Chapter 1499: A Machiavellian scheme to conquer the heart

'Too fast! Too fast!'

When the news of the Royal Bank of Scotland's disclosure of its shareholding reached Sweden, Peter Wallenberg was having breakfast at home. The news was like a bolt from the blue for him, leaving him stunned.

It can only be said that everyone underestimated the impact of the Barrett family's defection and the efficiency of the Bright Consortium.

Moreover, it happened to be the weekend, and the stock market was closed, so the takeover took place outside the stock market, with a huge information gap.

Timing and people were all in the hands of the Bright Consortium!

It directly smashed the Wallenberg family's previous wishful thinking.

Now that the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Barrett family jointly hold more than two-thirds of the shares, the other shareholders are already meat on the chopping block, and there is nothing they can do but be slaughtered.

Even the Warburg Pincus Silver Lake Group, which holds 16.29% of the shares, has temporarily surpassed the Barrett family to become the undisputed largest shareholder!

'The situation has completely changed in just two days. I had originally wanted to use it as a bargaining chip, but now it has become a hot potato. I have to find a way to sell it, otherwise the capital will be locked up and may even continue to shrink...'

Thinking about this, Peter Wallenberg felt his head spinning, and he lost his appetite for the sumptuous breakfast on the table.

Just then.

André Wallenberg rushed in, his face very anxious.

'Peter, the Royal Bank of Scotland has disclosed...'

'I know.' Without waiting for André Wallenberg to finish, Peter Wallenberg said in a solemn voice.

André Wallenberg's voice trailed off, and he immediately said, "We have no choice. The convening of the shareholders" meeting and the re-election of the board of directors cannot be stopped. Once these two steps are completed, the equity we hold will be completely meaningless.'

'At this point, RBS still needs to join forces with the Barrett family to take control of NatWest. If they acquire our shares, RBS will be able to gain an absolute controlling interest on its own, which is a completely different story.'

'We might still be able to try this, and use it to make some relatively reasonable demands, while also getting a higher price.'

'We must act quickly!'

Peter Wallenberg did not hesitate this time, and decisively agreed: 'We will act immediately. Andre, you go contact RBS.'

Very quickly.

The Royal Bank of Scotland communicated with the Wallenberg family. After understanding the situation, they did not make any rash decisions, but reported the news to George Berkeley.

Since the Swedish plan involved a wide range of issues and was also decided by Xia Yuzheng, George Berkeley also did not dare to make any rash decisions and immediately called Xia Yuzheng for instructions.

In response,

Xia Yuzheng pondered for a while

and gave a very short sentence, which determined the fate of the Wallenberg family.

'The Wallenberg family has too much influence in Sweden. They must be neutered!'

George Berkeley followed Ha Yu's instructions to the letter.

Soon afterwards,

news spread that the RBS had ruthlessly rejected the offer of the Silver River Group to sell its stake in NatWest.

There was also news from the RBS that the value of NatWest's shares was currently seriously overvalued and that there were no plans to delist and privatise the bank in the short term.

After this news broke,

other shareholders who also hold shares became anxious.

In the stock market, this was reflected in a sharp fall in the share price of NatWest!

According to the current regulations for delisting UK-listed companies, in order to protect the interests of shareholders, a listed company delisting must repurchase all the shares held by shareholders at the highest price within one month.

If RBS were to privatise and delist NatWest in the near future, then even if the share price doesn't rise, it won't fall much either. There will be a lot fewer shares in circulation, and other shareholders will hold onto their shares and refuse to sell.

But now RBS has announced that it will not privatise and delist NatWest in the short term, so the funds are trapped inside.

What's more, the battle for RBS is already over. The biggest buyer, RBS, is not going to buy, and it's unlikely that any other buyer will. How can RBS support the high share price of RBS?

It is expected to fall no matter what!

It's strange that shareholders and investors are not panicking.

Peter Wallenberg is also panicking.

After all, 16.29% of the shares in National Westminster Bank had been bought by the Silverra Group at a high price of £1.124 billion.

He could not stand by and watch the value of his shares continue to fall.

What's more, the Wallenbergs were in urgent need of liquidity.

At this critical juncture,

Peter Wallenberg had to ask André Wallenberg to stay in Sweden while he flew to the Rothschilds and found Jacob Rothschild.

He wanted to sell his stake in National Westminster Bank to the Rothschilds.

Barclays itself still held a 3.72% stake in National Westminster Bank, and if they bought their 16.29% stake, the shareholding ratio would exceed 20%.

But there was no choice.

No matter how hard Peter Wallenberg tried to persuade him, Jacob Rothschild just wouldn't take over.

Under normal circumstances, Jacob Rothschild would be willing to take over, even if he would be targeted by the Illuminati and could only drive a nail into it.

But unfortunately, the situation is now special, and the Rothschild family is also in a tight financial situation. Jacob Rothschild cannot be so unwise as to spend such a large sum of money.

In the end, of course, they parted on bad terms.

Peter Wallenberg hurriedly came and returned to Sweden angrily.

Even though Peter Wallenberg tried to conceal it as much as possible, the whole process was witnessed by many intelligence agencies.

Many people were thinking different things at the same time.

Amidst this turbulent situation,

the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of National Westminster Bank finally arrived.

Both Barclays Bank and the Silver Ray Group only sent one representative.

The outcome of the general meeting of shareholders went exactly as George Berkeley had expected, and the board of directors was completely replaced.

Although Barclays and RBS had both chosen four directors to sit on the board, they were only peripheral figures.

At the first meeting of the re-elected board, the chairman and managing director were re-elected, as were some other important positions.

The chairman was still Myron Barrett, but the other important positions were arranged by RBS.

Anyone with half an eye could see that although Myron Barrett was still chairman, whether he had real power depended on whether RBS gave it to him.

Despite this,

The new composition of the board of directors of the National Westminster Bank still caused an uproar after it was revealed.

In particular, a photo went viral.

In the photo, Myron Barrett looked full of spirit, with a very bright smile on his face.

Many people suddenly realised that they had to look at the Illuminati with a new perspective.

Perhaps the Illuminati is not a devil that eats people and spits out their bones, and George Berkeley is also willing to accept new friends, even if you were once an enemy of the Illuminati!

This is the effect Xia Yu wanted.

The Barrett family is a banner with a strong psychological effect.

Anyone can see that!

This is a conspiracy against the Rothschild family!

But I have to say, the Rothschild family really has no way out...

And the effect.

It's also surprisingly good...