Chapter 114 The Ambition of the Shipping King

During this period, Wang Xingfa also reported to Liu Zhicheng on the launch plan of the home game console, which is expected to be released globally before the end of the year.

If it weren't for the development of its supporting game: Super Mario, which delayed the release of the game console, it would have been on the market in the first half of this year.

Liu Zhicheng was quite satisfied with the current research results of Orange Technology and nodded in satisfaction involuntarily.

Liu Zhicheng stayed at Orange Technology for half a day and returned to the Federal Building in the afternoon.

As soon as he returned to the Federal Building, Han Chunxi reported to him a piece of news that the charter king invited him to have afternoon tea together the next day.

When Liu Zhicheng heard the news, he was still a little dazed, but soon he smiled and shook his head, as if he had figured something out.

The charter king has long been seeking to abandon his ships and land. After predicting that the global shipping market will shrink massively in the next few years, the charter king naturally wants to dispose of the ships in his hands as soon as possible.

Because maintaining a boat is like maintaining a car, it requires insurance, parking fees, maintenance fees, and crew wages.

In fact, over the past year, the charter king has been dealing with his old ships, selling those that can be sold and scrapping and dismantling those that cannot be sold.

This process cannot be too fast because work issues involving workers and contract issues with some customers all require time to resolve.

Moreover, the shipping crisis is not imminent and it has not reached the point where it is necessary to cut off one's limbs immediately to survive. Therefore, the charter king's plan to abandon the ship and land is only being carried out step by step.

It is not easy to abandon the boat, and it is even more difficult to land. The charter king must choose a safe project before he can land.

Just like now, the entire Hong Kong real estate market has long been controlled by traditional British capital and a dozen Chinese real estate upstarts.

It is true that charter ship kings can enter the real estate market, but it is difficult to achieve great success without experience, talent, or land.

At the age of the charter ship king now, he is not afraid of the risks at sea, but instead starts a new business in another field.

He wanted to go public, and the best way was to directly acquire a company. The talent and land were already there, and he just needed to slowly accumulate experience.

The next afternoon, in a private room at the Mandarin Hotel, Liu Zhicheng met the boat charter king in private for the first time.

Why was it the first time in private? In fact, it was because the two had met in some public places, but they had never had a specific conversation.

Liu Zhicheng also owns dock properties. Although the main business of the charter ship king is shipping, he is mainly engaged in tanker business, unlike the other major Hong Kong shipping kings who are engaged in container transportation.

Therefore, the business overlap between the charter king and Liu Zhicheng was really not much. Even if they met in public, they were just nodding acquaintances, and at most they just knew each other for business flattery.

But today's meeting is different. One party was invited by the other party, so there must be important things to discuss.

Liu Zhicheng arrived at the hotel early to wait, not for any other reason, but mainly because the reputation of the charter ship king was so famous that it was worth him waiting there first.

Liu Zhicheng picked up a copy of the Tiantian Daily and started reading the news. One piece of news successfully attracted his attention: the Hong Kong Football League's Kowloon Motor Bus Football Club was disbanded, and fans petitioned the Lei family.

Liu Zhicheng was a complete fake football fan in his previous life. He never expected that Hong Kong's First Division Football League is so popular now. He is really ignorant.

Then I asked my assistant to learn about the project and decide whether to participate in it later.

"Mr. Bao, long time no see. I hope you are well." When Bao Chuanwang arrived, Liu Zhicheng stood up and shook hands to welcome him.

"Mr. Liu, it's been a long time since we last met. But you have become a young hero in Hong Kong," said the boat charterer with a smile.

"Bao Sheng, you're too polite. If we talk about heroes, it has to be you, Bao Sheng. You are at least the leader of the Five Mountains, and I'm at most just a flag-waver." Liu Zhicheng said modestly.

Heroes appreciate heroes. After a pleasant meeting and conversation, both sides sat down, sent away all the accompanying personnel, and got down to business of the day.

"When Li Chaoren acquired Wharf Holdings, I was not very optimistic about it. His foundation was still a little lacking. Things turned out just as I expected. I just didn't expect Liu Sheng to make such a move and hit the target with one strike."

After hearing what the charter king said, Liu Zhicheng realized that he must have been optimistic about Wharf Holdings for a long time, unlike what he had heard in his previous life when he was rushing into the battle.

Of course, Liu Zhicheng would not take the initiative to talk about this matter. He just said slowly: "British capital has been domineering in Hong Kong for so many years and has controlled the wealth for so many years. It is time to give up some of it. I am just the first one to get involved. There will be more people to follow."

In Hong Kong, a place as small as a palm, British capital has controlled it for hundreds of years. Under the premise that all the cake has been eaten by British capital, if Chinese capital wants to grow, it can only rely on forced acquisition.

"So, Mr. Liu still has some promising prey?" the boat charterer asked with a smile.

"Mr. Bao, my main business is manufacturing, and the layout of Xiangjiang Real Estate has been completed." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

The opportunity for Hong Kong's gold boom is about to come, and at the same time, Hong Kong's land prices have begun to go crazy. At this time, if a blocking war is launched, the stock price may go up to the sky, which is not cost-effective at all.

"Haha, I see." The boat owner laughed loudly. Liu Zhicheng asked again, "Mr. Bao, you should be thinking the same as me, wanting to acquire a British company, right?"

"I do have this idea. Many British companies are of high quality, but it takes time. I am currently preparing to invest in a portion of the shares." The charter king shook his head and said.

"Yes, acquiring large companies, whether in Hong Kong or internationally, is a matter of looking for opportunities and requires time to prepare. If we rush to block it, both sides may suffer losses." Liu Zhicheng nodded and said.

Looking at the entire history of commercial acquisitions in Hong Kong, it is basically a major shareholder who sold his shares to the acquirer, giving the acquirer the opportunity to take action on the company.

For example, in the past, the chartering king acquired Wheelock because John Madden, a shareholder of Wheelock, sold his shares to Qiu Depu, and Zhang Yuliang sold his shares to the chartering king, which triggered a dispute over controlling rights, and the chartering king won in the end.

However, if there is no transfer from the major shareholder and the company is not strong enough to do anything, it will be very difficult to stop a large enterprise from scratch.

This is why Li Chaoren blocked Hutchison Whampoa, but after the intervention of big capital, the matter was settled.

Liu Zhicheng's success was first of all due to his strong strength and the support of the beautiful Citibank behind him, which made him dare to give it a try. In the end, both sides suffered losses.

In the previous life in the 80s, when the company was being acquired, there was only Liu, the stock market sniper, who preferred sniping, but the successful ones were all small companies, and they were defeated even when facing the big hotels of Kadoorie.

"Yes, there is not much chance, so I am planning for the long term and want to buy the Hutchison Whampoa shares held by Mr. Liu. I wonder if Mr. Liu will give them up." The charter king asked with a smile.

When Liu Zhicheng heard the question from the ship chartering king, he couldn't help but pause. Could it be that the ship chartering king had set his eyes on Jardine Matheson?

This joke was a bit too much, and Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but fall into a brief contemplation.

The charter king did not give Liu Zhicheng time to think too much and said two more things.

"Mr. Liu, since you blocked Wharf Holdings, the Hong Kong government is revising the law, lowering the threshold for holding placards from 50% to 35%. In addition, since Jardine Matheson filed a complaint with the Hong Kong government, the court is discussing your monopoly of Kwai Chung Wharf."

After hearing the last thing, Liu Zhicheng's eyebrows were furrowed into a "川" shape. He didn't expect that Yihe couldn't beat him and had to act like a rogue.

But it is also true that a government cannot allow one company to monopolize an industry, so the Anti-Monopoly Law was introduced.

Of course, this does not apply to monopolies permitted under the legal framework, such as Hong Kong’s bus industry and power industry.

"What's the trick?" Liu Zhicheng asked. He knew that since the charter king came to him today, he must have made some preparations.

"Mr. Liu, how about you transfer part of the dock property to me?" the ship charter king said slowly.

"Isn't Mr. Bao not optimistic about the future shipping market?"

“Haha, Mr. Liu, being pessimistic doesn’t mean giving up everything. Besides, the wharf properties in Kwai Chung will never incur losses,” the charter king said with a smile.

"The shipping market is unpredictable. If a ship with a tonnage of tens of millions cannot find a customer, it will lose millions of Hong Kong dollars every day. The risk is too great."

"Hong Kong is always my home and I want to return there. I would like to take this opportunity to invest in some property and real estate businesses in Hong Kong. Even if there is a financial crisis, I will only lose a little rent." The charter king finished his thoughts in one breath.

Liu Zhicheng thought about it and felt that if he sold part of his assets to the shipping king, he would definitely be able to recover most of the costs, which would be just the right solution to his monopoly crisis.

If you have money, you can speculate on a new wealth opportunity, and you are just looking for a source of funds. Isn't this exactly what you want?
After thinking for a moment, Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Bao Sheng, I can agree to transfer the shares of Zhidi now. As for the dock property, I still need to go back and discuss it. I will tell you whether it will be sold in the next few days."

Although the shares of Swire Properties will also skyrocket in the next two years, it is better to give it to the ship charter king. I hope he will have the opportunity to take over Swire Properties, so that Hong Kong will be lively.

As for the terminal property, since the Hong Kong government is about to intervene, the sale of the part is already indisputable, but Liu Zhicheng wants to maximize his profits, so he needs to go back and think about it.

Seeing that Liu Zhicheng was a little hesitant about selling the dock property, the charter king continued, "Mr. Liu, we are all Chinese. Regarding the sale of the dock property, I hope you will consider Global Shipping."

"Don't worry about this, I will definitely consider Global Voyage first." Liu Zhicheng nodded and said.

If the wharf property is to be sold, Liu Zhicheng will definitely consider Chinese capital first, there is no doubt about that.

But Liu Zhicheng is more concerned about who to sell it to, whether to sell one or two, Liu Zhicheng needs to think it through clearly.

In the past life, Pier 3 belonged to the Singapore Port Authority. Is it possible to consider acquiring a stake in it by using a terminal property before it becomes too big?

In the next fifty years, among the top thirty ports in the world, Kwai Tsing will be the first, and later Singapore Port will be the first, but I don’t know how to get in touch with this line.

Liu Zhicheng needed to go back and think about all these before he could reply to the ship charter king a few days later.

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(End of this chapter)