Chapter 584 The Eastern Giant
After Xu Liang arranged things one by one, he ended the meeting.
In the afternoon, he specially met with the Oba and his wife to consolidate the relationship between the two parties.
Because the other party is a couple, Xu Liang also brought Futian Xinmei with him this time.
The latter's English is good, but he is not afraid of being unable to speak.
"Mr. Xu, thank you very much for your warm hospitality." Obaba said gratefully.
"You're welcome, please sit down."
The two parties sat down on the sofa next to them.
The servants of the manor served coffee and tea to both parties.
"Mr. Obama, did you have a good rest yesterday?"
"Very good."
"You praise me. I am just a state senator. There are many people like me in the United States."
"Lu Hui, please remember, three A few months later, a donation of US$100,000 was made in the name of Hongmeng to the University of Chicago Medical Center where Michelle Obaba worked. "
Watching the news on TV, Xu Liang's eyes flashed with a trace of Yin.
Obaba hesitated for a moment, "Mr. Xu, I have a question I would like to ask?"
It wasn't until three o'clock in the afternoon that Xu Liang saw them off in person.
The news was exposed, and the entire American business community was in an uproar.
“I remember that yesterday was the first time that Mr. Xu and I met. We had never cooperated before, and it was impossible for us to be related by family ties.
Xu Liang smiled. , folded his hands on his folded thighs, and leaned relaxedly on the back of the sofa.
Obaba looked happy.
As he spoke, he took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.
Especially talents in the political field.
While going in both directions, the two parties had a pleasant conversation the rest of the time.
The media that received the amount of funds raised by Hanhua all reported positively.
Watch the car go away.
"Hongmeng shakes hands with GE and shares a feast - Vivendi Global" - Washington Post Fox TV Network.
At this time, smart people have come to their senses. Hongmeng has already reached an acquisition agreement with GE, and then played a trick in front of the French to retreat in order to advance.
"You're welcome. If you have trouble solving something in the future, you can call me for help."
"Yes."
Although he is a senator from Illinois, In a capitalist country like the United States, the status of top capitalists like Xu Liang, who can enter the presidential office for the first time and work side by side with Wall Street giants, is still much lower.
Xu Liang smiled and shook his head, "I believe in my own vision."
Acquired all the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal in the United States for US$15 billion.
And Mr. Obama is the best talent in American politics. ”
Obaba is of great use to his development in the United States and even around the world. Of course he must be willing to spend money, but the Americans who smoke marijuana and play gunfights have nothing to do with him. He doesn’t want to give a dime. .
——
After receiving Xu Liang's instructions, Hongmeng quickly took the contract signed with GE and submitted an acquisition application to the U.S. Trade Commission, the Ministry of Justice and other departments.
Being praised by the other party is indeed something that makes him happy.
"Open World, American Dream Comes into Reality" - Yahoo News.
"Mr. Xu, thank you very much for your consideration."
"Then I can rest assured. We Chinese people have always been hospitable, and it is my responsibility to entertain you two well." Xu Liang said with a smile .
Although this price is not low, given Vivendi's current state of poverty, if two wealthy men, GE and Hongmeng, want to acquire Vivendi Global, they will definitely ask for a desperate price.
“This is my private number.”
Obaba quickly took it seriously and saw the top celebrities at last night’s banquet who usually only appeared in the news. Know what energy this business card represents.
16 billion, 18 billion, or even 20 billion US dollars are possible.
Xu Liang used a frank attitude to express his appreciation and praise.
"Beware of the conspiracy of GCism against the United States, and must not let the world fall into the hands of the red Chinese"
"In fact, it is very simple. I am a businessman and an investor. The things I invest in, except for high-quality Company stocks and bonds, futures with huge potential, and great talent included
"Please speak. "
So...why did you send me the precious invitation letter to the Hanhua Fund-raising Reception?"
"It doesn't take much at the beginning to win over rice."
"By the way, we can save a lot of tax by asking Hongmeng North America to add donations when filing taxes."
But there are also different voices, such as Disney's ABC News.
“100,000 US dollars?”
“Oriental giant, Hongmeng acquires Universal Entertainment assets” - New York Times.
He invited Disney CEO Michael Eisner to the dinner, but he did not come.
Xu Liang didn't ask why. Even his strongest means couldn't bring him here, and other methods were even less possible.
"Mr. Xu, among the first-line media in the United States, except for Disney ABC and News Corporation's Fox TV network, all others are biased towards us." Lu Huidao.
Murdoch's FOX TV network is a well-known right-wing media. Xu Liangyuan thought that this old and cunning guy would attend his cocktail party for the sake of the super high profits of the two Hanhua funds.
I didn’t expect that I didn’t come in the end.
Despite some disappointment and dissatisfaction, Xu Liang also knew that he could not win everyone's love.
Some people just value status more than money.
You can't change it, you can only accept it.
Fortunately, most people still value money more.
Dingle bell….
The phone rang.
Xu Liang glanced at the caller ID, signaled Lu Hui to turn off the TV and press the answer button.
"Dear Jean, why do you have time to call me?" Xu Liang said enthusiastically.
"Xu, you are going too far. After all, Vivendi is also a shareholder of Hongmeng, and we are close friends. How could you join forces with GE to deceive me?"
Jean Fo Xu complained.
Although he is dissatisfied in his heart, he will weigh the pros and cons.
When the deal is settled, venting anger at will will not bring any benefit except stalemate the relationship between the two parties.
“Dear Jean, you can’t blame me for this matter. It was Mr. Immelt of GE who personally found me and asked Hongmeng to withdraw from the competition. I don’t dare to provoke GE, who has deep wealth and deep background, so I can only Agree to their conditions."
Xu Liang skillfully threw the pot away.
"Xu, Jeff Immelt said the same thing. So, which one of you is lying?"
"Dear Jean, you make me sad, we know each other After all this time, don’t you know who I am? Honesty and integrity are what everyone thinks of me. How could I lie to you?”
Jean Foch: "..."
Even if you want to lie, please be sincere.
Take a deep breath.
“Xu, you have impressed me again.”
“Haha, dear Jean, I can’t help it, it’s all for life.”
"Okay. This is what happened, and I accept it. But should you compensate me?"
"OK, no problem. Water, garbage disposal, energy, transportation, telecommunications, Vivendi As long as you want to buy it, I can buy it."
Xu Liang said with a smile.
Vivendi is a super trust with more than 180,000 employees in more than 100 countries around the world. Her business is not just media. Water affairs: The world's largest water treatment company, providing urban water supply and municipal and industrial sewage treatment services.
It has more than 10 million users in more than 100 countries around the world and supplies 4 trillion liters of drinking water every year. 30% of its turnover comes from industrial water treatment, with net sales of US$12 billion and 67,000 employees.
In terms of waste treatment: Onyx is the world’s third largest and Europe’s largest comprehensive waste treatment company (ranked first in France and the UK), with a total service population of 50 million, 56,000 employees, and net sales: 33 billion dollars.
Transportation: Connex, Europe's largest private operating company, carries 1 billion passengers annually, occupies 17% of the UK's railway network, has net sales of US$2.5 billion, and has 34,000 employees.
Vivendi is also the only foreign company licensed to operate transportation in Australia.
Energy: Controls Dalkia, the number one Dalkia group in Europe, and owns 45,000 heating networks around the world, 7,800 megawatts of electricity, and one of the top ten independent power plants in the world - Sai German energy.
23,000 employees, total net sales: $4.4 billion.
Telecommunications: Controls Cegtel, France's leading private telecommunications company, which owns wireless and wireline telephones, Internet services, and paging businesses, with annual revenue of more than 5.8 billion US dollars and 16 million customers (mobile phones: 1200 million, landline: 4 million).
So, although Vivendi sold the pan-entertainment business that it spent US$77 billion to acquire and depreciated by half, the remaining part is still huge.
If Vivendi really wanted to sell it, Xu Liang would decisively buy it even if it cost a little more.
Water services, garbage disposal, transportation, energy and telecommunications are not hugely profitable industries, but they are more stable.
He currently has no shortage of profitable projects, but he lacks business that can generate stable cash flow.
Jean Foch hesitated for a moment, but still refused.
In the last life, after Vidywang merged with GE's NBC, it only received US$3.8 billion in cash and 20% of NBC Universal's shares.
When the cash received was not enough, the telecommunications business was sold to Vodafone.
But it’s different now.
Vivendi not only sold Vivendi Games, but also sold Universal Music together.
Because NBC and Universal failed to merge, Vivendi also failed to obtain equity.
But he received more than 10 billion US dollars in cash from Hongmeng and GE.
With such a huge cash flow, although it is not enough to repay all of Vivendi's debts, the debt ratio has dropped to a safe range.
No need to sell assets anymore.
"That's such a pity." Xu Liang sighed.
"Xu, we still have many opportunities to cooperate..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Liang interrupted.
“Dear Jean, what do you think if I acquire Vivendi?”
Jean Foch was shocked, “You want to acquire Vivendi?!”
He would definitely sneer at what others said, but Xu Liang was different.
Although most of the people who attended the Hanhua fundraising dinner remained silent, some people who liked to show off spread the news.
The two funds of Hanhua had a floating profit of nearly 50 billion U.S. dollars and a net income of 33.5 billion U.S. dollars, which shocked everyone who knew the news.
According to Hanhua’s rules, Hanhua can share half of the net income of US$33.5 billion.
With this US$16.7 billion, it can acquire Vivendi, which still has debts of more than US$20 billion, without even using leverage.
And others don't know it well, but he knows very well that Hanhua's money is only part of Xu Liang's cash flow. Behind him, there is a Hongyan Fund that no one knows how much money has been gathered.
So, Xu Liang is not short of money.
"I'm quite interested. If you are interested, I can give you a preferential plan. I can even prepare 'golden parachutes' for all Vivendi's management."
Golden parachutes (also translated as golden parachutes) refer to the fact that as senior managers of enterprises, after losing their original jobs, the company provides them with generous financial protection. It first appeared in the United States.
"Gold" means generous compensation, and "parachute" means that executives can avoid the impact of changes in company control and achieve a smooth transition.
This strategy of causing acquirers to “bleed” is one of the anti-takeover “poison pill plans”.
The principle can be extended to the retirement compensation of operators for various reasons.
These compensations include stock options, bonuses, severance pay, etc.
Although ‘golden parachutes’ were not popular within French companies, Jean Foch knew what they meant.
He even felt that Xu Liang was really preparing to acquire Vivendi.
Even the golden parachute, something that would cause the acquirer to bleed a lot of money, was taken out. It was so sincere.
"Xu, this is so unexpected, I need to calm down and think about it."
"Of course. Dear Jean, you have enough time to think about it."
After a hasty goodbye, Jean Foch hung up the phone.
“Mr. Xu, do we really want to acquire Vivendi?”
"I haven't mastered the Lianqiu and Hynix, so how can I think about planning Vivendi?"
"Why did you just...?"
"If you don't knock that old guy unconscious, he will You have to pester me to compensate. This is a critical period for Hongmeng to acquire Universal. It would be better to reduce the unexpected factor." Xu Liangdao.
The acquisition plan he proposed would make Foch, an old man, scratch his head for a few days.
“By the way, let the Kunpeng prepare and fly to Tokyo in three days.”
"Mr. Xu, are we leaving the United States?" Lu Hui said in surprise.
“Yes.”
“What about Universal’s acquisition...?”
“I have done everything that should be done and can be done, and I will leave it to you next. The acquisition team of the head office is fine, I don’t need to keep an eye on it anymore,” Xu Liangdao said.
He has already played the biggest card in his hand.
If he still can't acquire Universal, then he has no choice.
Dong dong….
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The manor housekeeper walked in.
"Sir, Miss Christina and Miss Helen would like to see you."
"Where are they?"
"Just outside the gate."
Xu Liang has a headache, these two This woman is too persistent.
"Just treat me and say I'm not here."
The housekeeper hesitated for a moment, "Sir, the two ladies said they have something very important to tell you, related to the acquisition of Universal Entertainment."
Xu Liang was startled, "They really said that?"
"Yes."
After Xu Liang thought for a while, "You take them to my study."
Universal Entertainment's acquisition is his most urgent matter now, as long as there is If there was even the slightest chance of speeding up the solution, he would be willing to listen.
Moreover, as the legitimate daughter of the Montes family, Helen Montes must know some secret information that he does not know.
"Mr. Xu, do you need me to avoid it?" Lu Hui said.
She knew very well what those two women had in mind.
She had the same idea once, but with an average appearance and figure, she was quite self-aware, so she gave up the idea of getting a higher position early on and settled down to be her assistant to the president.
This kind of peace of mind is the main reason why she can stay with Xu Liang.
"No need."
Xu Liang is not in the mood for beauty now.
(End of this chapter)