You are worth tens of billions before you come to the system?

The BlackRock manager was silent for a long time: "At a premium of 70%, all 4.8% of the shares we hold will be transferred to you."

If Merck is cornered, they can take a step called a counter-trade private placement of stock.

Through private placement, the weight of the shares in the hands of all shareholders is reduced, thereby buying a lot of time and leaving the final decision to the market.

If Lin Zitai succeeds in taking over Merck, he wants to merge two companies and will inevitably delist and reorganize.

If it's the former, they're just making less money.

If the latter is the case, not only will they not make any money, they will also lose a large amount of money.

Because companies are delisting and reorganizing, they generally adopt two plans: either repurchase the shares at the original issuance price, or wait for the reorganization to be completed and redistribute them on a pro-rata basis.

The reorganization of Novartis and Merck, two such large companies, will take a very long time.

During this period, the money was completely untouchable.

For institutions, liquid money is money, and illiquid funds are just a series of cold numbers on their accounts.

Lin Zitai said: "The maximum premium is 50%."

The BlackRock manager frowned and softened his tone slightly: "Mr. Lin, your price is too low. Even if we sell it in the secondary market, it won't be this low."

"4.5% of the shares are about 1.14 million shares. If they are sold through the secondary market and no one takes over, the stock price should fall to a very good number."

Lin Zitai smiled and looked out the window at the busy traffic. After a while, he stood up and said, "We are very sincere. I believe Merck will not give you such a high premium."

Merck's board of directors is not monolithic. According to Bohn, it was just a minority who obeyed the decision of the majority when they agreed to oppose the merger.

Lin Zitai and others dare to sell out all their funds just to acquire Merck, but they may not dare.

Merck has no real leader, and no one dares to make this decision, harming the interests of all shareholders, just to keep their power.

The biggest disadvantage of the board of directors is that it is easy for factions to compete for power and interests. Sometimes there are many decisions and it takes a long time to discuss the needs of all parties before finally making a decision.

After Mojin established the board of directors, Lin Zitai never inquired about official matters there, leaving all the power to Su Jiayue.

He is used to being strong and doesn't like to compromise.

If you have been dealing with official matters there, you may one day be unable to resist dissolving the board of directors, delisting and privatizing the company.

The BlackRock manager thought about it for a long time, and finally showed a relieved smile on his face: "Mr. Lin, I hope you can successfully acquire Merck."

Lin Zitai showed a kind smile: "Mr. Sberg, thank you for your kind words. I hope there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future."

“That’s what we at BlackRock hope for.”

Novartis invested US$241.69 billion and once again took 4.5% of the shares. The current total shareholding reached 26.6%, successfully overtaking the Merck board of directors by 0.6%.

Once the transfer contract between the two parties was signed, Lin Zitai immediately asked Parks to release the news and publicize it.

First, it puts pressure on State Street so that they don't dare to ask for high prices. The fewer shares they need, the more channels they have.

Second, it puts pressure on Merck's board of directors and further deepens their internal differences.

Third, it puts pressure on the market and prepares those who want to speculate on stock prices.

Because once a certain party announces that it has given up, or reaches an absolute shareholding, the stock price is bound to experience a plummet.

Lin Zitai's plan was very successful. Once the news was announced, the State Street fund manager who had tentatively scheduled a meeting in the afternoon contacted him in advance during the lunch break.

Given a 45% premium that Lin Zitai could not refuse, they held 4.3% of the shares, which also belonged to Novartis Investment.

Everyone was carrying the sedan chair, and the State Street manager was worried that Lin Zitai would contact others in advance. After all, 4.3% of the shares is not particularly large, nor does it play a key role.

Lin Zitai did not refuse and successfully won another victory. At the same time, he also released the news to the outside world again.

After two consecutive moves in one day, Novartis's shareholding has reached 30.9%, far ahead of Merck's board of directors.

The two pieces of news were announced at noon and evening Beijing time respectively, directly causing Fraser to stay up all night.

On the morning of October 10nd, American time.

Frazier, with dark circles under his eyes, convened the board of directors again and decided to issue private additional shares: "Now a show of hands!"

The previous pass rate of 75% dropped again, with only 60% of the votes voting in favor of the decision to issue private additional shares. Those directors who were in favor before now did not vote against it. They just gave up this choice.

In this way, Fraser will not be offended, and if Lin Zitai succeeds in taking over Merck, he will not be offended either.

It seems like a right-wing decision,

In fact, it has exposed the deepening of internal divisions.

Someone said bluntly: "Novartis is supported by Pioneer. I think a merger between the two companies is not a bad thing."

One plus one definitely equals more than two.

Merck, which has a peak market value of 4300 billion, plus Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which has a peak market value of 3100 billion, and Lin Zitai.

Maybe if they merge, they can create a super multinational pharmaceutical company with a market capitalization of one trillion US dollars.

The shares they hold can also rise, and changing leaders will not make much difference to them.

This proposal was approved by many people.

People with greater power will be more worried about losing power, or perhaps the power in their hands will be reduced.

On the other hand, some people who are neither high nor low hope to take advantage of this opportunity to reshuffle the cards and gain power.

Fraser's face was gloomy: "With a 60% pass rate, the private placement will be implemented immediately. An application will be submitted to the New York Stock Exchange. The resumption of trading will be delayed for another five days. The resumption of trading will be postponed to next Monday."

Merck is the literal translation of Chinese, it can also be called Merck, and his full name is Fraser Merck.

His ancestor, George Merck, founded the Merck Group 120 years ago. After 120 years of development, it has successfully stood on the top of the world.

Fraser Merck worked step by step, starting from the beginning as a salesman. It took him fifteen years to step by step to the board of directors and regain control of the Merck Group.

He would never allow his ancestral property to fall into the hands of outsiders.

Even without the support of Wall Street, the shares inherited from his family supported his final give-and-take.

……

At the same time, Lin Zitai also received an email from Merck Group, detailing the number of additional shares to be issued and the implementation plan.

Although Lin Zitai has not yet joined Merck, he is currently the largest individual shareholder of Merck Group.

He must be informed of all major board decisions.

Merck’s board of directors decided to issue an additional 6.375 million shares to the secondary market, with a total value of US$671.28 billion.

The total value of the shares held by all shareholders, including Lin Zitai, remained unchanged, but the weight dropped by 25%.

6.375 million shares will be distributed to the secondary market through winning lottery, targeting investors around the world.

Anyone with money can participate.

To put it simply, their shareholding has changed from the original 30.9% to 23.175%. At the same time, the total 26% held by Merck's board of directors has also become 19.5% today.

Frazier played a big game. If he lost control, he would rather not give up his shares and leave Merck with cash.

From the perspective of ordinary people, this may be a good choice.

But neither Lin Zitai nor the head of any company would agree to such a decision.

To put it nicely, it means cashing out and leaving. To put it badly, it means being kicked out.

What is the use of empty cash without the protection of the group and the lofty social status it brings?

No matter how much money a person can spend, even if he drinks and drinks every day and holds grand feasts, tens of billions of dollars cannot be spent in a lifetime.

Just like Lin Zitai back then, although he was very rich, he had no real industry or technology, just money.

The group went bankrupt when it said it was bankrupt. The government didn't even have the will to help, so it just watched it go bankrupt.

Looking back now, there is a funding gap for the acquisition of Merck.

400 billion US dollars, Bank of China will give it as promised, and there is no upper limit, and fully support the completion of Novartis's merger with Merck & Co.

This is the strength of support that comes with social status. (End of chapter)