Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 483 485 [The smell of gunpowder is getting stronger]

Thursday, March 10th.

News came from Yang Tiancheng that the tribesmen had decided to fight Luo Qihong to the end and would not agree to the conditions proposed by Luo Qihong, which surprised Luo Qihong slightly.

At this time, Yuan Tianfan walked in with a very thick document in his hand.

"Boss, Hengchangxing Enterprise has already made arrangements. There are 363 employees willing to come to Singapore to work, including 41 managers."

"The most important departments of the Yeo Hiap Seng Group are the production department and the sales department. These two departments control the lifeline of the group, and we must arrange for capable employees to enter them." Luo Qihong took the document and flipped through it casually.

Yuan Tianfan said, "Don't worry, everything has been negotiated. In fact, I don't think the Yang Jinglian family is that capable. Singaporeans also need to eat. At most, the management staff will leave, and there won't be too many lower-level employees."

Luo Qihong shook his head. "That's true, but we still have to be fully prepared. This is our first battle in Singapore, and we must fight well."

“How much do we own now?”

"It's already 43%. The growth rate will become slower and slower, and it's possible that we won't be able to acquire 45%." Yuan Tianfan said with some worry.

“No matter what, no matter how much money it costs, we must get control of the Yeo Hiap Seng Group, otherwise Heng An Investment Company will become a laughing stock in Singapore.” Luo Qihong said firmly.

"Yes, the acquisition will definitely be successful." Yuan Tianfan said.

A week passed quickly, and Hengan Investment Company successfully increased its stake to 47.8%. Its position was already very solid, and members of the Yang family began to sell their shares.

Originally, Yuan Tianfan suggested launching a comprehensive acquisition, but was rejected by Luo Qihong on the grounds that their foundation in Singapore was not as solid as imagined and they needed to grow stronger in the name of a listed company.

Luo Qihong remembered that in his previous life, Yeo Hiap Seng Group was acquired by Huang Tingfang's family, directly privatized and its listing status was cancelled. However, Huang Tingfang's purpose was simple and crude. It was obvious that he had his eyes on Yeo Hiap Seng Group's large tracts of land in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Luo Qihong would naturally look for a suitable opportunity to privatize the Yeung Hiap Seng Group. The land worth more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars could bring huge profits, and he did not want to share them with shareholders.

Moreover, after privatization, he can better control the Yeo Hiap Seng Group. The profits of the food and beverage industry cannot be underestimated. Coupled with Yeo Hiap Seng's reputation in Southeast Asian countries, it is not difficult to create a food and beverage super group, and even compete with Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Immediately afterwards, Luo Qihong convened a shareholders' meeting of the Yeo Hiap Seng Group, preparing to replace the Yeo Jinglian family and become the new owner of the group.

Yang Zhiyao was very tactful and resigned from the position of chairman of the board before the shareholders' meeting, and Yang Tiancheng took over the position temporarily.

In the end, Luo Qihong successfully took over the Yeo Hiap Seng Group, became chairman of the board and general manager, and took over control.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Yang Tiancheng took the initiative to discuss with Luo Qihong. He would take away some of the Yang family's confidants, and hoped that Luo Qihong would make use of the rest of the staff and try not to fire them.

Luo Qihong naturally accepted it with pleasure. Yang Tiancheng was willing to take his confidants away and did not want to make things difficult for him, so he saved the trouble of screening them one by one.

"Mr. Luo wants to privatize Yang Xiecheng in a year?" Yang Tiancheng said with a frown.

"Well. I know that the Yang family still holds about 20% of the shares. If you agree to privatization, I can let you keep about 10% of the shares, and the group's dividends will be credited smoothly in the future." Luo Qihong said.

"15%! We want 15%." Yang Tiancheng bargained. He knew that Luo Qihong wanted to monopolize the real estate profits.

"12%, 15% is a bit too much." Luo Qihong sighed.

"Okay, 12% is 12%. Just notify us when it's privatized." Yang Tiancheng nodded.

"There is one more thing I need Mr. Yang's help with, which is to prevent your clansmen from causing trouble. If anything happens, I will show no mercy, and the person behind the scenes will be severely punished." Luo Qihong said domineeringly. There are thousands of employees in the Yang Xiecheng Group, and he has no way to identify them one by one. It costs too many managers.

"I understand. But I can't guarantee it. I hope Luo Sheng can understand."

Yang Tiancheng is already over 70 years old. After fighting for so many years, this is the result, as if all his energy has been drained out.

Luo Qihong certainly would not show mercy to his enemies and be too soft-hearted.

mid-December.

After Luo Qihong finished dealing with the matters in Singapore and handed over the details to his subordinates, he flew back to Hong Kong with Yuan Tianfan and some other senior executives.

It took him two and a half months just to acquire the Yeo Hiap Seng Group. Although he also paid attention to business issues in Hong Kong and around the world, his long absence from his Hong Kong base would still cause some commotion.

Luo Qihong is the backbone of his company. The unclear news about what happened in Singapore was reported back to Hong Kong. Coupled with the negative comments from some "hostile" media, it is no exaggeration to say that people are in a panic.

As expected, he was stopped by reporters at the airport. The cameras kept filming, forcing Luo Qihong to cover his face with his hands.

"Mr. Luo, may I ask why you want to acquire Yeo Hiap Seng Group in Singapore? Is it because the companies in Hong Kong are not good enough?" asked a tall and beautiful reporter.

"Then let me ask you a question first. You can get full by eating rice, so why do you need to eat vegetables? And there are so many kinds of dishes?" Luo Qihong asked back with a slight smile.

"What Luo Sheng means is that he is greedy and wants to globalize his assets?" the female reporter continued to ask.

Luo Qihong did not answer any further. This question was a pure waste of time.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Luo Qihong saw Bai Jinyan's smiling face. The reason why she did not appear in front of everyone was that she did not want to be asked questions by those reporters.

Because not answering will also lead to rumors, which will have a significant impact.

"This year's residential real estate has generally risen by 5%. The market value of Siu On Properties has exceeded HK$260 billion, ranking 13th on the list, only below Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land Development and Cheung Kong Holdings." Bai Jinyan said, "Many people in society are calling on the Hong Kong government to sanction real estate companies and curb excessive growth in the real estate market. The situation is not good, and it feels like the Hong Kong government will really take action."

"Are only real estate developers making money? The Hong Kong government will not have an easy time if it sanctions real estate companies." Luo Qihong was a little angry. This was not just the responsibility of the real estate developers.

In February 91, residential prices in the city had risen to HK$2 per square foot, in Kowloon it was HK$2000 per square foot, and in the New Territories it was only HK$1800 per square foot.

Now the average price in urban areas has risen to HK$3000, HK$2800 in Kowloon and HK$2300 in the New Territories. This is the price of ordinary residential buildings, excluding large housing estates.

At this rate of increase, in two years, residential prices in the city will reach $5000, and it will not be a problem for some large housing estates to increase to over $1 per square foot.

The average university graduate’s salary in Central and Wan Chai is around HK$1. Assuming they want to buy a 600-square-foot house in Kowloon, it will take 14 years.

If by 94 or 95, wages had risen to the limit of 1.2 and 1.3, it would have taken 21 years to buy a house in the same location, which means that the growth of housing prices was much faster than the growth of wages.

The longer Hong Kong people delay, the less they can afford to buy a house.

The Hong Kong government, real estate developers and speculators are making a fortune, while the lower-class citizens are left with nothing every month. This is naturally wrong.

(End of this chapter)