章節 787: Chapter 787: We came with friendship
"Knock, knock!'
A loud knock on the door woke George Berkeley from his concentration on the documents. He frowned and looked at the door, only to see his subordinate holding a document and looking at him anxiously.
'Bickley, what's wrong?'
Bickley's subordinate, who had been called Bickley, quickly walked in and said anxiously, 'General Manager, something's happened. People from Barclays Bank are here at our company, and they're downstairs right now. I've already asked someone to entertain them.'
'As soon as they came in, they gave me the takeover offer, without even trying to hide their intentions.'
George Berkeley's gaze sharpened, and he immediately took the takeover offer from Bickley and read it carefully.
The lower he looked, the more serious his face became, his brows knitted together, not concealing his mood at all. His thoughts were all on pondering Barclays' intentions.
After a long while, he took a deep breath and still planned to follow his boss Xia Yu's orders and remain unchanged in the face of change, letting Barclays make the first move and respond according to their actions. If there was really no other way, then he would not make a decision, and defer to the future. If he could not handle it, he would leave it to his boss Xia Yu to decide.
George Berkeley put the takeover offer in a drawer and told Klee, 'Go and ask Manager Elena to come over first, and then ask the people from Barclays Bank to come up.'
At times like this, you still have to bring out the big gods in the company. If you can get Elena to take the initiative to use the Howard family's connections to help, that would be even better.
George Berkeley knew all about Elena's ambiguous relationship with her boss Xia Yu, but he pretended not to see it. He never treated Elena like a subordinate.
In George Berkeley's mind, even if you leave aside the relationship with the boss, Elena is a golden sign for the company because of her family background. Very often, as long as others know about it, complicated things can often be simplified.
In the UK, the Howard family's brand really works!
'Yes, I'll go right away!'
Bickley immediately replied, and walked quickly out of the office.
George Berkeley tidied up his desk, closed his eyes and contemplated, mentally preparing himself for the uninvited visitor from Barclays Bank.
In a moment, the radiant Elena arrived at the office. George Berkeley quickly briefed her on the situation. Elena's expression became serious, and she found a seat and waited for the Barclays Bank representative to arrive.
'It's him!'
A series of footsteps sounded, and when the person leading the way appeared in view, George Berkeley's pupils constricted, and his heart's vigilance shot up a great deal.
He knew the person coming, it was Barclays Bank's Executive Vice President Thomson Joyce, a senior executive with real power at Barclays Bank.
Considering Barclays Bank's strength, Thomson Joyce's status and social influence were above him.
Normally, when acquiring shares, it is the middle-level staff who take the lead, and it is rare for the top executives to appear in person. Now Barclays Bank is acting counterintuitively, and George Berkeley cannot help but think more.
'Mr. Thomson, I didn't expect it to be you, please sit down!'
'Hello, Mr. George, Ms. Elena!'
...
After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, they sat face-to-face on the sofa, and Bickley and the others immediately made coffee.
Because Barclays Bank's sudden appearance made the Bright Fund's plan to acquire the two banks incomplete, George Berkeley felt awkward even calling Xia Yu, so he had no good feelings towards Barclays Bank at all. Even when Thomson Joyce came to the door, his attitude was very cold.
If a robber came to the door, he would be lucky to be offered coffee, and it was impossible to get a good face from him!
Seeing George Berkeley's indifferent attitude and glancing at Elena's calm face, Thomson Joyce had expected this and didn't care. He smiled and said directly, 'Mr. George, I don't know if you have seen the letter I just sent to your company's staff.'
George Berkeley's face was expressionless, and he nodded slightly, "I saw it.'
After those two words, there was no further response.
Thomson Joyce nodded and said again, "That's good. I also know that Manager George has a lot on his plate, so I'll get straight to the point.'
'I know that the Bright Fund owns a large stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, and I hope to purchase some from you.'
George Berkeley's eyebrows shot up, and a strong sense of doubt rose in his heart.
Purchase some shares?
Thomson Joyce's words were so strange, completely different from what he expected.
He had thought that Barclays Bank wanted to buy all the shares held by the Bright Fund, but he didn't expect to buy just a portion. What did Barclays Bank want?
Although he was puzzled, George Berkeley did not show it. He firmly refused, 'I'm sorry, our company has no intention of selling Royal Bank of Scotland shares, not even one share!'
Elena suddenly spoke up at this time, 'Mr. Thomson, in fact, our family is planning to visit Barclays Bank. We heard that Barclays Bank owns Standard Chartered Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland shares. I wonder if they can be sold to the Howard family?'
Elena's words caused a moment of shock on Thomson Joyce's face. He didn't expect Elena to say that.
He frowned slightly and looked at Elena and asked, 'Ms. Elena, can I know if this is your opinion or your father's?'
Just as George Berkeley's heart lifted slightly, Elena said without hesitation, 'Of course it's my father's opinion.'
Hearing this, George Berkeley's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but admire Elena. He also felt emotional in his heart.
He had not spoken to Elena just now, and now Elena's words were completely autonomous. This directly brought out the Duke of Howard, and he wondered if the Duke of Howard would be helpless when he knew.
Thompson Joyce, who couldn't tell if it was true or not, frowned and thought about it, and directly refused, 'Ms. Elena, I'm sorry, Barclays Bank does not plan to sell the stocks of the two banks.'
Just as George Berkeley was about to speak, Elena preempted him, retorting directly, 'Mr Thomson, our company is the same! We don't lack this amount of money!'
George Berkeley secretly applauded in his heart, giving Elena's sharp retort a thumbs-up.
He also spoke firmly, 'Mr Thomson, I'm really sorry, but our company doesn't lack money, and we're not at the point of selling our shares to survive.'
There was no way to continue the conversation!
Thomson Joyce was choking, and the subordinate who had come with him also looked at each other, just about to speak up to save face for his boss.
Then Thomson Joyce's face straightened, and he said solemnly, 'Ms. Elena, Mr. George, you shouldn't be too vigilant. We have come with friendship.'
'We only want to acquire 5% of the Royal Bank of Scotland's equity. Guangming Fund has no experience in running a bank. Barclays Bank, as the largest bank in the UK, has the strength and experience to cooperate with Guangming Fund.'
'We don't want to take RBS away from you, we just want to cooperate!'
Five percent of the shares?
George Berkeley and Elena exchanged glances, not understanding what Thomson Joyce wanted.
George Berkeley absolutely didn't believe Thomson Joyce's words.
In the financial industry, there is only profit, not friendship. Does Thomson Joyce really think he is stupid?
George Berkeley said bluntly: 'Mr. Thomson, you don't need to tell me these hypocritical words. I still say the same thing: we will not sell a single share of Royal Bank of Scotland.'
'Barclays Bank is the largest bank in the UK, while Royal Bank of Scotland is just a small bank located in Scotland, which is of no use to you at all. These days, what is your real purpose for jumping out and competing with us for equity?'
Thomson Joyce prevaricated, 'There's no ulterior motive, we just think the future of RBS is very promising. If you hadn't moved so quickly, we might have been able to buy the whole bank.'
'We're only interested in buying 5% of the bank's shares. If you're not in charge, you can tell your boss what we've said. It would be best if he could come to London.'
'It seems we've come at a bad time. Maybe next time. We hope you'll think about it.'
Before leaving, Thomson Joyce paused and left another meaningful remark with all due respect: 'We really come in friendship, I hope you won't misunderstand!'
After sending Thomson Joyce away, the atmosphere in the office was a bit depressing.
After a long time, Elena got up and said to George Berkeley, 'General Manager, this is a strange matter. I don't think it's just a simple business matter. It's better to talk to the boss. Barclays Bank seems to be very eager for the boss to come to London.'
George Berkeley also sensed that something was wrong.
He took a deep breath, nodded, and said, 'This matter is beyond my authority, I can only report it to the boss.'
George Berkeley waited at the company, and when he calculated that the worst that could happen was that it would be daytime in the eastern United States, he dialed Xia Yu's home phone number in Seattle.
...
Seattle, USA, 8am. Xia Yu received a call from George Berkeley.
After listening to his detailed report, Xia Yu thought for a long time, and still decided to go to London for a visit.
George Berkeley told Xia Yu exactly what Thomson Joyce had said before leaving.
After hearing those words, Xia Yu was already certain that it was the Rothschild family behind the trouble.
As for the Rothschild family's real intentions, although he had a guess, he was not yet absolutely certain.
However, things had already reached this stage, and he had no choice but to go.
Only by figuring out the Rothschild family's real intentions could he respond in a targeted manner.
'George, you must be on your guard these few days, manage the company well, and wait until I arrive to discuss everything.
After saying that, Xia Yu hung up the phone.
After sitting in the living room and thinking for ten minutes, he made a few phone calls to Yan Shining, asking him to arrange his work and immediately fly to London with some capable people.
At the same time, he also asked Yan Shining to contact Ma Qianjun and convey some of his orders.
There were some things he had to guard against, after all, the Rothschild family had quite a dark history.
After explaining everything, Xia Yu returned to New York first to explain some things to Peter Lynch and Yan Wenhan.
Two days later in the morning, Xia Yu boarded the plane to London at New York's JFK International Airport.
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