Chapter 55: Chapter 55 1 Pound
"Baby, why do you seem to be in a bad mood?"
During dinner, Barron held Bonnie's hand and asked gently.
"Sorry, dear, a little work matter..."
"You've been doing pretty well at work lately, haven't you? I mentioned before that Sky TV has launched a sports talk show just for you."
When the news that Barron Cavendish, who had just inherited the title of Duke of Devonshire, was preparing to acquire The Independent was widely reported by the media, Barron once again became a hot topic in the news.
In particular, his young and handsome appearance and noble background have become topics of much discussion in reports and among the public.
Just when the young Duke became the new dream lover of many British girls, gossip tabloids also exposed the young Duke's new relationship - after having an intimate relationship with Bonnie, he never avoided being intimate with her in public, so Bonnie, who is a host herself, became the suspected new girlfriend of the Duke.
In this regard, Barron did not deny it during the interview, but refused to answer it on the grounds that it was a private matter.
But this attitude is enough to explain something...
As a result, Bonnie's popularity has soared and she has received a lot of attention. The Sky TV station where she works naturally would not miss such an opportunity. Moreover, Bonnie's qualifications are already excellent, so they specially opened a sports talk show for her. The number of views of this show also made them very satisfied.
After dinner, Barron took Bonnie's hand, sat on the sofa, held her in his arms, and said gently:
"Baby, I hope you can tell me anything, whether it's about work or life. At least I can share the responsibility with you instead of trying to resolve those negative emotions by yourself."
Seeing the affection in Barron's eyes, Bonnie raised her head and kissed him, then leaned into his arms:
"Now that I think about it, it's nothing. Maybe I'm not used to it for a while... I just heard some bad things on TV. They said that I am where I am now because of you. It was because of those reports about us that I got the show I have now..."
"I understand how you feel, and I even feel the same way. Honey, I've had moments like this, too. There are always people who don't want to know the truth, or who don't want to know you as a person. They attack you based on a few words from others, and throw malicious trash into your ears..."
"Have you ever experienced such a thing? My dear, I thought most of you nobles have lived in an atmosphere surrounded by kindness since childhood..."
Barron chuckled when he heard this:
"How is that possible? It is precisely because of my background and my family that others will not see the efforts you have made for this. They will only attribute everything to your preferential treatment... Just like I can see how hard you work, especially after the new column, I can hardly see you these days... But those people will not see this, and they are not even willing to understand."
"Thank you, dear. Maybe I'm still a little uncomfortable with all the attention I've received so suddenly."
"You don't have to pay any attention to those people, baby. At first, when faced with some malice and accusations, I also wanted to explain, but then I suddenly realized, why waste time on those irrelevant people? What we need to do is to keep moving forward instead of stopping to argue. When you keep moving forward, those people will eventually be left behind."
"After listening to you, I feel much better, Barron. I am so lucky to have you by my side..."
"So Miss Bonnie, how should you thank me..."
Hearing Barron's whispers in her ears, Bonnie stood up and sat on his legs. She lowered her head slightly and put her forehead against Barron's forehead. They looked into each other's eyes, then moved closer and gave him a long, affectionate kiss...
"Is this all right? Your Excellency the Duke..."
Her whispers did not satisfy Barron:
"I don't think that's enough..."
"Then let's go to the bedroom..."
…
"Your Highness, as you instructed, we have reached an agreement with the INM Group. They will sell the Independent Newspaper Company, which owns the two newspapers, The Independent and The Sunday Independent, to you for 1 pound, but you need to guarantee the continued good operation of these newspapers and bear the debts of the Independent Newspaper Company."
Amber Sheehan, a senior manager at PwC, finally completed negotiations on behalf of Barron's with INM Group, the parent company of The Independent, which means that Barron's is about to complete the acquisition of The Independent.
Amber took out the relevant agreement, handed it to Barron, and said:
"After an audit, the Independent Newspaper Company, which currently owns two newspapers, The Independent and The Sunday Independent, and with its high debts, currently has negative total assets and a deficit of up to £15 million..."
Barron had seen all of this from the audit report of PwC. He listened to Amber continue,
"We have now managed to acquire Independent Newspapers for a symbolic price of 1 pound, and have reached an agreement with INM Group that the latter will pay Independent Newspapers a total of 5 million pounds in installments within six months after the acquisition to make up for the losses we may suffer after taking over the company."
Barron remembered that in his previous life, the INM Group also sold the Independent Newspaper Company to the Russian tycoon for 1 pound, and the compensation they gave to the other party was more than 9 million pounds!
However, considering that their deal was made many years later, when The Independent was in an even more difficult situation, with annual losses reaching £12.4 million, and INM Group having lost tens of millions of pounds over the years, it is understandable that they gave the other party such high compensation in order to get rid of the burden of The Independent.
As for now, Barron is already very satisfied with the 5 million pounds compensation he received from the other party...
After all, others don't know that although The Independent's deficit is as high as 15 million pounds at this time, plus the other party's future compensation of 5 million pounds, Barron still needs to face a net debt of 10 million pounds.
But at this time, Independent Newspapers also owns a six-story office building covering an area of 1.5 hectares in the Canary Wharf area. This plot of land is located in the future financial core area of Canary Wharf, close to the Thames, and has great potential for appreciation.
In Barron's previous life, a Chinese tycoon bought a 16-story building with a similar area next to that location for 410 million pounds!
When the Russian tycoon later bought the Independent Newspaper Company, the Independent had already sold its office building in Canary Wharf due to years of losses and moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ireland...
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, the transaction of purchasing The Independent was not a loss at all for Barron.
Especially at this time, the Independent Newspaper Company owns the land in Canary Wharf. When it has sufficient funds in the future, it will be entirely possible to rebuild a taller building on the original site as the headquarters of the group.
And even if there is no office building, just acquiring The Independent and owning one's own media is extremely important for enhancing the family's influence in British society.
In countries like Europe and the United States, the so-called "fourth power" controls the media. Even if Barron needs to spend money to support it, national newspapers like The Independent can play a key role at certain moments.
Apart from anything else, if their family had owned a media with such a wide influence as The Independent earlier, they would never have been forced into such a situation - at least Scotland Yard would not have been as perfunctory as it is now.
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