In mid-August, Lin Zuhui once again led the team to New York because Richman, the owner of Olympia York, was desperate.
During the "bankruptcy protection" stage of Olympia York Company, the plan proposed by Richman and the advisory group was not progressing smoothly, and it was difficult to reach an agreement among many bond banks.
At this time, Richman had to consider preparing for the worst, so he remembered the plan proposed by Lin Zuhui and decided to consider selling 8 Manhattan skyscrapers to New Era Group.
Therefore, as soon as Lin Zuhui arrived in New York, Richman immediately arranged for someone to lead people from New Era Group to conduct a detailed inspection of the eight buildings.
Needless to say, the results of the inspection, at least in Lin Zuhui's view, are that the discount of 60% to 70% is not an exaggeration at all. The vacancy rate is as high as more than 20%, and the buildings were built relatively early - there are two buildings in the 1940s.
There were four buildings in the 1950s, and two buildings in the 1960s.
The age of the building means that it will have to be upgraded, renovated, etc. in the future, which is a very large investment.
Of course, even though there are many shortcomings and high risks, Lin Zuhui plans to win.
After all, the opportunity is rare!
The so-called opportunity is naturally due to Richman's cooperation. This is the basis of the discount transaction.
If Richman hadn't been eager for Lam to contribute to London's Canary Wharf, he would have let the company go bankrupt and would not have sold the property so cheaply.
After the inspection, both parties came to the conference room for negotiation.
Richman took the lead and said: "Mr. Lin, suppose I sell these eight buildings to you at a discount, do we have to sign a private agreement involving the Canary Wharf project?"
Lin Zuhui shook his head with a smile and said: "Mr. Richman, I think you should trust me. I am the richest man in China and I have never done anything that damages my credibility. The important thing is that I am very concerned about the Canary Wharf project.
If you are interested, you will definitely invest.”
What to do by signing that kind of agreement is more or less a risky thing!
Richman looked at Lin Zuhui seriously and then said jokingly: "Mr. Lin really has a good appetite and bought nearly half of my achievements over the past few decades in one go."
Lin Zuhui spread his hands and said: "Win-win cooperation! I am helping Mr. Richman make a comeback. Not to mention the London project, just the completion of this transaction may also change the fate of Olympia York Company."
The income of more than one billion US dollars may make Olympia York's debt bank agree to some conditions, but not necessarily. Although the chance is small, Richman may also be fighting for this.
Sure enough, the expression on Richman's face changed slightly. The reason for this was that he felt that Lin Zuhui was very good at reading people, and he was indeed lucky.
Next, Richman said: "I hope to sell these eight buildings at US$160 per square foot. After all, they are my assets now, and I don't want them to be too cheap!"
Lin Zuhui immediately said: "No one will buy this price in the next three years. My team has investigated and found that large companies in Manhattan have moved away one after another, and the economic environment of the United States has been affected. If there are no new opportunities, he will not be able to buy them in the next five years."
It’s not worth it! If we didn’t plan to hold it for a long time, how could we take such a risk! So, I hope it will be sold at US$140 per square meter. Don’t forget, you and I have additional conditions.”
The total is 11.8 million square feet of office space, which is almost the rental area of Chinese Land in Xiangjiang (not counting the shareholding of Hengjin Real Estate, but including the area under reconstruction).
Each of the eight buildings is equivalent to Central Plaza, with an area of 1.4 to 1.6 million square feet. But in fact, none of them are more than 200 meters tall, so they are not considered skyscrapers. However, American buildings are quite 'strong', with one floor
There are about 30,000 square feet.
The "Central Plaza" in Xiangjiang has less than 20,000 square feet on the first floor (78 floors, total area of 1.4 million square feet).
Because the area is large enough, Lin Zuhui also has to seriously negotiate the unit price per square foot! If it exceeds US$150 per square foot, he will not buy it.
Therefore, the two parties talked about the price, but they took care of each other, and finally settled on $148.
This unit price is equivalent to a transaction of US$1.75 billion, which is approximately US$13.6 billion.
Therefore, in the end, Lin Zuhui said: "Now that we have initially reached an agreement, both parties need to prepare next. Mr. Richman needs to convince the creditor bank, and I also need to convince the lending bank. I hope we can complete the transaction in September."
Richman immediately said: "Our creditor bank must also be your lending bank, so that it will be easier to pass this transaction. Mr. Lin, do you think so?"
Lin Zuhui thought about it and felt that this was really the case. The important thing was that Lin Zuhui originally planned to obtain loans from HSBC and Citibank.
"Yes, then let's work together to promote this deal! To be honest, I am more willing to cooperate with Mr. Richman on the 'Canary Wharf' project. Of course, what I mean is that this project must be led by you, so
Only then can it be completed as planned.”
Seeing Lin Zuhui's behavior, Richman was also quite impressed. He also valued the "Canary Wharf" project very much, much higher than the eight buildings in Manhattan.
In fact, another reason for Richmann's failure in London was that his patron, Ms. Sa, was no longer a palmist, so the subway project promised by the government was shelved due to the poor economic conditions in Europe and the United States in recent years.
In Lin Zuhui's view, if he redeems the project for Richman (from the creditor bank), he will be the second-in-command and major shareholder. Then, he can not only assist Richman in business layout, but also how to deal with the external environment.
, Lin Zuhui also has a good method.
For example, the first thing to do is to deal with the subway. Originally, the London government also realized that Canary Wharf cannot be shut down because it will not be good for the government's image. At that time, investors will provide part of the government's money, and the subway project will naturally be approved.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! You must know that the Canary Wharf project will have 65,000 people working there in later generations. You can imagine how huge the project is. So it funded the London government hundreds of millions
US dollars is also a good deal.
"Thank you Mr. Lin for your trust. If there is an opportunity, I will definitely find you as the first investor!" Richman also knows that Lin Zuhui is a very good investor. Both of them are the owners of real estate companies, so they must have something in common.
.
Of course, the Canary Wharf project is so huge that other investors are indispensable.
...........
New York, Citibank headquarters.
Lin Zuhui came to the office of John Reed, chairman of Citibank. He is the second largest individual shareholder of Citibank, second only to Waleed. Of course, Lin Zuhui does not have much management power.
"Mr. Lin, are you here to care about the operating conditions of Citibank?" Reed said with a smile.
Although Lin Zuhui does not have management rights, he still has the right to know about Citibank's experience. After all, as a shareholder and the second shareholder, this is a normal right to know.
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Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "Of course not. I believe that Citibank, under the leadership of Mr. John, has escaped all crises. I will hold it for a long time in the next ten years."
It can't be ten years. He will definitely start reducing his holdings in the first quarter of 2000.
The Internet bubble also dealt a blow to banks.
When John Reid heard Lin Zuhui's praise and trust, he immediately felt comfortable. In fact, Lin Zuhui was not only a large investor in Citibank, but also an ally and important partner of Citibank, especially in Asia.
For example, in Hong Kong, the headquarters building of Citibank is the ‘Wanguo Baotong Center’ in cooperation with New Era Group. Citibank holds 20% of the shares, and the investment is very profitable.
The total area of Wan Guo Baotong Center is 1.6 million square feet (two buildings). According to the current price of office buildings in Xiangjiang, it is probably worth more than 10 billion. It has already doubled in value before it is put into use.
Reed smiled and said: "Thank you Mr. Lin for your trust!"
He knows that the stock price of Lin Zuhui's personal investment is 12 US dollars per share and has not yet recovered; but the investment of New Era Group has already achieved a return rate of more than 25%.
Then, Reed asked: "So what's the reason for Mr. Lin's visit this time?"
Lin Zuhui informed Reed about his plans to take over the eight skyscrapers of the Olympia York Company.
Reed was surprised when he heard that there are almost no people buying office buildings in Manhattan right now, and the market sentiment is very pessimistic. Lin Zuhui's opposite approach surprised him.
However, he did not advise Lin Zuhui. After all, Citibank needed loan business, and the real estate in Manhattan, New York, also needed someone to save it.
It can be said that as an American entrepreneur, I wish that capital from Hong Kong would come to Manhattan to purchase properties.
In fact, Xiangjiang Capital has indeed been buying properties in Manhattan in recent years, but it is buying high-end apartments near Central Park, and there are many people buying them.
Reed said: "We at Citibank are very supportive of this transaction. It will not only help improve the situation of Olympia York Company, but also obtain a loan. But how much does Mr. Lin plan to borrow?"
Lin Zuhui said: "A total of US$1.1 billion in loans is needed, and I plan to let Citibank and HSBC serve as the main lenders."
Reed immediately asked: "What's the mortgage?"
Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "How about the office buildings in Xiangjiang? Currently, the real estate in Xiangjiang is booming, and office buildings are very prosperous. I believe they are the best mortgage."
Reed is convinced that as the mainland deepens its opening up, Citibank also attaches great importance to its business in Asia and hopes to use Hong Kong as its base to return to the mainland.
"Yes! We are willing to assume a loan of US$500 million and are willing to facilitate this transaction!"
"That's great! If this deal is completed, we will need a larger loan from you next year, but don't worry, we all have high-quality assets as collateral."
"Haha, Mr. Lin is joking, we trust you very much. Your company is running perfectly, with rich assets, but very few loans. You are not the 'Canadian fool', but a truly talented businessman."
Lin Zuhui's influence in the United States far exceeds that of Li Chaoren, especially on Wall Street. Hengjin Investment is currently Lin Zuhui's public investment company. It holds shares in Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks, and Citibank, and is also considered a member of the U.S.
Wall Street knows it.
Of course, they are familiar with it, but they don’t know the specific amount of investment. After all, part of the investment is handled by offshore companies.
As for family office investments, they all use offshore companies and cross-shareholdings, which makes them very low-key.
In fact, Lin Zuhui's assets should be divided into four gates: the first gate is the company's shares, the second gate is Hengjin Investment, the third gate is the family office, and the fourth gate is the 'concubine's son' gate.
He has so many concubines and has given birth to children. As long as he is not an ‘Adou who cannot be supported’ in the future, Lin Zuhui will support their ‘Ten Billion Net Worth’ plan.
This is also more in line with the ‘egg investment philosophy’.
........
After negotiating with Citibank, Lin Zuhui made an appointment with Buffett for a party.
As soon as the two met in the restaurant, Buffett gave him a thumbs up.
"Mr. Lin, it is undoubtedly a very good time for you to invest in General Dynamics stock this time!"
Lin Zuhui invited him to sit down and then said: "I only invested 100 million U.S. dollars. How dare you? It is said that you added more than 3 million shares?"
Buffett did not deceive Lin Zuhui, but said directly: "Yes, but I invested after discovering that General Dynamics repurchased shares, so the cost price is around US$72. Your cost should be around US$60, right?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Lin Zuhui also said truthfully: "Not bad, about sixty-two dollars!"
Seeing that Lin Zuhui was so powerful, Buffett couldn't help but want to test Lin Zuhui's ability, and asked: "Why did Mr. Lin choose to invest in General Dynamics? Can you tell me the reason?"
It’s great to be able to teach stock experts how to do things!
Lin Zuhui said calmly: "Since Anders took over as CEO of General Dynamics, he has obtained more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars from selling off assets and laid off thousands of employees. General Dynamics itself has very rich cash flow, and with the addition of another sum of cash, the business
And the main business has been determined. So, Mr. Buffett, guess how they will spend the cash?"
"Haha, Mr. Lin is the stock god! When they repurchased their stocks, I actually guessed that they were going to pay ordinary dividends and special dividends, so I made additional investment."
Mr. Lin said: "So, if investors can get dividends and the stock price can rise, this stock is naturally worth investing in."
In fact, Lin Zuhui is just pretending to be a ghost and playing tricks in front of Buffett.
The reason why he invested in General Dynamics was that he had seen an example of Buffett investing in this project in his previous life. Anyway, the purchase price was US$72 per share, and then rose to more than US$110 in a year and a half.
Importantly, the dividend per share during the period was as high as more than 50 US dollars, with the ordinary dividend being more than 2 US dollars per share and the special dividend being a full 50 US dollars.
So Buffett's return on this project is 110%.
Based on this, Lin Zuhui did not hesitate to choose New Era Group to invest US$100 million.
As for why he doesn't invest by himself, Lin Zuhui doesn't feel sad at all. In his view, New Era Group is his weapon and shield.
Without a powerful New Era Group, his social status and wealth would not match, and he would be easily targeted.