Chapter 498: Recruiting a Personal Secretary
"Southland Corporation, Boss? I've heard of it, and there are quite a few 7-Eleven stores here in New York," Su Zhixue replied.
"Good. Since you're familiar, I want you to help me with something:
Go find Citibank's Chairman, Mr. Walter Wriston, and commission Citibank to help us acquire Southland at a reasonable price.
Once there's any progress, notify me immediately," Lin Haoran said.
Southland's market value should still be far less than Walmart's, Lin Haoran thought.
Thus, acquiring Southland shouldn't be too difficult or too costly.
Even Walmart's market value at this time was only about $200 million.
Letting Su Zhixue directly negotiate with Southland wouldn't be efficient —
Su wasn't suited for that kind of work.
But if Citibank handled it, the matter would become much easier.
Of course, Citibank would charge a service fee afterward, but they were experts in these types of capital operations.
And with Lin Haoran's strong relationship with Wriston —
plus the fact that Lin Haoran had massive deposits in Citibank —
the bank would surely work hard to secure the deal.
"Understood, Boss. But Southland isn't publicly listed. Its value is hard to assess.
Do you have a price range in mind?" Su Zhixue asked.
"First, have Citibank evaluate Southland's value.
Then negotiate," Lin Haoran said after thinking briefly.
"If the price is under $100 million, I'm willing to consider it."
Given that Walmart's total market value was only around $200 million,
Southland couldn't possibly be worth half that much, right?
In his past life, Lin Haoran had read that 7-Eleven's later valuation exceeded 200 billion RMB.
Compared to other global giants, that wasn't outstanding —
but Lin Haoran valued its distribution channels immensely.
Owning a convenience store giant like 7-Eleven would mean controlling a vast sales network.
"Alright, Boss, I'll handle it as soon as possible," Su Zhixue promised.
He was merely serving as a middleman —
representing Lin Haoran in delegating the acquisition to Citibank.
After hanging up, Lin Haoran returned to his room, freshened up, and changed into a suit.
He still had work to do at the company today.
After breakfast, he headed out.
Since most newspapers were in Japanese, and he couldn't read Japanese yet,
he didn't bother with them at home.
Arriving at the office around 9:30 a.m.,
he saw that the employees were already busy at work.
The company was being rebuilt from scratch,
so the workload was heavy.
Although the Japan branch of Land Corporation wasn't officially operating yet,
it had been successfully registered.
"Boss, I have a proposal," Kenneth Ho greeted him.
"I suggest we rename the building to Land Tower. What do you think?"
"Good idea. Since we own it now, it should carry our name.
Handle the paperwork quickly," Lin Haoran said.
Changing a building's name required formal applications to local authorities,
especially for landmark properties.
Frequent renaming could cause confusion in public records and maps.
But as long as procedures were followed, there would be no issue.
"Also, tomorrow afternoon, Zhao Xin and I will attend a land auction.
We're targeting several plots we discussed.
Would you like to join us?" Kenneth asked.
"A land auction?
No, you two handle it," Lin Haoran said, waving it off.
He already knew about the plots.
His presence wouldn't change anything — no need to waste time.
"In addition, I've noticed that our Wellcome supermarkets here are doing okay.
But because we only have three stores and costs are relatively high, profits are slim.
I propose expanding Wellcome and Mannings Beauty Stores aggressively.
Japan's market is huge, densely populated, and concentrated in major cities.
Rent here is even cheaper than Hong Kong.
The cost of opening new stores isn't too high.
I plan to occupy the market quickly," Kenneth said.
Clearly, last night's unpleasant encounter with Ito had motivated Lin Haoran to strengthen his retail expansion plans.
"Rapid expansion is good," Lin Haoran nodded.
"But be cautious with site selection.
Don't just open stores blindly and end up losing money."
"Don't worry, Boss.
I plan to hire a local industry expert to oversee Wellcome and Mannings operations.
They know the market better.
We'll build a professional site-selection team to ensure we expand smartly."
"Excellent.
You have full authority to execute your plans.
Land Corporation has deep pockets — these 4 billion HKD are for you to make your mark.
I trust you," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
At that moment, the office phone rang.
Kenneth answered it briefly, then hung up and turned to Lin Haoran.
"Boss, Mr. Sato called.
The Ito-Yokado stores near our three Wellcome locations launched a targeted price war.
Other Ito-Yokado stores didn't have discounts — only the ones near our stores."
"If we match their prices, we'll make no profit.
But they can afford it because Ito-Yokado owns over a thousand 7-Eleven stores,
giving them unbeatable purchasing power."
"Ito again!" Lin Haoran frowned.
Even though Wellcome and Ito-Yokado had clashed before,
this kind of personal targeting was unnecessary.
Was it all because of that banquet?
Lin Haoran thought briefly and said,
"Ignore them.
Let them drop prices if they want.
Business will be slow for a few days, but I have a solution."
Of course, he meant the plan to acquire Southland.
Once he controlled 7-Eleven, he would have a powerful counterattack ready.
Three supermarkets were nothing.
Even if they lost money for a year, it wouldn't matter.
"Understood, Boss," Kenneth nodded, fully trusting Lin Haoran's vision.
After their conversation, Lin Haoran left Kenneth to work.
There was a mountain of tasks awaiting Kenneth in this early stage.
Lin Haoran, meanwhile, moved into his own office next door.
Though he didn't have much to do yet,
he needed a private space to meet visitors.
Occasionally, he saw candidates coming in for interviews.
Obviously, the Hong Kong team alone wasn't enough —
they needed to recruit a lot of local talent.
Top candidates were interviewed personally by Kenneth.
"Boss, I just interviewed a former Mitsui Fudosan executive," Kenneth reported after one session.
"He left because he couldn't get promoted further.
He's extremely knowledgeable about Japan's real estate industry.
I'm very satisfied.
I plan to appoint him head of our property division."
"Good.
If you're confident in his abilities, hire him," Lin Haoran said.
He knew Mitsui Fudosan — one of Japan's biggest real estate firms,
part of the powerful Mitsui Group.
An executive from Mitsui Fudosan would certainly be competent.
"By the way, help me recruit a personal secretary," Lin Haoran added.
"Fluency in English is a must; Chinese is optional.
Appearance must be good.
Education must be high.
I'll personally interview the final candidates."
In Hong Kong, he hadn't needed a secretary —
everything was handled by subordinates.
But in Japan, where he didn't speak the language, a capable secretary was essential.
"Understood, Boss.
I'll coordinate with headhunting firms.
You'll have suitable candidates very soon," Kenneth said.
Lin Haoran stayed at the office until dusk before heading home.
In Tokyo, the streets weren't as chaotic as Hong Kong,
but he had no interest in wandering around unnecessarily.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1