In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 692 Li Jiacheng's Anger and Misunderstanding
“3 million Hong Kong dollars…” Lin Haoran frowned slightly upon hearing this and pondered for a moment.

Acquiring a 61% stake in Shaw Brothers Studio at this price wasn't actually that expensive.

It's important to understand that the permanent copyrights to those six or seven hundred Shaw Brothers films alone contain enormous value and are worth a considerable sum of money.

In fact, if Shaw Brothers hadn't reduced its investment in the company in recent years, leading to a large number of screenwriters, directors, and popular artists leaving to join other companies and causing the company to gradually decline, it would now have a market value of at least several billion Hong Kong dollars, given the company's past vigor.

However, precisely because Shaw Brothers was unwilling to manage the company properly, and because it was unwilling to increase its investment and the company's financial reports were very dismal, the market value of Shaw Brothers Studio never increased significantly, even during a bull market that lasted for more than two years.

"Uncle Six, you mentioned before that you wanted Shaw Brothers to sell the Clearwater Bay land to TVB at a low price. I would like to ask, what exactly is this low price you mentioned?"
"Besides, Shaw Brothers Studio is a listed company. It might not be appropriate for them to sell the land at such a low price so openly and honestly," Lin Haoran asked after thinking for a moment.

"Haoran, you can rest assured that the low price I mentioned is not really outrageously low. It's just that I plan to sell this land at a discount in exchange for Shaw Brothers Studio having long-term usage rights even if it sells Shaw Brothers Studio in the future."

Currently, land prices in the Clearwater Bay area are around HK$30 per square foot, and the Clearwater Bay Cinema covers an area of ​​650,000 square feet. Based on this calculation, the actual value of this land alone is approximately HK$20 million.

However, given the current sluggish property market, it would be difficult to sell at this price. Therefore, my idea is to have TVB acquire this land for HK$10 million.

Meanwhile, Shaw Brothers will continue to retain the right to use Clearwater Bay Cinema for free, only the ownership will be gone. I don't think this arrangement is excessive. What do you think?" Shaw Yi-fu explained patiently.

Having made up his mind to sell the relevant assets, Shao Yifu naturally wouldn't give up the opportunity to seek benefits for himself.

Now that he has shifted his career focus to TVB, he naturally has to carefully consider the interests of TVB.

Currently, TVB has an extremely strong demand for filming period dramas. Whenever they need to film a period drama, they can only rent Clearwater Bay Cinema as a filming location by paying a rental fee.

Therefore, since they intend to sell Shaw Brothers Studio, they might as well take the opportunity to let TVB acquire Clearwater Bay Cinema as well.

Lin Haoran nodded slightly after hearing this.

In his view, Shao Yifu's proposal was not excessive.

Since the acquisition was going to happen, he really didn't care much about giving up a few million dollars in profit.

Moreover, he is also one of TVB's major shareholders, so no matter how the final transaction is arranged, he will not suffer any loss.

"Daddy, what's your opinion on this?" Lin Haoran turned his head and asked Lin Wan'an, who was sitting next to him, with a smile.

"Hao'er, you can make the decision for me, but isn't the amount of money involved a bit too high?" Lin Wan'an frowned slightly and said with a hint of worry.

"Daddy, this little bit of money is nothing, just a small token." Lin Haoran waved his hand casually, looking completely unconcerned.

He made billions of Hong Kong dollars shorting HSBC, so giving a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars to his father is really nothing.

After saying that, he turned to Shao Yifu and said, "Sixth Uncle, since we have reached an agreement, let's set the price as we just agreed. I plan to first arrange for people to secretly acquire the shares of Shaw Brothers Film Company, and then buy back the shares you hold from you. Do you think this is feasible?"

"Haoran, from what you're saying, you want to privatize Shaw Brothers Film Company?" Shao Yifu asked with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Sixth Uncle, yes, since my father is going to acquire Shaw Brothers Studio, he will naturally manage it well. Therefore, after the acquisition, he will increase his investment in it. But I have seen Shaw Brothers Studio's financial statements for the first half of the year. It doesn't have much money in its account right now, does it?"

In other words, developing Shaw Brothers Studio will definitely require a lot of capital. Relying solely on the company's financial resources will not be enough to rebuild Shaw Brothers Studio. In that case, it would be better to privatize it completely! Lin Haoran explained with a smile.

Besides investing your own money, raising funds from the market is also a viable option.

However, given the current scale of cash flow under Lin Haoran's control, there is no need for him to go through the trouble of raising funds.

To put it somewhat arrogantly, even if Shaw Brothers ultimately failed to recoup his investment, he wouldn't care much.

Shao Yifu nodded slightly, thinking to himself: No wonder he's known as the "privatization maniac," always wanting to delist the company from the stock market.

Compared to other bosses in Hong Kong, Lin Haoran's style of doing things is truly unique.

“Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, I will naturally cooperate fully. I’m ready to assist you with the share transfer at any time!” Shao Yifu added.

"Alright, it's settled then, Uncle Liu, it's a pleasure to cooperate!" Lin Haoran stood up, smiling, and shook hands warmly with Shao Yifu.

Since Shao Yifu had verbally agreed, he wasn't afraid that the other party would go back on their word.

Seeing this, Lin Wan'an also stepped forward and shook hands with Shao Yifu.

The three of them then chatted a lot about things related to TVB in the office.

Before we knew it, more than an hour had passed.

Lin Haoran then conducted a detailed inspection of the TVB building. During the inspection, in his capacity as Vice Chairman of TVB, he interacted warmly with many actors, screenwriters, directors, and hosts. He also had lunch with many employees in the restaurant, which can be considered as him making his presence felt.

Only then did he leave Kowloon Tong Broadcast Drive with Lam Man-on.

Lin Haoran was in a particularly good mood because things were going very smoothly.

After all, Shaw Brothers films were renowned, and in his previous life, he had watched countless Shaw Brothers films.

Now, acquiring Shaw Brothers films is a pretty good idea.

Although it was ultimately intended for his father, it wasn't truly his yet...

After returning to the Kang Le Building, the two went to Lin Haoran's private office together.

"Haoran, I've done a rough calculation, and this investment will cost at least HK$500 million. Isn't that a bit too much?" Lin Wan'an said with a furrowed brow.

After all, it would cost HK$3 million to acquire the shares held by Shaw.

To acquire the remaining shares from the stock market and other shareholders, it would cost an additional HK$100 million or even close to HK$200 million.

Therefore, it would indeed require nearly HK$5 million to completely acquire Shaw Brothers Studio.

Moreover, this HK$5 million does not include the additional investment needed to further develop Shaw Brothers Studio.

"Daddy, it's just five hundred million Hong Kong dollars, it's nothing. You can just relax and prepare to be the boss of Shaw Brothers Studio." Lin Haoran said calmly, without the slightest ripple in his heart.

His current remarkable achievements would have been impossible without the support and assistance of his father, Lin Wan-an.

Back then, whether it was applying for loans from Yumin Finance Company or Hengsheng Bank, or gaining Bao Yugang's appreciation and favor, he first relied on his father's name and reputation to successfully take the crucial step.

Later, he inherited more than half of his father's substantial fortune.

These factors played a crucial role in his struggle and can be considered indispensable.

What if he had to start from scratch, with nothing to his name?
I really don't know when I'll be able to make it in the fiercely competitive business world.

Moreover, if he starts from a low point, he will inevitably miss too many opportunities.

Now that Lin Wan'an can't stay idle and wants to make a comeback in the business world, and his health has almost recovered, Lin Haoran doesn't mind giving him a hand and helping him rediscover his passion for his career.

“But…” Lin Wan’an still hesitated.

In Lin Wan-an's view, HK$500 million was still too much.

Initially, he only wanted to pool his money with a few friends, each investing a few million, to jointly establish a legitimate film company and do some small-scale business.

But who could have imagined that things would develop to this point, with the intention of directly acquiring the film company with the deepest roots in Hong Kong?

This is like someone who originally intended to play in the shallows, but suddenly had to plunge into the raging waves to fight. From the initial small-scale activities, he suddenly became a big spender to acquire an industry giant. The leap was too great, and he could not adapt to it in a short time.

With such a large investment, he inevitably had many concerns.

When he was running Wan An Real Estate Company, he was too conservative in his actions. Despite starting earlier than others, he could only watch helplessly as companies like Cheung Kong Holdings, Hang Lung Properties, and Sun Hung Kai Properties flourished, while his own Wan An Real Estate lagged far behind and was much inferior.

Being overly cautious can sometimes be a good thing, but at other times it can become a stumbling block to progress.

“Daddy, don’t worry.” Lin Haoran interrupted him with a smile. “You know that this amount of money is nothing to me. Besides, the reason why Shaw Brothers declined was simply because Uncle Liu was not interested in running the business. As long as we manage it well after we acquire it, the future returns will definitely be considerable.”

Seeing his son's determination, Lin Wan'an finally nodded: "Alright, since you're so confident, I'll listen to you."

Lin Haoran smiled with satisfaction: "That's more like it! Don't worry, I will arrange a professional team to assist you and ensure a smooth acquisition process. You don't need to worry too much about the operation of Shaw Brothers Film Company afterwards."

Hong Kong has no shortage of film talent. I'll have a headhunting firm find a sufficiently talented professional manager for Shaw Brothers Studio. You'll just need to take charge of the overall situation. If we really can't find one, I'll have someone look for one for you in Hollywood. In short, developing Shaw Brothers Studio and even achieving its current glory won't be difficult, so you don't need to have too many worries.”

In the film industry, the most important people are screenwriters and directors. As long as you have a good script, a good director, and sufficient financial support, it is not difficult to make a high-grossing film.

As for the actors?

TVB has no shortage of actors, so when we collaborate with TVB, we won't have to worry about not having good actors.

In this way, it would be a very simple matter for Shaw Brothers to surpass Golden Harvest and take the throne of Hong Kong's leading film company again.

...While the Lin family father and son were finalizing the transfer of Shaw Brothers Film Company with Shaw Brothers, on the other side, at the Hutchison Whampoa headquarters in Central, in the chairman's office, Li Jiacheng was furious.

After hearing Richard's report, Li Jiacheng was extremely angry.

If Richard hadn't been there, he probably would have smashed things.

It turns out that recently, several of Hutchison Whampoa's core businesses have encountered a sharp decline in profits.

Take the retail business, which is currently of paramount importance, for example. Its subsidiaries, such as ParknShop and Watsons, have not been spared.

In addition, other business segments are also in poor condition, such as the Hilton Hotel business in Central, the international freight business at Kwai Chung Ferry Terminal, and the insurance business, all of which have seen a significant drop in turnover.

After a thorough investigation, they discovered that many long-time customers had switched to similar businesses under the Hongkong Land Group.

For example, the number of customers at ParknShop supermarkets is decreasing, while the number of customers at Wellcome supermarkets under Hongkong Land Group is increasing.
Watsons' business is getting increasingly slow, while Mannings, a supermarket under Hongkong Land Group, is booming with a significant increase in turnover.
The number of high-end guests at the Hilton Central Hotel has plummeted, but the survey results show that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, owned by Hongkong Land Group, is teeming with high-end guests and its occupancy rate has soared.

……

The investigation report in Li Jiacheng's hands left him deeply troubled.

A few days ago, when Richard reported to him about ParknShop being "maliciously competed" by Wellcome Supermarket, he was furious and decided to fight Wellcome Supermarket.

As a result, before ParknShop could even begin to address the competition from Wellcome, its subordinates discovered that more of its businesses might be facing "malicious competition" from similar businesses of Hongkong Land Group.

This naturally made him feel very embarrassed.

Li Jiacheng's face was gloomy as he tapped his fingers on the table.

"You bastard Lin Haoran, all I did was announce my support for Huifeng Bank before, and now you're retaliating against me like this? You're really ruthless. But I'm not someone to be trifled with either. Since you want to play this game, then I'll play along to the end!" Li Jiacheng suddenly stood up, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

He believed that Lin Haoran must have been behind all of this.

Otherwise, why would Hutchison Whampoa's business suddenly experience such a large-scale loss of customers in the past month?

At this moment, Li Jiacheng thought that Lin Haoran was too petty.

In reality, Lin Haoran was completely unaware of these things.

Moreover, most of Hutchison Whampoa's business actually overlaps with that of Hongkong Land.

For example, real estate, hotels, retail, warehousing, docks, import and export trade, etc. It can be said that Hongkong Land Group owns all the businesses that Hutchison Whampoa owns.

Therefore, industry competition is inevitable.

During this period, Lin Haoran, the owner of the local group, enjoyed immense success after defeating Huifeng Bank.

Therefore, Simon Murray, as the president of Hongkong Land Group, took this opportunity to leverage Lam Ho-yin's influence in Hong Kong, and used Lam Ho-yin's name to increase the publicity and promotion of his business, which led to Hutchison Whampoa's customers turning to Hongkong Land Group.

For Ma Shimin, with the boss's popularity and influence so high, if he didn't seize the opportunity now, when would he?
In fact, it's not just Hutchison Whampoa's businesses that have been affected; companies in other industries have also been impacted to varying degrees.

Li Jiacheng completely misunderstood Lin Haoran at this moment, thinking that Lin Haoran was deliberately targeting him.

At the beginning of this year, Hong Kong's real estate industry showed signs of fatigue, with its growth rate gradually slowing down.

Those who were once keen on speculating in real estate have withdrawn their investments, and the transaction volume in the housing market has shown a significant downward trend.

As giants in Hong Kong's real estate industry, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa naturally could not remain unaffected and suffered considerable impact.

Under these circumstances, Li Ka-shing had no choice but to adjust his strategic layout and shift his business focus to other industries under Hutchison Whampoa.

However, to his utter surprise, not long after he shifted his focus to these businesses, he was met with a devastating blow.

Despite his anger, Li Jiacheng had to gradually calm down and think about how to deal with the competition from such a formidable rival as Lin Haoran.

He looked at Richard and said, "Mr. Richard, what do you think we should do?"

Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa are indeed very strong, but even if they are strong, it is difficult for them to really go head-to-head with Lin Haoran.

Lin Haoran is simply too domineering these days.

Hong Kong's business community today seems to be shrouded in an invisible gloom.

Lin Haoran's figure was the source of this gloom; he was like a towering peak in the gloom, casting a huge shadow that was hard to ignore.

Hong Kong Electric Holdings, Hong Kong Telephone, Hong Kong Land, Oriental Press Holdings, Hong Kong and China Gas, Kowloon Motor Bus, Wan Tsing Group, Galaxy Securities, Hang Seng Group... These companies are all renowned and influential giants in various industries in Hong Kong.

What's shocking is that the person behind them is the same person—Lin Haoran.

Faced with such a powerful and unstoppable competitor, Li Jiacheng was filled with despair and could not think of any effective countermeasures for a moment.

Li Jiacheng did not want to thaw relations with Lin Haoran. After all, he always believed in the business philosophy of "harmony brings wealth" and tried to avoid provoking those he could not afford to offend.

However, he is now closely tied to Huifeng Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, and with so many interests involved, it is impossible for him to ease the tension with Lin Haoran.

A few days ago, he even went to Bao Yugang to ask for advice on how to deal with the situation, but in the end he was unable to get any practical and useful suggestions from him.

Since there's no way to ease the tension with Lin Haoran, the only option is to bite the bullet and face it head-on.

However, Li Jiacheng was at a loss as to how to deal with the situation and could only place his hopes on his subordinates.

In today's Hong Kong business world, Li Ka-shing is undoubtedly a giant figure.

His companies, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, consistently rank among the top 15 listed companies in Hong Kong.

Hutchison Whampoa, in particular, has now risen to the top five.

Therefore, it is clear that its strength should not be underestimated.

In particular, with the recent resolution of Huifeng Bank's funding crisis, these two giant companies no longer need to worry about the risk of a broken capital chain, and their confidence is becoming increasingly strong.

Even so, facing such a formidable competitor as Lin Haoran, Li Jiacheng knew that victory would be no easy task.

The fates of Huifeng Bank and Jardine Matheson in his time offer a glimpse into their significance.

He longed for peace and tranquility between himself and Lin Haoran, hoping they could coexist peacefully and keep to themselves.

However, the detailed investigation report in his hand was like a bucket of cold water, ruthlessly extinguishing any glimmer of hope in his heart.

Such an idea is unlikely to become a reality.

Thinking this through, Li Jiacheng, who had gradually calmed down, looked at Richard Xin, hoping to get some useful advice from him.

Richard Shin, as the deputy of former Hutchison Whampoa tycoon Wayne Lai, was naturally quite capable.

Richard Shin played a significant role in turning Hutchison Whampoa around during the Wyman Wong era.

Richard Sin deserves much credit for Hutchison Whampoa's continued orderly operation after Li Ka-shing took over.

This is why, after taking over Hutchison Whampoa, Li Ka-shing did not rush to get rid of the old generals, but instead kept Richard Shin and others in place, allowing them to continue serving as key executives of Hutchison Whampoa.

When Richard saw Li Jiacheng looking at him, he secretly thought to himself that this was the crucial moment for him to make a good impression.

He paused for a moment, organized his thoughts, and slowly said, "Mr. Li, in my opinion, the situation that Hutchison Whampoa is currently facing is indeed thorny, but it is not without a solution."

Li Jiacheng leaned forward slightly, his eyes revealing eagerness and anticipation: "Oh? What are your thoughts? Tell me quickly."

“Since it’s difficult for us to compete with Hongkong Land Group on our own, why don’t we unite with other forces to jointly deal with the competitive pressure from Hongkong Land Group?” Richard pushed up his glasses, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

Li Jiacheng frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

“We can join forces with some British giants, such as CLP Power, Standard Chartered Bank, and even Jardine Matheson. These are all major competitors of Lin Haoran and have been significantly affected by him!”

In particular, Jardine Matheson, as far as I know, although Jardine Matheson has withdrawn from the Hong Kong market, they still hate Lin Haoran to the core.

"A few months ago, I heard that Jardine Matheson had a minor skirmish with Lin Haoran in Japan, but they ultimately lost. This shows how deep their hatred for Lin Haoran is," Richard said in a low voice.

Li Jiacheng nodded; he was quite clear about this.

If it weren't for Lin Haoran, Jardine Matheson would still be enjoying its former glory in Hong Kong today.

However, because of Lin Haoran, Jardine Matheson suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw from the Hong Kong market.

Such hatred would likely keep Jardine Matheson harboring deep resentment towards Lin Haoran!
(End of this chapter)