Chapter 327 Privatization
The reason why De Sole made this request is obviously because he did not want the Gucci Group to make wedding dresses for others like LVMH did before.
In this regard, Barron readily agreed. He said:
“If the acquisition is completed, Gucci Group will become the parent company of our luxury goods strategy in the future. This is a I believe that a brand with a long history will continue to create glory in our hands.”
Of course, such an important thing cannot be accomplished in just a few words.
Prior to this, De Sol also conducted an investigation into Barron, the British Duke. On the one hand, Barron's status as a nobleman is indeed more consistent with the positioning of the Gucci Group; on the other hand, Barron's DS Holdings The acquired companies have indeed no record of being split up or sacrificed, and are all run by the original teams. In this regard, his reputation is also very good, which supports De Sol's decisions. The ultimate choice.
After it was disclosed that DS Holdings controlled 35% of the shares of Gucci Group, PPR Group also felt threatened, and it was not without contact with De Sol.
However, although the cooperation with the PPR Group was indeed good at the beginning, with the decline in the performance of the Gucci Group in the past two years, the conflicts between the PPR Group and De Sol have become more and more serious. Big, even if the PPR Group is eager to show favor to him at this time, De Sol is not a fool. What he has to consider is, even if he supports the PPR Group this time, will the other party be able to remember this and thus maintain What about his management of the Gucci Group?
Having seen too many similar things, of course De Sol would not be so naive.
It can be said that during this period, the competition between DS Holdings, owned by Barron Cavendish, the British Duke who ranks sixth on the world's richest list, and PPR Group for Gucci Group is the hottest topic. The top news, covering multiple channels such as finance and fashion.
The final ownership of the Gucci Group is also of concern to the public.
After completing many "She Tun Xiang" mergers and acquisitions, can DS Capital succeed in the Gucci Group this time?
After all, PPR Group is not weak, and it previously held up to 42% of the shares of Gucci Group!
After reaching a consensus agreement with the management of the Gucci Group headed by De Sole and spending US$4 billion, DS Holdings announced that their stake in the Gucci Group has reached 40%. share.
The combined shareholdings of them and the Gucci Group management have exceeded 50%. Therefore, with the cooperation between the two parties, the PPR Group has no chance at all.
What's more, the Gucci Group has a big killer weapon like private placement of shares, which is useless - PPR Group was also the beneficiary of this "big killer weapon". They naturally understand that even their current shareholdings are higher than they used to be. LVMH Group, but after controlling more than 50% of Gucci Group shares, the other alliance can still dilute the proportion of shares they currently hold by issuing additional shares.
Of course, this kind of thing is a trick that can kill one thousand enemies and damage eight hundred, so the Gucci Group will not use it easily unless it is a last resort.
Frustrated, they offered a price of US$4.5 billion for their 42% stake in Gucci, indicating that they could sell the shares to DS Holdings at this price.
At this time, the US$4.5 billion loan that DS Holdings obtained from Northen Rock Bank by pledging the shares of several companies only had US$500 million left...
According to PPR Group If the bid, plus the subsequent acquisition of the shares of Gucci Group management and the privatization tender offer for the remaining shares, then it will probably cost about US$6 billion...
At this time, banks including Northen Rock, Barclays Bank and Goldman Sachs Group all expressed that they could provide financing services for his acquisition...
After all, compared to the US$4.5 billion that Barron's has already provided funds, and the remaining part will be pledged to obtain financing from all shares of Gucci Group in the future, which is not too risky.
Although Barron’s mortgage loan with Northrock Bank this time was not intentionally showing weakness, it did not mean that he was really willing to put his life and death in the hands of others. Therefore, In the end, he chose to finance this time through Standard Chartered Bank. After agreeing to pledge future Gucci Group shares, DS Capital obtained a 3 billion pound financing loan from Standard Chartered Bank with an interest rate of 6%, which is slightly higher than ordinary mortgage loans and is considered acceptable.
Next, DS Holdings will complete the acquisition of 42% of the Gucci Group's shares from the PPR Group, and will subsequently complete the privatization tender offer for the Gucci Group, including management shareholdings. and other shares circulating in the secondary market.
In this way, this vigorous acquisition battle for the Gucci Group has ended, and DS Holdings has become the new owner of the Gucci Group.
Of course, these are all things for later...
...
It was already mid-to-late September when Barron returned to London from Italy. At this time, Barron got According to news from Boeing, the Boeing 747 Devonshire he ordered has been completed. According to his request, the other party will fly the aircraft directly to London Airport to complete the handover with him.
While waiting for the plane, Barron also met Clara Firth, CEO of the London Stock Exchange.
Clara Firth, 46, has been the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange since January 2001. In this male-dominated field, Clara is also the first female CEO of the London Stock Exchange.
During this period, while DS Holdings was acquiring the Gucci Group, the Global Industrial Investment Fund was not idle either. Not only did they increase their holdings on the London Stock Exchange through purchases on the secondary market, In addition to reaching about 10%, it also reached an agreement with Tianli Investment and Scottish Widows to acquire the shares of the London Stock Exchange held by them at a price of 5 pounds per share, which is a premium of 25%.
At the beginning, the GII Fund's offer to the two investment institutions was 4.6 pounds per share, which was a 15% premium compared to the previous share price of less than 4 pounds on the London Stock Exchange.
However, both investment institutions believed that they were not "sincere" enough. Later, after the GII Fund quoted another price of 5 pounds per share, the price of 25% premium finally impressed them.
After spending more than 250 million pounds, the GII Fund obtained their combined 20.3% stake in the London Stock Exchange.
In this way, so far, the GII Fund's shares in the London Stock Exchange have reached 30.3%, making it the largest shareholder of the London Stock Exchange.
After reaching this shareholding ratio of more than 30%, the GII Fund issued its first comprehensive acquisition offer to the London Stock Exchange, proposing their acquisition at a price of 1.25 billion pounds in total market capitalization of the London Stock Exchange. Quotation.
When I met with Clara Firth this time, she also mentioned the GII Fund’s acquisition of the London Stock Exchange:
“Your Highness, the GII Fund is just an investment institution, not one with rich We are an experienced financial institution, so if we become an investor in the London Stock Exchange, we would be very welcome, but if we want to fully acquire the London Stock Exchange, it would be very difficult for us. Saying that it is not a feasible option will not be of great benefit to the future development of the London Stock Exchange..."
"If I say, Ms. Firth, we can commit to acquiring more shares in the future. Exchanges, such as Euronext, or Lijiapo Exchange, or even Nasdaq, will they merge with LSE? ”
(End of this chapter)