Start from 1980

Chapter 997

It has been 1979 years since Mrs. Savage was elected as the British Prime Minister in May 5.

In the past 10 years, the British economy has developed somewhat, and Mrs. Sarva's macroeconomic policies have achieved certain results.

However, her prescription did not cure Britain's "root disease", but instead brought the British economy into a new predicament.

Coupled with the disasters encountered in the 87 stock market crash, she and her staff had to accept loans from Standard Chartered Bank.

James proposed to take over Vodafone publicly, so she had to stand up and not be an ostrich.

Since 88, Britain's foreign trade has deteriorated sharply, and the foreign trade deficit has increased sharply, which has stimulated the continuous rise of domestic inflation.

In 88, the UK's foreign trade deficit reached 144 billion pounds, which accounted for 3.7% of GDP.

Last year, it directly exceeded 150 billion pounds.

也就是说从88年的2月份至去年6月份的16个月中，通货膨胀率由3.3%上升至8.3%。

To put it in layman's terms, life is hard.

Although the debt repayment date agreed with Standard Chartered Bank has not yet arrived, it is still very difficult to repay the debt. After all, it is not 200 pounds, but a full 200 billion U.S. dollars.

So Thatcher began to meet with James and Whit.

Even if she wants to watch from the sidelines, she still has to show her attitude.

Pretending not to ask is inappropriate.

10 Downing Street.

Since the 18th century, it has been the official residence and office of successive British prime ministers.

James and Whitt came as promised.

Waiting for Thatcher's summons.

Looking at James in front of him, Whit narrowed his eyes: "Is James from Standard Chartered right? I don't know what your purpose and idea are for acquiring Vodafone, but I can tell you that this acquisition will definitely end without a problem."

"Mr. Whitt, I don't intend to refute your opinion, but you may not know the strength of our Standard Chartered, and the 20% equity that you sold to the outside world has been sold one after another."

James smiled and said, "We are a normal acquisition, and there is no hostile acquisition."

Whit didn't believe what James said, and said, "We will definitely kill your acquisition plan in the bud."

Because he has already planned to open a business data transmission business, it is naturally impossible to hope to be hostilely acquired at this time, and this is intolerable.

James shrugged, "I don't think so, and instead of the two of us talking here, it's better to see if those shareholders are willing to sell."

Whit snorted disdainfully, but he thought that after going back, he must lobby those shareholders so that they would not fall into the tricks of Standard Chartered Bank.

The conversation between the two broke up unhappy, and at the same time the secretary also came to inform them and let them enter the office.

When she came to the office, Mrs. Thatcher, who was sitting in front of the office, said, "Sit down, gentlemen."

"Thank you."

The two thanked each other and carefully sat on the stool.

"Mr. James, I want to know why you suddenly want to acquire Vodafone Telecommunications Company. Haven't you always been in the banking industry?" Mrs. Thatcher asked.

For these bankers, she feels a headache. Although the UK is biased towards liberal economic policies, you can't always operate across banks and do so with such fanfare.

After all, Standard Chartered Bank has acquired many companies in the UK, such as General Electric and Power Company and Steel Company.

However, it seems that it is not a bad thing to intervene in Vodafone now. Whether it is Thatcher or other politicians, they hope that this company can stay in the UK.

If such a large company leaves the UK, it will be an ominous signal for other investors.

It will also make others look down on the British economy.

She wondered about Standard Chartered's motivations for buying Vodafone.

James replied: "Ma'am, the reason why we want to buy Vodafone is because we think this company has a good investment prospect and they have a first-class management team."

These words brought a smile to Whit's face. Although he was admitted by an enemy, it also proved that he was very capable.

James continued: "And we think that Mr. Whit is a very respectable gentleman. Under his leadership, Vodafone has developed so well, which has a lot to do with his ability.

However, Standard Chartered Bank is strong, and the cooperation with Vodafone will usher in a new starting point for Vodafone. At the same time, we will not only increase the stock price of Vodafone, but also be willing to retain the rights of Mr. Whitt and others in the new company.

We just invest and do not interfere with the company's development. "

Thatcher nodded, and said: "Your bank is indeed strong, but the acquisition is not what you say, someone else will sell it. I believe you know this too."

"Yes ma'am."

"Mr. Whit, do you think it is necessary for Vodafone to introduce Standard Chartered Bank?" Mrs. Thatcher looked at Whit.

Whit hurriedly shook his head into a rattle drum: "Madam, the current Vodafone is developing well, and there is no need to introduce Standard Chartered Bank, and we also have enough funds for the next step of development."

"OK, I already know your thoughts, but the government cannot intervene in the takeover, because you are not an independent state-run enterprise like BT." Mrs Thatcher said, "But we also oppose hostile takeovers."

Both James and Whit understood the meaning of these words.

"Okay ma'am, we won't carry out a hostile takeover." James said, "Ma'am, I won't disturb your office."

Whit also stood up to say goodbye.

The two came out of the office together, and Whit said to James, "Mr. James, if you continue to carry out the hostile merger plan, you will be retaliated by our company."

"Mr. Whitt, I think you must have misunderstood our intentions." James said with a smile on his face, "We have always made acquisitions with good intentions, and I can assure you and your company's management and employees that the company's prospects will become better after the merger. good."

Whit snorted and turned to leave.

The two broke up again.

James continued to be busy carrying out his boss's orders, investing heavily in real estate, regardless of London, Cambridge, Liverpool or other big cities, as long as there was land, he would buy it.

By the way, I also bought a villa for the boss, just in Hertfordshire, where the top manors and super luxury houses in the UK gather.

It takes only 20 minutes by train from Hutt to King's Cross station in central London.

Covers an area of ​​17 acres!

That is 1700 square meters.

If you have money, you create.

……

Princess Anne and Phillips have been separating since last year.

As for the queen's former aide-de-camp, Tim Lawrence, she has also been left behind by her, and she has an in-depth cultural exchange with Mr. Su, who sent the gun thousands of miles away.

At this point, the two had finished a Chinese-English cultural exchange.

It has to be said that Princess Anne's voice is quite high, almost comparable to a soprano.

"Damn guy, why do you bring a different feeling every time?" Princess Anne bit Su Chen's shoulder.

Su Chen smiled and said: "People always need to know more things in order to gain a better foothold in this world. Or, let's try some new content?"

"No, I still have a lot of things to do." Princess Anne said, "There is a charity party waiting for me tonight."

"It doesn't take much time, at most another hour is enough."

Although Princess Anne can be regarded as the busiest member of the royal family and participates in countless royal activities every year, she never discloses some things related to British secrets.

It can't play any role, because the British royal family is only used as a symbol of cohesive national strength. Although it still has greater power under the law, the royal family does not actually use power.

As for how much wealth the royal family has, no one can tell, not even the royal family members themselves.

It is said that in order to calculate how rich they are, the British royal family once organized a working group composed of accountants and various experts to conduct a thorough liquidation of the royal family's assets since the 80s and register them.

After 15 years, the work was finally completed in 1999.

In the end, the group published the results of their work in two volumes, "Official List of Royal Family Assets".

The two lists, priced at $1700, not only record the royal family's property, but also record many anecdotes related to these treasures.

In other words, the British royal family has so much money that it takes a working group 15 years to count it!

After some in-depth communication in Chinese and English, the two parted temporarily.

It is inappropriate for Annie to take Su Chen to the banquet, and it will also bring trouble to the royal family.

Su Chen chose to go to Chinatown in London to see the world.

The Chinatown here is not big, consisting of a main street and several side streets, not far from Buckingham Palace and the prime minister's office at No. 10 Downing Street.

I found a Chinese restaurant that was said to be famous. Just as I stepped into it, a girl suddenly trotted out of it and passed Mr. Su.

"Catch her!"

When Su Chen gave an order, Frank immediately reached out and held the girl down.

"What are you doing? Let me go, let me go!" The girl kept struggling, causing the people around her to look sideways.

Su Chen walked up to her, took a look at her, and said, "You don't learn well at a young age."

As she spoke, she pulled out her hand that had been hidden under her coat, holding a black wallet...

(End of this chapter)