Huayu since 1980

Chapter 408

Landmark, the jewel in the crown of Heung Kong Real Estate!

Whoever controls Landmark is the King of Kings in the Xiangjiang real estate industry!
This is Heung Kong media's evaluation of Landmark.

Although after Simon Keswick took over Jardine Matheson, the Land Milk International and Mandarin Oriental were spun off and listed, but the prestige of Landmark remains undiminished.

Hong Kong Land, founded in 1898, was founded by the famous businessman Paul and James Johnston Keswick, then executive director of Jardine Matheson.

In the 20s in Hong Kong, the reconstruction and construction boom of modern commercial buildings first emerged from the central business district of Hong Kong Island.For a long time, Central has been the heart of Xiangjiang's commercial and economic activities. Its pulse represents the power and vitality of Xiangjiang's overall society, and is the highest symbol of Xiangjiang's prosperity.

Before the 70s, the valuable properties in the central commercial core area were basically monopolized by Landmark, a well-known British real estate company. This situation did not gradually change until the rise of emerging Chinese real estate developers in the middle and late 70s. situation.

However, Hong Kong Land has always established itself as a kingdom in the core area, becoming the "crown jewel" of Heung Kong Properties.

After the 70s, the upsurge of rebuilding commercial buildings in the Central District was first set off by Hongkong Land. In June 1970, Hongkong Land bid for a newly reclaimed lot with an area of ​​6 square feet in the Central District of Hong Kong Island at a high price of 2.58 million yuan. Hongkong Land built a 5.3-storey Kangle Building (today's Jardine Building) on ​​this lot. .The new building was built in a record-breaking time, from the start of construction in October 52 to the grand "topping" ceremony held in April 1971, which lasted only one and a half years.

Kangle Building has a total investment of 4 million yuan including land premium, providing office buildings and shopping malls with a leased area of ​​more than 69 square feet.This was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia at that time. It later became the headquarters of the Jardine Group, overlooking the entire Victoria Harbour.

In 1974, Hongkong Land announced that it would spend 6 million yuan to launch a 10-year central area reconstruction plan.

The first phase of the project was to rebuild the Alexandra Building. Hongkong Land once proposed to exchange the old Alexandra Building for the Hong Kong Government’s General Post Office (the former site of today’s Universal Building), but was rejected and had to rebuild it by itself.The new Alexandra Building was completed in 1976, with a height of 36 floors and a total building area of ​​35.7 square feet, which is 11.9 square feet more than the old Alexandria Building.

The second phase of the project is the demolition and reconstruction of Gloucester Building and Royal House.In order to integrate the property into one, so as to build a first-class high-rise commercial building and a shopping mall with a wide platform, Landmark exchanged the Jardine Building across Pedder Street with Wheelock Company for the Lane Crawford Building, and built Gloucester on the original site in 1979. The building and its connected Landmark.

The third phase of the project was the demolition and construction of the adjacent Duke's Building and Princess Building, and the completion of the Duke's Building, which is similar in shape to the Gloucester Building. The entire huge plan was completed in 1982.

The landmass covers an area of ​​more than 2 square feet, with a total of 5 floors of platforms; two of them are basements, and all platform units are used as boutiques and restaurants with different styles. Various performances can be held in the center of the square - fashion shows, music There are coffee galleries and teahouses around, and the roof is covered with light-transmitting glass fiber, making it a high-end shopping and entertainment place in the Central District.

The connected Gloucester Building is 47 floors high, with a leasable area of ​​60 square feet, including 46.5 square feet of office space and the rest are shops.The biggest feature of the building is its sparse-style exterior wall structure. The windows and doors are deeply recessed, and the structure of the building is used to shade the windows and doors. Aluminum window frames and colored glass are used as materials to reduce the heat received indoors.All facilities in the building are controlled by advanced computer systems, including alarm, air intensity adjustment, water supply, lighting, security and communication systems, etc.

The Duke Building is also connected to Landmark and Gloucester Tower. It is 47 floors high and can provide a building rental area of ​​60 square feet.

After the reconstruction of the two buildings, the available area can be increased by 79.6 square feet compared with the original one.

After the completion of the massive 10-year reconstruction plan, the Planning Office of the Hong Kong Government even erected pedestrian bridges between the buildings, and transferred many valuable properties under Hong Kong Land, including Kangle Building, Taikoo Building, Mandarin Hotel, Prince Building, Alexandra Building, etc. The building, the Gloucester Building, the Duke's Building and the Landmark are intersected, and directly connected to various places in the area such as the General Post Office and the Star Ferry Pier. It seems to be a country of its own and has become the "natural heart" of Central.

Just when the 10-year plan was about to be completed, Hongkong Land launched a more eye-catching expansion plan. First, it demolished and rebuilt the Holland Bank and Yili Bank on Ice House Street. This project was completed in the early 90s, namely the famous No. property.

On February 1982, 2, Hongkong Land even won the bid for the new "Land King" adjacent to Kangle Building in the Central District at a record-breaking price of 12 billion yuan.According to the contract, Hongkong Land has to build a new bus terminal on the ground, above which is a two-story platform, where the Hongkong Securities Market will be located.

The development, which was later named "Exchange Square", was planned to be carried out in two phases, with a total investment of more than 80 billion yuan.The first phase consists of two 52-storey commercial buildings, which were completed in 1985; the second phase, a 32-storey independent commercial building, was built next to it and was completed in 1988.The three Exchange Squares have a total floor area of ​​154.5 million square feet. Their dynamic shapes and large colored glass curtain walls have drastically changed the view of Victoria Harbour.

Due to the upsurge of demolition and construction of commercial buildings in the Central District, even the Xiangjiang Club with a long history is not immune.

The Xiangjiang Club is located adjacent to the Statue Square and is the only remaining Victorian-style building in the area.The demolition and construction of the clubhouse was put on hold due to opposition from many members.

However, in the late 70s, the real estate market was booming unprecedentedly, which aroused the covetousness of many real estate developers.As a result, this antique building with a history of more than [-] years could not escape the historical fate of being eliminated, and it was replaced by a new Xiangjiang Club Building with an ingenious design, unique appearance and full of artistic colors.

Completed in 1984, the building is 21 stories high, with two basement floors and a building area of ​​28 square feet.All construction costs are paid by Hongkong Land, which is responsible for the construction, about 2 million yuan.Hongkong Land will share the rental income with the Xiangjiang Clubhouse (estimated at the current property price, the average monthly rent of the building can reach 600 million to 700 million yuan), but the rights and interests will be returned to the Hong Kong Clubhouse after 25 years.

It is precisely because of these assets that Landmark is known as the crown jewel of the real estate industry in Hong Kong!

Everyone knows that the Chinese-funded consortium is coveting the land and wants to win this cornucopia. Before that, with the withdrawal of Liu Luanxiong and Huang Tingfang, the super consortium composed of Li Chaoren, Zheng Yutong, Li Zhaoji, and Mr. Rong, is the most promising.

But no one thought that Hongkong Land would change ownership so quickly during the stock market crash!
"Director Jay, may I ask how did your group pay for the purchase of Hongkong shares?" A reporter immediately raised his hand and asked.

In the current global stock market crash, every listed company is tightening their belts and thinking about how to deal with the stock market crash. At this time, Yaoguang Group can spend 80 billion Hong Kong dollars to acquire the shares of Jardine Landmark. No one can imagine the courage of.

Zhou Tao replied with a smile: "Yaoguang Group's operation has always been very healthy, and the cash flow is also very sufficient, so this time the acquisition is completed with all the acquisition funds through one-off delivery!"

"Wow!"

The reporters in the audience made noise again. Originally, they thought that Yaoguang Group should exchange shares for shares, and at the same time add a part of the land shares acquired in cash, but they did not expect that the other party would acquire it in cash and one-time payment. Landmark!
This had to refresh the reporter's speculation about Yaoguang Group's cash flow.

Immediately, someone began to ask Zhou Tao about the cash flow of the Yaoguang Group, but Zhou Tao dealt with them one by one.

Then someone asked: "Then, I would like to ask Chairman Zhou, will Yaoguang Group take advantage of the situation of this land acquisition to list Yaoguang Group?"

But after he asked this question, he was despised by everyone. Everyone knows what is going on in Xiangjiang stock market now, how could Yaoguang Group choose to go public at this time!
Sure enough, Zhou Tao shook his head: "Yaoguang Group's operation is very healthy, and there is no need to go public to raise funds in a short period of time. This acquisition of Hongkong Land is just a strategic layout for Yaoguang Group's development in Xiangjiang."

"May I ask Jay Chou, what do you think of the bailout policy announced by the Hong Kong government earlier?"

Just today, the Hong Kong government held a meeting with the high-level futures market to discuss countermeasures to solve the crisis. The meeting finally decided that the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange fund and a number of financial institutions will jointly invest 20 billion Hong Kong dollars to save the Hong Kong Futures Guarantee Company. Together with HSBC, Standard Chartered and Huaxia Bank, another reserve fund of the same amount was arranged.

These series of policies are the measures of the Hong Kong government to save the market.

Zhou Tao replied: "Xiangjiang is the foundation of Yaoguang Group, and our Yaoguang Group naturally hopes that Xiangjiang can prosper, so Yaoguang Group has held a board meeting and decided to spend 50 billion Hong Kong dollars as a bailout Act of!"

Whoa!Whoa!Whoa!
Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
After the uproar, there was thunderous applause. What are the citizens of Xiangjiang most afraid of at this time, isn't it that Xiangjiang's stock market plummeted like a global stock market crash, and they were forced to go bankrupt and jump off the building?
At this time, the Yaoguang Group actually announced that it would spend 50 billion Hong Kong dollars to rescue the market!
This decision can save tens of thousands of families!
And the reporters present also have stocks. Now, as the most intuitive observers, how could they not be excited!

Bao Weishi, who was sitting next to Zhou Tao, had mixed feelings in his heart at this time. Wu Jianye had mentioned at the negotiating table before that he would spend 100 billion Hong Kong dollars to compete with Jardine for the control of Landmark. How much did he have in mind at that time? Still a little skeptical.

But now Yaoguang Group not only spent 80 billion Hong Kong dollars to pay for the acquisition of the shares of Landmark, but also took out 50 billion Hong Kong dollars to announce the rescue of the market!
This is already 130 Hong Kong dollars!
At this moment, he finally understood that he could not complain about the loss!

And when this press conference was announced by TV and paper media, Yaoguang Group instantly became a savior-like existence in Xiangjiang!

"Yaoguang Miracle Continues! "

"Land Changed Owners!Yaoguang Group transformed itself into the biggest star in the real estate industry of Xiangjiang! "

"130 Billion Hong Kong Dollars, Yaoguang Group Incarnates as a Wealthy Boy! "

The next day, almost all the newspapers and media in Hong Kong reported on this matter, and the stock market in Xiangjiang officially opened after four days of suspension and two rest days!
However, even with the bailout announced by the Hong Kong government and the Yaoguang Group, it still cannot withstand the general trend of the stock market crash. Only 15 minutes after the opening of the Hong Kong stock market, the Hang Seng Index has dropped by 640 points!

Seeing the news, Wu Jianye nodded slightly. The rescue action announced by Yaoguang Group was still effective. In the original time and space, the Xiangjiang stock market dropped 15 points in 653 minutes, and fell 1120.7 points for the whole day. The drop was as high as 33.33%, and the market investment sentiment was extremely pessimistic!
And the price of the HSI futures contract plummeted by 44%!

Everyone is waiting for Yaoguang Group to fulfill their promise and take money into the market to save the market!

Then at this time, the Hong Kong government once again promulgated a series of new plans, including a temporary amnesty by the Takeovers and Mergers Committee of the 35% general acquisition trigger point and the 5% annual increase in share purchase restrictions.

The Association of Banks lowered the deposit rate twice in a row by a total of 10% in October. Savings deposits will be reduced to 10% from October 28. In addition, the Exchange Fund, Jockey Club, and HSBC all entered the market to buy stocks. To stabilize the morale of the army!
When seeing these news, Wu Jianye smiled and told Yan Wen: "Enter the market!"

Yan Wen said with a hint of excitement, "Understood!"

Afterwards, Xiangjiang stockholders saw a large amount of capital injection in the stock market, and when they saw Yu Zhi Investment written on the acquisition listing, they immediately became excited, knowing that Yaoguang Group's 50 billion bailout funds had entered the market!

Shareholders who have already been frightened, how dare they wait at this time? Compared with the decline of the stock market, 50 billion Hong Kong dollars is a drop in the bucket.

It was also on this day that the small and medium-sized companies of many listed companies in Xiangjiang changed hands!
Sitting next to Wu Jianye, Zhou Tao still had unconcealable excitement on his face: "This time is really cool!"

Wu Jianye looked at the excited Zhou Tao, and said with a smile, "You will be tired later!"

Zhou Tao was slightly taken aback: "What's wrong?"

"Do you think this is the end of the matter?" Wu Jianye glanced at Zhou Tao with a smile, and said, "China Land has been operated by Jardine for many years. Although we have become the largest shareholder of Hongkong Land this time, almost the entire management of Hongkong Land If you want to gain real control over Hong Kong Land, you are still far away!"

Li Chaoren is such a shrewd businessman. After Snake Tunxiang took Hutchison Whampoa, it took nearly a year to really control Hutchison Whampoa. Now that Landmark is being acquired, it is natural to hand over Managed by Zhou Tao's hands.

That is to say, at this time, Zhou Tao has to divert part of his energy from Tunan Technology and put it on Landmark.

This will be a huge challenge for Zhou Tao.

The same is true for rock temperature.

Although Yanwen will not enter the management of Hongkong Land, but with the acquisition of Xiangjiang listed companies through the stock market disaster, it is bound to become a new consortium, and Wu Jianye will hand over this consortium to Yanwen to take care of it. No worse than Zhou Tao.

From this, it can be imagined that in the next few years, neither of them will have an easy time!

　Sorry for getting up late~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)