Chapter 1079: France's strategic business direction

The view that the situation in France is even more complicated than in the UK is not just a random analysis by Xia Yu, but the reality.

Among the current European 'big three' – the UK, France and West Germany – the UK is undoubtedly the country with the most lenient attitude towards Jews, and this is due to a combination of factors.

The most obvious reason is the situation of the three countries during World War II.

Germany needs no introduction, while France was occupied and all the Jews in the country were cleansed by Germany. On the contrary, Britain, protected by the English Channel, managed to defend its territory, so the strength of Jewish families and consortia in Britain was preserved.

Not to mention that London is still the financial centre of Europe, and there are many listed companies in the UK. Jewish families and consortia are experts in this field and can easily control or influence many companies, and naturally, they can influence the UK's attitude towards them.

On the contrary, in France and West Germany, especially West Germany, those families were not keen to list their family businesses, and valued control over the company and its future development, which to a large extent blocked the infiltration of Jewish power.

This situation in France and Germany has also enabled many families to maintain control of certain fields for decades or even centuries.

Even though the nature of the French state has changed several times, it has not caused these families to change. Whether France was previously a constitutional monarchy or now a republic, it has always been ruled by these families, and nothing has changed at all.

This can be seen from the fact that the Bourbon, Orleans and Bonaparte families, which once ruled France, are still all in existence! (It's true that they still exist, and this is considered a European tradition. For this reason, there were always dynastic restorations in ancient Europe, and the remnants of the previous dynasties rarely remained in ancient China.)

According to statistics, the proportion of family-owned businesses among the top 250 domestic enterprises in France and West Germany now exceeds 40%! Many of these businesses are 80%, 90% or even 100% owned!

This proportion is terrifying, because as Xia Yu knows, less than a third of American family-owned businesses are still family-owned. Most are either acquired by major consortia in the later stages or controlled jointly. There are companies that have been controlled by a single family from beginning to end, but they are a very small minority.

As the saying goes, a fly doesn't bite a seamless egg!

Many of the 'attractive and good eggs' in France are seamless, and many of the business tactics that Xia Yu is good at simply cannot be used against many French companies!

Moreover, the connections between the major old French families are also very close. If the right degree of control is not maintained, one stab will be like stabbing a hornet's nest.

If it weren't for this reason, France would not be one of the countries where it is most difficult for American capital to enter.

This can be seen from the fact that later generations of France often acted independently, refused to give face to the United States, and even sang in opposition.

Of the three European powers of later generations, Britain was the most obedient, Germany was unable to stand up because it was stuck with American troops, and France was as stubborn as ever.

The governments of capitalist societies all represent the will of capital. The capital of the United States manipulates the government to achieve its own ends, and the capital of France can of course also influence the government to resist and even fight back.

...

That night, Xia Yu went home to rest. The next morning, after breakfast, he stayed at home and formulated a strategy for France.

After much thought, Xia Yu decided that his business in France would focus more on the tertiary industry, supplemented by the secondary and primary industries.

It wasn't that he didn't want to deeply penetrate industries that affected people's lives and influenced the foundations of France, but the reality of the situation did not allow it.

The majority of France's heavy industry and military industry are out of the question. A large part of these industries are owned by state enterprises, and the remaining part is the family business of some French families, which is difficult to take away.

For example, the two major French automobile companies, Groupe PSA and Groupe Renault, the former is in the hands of the Peugeot family and the government. Although the Peugeot family only holds a 25% stake, it has 38% of the voting rights. The French government also holds a 14% stake. Together, they are unbeatable.

As for the latter Renault Group, there is no need to mention it. This company, now France's second largest car manufacturer, is also a French military industry giant. During World War I, it produced guns, ammunition, aircraft and light tanks for France. During World War II, it produced weapons and munitions for Germany. After the victory in World War II, the Renault family was eliminated by the French government, and the Renault Group was wholly owned by the government.

In addition to these two heavy industry and military giants, there are many large industrial groups in France, but Xia Yu knows very well that this time, these giants will not escape the fate of being nationalised by the French government.

Therefore, it is difficult and risky to engage in manufacturing in France.

Of course, the most important thing is that most of them have no future!

Yes, they have no future!

At this time and in this place, Xia Yu is the only person in the world who can make this judgement with confidence!

Although in previous years, France began to implement 'deindustrialisation', its aviation, automobile, rail transit, military, nuclear power, etc. industries still maintain a strong competitive edge in the world. The large families and consortia engaged in these fields cannot possibly stand by and watch the decline of their family industries.

According to statistics released by the French government's statistics department at the beginning of this year, in 1980, the added value of the manufacturing industry accounted for 18.49% of the gross domestic product, while the service industry accounted for 57.83%.

Xia Yu remembers, however, that in the future year 2017, the added value of France's manufacturing industry as a percentage of GDP had dropped to less than 10%!

The added value of the service industry as a percentage of GDP exceeded 70%, higher than in the UK, Germany and the island countries!

In the future, France will not lack globally competitive large manufacturing enterprises, but rather there will be relatively few of them.

What France is famous for worldwide are retail, luxury goods, cosmetics, wine and FMCG!

These industries are still far from reaching the explosive influence of the future, and it can be said that the future is extremely bright.

Under the premise that it is difficult to enter the established fields of French families and consortia, relying on the foresight of the future to occupy the track in advance is undoubtedly the most appropriate.

By the time the power and money of these fields explode, it will be too late for the French families and consortia to try to restrict Xia Yu, and Xia Yu will have truly established a foothold in France.

With these core pillar industries, supplemented by companies in other fields, the overall competitiveness and influence will definitely not be weak!

With this in mind, Xia Yu wrote down four words on a piece of paper – fashion, wine, retail, and other industries.

So where should Xia Yu start in the fashion sector?

According to the data collected by Léo Martin, the L'Oréal Group, which is now the most powerful in the French cosmetics sector, is not for sale, which is a real shame for Xia Yu.

But there's nothing he can do about it. L'Oréal Group founder Eugène Schueller's only daughter, Liliane Betancourt, is guarding the company against everyone, so he can't buy it, and neither can anyone else.

The largest shareholder of L'Oréal is now the company GBL, which holds 53.7% of the company's shares. However, this company is just a shell company set up for cooperative holdings, with only two shareholders: L'Oréal's Liliane Betancourt, with 51%, and the Swiss Nestlé Group, with 49%.

The reason for such control is that Lillian Betancourt took this life-saving measure in 1974 when she learned that the then French government wanted to nationalize the L'Oréal Group and introduced Nestlé Group from Switzerland as a safeguard.

That year, the French government was successfully persuaded by Nestlé Group's public relations and approved the cooperation, but restricted Lillian Betancourt and Nestlé Group from reselling, transferring or mortgaging their shares in the L'Oréal Group within 20 years.

Now only seven years have passed, and there are still thirteen years left before the deadline, so no one has any chance!

If Xia Yu wants to get his hands on L'Oréal, the only way is to acquire the Swiss Nestlé Group.

Otherwise, he can only buy a portion of the shares on the stock market and become a major shareholder.

In Xia Yu's opinion, investing in L'Oréal is definitely necessary, but for his strategy, he must have complete control of a cosmetics company.

As for Chanel, it was also out of the question. The company was not listed and was owned by the Widmer family, which held more than 70% of the shares. This powerful family was previously the owner of half of the shares in the French company Felix Amiot, the manufacturer of the Amiot bomber, and was an old family in France.

As for Hermès, it was now in the hands of the fifth generation of the Hermès family, and the family collectively held 56.2% of the shares, which was also difficult to deal with.

The Kering Group, on the other hand, is just a timber company that was founded more than ten years ago.

On the contrary, LVMH, the French luxury goods company with the second highest market value after L'Oréal, has not yet been established.

At present, there are only Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy in France, and neither has been merged yet.

So, do you still need to hesitate?

Let's start with these two!