Chapter 365 Chapter 363 [Diverting trouble to the east]

Wheelock Company Executive Meeting Room
As one of the four major foreign companies in Hong Kong, Wheelock and Company was naturally dominated by foreigners. However, they were not as stubborn as the senior executives of Wharf Holdings. They were very sensible and moved closer to Li Wendi. Only a few senior executives chose to resign.

Li Wendi was very satisfied with the result. After all, if they really wanted to clean up Wheelock on a large scale, it would take a relatively long time and consume a lot of manpower and material resources, which would be extremely disadvantageous for Wheelock.

“Most of you here are old employees of Wheelock and have made contributions to the company, so I believe you will not do anything bad to Wheelock.” After a lot of nonsense, Li Wendi tried his best to calm people’s hearts.

Next, Li Wendi began to talk about the company's business operations, and requested adjustments to the shipping and real estate businesses. "So, the expansion of the shipping industry will stop here, and the funds will be reduced, and the focus will be on real estate. The Real Estate Trust Company, Federal Realty Company, and Harriman Development Company must quickly expand their businesses, especially the current properties in Central that the company holds must continue to be held, and even the property area in prosperous areas must be increased."

"Chairman Li, we have quite a few customized new ships for which the final payment has not yet been paid, and there is also a transaction with Global Shipping Company for used ships, which involves a large amount of capital. If we expand in the real estate industry, the company may not have so much capital." A blue-eyed foreigner stood up and reminded.

Li Wendi motioned the foreign executive to sit down and said, "I remember that the Real Estate Trust Company has a cash balance of 3 million yuan. The board of directors has passed a resolution to lend it to the parent company. However, this amount must be used for real estate and cannot be diverted to other projects."

During the period when John Madden was in charge of Wheelock and Company, he was very ambitious and added more than 20 companies to Wheelock and Company in just over 200 years, turning Wheelock into a huge and hollow shell that looked powerful but was actually empty inside.

The shocking emptiness shocked Li Wendi. In his previous life, he heard that John Madden and Li Jiacheng speculated on the Federal Building and International Building under Federal Realty Company. Both parties received 11 billion yuan. In fact, Wheelock Group made more than 1 million yuan in profit, and Li Jiacheng was the biggest winner, who demonstrated the "getting something for nothing" to the fullest.

At the same time, we can see that John Madden loves fame and that Wheelock & Co. is so cash-starved that it is willing to sell off prime properties in exchange for working capital.

The situation of Wheelock at this time was slightly better than that of Wheelock in the 80s. John Madden had not yet put all his eggs in one basket and could still solve the problem through internal fund allocation, but it would just take longer.

"Lane Crawford Development Company also has a lot of funds, which will be lent to the parent company for turnover. The interest will be calculated according to the bank's interest rate. Ye Wenjian will be in charge of this matter, and Ti Chuan will assist." Li Wendi was worried that Ye Wenjian would not be able to handle it in time and delay the progress of the parent company Wheelock's plan.

"Yes, boss!" Wang Tichuan nodded slightly and glanced at Ye Wenjian casually.

After the meeting was over, Li Wendi summoned Ye Wenjian and Wang Tichuan to his office.

"In terms of shipping, many of our ships are bulk carriers. The current shipping industry has clearly reached its peak. Ye Wenjian, you have to be prepared. Wheelock will implement a ship reduction plan before 81. In fact, it has to start now, but we still have a lot of ships to be delivered and we need to try our best to recoup our investment." Li Wendi looked at Ye Wenjian and said.

Ye Wenjian is a handsome man with some mixed-race characteristics. It is said that he is of Spanish and Chinese descent. He previously worked at the Kowloon Motor Bus Company and has a certain understanding of the transportation industry. This is one of the reasons why Wang Tichuan introduced him to take charge of shipping affairs.

"I was just about to report this to you, boss. The shipping industry has historical cycles. The shipping industry has been booming for several years. According to convention, the shipping industry will usher in a cold winter season in three or four years." Ye Wenjian said seriously. Since receiving the transfer order, he began to study the Lane Crawford Development Company and shipping business of DF Group day and night.

"Yeah!" Li Wendi nodded. Wang Tichuan's introduction was very good. He could even see this. He was a talented person.

"In the past few years, your main task is to recover the cost of the delivered new ships as soon as possible, and at the same time be prepared to take over a listed trading company," said Li Wendi.

The two were slightly stunned when they heard this. A trading company listed on the stock exchange?

"I'll tell you in advance that it's Hebao Company under Hutchison Whampoa, and the amount involved may be as high as 6 million yuan. Tichuan, you need to organize people and mobilize funds to acquire some shares of Hebao Company, about 10% will be enough." Li Wendi instructed.

Ye Wenjian was overjoyed. He knew Hebao Company well. It was a strong foreign trade company with many agency brands.
"Can Baofu Development Company and Hebao Company develop together?" Ye Wenjian asked. Baofu Development Company's business is quite diverse, including a small-scale jewelry company, a car agency, and a travel company.
Li Wendi thought for a moment and said, "You decide for yourself. Everything should be based on the development and growth of Hebao Company."

"As for real estate, the next development business should not cooperate with other companies. It should be jointly developed by Xialiman Development, Federal Realty, and Property Trust to make as much profit as possible and solve the current debt problem." Li Wendi continued to order.

"Yes! The company currently has a debt of 4.3 million yuan. In addition, it will soon have to pay 1.3 million yuan to Global Shipping Company, and there is also a 2.6 million yuan balance for a new ship at the European shipyard. The company only has 3.7 million yuan in its account, which is barely enough to pay." Wang Tichuan reported.

“If it doesn’t work out, you can consider selling the Federal Building and the International Building to my family company and get 10 billion yuan for turnover.” Li Wendi stated the final plan, the purpose of which was to let the two not panic, and that the crisis of Wheelock would not be difficult to resolve.

With Wheelock's residential land and properties in Plantation Road, May Road and Garden Terrace in the Mid-Levels, as well as land in Heung Kong Tsai and Tai Kok Tsui, a large amount of funds can be recovered.

In fact, before the 70s, Hong Kong was dominated by British capital, and most of the land in Hong Kong Island was controlled by large British companies, including Wheelock Company.

Li Wendi looked through the detailed information of Wheelock and Company and found that Wheelock and Company owned more than 200 million square feet of land in Hong Kong Island alone. Although it had developed a lot of land in recent years, it still had more than 110 million square feet of original land.

If these lands are fully utilized, the profits will not be less than 80 billion yuan.

Wheelock & Company is worthy of being one of the four major trading companies in Hong Kong, and its foundation is still very solid.

Shaw Brothers Films
Run Run Shaw swept all the office supplies on the desk to the ground, and the crackling sound echoed in the office.

Cheung Kong Holdings acquired 30.7% of Infinite Broadcasting Corporation's shares held by Hutchison Whampoa, becoming one of the largest shareholders of TVB. Run Run Shaw himself held 4.2% of the shares of TVB. How could he compete with Wendy Lee?

Although it seems that he can buy shares from other shareholders, it is unfortunately very difficult. Neither the Ritchie family, HSBC, nor Time Life International are people that he, a movie tycoon, can easily convince. In addition, the Hong Kong government does not allow private individuals to hold too large a stake, and there are legal provisions in this regard.

After all, Run Run Shaw has completely lost. Not only has he gradually lost power in the film industry, but his retreat has also been cut off. The only way out now is to convince HSBC and Time Life International to support him, or to beg for mercy from Wendi Li.

Of course, Run Run Shaw would not be the first to choose something that would make him lose face.

But now HSBC has eased its relationship with Li Wendi and is unlikely to support him. Time Life International does not have much friendship with him and is unlikely to offend Li Wendi. "Let's wait a little longer. Li Ho-wo should be able to hold on for a few more years." Run Run Shaw supported himself with both hands, breathing heavily.

Fang Yihua, who was sitting aside, didn't dare to breathe. After all, she was the one who made Li Wendi her enemy. Now Li Wendi had grown to such a level that she could not even dream of him.

"Will Li Wendi directly seize power from Li Ka-shing?" Fang Yihua asked in a low voice.

Run Run Shaw glanced at Fang Yihua and said, "Li Wendi has a good relationship with the Li family and has cooperated on many projects. Li Wendi should not be so stupid as to easily make enemies with the Li family."

In fact, what he didn't know was that the relationship between Li Wendi and the Li family was not as peaceful as it seemed.

"Then should we try to make peace with Li Wendi? This may allow our plan to proceed." Fang Yihua suggested weakly.

Run Run Shaw calmed down and waved his hand, "Don't worry! We have other ways out. Let's see what the other two major shareholders say. If we can convince one of them, we can basically take over TVB after Li Ka-shing's death."

"Yeah!" Fang Yihua nodded. She felt that things were not that optimistic.

Top floor office at Gloria Centre Building, Causeway Bay
Wendy Lee and Li Ka-shing met here to discuss issues arising from the Cheung Kong Group's stake in TVB.

"Mr. Li is very resourceful. He was able to take over the shares of TVB from Hutchison Whampoa." Li Ka-shing had a smile on his face. The young man in front of him had become a top businessman in Hong Kong. He had to give him face and respect, otherwise it would cause trouble.

"Thank you for the compliment, Lisheng!" Li Wendi smiled, took a sip of tea, and said, "Don't worry, Lisheng! I am not interested in the management rights of TVB, and I can continue to support you in managing TVB. To be honest, I just want to prevent Run Run Shaw from seizing power, and I have no other intentions."

Li Ho-wo was secretly shocked that Li Wendi had so many things to deal with, yet she still had the energy to plan and set traps for Run Run Shaw. He knew very well that it would be Run Run Shaw who would be in charge of TVB in the future.

"Mr. Li, I don't want to be a peacemaker. It's just that as a Chinese, Hong Kong is still dominated by the British. We Chinese should unite." Li Ka-shing decided to say a few good words on behalf of Run Run Shaw. After all, they had been colleagues for more than ten years.

Li Wendi smiled and said, "Is Lisheng trying to get me to make peace with Run Run Shaw? Lisheng knows exactly how the incident started."

This smile is not so natural, even a little creepy.

"Of course, Mr. Run Run Shaw came to apologize in person. Mr. Li is not the one at fault." Li Ka-shing explained. He did not want to offend Lee Wendi because of Run Run Shaw.

Li Wendi waved her hand and said, "Let's talk about it later. It's been so many years, and Run Run Shaw has never thought of apologizing. He even made a movie about a gangster tycoon. Maybe there is no possibility of reconciliation between us."

Li Wendi certainly didn't want to ease the situation. He already had the upper hand. Run Run Shaw was going to be really upset. If he were to make peace now, what had he been doing before?

Seeing that Li Wendi politely refused, Li Ho-wa didn't know what to say. He also felt that Run Run Shaw was such a face-conscious person that it was unlikely that he would apologize to Li Wendi.

"I heard that Lisheng wants to sell the United Soda brand? I wonder if he can find a buyer?" Li Wendi asked with a smile.

Today, Swire is the agent of Coca-Cola and controls the regional agency in Hong Kong. Naturally, the sales volume of United Soda has been under considerable pressure.

Li Xiaohe took a deep look at Li Wendi and said, "We do have such a plan, but we don't have to sell it. We are in a dilemma."

Li Wendi was not interested in the United Soda brand, but in the factory equipment and sales channels of United Soda. If he could acquire it, it would save a lot of energy than setting up a company from scratch.

"If Lisheng is sure to sell, please notify me. My Taohua Datong Food Company is very interested in the beverage industry." Li Wendi said lightly.

"Okay!" Li Xiaohe nodded.

Changxin Group
Chen Songqing finally brought Zhong Zhengwen to the door. Ever since the two of them acquired Hanmei Co., Ltd., they have become more and more arrogant, stirring up quite a stir in Hong Kong.

Now he wants to deceive Li Wendi again.

"Mr. Li, I have already discussed with the Jardine Matheson Group that the Carrian Group will buy the Golden Gate Building in Central for HK$9.98 million. By then, the share price of the Carrian Group will surely skyrocket. Our plan is to hype the Golden Gate Building and after a while we will announce to the public that the Golden Gate Building will be sold for HK$16.8 billion," Chen Songqing said cunningly.

"Mr. Chen wants me to take over the Golden Gate Building for 16.8 billion yuan, so that the Carrian Group can make huge profits from the surge in stock prices. If this is the case, won't the Changxin Group suffer a loss of 6.8 million yuan?" Li Wendi said with a smile.

Chen Qingsong quickly explained, "We don't really want Changxin Group to take it over. After Jianing Group obtains sufficient funds through capital raising and share offering, half of the profits will be distributed to Changxin Group. Isn't it up to us to decide the actual transaction price of the Golden Gate Building?"

Fake transactions, fake accounts! ?
Li Wendi suddenly felt that it was impossible to cooperate with Chen Songqing. Changxin Group did not need to use this method to get hundreds of millions of profits because it was too dangerous. Once something went wrong, Changxin Group would collapse.

"Mr. Chen's plan is perfect, but Changxin Group is not very interested in it. I can introduce a company to you. Mr. Chen, what do you think of Swire Group?" Li Wendi decided to divert the blame.

Now that two of the four major trading companies have fallen into the hands of the Chinese, and Jardine Matheson has suffered considerable losses, how can Swire & Co. be safe and sound?
He did not want to eliminate British capital from Hong Kong, but wanted to continue to weaken their power. After all, they still had a lot of good things in their hands.

(End of this chapter)