1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 607 Teach him a lesson

Soon, Michael Kadoorie returned home and Lawrence was waiting for him.

Michael decisively told Lawrence about his conversation with Li Changhe tonight.

"As for nuclear power, he can indeed be involved. If our two companies work together to communicate with the Hong Kong government and the mainland, it will have a much greater impact on both the Hong Kong government and the mainland."

"What's more, when the time comes, the power generated by the nuclear power plant will inevitably pass through our power supply area first, so we will not suffer any loss in this matter."

At home, after hearing the report from his son, Lawrence Kadoorie quickly made a judgment in his mind and taught Michael.

"Father, I think so too. I just can't understand why Victor is involved in this matter."

"He himself is well aware that HK Electric's demand for nuclear power plants is not that great, but judging from his intentions, he still wants to get involved."

Michael said hesitantly.

As a businessman, he knows very well that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Anything that happens around him must have its motivation and logic.

But if you don't understand this and greedily eat the pie thrown by the other party, it will be easy to fall into the other party's trap.

At this moment, Lawrence Kadoorie smiled slightly.

"Didn't you say that he also invited you to France to study nuclear power technology?"

“That’s the answer!”

"Ah? Father? What do you mean?"

Michael was still a little confused after hearing his father's explanation.

"Why do you think the French business department sent a message to Victor for no reason? Victor didn't have much business in France before."

"And his company's film just won an award at Cannes. I guess there might be some kind of deal behind this."

"It is also possible that nuclear power is one aspect of it."

“Sometimes, if you can’t figure out the logic internally, you might as well look at the external side of the matter and the party that benefits in the end.”

Lawrence taught his son.

My son has done a good job in recent years, but as he has been doing business in Hong Kong Island, he does not have a deep enough understanding of the global perspective.

This is also a common problem for many wealthy businessmen. They are familiar with their own little piece of land, but it is precisely because they are too familiar with this little piece of land that they are unfamiliar with the areas outside this little piece of land.

People who habitually stay in their comfort zone are often a sign of degeneration.

Thinking of this, Lawrence couldn't help but feel sad for Victor.

He was a very good person. After he acquired the Hong Kong Holdings, he did not limit his business to Hong Kong Island. Instead, he went out and started expanding into the United States and Europe.

"You mean, he made a deal with France because of the Cannes film award?"

Michael asked Lawrence in surprise.

Lawrence shook his head: "The film award is probably a factor, but it is definitely not just because of the film award."

"A nuclear power plant costs billions of dollars. No matter how valuable the Cannes Film Awards are, Victor will not do such a loss-making business."

"There must be some intention behind this that we are not aware of. My guess is that his assets may be much more than we know."

"His deal with France will surely bring him sufficient returns."

"After all, he hasn't actually stayed in Hong Kong Island all these years. You don't think that, with his abilities, he has always been enjoying himself overseas, right?"

Lawrence pointed at Michael with a look of disappointment.

Michael Kadoorie nodded in understanding at this time: "Yes, I thought too simply and always kept an eye on his properties in Hong Kong Island."

"Father, what about going to France to investigate this?"

"Go, why not go?"

"This is a great thing for us. If we push forward with the nuclear power plant project, we can solve most of the power supply gap. This is a matter of life and death for our power company."

“So, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go with him to investigate ahead of time and talk to the French.”

"As long as the rights and interests of our company are clearly defined in the contract, I don't think it will be a big problem."

Lawrence made the decision decisively.

"I see. For us, we only need to consider nuclear power. His other transactions with France have nothing to do with us."

"Father, what about the other thing, the hotel alliance? Do we need to join it?"

Michael then asked another question.

Lawrence sat there and began to think.

“Hotel alliance is a good idea, but for us, there are pros and cons.”

"I think you need to have a careful discussion with Victor to see to what extent the so-called joint operation will be carried out? How much autonomy can we retain?"

“For example, when it comes to hotel expansion, do we have the final say, or does the operating company? Can we expand in the same city? How is the management power divided within the alliance in international metropolises like New York and Tokyo?”

"To be honest, both his Mandarin Hotel and our Peninsula Hotel have always had their own business philosophy. If we lose our own business philosophy because of the hotel alliance, I think it would be better not to join."

"But on the other hand, if this hotel alliance can achieve mutual integration of resources while maintaining our own characteristics, then I think joining it would be a good thing."

“So this requires you to negotiate with Victor in detail, discuss a framework, and then bring it to the board meeting to discuss it with the directors, especially the Liang family, to communicate well.

Lawrence didn't have much thought about the hotel alliance. The benefits of this kind of cooperation were visible. It could increase the hotel's profits and even form a community of interests to a certain extent. This was a good thing for their Grand Shanghai Hotel.

Because Lawrence knew very well that they did not have the spare capacity to expand the Peninsula Hotel. So far, there were only two Peninsula Hotels.

One is in Hong Kong Island and the other is in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Therefore, the expansion of the globalization strategy is actually empty talk for Peninsula Hotels, but this does not mean that hotel alliances have no benefits.

Because one of the functions of hotel alliances is to promote customers. Although they cannot expand globally, on the other hand, they can use hotel alliances to expand more global customer base, which is definitely a good thing for The Peninsula Hotel.

So for Lawrence, the pros and cons of Victor's proposal are very clear. In the end, it all comes down to the framework of cooperation between the two parties, whether it is more restrictive or more beneficial.

"I see. I can have a good talk with Victor while I'm in France."

Michael Cadiz understood what his father meant. He thought he could join, but the specific cooperation model still needed to be considered.

After the Kadoorie family made up their minds, the date for Li Changhe to leave for France was also set.

He was pressed for time, after all, he had to return to China in July.

Soon, Li Changhe set off first with a group of people.

Later, some team members will set off one after another and then meet him in Paris.

Soon, the plane landed in Paris. As soon as he got off the plane, Li Changhe felt a cool breeze.

Compared to the current temperature of over 30 degrees in Hong Kong Island, the temperature in Paris in June is only around 23 or 24 degrees, which is a good season with neither too cold nor too hot.

"Boss, should we go to the hotel or to Miss Isa's place?" Anna asked Li Changhe in a low voice in the car.

"Let's go to the hotel. I need to meet Wells first."

Li Changhe thought for a moment and spoke softly.

He came to Paris first just to meet Wells.

For more than two months, Wells has been in Europe, helping him deal with acquisition matters in Europe.

I don’t know how the acquisition of those industries is going now.

"Ok!"

Afterwards, Anna told the driver to drive to the Athena Hotel.

In the past two months, not only Wells, but Anna has also been here, assisting Wells with his work. This is also a kind of experience for her.

Soon, they arrived at the Athena Hotel, and Wells was already waiting there in a suit and tie.

"Let's go, Will. Thank you for your hard work."

Li Changhe saw Weiersi, smiled and patted his shoulder, then took him back to his suite.

At this moment, Wells already had some documents in his hands.

"Boss, this is a document that needs your signature."

"Well, at present, Cartier and Vacheron Constantin have already negotiated. Cartier's price is 38 million US dollars, and Vacheron Constantin's price is 57 million US dollars."

"The total is ninety-five million dollars."

"Bossac can take out the money, but you can't rely on Bossac for the Château Latour you want."

"For Chateau Latour, the British Bosson Group's offer is 3.6 million francs, which is equivalent to about million US dollars."

“I considered using Bosak for a loan, but after learning about it, I felt it wasn’t a very cost-effective thing to do.”

Weiss said to Li Changhe seriously.

"Hmm? What's the problem?"

Li Changhe asked curiously.

"Vic, I don't know if you are aware that there are legal requirements for corporate loans in France."

"French companies cannot borrow directly from the central bank. They can only borrow from private banks in France. This is a law passed by former French President Pompidou and the Rothschild Bank."

"After this law was introduced, all companies borrowed from private banks at an interest rate of 4%, but these private banks only needed to pay 1% interest when borrowing from the French central bank."

"That is to say, if we want to take out a loan, we can only borrow from private banks such as BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, and the interest rate is at least four percentage points."

"Bossac is a French company, and it is difficult for us to borrow money from banks outside of France. Even if we can borrow, the interest they give us will not be low because of French law."

Wei Er Si said to Li Changhe speechlessly at this moment.

After listening to this, Li Changhe frowned slightly.

Wow, it turns out the Luo family has this trick up their sleeve. Isn't this just like the Federal Reserve, monopolizing France's financial power in disguise?
The only difference is that the United States does not even have a central bank, and it directly serves as the central bank of the United States. On the French side, at least it still retains the central bank institution, but the downward circulation channels of funds are completely controlled by private bankers.

"Is that Pompidou a fool? Why did he pass such a stupid law?"

Li Changhe was confused at this moment. Could it be that he didn't even know the basic financial knowledge?
"I heard that it was because during Charles de Gaulle's time, state-owned enterprises had been borrowing money from the central bank, including for building railways, airports, and nuclear power plants, and the central bank provided a low interest rate of 1%."

"Then some people felt that the de Gaulle government was plundering the wealth of the French people by borrowing unlimited money from the central bank."

"I feel that there is a shadow of Wall Street behind this, because it was Charles de Gaulle's transportation of gold back to Wall Street that directly led to the destruction of the Bretton Woods system."

"So in the late 1960s, there was an anti-Charles de Gaulle wave in France. Charles de Gaulle was forced to step down, and Pompidou came to power and negotiated with Wall Street."

"I only learned about this news when I was applying for a loan recently. For many French people, this law is a taboo, and many media and businessmen don't want to talk about it."

Wells said in a low voice.

Li Changhe nodded: "The interest rate of four points is indeed a bit uneconomical."

"Three hundred and fifty million dollars. Well, I can afford it. I just made a small fortune recently, so it's just right to buy Chateau Latour."

The stock market wealth-making myth in Kuwait is still continuing. His team's profits are still rising wildly. Three hundred and fifty million US dollars is definitely within their reach.

After hearing this, Wei Er Si looked at Li Changhe speechlessly.

You call $350 million a small fortune?
"Yeah, I think so too. In fact, vineyards are very suitable as private wealth assets."

"Lafite is the private wealth of the Rothschild family. They never have to worry about selling their wine every year. Even with a big customer like you, they can order many years' worth of wine at once."

"If you agree to this offer, I will talk to the Bosen Group and we can go to the UK to sign the contract."

"Let's talk about it. It's definitely worth spending some money at this time."

Li Changhe said decisively at this moment.

Now is 81, and next year will be 82, and 82 will be the legendary year for Bordeaux. Not only Lafite, but Latour will also be able to sell at a high price.

If you don’t negotiate at this time, the price will be even higher after the Bordeaux winery becomes famous.

While Li Changhe was negotiating with Weiers, a man in a black suit hurried into a luxurious villa not far from the Athena Hotel.

"Boss, those Asians you asked us to observe are here."

"The leader is most likely Victor, because he is very young, and everyone, including President Bosak of Wells, follows his lead."

"They just entered the Athena Hotel not long ago."

"This is a photo we secretly took of him."

The man in the black suit handed a photo to his boss.

The boss read it and then picked up the phone on the table.

"Carlo, come here for a moment."

Soon, another young and beautiful woman walked in.

"Take this photo and verify whether this person is Victor."

"If it's confirmed to be him, then go teach him a lesson."