Chapter 503: Why Ito Is Targeting Wellcome Supermarket
As for the various reactions from Akina Nakamori's parents, Lin Haoran naturally knew nothing about them.
Even if he had known, he would not have found them strange.
Right now, Akina Nakamori was, after all, just an ordinary girl from a modest background, not yet the super diva with enormous influence she would become in his previous life.
Her parents, meanwhile, only wanted the family's circumstances to improve so that they could finally live a good life.
In the past, they had never had any chance to come into contact with a super tycoon like Lin Haoran, so when such an opportunity appeared, it was perfectly normal for them to want to seize it.
At the same time, in a commercial building in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
This building housed the headquarters of Ito-Yokado.
At this moment, Ito, the president of Ito-Yokado, was in the president's office, and sitting opposite him was a board member of Ito-Yokado and CEO of 7-Eleven's Japan subsidiary, Toshifumi Suzuki.
Speaking of Ito-Yokado's greatest contributor, on the surface it was President Ito, but in reality it was Toshifumi Suzuki.
Without Toshifumi Suzuki, Ito-Yokado would never have introduced 7-Eleven, and would not have the achievements it enjoyed today.
Thus, Toshifumi Suzuki could be called the founder of 7-Eleven's Japan subsidiary.
"President, today's trading in 7-Eleven stock was a bit strange. The volume was far higher than usual. By the close of the market this afternoon, the turnover was more than five times the daily average. I am not sure if someone is deliberately targeting us," Toshifumi Suzuki reported with a frown.
Two years ago, in 1979, after discussions with Southland Corporation, both parties agreed to list the 7-Eleven Japan subsidiary separately on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in order to further strengthen the company's capital power.
Now, after two years of development, their chain had grown to more than a thousand stores, which fully qualified them to apply for listing on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. According to plan, they would apply this year to move to the First Section and thereby enhance the company's market standing.
In Japan, newly listed companies generally appeared on the Second Section first. After a period of development, once they met stricter standards, they could apply to move up to the First Section.
Old-line companies such as Toyota, Sony, and Toshiba were all listed on the First Section.
Most of the firms listed on the Second Section were mid-sized enterprises backed by new capital forces, whose influence was much lower than those on the First Section.
However, President Ito did not take Toshifumi Suzuki's concerns very seriously.
Smiling, Ito said, "Mr. Suzuki, please rest assured. When we went public, we released only 30% of our stock to raise funds. Our Ito-Yokado and the American Southland Corporation each hold 35%. Even if some financial group is aggressively buying 7-Eleven stock, it cannot threaten our position. In fact, it might even help expand 7-Eleven's influence."
Listing 7-Eleven had been done purely to increase its visibility.
Aside from Southland Corporation, no one could threaten Ito-Yokado's position in the 7-Eleven Japan subsidiary.
And Southland had no reason to undermine Ito-Yokado's position either, since the entire 7-Eleven brand still belonged to Southland, and the logistics system was firmly in its hands.
Therefore, Ito genuinely did not care about the fluctuations in the stock market.
Seeing the president speak this way, Toshifumi Suzuki did not pursue the matter further.
Changing the subject, he asked curiously, "President, I heard that you have recently been targeting Wellcome Supermarket. Are you trying to squeeze out this foreign entrant from Hong Kong? They only have three stores in Tokyo, while Ito-Yokado has twelve department stores of similar size. Wellcome does not pose any real threat to us, does it?"
Although Toshifumi Suzuki was now managing 7-Eleven's Japan subsidiary, he also served as a director of Ito-Yokado and thus remained very concerned about the company's affairs.
It was just that his daily focus lay mainly on running 7-Eleven.
"Regarding the background of Wellcome Supermarket, you should know it as well. It comes from Hong Kong, and the super tycoon behind it has assets far exceeding those of Ito-Yokado. To be honest, in terms of wealth, we are not in the same league at all.
"Moreover, I heard that this Mr. Lin Haoran plans to make a major push into the Japanese market. Once his retail business expands, Ito-Yokado will definitely be heavily impacted.
"So I discussed it with a few peers who are also competitors in the supermarket sector and we decided that we cannot allow the Real Estate Group's retail operations to expand smoothly in Japan.
"We want to pressure them and make them retreat in the face of difficulty, to show them that the Japanese market is not something these foreign interlopers can bite into so easily. Over the past two or three days, we have had the Ito-Yokado department stores closest to the three Wellcome supermarkets wage a price war. The effect has been very clear: customer traffic at those three Wellcome stores has plummeted.
"Although we have incurred some losses at those branches these last few days, it is only the losses from three stores, and our costs are lower than theirs, so we can hold out.
"Our purpose is simply to make them understand that in the supermarket business, having money does not necessarily mean you can succeed," Ito said with a smile to his capable lieutenant, not hiding anything.
In terms of assets, Ito knew very well that it was hard for him to match that foreign super tycoon.
But when it came to the Ito family's position in Japan's retail sector, he had plenty of confidence.
After all, Ito-Yokado was now one of the major players in Japan's retail industry.
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Group's retail business in Japan was still in its infancy.
If they could be made to back off now, so much the better.
"I see," Toshifumi Suzuki said with sudden understanding.
"Moreover, I have just heard some news that at today's auction, the Real Estate Group successfully acquired four prime plots of land, with a total transaction price of as much as 52 billion yen. From this alone, you can see how strong his financial power is.
"Right now, Japan's real estate sector is only developing at a moderate pace. In such conditions, they are still willing to spend so much money to enter the Japanese property market, which shows how ambitious they are.
"If they really start a large-scale expansion in retail, I believe you can imagine the consequences," Ito continued with a sigh.
"Fifty-two billion yen?" Toshifumi Suzuki drew in a sharp breath.
Ito-Yokado's market capitalization on the stock exchange was only just above 10 billion yen.
Yet the money they had casually spent on a few plots of land already far exceeded his company's entire market value.
The gap was enormous.
"Indeed, that is truly throwing money around. The Real Estate Group's main business is real estate, and clearly that industry is extremely profitable. Unfortunately, the current real estate environment in Japan is not very good, and we are in no position to divert large amounts of capital into it," Ito said with a hint of envy in his tone.
"President, we should still focus on developing our existing fields. Retail might grow slowly, but it has the advantage of stability. In contrast, although real estate seems highly profitable, its risks are equally high.
"As long as we proceed steadily, Ito-Yokado, relying on the strength of 7-Eleven, has every chance of becoming a global retail giant in the future," Toshifumi Suzuki suggested earnestly.
"Do not worry. It was only a passing thought. I still understand the logic," Ito replied with a smile.
"Last year, 7-Eleven's expansion went very smoothly. If we continue at this pace, by the end of this year we will definitely break through the 2,000-store mark. At that point, we may very well become the number one convenience-store brand in Japan," Toshifumi Suzuki went on.
"Let us hope so. Convenience stores have huge potential in Japan. Back then, we were fortunate that you brought 7-Eleven into the country; otherwise, Ito-Yokado would never hold the position it does today. I will be counting on you to keep working hard for 7-Eleven," Ito said gravely.
"Please rest assured, President. I will not let you down," Toshifumi Suzuki answered solemnly.
"Good. It is getting late. 7-Eleven is preparing to expand into Hiroshima, correct? That is FamilyMart's home turf. Competing with them there will not be easy. You will have your work cut out for you, so go back and get some rest," Ito said, glancing at his watch.
"Very well, President, I will head back now," Toshifumi Suzuki said, bowing before leaving the office.
Watching him go, Ito once again recalled meeting the Hong Kong tycoon Lin Haoran at the banquet a couple of days earlier.
"Let us hope he can be made to retreat from the retail sector," Ito murmured.
…
In reality, the reason trading volume in 7-Eleven Japan's stock had suddenly surged that day was simple: Lin Haoran was manipulating it behind the scenes.
After obtaining information on Southland Corporation and 7-Eleven through Cui Zilong, Lin Haoran began making his preparations.
In addition to having Su Zhixue contact Citibank to assist in acquiring Southland, he had no intention of letting the 7-Eleven joint venture in Japan off the hook either.
Since it was a listed company, the matter became straightforward: he would make his move directly through the stock market.
When he came to Japan, Lin Haoran had not only brought along top talent from the real estate sector, but had also requested some securities-industry elites from banks and brokerage firms, intending to put them to use on the Japanese stock market.
Sure enough, once the research was complete, he realized that the time to use his traders had arrived.
Southland already held 35% of the shares in 7-Eleven Japan. If he then had the company's securities department quietly accumulate more shares, surpassing Ito-Yokado's stake would not be difficult.
Who would ever have thought that Southland Corporation might change hands?
Furthermore, once he became the true controller of 7-Eleven, his advantages would only grow, especially because the key logistics system was in Southland's hands.
By contrast, although Ito-Yokado currently controlled the management rights for over a thousand 7-Eleven convenience stores, the vast majority of those outlets were franchises. Stores actually owned outright by Ito-Yokado numbered only around one hundred.
This was precisely why 7-Eleven had been able to expand so explosively in Japan.
(END CHAPTER)
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