Chapter 838 ParknShop Supermarket
It is equivalent to mastering the entire Hong Kong port transportation industry.
This temptation is still very great for him.
Li Jiacheng smiled and shook his head.
"If Mr. Xu is interested in the two port groups, Hutchison is willing to give up 20% of the shares of Hong Kong International Container Terminals, and we are willing to give up 10% of the shares of COSCO International Container Terminals."
"This old fox." Xu Liang complained in his heart.
After giving up this little equity, the operating rights of the two port companies are still firmly in the hands of Hutchison Ports, and there is no threat to the control of the Li family.
If he, the surname Xu, is ignorant, the old Li family can dilute his equity and drive him out at any time through targeted financing and other methods.
It is a good idea.
If the two companies are developing rapidly and have unlimited potential, Xu Liang would not mind holding his nose and eating it.
But Hong Kong Port is destined to fall.
The reason is very simple.
The reason why Hong Kong Port has developed rapidly and quickly become a world-class port.
In addition to its superior geographical environment, it is also the largest re-export trade port in China.
Most of the various commodities exported from the Chinese mainland will be re-exported in Hong Kong and sent to all parts of the world.
But with China's entry into the WTO, a series of major ports such as Shanghai, Daocheng, and Pengcheng have developed.
This re-export trade is getting worse and worse.
This is just one of the reasons.
The most important thing is that these Hong Kong feet are too damn expensive.
For a 20-foot standard container shipped to the United States, the terminal handling fee in Hong Kong is US$2,140.
But the next door Pengcheng only costs US$1,100.
Shanghai is even cheaper, only US$515.
So which fool has to spend more money to come to Hong Kong?
So in terms of pure investment, Hong Kong Port is a completely losing business.
"I appreciate Mr. Li's kindness, but I am not interested in just a small number of shares."
Li Jiacheng frowned slightly.
After confirming that Xu Liang was not talking nonsense.
"Mr. Xu is not interested in ports?"
"It's not that I'm not interested, but I don't have any port business.
Buying it is just pure investment, but the return on investment in the port industry is too low in my opinion, and it's completely unnecessary.
If Mr. Li is willing, I hope to buy ParknShop supermarket under Hutchison Watsons."
ParknShop is a large retail brand under Hutchison Whampoa, with more than 280 branches in Greater China, including more than 50 hypermarkets with a business area of more than 10,000 square meters.
It occupies 40% of the retail market share in Hong Kong.
It stands on equal footing with Wellcome under Jardine Matheson.
If it can be annexed, the number of branches of Kelong Supermarket will exceed 1,000, making it an international retail giant spanning the mainland and Southeast Asia.
Of course, acquisition is not the goal. His fundamental goal is to use the acquisition of ParknShop to list Kelong Supermarket in Hong Kong.
It's already May 2005. If it doesn't go public this year, it can only wait until next year.
It will go public in 2006, and minus the six-month lock-up period, there will be less than a few months left for him to cash out in 2007.
Once the subprime crisis breaks out, although it will not affect Hua Xia in the short term, it will be particularly difficult to go public in a bad environment.
After the subprime crisis, there will be the European debt crisis. It will take at least 10 years for the global economy to recover.
The listing roadshow plus the lock-up period will take a year.
If everything goes well, Kelong will go public in 2012.
But at this point in time, the retail industry will be increasingly weak in profit under the impact of e-commerce.
Without sufficient profit, the price-earnings ratio will be very ugly, and the market value will naturally not be too high, which will directly affect his interests.
Therefore, Kelong's listing window is this year.
"Mr. Xu's appetite is as good as ever."
Li Jiacheng's face is a little ugly.
Last year, in order to get a share of Pacific Fund, he was sucked blood by Xu Liang a lot. This year, he came again, and of course he was in a bad mood.
"It's not that I have a good appetite, but that the business I am in charge of is too small and boring.
If it's too big, Mr. Li may not be willing to sell it. ParknShop Supermarket is just right."
Li Jiacheng's eyes are thoughtful. For him, there is nothing that cannot be sold, only whether it is worth it.
Moreover, in terms of the retail industry alone, Watsons is Hutchison's core industry.
"If I am willing to sell, what conditions will Mr. Xu be prepared to pay?"
"US$2 billion to acquire ParknShop, and I will give Mr. Li an investment quota of US$500 million for the Pacific Phase II Hedge Fund."
"US$500 million is fine, but US$2 billion to acquire ParknShop is too little."
In 2004, ParknShop earned a total revenue of HK$26.4 billion.
Gross profit was 35%, and net profit was about 12%.
In other words, ParknShop's net profit was about US$410 million.
This is just a basic calculation.
ParknShop still has more than 6 billion Hong Kong dollars in debt.
It has to repay nearly US$200 million in principal and interest every year.
In other words, the actual profit earned each year is only about US$200 million.
According to the retail industry's general price-earnings ratio of about 10 times, Xu Liang's acquisition is fair, but there is no premium.
"How much does Mr. Li want?"
"US$4 billion." Li Jiacheng said directly.
Xu Liang's mouth twitched. He knew that the acquisition of ParknShop would definitely involve some tug-of-war, but this old Hong Konger was too ruthless.
"It's just $2 billion. If Mr. Li doesn't agree, I'll just pretend I never came today."
"That's a pity. Mr. Xu, I really want to cooperate with you."
"The acquisition amount of $2 billion, plus the investment amount of $500 million, I have paid enough sincerity, but Mr. Li has not been satisfied.
So there is no need to talk further."
Although he said so, he did not move his butt.
It is normal for everyone to make harsh remarks to each other during negotiations.
"Mr. Xu, Hutchison is not a company that my Li family holds a full stake in. If the acquisition price is too low, it will be difficult for me to explain to the board of directors."
"Then reduce the investment amount. The investment amount of $500 million, Mr. Li will reduce it by 100 million, and my acquisition price will increase by 100 million. How about it?"
Mr. Li's face darkened slightly.
He is not so noble as to use his own interests to subsidize other shareholders.
But he also saw that Xu Liang would not give in again.
"I need to think about it."
"OK, I'll wait for Mr. Li's answer."
He stood up after he finished speaking.
"I won't disturb Mr. Li's work anymore. Goodbye.
By the way."
Xu Liang stopped.
"I forgot to tell Mr. Li that Pacific II Fund has made a lot of money this year and is expected to provide nearly 3 times the return to customers. I remember that Mr. Xu invested 200 million US dollars in Pacific II Fund, and he made nearly 600 million US dollars. Congratulations."
Li Jiacheng was shocked and couldn't help but said, "Really?"
"Of course. In half a month, the fund will be unblocked, and Mr. Li can see it for himself."
Paused.
"Okay, that's all I want to say. Mr. Li, please think about ParknShop. Goodbye."
Personally sent Xu Liang out the door and watched his back disappear around the corner.
Li Jiacheng couldn't help but sigh: "It's hard to believe that a young man who is only 26 years old actually has such outstanding financial talent."
"So are you going to agree to his conditions?"
Zhou Kaixuan, who had been silent beside him, spoke up.
Li Jiacheng nodded and said, "ParknShop's acquisition is dispensable to him, but we are determined to get a share of Pacific II Fund.
Three times the profit in two years, not to mention me, all businessmen in the world will find it difficult to refuse."
Zhou Kaixuan nodded slightly.
It would be hard for her to refuse.
"But he doesn't look like he doesn't care about ParknShop."
"If he really wanted ParknShop that much, he wouldn't have asked for Bank of China, Metro Plaza in West Yangcheng, and Oriental Plaza in Shancheng when Hanhua was raising funds last year."
Thinking of these three projects, Lao Li still feels pain.
Let's not talk about Bank of China Building.
Every building in Central is a golden goose that lays eggs.
And he only has four buildings in Central, including Bank of China, and he has sold 20% of the equity of Central Center to Xu Liang.
In this way, the only office buildings in Central that he still controls 100% are Cheung Kong Center and Hutchison House.
Metro Plaza in West Yangcheng covers an area of about 71,000 square meters, with four floors and a total construction area of about 88,000 square meters.
It is located on the top of Huangsha Station of Metro Line 1 and Line 6 in Yangcheng, with convenient transportation.
And Liwan District is also the core urban area of Yangcheng.
The prospects are bright.
This project, which was won in 2000, has been completed for the most part.
According to the plan, it will be completed in 2006, and it will be a golden goose by then.
Unfortunately, it was spotted by a man named Xu.
Shancheng Metropolis is better than Guangzhou Xicheng Metropolis Plaza.
The latter is just a shopping center, while the former is a real commercial complex.
Located in the most prosperous financial, trade and service center in Shancheng, Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street, the ‘Metropolis Plaza’ has a total investment of 2 billion Chinese yuan.
The project covers an area of 18,717 square meters and a total area of 230,000 square meters;
It consists of a shopping center of 90,000 square meters, a Grade A office building of 54,000 square meters, the ‘Metropolis Commercial Building’, and a five-star hotel ‘Haiyi Hotel’.
After opening in 1997, it has become a fashionable coordinate for consumption in Shancheng.
It can earn more than 400 million Chinese yuan in net profit for Hutchison every year, and it is still rising.
It is undoubtedly Hutchison’s core project in the mainland.
But in order to get the quota of Pacific Fund I, he sold all three projects to Xu Liang in 2004.
Although the three projects are valuable, they are not as good as Pacific Hedge Fund, which can easily achieve a net return rate of 100% or even 200%.
"If we sell ParknShop, the board of directors may have opinions."
In the past two years, Lao Li has frequently sold off Hutchison's assets in exchange for shares of Pacific Fund, which is harmful to the public and beneficial to himself. Anyone would have opinions.
If Lao Li did not control the majority of Hutchison shares, plus years of accumulated prestige, they would have quarreled long ago.
After a moment of silence, Lao Li said reluctantly: "Take out a share of 100 million US dollars to appease them."
After a pause.
"What I envy most is Li Laosi, who can get a share of Pacific Fund without giving up anything."
"Why did Xu Liang give such a high treatment to his fourth uncle?"
"Maybe it's because when he first came to Hong Kong, Li Laosi helped him."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but regret it.