Chapter 224: In Hong Kong, there is nothing Liu Bancheng can’t do!

The container terminal industry has stable and lucrative incomes. Which conglomerate would not covet it?
The Hong Kong government's open tender for the construction and operation rights of Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 7 was exciting from the start, a feast for the eyes of the citizens.

Wharf Holdings already owns Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4, and further intends to participate in the bidding for Kwai Chung Container Terminal .

In 1988, Hutchison Whampoa won the bid for three berths at Pier 44 with a price of HK$7 billion, which was converted into development rights.

Today, Kwai Chung Pier No. 7 has three berths. If it is taken over, the market share of Wharf Terminals Limited will be as high as 3%, and it will dominate the Hong Kong container industry with a high degree of monopoly.

In fact, if the bid is successful, the Wharf Group will only hold one-third of the equity, that is, Sealand Container will hold one-third of the equity.

Originally, Li Chaoren also intended to unite other overseas financial groups, but the situation this year caused European and American financial groups to retreat one after another, and finally Changjiang could only pull in New World.

However, New World does not dare to invest too much and only participates in a symbolic manner.

The development rights of container terminals shall be determined by public bidding. The bidding shall not be based on the sole condition of “the highest bidder wins” in public auction.

The bidding price is an important condition, but not the only one. It also depends on the overall conditions of the bidder.

There is a "consensus" that is not explicitly stated but is known to everyone: the relationship with the government is sometimes crucial.

It’s not that Liu Zhicheng has a bad relationship with the Hong Kong government, but the suspected monopoly mentioned above.

Hutchison Whampoa had no choice but to form a new consortium with CITIC and the Port of Singapore Authority to bid, thus forming a community of interests among multiple parties.

Unlike the real estate industry, which can be developed almost freely and unlimitedly, the container terminal industry must bid for the development rights of restricted land.

In other words, it is equivalent to obtaining a land use patent granted by the government, which can ensure stable and substantial profits.

Liu Zhicheng knew that as long as he could regain the development rights of Kwai Chung Pier No. 7, his say in Hong Kong's port business would be final.

The media is very interested in the showdown between several financial groups this time, and real-time news is published every day. True or false is no longer important. What is important is that the citizens can feast their eyes on it.

On the last day to submit bids, members of the new consortium sat together to discuss the bid price.

The reason is simple: if the bid price provided is too different from that of others, it will be laughed at; but if the price is determined in advance, there is a fear that it may be leaked out by someone.

Therefore, the price of this kind of blind bidding is usually determined in the last one or two days.

When bidding on land, if you are determined to win, you will be nervous, but that will only last for a short while.

It is different when making a blind bid. If you are determined to win, you will always feel worried about gains and losses.

Liu Zhicheng is no exception. In order to gain absolute say in Kwai Tsing Port, he actually doesn't care much about how much money some projects make.

It is like climbing a high mountain. There is no practical benefit, but it always makes people happy.

In the conference room.

The heads of several conglomerates sat together, their combined wealth was terrifying, including Wharf Group, Swire Group, CITIC, and Port of Singapore Authority.

Swire Group is a shareholder of Wharf Holdings, so Liu Zhicheng also invited representatives of Swire’s shareholders to attend the meeting.

Liu Zhicheng said: "The Hong Kong government intends to weaken Wharf's monopoly in the container terminal industry, so our bid price is only one aspect.

Therefore, we would like to ask everyone to participate more and strive to win the bid so that everyone can get what they need! "

If you don’t match my price, I won’t match yours. In fact, this is the style of most Chinese companies.

Yi Chengchang, a representative of the Port of Singapore Authority, said with a smile: "We have so many consortiums grouped together, so naturally we are determined to win. The price is a bit more stable, and the cost to each company is not much.

What's more, if we fail today, the container No. 8 behind will be something we must fight for, and we will suffer even greater losses.

If we can secure Container Terminal 7, we will have no problem taking Container Terminal 8.”

Yi Chengchang believes that if Container Terminal 7 fails, the competition for Container Terminal 8 will be even more intense.

Young Master Rong nodded and said, "Since we have made up our minds, and we know our weaknesses, we should indeed bid more cautiously. A few hundred million Hong Kong dollars more will not hurt. What's important is peace of mind!"

Finally, after some discussion, everyone gave the right to bid to Liu Zhicheng.

Liu Zhicheng thought for a while, wrote down the price of 48.8 billion Hong Kong dollars on a piece of paper, and then circulated it to everyone.

He explained: "Hong Kong's Kwai Chung Container Terminal has unlimited potential, and I believe the mainland will become more and more open, so this price is definitely not a loss."

In the past, the winning bid for the three berths at Container Terminal No. 7 was HK$44 billion, which translates to less than HK$15 billion per berth.

Liu Zhicheng once again shouted loudly to ensure that he could take over Pier 7. Anyway, he only needed to pay 16 billion Hong Kong dollars.

When the No. 9 Container Terminal was being tendered in the previous life, many overseas consortiums expressed their interest in participating, which pushed up the price.

Soon, everyone nodded in approval of Liu Zhicheng's bid.

The price is set! The technical specifications have already been studied and completed, and the only thing left is the price.

Liu Zhicheng personally prepared the bid and sent it to the Hong Kong government.

As for the bidding, we will have to wait for a few days.

.........

The headquarters building of Crocodile Garments Group is the original Crocodile Garments Building A and B.

Recently, Crocodile Garment Group bought the adjacent Chenda Group Building for HK$3 million.

This price was considered very cheap, and Liu Zhicheng readily agreed to sign the purchase agreement.

After taking over the Chenda Group Building, the combined area of ​​the three buildings was still not large, and it could only be rebuilt into a 20 square feet high-quality building, which was the Hong Kong Agricultural Bank Building in the previous life.

Although the area is not large, it can be built into a first-class commercial building and is also a very successful building.

This building is just right as the headquarters of Crocodile Garments Group.

Of course, reconstruction is not being considered at the moment as Crocodile Group does not have sufficient funds.

The original Crocodile Garment Group had very rich properties, with three factories and several self-owned shops.

Among them, the factory located in Kwun Tong can be converted into office buildings and shopping centers in the future, which has great prospects.

Meanwhile, Crocodile Garment Group is also buying up stores at bargain prices and reaping the rewards.

The acquisition of stores can reduce future operating costs and will greatly benefit the company's competitiveness.

Arriving at his office, he summoned Roger, the president of the Jeanswest brand.

Since its establishment, the Jeanswest brand has developed rapidly in Hong Kong, and it can be said to have soared to heaven!
In terms of quality, service, and especially details, we have done a good job. More importantly, we have increased advertising and marketing.

Celebrity endorsements are a specialty of the Crocodile Shirt Group; the spokespeople for many of its brands are all the hottest stars in Hong Kong.

In this regard, Liu Zhicheng has an innate advantage, for example, Liu Dehua signed a 10-year endorsement contract with Jeanswest.

Thanks to this celebrity-binding marketing, Crocodile Group's products have gained great popularity throughout Asia.

"We need to increase our investment in advertising appropriately. At present, the Jeanswest brand needs to increase its efforts in overseas and domestic development. So we will prepare for the plan to open specialty stores in Shenzhen, Yangcheng, Shanghai and Beijing, and strive to open them early next year."

"Hmm! RB side?"

"RP, don't rush to open a store. The rent is too expensive now. Focus on Southeast Asia, South Korea, and Taiwan!"

"Ok!"

After a while, an assistant came in with a document, and Liu Zhicheng began to read it carefully.

This is the property information table of Crocodile Garment Group. This time, Jeanswest has purchased 15 shops, spending nearly HK$3 million, which was paid in installments by bank loans.

At present, the price of popular shops in Hong Kong city is around 34 square feet. For example, the popular shops in Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui are priced at this price or even slightly higher.

In 1993, in the previous life, the popular shops in Causeway Bay were priced at HK$16 per square foot, and the owners were reluctant to sell because the rent was very high.

Therefore, he must take advantage of the current low prices and make arrangements in advance.

In particular, he just bought a 700-square-foot shop on Capital Road in Tsim Sha Tsui for HK$3600 million two days ago.

The value of this shop will increase very quickly. I believe that by the 1990s, it will be listed in a magazine like the Golden List of the Top Ten Expensive Shops in Hong Kong.

At this time, the annual profit of Crocodile Garments Group had reached more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars, and it became one of the blue-chip stocks in Hong Kong.

What’s more important is that the performance of Crocodile Garments Group is growing rapidly. Its brands Crocodile Garments and Jeanswest are not only hot-selling in China, but also very popular overseas.

In the mid-1990s, Liu Zhicheng planned to globalize Crocodile Group to withstand the Asian financial crisis a few years later.

Afterwards, Liu Zhicheng convened another office meeting of the Crocodile Garment Group.

"In addition to these two businesses, Crocodile Group will have three more businesses in the future: watches and jewelry, perfumes and cosmetics, and wines and spirits."

Chen Qisong and others were shocked. They didn't expect Liu Zhicheng to have such great ambitions.

Chen Qisong said: "Boss, do you want to use capital to achieve your plan through acquisition?"

Everyone believes that Liu Zhicheng is best at capital operation. He always seizes the best opportunities to quickly buy assets and companies to increase his strength.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said: "Hong Kong is the financial center of Asia, which allows me to raise enough funds for the company.

Through mergers, acquisitions, and self-creation, we have rapidly developed into a giant business group. Regarding this company structure adjustment, Manager Chen assisted me in completing it!"

Chen Qisong quickly said, "No problem, boss."

Liu Zhicheng nodded, and then discussed the development of the enterprise and concluded this office meeting.

…………

A few days later, the Hong Kong government announced a major news: the winning bid for the development rights of Kwai Chung Container Terminal 7 was from a new consortium consisting of the Wharf Group, the Port of Singapore Authority and CITIC Group.

For a time, all the evening papers of the day published this news.

The Hong Kong government unprecedentedly published the bids from both parties to show that it was not biased towards either side.

In terms of bidding price, the new consortium won with a price 4 million Hong Kong dollars higher;

In terms of technology, whether it is equipment, charges, etc., Hutchison Whampoa is first-class and excellent.

Therefore, the media could not find any fault with the bid, and their only concern was the suspected monopoly of Hutchison Whampoa.

That evening, the leaders of the new consortium came to the Sail Boat Hotel for dinner.

They not only celebrated the winning bid, but also discussed the subsequent distribution of benefits during the meeting.

Mr. Rong, the head of CITIC Group, attended the banquet carrying Maotai. This time, CITIC Group chose to join the new consortium because it saw greater hope.

In fact, we are under a lot of pressure because if we fail, we will be questioned for disunity.

Because China COSCO Shipping and Charter King from the mainland formed a new consortium and also participated in this bidding.

However, it is impossible for the mainland to offend a tycoon like Liu Zhicheng. He is not only a wealthy man, but also a media tycoon who controls public opinion in Hong Kong.

You have to know that newspapers and television stations in Hong Kong have a very high degree of freedom and can criticize anyone. That is called freedom of the press.

Liu Zhicheng's status can be imagined. Of course, Liu Zhicheng would not offend anyone, but no matter what, he is very important to the stability of Hong Kong.

And because Liu Zhicheng is so young, his influence is even greater. At least for now, young people in Hong Kong still regard Liu Zhicheng as an idol, so his appeal is naturally needless to say.

Moreover, this time CITIC did not obtain the right to use a berth, and the mainland did not gain nothing.

With this victory, Mr. Rong of CITIC Group finally breathed a sigh of relief. The next step is the specific distribution of benefits.

After three rounds of drinking Maotai, Liu Zhicheng, as the leader, set the tone for this distribution of benefits.

"According to the allocation we agreed on beforehand, we will each have one berth. Is there any objection to that?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and confirmed again that the contract could be signed in a few days.

After finishing his meal, Master Zhongxin Rong found a place to continue drinking tea.

During this time, Mr. Rong said, "Mr. Liu, the person in charge of COSCO Hong Kong, wants to meet with you?"

Currently, COSCO Shipping is the largest ocean-going freight group in the mainland and has always wanted to expand into the international market, so Hong Kong became their first stop.

At present, a branch has been established in Hong Kong and actively participated in the bidding for Pier 7.

Liu Zhicheng thought for a moment and said, "What do they think?"

"They should want to strengthen cooperation with you after seeing our successful cooperation with you."

“This is a good thing. I am willing to strengthen cooperation with mainland enterprises, just like with you and Poly Technology.

If I have the opportunity in the future, I will invest in global terminal businesses, such as container terminals in the Mainland.

Container terminals are an investment that generates stable returns, just like rent, so they have great prospects and also need more strategic partners.”

Liu Zhicheng's cooperative investment plans with the mainland usually involve sharing profits according to the investment ratio, so mainland investors generally approve of this.

"Mr. Liu, we at CITIC are willing to have more cooperation with you." Mr. Rong took the opportunity to express his opinion.

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it." Liu Zhicheng certainly agreed. In the future, investment institutions in the mainland will be his backers.

In the future, Liu Zhicheng will have more and more assets, and those who want to take advantage of him will definitely take a fancy to him.

Only with a strong backer can an enterprise stand for a century.

Although Liu Zhicheng will not express his support in public, he will also make his own contribution to the development of the mainland.

Next, he will make large donations to universities in the mainland through the Yanxin Zhicheng Foundation.

(End of this chapter)