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64.28% From Hollywood to Media Empire / Chapter 468: Chapter 468: Standard Bank

บท 468: Chapter 468: Standard Bank

London, Capet Pictures' UK headquarters.

Lily Ying rushed into Charles' office, asking directly, "Charles, do you really want to buy Tencent's shares?"

Charles was a bit taken aback but nodded, "Of course I want them. Dawn China currently only has a few percent of the shares, right?"

"The market is too slow for acquisitions. I have already contacted H Group from Tencent's major shareholder in South Africa, and they are willing to sell their shares!" Lily Ying looked at Charles and said.

"Buy them!" Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, they want HKD 58 per share, willing to sell us 20% of their shares," Lily Ying explained further.

"Tencent's stock price is barely HKD 46 per share right now. Although it's gradually rising, the financial crisis has severely impacted its stock price," Charles said while knocking on the table and looking at the computer.

According to Tencent's current stock price, its market value was about HKD 64 billion. H Group is the largest shareholder of Tencent, holding a significant percentage of shares!

If the price per share was HKD 58, that's over a 26% premium, and 20% of Tencent shares would require over HKD 16.2 billion, which is approximately USD 2 billion!

Dawn China had previously acquired its small share of Tencent at about HKD 40 per share from the market, costing around USD 200 million.

"Reach an agreement with H Group as soon as possible to meet their price," Charles agreed after a few seconds of thought, "and continue to buy from the market!"

How could they miss out on Tencent?

Lily Ying nodded seriously, "Don't worry, leave it to me!"

H Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Africa's Naspers Media Ltd., which is controlled by South Africa's Standard Bank Group.

Standard Bank Group in South Africa is now controlled by the Oppenheimer family, the wealthiest and most powerful Jewish family in Africa.

De Beers Group, the world's largest diamond producer, and Anglo American plc, a leading company in mining and natural resources (formed from a merger with the Oppenheimer family's Anglo American Ltd.), also have the Oppenheimer family as the controlling stake.

Charles certainly didn't have a favorable impression of them, so he wouldn't hesitate to acquire 20% of Tencent from H Group.

After Lily Ying left, Charles specifically looked into this largest bank in Africa: Back in the 60s, Standard Bank was registered in Johannesburg, South Africa, but operated as a branch of British Standard Bank in South Africa. Later, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank merged to form the new Standard Chartered Bank group (commonly referred to as Standard Chartered).

In the later 80s, Standard Chartered Bank sold its shares of Standard Bank, making Standard Bank entirely a South African bank. Today, Standard Bank has grown to be the largest bank in Africa!

ICBC holds 20% of Standard Bank's shares as the largest shareholder, but the Oppenheimer family still controls it.

Just like Singapore's Temasek Holdings holding a large share in Standard Chartered Bank, yet the British capital ultimately runs things there!

...

Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, in Evelyn's office, Patrick Whitesell walked in.

"Evelyn, you wanted to see me?" Patrick Whitesell was a company veteran, previously a senior partner at ETA, now one of the senior vice presidents.

"What's Teddy Forstmann's stance on IMG?" Evelyn had great faith in her son, and expanding the sports agency business inevitably meant dealing with IMG.

Rather than becoming competitors, it would be better to directly acquire and expand!

Patrick Whitesell smiled wryly, "I did meet with Teddy Forstmann, but he seems completely uninterested in selling IMG."

Teddy Forstmann was the head of Forstmann Little & Co., which controlled IMG;

And Teddy Forstmann had only acquired IMG in 2004, with no intention to sell now.

...

In London, on Kensington Garden Road, at Roman Abramovich's luxurious villa, Charles brought Emma Roberts to attend a party.

At the party, Charles met several other Premier League club owners. However, the one who interested him the most was Sheikh Mansour, the new owner of Manchester City.

"Manchester City is different. Buying midfielder Nigel de Jong for 18 million pounds from Bundesliga's Hamburg surely made him the top deal of this winter," Charles said while chatting with Sheikh Mansour on the sofa.

"But Manchester City still can't compare to Arsenal. Last year, Arsenal's winter and summer transfers stunned Europe and won the Premier League championship," replied Sheikh Mansour, who was 39 and a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, son of the UAE president, managing the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Abu Dhabi is also the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Among the several sheikhdoms that constitute the UAE, the Abu Dhabi royal family fund is the wealthiest, much more powerful than the Dubai royal family fund.

"Manchester City is on the rise," Charles shook his head, recognizing the wealth of these Middle Eastern oil magnates.

Even though Arsenal spent a lot of money last year, after Charles took over, they signed major deals with Emirates, based in Dubai, for stadium naming and kit sponsorships. They also signed a lucrative jersey sponsorship contract with Adidas.

Last season, Arsenal reached the Champions League semi-finals and won the league championship, which brought in significant revenue. Additionally, Charles had already paid off the club's 200 million debt.

Manchester City, unlike Arsenal, sat in the middle of the table, with club expenditures greatly exceeding revenues.

Currently, UEFA President Michel Platini was considering introducing a new financial law to regulate club operations, the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.

Such regulations targeted clubs with completely unbalanced budgets.

Sheikh Mansour nodded, raised his glass to clink with Charles', and smiled, "Now Emirates Airlines in Dubai is leaving Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, far behind because of their cooperation with Arsenal!"

Charles blinked and laughed, "Isn't Etihad Airways now also in a long-term partnership with a Premier League club?"

Etihad Airways, as the second-largest airline in the UAE, also belongs to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Starting next season, Manchester City's shirt sponsor would be Etihad Airways.

"By the way, how is Dubai now? It seems their finances are unstable; the debt of Dubai World is getting higher, right?" Charles was concerned about the oil magnates in Dubai messing things up.

Dubai World is a giant conglomerate engaged in real estate and port operations. The world's tallest building under construction, Burj Khalifa, had already halted, and the Palm Island project faced chances of being abandoned.

Sheikh Mansour smiled and explained, "Dubai relied too much on foreign capital in the past. The participation of international financial institutions was significant. Now, the global financial crisis has caused considerable losses to Dubai.

"However, the UAE will help Dubai through this hardship. Dubai's finance, tourism, and real estate sectors will recover!"

Charles nodded, indeed not too worried as long as the oil consumption rose, money would flow in like snowflakes.

Even if Dubai World faced a debt crisis, the issue shouldn't be too significant, considering the wealth of oil-rich magnates in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

Dubai World's Burj Khalifa, as expected, was rescued by the UAE president, because the tower was finally named after Sheikh Khalifa, Sheikh Mansour's father, the President of the UAE.

As for Dubai's Palm Island project, it indeed ended up abandoned. Many stars and business figures, including Brad Pitt, David and Victoria Beckham, and former England striker Michael Owen, had bought villas there, but they would never get to move in.

...

After chatting with Sheikh Mansour, Charles received a phone call. Bruce Davey and Mel Gibson of Icon Productions demanded 70 million dollars to sell the company.

"Accept their offer. I remember Mel Gibson is currently shooting a movie, right?" Charles asked over the phone.

"Yes, Edge of Darkness, a low-budget action thriller jointly produced by Warner Bros and Icon Productions, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Mel Gibson," Phyllis Jones explained over the phone.

"Interesting, Mel Gibson still has projects. With Warner Bros distributing, does he think he can make a comeback?" Charles chuckled. 

"Charles," Emma Roberts found Charles on the balcony, just finishing his call.

"Emma, what's up?" Charles embraced the girl and kissed her right away.

After the kiss, Emma Roberts felt a bit emotional, "I was just checking what you were doing?"

Charles' fingers brushed across the girl's lips, feeling a bit taken by his thoughts, "Let's head back inside!"

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.


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