章節 605: Chapter 605: Acquisition in progress
Of course Xia Yu could not know the Rothschild family's plans, as at this time he was fully engaged in the construction of the Chinese Business Consortium.
After more than a month, as Xia Yu had predicted, British Chinese companies were scrambling to join the Chinese Business Consortium, and the Wu family's threshold was about to be trampled.
Under these circumstances, progress was very rapid, with a new core company being added almost every two or three days.
At this critical time, Wu Hongyi was so busy that he could hardly keep his feet on the ground. It so happened that Xia Yu had already acquired Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and had some free time, so he could not resist Wu Hongyi's requests, and since the Chinese Business Consortium also had its own share, Xia Yu became involved.
With Xia Yu's participation, the efficiency of the formation of the Chinese Business Consortium improved by a large margin.
Two flowers blooming together, each expressing a different meaning.
George Berkeley is, after all, an elite in the financial industry, good at financial investment, but not at the elite of the automobile company, so after taking over the Rolls-Royce Motor Company, he let the general manager reform according to the plan, and he mainly focused on supervision.
However, he did not sit idle either. He did not forget that his boss Xia Yu had told him to acquire the shares of the Hongkong Land Group as soon as possible.
It so happened that while he was gathering information, he learned that Burton Keswick, the person in charge of the third branch of the Keswick family in Xiangjiang, was in London, so he sent him an invitation.
Burton Keswick, 42, is the cousin of the head of the Keswick family, John Keswick. He previously worked as a department manager at Hongkong Land, and after the death of John Keswick and his two sons, he quickly moved to divide up the assets. The biggest fortune was the 10.5% stake in Hongkong Land.
After changing his neutral stance and feeling a sense of resignation, the cautious Burton Keswick began to look for an escape route. The best escape route is none other than the United Kingdom.
This time he came back because he learned that a family of disgraced viscounts was selling an ancestral land in Maidstone County, south of London, including a castle, mountains, fields, etc., which he intended to buy as the foundation for his family's future.
Unfortunately, the ruined viscount asked for a ridiculous price of 40 million pounds, and the price had to be paid in full in cash, with no instalments accepted.
40 million pounds is more than 350 million Hong Kong dollars.
To be honest, after seeing the ancestral land, he was really envious, but the key was that he simply could not come up with 40 million pounds in cash.
However, he really wanted to buy the ancestral land, because once he owned it, his family line would be able to gain a foothold in the UK.
Although the Keswick family has been in Hong Kong for hundreds of years, he knows very well the symbolic significance of land and castles for a family, especially the inherited family business of an original noble family, which will help him quickly integrate into the British upper class.
Now that there is a rare opportunity to buy a ruined viscount, he is reluctant to let it slip away.
So after securing the viscount, he made up his mind to return to Hong Kong to sell his assets and raise money to buy a home in the UK.
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to leave, he inexplicably received an invitation from the Bright Foundation. George Berkeley, the general manager of the Bright Foundation, invited him for a meeting.
In the country house he had purchased, Burton Keswick looked at the invitation in his hands, his brow furrowed, trying his best to figure out why the Bright Foundation had contacted him.
However, he did not waste any time, but asked his friends to find out more about the Bright Foundation.
Upon hearing the news, he was shocked and immediately took the matter very seriously.
Although the Bright Foundation's strength is unknown, what it has shown so far is very formidable. Not only does it control two major newspapers, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, it also has close ties with the Duke of Howard family. Together, they acquired Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for £120 million in cash, and it is also rumoured that they have close ties with the Conservative Party.
All of this shows the Bright Foundation's mystery and strength.
Although it is rumoured that Bright Fund has capital from Hong Kong behind it, with his connections, it is not certain whether the news is true or not.
But it doesn't matter, just the fact that it has the strength to cooperate with the Duke of Howard family and still take the initiative reveals a lot.
He already plans to return to China for development, naturally he does not want to offend the powerful and background unknown Bright Fund. He has a deep understanding of the trouble of offending financial tycoons, and he can still remember clearly how the Jardine Matheson Group fell apart.
So despite not being able to figure it out after thinking about it, he decided to go to the appointment.
Sheraton Park Tower Hotel, London. Burton Keswick was led by the waiter to the door of a luxurious private room. He knocked on the door and entered to meet a handsome middle-aged man, and no one else.
'Mr. Burton, I'm George Berkeley. Welcome, please sit!'
'Hello Mr. George, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!'
'No, you're not late!'
After a slightly distant exchange of pleasantries, Burton Keswick sat directly across from George Berkeley.
During the awkward silence that followed, the order was taken and the meal was served.
Feeling that Burton Keswick had let his guard down slightly, George Berkeley knew that the time had come. He gently lowered his knife and fork, and lightly dabbed his mouth with a paper towel. Burton Keswick's eyes flashed, and he did the same.
'Mr. Burton, I think you must be curious now.'
'Yes, I was very surprised to receive an invitation from your company. I don't think we've had any contact before. Can you enlighten me?'
'Of course.'
'But before that, let me introduce you to our company.'
'It's my pleasure, please!'
Burton Keske's heart stirred, and he leaned forward slightly, looking at George Berkeley with burning eyes.
George Berkeley smiled slightly and said, 'Bright Fund was established not long ago, but it is well-capitalised. Our business mainly focuses on two areas: one is to acquire companies for management transformation and empower them to add value; the other is corporate mergers and acquisitions and consulting.'
'The investors behind Bright Fund are all large consortia and families, and for special reasons, I won't go into detail.'
Upon hearing this, Burton Keswick nodded slightly in understanding. After all, he was born into a large family, and naturally knew that in order to hide their wealth, large consortia and families would set up investment companies one after the other to disperse their equity.
Now, the names of the top British families had already flashed through his mind: the Balin family, the Campbell family, the Howard family, the Grosvenor family, the Cavendish family, the Stewart family...
Just as Burton Keswick was imagining himself in these families, George Berkeley continued.
'We asked you to come this time because we have received a business assignment to acquire the equity of a company in your hands on behalf of our client.'
Upon hearing this, Burton Keswick suddenly woke up. He sat up straight, his gaze became extremely sharp, and he asked in a low voice, 'Mr. George, may I know who has commissioned your company? Which company in my hands does he want to acquire?'
George Berkeley gave an apologetic expression and said, 'It is our duty to keep the client's information confidential, and I am very sorry about this.'
'What we want to acquire is your stake in the Land Group.'
Then George Berkeley looked at Burton Keswick with a calm smile.
'The Hongkong Land Group?'
Burton Keswick frowned. He didn't expect that the most valuable asset in his hands would be coveted.
But this was exactly what he wanted. In order to raise money, he had already planned to sell his stake in Hongkong Land. Now that Bright Fund had come knocking, it was just what he wanted. As long as the price was right, it didn't matter who he sold it to.
As for the impact on other family members, it was not within his scope of consideration.
After the death of John Keswick and his two sons, and the huge amount of wealth that fell on them, they fought over it, which was destined to lead to conflicts and disputes within their group. Although outsiders now seem united, that is only an appearance, mainly for self-preservation.
Since they are now planning to fly their separate ways, he could not care less.
He could not sacrifice his own interests for the benefit of the rest of the family. If he waited too long, someone else might buy the Viscount's estate, and then where would he find such a good opportunity again?
Fortune that comes too easily is not valued highly, and it is not hard to sell.
Burton Keswick pondered for a moment before saying, 'Mr George, I do own 10.5% of the shares in the Land Group, but this is a family business and I cannot sell it. I'm sorry.'
Burton Keswick was not stupid. Although he was willing to sell, he also knew that he had to raise the price to get more benefits. If George Berkeley said yes right away, it would be like handing him a knife.
George Berkeley saw through this clumsy price-boosting technique at once. He laughed to himself, but kept his face expressionless as he said, 'Mr. Burton, there is no such thing as non-saleable goods in the world. I heard that you are buying the Viscount Butts' pastoral landscape in Maidstone County. Both the castle and the pastoral landscape are non-saleable goods of the aristocracy. Don't you see that they are being sold now?'
Burton Keswick frowned, looked at George Berkeley with sharp eyes, and said angrily, 'Are you investigating me?'
George Berkeley shook his head with a faint smile, 'No, it's just a coincidence. I'm telling you this just to tell you that we can be of service to you in acquiring the ancestral estate of the Viscount Boot.'
Burton Keswick took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and stop dwelling on it. He knew his bluff had been called, so he simply said, 'Mr George, you are right, there is no such thing as an unsellable item in the world. The shares I hold in the Land Group can be sold, as long as your company offers the right price.'
After saying this, Burton Keswick picked up his knife and fork and started carving the steak.
'Mr Potter, we have looked into this and the current market value of the Hongkong Land Group is 5.89 billion Hong Kong dollars. Based on the market value, the 10.5% stake you hold is worth 618 million Hong Kong dollars.'
'We will use the current market value as the basis and we can pay a 10% premium, 680 million Hong Kong dollars, for all the shares you hold.'
George Berkeley calmly threw out his terms.
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