Hollywood Hunter

When it comes to the "king of gambling" in Asia, most people's first reaction is probably Mr. He from Macau, who is more familiar with the industry, and maybe Lin Wutong from Malaysia. In fact, South Korea also has a gambling king, Tian Yuan.

Tian Paradise developed in the era of Park Chung-hee. It obtained the first gaming license in South Korea in 1967. After more than 30 years of development, it is now far ahead of the South Korean tourist resort Jeju Island with 4 casinos under the Paradise Group. The other 8 peers directly divided up nearly 80% of the market share of the Korean gaming industry, basically in a monopoly position.

The reason why the Korean gambling king is not well-known, in the final analysis, is because of the scale of the Korean gaming industry.

Let’s just say that in the past 1998, the total revenue of 12 casinos in South Korea was only 180 billion won. According to the average exchange rate last year, it was equivalent to about 120 million U.S. dollars. At the same time, the Paradise Group accounted for 140 billion won, or about 93 million. Dollar. In comparison, Macau, the number one gambling city in Asia, has an annual gaming industry revenue of 13.5 billion patacas, equivalent to 1.39 billion U.S. dollars, which is more than ten times the size of the South Korean gaming industry.

Having said that, a small business with a national volume of only 120 million U.S. dollars is far from reaching the level where Simon can come forward.

The reason for this is very simple, Simon sees farther.

And can see very far.

Simon didn't know much about the gaming industry in his previous life, but he roughly remembered some figures.

The key point is Macau. At present, Macau gaming, which is basically monopolized by the He family because of the death of the former gambling king Yep, has a revenue of 13.5 billion patacas in the past year, which seems to be equivalent to more than ten times the revenue of South Korea. However, this is also Just a start.

Historically, after the millennium, Macau’s gaming industry began to explode rapidly. At its peak, the annual revenue exceeded 360 billion patacas, equivalent to approximately 45 billion U.S. dollars. In just over ten years, it soared more than 20 times, even Leaving the world-renowned casino Las Vegas far behind.

At the same time, Las Vegas, with a gaming revenue of only about US$6 billion, has an industry size less than one-seventh of Macau, and can only be regarded as the younger brother.

As for the reasons for the outbreak of Macau's gaming industry, everyone knows.

The Chinese are rich!

Simon probably remembers that Macau carried out a gaming industry reform after 2000, which broke the Ho family’s monopoly on gambling cards and called for public bidding for photography. When the time comes, Simon will definitely not let go of such a piece of fat.

This is something.

Besides South Korea, Simon also vaguely remembers that about 15 years ago, Chinese real estate developers invested tens of billions of yuan in South Korea, hoping to build a casino there, and marked it to attract Chinese tourists.

Therefore, the potential of the Korean gaming industry can be seen.

Of course, Simon knew better that the Sino-South Korean relations fell into a trough due to South Korea’s own death in the next few years, and he didn’t know how the Chinese invested in Korean casinos hoping to earn Chinese money.

Let’s not talk about it too far away, at least at the moment, when the right time, place and people are in harmony, Simon will definitely make a move.

As for the future, Simon can only be sure that if he went to South Korea to build a casino hotel in 2015, it would basically be the highest position to take over. Even if it is completed, there will probably be only some scraps left. Now, South Korea's economic crisis continues, and the rise of China's economy is gaining momentum. Many people are in a state of confusion and cannot see the future clearly. For the Westeros system, it is definitely the best time to buy the bottom.

After the millennium, as Chinese gamblers flocked in all directions, the industry flourished rapidly, and it was not so easy to enter.

Moreover, even if China and South Korea continue to fight against each other in the future, under the early layout, in more than ten years, they will definitely have earned back their principal and interest.

What's more, China and South Korea are fighting against each other, so what's the matter with tourists?

It can be as short as three days or as long as three months. After that, those who should run out will still run out. Unless there is some irresistible natural disaster, otherwise it will be less than three or five times, and it will not hurt the muscles and bones.

In fact, to sort it out, the Westeros system has unknowingly already had a considerable layout in the gaming industry, such as the casinos of a certain Golden Retriever that Atlantic City took over, and Ukraine, which started from scratch but has developed very well. Ferney Resort and Entertainment Center.

In addition, there is Australia. Australia not only legalizes brothels, but also casinos. Because it is a certain foundation, Simon will naturally not let it go. In recent years, he has been investing quite heavily.

Furthermore, the reason why Simon is so keen on the gaming industry is one of the benefits, but more importantly, it is a field with a very large gray area, which is suitable for many operations that are not very bright.

With the development of the Westeros system to the present, if all the way is clean and flawless, even if it is not torn into pieces and eaten dry by the pretenders hiding everywhere, Simon will never have a good time.

Therefore, I often show a state of being crazier than you imagined in certain things. At the same time, Simon has also fostered a huge private army that can fight a war in the region, and created a private intelligence network with tentacles all over the world. Raising multiple gang forces scattered all over the world... In the final analysis, these are just for self-protection.

Because in Simon's current position, it is impossible to be a pure businessman. After all, this world is too impure to be innocent.

Let's talk about the specific operation.

On the South Korean side, Simon did not intend to seek cooperation, but planned to use the Westeros system to do it directly.

With the influence of the Westeros system in South Korea, it is easy to break the monopoly of the Paradise Group if you want to get a gambling card.

No one has done this before, to put it bluntly, it is to see

not on.

Not to mention the current South Korea, even Macau, the industry size is only more than one billion US dollars a year, and there is no need for capable big capital to entangle local snakes. After all, everyone knows that this industry is not as simple as a simple business. , but also take care of all aspects.

However, now, Simon Westeros has taken a fancy to South Korea's 'little profit', which is unexpected.

The result is the truth.

Aware of the operation of the Westeros system in South Korea, as a local snake, Tian Yuan will naturally not be indifferent.

After several contacts between the two sides, today's meeting came about.

To put it simply, Tian Leyuan is actively seeking cooperation this time, and is still willing to give up a considerable amount of initiative.

This surprised Simon a little.

Think about it, if it is placed on He Gambling King in Macau, with the other party's temperament, even if they are willing to cooperate, they will only firmly hold the control in their hands.

However, if this were not the case, this meeting would not have happened.

After all, it is a small business, and Simon is not that busy.

Moreover, after a general understanding, Simon also understood the reason for the decision of the Korean gambling king.

First of all, Tian Leyuan, who was born in 1927, is 72 years old this year, and his health has not been very good. He no longer has enough energy to fully control his gaming empire. Tian Bili, the eldest son of the gambling king, is only 31 years old this year, and Simon The same age, but of course there is no comparison with Simon. For ordinary people, he is still very young and immature. It is hard to say whether he can take up the burden of the Paradise Group.

Secondly, even if it is only a small plate, more and more capital forces have hoped to break the monopoly of the Paradise Group over the years, frequently asking the South Korean authorities to open more gaming licenses, so that everyone can enter the market and share the profits.

Faced with such a situation, Tian Gambler became more and more unable to do what he wanted.

According to the information recently collected by the team here, before the crisis of 1997, Tianyuan had already started to seek the listing operation of the Paradise Group, and selected the target platform in the NASDAQ market in the United States. Obviously, this can be regarded as leaving a way out for future generations. Once listed, even if Paradise Group encounters the impact of peers and declines in the future, Tian's children can accumulate a lot of wealth through cashing out.

Now, although Simon’s sudden desire to enter the South Korean gaming industry is confusing, Tianyuan realizes that this is a better way out than listing the Paradise Group.

After all, the thigh of the Westeros system is so thick that it cannot be thicker.

As long as you embrace this thigh, it will be easy for the Paradise Group to extend its dominance over the Korean gaming industry for another ten or twenty years.

In addition, Tian Gambling King can also see the situation clearly. Even if he gives up the control of his own property, Simon Westero must not have time to run to take care of it himself, and still needs to employ people. Although his son is ineffective, he has cultivated a very good team over the years, which can be gradually passed on to his son. At least, it is definitely not a problem to ensure the interests of the Tian family in the Paradise Group.

Speaking of benefits, since Simon Westeros is interested in this area, although he still doesn't quite understand it, in the future, the prospects of the Korean gaming industry will definitely be far beyond the current scale.

All in all, apart from being unable to gain absolute control over the family business, there is no harm in thinking about it.

As for control, in the past two years even the top chaebols in South Korea have been subdued within the Westeros system, and Kim Woo-joong, the former second largest chaebol, was thrown into prison for having an affair with the Westeros system. What is a small Paradise Group in front of such a behemoth?

Inside a VIP hall of the Walkerhill Casino.

Everyone gathered around a gaming table, playing Texas Hold'em in a harmonious atmosphere, and talking about things by the way.

On Simon's side are him and Chen Qing, and on the other side are Tian Yuan and his eldest son Tian Bili wearing black-rimmed glasses.

The specific cooperation details have been finalized in advance.

Paradise Group’s revenue in 1998 was equivalent to 93 million US dollars, but due to the economic crisis, it lost about 6 million US dollars last year. Therefore, based on the comprehensive financial data of the past five years, a valuation of 300 million US dollars was given. Equivalent to an average price-earnings ratio of about 20 times, a very generous asking price.

Among them, Tianyuan's shareholding ratio is 38%, equivalent to about 110 million US dollars.

Initially drawn up is a joint venture program.

The Westeros system will inject a one-time investment of 700 million US dollars into the Paradise Group, obtaining 70% of the shares of the new company, and reducing the shareholding of other original shareholders to 30%. At the same time, the 700 million US dollars of funds will be divided into two parts, one of which is 500 million US dollars, which will be invested in Jeju Island at one time to build a super entertainment complex integrating casinos, hotels, shopping centers, golf courses and other facilities.

Jeju Island is exactly the future direction of the Korean gaming industry that Simon is betting on.

As for now, the 8 small casinos that Jeju Island already owns account for just over 20% of the revenue of the Korean gaming industry. The villa also accounts for as much as 56% of the revenue share of the four casinos of the Paradise Group. It can be said that the distribution is very uneven.

Simon can foresee that as Jeju Island attracts more and more Chinese tourists in the future, especially after the implementation of visa-free measures, the current imbalance will definitely be reversed, and the gaming industry on Jeju Island will occupy the related industries in South Korea. The bulk of revenue.

While placing a heavy bet on this investment, the next step of the operation of the Westeros system is to lobby the South Korean authorities to open Jeju Island to Chinese tourists as soon as possible.

visa-free.

Another $200 million is planned to be invested in a casino project in Gangwon-do, eastern South Korea.

This has to start from the beginning.

The Taebaek Mountains area in Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea used to be a mining area, and once produced 80% of South Korea's coal. However, in recent years, coal resources in the Taibai Mountain mining area have been rapidly depleted. As a result, as many as 130,000 miners and millions of people living around the mining area suddenly lost their livelihoods.

In order to create a livelihood for the former mining area, the South Korean authorities passed an "Abandoned Mine Area Development Plan" in 1997, encouraging the Taebaek Mountains area to vigorously develop the tourism industry.

We all know that coal mining areas are often unsuitable for tourism, and it is true.

Therefore, this special bill opened a back door for the local area to allow gaming business.

However, shortly after the release of this bill, the Asian financial turmoil broke out, and the Korean government and private capital were all in a state of crisis.

No money, no matter how generous the stimulus policy is, it is useless.

Until recently, the local government has finally reintroduced the plan to build a casino in the mining area of ​​Taibai Mountains and is raising funds.

However, in fact, there is still no money.

Before the Westeros system expressed interest in this project, the local government and local capital are expected to raise a maximum of about 30 billion won, which is equivalent to about 23 million U.S. dollars at South Korea’s current exchange rate of around 1300, and plans to build a small casino hotel .

The 23 million US dollars of funds may be enough if it is just to build a building, but if you want to build a casino hotel with complete facilities, it can only be described as makeshift.

Therefore, the Westeros system plans to invest 200 million U.S. dollars. From the local point of view, it is simply a big winner who has fallen from the sky and has a lot of money.

Simon is certainly not Kyle.

The biggest reason why I fell in love with this project is that the planned casino has a privilege, that is, it can be opened to Korean nationals.

Absolute privilege.

Because before this, whether it was the casinos of the Paradise Group in the central city or the eight small stores on Jeju Island, in the past few decades, they were only open to foreigners. Guests needed overseas passports to enter and exit. No Entry.

As for a casino in a ravine, even if it has privileges, can it make money?

Simon had no doubts.

In many news reports about the gambling industry, there will always be a fairly uniform saying: Americans are fond of gambling, British are fond of gambling, Germans are fond of gambling, Japanese are fond of gambling, Koreans are fond of gambling, Chinese are fond of gambling...

In fact, to put it bluntly, it is a person who likes to gamble.

Just like a certain theory that Simon mentioned some time ago, production is against the nature of biology, and plunder is instinct. The so-called plunder means to get something for nothing, to give more than what is lost, and gambling is undoubtedly the best channel for people to imagine getting something for nothing in the real world.

So how could anyone not like it?

All in all, for the only casino project with privileges in South Korea, Simon did not hesitate to spend money, and directly gave 200 million US dollars, which is 10 times the local budget, in place at one time. At the beginning, the local area was still a little hesitant about this complicated fund, but after confirming the estimated investment amount of 200 million US dollars, all problems were no longer a problem.