Rebirth of England

Hearing Barron's words, Clara raised her eyebrows and said:

"That's a good idea, Your Highness the Duke. I don't think such a proposal will be approved by the antitrust investigation..."

Clara Firth’s view cannot be said to be wrong. At present, the merger between several exchanges with similar size will inevitably lead to antitrust investigations by relevant parties.

But what she did not expect was that during the subprime mortgage crisis more than three years later, in order to save the financial industry, the United States and the European Union would also appropriately relax such mergers and acquisitions.

But it was inconvenient for Barron to explain this matter to her.

"In addition, your bid is not in line with the true value of the London Stock Exchange."

Clara's words also indicate that Barron's 25% premium acquisition is not a price that can impress the London Stock Exchange...

“What if I pay a 50% premium?”

Barron looked at Clara and said.

After hearing Barron's latest offer, Clara Firth's expression finally changed slightly.

She pondered for a moment and finally said to Barron:

"This requires a final decision from our board of directors, Your Highness the Duke."

In addition, when Clara Firth met Barron this time, the things she talked about were not limited to the GII Fund’s acquisition of the London Stock Exchange.

"The listing of Summit Media on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange has been very successful. Your Highness, we also look forward to more of your industries being listed here, such as O2 Telecom and Argos Retail Group. Although these companies are subject to certain conditions, such as being listed by you, The operating years after the acquisition will be lower than our listing standards, but for these companies with excellent operating conditions, we at the London Stock Exchange can provide special channels."

"Is it like what Summit Media did back then?"

"Yes."

When Clara talked about encouraging O2 Telecom and Argos Retail Group to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Barron's heart moved, but he didn't continue on this topic too much:

"These companies will IPO, and my first choice will be the London Stock Exchange, but I need to wait until the right time."

Yes, when the time is right.

Now both O2 Telecom and Argos Retail Group are still in the stage of expanding their markets and developing rapidly...

In particular, O2 Telecom has completed the construction of mobile communications and broadband networks in France, and has also laid out part of the network in major cities in Germany. The number of users continues to increase. It is indeed not a good time to go public now. , it’s also difficult to get a valuation that satisfies Barron’s.

After all, at this stage, both O2 Telecom and Argos Retail Group are in the stage of "burning money" to grab the market. The financial data does not look very good. Once the users stabilize and the infrastructure is completed, they will enter the profit stage. At this stage, there will be better data, and the valuation obtained after listing will be higher.

Therefore, for O2 Telecom, Barron's plan is to wait until next year or 2006 to start the IPO listing process.

…

On the runway of the airport, parked is a large aircraft with a white fuselage and blue paint, "Devon Hill" and the coat of arms of the Devon Hill family, representing that this is Barron The newly arrived “big toy” is a private jet converted from a Boeing 747-430 airliner.

Compared with Barron's previous Gulfstream G450, this aircraft is simply a behemoth.

This can be clearly compared from the data of the two.

The Gulfstream G450 is 27.23 meters long and 7.67 meters high, with a rated passenger capacity of 12-16 people.

The Boeing 747-430 is 70.6 meters long, 19.4 meters high, and has a rated passenger capacity of 416 people...

The most important thing is that the Boeing 747 has a three-level cabin layout. In addition to the bottom level which can be used to load cargo and be used as a garage, there are two levels of space that can be modified.

Barron's Devonshire private jet has an oversized luxurious bedroom. The bed in the bedroom is more than three meters wide, and it also has a separate bathroom; in addition, there is a kitchen, office Area, entertainment area, rest area, and a conference room that can accommodate more than 15 people for simultaneous meetings...

In short, the layout of everything is completely different from his previous Gulfstream G450.

With this Devonshire, when Barron travels, in addition to having bodyguards and a service team of more than 20 people, he can also take a large business team with him.

Moreover, the fleet in the garage can also ensure that after landing, the vehicle will drive directly to the destination.

The only disadvantage is that the runway for this aircraft to take off and land needs to be more than 3,000 meters. This is often the highest level 4 airport that can have such a long runway.

The maximum take-off and landing distance of the Gulfstream G450 is only more than 1,600 meters, which can generally meet the requirements of level 3 or above airports.

Therefore, the Devonshire aircraft can only choose a relatively large airport to arrive.

After completing the handover of the aircraft, Barron will also begin his journey.

For this aircraft, Barron has hired a dedicated crew, including three stewardesses, who will be responsible for the operation of the Devonshire private jet.

The next day, the real maiden voyage of the Devonshire began. The first stop was from London to the Magic City of China.

Accompanying him, in addition to the accompanying team, was the "Sparkling Life" program recording team headed by Bonnie Stuart.

They will follow Barron's trip and film it as the material for the first issue of the new program "Sparkling Life".

The recording of the show started when they left their villa in Kensington, London.

Under the camera, Barron's accompanying team, under the command of personal assistant Laura Wong and life assistant Aaliyah, removed more than 100 suitcases from the villa...

Just these suitcases require a large truck to transport...

"Your Highness the Duke, today is the maiden flight of your new private jet, isn't it?"

In Barron's car, there are also cameras facing Barron and Bonnie, recording material at any time.

At this time, Bonnie got into work mode and became the host of the "Sparkling Life" program, interviewing Barron.

"Yes, Bonnie."

"Why would you think of buying such a huge passenger plane and converting it into a private jet?"

"I have experienced the private jet converted from a Boeing 747 owned by my friend Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia before. It is indeed very comfortable and convenient. This also allowed me to find the problem that has always been a headache for me, that is My previous private jet could accommodate too few passengers. Usually, when traveling, I had to reduce the number of people accompanying me, or let them fly on separate civil aviation planes and travel separately, which was very inconvenient. …”

Barron said calmly:

"It can't be said that it's all for enjoyment. Of course, this is also an undeniable reason, but for me, time is the most important thing. I can get a good rest during the intercontinental flight, or I can be at any time during the process. Among them, we can make timely responses and adjustments to some commercial information. Compared with the additional benefits that these conveniences can bring, the cost of purchasing an aircraft is completely worth it."

"To be honest, the first time I saw that plane, I was completely shocked. I believe that if the audience friends see it, they will have the same feeling..."