Legend of Xiangjiang Tycoon Chapter 540

John Madden is headquartered in Wheelock's Hong Kong head office, and his investment focuses on shipping.

People say that this is to follow the old Madden's proposition, but it is not true. Little Madden's character is even more arrogant than his father's.

Little Madden is well versed in the special status of shipping in Hong Kong.

In 1956, the Suez Canal, the throat of Eurasian shipping, was cut off, and freight rates skyrocketed. Wheelock encountered an unprecedented opportunity for development.

In 1959, John Maddenk Shao Keiqiu became the chairman and general manager of the Hong Kong Wheelock Company.

Bao Yugang and George Madden did not know each other, and the two did not become enemies due to the unpleasantness of their meeting in London.

Old Madden left a will before his death, to the effect that if Wheelock wants to cooperate with others in shipping, the first choice is Bao Yugang of the global shipping industry.

John Madden was convinced by Bao Yugang's low-cost long-term charter. Although the profit was meager, he was firmly on the fishing boat. John Madden invested too fast and was often stretched thin, so he gradually transferred the stocks of the Asian shipping industry to Bao Yugang to cash out. .

By 1962, Bao Yugang had become a major shareholder in the Asian aviation industry, which operated entirely in the way of Bao's.

The Madden family still retains Wheelock Shipping. In the 1960s, the Chinese ship merchants developed amazingly. In the 1970s, the ghost ship merchants were completely suppressed.

Wheelock is no longer a shipping tycoon, but Madden is by no means an easy-going person, with his series of expansion plans, such as tropical cyclones sweeping over Hong Kong and Kowloon.

John Madden said: "In the 1950s and 1960s, Wheelock's investment in Hong Kong was limited to shipping. This was caused by the unstable status of Hong Kong. Most British businessmen suffered heavy losses when they took over the mainland from the north and stayed in Shanghai. A large number of real estate cannot be taken away. On the other hand, Wheelock's losses are the smallest, the assets are mainly ships, and the property is only a small part. Hong Kong is like a deer's nest next to a tiger's den, and it may become the second Shanghai at any time.”

Madden adheres to the "egg philosophy" that is often mentioned in the business world, that is, 100 eggs, don't put them in one basket. Madden focuses his investment on the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, North America, and South Africa, and the projects are all-encompassing.

Madden said: "In those years, I was flying around the world almost the whole year, and about 100 days of the year were spent on planes."

Madden's first expansion plan was earth-shattering, when he annexed Lane Crawford, Hong Kong's oldest department store, in 1969.

Lane Crawford was founded in 1850 and has a long history of 120 years.

Lane Crawford has always taken the high-end route. It is a place frequented by ghosts and wealthy Chinese. Lane Crawford has department stores and boutiques in popular places in Hong Kong and Kowloon, which are closely related to people's daily life and are well-known.

Wheelock, which acquired Lane Crawford, became famous and became Megatron Hong Kong Nine.

Madden's series of expansion plans is dizzying. At its peak, Wheelock Group had more than 200 associates and subsidiaries, half of which were in Hong Kong.

The more important companies are: Wheelock Shipping Company, Asia Shipping Company, Lung Fung Trust and Investment Company, Xialiman Real Estate Company, China Gas Company, Hong Kong Property Company, Hong Kong Tramway Company, Lane Crawford Company, Hong Kong Spinners Company , the joint venture company Baofu Development Company, the Hong Kong Tunnel Company, etc. Madden has served as chairman, vice chairman and director of these companies.

Madden became a director of HSBC in 1971.

Madden has been a good dancer in the business world, and he has also made great achievements in the political world. He was appointed to the Municipal Council in 1959. He has successively served as a member of various committees such as the Hong Kong House Building Committee, a trustee of the University of Hong Kong, and the joint secretary of the Hong Kong Oxford and Cambridge Society.

In 1964, John Madden was appointed Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong. In 1976, he was awarded the title of CBE by the British Royal Family.

Wheelock was the fastest growing foreign firm in Hong Kong after the war. Everyone knows the trend of Madden, who will compete with him?

But the world is unpredictable, and the emergence of the Heung Kong crisis has made Wheelock and Matheson begin to decline.

In 1981, Wheelock Shipping had a total of 29 ships with a deadweight of 1.39 million tons. Due to the slump in the shipping market, the company has a debt of HK$2.18 billion and another HK$680 million to complete the ship being built.

Wheelock Shipping, which was heavily in debt, was forced to reduce its ships. By the second half of 1982, the debt had been reduced by 560 million Hong Kong dollars. Thanks to the support of Wheelock Head Office, the capital commitment was reduced by HK$468 million. But at the same time, there was a loss of 65 million Hong Kong dollars, and the debt was still as high as 1.62 billion Hong Kong dollars. Industry news that Wheelock Shipping may be liquidated due to debt.

If Bao Yugang had the intention to acquire it, this would be a godsend, but Bao Yugang did not do so.

Bao Yugang, who abandoned the boat and landed, after biting a piece of fat from Jardine Matheson with Li Zhiwen and Huo Yingdong, his ambition to expand through the backdoor did not diminish, but he could not bear to take Wheelock to operate, although he and Madden were related. It's not too difficult.

Bao Yugang abides by the Chinese tradition: friends' wives should not be deceived; friends' money should not be greedy.

Bao Yugang and Old Madden are friends, and they can't tear it apart.

But now the development of the situation has made Bao Yugang without any scruples. First of all, it is John Madden who has pierced the veil of love - he has no father's best friend Bao Yugang in his heart. , the Wheelock shares changed hands to others.

From the end of 1982 to the beginning of 1983, it was the moment of unprecedented crisis for Wheelock, which was heavily indebted and brittle as an eggshell. There are rumors in the market that several companies want to acquire Wheelock, and John Madden is in a panic.

John Madden decided that instead of sitting still, he should retreat and sell shares to cash out and get out of the current crisis. John Madden secretly transferred his Wheelock shares to Singaporean businessman Khoo Teck Puat.

Qiu Depu, who is originally from Fujian Province, is the chairman of Singapore's Goodwood Park Hotel Group, the founder and major shareholder of Maybank, and has a large number of properties in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Qiu Depu has long been interested in coming to Hong Kong for development, and the acquisition of Wheelock was the opportunity for him to enter Hong Kong in a big way.

In fact, if it weren't for this time, most Hong Kong people would not know that Wheelock & Co.'s largest shareholder is Zhang Yuliang.

The Zhang Zhushan family started out with western medicine and set foot in real estate in the late 1950s.

In 1962, Zhang Yuliang, the fourth son of Zhang Zhushan, started the construction of two buildings in the Central District with the funds of the family company. At that time, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was only one exchange.

It is difficult for a Chinese-owned company to go public, so Zhang Yuliang decided to backdoor the market. He first sold a building, the Federal Building, to the Madden family's Federal Realty Co., Ltd. in exchange for 7.64 million shares of Federal Realty. .

Later, Zhang Yuliang once again sold the International Building with Federal Real Estate for his shares.

By July 1970, the Zhang family owned more than 70 percent of the federal property.

The Zhang family has always been low-key, and people have always believed that Federal Real Estate is a listed company of the Madden family. In fact, the real shareholder boss is the Zhang family.

Channel Catfish From 1970 to 1972, the Zhang family went public again by backdoor listing, and exchanged shares of Wheelock with some shares of Federal Real Estate, U and Mid-level Mei Road, Planting Road, Garden Terrace and other properties.

The Zhang family owns up to 40% of Wheelock's shares, and the Madden family has 20%. The largest shareholder, Zhang Yuliang, only serves as a child, and John Madden is still the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive.

The Zhang family is listed on the backdoor, as long as its flesh (real), ignoring its shell (name).

In this respect, it is completely different from John Madden, who only needs the shell, regardless of the flesh that has been hollowed out by others.

Because Zhang Yuliang was not interested in fame, John Madden did not feel that Zhang, the largest shareholder, was a threat.

John Madden is very happy, and it can be further confirmed by the new Wheelock Building.

In 1980, John Madden proposed to build this building, and his real estate trust had enough funds to build it independently.

However, John Madden wants to form another K. Wah Real Estate Company, which will absorb real estate companies from all over the world. The largest shareholder is Zhang Yuliang's Jinxing Land.

That is to say, Madden can build one building with one billion dollars, but he has to build five or even ten buildings. He doesn't care if his shareholding is diluted, as long as the property is still nominally owned by himself.

So it is no wonder that Wheelock has expanded into more than 200 companies in three decades.

People with a heart have said that the Wheelock owned by Madden is actually a huge and empty largest shareholder, Zhang Yuliang. , coupled with the decline of shipping, its performance is plummeting.

Minority shareholders regard Wheelock's stock as tasteless, and it is a pity to abandon it.

Zhang Yuliang is increasingly dissatisfied with John Madden, and the contradiction is deepening.

But this time John Madden privately sold his 14% stake to the wealthy Singaporean businessman Qiu Depu without saying hello to the board of directors in advance.

Zhang Yuliang was so angry: I am the largest shareholder of Wheelock, and I have a lot of power. How can you do such a big thing behind my back?

On April 2, 1983, the Qiu Depu consortium published an advertisement, stating that it had purchased 14% of the equity from the Madden family, and began to fully acquire Wheelock shares from other shareholders, offering 6 Hong Kong dollars for A shares and 6 corner Hong Kong for B shares. city.

Zhang Yuliang decided to thwart the acquisition plan of John Madden's first-hand director.

In fact, with Zhang Yuliang's financial resources, it is on a par with Qiu Deba. Zhang's own 34% shareholding advantage. It is easy to defeat Qiu's anti-takeover. .

Zhang Yuliang is not optimistic about the development prospects of Hong Kong. A few years ago, Zhang Yuliang and his second sister-in-law Cui Xiuying went to court. Although Zhang Yuliang won the lawsuit and "secured" his family property, his reputation was discredited. Zhang Yuliang felt that Hong Kong people were terrible, so he decided to It's better to leave and move to Australia.

Last year, Li Zhiwen, together with Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong, bit a piece of fat from Jardine Matheson and became famous.

Zhang Yuliang knew Bao Yugang when he was doing western medicine and admired Bao Yugang's financial strength and courage.

When Qiu Depu initiated the acquisition, Zhang Yuliang found Bao Yugang, hoping that Bao Yugang would buy the shares in his hand, and then take advantage of 34% to defeat Qiu Depu, so as to control Wheelock.

Bao Yugang was naturally overjoyed at this piece of fat delivered to his door.

However, his recent battle of Wharf and the siege of Jardine Matheson exhausted his cash flow, and his vitality has not yet recovered. It is impossible to mobilize more than ten or two billion Hong Kong dollars in cash in a very short period of time to compete with Qiu Deba.

According to Qiu's price, he will soon be able to increase his shares to more than 50% and absolutely control Wheelock.

So Bao Yugang decided to do a favor - in return Li Zhiwen led him to fight against Jardine Matheson.

Therefore, on the morning of April 3, 1983, Bao Yugang appeared in Li Zhiwen's office in the Peak Building, and it was for this reason.

"Old Bao, that means you want me to come forward and fight with Qiu Deba to buy Wheelock?" Li Zhiwen asked.

"It's true. You are the most suitable candidate. If it weren't for my current capital turnover, I wouldn't have anything to do with you."

"I think you should have a cash flow of more than one billion Hong Kong dollars!" Bao Yugang asked.

"There is, but there is. Even without me, it can be mobilized, but I have a plan next, and there is really no way to draw such a large amount of money!" Li Zhiwen said with a frown.

"What kind of plan is comparable to the temptation of Wheelock, you must know that you pay a price of more than one billion Hong Kong dollars now, and the future return may be tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars."

"Although it seems that Wheelock & Co.'s main business, shipping, is weak at this time, and the same is true of real estate, you don't really think that real estate will continue to be weak!"

"If that's the case, why do you buy so much land and keep it in your hands?"

"Not to mention the Lane Crawford department store owned by Wheelock & Co. I think this is tailor-made for you. Look at the supermarkets in Hong Kong that you have basically covered. Wellcome and Parknshop are under your command. As for those other overseas who are not your opponents."

"And you have Kylin Clothing Company, Lai Xin Group, Crocodile Shirts, and if you add Lane Crawford, then all the big-name department stores after Heung Kong are on your phone. It's a monopoly. You don't know the profits of monopoly. How big will it be!" Bao Yugang analyzed. UU reading www. uukanshu.com

Bao Yugang's analysis for Li Zhiwen is very correct. In fact, Li Zhiwen is more ruthless. Many of the international luxury brands in Hong Kong are Louis Vuitton Group and Prada Group controlled by Li Zhiwen, or Victoria's Secret, which is not enough. Count Japan's Uniqlo and Muji.

In this way, Li Zhiwen is simply a complete monopoly of Heung Kong Department Store.

Therefore, Li Zhiwen is of course very interested in Wheelock, and Bao Yugang is right. He spent more than one billion Hong Kong dollars to control Wheelock, and then slowly restructured Wheelock and transformed it into himself. A private company is not difficult at all.

The next devaluation of the Hong Kong dollar is actually the best time, because the devaluation of the Hong Kong dollar is not just a financial event, but will also cause the stock market to fall, and investors will panic. There will be a lot of people selling, so taking Wheelock private isn't too hard.

As long as after the privatization of Wheelock & Co., after the Sino-British negotiation is over, the Hong Kong stock market recovers, and Wheelock returns to its original market value, then it will be easy to earn more than one billion Hong Kong dollars by virtue of this.

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Chapter end