Chapter 241 Public Investment Fund
“So 30 million pounds, is it enough?”
Hearing Barron’s unrivaled words, Phillips and Mark were both shocked. The eyes of each other met, and finally Mark said:
"Your Highness the Duke, do you want to invest 30 million pounds in our company?"
"Yes, just follow the Naxicap Fund's treatment of you. Valuation, £22.4 million, to invest ”
"This... is a bit too much."
According to their team's plan, it is enough to have 10 million pounds, which is equivalent to more than 1,450 euros. 30 million pounds... such a huge investment After that, they won't have many shares left.
“For the current tabletop game market, the most important thing is to become a giant as quickly as possible. In this way, you can spend money to buy all the teams with potential and creativity...”< br>
Barron said lightly:
“And And I also believe in the management ability of your team. I am only making financial investment. As long as you don’t make mistakes, Asmodee will still be managed by you. Maybe the next time Asmodee needs financing, it will be IPO.”
Mark and Phillips also admitted that Barron's words did make sense, and what they valued more was the control of the company... If this aspect could be guaranteed, then with so much funding, they would be absolutely sure that they would be able to do so within the next two years. Asmodee has developed into the world's largest tabletop game company, thinking of that prospect...
In the end, after discussions, the Asmodee team accepted Barron's proposal, and they will invest Asmodee's 22.4 million pounds. valuation, accepting an investment of 30 million pounds from DS Capital.
In this way, after completing this financing, DS Capital’s investment of 30 million pounds will obtain 57.25% of Asmodee’s shares, plus the 40% of the shares they previously held. After this financing, they will be Diluted to a ratio of 17.1%, DS Capital holds a total of 74.35% of Asmodee's shares.
The founding team of Asmodee, including Mark and Phillips, has reduced its shareholding in the company to 25.65%.
But as Barron said, he has no interest in running Asmodee Company, and in his previous life, Mark and the others have always done a good job, developing Asmodee Company into one of the largest tabletop game companies in the world.
Therefore, he is willing to invest in Asmodee Company. On the one hand, it is to promote "Werewolf" and maximize the value of this IP; on the other hand, it is really a financial investment.
When a company is willing to acquire Asmodee for more than 3 billion euros like in the previous life, or when Asmodee's IPO increases its market value, it will be time for his investment to be realized.
......
"Your Highness the Duke, don't you have the idea of listing O2 Telecom again? After all, according to our investigation, you paid up to 5 billion when acquiring this telecommunications company. High-interest debt in pounds sterling.”
On the day when Barron invited these Saudi princes, the three Saudi princes he saw last time at the Duke of Westminster’s home, including Walid, were there. Visited Barron's villa in Kensington.
In addition to these three princes, there is another guest - a senior executive of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Barron then realized that the backgrounds of these three princes were not simple. In addition to Walid, the "Middle East Stock God" and Mohammed bin Salman, the future Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Another prince named Faisal bin Raziz, whose father currently serves as Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, is responsible for managing Saudi Arabia’s sovereign funds, including the earlier-established Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The senior executive of the Saudi Public Investment Fund named Falih bin Al-Jubeir who came here today came to England to prepare for investment.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund was created in the 1970s. It was initially mainly funded by Saudi Aramco. Therefore, the president of Aramco often also serves as the head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
As of now, the total size of the Saudi Public Investment Fund has exceeded US$25 billion, and it has many investment projects overseas.
This time, Falih bin Jubeir asked this question, and it was obvious that they were interested in O2 Telecom.
"Mr. Falih, although the number of O2 Telecom users has increased by more than 100% compared to when I acquired this company at the beginning of the year, we are still in the process of improving our mobile communications and Broadband network equipment upgrades, especially in newly opened France and Although the number of users in the two German markets is increasing rapidly, the investment is also huge, so in terms of performance, it is not conducive to IPO listing..." As Barron's life assistant and an Arab, Alia Benti ·Hussein also attended the reception held at Barron's home.
When she was introduced to these Saudis at the beginning, they also marveled at the beauty of Barron, the female assistant, and praised her greatly.
This was also the first time Alia saw Barron talking about his business with others. Seeing his talkative appearance, she couldn't help but keep her eyes on him.
Just listen to Barron continue:
“But you can rest assured that when O2 Telecom’s equipment upgrade is completed next year and the financial situation looks better, it will be ready to go public.”
“In fact, after our PIF surveyed the British market, we are very optimistic about your O2 Telecom and have the idea of investing...”
Hearing what Falih bin Jubeir said, Barron was moved in his heart and said:
"If we invest in O2 Telecom currently, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to reach an agreement on the valuation of this company, because although O2 Telecom is not a start-up, when I buy it After buying this company, I formulated a super expansion plan for it. Although I only spent 5.5 billion pounds when I acquired this company at the beginning of this year, based on the current turnover and number of users, it is at most 5.5 billion pounds. The company is valued at £10 billion..."
When Barron said these words, he had been observing everyone's expressions without leaving a trace, especially Falih al-Jubeir, who was responsible for the Saudi Public Investment Fund's investment in the UK. Judging from his reaction, he should be thinking about O2 The valuation of Telecom is not much different from the price of 10 billion pounds.
He smiled and continued:
“But frankly speaking, I think O2 Telecom is now worth more than 15 billion pounds, and by the time it IPOs, its market value will be More than 20 billion pounds!"
"I'm afraid this is a bit too high, Your Highness."
"That's why I said it is difficult for us to reach an agreement at the moment, but this is not a problem, we can. In another way..."
Hearing what Barron said, Falih became interested:
“In what way?”
“O2 Telecom can issue corporate bonds to you first, with the annual interest rate set at 3.5%. Around, slightly higher than the interest rate of bank loans, and then at the end of next year, or early 2005, when O2 Telecom conducts its IPO, you can choose to convert these corporate bonds into ordinary shares at the O2 Telecom stock issuance price..."
After hearing Barron’s proposal, although I cannot invest in O2 Telecom immediately, speaking of it, the investments of sovereign funds such as the Saudi Public Investment Fund are not as focused on returns as those of venture capital. rate, but prefer safer investments - after all, the scale of these funds can easily exceed tens of billions of dollars. Investments of this scale cannot take too much risk.
Therefore, the approach proposed by Barron is safer. Although the annual interest rate of 3.5% is not high, it can at least be considered an early entry into the game. We will observe the situation of O2 Telecom IPO and decide Is it a debt-for-equity swap? Otherwise, even if you want to participate in O2 Telecom's IPO, you may not be able to get a sufficient share of shares.
"I will report to the CEO and give you a reply as soon as possible, Your Highness the Duke."
"Looking forward to your reply, Mr. Falih."
Barron did not really feel that this meeting I can decide on such an investment, so I said it very calmly.
(End of this chapter)