Chapter 398 Every Man for Himself
Last time, after making tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars through gold futures trading in the United States, Lin Haoran returned and invested heavily in real estate. Among the acquisitions were International Plaza and Federal Plaza, for which he spent a total of 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Federal Plaza, now renamed Wanching Building, was not for sale. However, International Plaza, due to its location and building quality being inferior to Wanching Building, held less strategic importance and could be sold off.
At the time, Lin Haoran had paid just 1 billion Hong Kong dollars to purchase both buildings from Wheelock Jardines. Now, less than a year later, selling off the less valuable one alone could fetch over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, leaving him with the better property essentially for free — an extraordinary profit!
Investing during a real estate boom was indeed enjoyable; as long as one sold before a crisis hit, it was almost like picking up money from the ground.
In two years, when property prices bottomed out, he could direct companies like Wanching Group and Land Holdings Group to aggressively acquire commercial properties and land in Central, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, and Tsim Sha Tsui.
Most importantly, this time Land Holdings Group had offloaded projects worth 6.8 billion Hong Kong dollars to more than twenty real estate companies in Hong Kong, including major players like Cheung Kong Holdings, Far East Consortium, Hang Lung Properties, Chinese Estates, Cheung Kong Holdings (again mentioned), Jianning Group, and Hohsin Properties.
This move had absorbed a significant amount of liquidity from these real estate tycoons. After selling Land Holdings Group's properties, Lin Haoran arranged for Qingzhou Cement and Wan'an Real Estate to sell another batch of land and buildings, absorbing more than 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.
In total, Lin Haoran had drained over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars from the real estate sector. When the real estate bubble burst, these companies would find themselves short of cash reserves, burdened by debt, and vulnerable. Properties listed for sale in the future would be ripe for Lin Haoran's companies to pick up at bargain prices.
Thus, selling off assets at a high now was not only safe but also a strategic move to weaken his future competitors.
Every man for himself — Lin Haoran was not about to worry whether these companies fell into financial crises because of this. All these deals were willingly made; no one forced them.
Even if he couldn't repurchase some of the properties later, buying other assets at cheaper prices would be just as effective.
Of course, properties like Connaught Centre, Prince's Building, Alexandra House, Landmark, Gloucester Tower, and Wanching Building were never for sale. Selling these prime assets would be a grave mistake — they were too strategically important.
For example, Prince's Building had long been coveted by Bao Yugang, the shipping magnate. His company headquarters was there, and even his personal reception hall was housed within it. During the battle with Jardines over Wharf Holdings, Bao Yugang had proposed exchanging his Wharf shares for properties like Prince's Building, a testament to its value.
Jardines refused, understanding the critical importance of such assets to Land Holdings Group's future. Now that Lin Haoran owned them, he would not repeat others' mistakes by letting go of these crown jewels.
Selling International Plaza, however, was different. Though located in Central, it was relatively ordinary and lacked strategic significance. Converting it into cash made perfect sense.
If lucky, he might even buy it back cheaply a few years later!
At present, International Plaza only generated a few million Hong Kong dollars in annual rent — not even 10 million over two years — which was insignificant compared to an immediate sale of over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Lin Haoran's original intent when acquiring such properties was to sell them once prices rose, not to hold them long-term or redevelop them.
In Wanching Group's president's office, after hearing Lin Haoran's insistence on full payment before transferring ownership to Jianning Group, Burton frowned slightly but quickly nodded in understanding.
Although he didn't fully grasp why the boss was wary, he didn't question the instruction. "Understood, boss. If a deal is made with Jianning Group, full payment will be a precondition."
"Good. And not just this deal. Going forward, avoid cooperating with Jianning Group altogether," Lin Haoran added sternly.
"Boss, it sounds like you have some concerns about Jianning Group?" Burton asked curiously.
"I investigated their background. Their funding sources are highly suspicious — too secretive. That alone raises big red flags. Working with them would be very risky. So to minimize our exposure, we should avoid cooperation whenever possible," Lin Haoran explained indirectly without revealing everything he knew.
"Got it, boss. Rest assured, right now Wan'an Real Estate's projects are only partnered with your other companies like Hongkong Electric, Qingzhou Cement, Towngas, and Kowloon Motor Bus. We have no external partnerships," Burton replied, relieved.
"Good, that's exactly how it should be. Wan'an Real Estate should focus on steady growth in Hong Kong, not blind expansion," Lin Haoran said, clearly satisfied.
"Our Wanching Group's main priority now is international expansion, especially through Qingzhou Cement. In just two years, we've established a presence in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Our market share in some regions is already among the top. Qingzhou Cement has become a recognized brand across Southeast Asia.
But Southeast Asia is just the beginning. I want to see Qingzhou Cement expand into South Asia, Australia, and even Europe and America," Burton continued passionately.
The ambition in Burton's eyes was unmistakable. Lin Haoran wasn't bothered — he preferred ambitious, capable subordinates.
Burton's performance over the past two years had proven his capabilities. He was an outstanding professional manager — exactly the type of person Lin Haoran needed.
Though Burton was Australian and not a local Hong Kong Chinese, Lin Haoran didn't care about ethnicity. Loyalty, competence, and the ability to generate profits mattered far more.
"By the way, how much cash does Wanching Group currently have?" Lin Haoran asked suddenly.
"I checked the financial reports a few days ago. We have about 740 million Hong Kong dollars available.
Of that, Qingzhou Cement holds nearly 600 million. Kowloon Motor Bus has about 100 million, and Wan'an Real Estate less than 50 million, since most of their funds are tied up in land purchases and project development.
If you need funds, boss, I can arrange a transfer," Burton offered, assuming Lin Haoran wanted to use the money.
Lin Haoran had owned Qingzhou Cement for two years, but he had never once drawn funds from it, not even after last year's surplus. At that time, he had already secured substantial capital from his U.S. gold trades, making Qingzhou Cement's reserves unnecessary.
Similarly, he had never withdrawn money from Hongkong Electric, Oriental Press, or other companies either — leaving their funds for development and expansion.
"No need to touch those funds for now. Just transfer the proceeds from the property sales into Universal Investment Company's account. As for Wanching Group's own funds, keep them available for company use as needed. I know expanding into new markets requires upfront investment.
When the new financial reports are out early next year, we'll reassess and decide on the distribution," Lin Haoran said after some thought.
The reality was that of the 740 million Hong Kong dollars, only the nearly 600 million from Qingzhou Cement was truly accessible.
Kowloon Motor Bus remained a publicly listed company, and Wanching Group held only 49.9% of its shares. Lin Haoran could not freely move its funds unless through dividends.
As for Wan'an Real Estate's 50 million, it wasn't even worth considering.
Thus, it was best not to touch any of it for now.
Once the proceeds from the massive property sales arrived, his immediate funding needs would be fully met.
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