Chapter 868: Gambler's mentality

"Mr. Morton, are you here to end the bet by returning your equity?'

Edward Jefferson, the general manager of Thunder Company, said with a hard face and tone, not giving Toby Morton a good look.

This is normal. After all, Thunder Corporation had previously entered into a bet with Jiuding Securities Company that the 5.85 million shares of Philip Brothers Corporation it held, accounting for 3.9% of the company's total shares, were worth 163 million US dollars at the time.

But who would have thought that by now, the share price of Philip Brothers has fallen to $1.58 per share, and the company has been suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The 5.85 million shares held by Thunder Corporation are worth a maximum of $92.4 million based on the last share price.

In such a short period of time, the difference is so great, how could Edward Jefferson not be furious?

Thunder Corporation is just an investment bank on Wall Street that has barely reached a large scale, with an annual net profit of only about $150 million.

However, this time, they took a big fall on the stock of the Phillips Brothers Company, losing all the net profit of previous years. Although there was a misjudgment on their part, and they had been overly optimistic about the Phillips Brothers Company, in the face of direct predators of their interests, it would be strange for Edward Jefferson to look pleasant.

Toby Moulton did not care about Edward Jefferson's attitude. He had taken advantage of the other party, and he could not allow the other party to have any opinions.

He smiled slightly and said, 'Mr. Jefferson, I came here this time to do your company a small favour.'

Edward Jefferson laughed angrily, leaning back in his chair, tilting his head slightly to look at Toby Moulton, wanting to know what flowery words he could say.

'Mr. Moulton, today is not April Fools' Day, and I don't have time to joke with you,'

said Toby Moulton with a serious expression, 'I'm not joking, you might as well listen to me first.'

Edward Jefferson then took him seriously and looked at Toby Moulton with a critical gaze.

Then he heard him say:

"Now that the New York Stock Exchange has suspended the listing of Philip Brothers, according to normal procedures, it will take at least a year before Philip Brothers can be relisted, but only if it is financially healthy and profitable after a year.'

'However, judging from the current situation, it is doubtful whether Philip Brothers can continue to exist.'

'So the 5.85 million shares your company holds have been trapped.'

Seeing Toby Moulton pause, Edward Jefferson sneered and asked, 'So what?'

Toby Moulton said with a smile, 'So I plan to help your company unwind the trap and get the remaining funds back. The method is for our company to directly buy the shares you hold, and change the VAM agreement so that we no longer repay you in shares, but directly in cash instead.'

Edward Jefferson froze for a moment, frowned at Toby Moulton, and said immediately, 'This is not impossible, but your company's offer must not be less than 20 million US dollars!'

Toby Moulton's smile faded, his eyes looked at Edward Jefferson like a knife, and he said discontentedly, 'Mr. Jefferson, your request is outrageous!'

'You should know very well that the Philip Brothers company is insolvent. Its shares have been delisted and have lost their value. Even at the price when the company was delisted, the shares you hold are only worth 9.24 million US dollars. If the company is not delisted, the price will only fall even lower.'

'In our opinion, 5 million US dollars is already a high price. You are joking when you tell me it is worth 20 million US dollars.'

Edward Jefferson said coldly, 'I'm not joking. If you want it, you have to pay 20 million dollars!'

'Not long ago, this stake of ours was worth more than 160 million dollars.'

In the final analysis, Edward Jefferson just couldn't accept it, and there was a thorn in his heart. He was extremely vigilant towards Toby Moulton, so subconsciously he didn't want to give in.

Even at the current market price, it would only sell for a maximum of 9.24 million US dollars.

Although this sum of money was not small, when he thought about the loss of more than 100 million US dollars, he instead thought that the worst that could happen was to take another gamble, and maybe Philip Brothers could survive?

Although the odds were slim, he still intended to take a chance.

The price of 20 million US dollars, although it was a genuine intention to sell, also concealed his intention to test the waters.

If Jiuding Securities is willing to buy for 20 million dollars, then there must be some information that he doesn't know about. He would rather continue to hold on to the company and wait for it to turn around.

It has already hit rock bottom, so it can't fall any further.

Unfortunately, Toby Moulton was in no way likely to agree.

Toby Moulton's face turned cold, and he argued sternly, 'Mr. Jefferson, you know that was in the past. The financial market changes rapidly. I know you may not feel good about it, but for Thunder Corporation, the best thing to do is to accept the reality and minimise the losses, isn't it?'

'Don't ask for an outrageous price. I'll make a final offer of 7 million US dollars. If you don't agree, then we can't talk about it anymore today.'

'I believe I can buy the shares from other investors at a lower price, and I can simply repay your company directly.'

'The reason I proposed ending the bet with Thunder Inc. in cash is that, apart from wanting to ease relations with Thunder Inc., more importantly, I find it troublesome and I don't want to spend time and effort acquiring the shares specifically.'

Edward Jefferson frowned, and in the face of Toby Moulton's cold attitude, he was a little uncertain.

But the hesitation only lasted three seconds, and he was determined to take the gamble.

He had already lost so much, and he would face criticism from the directors at the board meeting, and there was even the possibility of being fired.

Even if he got back less than ten million dollars, his guilt would not be reduced much.

It was better to take a chance, and maybe there would be a way out for the Philipp Brothers and he could find a way out for himself.

'I'm also in a hurry. I don't have much time to waste. Eighteen million dollars is my bottom line,'

Edward Jefferson said firmly.

Toby Moulton looked at him for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, shook his head slightly, and got up, saying, 'Okay, Mr. Jefferson, you might want to think about it some more. I'll wait to hear from you in three days.'

'You have a busy schedule, so I won't bother you any longer,'

he said, and then turned around and left briskly.

He offered 7 million dollars, and Edward Jefferson offered 18 million dollars. Even if they continued to negotiate, the price would never exceed 12 million dollars.

It was absolutely impossible! According to the current market value of Philip Brothers, the value of these shares would definitely be less than 9 million dollars.

If he offered more than 10 million dollars, it would cause another market upheaval, and it would be even more difficult to acquire the remaining shares.

Toby Moulton was not discouraged by the setback at Thunder Inc. He went straight to his next target after leaving the office.

Time was short and the task was heavy, so he had to speed up his actions and acquire as many Philip Brothers shares as possible before anyone else could react.

In the next acquisition, there were of course the same options as with Thunder Inc., but most chose to admit defeat and sell their shares at the 'high price' offered by Jiuding Securities.

Three days later.

'Boss, as of the latest update, the company has acquired 41.1 million shares of Philip Brothers, accounting for 27.4% of the company, at a total cost of 583.6 million US dollars!'

'Now that it is known outside that our company is acquiring Philip Brothers shares, everyone is laughing at our company's foolish actions, and no one is getting involved.'

'The liquidation process is still underway, and there is a lot of news coming out, but it is all harmful news for Philip Brothers.'

Toby Moulton reported the latest situation to Xia Yu in the office.

Xia Yu nodded with a smile and praised, 'The results are very good, you have worked hard.'

'It's not hard work, it's my duty!'

Toby Moulton said with a smile.

Xia Yu's eyes flashed with satisfaction, and after thinking for a moment, he added, 'Let the outside world laugh now if they want to, the bankrupt Philips Brothers may be a burden to them, but they are very valuable to us.'

'Next, you must seize the opportunity to buy as many shares as possible. There's no need to hide anymore. You can send someone to contact the major shareholders and try to buy their shares. I believe that some of them can't wait to get out of this mess, and we can help them.'

Toby Moulton immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly: 'I understand. I'll get right on it.'

'Well, go ahead and do a good job!'