Chapter 1070: Penetrating the British telecommunications sector once again

After work in the afternoon, Xia Yu did not go to George Berkeley, who was busy with work, but called an executive in the investment banking department, Elton Colin, and instructed him to investigate the details of Chelsea Football Club and make an acquisition plan.

The reason for choosing him was that Xia Yu learned that he was an old fan and might have a better understanding of the inside story of Chelsea Football Club and be more efficient.

The result did not disappoint Xia Yu.

In just three days, Elton Colin had a thorough understanding of the situation at Chelsea Football Club and produced a complete acquisition plan, which he presented to Xia Yu early in the morning of November 6.

The true situation of Chelsea Football Club was laid bare before Xia Yu.

Chelsea Football Club was indeed in crisis!

And there was no hope of recovery after falling to the bottom!

Over the years, Chelsea Football Club's situation had been up and down, with quite unstable results.

Especially in the past two years, it had been on a downward spiral, constantly hovering on the verge of relegation. The team's poor results had hurt the hearts of the fans, disappointing them time and time again, to the point where the fans had voted with their feet, causing Chelsea Football Club's ticket revenue and advertising revenue to plummet.

Before that, in 1977, when Chelsea FC's results were still good, the Mills family had already started to remodel the east stand of Stamford Bridge in order to increase commercial revenue. They were preparing to build a three-tiered suspended structure with more seats, and the creativity of this design is still far ahead today, but the difficulty and cost of construction have also increased.

As Chelsea's football results declined, ticket sales also continued to decline, and the sharp drop in revenue has caused the Mears family to become handicapped.

That's not the worst of it.

What's even more deadly is that the British economy has been in the doldrums for years, and the Mears family's main business has also been greatly affected, and the family business's cash flow is tight.

For this reason, the Mears family had to delay the reconstruction of Stamford Bridge. Now, four years have passed, and the progress of the stadium reconstruction has barely reached half of the design.

Despite the delay, the interest on the bank loan has continued to accumulate. Chelsea FC's income is no longer enough to cover the interest on the bank loan, let alone maintain the operation of Chelsea FC, let alone buying superstars in the transfer market.

A vicious circle has emerged!

To date, Chelsea FC has racked up a debt of £620,000.

And Stamford Bridge, which is not owned by Chelsea FC, is the private property of the Mills family, which owns 100% of Stamford Bridge Properties Ltd.

However, in order to expand Stamford Bridge, the Mills family has incurred a debt of £6.4 million, which continues to increase every year due to interest.

It is worth noting that of the £6.4 million debt the Mills family has incurred, £3.86 million belongs to the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is the Mills family's major creditor.

In the takeover proposal, Elton Collin assessed the assets of Chelsea FC and concluded that the ageing or untalented players and coaches are worthless.

And since the Mills family is now trying to save the family business, there is a high probability that they will negotiate to take over Chelsea FC for free in exchange for assuming a debt of £620,000.

As for Stamford Bridge Assets, the only valuable asset is Stamford Bridge Stadium, which is valued at around £9 million. After deducting the debt of £6.4 million, the net asset value is around £2.6 million.

Considering that the Mills family is now in trouble, in urgent need of funds, and also wants to get rid of the debt burden, they will have a certain initiative in the acquisition.

Elton Colin initially judged that he could buy Stamford Bridge Assets for a price between £2 million and £2.5 million, at the cost of assuming the corresponding debt.

After the whole plan is down, the initial plan only requires just over 2 million pounds.

Even if the funds for subsequent completion of the renovation are added, it will only be 5 to 6 million pounds.

This amount of money may be a lot for the Mills family, whose assets are only worth more than 20 million pounds, but it is just a drop in the ocean for Xia Yu.

Without a doubt, buy it!

After putting down the information, Xia Yu instructed Elton Collin, 'Elton, I'll leave this project in your hands. You can go and communicate with the Royal Bank of Scotland first. Having the bank's assistance will be more beneficial for the acquisition.'

'Acquire Chelsea Football Club as soon as possible!'

'In addition, collect information on coaches and players in the English football league and give it to me at the same time. Chelsea needs a complete overhaul after the acquisition, and there are less than two months until the winter transfer window.'

Elton Colin, who was interested in football himself, was enthusiastic about this task. He nodded with a smile and replied, 'Boss, I promise to complete the task as soon as possible!'

'Well, go!'

Xia Yu smiled and nodded, watching Elton Colin leave his office with a brisk pace.

Next, Xia Yu continued to be busy.

...

As time passed, the competition for the second telecommunications company became more and more intense. Although there were no reports in the newspapers, and the surface was calm, it was turbulent underneath.

The Rothschild family, who had been keeping a close eye on Xia Yu's movements, were unable to get close to him due to Luo Wang and Xia Yu's Aegis Security, but they had a better grasp of the movements of the Bright Foundation.

The Rothschild family also knew that Xia Yu had secretly met with Margaret Thatcher, but they didn't know what was discussed, and could only speculate that Xia Yu had talked to Margaret Thatcher about investing in the second telecommunications company based on the actions of the Bright Foundation afterwards.

Thanks to the Rothschild family's connections, they were also informed of the negotiations between the British Ministry of Commerce and Guangming Fund.

Faced with Xia Yu's real money and big chips, the Rothschild family had to mobilise greater forces and costs to intervene in the competition in order to take a larger stake.

In addition to Guangming Fund and the Rothschild family, other major British families and consortia did not stand by and watch, and they also intervened in the competition.

The battle did not officially come to an end until 9 November, when Margaret Thatcher approved the plan for the distribution of the cake of the second telecommunications company.

George Berkeley, who had returned from Downing Street with the results, hurried back to report the situation to Xia Yu.

Bright Fund, Xia Yu's office, George Berkeley sat in front of Xia Yu and said cheerfully,

'Boss, the new telecommunications company is called Mercure Communications, and it has been awarded the second domestic telecommunications operating licence in the UK. We have acquired a 20% stake!'

Twenty percent!

Xia Yu's eyes lit up. This was definitely not a small proportion!

'Well done!'

Xia Yu praised.

George Berkeley smiled modestly in return: 'It's what I should do.'

'By the way, how was the remaining 80% stake distributed?'

Xia Yu was a little curious about who else had taken the other stakes.

'Boss, when it was announced at the meeting, I already recorded the specific shareholding distribution, because there were so many, so you'll have to see for yourself,'

George Berkeley said, turning the pages of his notebook and handing it to Xia Yu.

Xia Yu carefully browsed through it.

Twenty-five percent for Barclays Bank.

Fifteen percent for British Cable & Wireless.

Eleven percent for Lloyds Bank.

Ten percent for National Westminster Bank.

Nine percent for HSBC Holdings.

Seven percent for BP.

Black Rose Capital 2%.

Locke Fund 1%.

Sure enough, the Rothschild family accounted for the majority, and the banking industry dominated.

The four major banks had a cumulative stake of more than 55%!

However, Xia Yu was not surprised.

Apart from Barclays Bank, which mainly implements the will of the Rothschild family, the other three banks are actually the meeting points of the strength of major British consortia or old families. In fact, they are banding together to compete in the name of the bank, which is less risky, costs less, and uses the money of depositors.

The only independent capital is Xia Yu's Bright Fund, Black Rose Capital and Locke Fund. Xia Yu's Bright Fund is in a special situation, so it stands out.

But Xia Yu doesn't care, as long as he gets enough equity, how it is operated later is a matter for later.

He doesn't believe that if Morkey Communications doesn't make a profit for a few years, there will be no shareholders transferring their equity.

If you want to increase your stake, just wait for the right opportunity.

After returning the notebook to George Berkeley, Xia Yu smiled and instructed him, 'George, you should continue to follow up on some of the subsequent matters. You must carefully choose the directors of Mokray. In this company, we must have the corresponding right to speak and influence.'

'I understand!' George Berkeley solemnly nodded in response.

Xia Yu nodded slightly and, without repeating his instructions too much, instead asked about Datong Telecom.

'How is the transfer of equity in the Hong Kong branch of Datong Telecom progressing?'

'It's progressing quite smoothly, and it will be successful in half a month at most.'

'Good, let me know when it's successful.'

'Okay!'

After chatting with George Berkeley again, Xia Yu dismissed him.

The matter of Mocrie Communications had been settled, and he had also settled an issue on his mind. Then, the focus would have to be on France!

Two days later, just as Xia Yu was about to get started, he received a phone call from Prince Philip, who gave him some news that was initially surprising but then made sense.