Chapter 114: 3 million to acquire Brighton Bank

A snow-white private helicopter with a rumbling roar flew across the narrow strait and finally reached the sky above Rhode Island.

Since the helicopter was not flying at a high altitude, the roar of the engine also made many people below look up and watch. Although Rhode Island is a resort for the rich, there are also different classes of rich people. For ordinary people, those who can afford luxury cars are very rich, but in front of the real tycoons who can travel by helicopter, they are still one grade lower.

Amidst the envy and jealousy of many people, the helicopter strutted past the villa area and finally slowly landed on the roof of a beachfront villa.

Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing were on the rooftop of the villa, and an American and a Chinese man got off the helicopter one after the other.

The Chinese face was not unfamiliar; he was Sun Wei, the general manager of the American branch of the Hong Kong-City United Investment Fund. He came over and first introduced the American next to him to Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing: 'This is Mr. Wells. He is our biggest investor in the American branch of the company and also the chairman of an investment bank. He can provide us with funds and help with our merger and acquisition plans. The helicopter I took today was also provided by Mr. Wells.'

After listening to Sun Wei's introduction, Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing couldn't help but take another look at Wells. Although they had long known of the existence of such an investor, they had never had contact. Now, it seems that Mr. Wells may not be an ordinary rich man, because private helicopters are only affordable to people of a certain status, and especially today's private helicopter is not bad.

As for the existence of the investor, this is due to the different laws in the United States and Massachusetts. The Harbor City Joint Investment Fund must exist as an independent company. Therefore, in order to quickly integrate into American society, reduce possible resistance in the middle, and also to save part of the budget, Lin Muqing allowed Sun Wei to sell company shares here to raise funds, which led to the emergence of the largest investor, Mr. Wells.

Of course, although the company's shares were sold for some reason, it was only a portion of the shares, and the controlling stake was still in the hands of the Hong Kong City United Investment Fund.

This Mr. Wells was a fair-skinned American who looked very gentle with his gold-rimmed glasses. He took the initiative to come over and shake hands with Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing: 'I have long heard that there is a group of even more powerful businessmen behind Hong Kong City Investment Company, and I have long wanted to meet you. I am very happy!'

Zhou Ming also shook Wells's hand and said, 'I am also very happy to meet you, Mr. Wells. You have helped us a lot in the establishment of Harbour City Investment.'

After some pleasantries, Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing took Sun Wei and Wells downstairs.

By this time, the living room of the villa had been tidied up, and all the information about Brighton Bank had been neatly piled up in a heap.

This was not a result of Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing being careless and deliberately exposing the secrets of Brighton Bank, but rather a deliberate act on their part to keep a secret for themselves.

The reason was simple: they had no way of telling whether Wells belonged to the Adams family, and even less how much he knew about the inner workings of the Brighton Consortium. Therefore, they deliberately left these secrets of Brighton Bank here, in case he really belonged to the Brighton Consortium or the Adams family, at least it would confuse him a little. If not, they believed that he would have made it this far, and he would have a basic IQ.

Sure enough, when Wells arrived in the living room, he immediately saw the pile of information documents that Zhou Ming and the others had left there.

Wells was first taken aback by this, and then said with some embarrassment, 'Mr. Zhou Ming and Ms. Lin, if it were me, I would definitely keep the most important information safe, because if other people saw it, it might not be a good thing.'

From Wells' answer, both Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing could hear the unspoken meaning, and it was clear that Wells did not belong to the Brighton Consortium.

Having got the answer he wanted, Zhou Ming then said, 'Actually, it's not necessarily the case, because we don't consider you, Mr Wells, as an outsider, but rather as the best partner.'

Wells shrugged unnecessarily and then said, 'Well, I'm very happy about your trust in me, but since we are both businessmen, I think we should talk more about the main thing. I heard General Manager Sun Wei say that you are preparing to merge with which bank? This makes me very curious, because I don't know which bank's operating conditions are so bad right now.'

'Since Mr Wells has mentioned this, as a partner, I shouldn't hide it either, but I hope Mr Wells is prepared for it,' said Lin Muqing.

Hearing Lin Muqing's words, Wells laughed: "I think I have already appreciated Ms Lin's kindness, but I don't think I need to be prepared for anything, unless you want to acquire Brighton Bank.'

'We want to acquire Brighton Bank," Zhou Ming took over Wells' words and said.

Upon hearing this answer, Wells froze in his tracks. He looked from Ming to Lin, his eyes full of doubt, as if asking, 'You're not kidding me, are you?'

'This answer may be unexpected for you, Mr Wells, but we are very serious,'

Ming said to Wells, and then pointed to the pile of high documents and said, 'Those are the preparations we have made.'

Wells looked in the direction Ming Zhou was pointing, and then said, 'I'm sorry, I don't doubt your determination. I just feel that you haven't been in the United States for long, and you don't know much about Brighton. This Brighton Bank is not as simple as you think. Brighton Bank is not only in a very good operating condition, even if it has been losing money for years, it will never accept any form of merger and acquisition.'

'I'm very sorry too, Mr Wells. I've never believed in absolutes. I think that no matter how large a bank is, it could potentially be acquired,' said Zhou Ming.

'That's why I said that you don't understand the actual situation in the United States or Brighton,' said Wells.

But before Wells could open his mouth to educate Zhou Ming, Zhou Ming immediately said, 'I think Mr. Wells is mistaken. I actually know very well. I am very clear about the existence of the Brighton Consortium, and I know very well that Brighton Bank is the core of the Brighton Consortium.'

Wells was a little surprised, but he still said, 'Since Mr. Zhou Ming understands that, I would like to say that the Brighton Consortium is not just a name, but a collection of real wealth. For example, the Massachusetts Textile Company and Bell Aircraft Company and Phoenix Corporation. You must have heard of these giant Massachusetts companies, but I want to say that they are actually just subsidiaries of the Testron Company.'

Wells paused deliberately before continuing, 'As for the Brighton Consortium, it is a giant consortium made up of many super-large companies like Testron. How could the core bank of such a consortium possibly be acquired?'

Zhou Ming shrugged and asked in return, 'Why wouldn't it be acquired?'

Wells was once again stunned. He never expected Zhou Ming to ask such a question in return, because if he understood, there would be no reason to be so persistent!

However, Wells quickly came back to his senses and said to Zhou Ming again, 'Well, since Mr. Zhou Ming is so insistent, then I think you must have prepared a very good plan. And since Brighton Bank still controls so many large enterprises and is the core pillar of the Brighton consortium, then I wonder how much funding Mr. Zhou Ming is prepared to spend to acquire Brighton Bank?'

Zhou Ming held up three fingers: 'US$3 million.'

Wells widened his eyes and smiled awkwardly, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I think I must have heard it wrong, or you said it wrong, how could it be 3 million US dollars?'

Wells doubted his ears, but then Zhou Ming nodded and told him it was 3 million US dollars, which made him understand that he had not heard it wrong. However, this belief also made him suddenly confused, and he could not help but begin to doubt his worldview. How could anyone want to use 3 million US dollars to acquire Brighton Bank? Isn't this crazy?

'Mr. Zhou Ming is really good at joking, but unfortunately today is not April Fools' Day,' Wells said.

'I'm sorry, Mr. Wells, I'm not joking. I really intend to use 3 million US dollars to acquire Brighton Bank,' Zhou Ming said. 'Please listen carefully, Mr. Wells. I'm not talking about an acquisition, but a merger. It's an act designed to gain control of the target company and carry out restructuring and reform. In this way, financial leverage can be used to magnify funds by hundreds or even thousands of times...'

Zhou Ming looked at Wells and said, 'I think Mr. Wells, as the chairman of an investment bank, must understand what I'm thinking. Then just do what I want. Three million US dollars is enough to acquire Brighton Bank.'

'I must say, Mr. Zhou Ming, you are truly an idealist. I admit that there is indeed a possibility as you say, but at the same time, this possibility is also extremely remote, so remote that it can be ignored. I can admit that the return on the merger you mentioned will be very attractive, but this is not an investment, but a kind of speculation, incredible speculation!'

Wells paused for a moment before continuing, 'If you insist on acquiring Brighton Bank for 3 million US dollars, I can provide support because I really want to see how you can do it!'

However, what Ming said next made Wells want to explode, because Ming said, 'I'm afraid I have to say sorry, because I have some conflicts with the Adams family, and I can't come forward with this matter, so I can only ask you from the company to come forward.'

'What?' Wells jumped in surprise. He reached out and pointed angrily at Zhou Ming and said, "You Chinese, are you trying to fool me? You must be! I'm telling you, you come up with your own stupid solution and implement it yourself, because your solution is very stupid and will definitely be laughed at, and I will definitely not help you!'

Almost as soon as Wells refused, Sun Wei, who had not spoken up until then, suddenly said, "Mr. Zhou Ming, do you really think you can successfully complete the acquisition for 3 million dollars? If you insist, I'm willing to help you!'

Upon hearing Sun Wei's words, Wells immediately changed tack: 'Sun, what are you talking about? You know this person's words are nothing but bullshit, and he's not your boss, so you don't need to listen to him at all. More importantly, if you go to Brighton Bank and say you want to acquire them for 3 million dollars, you'll definitely be treated like a lunatic. You believe me!'

'I of course believe in you, Mr Wells, but I also believe in Mr Ming even more,' said Sun Wei. 'Mr Wells, you are meeting Mr Ming for the first time, so you definitely don't know him. You say that acquiring Brighton Bank for 3 million US dollars would be a miracle, but I can tell you responsibly that Mr Ming is a man who is good at creating miracles!'

Sun Wei finished speaking and turned to Zhou Ming: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I have missed many opportunities to follow you in creating miracles, but this time I don't want to miss it, so please let me follow you and create this miracle together.'

Zhou Ming replied with a smile, "Of course, I welcome that.'

'Crazy people, all of you Chinese are unreasonable crazy people!" Wells exclaimed.