My 1999

Return to your hotel.

"Mr. Xu, I'm afraid it will be difficult for this acquisition to come to fruition in a short period of time." Xia Wei said.

Xu Liang nodded. Vivendi only wants money now. After getting their quotation, it will definitely leak it to Microsoft and Sony as soon as possible, and then wait for the bidding from the two.

By the same token, if their bid is higher than Hongmeng, Vivendi will definitely disclose it to them.

Jean Foch would not sell the Vivendi game without squeezing all its value out of it.

"Fortunately, Nintendo withdrew, otherwise this negotiation would have been more difficult." Xu Liang sighed.

Xia Wei nodded in agreement.

The day before their visit to Vivendi, Nintendo officially withdrew from the competition.

"Leave a few people in Paris to take care of liaison. You can go back to Dublin. The operation of the European subsidiary depends on you. You can't be away for too long."

Xia Wei nodded, "Mr. Xu, when will you leave?"

"I will stay for a few days to see Vivendi's movements. If there is still no result, it will not be too late to leave."

"OK."

As Xu Liang originally expected, Vivendi made no move after receiving his quotation.

When Lu Hui called, she just said perfunctorily that she was still thinking about it and asked them to wait for a while, and the result would be available soon.

Obviously, Vivendi is still waiting for a price.

Xu Liang couldn't make Vidhiwang, who was obsessed with making money, compromise in a short time.

It's impossible to wait here forever.

"Richard, I'll leave Paris to you."

Xu Liang looked at the tall middle-aged white man in front of him and explained.

"Please rest assured, I will tell you as soon as possible if there is any news." Richard Sanders said respectfully.

He is the vice president of Hongmeng Europe and is responsible for the French business.

After Xia Wei returned to Dublin, he was left to be in charge of liaison between Hongmeng and Vivendi, and to recruit personnel to prepare for the establishment of Hongmeng's French subsidiary.

"I'm waiting for your good news."

After patting him on the shoulder, Xu Liang boarded his private jet.

Things are almost busy here in Europe, and it’s time to leave.

After leaving Paris, his next destination was New York.

After a seven-hour flight, he came to New York for the third time.

Checked into the New York Plaza Hotel.

"Mr. Xu, when is the meeting with Mr. Chu Gang scheduled?"

"Ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Where is the location?" Lu Hui asked immediately.

“Has the location of Hanhua Capital’s New York office been chosen?”

"It's already been chosen. It's at No. 1184 Greenwich."

Greenwich is a gathering place for American hedge funds. Hedge fund giants including Bridgewater have their companies here.

After 9/11, it was only 60 kilometers away from New York, with convenient transportation, and the property tax was only 1.2%. The beautiful environment of Greenwich became the first choice of hedge funds.

When Hanhua Capital entered New York, it also placed the address of its branch headquarters here.

Just when Xu Liang was about to ask about the company's formation, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

Picked it up, looked at it, and pressed the answer button.

"BOSS, I'm Richard Sanders."

"Is there any change at Vivendi?"

"Yes. Google joined the competition with an offer of $2.9 billion."

"Google? Are you sure you're right?!" Xu Liang said in surprise.

"Yes. I see Eric Schmidt, the president of Google, here, and Vivendi is selling high prices to promote competition, and there is no way it is cheating us on this."

Xu Liang nodded.

"BOSS, do we want to increase the price?"

"Don't give it a try for now, let's wait and see what Microsoft and Sony do."

Given Vivendi's greedy nature, it will not sign a contract unless it is sure that no new competitors will join.

"OK."

"Keep an eye on Google. If there is any trouble, remember to notify me as soon as possible."

After explaining, Xu Liang hung up the phone.

His brows were furrowed.

The emergence of Google was completely beyond his expectation. Google has no gaming business at all, and it has no capital to compete for Vivendi Games. It is really unexpected to suddenly intervene this time.

Xu Liang paced back and forth in the hall and pondered for a while.

He took out his phone and called Jean Foch.

The phone that always took a long time to get through before was answered quickly this time.

"Mr. Xu, it is really a pleasure to receive your call."

Xu Liang could feel the excitement in his tone.

This is also easy to understand.

The emergence of new competitors means that Vivendi Games can sell for higher prices.

"Mr. Foch, it seems that you have been waiting for my call for a long time."

"NO, NO, Mr. Xu misunderstood. I didn't wait for your call anymore, but was planning to call you. Unexpectedly, you called me before I made a move. We really have a tacit understanding."

There's a tacit understanding, it's all for money.

After cursing secretly in his heart, Xu Liang suppressed the anger in his heart and said quickly.

"Mr. Foch, I heard that Google has joined the competition of Vivendi Games?"

"Yes. This is what I was about to tell Mr. Xu. I didn't expect you to get the news so quickly."

Xu Liang directly skipped these proud words.

"Mr. Foch, you may not know clearly. Although Google has developed well in recent years, their revenue is not high, and the overall value is not even as good as Vivendi Games.

There is no money to buy it, so don’t be fooled. "

"Haha, please rest assured, Mr. Xu. We have verified Google's qualifications, and Citibank has proven that they have US$1.5 billion in cash in their account. If they use a leveraged buyout model, they are indeed capable of acquiring Vivendi Games."

Xu Liang knew that Foch would not lie to him in this regard.

Taking a deep breath, a cold look flashed in his eyes.

"I understand, thank you Mr. Foch for informing me."

"Mr. Xu, I personally prefer to sell Vivendi Games to Hongmeng, but after all, the company is not mine alone, and I have to respect everyone's opinions, so you should give it more consideration.

But I promise, even if you pay 10 million US dollars more than Google's offer, I will sell the Vivendi game to you. "

"This greedy bastard." Xu Liang said after cursing in his mind, "Thank you, I will seriously consider it."

Jean Foch did not expect Xu Liang to update his quotation immediately.

After a brief chat, he hung up the phone.

Xu Liang held his cell phone and began to think deeply.

Although Google has now shown its potential as a giant, it has not been able to raise US$1.5 billion in cash on its own.

"Something must have happened in between."

Xu Liang said.

Recalling my connections in the United States, I finally found Dan Bailey and made a call.

As the president and chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch, Dan Bailey is undoubtedly a Wall Street giant. With Merrill Lynch's channels, most things in the U.S. financial circle cannot be hidden from him.

Moreover, Merrill Lynch is one of the largest EPs of Qinglong Fund, so he will not hesitate to tell him some inside information.

The phone rang for a while and then connected.

"Mr. Xu, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bailey. I didn't disturb your work, did I?"

"Of course not. A call from Mr. Xu at any time is not considered an intrusion."

After saying 'thank you', Xu Liang quickly said: "Mr. Bailey, I wonder if you have time in the evening? If so, can we have a light meal together?"

"Mr. Xu is in New York?"

"Just arrived this morning."

"That's great, I'd be more than happy to keep the appointment."

"I'll send the time and location to your phone shortly."

"OK."

"See you tonight?"

"See you tonight."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Liang turned around and asked Lu Hui.

"Call Xie Wen immediately and ask him to check whether Google has received investment recently."

"OK."

——

New York Plaza Hotel restaurant private room.

"Mr. Xu, we meet again."

Dan Bailey laughed.

Holding the right hand that the other party extended, Xu Liang smiled and said, "Mr. Bailey, welcome."

After a brief greeting, the two sat down.

After ordering the food, Xu Liang didn't hesitate.

"Does Mr. Bailey know anything about Google?"

"Of course, many investment institutions are now looking for excellent Internet targets, and there are very few outstanding ones in Google."

"Really? So Merrill Lynch also invested in them?"

Dan Bailey shook his head. "We couldn't compete with DFJ, Goldman Sachs and Carlyle."

After secretly saying "Sure enough".

"I heard Google raised $1.5 billion in cash?"

"1.5 billion US dollars? No, no, they raised US$900 million in cash at a total valuation of 55 times net profit and 6 billion, not US$1.5 billion."

Xu Liang frowned and thought to himself: "Did Jean Foch lie to me? It shouldn't be."

Looking at Xu Liang, Dan Bailey smiled slightly.

"Although Google's Series C financing failed to raise US$1.5 billion in cash, they issued a US$600 million ABS asset-backed bond through Goldman Sachs with the company's future profits under the guarantee of Oracle."

"Oracle?!"

Xu Liang's expression changed.

Finally we know who is behind the scenes.

"Larry Ellison is an arrogant and vindictive guy, and Google is Hongmeng's competitor. When they join forces, Mr. Xu must be careful." Dan Bailey said with a smile.

Xu Liang was silent for a moment, then picked up the wine glass on the table.

"Mr. Bailey, I respect you. Thank you for providing me with this valuable information."

Dan Bailey picked up his glass with a smile and said, "Mr. Xu, you're welcome. Hanhua and Merrill Lynch have a good cooperative relationship, and it's natural for them to share their needs."

He has always been optimistic about Xu Liang's future, especially his talent in finance.

That's why he told the news he knew without reservation.

"Merrill Lynch will always be Hanhua's best partner." Xu Liang said.

Dan Bailey smiled, "Mr. Xu, Google has raised such a large amount of money and will become a strong competitor of Hongmeng in the international market. Coupled with the impact of Yahoo, Amazon and other companies, you also need to start Series B financing to cope with It’s the future.”

Xu Liang smiled and said: "Mr. Bailey is right. We at Hongmeng have decided to launch Series B financing in June next year. I will send a special invitation letter to Merrill Lynch at that time."

After getting what he wanted, Dan Bailey smiled with satisfaction.

"I'm looking forward to Mr. Xu's email."

"must."

"cheers."

"cheers."

After both the guests and the host had a good time, Xu Liang sent Dan Bailey away.