Chapter 409: Merger and Acquisition of ITV
About the London Underground bombing that occurred on July 7, Barron did know in advance. After all, in his previous life, this matter was also covered by the media at length. In reporting.
But as for the specific time when it happened, because he was in China at the time, he didn't remember it very clearly. He just remembered that such an incident happened recently.
So before that, he really didn't have many ways to stop it - or in other words, it would be too far-fetched to stop it forcibly.
First of all, he did not remember the specific time. In addition, this incident was mainly planned and implemented by local religious elements in England, and bombs were not only detonated in one place that day - there were also Including suicide bombers.
Therefore, if he wants to prevent it in advance, Barron first needs to cooperate with the relevant British departments, including the intelligence and police departments. So where is the source of the information?
Also, because these participants themselves are immigrants with British status, if we don’t know who is participating and we don’t know the specific time of the action, even if the security is strengthened, it will be avoided on this day. , then the other party will always find an opportunity to do it later - there is no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days.
In this case, Barron can only try his best to ensure the safety of the people around him, and the people around him often do not need to take the subway, at least during the rush hour on weekdays.
In addition, it is through this incident that I can gain benefits for myself.
For example, Protector Security Company uses this to obtain more government security orders.
…
“As for ITV, their board of directors has agreed to our acquisition plan. The only thing that needs to be considered now is whether the regulatory aspect will allow this acquisition...”
< br>In the conference room of SEM Group, the person who explained to Barron about SEM Group's acquisition of ITV was a tall and beautiful woman in white professional attire who looked quite neat.
Her facial features are exquisite, her smile is contagious, and her tone is full of confidence:
“Although the BBC and Sky TV have been launching various public attacks on our acquisition, Judging from the behavior of the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), our acquisition will not encounter too many obstacles.”
"How did you come to this opinion?"
Hearing Barron's question, this beautiful woman was the same Joe whom Barron had mentioned to Fergal Hayden, CEO of SEM Group. ·Harriman took out a folder, handed it to Barron, and said:
“This is the data related to acquisitions between British companies reviewed by the CMA in the past five years. Among these acquisitions , the CMA has not vetoed any mergers and acquisitions by companies outside the top two companies in the industry, and unless it is a case where the merger will occupy more than 40% of the British market, even the acquisition of the second-ranked company in the industry has not been vetoed. …In fact, more than 80% of the rejections of antitrust investigations occurred when the acquiring company was foreign-funded. Therefore, the merger between our SEM Group and ITV will not affect the top two companies in the industry, nor will it The market share of BBC and Sky TV is overwhelming, and it can only be said to be basically the same as them, and they are not subject to strict scrutiny by the CMA.”
It must be said that judging from today’s performance, Fergal Hayden's previous evaluation of Joe Harriman was not exaggerated.
SEM Group’s acquisition of ITV this time will be carried out in the form of cash and stocks. The current market value of ITV is about 3.3 billion pounds, and the share price of Summit Media has recently stabilized at around 30 pounds, with a market value of more than 3.75 billion pounds, already higher than ITV.
SEM Group will acquire ITV for £3.6 billion, after a partial premium.
The payment was made in the form of £2.4 billion in cash and £1.2 billion in shares.
For the cash part, in addition to SEM using its profits in recent years, it also issued 2 billion pounds of corporate bonds to the public to complete this acquisition - because of the good performance of a series of variety shows launched , Summit Media's profitability is still very good, so their corporate bonds are also relatively popular with the market.
In addition, Summit Media will also issue an additional 40 million new shares to ITV shareholders to complete this acquisition.
After this acquisition, SDTV, a subsidiary of Summit Media, will merge with ITV’s four channels and use the ITV name and new logo.
The original ITV production department will be merged into Summit Studio.
At that time, DS Holdings’ shareholding in Summit Media will be reduced to 54.55%, and more than 24% of the shares will enter the hands of the original ITV shareholders.
It is true that as Joe Harriman said, during the process of SEM Group's acquisition of ITV, the BBC and Sky TV carried out various obstructions, but at best, their acquisition caused a small Just a small distraction. Even if Barron's own influence is not taken into account, even under normal circumstances, Summit Media's acquisition of ITV will not be embarrassed by British competition and market management. After all, with the existence of the BBC and Sky TV, they This acquisition cannot be said to have the possibility of monopoly.
After all, SEM Group itself is a British company, and it did not acquire the BBC or Sky TV.
...
"I heard that this bombing was ordered by Al Qaeda and was an act of revenge..."
"It's too scary. Maybe we should leave here first and wait until things happen." Come back after the investigation is complete, otherwise you will always feel uneasy.”
At Earl Bute’s house, Barron also met Jenny Bute, who came to London from the United States.
Listening to the women talking about the subway bombings - a week after the bombings, the police finally publicly admitted that the serial bombings in London were suicide attacks.
They also announced that they had identified two of the four suspects.
Peter Clark, head of the counter-terrorism unit of the Metropolitan Police, claimed at a press conference that it was a 22-year-old man who detonated the bomb on the subway train between Aldegay station and Liverpool Street station; The attacker who attacked the double-decker bus was an 18-year-old man. Both of them are British citizens of Pakistani origin.
What Barron was talking about with Ian Butt was about the listing of Argent Real Estate Group.
Just two days ago, Argent Real Estate Group submitted an IPO application to the London Stock Exchange. After being approved, the listing process will begin. If everything goes well, it is expected to be listed on the London Stock Exchange in October. listed on the main board of the exchange.
This time, coupled with the cash-out of some shareholders, Argent Real Estate Group is preparing to sell 171 million shares publicly, accounting for 15% of the total share capital after listing.
"Are you ready to subscribe for part of the issued shares? Your Highness the Duke."
"I will consider this matter. After all, I am still very optimistic about the future prospects of London real estate. Maybe the Mars Fund or other foundations will subscribe Partly, as a pure financial investment.”
As Barron said these words, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be a foot touching the secret place under the table, out of sight of everyone. His own calf...
Barron remained calm on the surface and continued to talk to Earl But, but based on the position of the extended foot, he looked at the three women who were chatting in a low voice from the corner of his eye.
First of all, exclude Bonnie. As for the Countess, or...Jenny?
There is no clue from their expressions. They both look like they are immersed in chatting, and from their positions, they can stretch their legs to tease themselves...
Feel the touch , gradually upwards along his calves...
"Have you considered where to set the issue price of the stock?"
Barron spoke to Earl Bute, very Naturally, he bowed slightly, and then he took the "mischievous" foot into his hands within the tablecloth...
The silky hand he started with was a calf wrapped in stockings...
After realizing this, Barron's eyebrows rose slightly. Sure enough, it was her...
(End of Chapter)