My 1999

After Xu Liang arranged things one by one, he ended the meeting.

In the afternoon, he specially met with the Obaba couple to consolidate the relationship between the two parties.

Because the other party was a couple, Xu Liang also brought Fukuda Xinmei with him this time.

The latter's English is good, but he is not afraid of being unable to speak.

"Mr. Xu, thank you very much for your warm hospitality." Obaba said gratefully.

"You're welcome, please take a seat."

The two parties sat down on the sofa next to them.

The servants of the manor served coffee and tea to both parties.

"Mr. Obaba, did you have a good rest yesterday?"

"very good."

"Then I can rest assured. We Chinese people have always been hospitable, and it is my responsibility to entertain you two well." Xu Liang said with a smile.

Aubaba hesitated for a moment, "Mr. Xu, I have a question I would like to ask?"

"Speaking."

"I remember that yesterday was the first time that Mr. Xu and I met. We had never cooperated before, and it was impossible for us to be related by family ties.

So... why did you send me the precious invitation letter to Hanhua’s fund-raising reception? "

Xu Liang smiled, crossed his hands on his overlapping thighs, and leaned relaxedly on the back of the sofa.

"Actually, it's very simple. I am a businessman, and even more so an investor. In addition to high-quality company stocks and bonds, and futures with huge potential, the things I invest in include excellent talents.

Especially talents in the political field.

And Mr. Obama is the best talent in American politics. "

Xu Liang used a frank attitude to express his appreciation and praise.

Obaba's face showed joy.

Although he is a senator from Illinois, in the capitalist country of the United States, his status is still much lower than that of a top capitalist like Xu Liang who can first enter the presidential office and work side by side with Wall Street giants.

Being praised by the other party is indeed something that makes him happy.

"You're flattered, I'm just a state senator, and there are many people like me in the United States."

Xu Liang smiled and shook his head, "I believe in my own vision."

"Mr. Xu, thank you very much for your consideration."

"You're welcome. If you have trouble solving something in the future, you can call me for help."

As he spoke, he took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

"This is my personal number."

Aubaba quickly took it solemnly. After meeting the top celebrities at last night's banquet who usually only appeared in the news, he knew exactly what kind of energy this business card represented.

Even though they were going in both directions, the two parties had a pleasant conversation the rest of the time.

It wasn't until three o'clock in the afternoon that Xu Liang saw them off in person.

Watch the car drive away.

"Lu Hui, remember, three months later, in the name of Hongmeng, we will donate US$100,000 to the University of Chicago Medical Center where Michelle Obama works."

"100,000?"

"If you want to win a favor, you don't need to use too much at the beginning."

"yes."

"By the way, we can save a lot of tax by asking Hongmeng North America to add donations when filing taxes."

Obama is of great use to his development in the United States and even around the world, so of course he has to be willing to spend money, but the American assholes who smoke marijuana and play gunfights have nothing to do with him, and he doesn't want to give them a dime.

——

After receiving Xu Liang's instructions, Hongmeng Company quickly took the contract signed with GE and submitted an acquisition application to the U.S. Trade Commission, Ministry of Justice and other departments.

The news was exposed, and the entire American business community was in an uproar.

At this time, smart people have come to realize that Hongmeng has already reached an acquisition agreement with GE, and then played a trick in front of the French to retreat in order to advance.

It acquired all the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal in the United States for US$15 billion.

Although this price is not low, given Vivendi's current state of poverty, if two wealthy men, GE and Hongmeng, want to acquire Vivendi Global, they will definitely ask for a desperate price.

16 billion, 18 billion, or even 20 billion are possible.

"Oriental giant, Hongmeng acquires Universal Entertainment assets" - New York Times.

"Hongmeng shakes hands with GE and shares a feast - Vivendi Global" - Washington Post Fox TV Network.

"In an open world, the American dream becomes reality" - Yahoo News.

The media that received the amount of funds raised by Hanhua reported positively.

But there are also different voices, such as Disney’s ABC News.

"Beware of the conspiracy of GC against the United States and never let the world fall into the hands of the red Chinese"

Watching the news on TV, Xu Liang's eyes flashed with a trace of Yin veins.

He invited Disney CEO Michael Eisner to a dinner, but he didn't come.

Xu Liang didn't ask why. Even his strongest means couldn't bring him here, and other methods were even less possible.

"Mr. Xu, among the first-line media in the United States, except for Disney ABC and News Corporation's Fox TV network, all others are biased towards us." Lu Huidao.

Murdoch's FOX TV network is a well-known right-wing media. Xu Liang originally thought that this old and cunning guy would attend his cocktail party for the sake of the super high profits of the two Hanhua funds.

Unexpectedly, he didn't come in the end.

Despite some disappointment and dissatisfaction, Xu Liang also knew that he could not win everyone's love.

Some people just value status more than money.

You can't change it, you can only accept it.

Fortunately, most people still value money more.

Jingle Bell…….

The phone rang.

Xu Liang glanced at the caller ID, signaled Lu Hui to turn off the TV and press the answer button.

"Dear Jean, why do you have time to call me?" Xu Liang said enthusiastically.

"Xu, you are going too far. After all, Vivendi is also a shareholder of Hongmeng, and we are close friends. How could you join forces with GE to deceive me?"

complained Jean Foch.

Although he was dissatisfied, he would weigh the pros and cons.

When the deal is settled, venting anger at will will not bring any benefit except stalemate the relationship between the two parties.

"Dear Jean, you can't blame me for this. It was Mr. Immelt of GE who personally approached me and asked Hongmeng to withdraw from the competition. I didn't dare to offend GE, which has deep financial background and rich background, so I had no choice but to agree to their conditions. "

Xu Liang skillfully threw the pot away.

"Xu, Jeff Immelt said that too. So, which one of you is lying?"

"Dear Jean, you make me so sad. We have known each other for such a long time. Don't you still know who I am? Honesty and integrity are what everyone thinks of me. How could I lie to you?"

Jean Foch: “…”

Even if you want to lie, please be sincere.

Take a deep breath.

"Xu, you impressed me again."

"Haha, dear Jean, I can't help it, it's all for survival."

"Okay. This is what happened, and I accept it. But should you make it up to me?"

"OK, no problem. Water, garbage disposal, energy, transportation, telecommunications, whatever Vivendi wants to buy, I can buy it."

Xu Liang smiled.

As a super trust with more than 180,000 employees in more than 100 countries around the world, Vivendi's business is not just media.

Water affairs: The world's largest water treatment company, providing urban water supply and municipal and industrial sewage treatment services.

It has more than 10 million users in more than 100 countries around the world and supplies 4 trillion liters of drinking water every year. 30% of its turnover comes from industrial water treatment, with net sales of US$12 billion and 67,000 employees.

In terms of waste treatment: Onyx is the world's third and Europe's first comprehensive waste treatment company (ranked first in France and the United Kingdom), with a total service population of 50 million, 56,000 employees, and net sales of US$3.3 billion.

Transportation: Connex, Europe's largest private operating company, carries 1 billion passengers annually, occupies 17% of the UK's railway network, has net sales of US$2.5 billion, and has 34,000 employees.

Vivendi is also the only foreign company licensed to operate transportation in Australia.

In terms of energy: it controls Dalkia, the number one Dalkia group in Europe, and owns 45,000 heating networks around the world, 7,800 megawatts of electricity, and one of the top ten independent power plants in the world - Said Energy.

23,000 employees, total net sales: $4.4 billion.

Telecommunications: Controls Cegtel, France's leading private telecommunications operating company, which owns wireless and wireline telephones, Internet services, and paging services, with annual revenue of more than 5.8 billion US dollars and 16 million customers (mobile phones: 12 million, landline phones: 400 Ten thousand).

Therefore, although Vivendi sold the pan-entertainment business that it spent US$77 billion to acquire and devalued by half, the remaining part is still huge.

If Vivendi really wants to sell it, Xu Liang will decisively buy it even if it costs a little more money.

Although water services, garbage disposal, transportation, energy and telecommunications are not hugely profitable industries, they are more stable.

He currently has no shortage of profitable projects, but he lacks business that can generate stable cash flow.

Jean Foch hesitated but refused.

In the last life, after merging with GE's NBC, Vidywang only received US$3.8 billion in cash and 20% of NBC Universal's shares.

When the cash received was not enough, the telecommunications business was sold to Vodafone.

But it's different now.

Vivendi not only sold Vivendi Games, but also sold Universal Music together.

Because NBC and Universal failed to merge, Vivendi also failed to obtain equity.

But he received more than 10 billion US dollars in cash from Hongmeng and GE.

With such a huge cash flow, although it is not enough to repay all of Vivendi's debts, the debt ratio has dropped to a safe range.

There is no need to sell assets anymore.

"That's such a shame." Xu Liang sighed.

"Xu, we still have many opportunities to cooperate..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Liang interrupted.

"Dear Jean, what would you think if I acquired Vidhivan?"

Jean Foch was shocked, "You want to acquire Vivendi?!"

He would definitely sneer at what others said, but Xu Liang was different.

Although most of the people who attended the Hanhua fundraising dinner remained silent, some people who liked to show off spread the news.

The fact that Hanhua's two funds had a floating profit of nearly US$50 billion and a net income of US$33.5 billion shocked everyone who knew the news.

According to Hanhua's rules, Hanhua can share half of the net income of US$33.5 billion.

With this US$16.7 billion, it can acquire Vivendi, which still has debts of more than US$20 billion, without even adding leverage.

And others don't know it well, but he knows very well that Hanhua's money is only part of Xu Liang's cash flow. Behind him, there is a Hongyan Fund that no one knows how much money has been gathered.

Therefore, Xu Liang is not short of money.

"I'm quite interested. If you are interested, I can give you a preferential plan. I can even prepare a 'golden parachute' for all Vivendi's management."

Golden parachutes (also translated as golden parachutes) refer to the fact that as senior managers of enterprises, after losing their original jobs, the company provides them with generous financial protection. It first appeared in the United States.

“Gold” means generous compensation, and “parachute” means that executives can avoid the impact of changes in company control and achieve a smooth transition.

This strategy of causing acquirers to “bleed” is one of the anti-takeover “poison pill plans”.

Its principle can be extended to apply to operators’ retirement compensation for various reasons.

These compensations include stock options, bonuses, severance pay, etc.

Although 'golden parachutes' were not popular within French companies, Jean Foch knew what they meant.

He even felt that Xu Liang was really preparing to acquire Vivendi.

Even the golden parachute, something that would cause the acquirer to bleed a lot of money, was taken out. It was so sincere.

"Xu, this is so unexpected. I need to calm down and think about it carefully."

"Of course. Dear Jean, you have plenty of time to think about it."

After a hasty goodbye, Jean Foch hung up the phone.

"Mr. Xu, do we really want to acquire Vivendi?"

"I haven't mastered Lianqiu and Hynix, so how can I think about planning Vivendi?"

"What did you just...?"

"If I don't knock that old guy unconscious, he will have to pester me to compensate. Now is a critical period for Hongmeng to acquire Universal. It would be better to reduce the unexpected factor." Xu Liang said.

The acquisition plan he proposed would make Foch, an old man, scratch his scalp for several days.

"By the way, let the Kunpeng prepare and fly to Tokyo in three days."

"Mr. Xu, are we leaving the United States?" Lu Hui said in surprise.

"Um."

"What about Universal's acquisition...?"

"I have already done everything that I should do and can do. Now I just leave it to the acquisition team of the head office. I don't need to keep an eye on it anymore." Xu Liang said.

He has already played the best card in his hand.

If he still can't acquire Universal, then he has no choice.

Dong Dong…….

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The manor housekeeper came in.

"Sir, Miss Christina and Miss Helen would like to see you."

"Where are they?"

"Just outside the gate."

Xu Liang had a headache, these two women were too persistent.

"Just entertain me and say I'm not here."

The housekeeper hesitated for a moment, "Sir, the two ladies said they have something very important to tell you, related to the acquisition of Universal Entertainment."

Xu Liang was startled, "They really said that?"

"Yes."

After Xu Liang thought for a while, "You take them to my study."

The acquisition of Universal Entertainment is his most pressing matter right now, and as long as there is a slight possibility of accelerating the resolution, he is willing to listen.

Moreover, as the legitimate daughter of the Montes family, Helen Montes must know some secret information that he does not know.

"Mr. Xu, do you need me to avoid it?" Lu Hui said.

She knew exactly what those two women had in mind.

She once had the same idea, but with an average appearance and figure, she was quite self-aware and gave up the idea of ​​getting a higher position early on, and settled down to be her assistant to the president.

This kind of peace of mind is the main reason why she can stay with Xu Liang.

"Need not."

Xu Liang has no intention of hunting for beauty now.