Chapter 396 Second Marriage
In fact, in 2016, Yangtze River Infrastructure purchased a 51% stake in the natural gas business of National Grid Corporation of England. The 11 billion pounds it paid also included the debt it assumed. The actual investment was not Not that high.
The current asset-liability ratio of National Grid Corporation of England is around 88%. Therefore, to purchase its natural gas business, United Energy Group will have to bear an additional liability of approximately 4.5 billion pounds, plus a purchase price of 5 billion pounds, for a total of It will cost them £9.5 billion.
If coupled with the current high exchange rate of the pound, the exchange rate of the pound against the US dollar is still around 1.9, but fell below 1.4 in 2016...
Then the price calculated in US dollars, It's not that big of a difference.
However, in addition to obtaining the consent of the other party to acquire the natural gas business of National Grid Corporation of England, another obstacle is the domestic antitrust review in the UK.
British gas users initially used coal-based gas, and the gas market was mainly scattered locally and operated by small companies.
According to the Gas Act of 1948, in May 1949, the British gas industry was nationalized. More than 1,000 private gas companies and municipal gas companies were merged into 12 gas companies (areagasboards) operating in different regions. These companies were later collectively known as British Gas (hereinafter referred to as BG).
The British Gas Industry has thus opened up a market pattern in which state-owned enterprises exclusively monopolize downstream supply.
Beginning in 1986, England successively privatized BG Company, liberalized the large user market, and separated the pipeline business from the supply business. By 1998, it finally realized market competition in the natural gas supply and sales links and became a The first country in Europe to restructure the integrated gas market for supply and transmission into a competitive market.
Of course, it is worth mentioning that the privatization of British Gas Company began during the administration of the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher. At that time, she privatized most of the state-owned enterprises, including British Petroleum Company (BP ), British Telecom, aerospace companies, natural gas companies, steel companies, water companies and other monopoly giants' stocks were sold to the public or split up. The slogan she proposed at the time was "privatization has no restricted areas"...
< br>Previously, the Northern Natural Gas Pipeline Network owned by United Energy Group had about 6 million users, accounting for about 10% of the British natural gas pipeline network transmission market. If the natural gas business of National Grid Corporation of England is acquired, there will be additional 12 million users will occupy 30% of the British natural gas pipeline network transmission market, which will inevitably attract the attention of regulatory agencies including the Office of Fair Trading and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
However, since Li Chaoren's Yangtze River Infrastructure was able to complete the acquisitions of these two companies in his previous life, Barron is not worried that these regulatory agencies will hinder his acquisitions now.
Of course, does it really need to pass the review of these regulatory agencies... There is also room for maneuver.
If it is really necessary for this acquisition to fail, then it is not impossible for the acquisition to be stuck in the review.
…
On April 15, Barron took his girlfriend Bonnie to the crown prince’s wedding.
This time, it is the second marriage of the Crown Prince...
At the same time, because the marriage between the Crown Prince and Ms. Camilla was not the outcome that the Queen hoped for, their wedding was very low-key, even more It cannot be compared with the grand wedding of the century between the Crown Prince and Princess Diana in 1981.
In fact, in Barron’s previous life, this wedding was held on April 9, and in this world, when he first talked to Barron, the time the crown prince mentioned was also April 9. It was April 9th, but Barron found a reason to change the date, and it became today, April 15th.
"I didn't expect you to have such a... habit, Barron."
When Barron said it, he saw that in ancient China, both the royal family and the common people needed to exchange money when they got married. When they found out each other's birthdays and horoscopes and found a wise man who studied the ancient sacred book "Book of Changes" to set the time for marriage, so that the two could have a happy marriage, the crown prince said to Barron in surprise.
"It is a country with a history that lasts for thousands of years. There are always some mysterious things that are difficult to explain, isn't it? Besides, it doesn't hurt. I used to know someone who was very interested in it. These well-researched Chinese friends, if you If you are willing, I can introduce it.”
It seems that the Crown Prince is still very concerned about the wedding ceremony with Ms. Camilla, so he finally accepted this opinion and after “calculation”, the wedding was planned. Set for April 15th.
However, Barron could not tell him the real reason... 16 years after the original time and space, the crown prince's father, Prince Philip, the queen's husband, also died on April 9th. .
The anniversary of his father's death is the same as his wedding anniversary, which may have embarrassed the Crown Prince after that...
Although Barron has not met Princess Diana in person, He had never witnessed the wedding of the century in 1981, but he had seen the images left behind.
To be honest, although the scene was indeed grand and the live broadcast was even watched by people all over the world, in that wedding, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's performance, even if it could not be said to be that of a puppet, was very rare. Show a smile.
Although today's low-key civil ceremony was not a grand wedding, Barron could clearly see that the gray-haired Crown Prince's behavior was indeed different from before. Standing next to Ms. Camilla, she had a smile on her face the whole time, and it was obvious that she was happy from the bottom of her heart.
On the contrary, in this wedding, the two sons of the Crown Prince did not show a smile during the whole process...
After all, as Princess Diana's sons, from their standpoint, their performance at this time Two sweet newcomers, one is his father, and the other is the "third party" who deeply affects their parents' feelings, and even eventually breaks up their family...
Even It was the Crown Prince who met Camilla before Princess Diana.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Camilla met at a polo match in Windsor Park in the 1970s. During their conversation, they discovered that they had many common interests, such as polo and outdoor sports. Also has a sense of humor.
Camilla also joked at the time that her great-grandmother was the mistress of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s great-great-grandfather Edward VII, so what will happen between us.
In this way, the two came together after several negotiations.
But the royal family did not agree with the Crown Prince marrying Camilla, so while His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was serving in the military, Camilla married Andrew, who was seven years older than herself, and gave birth to two children.
But the crown prince could never forget Camilla. He often went to see Camilla and was the godfather of Camilla's child. Over time, the two rekindled their old relationship.
Camilla’s first husband was in love with Princess Anne, the sister of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, before they got married, but they broke up later because of Camilla’s intervention. This is why Princess Anne didn’t Reasons why I like Camilla.
It has to be said that Princess Diana can be regarded as the best partner chosen by the royal family for the crown prince, and she is also welcomed by the people, whether in terms of birth or other aspects...
The only thing is that she was not the crown prince's first choice.
Barron did not want to comment too much on everything about them. What happened later is well known, that is, the crown prince and the princess finally chose to divorce. After the divorce, the princess was chased by reporters. Unfortunately, a car accident happened - she was pregnant at the time, and the father of the child was a son of a wealthy family.
As for His Majesty the Crown Prince, after several years of underground romance, he officially announced his relationship with Ms. Camilla in 2000.
Just because the late Queen Mother did not allow Camilla to enter the royal family, they waited until this year, after the Queen Mother had passed away and Her Royal Highness the Crown Prince had observed mourning for three years, before the two finally got married.
Even Her Majesty the Queen clearly does not support this marriage.
(End of this chapter)