Chapter 48: Da Fa Real Estate

"Mr. Wu, your family's Mingheng Real Estate is expanding rapidly. You're more familiar with the prospects of the Xiangjiang real estate market than I am. As long as you acquire land, you'll make a profit. I've heard Mingheng Real Estate plans to expand again soon. However, the Hong Kong government recently sold a batch of land, and it's unlikely they'll sell more in the near future. Mingheng Real Estate can't halt its expansion, so how about acquiring a small real estate company? What's your opinion on this?" 

Upon hearing Ma Chengkun's words, Wu Chengtai's expression grew serious. He was intrigued and wanted to see what Ma Chengkun had to offer.

The expansion strategy for Mingheng Real Estate was decided over a month ago. The Wu family did not keep it a secret. After all, Mingheng Real Estate was a small real estate company with total assets of just over 100 million. Its expansion wouldn't draw much attention from competitors since there were many small and medium-sized real estate companies in Xiangjiang. Almost every wealthy family was involved in the real estate market, making Mingheng Real Estate's actions quite normal.

However, missing the last opportunity to acquire land left the Wu family with funds that were hard to deploy. This had troubled Wu Chengtai, who had spent the past month analyzing and investigating Xiangjiang companies to see which had valuable land and were worth acquiring.

Now, with Ma Chengkun mentioning a potential target, Wu Chengtai was curious.

"Mr. Ma, please continue. I'm listening," Wu Chengtai said, taking a sip of tea and adopting a listening posture.

"Have you heard of Da Fa Real Estate, which is currently valued at 60 million?" Ma Chengkun continued.

Wu Chengtai's eyebrows twitched. He had some recollection of Da Fa Real Estate. With a market value of around 60 million, it was about half the value of Mingheng Real Estate, making it a small real estate company. However, he had not specifically looked into its background.

Moreover, acquiring Da Fa Real Estate, valued at 60 million HKD, would require at least 70 to 80 million to fully acquire it, provided its current controllers were willing to sell.

If the controllers of Da Fa Real Estate were unwilling to sell, any forced acquisition by Wu Chengtai could face resistance and potentially fail.

Furthermore, Da Fa Real Estate was still larger compared to Mingheng Real Estate. Even acquiring 51% of the shares would require at least 30 to 40 million in funds, which exceeded what the Wu family had available and was beyond their planned budget.

Initially, the Wu family intended to spend around 10 to 20 million to acquire a company, ideally one that was not publicly listed and did not necessarily have to be a real estate company, as long as it had sufficient land.

Unfortunately, due to the financial strain from the issues with Mingheng Industries, the Wu family had depleted a large portion of their funds, impacting their real estate strategy.

Now, with Ma Chengkun mentioning Da Fa Real Estate, Wu Chengtai became interested, eager to explore any opportunities.

"Mr. Ma, please tell me more about Da Fa Real Estate," Wu Chengtai said, his attitude more receptive.

"Mr. Wu, Da Fa Real Estate was founded by Li Zhaoxu in 1965. Li Zhaoxu is 52 this year. He made his fortune through dock trade and then seized the opportunity to enter the real estate industry. The company went public three years ago with a market value of around 20 million at that time. By the end of 1976, the stock price had dropped to just over 10 million. However, half a month ago, the market value rose to about 30 million," Ma Chengkun briefly outlined the situation of Da Fa Real Estate.

"That's strange. The market value was around 30 million half a month ago, but now it's risen to 60 million, nearly doubling. What's the reason for this?" Wu Chengtai asked sharply, targeting the core of the issue.

"Da Fa Real Estate's stock was recommended by the 'Jiuding Daily,' which had a very positive outlook. They analyzed that Da Fa Real Estate's land locations were excellent and its land reserves substantial, leading to an undervaluation of its market value. The stock price was driven up, and with Xia Yu's continued successful predictions, Da Fa Real Estate's stock price has been rising, hence the current 60 million market value," Ma Chengkun said, narrowing his eyes and speaking in a serious tone.

Upon hearing this, Wu Chengtai's eyes sharpened as he stared intently at Ma Chengkun. Ma Chengkun met his gaze without showing any sign of guilt, and the atmosphere became tense.

After a while, Wu Chengtai relaxed his gaze and smiled, as if nothing had happened.

Having been in business for many years, Wu Chengtai was not naive. He understood clearly that Ma Chengkun's plan was to use him—or more accurately, Tianwu Securities—to bring Da Fa Real Estate back to its original state and break the 'Jiuding Daily's invincible status, thus striking a blow at the 'Jiuding Daily' and alleviating the pressure on the 'Oriental Daily.'

In return, the Wu family would not only get to retaliate against the 'Jiuding Daily' from behind the Ma family but would also gain a significant benefit: the acquisition of Da Fa Real Estate to expand Mingheng Real Estate.

This deal, if successful, would be highly advantageous and achieve multiple goals at once. 

Ma Chengkun had even done the groundwork for him. It was clear that Ma Chengkun had put a lot of effort into this plan to undermine the 'Jiuding Daily.'

However, the plan's success faced challenges.

Although the Wu family lacked the energy to retaliate against the 'Jiuding Daily,' Wu Chengtai had paid attention to the 'Jiuding Daily' after the stock price of Mingheng Industries collapsed. He was aware of the current strength and momentum of the 'Jiuding Daily.' This was the proverbial momentum of the times. Thus, making this plan work would not be easy.

Moreover, Da Fa Real Estate's stock was under the 'Jiuding Daily's' halo of recommendation, and investors had confidence in its shares. Suppressing Da Fa Real Estate's stock price would be challenging and require significant funds, which the Wu family found difficult to provide.

Despite the Wu family's total assets being around 200 million, assets were not the same as liquid cash. Additionally, after the significant loss of funds addressing Mingheng Industries' problems over the past ten days, the available cash flow was only around 10 million, still intended for acquiring and expanding real estate companies.

Although Tianwu Securities' funds managed over 50 million HKD, most were invested in stocks, making it challenging to liquidate without incurring losses. Premature liquidation would also lead to losses for Tianwu Securities.

Thus, suppressing Da Fa Real Estate's stock price and acquiring it would require a large sum of money, necessitating bank loans to achieve the goal.

However, besides borrowing from banks, other methods might be available!

Wu Chengtai's gaze turned towards Ma Chengkun, a new idea flashing in his mind.

"Since you want to use me as a pawn, it's acceptable if there are benefits, but you need to provide some ammunition! Besides, not bringing him into the fold is a bit unsettling…"