Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Buying Smith in London

Some people think that in America, only New York is a big city and the rest are rural areas.

By this standard, in England, with the exception of London, which is a large city, everything is rural.

In the eyes of Londoners, perhaps the same.

Early August 2001

The Times published a report that left most Britons a little angry after seeing it. When mentioning the Thames River, the first thing Chinese people think of is the Thames River, London's mother river.

If you want to know, most Chinese people will also think that Times means the Thames river newspaper.

Not really.

The English name of "The Times" The Times, literally translated into Chinese, should be "Times" or "Times".

However, its Chinese translation has become similar to "Thames", which has a similar pronunciation but is unrelated to it. Due to the relationship between custom and custom, this mistranslation has been preserved to this day in the Heavenly Dynasty.

There are many newspapers named Times around the world, such as the New York Times.

To differentiate, The Times is sometimes referred to by English speakers as The Times of London.

Another cool thing is that The Times is the first newspaper in the world to bear the name "Times".

This is why British people will say that newspapers like "New York Times" and "Los Angeles Times" were actually originally copied versions of "Times". August 2, 2001.

British news group Times.

published an article titled "Will Americans Buy Britain?" "News.

This news appears on the second page's header and not on the first page's header.

This shows that Thoi Bao is still hesitant

[. As we know, the United States of America, originally the thirteen North American continents of the British Empire, later]

At the end of July this year, an American businessman named Abel Smith arrived in London. Mr. Smith's great-grandfather left Plymouth on 16 September 1620.]

[..Three hundred and eighty years later, Mr. Ander Smith's descendants returned to London. He had only been in London for less than half a month and had almost bought half of London. ]

[. Let's see what this descendant of Mr. Ander Smith bought in London. ]

[Newspaper: Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Star, Glasgow Herald.]

[Magazine: "New Scientist", "New Society", "Women's World". These are the media premises which Mr. Smith purchased in London in ten days. According to calculations by professional accountants, these diaries cost Mr. Smith about 1.5 billion pounds. ]

[The £1.5bn cost has made Mr Smith's British Smith Media one of the leading media giants in the British Isles.]

Do you think Mr. Smith only buys newspapers? No, he bought a lot of things! Look down. ]

[Except for Smith Media. Mr. Smith has established a new British real estate company in the UK. The company began scanning inventory like crazy in London, and within a week the average price of the entire London luxury real estate market had increased by 5 percentage points. ]

[Have you heard about "Kensington Palace Gardens"? You probably haven't heard of it, so let me tell you, it's located at 1 Garden Street, Kensington Palace and is worth £80 million! ]

[Maybe you don't know about Kensington Palace Garden Villa, then you may have heard of "Strawberry Hill". You may not have heard of Strawberry Hill, but many of you have probably seen "Otranto Castle." ]

("Otranto Castle" is the origin of Gothic novels. Strawberry Hill is the former residence of Mr. Walpole, author of Gothic novels. ]

[Strawberry Villa has a long history. Although it is dilapidated, it has unprecedented historical value. The World Heritage Fund this year listed it among the 100 most endangered monuments in the world. ]

[Now it also belongs to Mr. Smith, and Mr. Smith only spent 15 million pounds to get it. Due to subsequent maintenance and repairs, a further £15m may be required. No one was willing to pay, but Mr. Smith was willing, so the money belonged to him. ]

[.Newspapers, high-end real estate, do you think he only buys that? ]

[ARE NOT! In just a very short time, this gentleman bought 52% of the shares of MUPLC Group. MUPLC Group is a listed company. Yesterday, this gentleman launched a general bid to take over this company. ]

[Many people may not know what MUPLC means? So, let me tell you that MUPLC stands for "Manchester United Limited Liability Company"! That's right, MUPLC is Manchester United! ]

[This gentleman from the United States has become the largest shareholder of the Red Devils. And look to privatize the Reds and turn them into a one-man team. With the financial resources demonstrated by Mr. Smith, this process will not be difficult. ]

[When Mr. Smith announced the joint takeover offer yesterday, the market value of Manchester United Group on the London Stock Exchange was £420 million. I believe Mr. Smith can afford this amount. ]

[.]

This article is very long.

Detailed list of investments made by Abel Smith in England over a very short period of time. If the British News Group had not paid attention to Abel, it would have been difficult to reach this level.

It is possible to assemble such a detailed list quickly in a short period of time.

Except that these transactions are public and have been announced to the public.

This is also related to the British News Group's special attention to Abel and the Times' special attention to Abel.

This also means that News Corporation of America, who controls the UK's News Corporation, takes Abel very seriously!

In other words, Murdoch was a little worried about Abel coming to London. Why are you worried?

Abel's worries started a wave in the British media, shaking News Corporation's position in British and European media circles.

In fact, Murdoch's concerns are not wrong.

It's only been a few days since I last saw Abel coming.

British conglomerate Smith Media Group is already present in terms of scale and newspaper sales. Is it roughly on par with the British News Corporation, or even slightly ahead?

If Smith Media UK buys a few more TV channels.

That News Corporation and two other local media giants.

You have to hold your nose and watch as new competitors enter their original eco-zone.

However, whether it was Murdoch or two local snakes. They did not object to Abel's trading methods.

When Murdoch arrived, he played like that.

Krypton gold is the simplest and most effective technique.

If Abel comes from another country.

Like Neon, like Huaxia, or even other European countries. If these non-Five Eyes countries, that is, not dominated by Ansa, want to join.

Murdoch and others can still come up with a way, and they can crack down on it at the government level in London.

But Abe Smith is American. That's Amelia, the five-eyed eldest brother, who is more real than Murdoch's homeland, Australia.

The British Isles have begun to expand like their younger brothers. There was no resistance to the invasion of the combined fathers and sons of North America in this respect.

Murdoch could not rely on official power, because British officials absolutely did not dare to refuse Abel from Wall Street.

Murdoch can only focus on mobilizing public opinion and the British people.

See if you can get past these leeks and create an obstacle for Abel.

At best, this can only be an obstacle, because the British public, like the American public...

It also plays a small role in elections, tax payments and consumption. Because it is a leek, it can put pressure on Abel, there is only one small obstacle.

After the Times released this report.

The press of a number of major media corporations in the British Isles also quickly caught up.

Initially, they were afraid of offending Abel on Wall Street.

But now that Murdoch has done it, they still have the courage to follow. Under the promotion of these media.

For a while, ordinary British people felt like "the wolf is coming".

Those who don't know will think that Abel is actually going to buy all of London.

In fact, Abel only spent about £4 billion in the UK in about 10 days.

Based on the current exchange rate of £1 to US$1.45, this equates to almost US$5.8 billion invested. This amount is not small, but it is still 108,000 light years away from London.

There is no such thing as Hoang Dai melon giving money after ten years.

That is, the British media briefly united to launch a small counterattack against the giant crocodiles that had just been crushed.

However, this type of training made Abel Smith, already famous in England, suddenly become more famous.

Many Britons suddenly considered him the richest man in America. If he's not the richest man in America, how can he be so rich?

The understanding is very simple, almost stupid and devoid of common sense.

But in the UK, US and most of Europe and America.

Ordinary Europeans and Americans mostly look like this.

Right away. West End, Paddington Community, 1366 Paddington Avenue.

There is a building here that is not very tall, only 15 floors.

This building is considered a mecca in the eyes of many motor racing fans around the world.

Many racing fans come to London to travel and will take photos with the building in front of this building as soon as possible.

Because this building is only fifteen stories high, it is called "Building F1". Yes, this ordinary building. It is one of the most famous sporting events in the world and is the home of the F1 Corporation, the main governing body of Formula 1 racing.

But some people believe that F1's real headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. Because here is the headquarters of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, which is the headquarters of the FIA.

Strictly speaking, both arguments have merit. Because it is the FIA ​​that develops the rules of Formula 1 races.

Who enforces these regulations, who organizes the competition, as well as marketing etc., is the responsibility of the F1 parent company.

Neither side can lose to the other and F1's development is very good.

The real driver of F1 formula cars, Bernie Ecclestone, works in this building.

August 3. There is no match today, F1's backstage controller, Bernie Ecclestone, still comes to work at the F1 building as usual

Bernie is full of energy, a septuagenarian with a penchant for crazy cleanliness.

Everything in his office is neat, very clean, very symmetrical.

Bernie even asked the F1 world to be so orderly.

For example, all transport vehicles parked in the parking lot must be lined up in a row and the distance between vehicles must not exceed 5 cm.

Today Bernie came to work and noticed that the newspapers on his desk were not arranged properly. This is usually the job of his secretary.

Bernie Ecclestone's first secretary returned home to give birth and resigned.

Last month, the company hired a secretary who recently graduated from Cambridge University with a master's degree in business school.

Bernie Ecclestone is in the office and swearing right away:

"He said he was an excellent graduate of Cambridge University! Even cleanliness cannot be done well. If it is not neat, how can it be done well?

Thinking about sending the secretary away, the white-haired old man sat down to finish reading the newspaper.

While putting away the newspapers, Bernie Ecclestone looked up and saw the headline "Daily Express" in front of him. This headline is so sensational, mainly because Bernie heard it.

Because the headline is "F1 about to change ownership?" Smith from USA bought a Formula Car!

Bernie Ecclestone immediately went to get the newspaper.

He moved so quickly that he knocked over the stack of newspapers and looked messy.

But for now, Bernie Ecclestone doesn't care if they're in chaos or not. Bernie is more concerned about why "Daily Express" wants to "talk nonsense" like this.

One report, Bernie Ecclestone glanced at the ten lines and quickly looked through it.

After reading, the F1 queen broke out in a cold sweat.

"Why wasn't I warned! Why wasn't I warned! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

It took a long time for Bernie Ecclestone to grit his teeth and stand up.

He took the company phone from the table and called. The call was quickly connected.

"Kerry! »

After connecting, Bernie Ecclestone exclaimed:

"Why didn't the Kirsch Group notify me about the sale of SELC shares? As you know, I have always been interested in SELC shares and have always wanted to privatize it!"

The quiet voice of Kerry Kirsch, senior president of the Kirsch Group, responded to Bernie Ecclestone.

"Bernie, because of our past friendship, I am willing to answer these two questions for you. The first question is why didn't I warn you. »

"I'm sorry, this was the Kirsch Group's negligence. I apologize to everyone here."

Bernie Ecclestone wants to scream at Kerry Kirsch.

How can such a thing be forgotten?

Even if Kerry Kirsch and the rest of the Kirsch Group executives have forgotten that.

Everyone in their company will certainly remind them of this.

Because according to the law, when a shareholder sells shares of the company, other shareholders of the company have the right to know. But if he was raped, it doesn't matter.

That means having to pay a fine of several hundred thousand pounds.

Bernie Ecclestone could only grit his teeth and gently say:

"But Kerry, why doesn't the Kirsch Group sell me shares? You know I care."

"Your quote is too low, Bernie. You are only willing to pay 500 million euros, even in installments. There is no way the Kirsch group would agree."

Bernie Ecclestone finally couldn't take it anymore.

He held up the phone and shouted to Kerry Kirsch on the other end:

"Then you can't sell stocks to Americans! God knows how much I hate that guy! You know what? The doctor said I had heart bypass surgery and it's best not to fly or travel." far that last month, but me."

"Beep beep beep~"

Bernie Ecclestone's grumbling voice was interrupted by a busy sound coming from the receiver.

Kerry Kirsch hung up the phone. boom!

Bernie was so angry that he slammed the phone on the table. The impact was so great that the entire phone was swept away, and surrounding pen boxes, decorations and documents were also destroyed.

Not neat at all.

After taking a breath, Bernie knew there was no point in him being angry now. The most important thing now is to stabilize your position. "There's still a retreat... There's still a retreat."

Bernie Ecclestone is talking to himself, as if giving himself a pep talk.

SELC is the parent company of F1's parent company and management company.

I only own 25% of SELC shares. Right. But the most valuable thing in F1 is mainly the brand recognition and the team participants as well as the FIA ​​certification.

It doesn't matter if the company SELC is lost, it doesn't matter if the parent company F1 is lost.

As long as these FIA ​​teams are willing to support me, I still have a chance to come back!

Bernie Ecclestone, calm down.

He quickly found out the detailed phone numbers of these F1 team owners.

Then he picked up the phone he had dropped on the floor and tried to make a call.

But I found out that the phone seemed to be broken, because he just broke it. Holding the phone book, Bernie Eccles walked out.

He wanted to contact the owners of this team as quickly as possible, contact Geneva.

The "betrayal" of the Kirsch group, Bernie does not want to give in and will never accept.

Bernie had just opened the office door when he heard the worried voices of company employees outside.

"Who are you? Who are you? How can you break in? If you come back, we'll call the police. Security, security? »

Bernie heard that his secretary had graduated from Cambridge University and that he was against the intrusion of outsiders.

One of the true founders of F1, among the underdogs, I see Smith standing out from the crowd. Bernie's heart suddenly sank. He stood at the office door and looked at that person with a bewildered expression.

Bernie, a secretary who graduated from Cambridge University, was also speechless after seeing the share capital certificates displayed by the other party's entourage.

Soon the other side came to Bernie Ecclestone.

The little old man, only 163 cm tall, had to look up to see Abel's expression. Alan Baker to Bernie Ecclestone, presenting share certificate - "Mr. Bernie Ecclestone. On behalf of my licensor, Abe Smith, as absolute controlling shareholder of SELC, withdraws from every position in the parent company and management company of F1."

"I decline!"

Knowing that everything cannot be done, Bernie Ecclestone still wants to persevere.

I think I still have a chance to come back.

"Go to court. I will not back down until the court judges me! F1 is mine and it will always be mine."

said the old man stubbornly. (end of this chapter)