Rebirth of England.

Chapter 903 Respect
Of course, this kind of project would take the government ten to eight years to discuss, so even if Barron took over, it would be impossible to start working on it right away.

After their meeting, Barron formed a relevant team and negotiated with the British government on the many procedures for taking over the High-Speed ​​Rail Line 2.

In addition, Cavendish Trust and Alstom jointly proposed an acquisition for Bombardier.

According to their plan, after completing the acquisition of Bombardier, Bombardier will be split up, with its aviation business sold to Standard Aerospace under Standard Defense Group; and its railway business will be merged with Alstom's railway business.

Bombardier's situation is not good at the moment, so as long as their bid is "reasonable", there is a high possibility that Bombardier's board of directors will agree to the acquisition.

The key is to see the opinion of the European Union. Therefore, at the same time as proposing the acquisition, Alstom also communicated with the European Union about the acquisition of Bombardier.

In the EU, this acquisition will be promoted by Britain and France. As for Germany, although Siemens certainly does not want to see Alstom acquire Bombardier...

"I am also willing to promote the merger of the railway businesses of Alstom and Siemens, but compared with the acquisition of Bombardier, the merger with Siemens will be subject to stricter EU antitrust review and will be difficult to be approved..."

Barron said this during a phone call with Merkel:

"So if Siemens is willing to sign a contract to compensate Alstom 10 billion euros if the merger fails, I can suspend the acquisition of Bombardier..."

It should be noted that if Alstom and Bombardier's rail businesses merge, their market share in the European regional train sector will exceed 45% (Bombardier about 24%, Alstom about 22%), which is the main consideration that the EU needs to consider in reviewing this merger.

But if Alstom merges with Siemens, their market share in the European regional train sector will exceed 50%...

Not only that, because high-speed trains and railway signal systems are Siemens' main business, if Siemens and Alstom's railway businesses are merged, their market share in this field will exceed 90%!

This was the main reason why the EU vetoed the merger between the two parties in Barron's previous life.

But Siemens cannot give up this core business, so it cannot compromise in this regard.

Baron can certainly try to push for a merger of Alstom and Siemens' railway businesses, but this is much more difficult than acquiring Bombardier. The 10 billion euro compensation he proposed for a failed merger is also based on this reason - such compensation is very common in the history of global mergers and acquisitions and is not an excessive demand.

"I'll pass on your opinion."

This was the only answer Merkel could give. As for whether to accept it, that was something Siemens needed to consider.

Although Siemens is a German industrial giant, Bombardier's railway business is also almost entirely in Germany. Therefore, for Merkel, although she hopes to facilitate the merger of Siemens and Alstom's railway businesses, this will be a giant company called "Airbus on rails."

But if the next best option is to integrate Alstom's rail business with Bombardier's, she would not be unacceptable.

……

"what is this?"

"A plan. I hope to expand the Sinclair Group's business, so I need to make an acquisition, Ms. TP..."

Facing Ivanta's puzzled gaze, John Smith suppressed his excitement and said to her in a relaxed tone:
"Of course, as a major shareholder of the Sinclair Group, as a sign of respect, I need to get your approval before this."

After looking deeply at John Smith, Ivanta picked up the document and began to flip through it. As she flipped through the pages, her brows slightly furrowed.

John Smith, on the other hand, observed her expression calmly, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. "I have a question, Mr. Smith..."

Holding the folder in his hand, Ivanta asked:
"According to this...plan, Sinclair Group hopes to acquire Forum Media Group?"

"Yes, if this acquisition can be completed, Sinclair Group will have more than 220 TV stations, becoming one of the largest TV networks in the United States. I am very optimistic about the profitability of sports programs..."

"Then first..."

Ivanta interrupted John Smith:
"At present, Forum Media Group belongs to Fox. Regardless of whether they are willing to sell it or not, you can see that sports programs are profitable, so there is no reason why Fox cannot see it. Even if Fox is willing to sell it, it must offer a high premium price, which is probably not something that Sinclair Group can afford. I don't want a financial crisis to happen again..."

Hearing Ivanta's words, which alluded to the Sinclair family's previous difficulties due to loans, John Smith's dead memory seemed to be revived again, and his expression became uncontrollably ugly:

"Not this time, because we have a reliable partner..."

"A reliable partner?"

Ivanta smiled and said calmly:
"That's my other question. Even if Sinclair Group wanted to make this acquisition, in terms of funding, not only IC Capital, but other major shareholders could also provide it. We could even have a safe plan through a leveraged buyout. Why did it end up with the plan I saw here?"

Seeing the other party close the folder and throw it on the table mercilessly, as if it were a piece of trash, John Smith felt his upper and lower teeth grinding, and he took a deep breath:

"As you just said, this is the best solution to prevent Sinclair Group from having an excessively high debt ratio."

"Oh? If it is like this, Vanguard Group provides funds to acquire Forum Media Group, and 50% of these funds are exchanged for Sinclair Group shares, and the other 50% are used to purchase Sinclair Group's preferred shares... As a result, Vanguard Group will become the largest shareholder of Sinclair Group. Then I want to ask, is it Sinclair Group that acquires Forum Media Group, or Vanguard Group that acquires Sinclair?"

"As for the distribution ratio of these funds between stocks and preferred stocks, it can still be negotiated, and Vanguard Group has no intention of controlling Sinclair Group. They just regard this action as a financial investment..."

John Smith stood up and said:
"Of course, as a sign of respect, I will communicate with IC Capital and DS Holdings in advance..."

"I will not agree to this plan, and I believe DS Holdings will not think this is a plan that is in the interests of Sinclair Group shareholders."

John Smith was not surprised at all when he heard Ivanta's words. He shrugged his shoulders:

"If that's the case, then it can only be decided through a shareholders' meeting. We will hold a shareholders' meeting here tomorrow morning to vote on this plan. I hope you can attend then, Ms. TP."

Until Ivanta stood up and left his office without hesitation, John Smith thought about Ivanta's performance just now, and couldn't help but feel a little indignant about her dominance:

"I'm the chairman of the Sinclair Group, asshole!"

Then, he smiled again, somewhat looking forward to the expression on the face of the eldest daughter of the TP family tomorrow.

When his eyes fell on his latest Mate 7 phone on the table, he picked up the phone:
"Lacey, help me buy an iPhone, the latest model..."

"5S isn't on sale yet? Damn it, Mate has already gone to 7, so I'll just buy an iPhone 5, yeah, the best configuration."

(End of this chapter)