Chapter 1082: A Powerful Assist

In fact, when the first phase of the acquisition is completed, Xia Yu's secretly controlled equity, if concentrated in his hands and announced, will become the largest shareholder of both the Moët Hennessy Wine Group and the Louis Vuitton Group.

His shareholding in Moët Hennessy reached 36.8%, higher than the 21.4% of the Moët family and 17.5% of the Hennessy family.

The remaining shares were in the hands of various investment institutions (15.4%) and retail investors (8.9%).

The Louis Vuitton Group's shareholding reached 42.9%, slightly higher than the 41.2% of the Vuitton family. The remaining 15.9% of the shares were all in the hands of the Blond family, who had once funded the growth of the Louis Vuitton Group.

...

Early the next morning.

'Boss, this is the acquisition plan we adjusted in real time according to your requirements. Please give us your instructions!'

After receiving the adjusted plan from Leo Martin, Xia Yu leaned back in the soft and comfortable boss chair and carefully went through it.

After a while, he gave a satisfied smile and praised, 'Well done!'

'Thank you, boss!' Leo Martin said with a smile.

Xia Yu instructed Leo Martin, 'I will have the people from Standard Chartered Bank come over later. You will temporarily transfer all of the company's current holdings in the Moët Hennessy wine group, except for the part held by the National Bank of Paris, to Standard Chartered Bank.'

'Then within a week, no matter what the method, you must take over the shares held by the Moët family and the shares in the hands of the institution, acting separately from BNP Paribas as planned.'

'The Blondel family's shares must also be taken over within a week!'

'Ensure that the task is completed!'

Leo Martin knew the critical nature of the task, and he answered with his head held high and a resolute tone.

...

Just as Léo Martin began his work, the other side, the Banque Nationale de Paris, was also taking action, motivated by the prospect of a lucrative commission.

The task of the Banque Nationale de Paris was to buy the shares held by the Moët family.

In order to maximise the chances of success, the bank's CEO, Léonce Mir, turned directly to his former schoolmate, Alain Chevalier.

Alain Chevalier is currently the CEO of the Moët Hennessy wine group and an outstanding professional manager.

Le Mire took on the task of acquiring the Moët family's shares because of the very close relationship between the two men, and because Le Mire knew his junior well and felt confident.

Alain Chevalier's success is inextricably linked to Le Mire's.

In 1970, Charles de Gaulle died and President Georges Pompidou came to power, overturning many of de Gaulle's policies. Alain Chevalier, who worked as an auditor in the industrial sector and economic institutions, became disillusioned with politics and wanted to pursue his ambitions in the business world.

It so happened that at a party, Le Mire told him that the Moët Hennessy Group was looking for a new leader. He also said that the current head of the Moët family was not very interested in the family business and was willing to give up operational management power and hand over the group to a team of professional managers.

It was also because of this news that Alain Chevalier volunteered and, stating his alumni relationship with Le Mire, successfully became the general manager of the Moët Hennessy Group.

When the Moët Hennessy Group merged with the Hennessy Group, it was again Le Mire who came to the rescue, providing Alan Chevalier with leveraged funds, so that the Moët family could take up more equity in the merged company and the Hennessy family could not take control of the company.

However, despite their friendship, when faced with the huge temptation of the Bright Fund, Le Mire, who never owed anything to Alain Chevalier, of course ignored the latter and transferred the bank's shareholding to the Bright Fund.

Of course, Le Mire had also considered that after the Bright Fund acquired Moët Hennessy, it would still need a team of professional managers to run the business, and there was a high probability that Alain Chevalier would not be replaced. When he spoke to Léo Martin later, he also received a reassuring and affirmative answer.

It was a sunny afternoon on 18 December.

Le Mire invited Alain Chevallier to go golfing.

During the break, Le Mire said something that made Alain Chevallier, who had been looking relaxed, suddenly look grave.

'Mr Alain Chevalier, I need you to do me a favour and help me convince the Moët family to sell their shares.'

'Mr Le Mire, may I ask who has commissioned you to buy?'

'Has the shareholding held by the Banque Nationale de Paris been transferred?'

Alan Chevalier asked two questions in quick succession, his eyes fixed on Le Mire's, his heart in his mouth, gripping the arm of his chair unconsciously.

'Mr. Alain Chevalier, you don't need to be nervous, just relax,'

Le Mire said with a faint smile.

Alain Chevalier gave a wry smile, shook his head and sighed, 'Mr. Le Mire, you should know my ambition in life. I have already put in too much effort for Moët Hennessy, and it has already become established under my leadership.'

'And I am already 50 years old this year, I am no longer young,'

Le Mire's smile gradually faded, and he nodded slightly, gazing into the distance, looking at the plane tree, which had already fallen to the ground with golden leaves, and feeling infinite emotion in his heart.

Unconsciously, he and Alain Chevalier had known each other for more than ten years, and the latter was already fifty years old.

And himself?

He was already sixty-seven years old, and he didn't know how many more years he had left...

For a moment, the two men, both feeling emotion in their hearts, remained silent.

For a long time.

Le Mire gathered his thoughts and said to Alain Chevalier with a solemn expression: 'Mr. Alain Chevalier, if you are worried that you will be laid off after Moët Hennessy is acquired, I can tell you that your worries are unnecessary.'

'And from a personal point of view, although Moët Hennessy is already very strong, it still has a lot of room for growth. Neither the Moët family nor the Hennessy family has the capital to enable the company to grow explosively again.'

'What's more, the Moët family is now more concerned with dividends and investing capital in other areas, while the Hennessy family is gradually increasing its shareholding in the hope of gaining control of the company. You are often bound by these constraints.'

Hearing this, Alain Chevalier, who was well aware of the situation, subconsciously nodded in recognition.

'But this time, the buyer has the capital and strength to support LVMH to undergo a second major transformation, and they also have the ambition to do so, and are already taking action.'

Alain Chevalier's gaze hardened, and he stared straight at Le Mir and asked, 'Mr. Le Mir, I need more real information to make a decision.'

Realising that Alain Chevalier had been persuaded, Le Mir's mouth curled into a smile.

He said with a faint smile, 'You should have heard of this company, it is the Bright Foundation, a large financial company from the UK with assets of over 100 billion francs.'

In fact, the Bright Foundation's assets exceeded 200 billion francs, but because Xia Yu had hidden the Bright Foundation very deeply and had disposed of many assets, Le Mir only thought that the Bright Foundation's assets were only over 100 billion francs.

But for most people, the difference is not great. A company with assets of more than 100 billion francs is also a giant in France. Just think, the market value of Moët Hennessy, a French wine giant, is less than 5.9 billion francs.

Alain Chevalier's expression changed slightly, and he nodded and said, 'I know this company. The Rolls-Royce Motor Group is theirs, and they are also a media giant in Europe, aren't they?'

It's even better if you've heard of it!

Le Mir nodded with a smile, 'Yes, that's the company.'

'I've already confirmed with them that acquiring Moët Hennessy is just the beginning. Their goal is to become the number one in the French wine industry at the very least, and they're even involved in other fields.'

'Do you think that such a platform is enough for you to show off your abilities?'

Alain Chevalier was silent again, his eyes flickering as he struggled fiercely within...