Chapter 255: The Madness of the Real Estate Market

Saturday, October 3.

Alligator Building.

The next weekend, Liu Zhicheng held a meeting with his subordinates in the conference room.

The participants were all senior staff of Crocodile Group, and the content of the meeting was the feasibility of 'acquiring British Harrods department store'.

Huang Qisong, General Manager of Crocodile Garments Group, made a personal report:

“Boss, after more than a month of investigation and planning, we believe that the plan to acquire Harrods is completely feasible.

“Harrods is one of the three largest department stores in the UK, along with Harrods and Selfridges.”

"It was founded in London by Benja Harvey in 1813, and was resold several times before being bought by the Burton Group in 1985."

"Burton Group is a large garment group that mainly produces uniforms and suits. Harrods has been making losses since the late 1980s."

"The main reason is that all the brands sold are luxury high-end brands, and the products sold are too diverse, including furs, carpets, silk fabrics, bags, etc."

"After extensive market research, we believe that your proposal is very feasible: change the positioning of 'Harrods Boutique Department Store' to focus on fashion, introduce restaurants and beauty departments, enrich the business of 'Harrods Boutique Department Store', and turn it into a comprehensive high-end department store."

"As for what we can bring to the group, we have carefully analyzed that the quality of our own products cannot be sold in 'Harrods Boutique Department Store'. We can only introduce high-end fashion from Europe and the United States."

After listening to Huang Qisong's report, Liu Zhicheng thought for a while and then asked, "How is the contact with the Burton Group?"

Huang Qisong said: "They really wanted to sell it, but seeing that we were Chinese-funded, they also wanted to rip us off and offered 5500 million pounds!"

It’s indeed a bit expensive, 5000 million pounds is about right!
But others are not stupid. They know that Crocodile Group hopes to acquire the company in order to enter the European retail industry and introduce Harrods department store to Asia.

Especially the introduction to Asia is very beneficial to the Crocodile Garments Group.

Liu Zhicheng asked again: "Assuming that after the acquisition, will there be a candidate for CEO?"

Huang Qisong immediately said: "The former CEO Joseph should be able to do the job. He is not a native of the Burton Group, but has worked at Harrods for more than ten years."

Liu Zhicheng nodded. This was indeed the best candidate because he was familiar with the European retail industry. As for the losses in the early stage, it had nothing to do with the CEO.

After all, it may be that the Burton Group’s overall policy is wrong, and it is also related to the economic downturn in the past two years.

"Okay, we, the Ma faction, will formally discuss the acquisition with the Burton Group!"

We must acquire it. Once we acquire this department store, not only can we turn it from loss-making to profitable, but there are also many other benefits, such as:
First, after operating for a few years, the company can be listed, and then the listed company can be used as the flagship of Crocodile Group in Europe to continue acquisitions.

Second, introduce them to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, but it is not suitable to introduce them to the mainland in the short term.

Third, through this department store, Crocodile Group can also cultivate the retail of European and American brands.

A few days later, the negotiations with the Burton Group went smoothly. Seeing that the Crocodile Group was very persistent in bidding 5200 million pounds, the Burton Group did not raise the price any further.

They now just want to get rid of this money-losing department store, and having a Chinese take over is a godsend.

Liu Zhicheng did not dwell on it too much. If Crocodile Shirt Group wanted to truly expand, it could only do so through mergers and acquisitions of this kind. The century-old European brand had such good performance that it would not be the turn of a Chinese company.

Especially for France's national treasure brands, it is impossible for Liu Zhicheng to acquire them unless the brand has been making losses for many years.

And only when there are not too many local competitors can it be approved by the government, such as the French luxury brand "Pentau" owned by Dickson Pan.

You know, when the Gallic chicken's "Latour" was acquired by the British Empire, it caused a huge uproar.

Afterwards, Gallic Rooster took great pains to buy back the national treasure-level red wine brand.

Therefore, the acquisition of a century-old European brand is extremely difficult.

The acquisition of this department store does not require approval from the London government and the procedures are relatively simple!
After the price was agreed upon, Crocodile Group sent a team to audit Harrods before the contract could be officially signed.

However, the subsequent matters will naturally be handled by General Manager Huang Qisong.

In the next two days, Liu Zhicheng recruited senior staff for the Crocodile Garment Group's London headquarters and selected three senior staff.

One of them was a British businessman named Ian, who was appointed vice president of Crocodile Group and was specifically responsible for European affairs.

Crocodile Garment Group's main business battlefield is still Asia, which is why Liu Zhicheng allowed it to develop in Europe.

Because this is the world's fashion center, he hopes to bring the advantages of Europe to Asia.

The development of the Harrods brand is intended to drive business growth in Asia.

As for Europe itself, we just hope not to lose money and to have good long-term stable profits.

Time flies, and ten days have passed in the blink of an eye.

In March 1991, the Hong Kong property market was gaining momentum and was rising sharply, especially large private housing estates with complete facilities, which became popular. These included Whampoa Garden, Taikoo Shing, Kornhill Garden, Heng Fa Chuen, Telford Garden, etc.

In particular, the property prices in Taikoo Shing have soared from HK$2 per square foot to HK$2300 per square foot since the end of February.

Whampoa Property's 'Sceneland Garden' is the last phase of a large private housing estate along the subway line and is very popular among citizens.

However, the sales period of Huijing Garden is next Friday. How can it be sold in advance just because of these people queuing up? That would be a mess.

At this time, there was a huge crowd in front of the sales office of Huijing Garden, and from time to time there were gang members watching with eager eyes.

However, almost all the people in the team are real estate speculators in Hong Kong, and they have some backgrounds.

What's more, if they arouse public anger, the gang members will definitely not gain any benefits.

Back then, a melee broke out because a club cut in line, and the club was actually beaten to a pulp. This shows how terrifying a crazy crowd can be.

"Hey man, are you planning to speculate in the house or use it for yourself?" a young man in the crowd said to the big brother in front of him.

There is no telling when the queue will end, so at this time the queue will ask each other about the situation or make a deal.

"I'm from a real estate speculation group, isn't that okay? Why are you meddling in other people's business?" The 30-year-old sturdy man seemed dissatisfied with the young man's prying and said in a timid tone.

In fact, he was planning to buy the house for his own use, but the reason he was able to get the news in advance was thanks to a relative who worked at Huangpu Real Estate.

Young people are the real real estate speculators, and they work as a team. Although they are young, they have a sharp eye.

“Brother, I don’t have any other intentions, I just want to make a deal with you. If you can get a unit, I will buy it immediately at a price 8 Hong Kong dollars higher.

Brother, think about it, you just queue up, spend a few days and you can earn 8, what a bargain! "

The sturdy man showed an excited expression. They already had a house to live in, but they just wanted to change to a slightly better one.

However, the 8 Hong Kong dollars is obviously very tempting, which is more than a year's salary.

Besides, if you want to change houses, you don’t have to change to the house in Huijing Garden.

However, he soon remembered his relative who worked in real estate and who highly recommended the houses in Huijing Garden.

It is said that all the facilities in this community are of high quality compared to large housing estates in Hong Kong, and there is great potential for appreciation in value in the future.

"Not for sale!" the sturdy man said gritting his teeth.

The young man was already happy when he saw the strong man, because he was confident that he could earn at least 25 yuan from one unit in a month.

However, the big man suddenly became determined, which made him regretful.

"Brother, this is my business card. If you have made up your mind, you can call me anytime!" "Got it!"

This kind of situation happens a lot among the crowd, and a real estate speculation fever has been set off in Hong Kong.

Due to the active property market, many properties that real estate developers withdrew from in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories were sold out in an instant, and property prices rose rapidly.

Even for properties that have not yet been registered and publicly sold, there are already long queues at the sales offices, fearing that the opportunity will be lost in a moment.

At around 10 o'clock in the morning, a large number of police officers appeared in Huijing Garden. They began to disperse the crowd, and those who were queuing left reluctantly.

The JC expulsion was very effective, and Huangpu Real Estate posted notices many times and persuaded people to leave.

Liu Zhicheng looked at the crowd being driven away by the police and finally felt relieved. If these people were really made to queue for seven or eight days, some of them would not be able to buy the items and would be even more resentful. It would be better to drive them away early.

After returning to the Sailboat Building, Hao Qingwen walked in soon with a report in his hand, which he handed respectfully to Liu Zhicheng.

"Boss, the latest asset revaluation report is out!"

"Okay, I'll take a look later."

Liu Zhicheng then asked: "How active is the real estate market outside?"

Talking about this, Hao Qingwen said vividly: "It's so lively! In social places, everyone is talking about house prices and exchanging experiences in real estate speculation.

Bank mortgage departments, law firms and real estate agents are all very busy. Some real estate agents even work from 9am to midnight the next day in order to earn more commissions.

I estimate that speculators of spot properties account for about 55% of the market, and speculators of pre-sale properties may account for as much as 70%.

Hearing this, Liu Zhicheng didn't know whether he was happy or not!
It’s a bit sad actually!

This made him more determined to develop Hong Kong through Hong Kong culture. Now that he has reached the top of the world, it is inevitable that he often worries about the country and the people.

Of course, we should make more profits from the property market.

Otherwise, where does he get the strength to worry about the country and the people?

After Hao Qingwen left, Liu Zhicheng looked at the "Asset Revaluation of Huangpu Group" information carefully.

The net asset value has reached 828.6 billion Hong Kong dollars!
It is a very high-quality asset. If the office market had not seen much improvement since the crash in 1989, the assets of Whampoa Group would be even higher.

Huangpu Group is now an undisputed real estate giant, which means that in another year or two, Liu Zhicheng will be in trouble.

In the previous life, it was Superman Li who stood in front of the major real estate developers, but in this life, it was Superman Liu who stood in front of the major real estate developers.

But no matter what, when the Hong Kong government intends to crack down on real estate developers, the major real estate developers will be very united.

The real estate economy in Hong Kong accounts for too large a proportion, so naturally the power of major real estate developers is also very strong. The Hong Kong government cannot do anything about it, and can at most suppress the rate of increase in housing prices.

On Saturday morning, Liu Zhicheng came to YG Entertainment.

As for the 'Hong Kong Idols' launched during the summer vacation, Liu Zhicheng often came to personally determine the style, determined to establish an entertainment genre in one fell swoop.

To be honest, he felt that the Hong Kong music scene had not made any progress in almost twenty years.

Ever since Sam Hui made Cantonese songs popular, the style has continued. Every year, TVB's top ten hits are nothing new.

If there is anything new, it is Danny Chan's singing and dancing, and Mei Yanfang's non-mainstream style.

Through the styles of these two people, Liu Zhicheng felt that Hong Kong was not incapable of accepting other styles, but that no one had creativity and imagination.

Once the style of the HOT group and Lee Jung-hyun is released, it will completely shatter the Hong Kong music scene.

This is not a bad thing. A hundred schools of thought are a good thing.

Moreover, the music of "Hong Kong Culture" is targeted at young people and covers popular elements throughout Asia.

In a practice room, Liu Zhicheng was communicating with the 'Lee Jung Hyun' team. The team included music producers, dance teachers, acting teachers, costume designers, makeup artists, etc. There were more than twenty people who were tailoring for Lee Jung Hyun.

Music production is the most difficult. They must be familiar with electronic music, retro music, technology, rap, psychedelic, horror and other elements to form a style with strong concepts.

This is the only way to become an instant hit!

Fortunately, Liu Zhicheng was familiar with this style because he used to be a fan of Lee Jung Hyun. He didn't understand Korean, but at least he could hum it, and even understood the meaning of the lyrics.

Moreover, doesn’t Sammi Cheng cover other people’s songs? For example, “Change” was covered as “Enchanted” and “Wow” was adapted as “Unique”.

However, he felt that Sammi Cheng's voice was not good enough and was far from being as clear as Lee Jung Hyun's, so Liu Zhicheng personally selected the voice of Hong Kong Lee Jung Hyun.

Lee Jung-hyun certainly did not sing in Cantonese, but in Mandarin. The same goes for the HOT team, who mainly sing Mandarin songs, but also have Cantonese versions.

Cantonese is too difficult to pronounce, it's impossible to be shocking or lively, and a rap is difficult enough.

What's more, they are targeting the entire Asian market!

With the demonstration of the Little Tigers, it is obvious that Mandarin songs can work.

In the practice room, as the prepared music of "Unique" sounded, Lee Jung-hyun started her performance.

At this time, Liu Zhicheng was no longer so scary to her, and the two had communicated and exchanged ideas several times;

In her opinion, Liu Zhicheng, apart from being a little strict, does not have much destructive power.

As the music played, Lee Jung-hyun and her dancers were so dynamic that Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but move along with the music. It felt like he was at a concert.

Fan dance, Hanfu costumes, and "exaggerated" styling are all signs of the birth of a new genre.

In the previous life, Lee Jung-hyun was the originator of the Korean Wave. In this life, let Hong Kong lead the trend of this genre!

The team members were not surprised to see Liu Zhicheng as a fan, as they had also recently become fascinated by this new style of music and performance.

Everyone turned into Lee Jung Hyun's fans and was immersed in it.

After the song ended, everyone was still not satisfied!

Liu Zhicheng was the first to react. He called Li Zhenxian to his side and said seriously: "Facial expressions are not enough. You must have personality and confidence. You are now a representative idol of a music genre. Practice more in front of the mirror."

Lee Jung-hyun listened very carefully. She felt that Liu Zhicheng was the mentor of this school and everyone had to follow his instructions.

"Well, boss, I will try my best!"

Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but patted Li Zhenxian on the shoulder and said, "Work harder!"

"I will definitely work hard!"

Liu Zhicheng turned around and said, "There are still three months left. You music production department must hurry up. I believe that if we have finished the representative song of the genre, "Unique", the following songs will not be difficult!"

The music production manager immediately said, "It's still in time. We have almost figured it out. We can definitely finish it before June!"

Liu Zhicheng nodded with satisfaction!
Lee Jung-hyun debuted on July 1st, and the HOT group debuted at the end of July, both through ATV's "Music Bank" program.

Then there was extensive media and television coverage, and activities were carried out through roadshows and commercial performances, and further promotion through overseas programs and Asian Satellite TV.

After completing a complete set of procedures, an ordinary album can also be made into a "platinum record".

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(End of this chapter)