The Industrial Giant Reborn

A week later, Chen Zhiwen came to Hutchison Building and happened to encounter Hutchison Whampoa Group handing out Christmas gifts to all employees.

Zhou Jiayang naturally accompanied Chen Zhiwen at the door for a while.

Chen Zhiwen asked: "What do you usually give out for Christmas?"

Zhou Jiayang said: "Generally, they are fruits that can be stored for a long time. Fruits in Hong Kong are actually very expensive. There are also coupons from PARKnSHOP Supermarket. Sometimes there are also some consumables, such as umbrellas with the logo of the construction site. , sun hat, thermos cup, etc. In fact, it doesn’t cost much, it’s mainly just a benefit.”

"Okay, it's rare for everyone to be happy at the end of the year." Chen Zhiwen nodded. In fact, Hutchison's employees are most likely not very poor, but maybe saving has become a habit of many people. They don't give out more in kind, only money. Then they don't Will spend.

The other companies are similar. Midea used to give out cash, but later they discovered this and changed their policies. Although many people think that giving out money is the most practical thing, from a company perspective, it makes more sense to give out some food.

"Actually, we just wanted to pay attention to Christmas. The main reason is that Hong Kong still has the habit of celebrating Christmas. Before the Chinese New Year, it is actually the bulk of our welfare." Yang Xiao said from the Zhou family.

"Yes, for us Chinese, the Chinese New Year is the most authentic holiday." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Holiday gifts are just trivial things. Chen Zhiwen took a look at the items inside. Many of them are apples, oranges, dragon fruits, etc. that are durable. With the current price of fruits in Hong Kong, many people may indeed buy them and eat them. They are very practical and other There is also a sun protection umbrella with Hutchison's logo engraved on it, which is very atmospheric and classy for use on rainy days.

"These are actually made by suppliers from Galaxy Trading. The prices are very low but the quality is very good." Zhou Jiayang added.

"Yes, the resources have been maximized." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. The existence of Galaxy Trade has reduced the cost of many daily necessities a lot. When the scale becomes larger, it can be radiated to the entire Hong Kong. Many daily necessities in PARKnSHOP supermarkets are low-priced. Not only did it beat other competitors, it also reduced the cost of living for Hong Kong people. This may not be a big deal, but it is still a little less.

"Yes, the production costs in the mainland are indeed shockingly low. It's a pity that Hutchison Whampoa is not in the industry, otherwise I would definitely have moved some factories there." Zhou Yang said with a smile.

"Not only is the labor cost low in the Mainland, the future market is not small, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "But that is also a matter for the future, let's go up and talk about it."

"Okay, this way." Zhou Jiayang said quickly.

Afterwards, a group of people entered the Hutchison Building, attracting the attention of countless people nearby. Everyone knew that it was the big boss.

After arriving at the office building on the top floor, Chen Zhiwen looked into the distance and said, "This Hutchison Building is still too short and a bit old after all."

Hutchison Building was built in the early 1960s. It was the top building in Hong Kong at the time. But now, it just cannot keep up with the times. Even the new buildings built by small real estate companies on Hong Kong Island two years ago are taller than Hutchison. The ones in Kowloon If it weren't for air traffic control, there would probably be many high-rise buildings.

"Sheng Chen, are we going to demolish the Hutchison Building and build a new one like the Midea Building?" Zhou Jiayang asked with a smile after making the tea himself.

"That's not necessary. The Midea Building is unique because of its location. Hutchison's location is average. It's not cost-effective to demolish it and rebuild again. I remember that Hutchison Whampoa didn't get a lot of unsold land from the Hong Kong government before. It should also be there." Is it near Central?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

The location of Hutchison Building can only be said to be not bad in Hong Kong, but not excellent. In the original history, Li Jiacheng only demolished this building in the 21st century.

Instead of tearing it down and rebuilding it, it would be better to build another one in another place. The one here can also be rented out to make money in the future. The essence of the difference from Midea's building selection method is that the land price is different.

"There is some land in Central, but it's a bit small. I'm afraid it won't be possible to build a very high building." Zhou Jiayang thought for a while and said, "Sheng Chen, wait a few more days, and I will study it again. Maybe we can choose a piece of land, and then Buy one near it so you can get a larger area."

When building high-rise buildings, the area must not be small. This is not only for economic reasons, but also for safety reasons.

"Okay, there's no rush for this. Just take your time and find a suitable location. If you want to build, you have to build it well." Chen Zhiwen said, "Let's talk about land."

"Sheng Chen, according to our plan, our people have a rough idea of ​​the size of Land's debt. Before we borrowed money, their debt was HK$18.5 billion. Adding our 3 billion, it is almost HK$21.5 billion. This is basically It already accounts for 75% of Land's total assets. At the current interest rate, Land's current internal rent and other operating income cannot even pay back the interest," Zhou Jiayang said.

Since you spent a lot of money to buy the other party's people, you can't just do one thing. Before you report it, you can naturally do something else. Moreover, Hutchison Whampoa's requirements are also very simple. They are all information that can be remembered. There is no need to retrieve data, and things like debts can be hidden from outsiders and even from many shareholders, but it is impossible to hide them from internal financial executives, because the entire accounting is done by them.

"21.5 billion, that's good. I estimate that most of the 3 billion funds will be used up by January. Your people are optimistic about the flow of funds. Once it is confirmed that the funds will not be recovered after they are spent, it is time for us to take action. Yes." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In the original history, Land Land had a debt of HK$16 billion at its peak. Compared with the current situation, regardless of the HK$3 billion it recently lent, Landmark today has a debt of HK$2.5 billion more than in the original history. , this is basically the result of Chen Zhiwen luring the Hong Kong government to bid for the land king in advance, paying more than 2 billion more to buy the land plus the cost of starting construction in advance.

Yizhi Mutual Control is indeed unbreakable, but as long as it goes bankrupt, it will not be unbreakable.

"Understood, I have arranged for him to keep an eye on Land's large financial flows at all times. He is the deputy financial director of Land Group, and a lot of information is just available to him." Yang Xiao of the Zhou family said, "It's all verbal anyway. He was also happy to tell us without leaving any evidence behind.”

"You said, if we can buy off the landowners, will our people also be bought off by others?" Chen Zhiwen suddenly asked.

"It's very possible that as long as someone spends money, we have so many employees, even if there are hundreds of senior executives who have access to some of the company's secrets, it's impossible to prevent them all." Zhou Jiayang replied decisively: "But Hutchison Whampoa also has a certain anti-corruption mechanism and a reporting mechanism. As long as someone contacts them and reports it to the company, the company will give them great benefits after verification. This will firstly prevent internal commercial espionage, and secondly, at least Let us know who is out to get us."

There is no principle or method to prevent thieves for a thousand days, especially insider thieves. We can only use some means to interfere as much as possible and detect them in time.

"Well, yes." Chen Zhiwen didn't care too much. As long as his company develops well, there won't be any big loopholes. Spies sent by outsiders can at most gain some benefits through some information, instead of preparing to acquire other companies like this. company.

It is difficult to completely eliminate commercial espionage. We can only try to control all kinds of information. For example, Midea Group has more commercial espionage. After all, it is currently the largest gaming group in the world. At present, dozens of people who have been bribed or even sent for interviews by their Japanese or European and American counterparts have been caught and sent to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. These people are not just like Hutchison Whampoa who just need to understand the development of things, but they want to take away the core of the company. creativity and code, but these are strictly protected, and many people have been caught after taking the risk.

When a company becomes larger, this kind of problem becomes inevitable, as long as there are no problems with the core management. As for Land's finance department this time, it will not work in a company owned by Chen Zhiwen because of the financial situation of their own company. It's good, and it's useless if outsiders know about it.

In fact, it is not abnormal for Land to do this, because normal banks actually turn a blind eye to this kind of thing, but Hisense’s loan this time is entirely for the boss’s acquisition of Land, otherwise, If Chen Zhiwen does not want to acquire Land, knowing that land prices will recover or even skyrocket in the future, he will only deepen his cooperation with Land. At most, he can take advantage of Land's crisis to get more benefits.

Chen Zhiwen asked again: "How many Land and Jardine shares do we have in our hands?"

"For Land, it's almost 21.6% of the shares, and for Jardine, it's almost 18%, a little less." Zhou Jiayang replied: "Because of Yihe Mutual Control, a large number of shares were flowed to Landmark and Jardine, and we have reached the share we have today. It is almost impossible to continue the acquisition without affecting the stock market.”

"Okay, there is no need to continue the acquisition. In fact, I only acquired these to have a chance to speak at the shareholders' meeting. As long as it exceeds the Keswick family's shares." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "Yizhi Mutual Control cannot crack , we will first bring Land to the edge of bankruptcy before proposing an acquisition at the shareholders' meeting. I think many shareholders will agree. However, in order to avoid extreme situations, these ghosts would rather go bankrupt than sell. Then we need to prepare for the second Recruitment, count a lot of cash, and if it really goes to auction, we will be ready to take over these properties at any time."

If you can't get something, you can only destroy it first and then see if it can be restored. Anyway, Land's core assets are a bunch of Central properties. Others can still be bought if you have money.

However, it is unlikely that the fish will die and the net will break.

"The probability should be very low, but I will still be prepared. Hutchison Whampoa and Hengyi also had a lot of U.S. dollars overseas before. During the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate crisis, we also exchanged a lot of U.S. dollars and properties together. Currently, Hutchison Whampoa has a lot of U.S. dollars in its hands. The Hong Kong dollar is not a problem, and we can also remortgage it immediately after bidding on a property to reduce financial pressure." Zhou Jiayang said.

The nature of auctioning a building is different from that of purchasing a building. In the latter, you can pay a small amount of money and take on the original loan. But if you cannot auction it, you need to pay real money immediately. However, you can subsequently mortgage it, but this may It requires a certain turnaround time, and if real estate is auctioned on a large scale and concentrated, there will be a lot of financial pressure.

Fortunately, before the previous Hong Kong dollar crisis, the entire group was trying its best to exchange for U.S. dollars. Hisense Bank and Hutchison Whampoa Group made a lot of money through U.S. dollar transactions, while Midea and Red Bull, although not directly involved, also enjoyed the official Change in exchange rate, from 5.5 to 7.8. Of course, in U.S. dollars terms, that still makes no money.

"OK, keep an eye on Keswick. I don't know if this guy will produce any kind of son. The rest will wait until early next year. Once Landmark spends all our money, it will be time for them to seek death." Chen Zhiwen said calmly. said.