Chapter 603: Attention, Rothschild Family

Since during the time when the acquisition stalled, Elena had led the acquisition team and, together with Lloyds Bank and the public accounting firm, had thoroughly investigated Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the negotiations proceeded very quickly when they formally began.

With sufficient preparation and the green light from the top, the acquisition was completed in a flash within just ten days.

On 31 May, the agreement was formally signed, and Bright Food, together with a Norfolk investment company of the Howard family, acquired Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for £120 million in cash.

The assets acquired included the production line of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, existing stock of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles, sales network, after-sales service system and the perpetual right to use the Rolls-Royce brand. The Rolls-Royce Group was obliged to assist Bright Food in taking over Rolls-Royce Motor Cars smoothly.

The most valuable of these is the right to use the Rolls-Royce brand and the production line that includes the engine.

The car engine production line uses some of the technology from Rolls-Royce's aero engine company. During the acquisition process, some people raised questions and were worried about technology leaks, but at the critical moment, the Duke of Howard came forward to guarantee, and the technology of the car engine is not the top technology of the aero engine. In the end, after some debate, it was approved.

Of course, the British government was not without a backup plan. Considering that there was foreign capital in the Bright Fund, they were worried that the Labour Party would use this as an excuse to attack them, the Conservatives, so a separate condition was listed when the contract was signed, which was that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was prohibited from moving out of the UK.

Elena and Xia Yu reacted to this condition, and Xia Yu agreed without hesitation.

If they don't move, they don't move, as long as they absorb the technology, the worst that can happen is that they will directly establish an automobile company on the mainland at that time, there are many ways to do it.

Even if the production line is moved to the mainland, there will be no skilled workers in the short term, so it simply won't work.

Furthermore, at the prices of Rolls-Royce cars and Bentleys, the main market is now in Europe and the United States, and the mainland economy has not yet risen, so they won't sell well there either.

For this acquisition, because it had been discussed beforehand and Bright Fund would hold 80% of the shares and the Howard family 20%, Bright Fund contributed £96 million and the Howard family £24 million.

Afterwards, the two parties contributed a total of £50 million in accordance with their shareholdings, which was used to reform Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

As soon as the news broke, it caused an immediate sensation, because Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was originally a private company, and the Rolls-Royce Group's sale did not cause much public outcry. Coupled with the positive attitude of injecting £50 million into the company for reform once it was acquired, this meant that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars employees would not resist.

In the midst of all this, the News Group's Sun newspaper revealed that the person in charge of the Bright Foundation's acquisition of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was none other than the daughter of the Duke of Kent, a young girl who had just graduated from university.

Many people subconsciously ignored the background of the Bright Foundation, and the turmoil they had originally feared did not occur.

As for Xia Yu's Jiuding Newspaper Company's newspapers, they only reported on the Bright Foundation's acquisition of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and did not promote the Bright Foundation as Xia Yu's company.

Once the acquisition was complete, Xia Yu asked George Berkeley to go to the Rolls-Royce Motor Company with the head of the Norfolk Investment Company of the Howard family and others, including Elena.

He also produced a development plan for the car company that had already been prepared, and handed it to the general manager of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Rudolf Brooke, ordering him to start reforms according to the development plan. Results were to be seen within six months, or else his position would be readjusted. This put a lot of pressure on Rudolf Brooke, who threw himself into the reforms.

The acquisition of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars had far-reaching consequences, not least because the top dog involved in the acquisition, the Duke of Carter Howard, could not help but attract attention. All the major British families were paying attention to this matter, trying to analyse the true intentions of the Duke of Carter Howard.

This attention naturally brought Bright Fund and Xia Yu behind it into the sights of some people.

In the eastern suburbs of London, there is a special castle belonging to a lordly family.

The title of the lord is unremarkable when placed in the entire British aristocratic system.

However, this lordly family is not simple at all. It has a profound influence throughout the UK, and no one dares to belittle it. Even the Duke of Carter Howard must treat it with respect.

This family is none other than the Rothschild family, once the uncrowned king of Britain and even Europe.

Even after suffering a major blow in World War II, being targeted for liquidation by the Germans, being betrayed and sold out by the Rockefeller and Morgan families, and being secretly suppressed by the British Union of Ancient Nobility out of fear after the war, the Rothschild family's strength in the UK is still top-notch.

However, the Rothschild family has retained the most strength in the UK. The vast financial empire has long since fallen apart, and it was liquidated and its assets seized in the German-occupied zone. Its influence is now mainly limited to the UK, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, France, Canada and other places.

The French branch was rebuilt after the war, as was the American branch. A branch from Austria split off and went to the west coast of the United States to rebuild its foundations.

Among all these branches, the British branch is the main one, so the head of the British branch is also the nominal leader of all Rothschild family members around the world.

The current fourth-generation leader is Jacob Rothschild!

In the hall of Rothschild Castle, 43-year-old Jacob Rothschild is sitting at the head of the table, carefully reading a business intelligence report.

In the hall, there are also five other members of the Rothschild family seated. Sitting next to Jacob Rothschild are his cousin Evelyn Rothschild and his cousin Léopold Rothschild.

The last head of the Rothschild family in the UK was Anselmi Rothschild. After Anselmi's death in 1961, he was initially succeeded by his brother Charles and eldest son Léopold, with his son Evelyn as a partner.

Later, Jacob Rothschild emerged with outstanding skills and abilities, and in order to revive the family, Léopold took the initiative to give way to Jacob Rothschild.

After Jacob Rothschild came to power, he lived up to the high expectations of the rest of the family. First, he used his skills to privatise the nationalised Rothschild Bank, and then he rebuilt the Rothschild Bank's mergers and acquisitions department, which became a trump card within just a few years.

The Rothschild family has the blood of capital manipulation flowing through their veins. With the bank in their hands, the young and capable members of the Rothschild family quickly recovered the family business. In just over ten years, the Rothschild consortium once again stood at the top of the UK.

However, this also aroused the hostility of major British consortia and the ancient aristocracy. After all, the Rothschilds were Jews, and coupled with the Rothschilds' former power, many large families were unwilling to let this family rise again.

After all, having one de facto queen on top is enough; two is too many!

But in the face of interests, even the strongest fortress can be breached. The Rothschilds withstood heavy pressure and divided the alliance of the ancient aristocracy, and they are still doing very well.