"Your Highness, I do not think it is necessary for us to continue to compete in Selfridges, which will only benefit other Selfridges shareholders..."
After the Rolls-Royce Phantom started up, Barron deliberately asked after hearing Alana say this to him:
"Does this mean that the Weston family is willing to give up the acquisition of Selfridges Department Store?"
"…"
Barron's words choked Alana...
She took a deep breath and said to Barron:
"You misunderstood me, Your Highness. I hope you can withdraw from the malicious price hike on Selfridges."
"I think you may have misunderstood us, Ms. Weston. Although I noticed that your Weston family's acquisition of Selfridges department store was indeed because your brother harassed my girlfriend..."
At this time, Barron and Bonnie were sitting in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, while Alana was sitting in the passenger seat. Barron could clearly see that the other party's face was not very good at this time...
He continued:
"But our bid for Selfridges Department Store is not a malicious bid. We believe that it is a good acquisition target and is worth the price we are offering now. Of course, if your family is willing to offer a higher price, we may withdraw on our own initiative..."
After saying these words, Barron felt that he was a very honest person, very real...
Because the decision at that time to bid 5,000 pounds higher than the Weston family's 300 million pounds for the Selfridges shares held by the Selfridges family was not a random price increase, but Baron believed that it was acceptable to complete the controlling stake in Selfridges at this price, or to complete the privatization of Selfridges at about 700 million pounds, which was 100 million pounds higher than the Weston family's price in the original time and space.
So Barron really didn't lie to Alana. If their family continued to bid, then DS Capital would give up the acquisition of Selfridges, sell its shares of Selfridges to the other party at a certain premium, and leave with tears and anger, making 4 to 5 million pounds...
But looking at Alana's expression at this moment, it seems that she doesn't believe Barron's words, but regards it as a provocation to her family...
"I apologize to you for my brother's behavior, Your Highness..."
She turned to look at Barron and Bonnie beside him and said,
"I can guarantee that he will not appear in front of you again. We will transfer him back to Canada immediately, and we can buy your shares in Selfridges at a 20% premium."
DS Capital currently holds approximately 5% of Selfridges department store shares. They purchased these shares for approximately 28 million pounds, which means they can make more than 5 million pounds by reselling them.
After all, although the Weston family often appeared at the top of the British rich list, they originally made their fortune in North America. It was not until Alanna's grandfather's generation that they began to expand their business to Britain, and their main industries were concentrated in Ireland.
Therefore, if possible, they did not want to go against the Devonshire family, which had greater influence and connections in Britain.
And Alanna's father had a "collecting addiction" in the department store retail industry. Later, their family was willing to sell some stores of the Selfridges Group, and this decision was made after the death of W. Galen Weston, Alanna Weston's father.
Buying Selfridges is very important to their family's strategy. After privatizing Selfridges, they plan to use Selfridges as a foundation to establish the Selfridges Retail Group, and continue to acquire some European retail companies and inject them into the Selfridges Retail Group...
Now this first step cannot be missed.
"I am aware of your proposal, Ms. Weston."
At this time, the Rolls-Royce Phantom had stopped at the door of a famous London restaurant. Barron opened the door and said to Alana,
"I will consider what you said today. You can wait for my reply, but now I have to have dinner with my girlfriend."
After saying this, he got out of the car and walked into the restaurant with Bonnie.
"Sorry, ma'am, we are closed today."
Just as Alana got out of the car and wanted to go in to continue persuading Barron, she was stopped by the restaurant staff.
Barron naturally didn't want to be disturbed when having dinner with his girlfriend, so he booked the whole place.
Hearing the polite but unquestionable words from the restaurant staff, and watching Barron and the others disappear at the door, his face turned cold.
…
"Dear, if you still have things to deal with, we can leave later..."
Now that the final episode of the first season of "Love Island" has been edited and will be aired this weekend, this super popular dating variety show, which has earned more than 30 million pounds for Summit Media and Halo Copyright Company, is about to end.
Similarly, as Barron told Bonnie before, after she finishes the post-production of "Love Island", the two will go on vacation together. The currently selected destination is Sicily, Italy.
After meeting Alana Weston today and hearing her talk about Selfridges department store, Bonnie was very considerate and took Barron into consideration.
Speaking of which, Bonnie really enjoyed the fact that a man could retaliate against others in anger because he was harassed by others.
Of course, this is based on the assumption that she herself likes Barron. If someone else did the same, she would feel a little confused.
"It's okay, baby, they are just small things. They won't bother us."
With such tenderness and love, and Barron's careful preparation, the two of them naturally enjoyed the dinner very much...
"The Duke of Cavendish..."
When Barron and Bonnie came out of the restaurant, they were surprised to see Alana getting out of the Bentley parked at the door again and greeting him.
This woman is really persistent. Barron sighed at her attitude.
"Ms. Weston, I told you that I would consider what you said, and you might get an answer soon."
He asked Bonnie to get back into the car first, and then he said to Alanna Weston:
"Aren't you afraid that I will be sure of how important Selfridges is to you and then ask for an exorbitant price?"
"I don't deny the importance of the acquisition of Selfridges Department Store this time, but I have also learned about your industry, Your Highness, and I don't think that acquiring Selfridges Department Store is your first choice. In addition, I hope that our family can establish friendship with you and cooperate with each other."
"Let's be frank. Apart from a premium for my shares in Selfridges, what else do I get out of our friendship? You know, that premium is not enough to justify my abandonment of such an iconic London symbol as Selfridges."
"Of course we can have more win-win cooperation. For example, if we can complete the acquisition of Selfridges department store, I will serve as the CEO of Selfridges Group in the future. I know that your DS Capital has outstanding achievements in wealth management, and our joint pension fund also needs a stable investment direction…"
I have to say that Alana's direction was very accurate and it really impressed Barron.
In fact, as she said, from the very beginning, Barron understood that Selfridges was not the most suitable acquisition target for him. Although this high-end shopping mall was well-known, its business model was not suitable for Barron.
When it comes to Selfridges department store, or when you go to Selfridges department store, what is the most profound impression you get?
It is their endless creative window displays - the world's first window display that lights up at night originated from Selfridges.
In addition, they integrate fashion and art into every corner of the mall, always presenting a unique style.
To put it bluntly, what Selfridges needs is to manage it in a refined manner and devote a lot of energy to it.
Therefore, although Selfridges department store has a higher turnover and is well-known, it is still more suitable to be run by professionals like the Weston family who have several generations of experience in the retail industry.
In comparison, Barron prefers retail chains like Argos, which have a fixed model and can be replicated quickly.
Take Selfridges department store for example. Even if it opens branches in other cities, it is impossible to completely copy the previous model. Each store must have its own unique personality. This is what the user group of high-end shopping malls likes - the rich people.
At present, instead of spending 700 million pounds to buy Selfridges department store and then find professionals and spend energy to run it, it is better to use the funds to expand the number of Argos stores.