In the conference room, the management, consultants, lawyers, etc. of both New Era Group and Olympia York Company were signing the largest transaction in the history of American real estate.
Outside, reporters from the United States, Hong Kong and other regions gathered, and they were also very eager to know whether the deal was concluded as soon as possible.
Lawyers are reviewing the contract details, but Lin Zuhui and Lichtman have different expressions. Lin Zuhui has a confident smile, while Lichtmann has a lonely smile.
Richman seems to have seen that once Olympia York gets the money, the bond banks will rush in and they have only one sentence - pay back the money.
It may be able to bring temporary relief to Olympia York, but unless European and American commercial real estate is booming immediately, things will turn around; otherwise, this huge amount of funds of up to 1.75 billion US dollars will still not be able to save Olympia York.
Therefore, Richman still couldn't be happy.
As for Lin Zuhui, even with 3 billion US dollars, Olympia York will not be able to last for a year and will have to go bankrupt.
A debt of 20 billion U.S. dollars is equivalent to nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars in interest per year. In fact, the asset value of Olympia York Company is no longer worth 20 billion U.S. dollars. It is estimated that a 30% discount would still be enough.
"Mr. Richman, there is an old saying in China that victory or defeat is a matter of military strategism. I believe that with your courage and leadership in the 'Canary Wharf' project, you will definitely make a comeback in the future."
Naturally, they deceived Richman, the "Canadian roughneck", and next year, Richman became a worker for them. It seems that he will still be the commander-in-chief of the "Canary Wharf" project in the future, but in fact he has ceased to exist in name only.
Once the project is successful (the completion and occupancy rate is above 90%), New Era Group can rely on its strong financial strength to purchase the equity of other investors and gradually increase its voice.
In this world, capital is king!
Richman was deeply moved. He felt that if it had not been for the arrival of Lin Zuhui, the company would have gone bankrupt this year. Next year, he would need to attract investors everywhere to redeem the Canary Wharf project and reorganize it.
But in that case, because he has no money, the shares must be very small.
And Lin Zuhui promised to lend him 10% of the shares (which need to be redeemed with money, and were previously in the hands of New Era Group), which will be his greatest wealth.
After all, assuming this project is successful, he can easily obtain a loan from the bank and redeem 10% of Lin Zuhui's shares. Then he will use 10% of the shares as dividends to repay the bank interest and principal. In the end, he will have a huge sum of money.
Great wealth is better than complete bankruptcy.
Of course, Richman also knew that the reason why Lin Zuhui gave such good conditions was because Lin Zuhui wanted him to make New Era Group the largest shareholder, possibly with 50% of the shares.
But Richman is curious, can New Era Group still get billions of dollars?
"It's a pleasure to meet a friend like Mr. Lin. Don't worry, Mr. Lin, I can't be defeated. I must complete the Canary Wharf project!" Richman vowed.
People in the room were quite curious, and some even said you were going bankrupt, why are you so excited?
The Canadian brash are famous all over the world. This Canadian family is finished!
Lin Zuhui nodded!
After a while, under the witness of the lawyer, Lin Zuhui and Richman signed their names and stamped their official seals.
“A pleasure to work with!”
“A pleasure to work with!”
For a time, senior executives from both sides shook hands to celebrate this cooperation.
"Mr. Lin, let's go announce this good news to our journalist friends!" Richman said enthusiastically.
It was Lichtman's idea to hold a press conference. He had a good plan, which was to use public opinion to cause the rise of commercial real estate in the United States; and to announce that Olympia York Company had not yet gone bankrupt and had received another 1.75 billion.
Cash flow in U.S. dollars.
Lin Zuhui nodded. He could not refuse this meeting. After all, for such a large deal, he still had to be friends with the American media.
In fact, Americans probably hope that Hong Kong investors will buy their commercial real estate to revitalize the office market.
When everyone came to the press conference, the American reporters were in chaos for a while, and the organizers worked hard to straighten the order.
There were all kinds of questions, and everyone was obviously more interested in Lin Zuhui. There were almost no questions for Lichtman.
Lin Zuhui naturally answered some questions very carefully. In summary, this project is a long-term investment project and there is no preparation for making profits in the short term.
........
After Lin Zuhui informed the management of Fuli Real Estate Investment Management Company, he set off to return to Hong Kong. He was worried that local public opinion would be unfavorable, so he wanted to go back and take charge.
As for Fuli Real Estate Investment Management, the current asset value is already very high: 13.6 billion Hong Kong dollars in office buildings in New York, 3 billion Hong Kong dollars in commercial real estate projects in California, and US stocks worth approximately 4.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (cost 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars).
An asset value of 21 billion is huge enough.
Moreover, the value of the eight office buildings is actually more than 13.6 billion.
Fuli Real Estate's asset value suddenly doubled several times, and management personnel naturally needed to be strengthened accordingly, so Lin Zuhui asked people to directly poach some "foreign management" at Olympia York Company to form a mixed model of management.
September 4, Xiangjiang.
Lin Zuhui returned to Xiangjiang and found that local public opinion was extremely fierce.
Some people said that Lin Zuhui was relocating his capital, and some even reported it to the Xinhua News Agency;
Most public opinion is very optimistic about this investment, after all, the price is cheap!
Lin Zuhui called Gao Yi, the president of Chinese Real Estate and director of New Era Group, and told him: "Convene a press conference to explain the advantages of this investment. In addition, you must also disclose the U.S. securities we invested in.
There has been a paper profit of nearly 1 billion."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Gao Yi nodded and said: "Okay, I will hold a press conference this evening to formally announce this transaction and explain the reasons and advantages of the investment."
He is Lin Zuhui's core executive, so he naturally knows how cost-effective this investment is, because Lin Zuhui has analyzed it.
For 11.8 million square feet of office space, even if the vacancy rate is 20%, the rent is US$30 per square foot per year, and the annual rental income is US$280 million.
Because the U.S. has high taxes, high wages, and high maintenance costs, the net profit rate of Xiangjiang office buildings is not around 70%, it should only be 50% to 60%.
Calculated in this way, the minimum net profit income is 140 million US dollars (it may be more than that, but if it is a major repair, it is a bit low).
Excluding interest, rent increases and other factors, the return is 12.5 years.
Xiangjiang generally considers the return of capital within ten years and does not consider other factors.
So this transaction is not bad on paper.
After all, it’s so cheap to buy!
.......
Although Lin Zuhui did not attend the press conference, his friends called to inquire about the situation.
Zheng Yutong: "Zu Hui, what is the situation of commercial real estate in the United States? How can you buy so many office buildings so cheaply?"
Lin Zuhui: "Uncle Tong, this transaction is a bit complicated. It was not purchased at a normal price, so the purchase price is low."
Zheng Yutong: "Well, let me tell you, you bought it at a price of almost 60% to 70%. Even if the office building over there is sluggish, a discount of 80% is very rare."
Lin Zuhui: "This is almost the situation. Olympia York Company is about to go bankrupt, and Richman is desperate."
Zheng Yutong: "Haha, you can only get this bargain if you have the ability! By the way, that real estate fund you mentioned, are you still doing it?"
Lin Zuhui: "Okay, but I must find the best time and the best opportunity. Otherwise, if I make shareholders make less money, it will affect my reputation."
Zheng Yutong: "You are awesome!" There is no mention of the possibility of losing money. This is confidence.
In addition to Zheng Yutong, wealthy people such as Li Shauji and He Sheng came to congratulate and inquire.
The person in charge of Xinhua News Agency also called. He did not ask about investing in the United States, but only welcomed Lin Zuhui to invest in the mainland.
Lin Zuhui said with a smile on the phone: "President, don't worry, we will definitely invest heavily in the mainland. In less than half a year this year, we have invested nearly 30 billion, and we will continue to look for suitable projects in the future."
The people there were very polite immediately, and then congratulated Lin Zuhui for showing his Chinese prowess and becoming a world-class businessman.
Many people also called, but Lin Zuhui couldn't reply or explain one by one.
The influence is indeed great!
But then again, Li Chaoren also encountered this situation when he invested nearly 10 billion in Husky Canada (buying all the shares separately in 1986 and 1991).
.......
However, when Li Chaoren learned that Lin Zuhui had obtained eight Manhattan office buildings at a low price from Olympia York Company;
Suddenly, he became very angry.
why?
Because in October 1991, he purchased a 50% stake in a Manhattan office building owned by Olympia York Company for HK$448 million; the area of this office building was only over 600,000 square feet, and the unit price was US$180 per square foot.
At that time, he thought he was getting a bargain, but now in comparison, Richman was simply cheating himself.
The media outside will definitely compare these two transactions, and then he will lose again!
You know, at that time Richman vowed that the cooperation between the two had strengthened the relationship between the two parties and would lead to more cooperation opportunities in the future.
In fact, with such a good business this time, what comes to mind is not him as an old friend, but the deal reached with someone else.
Li Chaoren really couldn't understand what Richman was thinking.
Of course, Cheung Kong Group definitely cannot afford that much money, nor can it have the courage of Lin Zuhui to take the risk of falling stock prices.
But Li Chaoren was thinking that at this price, it would not be unacceptable for him to add two listed companies privately to complete the project together. After all, the price was too cheap.
So the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so Li Chaoren directly made an overseas phone call, hoping that Richman would give him some comfort and sell a few buildings to him at a low price.
Richman said directly there: "Mr. Li, to be honest, this transaction is very complicated, and Mr. Lin has helped me a lot. Although I have a deeper relationship with you, it is impossible for Olympia York Company to sell properties at a low price now."
Yes. If you really want to invest in Manhattan office buildings, we can give you a 10% discount!"
Li Chaoren was immediately speechless. Even with the 10% discount, he was not scolded to death by shareholders. He quickly responded with a few words and hung up the phone.
Richman on the other side shook his head in displeasure. He really thought he was a sheep and everyone was here to pluck the wool!
Mr. Lin's bargaining chip - Canary Wharf, forced him to agree. This was the basis of the deal.
.......
The next day.
The interview with Gao Yi, director of New Era Group, ignited public opinion in Hong Kong, and it was a very positive public opinion.
"Oh, Mr. Lin Zuhui is indeed the 'God of Investment'! He also bought the Manhattan Building, which was 20% cheaper than Li Chaoren."
"That's right! Mr. Lin said some time ago that Xiangjiang is too small and can no longer accommodate New Era Group. Now he immediately spent huge sums of money to buy 8 skyscrapers in Manhattan. It's amazing!"
"The stock god showed his power and made a book profit of HK$1 billion in less than a year after investing in the U.S. stock market. In other words, eight buildings in Manhattan will be a 'free gift' to New Era Group."
"That's right! The money earned from the stock market will be used to repay the loan and interest for the purchase of office buildings. Such a perfect investment can only be achieved by Mr. Lin Zuhui."
Immediately, it received rave reviews, especially those of Lin Zuhui's fans, who couldn't wait for the stock market to open immediately and rush to buy New Era Group's shares.
Although, New Era Group's stock has fluctuated around 100 billion, which is frighteningly high. It is almost the same as Cheung Kong Group, Hutchison Whampoa, and Hong Kong Electric combined, accounting for 7.2% of Hong Kong's total market value.
However, everyone still thinks that it is reasonable for New Era Group's market value to have risen to 110 billion.