Chapter 533: Personally Creating an Elite Department

"George, what's the situation?"

Upon arriving at the Bright Fund, Xia Yu saw George Berkeley waiting in the office. He went straight to the point as he walked towards his chair.

"Boss, I've commissioned a British public accounting firm to evaluate the Financial Times, and we've scheduled a second negotiation with Pearson Group for tomorrow afternoon," George Berkeley said, his tone tinged with excitement. He was still somewhat dazed, feeling as though he were dreaming.

Xia Yu nodded slightly and asked, "Why has the situation changed so drastically? Do you know the reason?"

Hearing Xia Yu's question, George Berkeley suppressed his emotions, organized his thoughts, and explained in detail: "Initially, after we made our offer, Pearson Group outright rejected it, claiming the Financial Times was not for sale and refusing to negotiate with us. No matter how we raised the price, Pearson Group wouldn't even discuss it."

"But this morning, when we increased our offer to £12 million for Pearson Group's 71% stake, a senior executive at Pearson Group surprisingly softened their stance and conveyed acceptance of our acquisition proposal, with the specific price to be discussed separately. I immediately went to Pearson Group's headquarters to meet with him."

"Pearson Group is not satisfied with the £12 million offer, but I am confident that Pearson Group is willing to sell all their shares in the Financial Times to us!"

Xia Yu furrowed his brows. His intuition told him that there must be something he didn't know, or else Pearson Group wouldn't have changed their attitude so drastically.

Moreover, they didn't set any obstacles but only haggled over the price. When had the Brits become so accommodating?

The situation was too unusual, making Xia Yu somewhat suspicious.

However, the information George Berkeley provided didn't give him any useful insights, and he couldn't analyze it.

"George, think carefully. Is there any possibility that something went wrong?" Xia Yu inquired.

George Berkeley closed his eyes and pondered. Xia Yu waited quietly, also thinking it over.

After about ten minutes, George Berkeley, looking somewhat troubled, shook his head at Xia Yu: "Boss, I've reviewed everything and haven't found anything unusual. Pearson Group's attitude seems relatively friendly."

Seeing this, Xia Yu had to temporarily abandon his suspicions. He decided to proceed and take things one step at a time. Although the situation was unusual, it was currently advantageous for him.

In any case, even if the cake was poisoned, it had to be eaten first. After all, others didn't know he had a large sum of money. Xia Yu was confident he could handle any problems that might arise.

With his mind made up, Xia Yu instructed the still thoughtful George Berkeley: "George, stop worrying. Just pay attention to the acquisition process. Since Pearson Group is willing to sell, accelerate the process and finalize the acquisition of the Financial Times shares as soon as possible!"

"Understood!"

George Berkeley visibly relaxed, nodding seriously in agreement.

Xia Yu thought for a moment and then asked again, "What's the progress with the Daily Telegraph and Rolls-Royce?"

"The acquisition of the Daily Telegraph is progressing smoothly. Our people have already contacted Black. Although Black has rejected our offers a few times, our analysis indicates it's just because of the low price."

"Good. Keep accelerating the process. The price doesn't matter as much. I just want results!"

Xia Yu said with satisfaction, clarifying his stance once more.

In the 70s and 80s, the European media industry had not yet exploded, so even if the acquisition price doubled now, when Europe emerged from its mire and the media industry surged, Xia Yu would still make a significant profit. He didn't mind spending a little extra money, as he was sure to make a profit and could also realize political value earlier.

"And Rolls-Royce?"

"We are still collecting information and have commissioned a British public accounting firm to assist us with the acquisition. The acquisition team has been set up, but we are still filling in the personnel."

George Berkeley reported honestly. The difficulty in acquiring Rolls-Royce was too high, so he sought assistance from the British public accounting firm. The next step was to find a capable and well-connected bank to help, and the company's current task was to build a strong elite acquisition team to improve the success rate.

Unfortunately, the Bright Fund was still a new company. Despite George Berkeley mobilizing his network, there weren't many elites recruited.

Especially with three projects proceeding simultaneously and the Financial Times acquisition suddenly advancing rapidly, it forced him to focus his efforts there, causing the progress of the Rolls-Royce acquisition to slow down.

Upon learning the situation, Xia Yu realized that it was time to end the leisurely days and that he needed to personally oversee the process to speed things up.

With this in mind, he instructed George Berkeley: "George, I'll personally take over building the Rolls-Royce acquisition team. You focus fully on acquiring the two newspapers!"

George Berkeley was startled. Although he had some doubts, he obeyed the order and encouraged himself internally to give his all and achieve results quickly.

"Understood! I will not let you down, Boss!"

"Mm, keep up the good work!"

After encouraging him, Xia Yu watched as George Berkeley, full of determination, left the office. Xia Yu then stood up and proceeded to build the acquisition team.

Soon, the Bright Fund began a large-scale external recruitment drive, setting very high standards and offering equally high compensation.

At the same time, Xia Yu expanded his search beyond Bright International and issued recruitment tasks to the four major headhunting firms, seeking financial elites skilled in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and consulting.

He planned to personally build the Bright Fund's M&A department into its flagship division, which was his goal.

In the coming decades, Europe would be dynamic and full of opportunities. Xia Yu, armed with capital, certainly wanted to be part of the untapped grand feasts.

However, many companies were not easy to acquire, especially those of higher value and greater importance to a country's livelihood and security. The difficulty of acquisition increased.

To acquire more potential companies and achieve full acquisitions if possible, Xia Yu needed to be very sharp, or else he might fail or face severe setbacks.

Therefore, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring were top priorities.

As for other common fund-related activities, such as fundraising consultations and asset management, Xia Yu decided to set them aside for now.

After all, his funds were not lacking at the moment, and he was rather greedy, wanting to take in the best opportunities for himself and not easily share them with others. The most important aspects were safety and control over the companies.

Thus, he wasn't planning to raise funds from outside for now.

The Bright Fund's role was like a cormorant, consuming a variety of tasty fish and then regurgitating them for Xia Yu to distribute elsewhere.

Xia Yu had the memories of many financial giants from later years, including one particularly notable figure: Steve Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone Group, known as the king of Wall Street.

Mergers and acquisitions were Blackstone Group's forte, with nearly $400 billion in business accumulated since its founding in 1985.

Thus, Xia Yu was like another Steve Schwarzman, fully equipped, and combined with his other rich experiences and abilities, he was very confident in creating an elite M&A department.