Chapter 932: Poaching News Corporation's Prey

While Xia Yu was reviewing the New Year plans of various companies, something happened in London, thousands of miles away.

London, the headquarters of Bright Fund Company.

After getting out of the car, Lewis Barry, the president of the Mirror Group, quickly entered the elevator and rushed to George Berkeley's office.

'Knock, knock, knock!'

'President Berkeley, good afternoon!'

'Lewis, what brings you here? Come in!'

George Berkeley, who was signing some documents, looked up when he heard the knock on the door and said, a little surprised when he recognised the person.

Lewis Barry walked in and sat down in front of George Berkeley. He said with a serious expression, 'President Berkeley, the reason I've come to disturb you so suddenly is because I've received some secret information, and it's become a very urgent matter.'

Lewis Barry's attitude had an effect on George Berkeley, who suppressed his smile, put down his pen, and looked directly at Lewis Barry, asking, 'What is so urgent?'

Lewis Barry replied, 'The Thomson Group's The Times is suffering heavy losses, and News Corporation is now in secret negotiations with the Thomson Group to acquire The Times's parent company, Times Newspapers Limited!'

The Times is a national daily newspaper in the UK, and its readers are generally high-end people, such as politicians and social elites, so the influence of this newspaper is extremely shocking.

It has always been regarded as the UK's No. 1 mainstream newspaper, praised as 'a faithful recorder of British society' and influential in the world!

Hearing suddenly that Thomson Group is going to be sold, even George Berkeley was shocked.

He frowned, pondered for a moment, and asked, 'Is it the News Corporation that owns The Sun?'

Lewis Barry nodded fiercely and said, 'Yes, and Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, is personally negotiating.'

'The negotiations have been going on for some time, and News Corporation has been keeping it a secret. As far as I know, News Corporation found out that after the death of the old Thomson, due to financial pressure, the younger Thomson had lost patience with Times Newspapers Holdings Limited, so it took the initiative to seek an acquisition, which is the main reason why the news could be kept secret.'

'Rupert Murdoch is a media elite and has an extreme profit-seeking attitude, even if it means unscrupulous means. The Sun was originally not doing well, but after he bought it, it has now expanded several times and has an astonishing influence.'

'Although the Times is currently losing a lot of money, I'm worried that it will be revitalised after it's in his hands, and it will pose a huge threat to our Mirror Group at that time!'

George Berkeley nodded in approval, and after a moment of thought, he asked again, 'So what is your idea for this visit?'

Lewis Barry immediately said, "Of course I hope that the Mirror Group will be able to acquire Times Newspapers Holdings Limited.'

As soon as he finished speaking, George Berkeley shook his head and dismissed the idea: "This is impossible. The report you showed me last time showed that the Mirror Group's national daily newspapers now occupy 30% of the market, and the local newspapers occupy 8% of the market.'

'It's fine if it's a local newspaper,'

'but in the market for national dailies, the Mirror Group is about to reach the invisible policy line of 40%. If it acquires the Times, it will easily exceed the line, and other newspaper companies will definitely not let you get away with it.'

Lewis Barry shrugged his shoulders and said with regret, 'I know, so I was just thinking about it.'

'I think the president can think of a way to acquire Times Newspapers Limited. If that doesn't work, at least you can sabotage News Corporation's takeover.'

George Berkeley nodded slightly, and then frowned as he thought.

On the surface, the Bright Foundation must absolutely not make another takeover bid, because the Bright Foundation is the wholly-owned parent company of the Mirror Group and the Financial Times Group, and it has even greater control over the media.

And it is also not possible to let the Financial Times Group step in, because it will be counted on the Bright Fund in the end.

After thinking for a while, he thought of his boss Xia Yu and a newspaper company, and his brows immediately relaxed.

Lewis Barry had been observing George Berkeley's expression and, as soon as he noticed his brows relax, immediately asked, 'President Berkeley, have you got an idea?'

George Berkeley nodded slightly, but only revealed some thoughts to him, saying, 'I will let a friendly company take over the acquisition. Lewis, you will have to work hard to collect as much relevant intelligence and information as possible.'

Lewis Barry nodded without hesitation and said, 'No problem, I have already arranged for someone to dig deeper into the ins and outs. I think the Thomson Group would also be happy to see the emergence of new competitors.'

...

The next morning, after reading the first batch of intelligence, George Berkeley, after calculating the time difference, made an international call to Hong Kong.

As it happened, Xia Yu was in the chairman's office, and when he heard the phone ring, he answered it immediately.

'Hello, who is this?'

'Boss, it's George...'

After hearing the voice on the other end of the line, Xia Yu's attention became even more focused, and he said with a smile, 'George, it's been a long time, what's so important?'

'...

Xia Yu's gaze deepened as George Berkeley on the other end of the line continued to speak.

'Okay, I understand. Fax the documents over, and you continue to follow up on the situation. I'll have Manager Yan Wenhan from Jiuding Newspaper Company contact you later.'

Not long after that, Xia Yu began to receive the fax signal, and the documents began to print out from the fax machine one after the other.

Because the font was small, the document wasn't long, just four pages, and it was quickly finished.

Before reading it, Xia Yu called Jiuding Newspaper Company and asked Yan Wenhan to come to his office immediately.

As they were in the same building and Yan Wenhan happened to be in the office, he arrived at Xia Yu's office door in less than two minutes after receiving the call.

'Wenhan, come in. Sit down somewhere for a while, and I'll finish reading the documents,'

After saying this, Xia Yu buried his head in the documents again.

A few minutes later, Xia Yu finally finished reading all the information and gained a concrete understanding of the matter.

He took the documents, got up from his desk, walked over to the sofa and sat down, and handed the documents to Yan Wenhan, saying, 'Wenhan, you take a look at the documents first. This is a good thing.'

Hearing that it was a good thing, Yan Wenhan's heart rose with a sense of anticipation, and he quickly skimmed through the documents.

After reading it, he smiled and asked Xia Yu, 'Chairman, do you want Jiuding News Corporation to acquire Thames Media Holdings Limited?'

Xia Yu smiled and nodded: 'Well, Jiuding News Corporation has a huge influence in Asia and the United States, but there is still a big gap in the British media market. This is a rare opportunity.'

'You've read the information. In addition to The Times, a national comprehensive daily newspaper, Times Newspapers also has the highly influential The Sunday Times, as well as The Times Literary Supplement, The Times Education Supplement, The Times Scottish Education Supplement, and The Times Higher Education Supplement. It also owns The Times Bookshop. If we can take over this company, Times Newspapers will instantly be able to occupy a first-class position in the UK.'

'The only thing that is worrying is that there are currently major problems with the Times Newspaper Holdings company, with serious losses. Do you have confidence in being able to restore it to health?'

Yan Wenhan said without hesitation, 'I still have confidence. There is such an opportunity, and I would hate to not try.'

Xia Yu smiled and nodded, saying, 'Okay, in that case, you go ahead and try. Fly to London as soon as possible. As for funding, that shouldn't be a problem, right?'

Yan Wenhan smiled and shook his head, saying, 'No problem. The company's current working capital exceeds 150 million Hong Kong dollars, which I think is enough to acquire Thames Media Holdings.'

However, after saying this, Yan Wenhan revealed a worried expression and said, 'Chairman, I'm just worried that our acquisition will attract obstacles from other parties.'

Xia Yu knew what Yan Wenhan was worried about, and he smiled reassuringly and said, 'Don't worry. The political stance of the Times is neutral to slightly right-leaning, leaning slightly towards the Conservative Party. I will deal with any obstacles that may exist on the government's side. Your task is to snatch the prey from News Corporation's mouth.'

'After spending so much time in the United States, Rupert Murdoch should not be a stranger to you. Times Newspapers Holdings will cause us a lot of trouble if it falls into his hands.'

Yan Wenhan nodded and said with a grave expression on his face: 'Yes, Chairman, I have never underestimated him. While I was in the United States, I competed with him and knew that he was a media genius with the ability to turn decay into magic. Many newspapers that were about to close down soon regained vitality and grew rapidly after he acquired them. He is a very strong opponent.'

Yan Wenhan had a hunch that Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation would be his biggest rivals in the future.

Although the chairman already had the Mirror Group and the Financial Times Group in the UK, he was the big boss behind the scenes in the UK media industry, but that had nothing to do with him. The Nine Ding Newspaper Company he managed had no roots in the UK.

News Corporation had already established a foothold in the UK a long time ago, and the flagship newspaper of News Corporation, The Sun, had developed into a mainstream newspaper. Not only that, News Corporation also owned a group of newspapers in the UK to fill out the layout.

Nine Ding Newspaper Company is already far behind News Corporation, and he must catch up if he has any chance of catching up!

Now taking food from News Corporation can have a double effect, and he will definitely not let go of this great opportunity!

At this time, he has already made up his mind. This time, he is going to fight to the end. No matter how high the price is, he will buy Thames Newspaper Holdings. Even if it is a failure in his hands, it is better than being bought by News Corporation.

Seeing that Yan Wenhan was mentally prepared, Xia Yu was relieved: 'As long as you know what you're doing, go ahead and do it. After you go to the UK, go and meet George Berkeley, the president of Guangming Foundation, and you can ask him for anything.'

'Okay!'

'Chairman, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now.'

'Go ahead!'

As Yan Wenhuan disappeared from view, Xia Yu's gaze became a little absent-minded, and he thought about Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation.

After a long time, Xia Yu shook his head and laughed, gathering his thoughts and continuing with his work.