Chapter 604
Major March into Singapore
Shangri-La Hotel, Orchard Road, Singapore.
Eighteen wealthy businessmen from Hong Kong are gathered here to discuss the 'Suntec City Project' in Singapore.
This city within a city covers a building area of 65 square meters and includes the world-class Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, four 45-story and one 18-story office towers, a 4-story shopping mall, and the Fountain of Wealth.
The underground parking garage can accommodate 3200 cars. The conference and exhibition building has six floors, covering an area of 20,000 square meters. The exhibition hall is located on the 4th floor, and the pillarless conference center is located on the 6th floor, which can accommodate 12,000 conference delegates. In addition, Suntec City also has a Kinderworld Entertainment Complex, with at least five cinemas and a virtual reality theme park.
This project was initiated by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee in 1984, who invited Hong Kong businessmen to invest. The planning scheme and investment plan were finally finalized this year.
The investors included many Hong Kong businessmen such as Chan Man-kit, Cheng Yu-tung, Lee Shau-kee, Tsao Man-kam, and Chong Yuen-shui (son of Chong Chuk-kau and brother-in-law of Chan Man-kit). Among them, Chan Man-kit and Tsao Man-kam had the largest investment share (15%), while the remaining sixteen people shared the remaining shares.
"Everyone, let's take a group photo to commemorate the official commencement of the Suntec City project!" Cao Wenjin said.
Although he was a major shipowner in Hong Kong, he had been developing businesses in Southeast Asia since the 1960s, with significant investments in Thailand and Singapore.
"Come"
Soon, the eighteen wealthy businessmen set off, and the staff arranged their seats.
The seating arrangement is naturally intentional; some people sit while others stand.
Although Chan Man-kit was born in 1933, he is naturally a businessman of the same generation as Cheng Yu-tung and Lee Shau-kee. Moreover, the Chan family is a leading family of overseas Chinese, so it is natural that Chan Man-kit sat in the middle.
In addition, Chen Wenjie's brother-in-law, Zhuang Yuanrui, has been developing his career in Singapore since the 1950s, but he is younger and his career is not as successful, so he stands in the second row.
"Great! Thank you all for your cooperation."
This photo will naturally appear in the newspapers soon, as it symbolizes the official launch of Suntec City and the confidence of Hong Kong businessmen in investing in Singapore.
The following day, the group photo of the Hong Kong tycoons was published in major newspapers in Singapore, generating a huge impact.
Hong Kong businessmen are among the most influential Chinese businessmen globally, along with those in Southeast Asia, earning them the moniker of "Asian Jews." In terms of both strength and influence, Hong Kong businessmen are undoubtedly superior.
Just as Singaporeans were marveling at the Hong Kong businessman's "crossing the river dragon," Singaporean newspapers published another sensational news: Marco Polo Holdings, a Singapore-listed company under Wharf Holdings, announced that it had acquired a 12% stake in Singapore Land from the Kuwait Development Authority.
The news sent shockwaves through Singapore's business community.
If the eldest son of the Chan family, Chan Man-kit, is reserved, then the second son, Chan Man-ming, is sharp and decisive, assisting his father in acquiring Wharf Holdings and utterly defeating the British-owned Hongkong Land. In contrast, the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa was handled with relative calm, having reached an agreement with HSBC.
Therefore, the purpose of Chen Wenming, the second son of the Chen family, acquiring a 12% stake in Singapore Land through his Singapore-listed company, Marco Polo Enterprises, is self-evident.
Singapore Land has a market capitalization of approximately HK$75 billion. As the largest commercial real estate company in Singapore, it wields considerable influence.
Singapore Land.
Tao Xinbo angrily put down the newspaper. He hadn't expected Chen Wenming to act so quickly, nor had he expected the Kuwait Investment Authority to be putting its shares up for sale at this particular time.
His son, Tao Lixuan, said in his office, "Father, what should we do?"
Tao Xinbo looked at his son and felt a sense of desolation. Although he had several sons, some had immigrated to Europe and others were learning business from him in Hong Kong.
But compared to the "Five Tigers of the Chan Family" in Hong Kong, his son was naturally a "good-for-nothing," barely managing to get into the board of directors of Singapore Land.
This is also one of the reasons why many people covet Singapore Land, after all, it only owns 21% of the shares.
"What else can we do! I'm going to let it go. How can Chen Wenming think he can control Singapore Land with just 12% of the shares? I don't believe those investment funds will really support him!"
He was naturally powerless to confront Chen Wenming head-on, given the immense influence of the Global Group. As the chairman and general manager of the Global Group, Chen Wenming was initially several times more powerful than his brother, Chen Wenjie. He was only overtaken later.
"Should we increase our holdings?" Tao Lixuan asked, somewhat unwilling.
Tao Xinbo stated directly, "We won't increase our holdings, and we don't have the energy to do so either. I believe they won't succeed."
At this point, Tao Xinbo remained confident that it was impossible for Chen Wenming to acquire more than 50% of the shares.
at the same time.
Chen Wenming is currently holding an acquisition meeting in his office building in Singapore.
He attaches great importance to this acquisition of Singapore Land, as he wants to fill the gap before entering the mainland market; otherwise, his Global Group will fall further and further behind his two older brothers' businesses.
With his father's backing, he had no reason to give up investing in Singapore, so he was determined to acquire Singapore Land.
This acquisition of Singapore Land, ostensibly by Marco Polo Holdings, a Singapore-listed company, is actually backed by Wharf Holdings, the Hong Kong-based Wharf Holdings, the real estate flagship of the World Group.
The advisors for this acquisition were the "Singaporean Rothschild family." Their representative, Raymond, spoke with great enthusiasm: "Mr. Chen, our next task is to gradually acquire Singapore Land's shares from various Singaporean funds. We are operating both overtly and covertly. Overtly because everyone knows we are acquiring Singapore Land; covertly because no one knows exactly how many shares we hold. Therefore, Singapore Land's share price won't be too high. Moreover, the Tao family hasn't acquired any shares on the market yet, which strongly suggests they've either been defeated by rivals or lack the financial strength."
Hearing this, Chen Wenming was in a good mood, as it meant he could save a lot of money.
With Singapore Land's market capitalization at HK$75 billion, he would be very happy to acquire 51% of the shares for under HK$50 billion.
He wouldn't give up even if it were more expensive, but that would just make him seem a bit 'unscrupulous'.
"Okay, I'll leave this to you two financial advisors. I'm available whenever you need me to step in."
The two financial advisors were the Rothschild family from Singapore and a Singapore investment bank.
In addition, Chen Wenming has been in business for so many years, and as the Global Group has grown step by step, he naturally has a very good network of connections.
"Yes"
The Tao family did not sit idly by. Soon, Tao appointed an auditing firm to revalue the assets of Singapore Land.
His tactic is called muddying the waters.
As long as Singapore Land's asset value exceeds its market capitalization by a significant margin, neither fund companies nor individual investors will easily relinquish their shares.
Therefore, Chen Wenming's acquisition would naturally face enormous obstacles.
This was certainly within Chen Wenming's expectations, since it was obviously impossible for Tao Xinbo to offer no resistance at all.
Therefore, Chen Wenming ignored it, handed the matter over to his subordinates and financial representative, and returned to Hong Kong.
On May 6, Jardine Matheson, Jardine Matheson, and Hongkong Land announced a trading halt.
On the same day, Yage announced that it had acquired shares of Hongkong Land held by New World Development, Cheung Kong Holdings, Henderson Land Development and CITIC Holdings at a price of HK$9.55 per share, representing 8.2% of Hongkong Land's total issued shares, for a total consideration of HK$15.32 billion.
The fierce takeover battle for Hongkong Land suddenly ended, much to the disappointment of market participants. Yage's acquisition of this 8.2% stake increased its ownership of Hongkong Land from 26% to 34%, without triggering a mandatory takeover bid, while significantly strengthening its controlling stake.
What's even more perplexing is that the agreement included a condition that the Chinese consortium involved in the acquisition was prohibited from acquiring any stake in Hongkong Land for seven years.
Why did the Chinese consortium withdraw from the acquisition so quickly and sign this "shameful" agreement?
Chinese-owned conglomerates have all remained tight-lipped.
Market analysts speculate:
First, Jardine Matheson has already made preparations to counter the takeover. A forced takeover would be too costly and there is no guarantee of success, as Jardine Matheson is, after all, a large international conglomerate. Second, it is said that the Hong Kong branch of the New Agency suggested giving up and not pursuing the takeover too aggressively to force Jardine Matheson out of Hong Kong, as this would cause panic among other British-owned conglomerates in Hong Kong and would be detrimental to a smooth transition.
A Chinese consortium sold 8.2% of its shares in Hongkong Land, raising HK$15.32 billion.
The net profit gained by the Chinese consortium was not much, and that was not the purpose of their painstaking acquisition.
Just one month later, Hong Kong media reported that Wharf Holdings, together with its Singapore-listed subsidiary, had successfully acquired Singapore Land, acquiring a 51% stake.
The market was not surprised by the news.
During these nearly three months, the media in Hong Kong and Singapore all knew that Chen Wenming was acquiring Singapore Land, but the only thing they didn't know was how it was progressing.
Unexpectedly, Wharf Holdings and its Singapore-listed subsidiary now hold a combined 51% stake.
this day.
Chen Wenming stepped into Tao Boxin's office through the front entrance of Singapore Land.
"Mr. Tao, we meet again!"
Tao Boxin looked several years older at this moment, but said in a calm tone, "Yes, I underestimated you. Of course, facing an acquirer like you, I can only say that I am powerless. So, you came to visit me today to ask me to leave this office?"
Chen Wenming said earnestly, “Mr. Tao, to be honest, I do value Singapore Land’s properties, but I don’t have enough energy to manage everything. Therefore, I hope that you will continue to serve as the chairman of Singapore Land, and we will appoint a general manager. I believe this will be beneficial to both of us, and Mr. Tao doesn’t want your shares to be worthless at this point!”
cooperate!
After all, the Binhai Center project has only just begun, and Chen Wenming does not want to change the leader.
Tao Boxin was very surprised to hear this, never expecting that he could become the chairman of Singapore Land.
Looking back now, since he didn't have a strong successor, it would be a very good thing if he could retire naturally.
“I spent more than half a century and decades of hard work, and Mr. Chen took it away in a few nights. Indeed, like father, like son. Of course, I am obviously no match for Mr. Chen Guangliang.”
Chen Wenming laughed and said, "You can't say that. The day we listed the company, it was already destined to be a publicly listed company. In Hong Kong, ever since Hongkong Land acquired Dairy Farm in 1971, it has been a brutal stock market where big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp. Mr. Tao and my father are from the same generation. My father even said that he also had a convoy transporting supplies for the War of Resistance against Japan, so you were practically colleagues!"
Tao Boxin quickly replied, "He overestimates me. At that time, I was just a nobody, while Mr. Chen Guangliang was already a national industrialist."
After exchanging pleasantries, both sides finally reached a friendly cooperation agreement.
Chen Wenming did not appoint a general manager from Hong Kong, but rather from Marco Polo Enterprises.
Marco Polo Enterprises, originally Marco Polo Hotels Singapore, was listed in Singapore. Starting in 1980, this listed company became the flagship real estate development enterprise of Wharf Holdings in Singapore, developing Singapore's 'Times Square', which was a great success.
Therefore, Marco Polo Enterprises is also a large Singapore-listed real estate company.
Of course, this acquisition was made by Marco Polo Enterprises and its parent company, Wharf Holdings, with the two companies holding 45% and 55% of the shares respectively.
Starting in the 1980s, the Chen family significantly increased its overseas presence.
Hutchison Whampoa, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong Holdings, has been aggressively expanding overseas, acquiring Husky Energy in Canada and investing in telecommunications services in the UK. Now, the Global Group is also making a major move, acquiring Singapore's largest commercial real estate company.
These actions naturally attracted the attention of Hong Kong media, who interpreted the Chan family as taking "multiple insurances." This was already a euphemistic way of putting it; some tabloids even claimed that the Chan family was relocating their assets.
In response to various speculations from the media, Chen Wenjie, the second-generation 'head' of the Chen family, said in an interview:
“The Cheung Kong Group will always be based in Hong Kong, and then expand overseas when the opportunity arises, or seek cooperation opportunities in the mainland. Ultimately, there are only so many opportunities in Hong Kong, and the Cheung Kong Group is too large, so we make this choice.”
The implication is that Hong Kong is simply too small, and the Cheung Kong Group, or even the entire Chan family, is too large, necessitating expansion overseas.
These weren't just polite words; they were Chen Guangliang's true thoughts.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong citizens also began to discuss the issue.
“Mr. Chen Wenjie is not lying. Take this acquisition of Hongkong Land as an example. If it had been led by Cheung Kong Holdings, Hongkong Land would never have been able to get out unscathed.”
"That's true! As the largest listed real estate company in Hong Kong, CK Asset Holdings has a strength that Hong Kong simply can't contain. As far as I know, almost all of CK Asset Holdings' investments in properties in Singapore and Japan are high-quality projects, and there are many of them."
"Hong Kong is too small, the Chan family is too big!"
Ping An Bank Building.
The two brothers, Chen Wenjie and Chen Wenming, went to their father's office together. They found him busy at the computer and waited for a while, assuming he was working.
Chen Wenming was the first to become curious and went to his father's side. When he saw that his father was playing a computer game called "Hong Kong Blocks", he immediately smiled wryly.
To everyone's surprise, Chen Guangliang reprimanded, "What? Is the time of the two big bosses so precious?"
Chen Wenming quickly replied, "No! It's worth waiting here for two days just to receive Father's guidance."
"You brat! This time you went and acquired Singapore Land without making a sound. How old are you? Still playing these tricks? Aren't you afraid people will say our family is too ambitious?"
This could be considered a hostile takeover. This was one of the things Chen Guangliang cared about most about his status since the 1980s.
Chen Wenming argued, "We did not acquire any assets from the Singapore secondary market; we acquired almost all of them from Singaporean fund companies. There was no back-and-forth acquisition battle, so the impact was not significant."
That is indeed true.
There was indeed no open price war between the two sides, and the public outcry was not as great as expected.
The public only knew that Wharf Holdings and Marco Polo Holdings were acquiring Singaporean companies, but they didn't know how much equity each party held. The day of the showdown would have already determined the winner.
Chen Guangliang put down the mouse and waved his hand. Chen Wenming quickly stepped back to the front of the desk and stood with his older brother.
"It was already the second half of 1988. This wave of Japanese bubbles was expected to peak at the end of next year, followed by a major collapse in 1990-1991, no less devastating than another nuclear bomb."
Cheung Kong Holdings' assets in Japan must be over US$70 billion, given that it has been investing in Ginza properties since the late 2s. Its assets in Japan alone are 2.5 times higher than Hongkong Land's market capitalization and more than twice as much as Hongkong Land's total assets.
Chen Wenjie and Chen Wenming were immediately alerted; this was a crucial point.
Chen Wenjie said seriously, "In that case, we must consider retreating now, and we will definitely have to take formal action early next year. Apart from retaining core assets, we should sell everything else."
What is meant by 'core property'? For example, the 'ownership' of the Shangri-La Hotel's investment in Tokyo, Japan, doesn't necessarily need to be sold.
"Including the properties in Ginza, at most only two or three buildings will be retained; don't be sentimental. In addition, all securities can be cashed out starting from the second half of next year. This time, Japan will be dormant for thirty years."
Yes, Father.
As for the cash-out money, part of it is invested and the rest is distributed as dividends.
From that year onwards, the Chen family's listed companies will enjoy generous dividends every year.
As the major shareholder, the Chen family would naturally use these dividends for 'private reinvestment,' essentially hiding their wealth. (End of Chapter)