Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 720 [Double Beads]

The next day, Sophie Marceau followed Lin Zuhui to take a private plane to Milan.

For Italy, Lin Zuhui is full of favors, because he has two brands that were acquired from Italy - Gucci and Fila; at present, Gucci's headquarters is still in Milan, and although Fila's headquarters has moved to the United States, Italy still remains. Has a European headquarters.

Gucci has been performing well since the acquisition by Barings Bank, and has made great progress in acquisitions. So far, it is very satisfactory; Gucci’s acquisitions are generally European design studios and manufacturers (leather, textiles, etc.), Rather than other brands, the purpose is to strengthen the supply chain of the Gucci brand.

In Lin Zuhui's heart, Gucci corresponds not to LVMH, but to Chanel.

Arnault, the president of LVMH Group, came to Gucci headquarters and couldn't help but secretly annoyed.

At the beginning, he intended to acquire Gucci, but Barings Bank took the lead; last year, LVMH Group intended to acquire the Italian luxury brand 'Fendi', and met Gucci again.

The two bought Fendi shares in the secondary market at the same time, which naturally caused an increase in costs. The important thing is that Arnault does not want Gucci to expand the brand, because he is worried that Lin Zuhui will fully enter the luxury group.

Who is Lin Zuhui?Arnault understands very well that he is also the richest man in the world who made his fortune through acquisitions. If he fully enters the luxury goods group, it is hard to imagine that he will be the strongest opponent of the LVMH Group, which is far more threatening than the single brand of Gucci and Chanel.

Just in time, Arnault wanted to take advantage of the outbreak of the 911/[-] incident and the global economic downturn, and took the opportunity to buy the shares of Fendi held by Gucci and completely take down Fendi.

In the conference room, Gucci President Robert led the team and received Arnault and his party.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Arnault got straight to the point: "President Robert, the purpose of our visit this time is to buy the Fendi stock in your hands, and I hope you will be successful. After all, if the two of us continue to argue, neither of us will be able to achieve our goal; And now, we hold 30% of the shares, you are definitely not as high as us."

Robert showed a generous smile. He knew that the boss never thought of taking Fendi from the beginning to the end. This deal was just to take advantage of the opportunity to rob the stock market.

"President Arnault, we have communicated beforehand that we do intend to sell it, but we will never sell it at a low price. We will not back down if we say $5 million."

"The global economy is in a downturn, and we cannot accept this price."

"Haha, President Arnault was joking. The global economic downturn is short-lived. Moreover, if we make a big acquisition in Fendi's secondary market at this time, we may be the first to achieve a controlling stake; or, we hold 21% of the equity in our hands for a long time. , and take the opportunity to increase part of the holdings, I believe that in this way, you will not be willing."

Everyone knows that what Arnault likes most is to hold a company first, such as holding 35% or 51% of the shares, and then take the opportunity to slowly increase the shares.

So this time, if we only hold 30% of the shares, it will obviously be very unsuccessful. LVMH Group is obviously not just an investor. After all, what they are good at is sending group management and designers to change the acquired company.

The two sides were fighting each other, but Robert insisted not to let go, because the boss said that Arnault wanted Fendi very much, and he would definitely give this price.

And Gucci can obtain a net profit of about 21 million US dollars by selling 8000% of its shares. There is no such good opportunity in this world.

Arnault was indeed very annoyed. The determination of the Gucci team made him very annoyed, but he had to admit that he wanted to get a controlling stake in Fendi.

In the end, Arnault could only obediently agree to the price of 5000 million US dollars higher than expected.

Lin Zuhui was very proud when he came to Gucci headquarters.

When he came to the office, he talked with President Robert and creative director Tom Ford.

First of all, Lin Zuhui said: "The September 911 incident broke out, and luxury goods are expected to have a weak period, but we don't need to worry. Gucci's potential is huge, and it is far from being released."

Robert and Tom Ford nodded one after another. They admired Lin Zuhui's eyes.

In fact, Lin Zuhui and Barings Bank rarely intervene in Gucci's operations, almost handing over full authority to Robert and Tom Ford.However, these two people also admire Lin Zuhui very much, and have always attached great importance to Lin Zuhui's opinions.

Because of this, Lin Zuhui is considering a question, that is, Tom Ford's contract will expire in June 2004, will he leave like his previous life.

The reason why the previous life could not agree was that Kering Group did not want the power of the president and creative director to be greater than that of the group. This was a dispute over management rights; the second reason was salary.

At this time, Tom Ford's annual salary is 600 million U.S. dollars, and there are also a large number of stock options, which are expected to be worth more than 1 million U.S. dollars.

Of course, he is worth the price, because Gucci was driven by Tom Ford.

Therefore, Lin Zuhui then said directly: "Tom, I want to complete the contract renewal with you ahead of schedule!"

Tom Ford was taken aback, and said, "Boss, I still have two and a half years before the flag is full, so it's hard to answer this question now. But I can tell you that I regard Gucci as a career, not a job."

Lin Zuhui smiled and said: "So, we have the best conditions for contract renewal. As for the treatment, you know, I am not a stingy boss. You can ask Barings Bank for the conditions, and I will do my best to renew the contract. Of course, The reason why I want to renew the contract in advance is because I want you to incubate a brand internally for Gucci, which is the brand you created; at the same time, I hope you cultivate or tap young assistants, or share your responsibility in Gucci brand affairs. Designers, I suggest you pay attention to Fendi's female designer Frida Giannini."

He is not directing blindly, but is very professional in the layout. After all, he has been in business for so many years, and he is extremely smart, and he is no stranger to the field of luxury goods.

Tom Ford saw Lin Zuhui's sincerity, and Barings Bank actually delegated power to Robert and him, so he became a little moved.It is his own idea to incubate his own brand within Gucci.And he can see that Lin Zuhui is very serious and generous, so he doesn't have to worry about remuneration.

"Okay, I will seriously think about this question! As for Frida Giannini, I am very impressed with her, she is indeed better, and I will win her over."

Selling Fendi's shares to LVMH Group at a high price, and immediately poaching Fendi's female designers, is undoubtedly an opponent.Not enough LVMH has no shortage of designers, and they pay more attention to the designers trained by the LVMH Group, so there is no problem.

Lin Zuhui nodded with a smile. Tom Ford is very influential in the fashion industry, which is equivalent to the Lafayette of Chanel; in addition, after leaving Gucci in the previous life, the brand created by others is worth billions of dollars, which shows that others deserve high rewards .

"Gucci will re-list in about five years, you can consider your own conditions!"

"Thank you boss"

Tom Ford said sincerely that he understood what Lin Zuhui said, that he could consider giving incentive equity.

Robert on the side is not very jealous. He is definitely not paid as much as Tom Ford. The president of luxury goods is not as effective as the creative director, let alone Tom Ford, who has made great contributions to breaking down Gucci; It's also very generous, and it also has stock options.

Then, Lin Zuhui said to Tom Ford: "This time, you have made a huge profit of 8000 million US dollars from the LVMH group. You can consider acquiring a brand. Although we will focus on Gucci, it does not prevent us from cultivating and acquiring promising brands. For Gucci The brand complements."

Robert nodded and said, "Okay, Tom and I will look for the target!"

What kind of brand is worth buying, Tom Ford also has a say.

Seeing that there was no conflict between the two, Lin Zuhui felt relieved.

(End of this chapter)