous life, "Warcraft" series, "Diablo" series, "StarCraft" series;

Activision, Lin Zuhui added "Counter-Strike" and "The Sims" to this company, especially "The Sims", the best-selling PC game in the previous life, it is said that all versions sold hundreds of millions of copies.

Kingsoft, under the advice of Jingwei Capital, Rebus established a game business department, and successively developed "Revelation of Zhongguancun" and "Legend of Sword and Fairy".

The Ninth City has developed too many games. "Age of Empires" has entered the research and development stage in 1995, and it was officially released in the United States through Activision last Christmas.Afterwards, it was successively issued in Japan, Mainland China, South Korea, Xiangjiang and other regions.

This game that was supposed to belong to Microsoft was cut off by Lin Zuhui just like that.