章節 1088: Chapter 1088: A Shocking Merger – LVMH Group!
Xia Yu took a sip of coffee and said in a calm but forceful voice, 'Mr. Henri Ricamar, I have come with sincerity, so I will not treat you unfairly. I will only make one offer!'
Henri Rigaud nodded slightly and said nothing, continuing to quietly look at Xia Yu, but his breathing slowed down subconsciously.
'I will give you a 50 million franc stake!'
Henri Rigaud's heart relaxed, and then his mind was filled with a huge wave of surprise.
It was a 50 million franc stake!
If this was put into the Louis Vuitton Group, he would get more than 2.5% of the equity!
He had worked at the Louis Vuitton Group for more than ten years, and his combined salary and bonuses had only amounted to just over 13 million francs!
The compensation offered by Xia Yu was nearly four times his total income over the past ten years!
For a moment, he subconsciously wanted to get more.
But this thought only appeared for a few seconds before being extinguished by his reason.
The equity corresponding to 50 million francs was already more than enough!
After all, he was getting equity, not cash, and he preferred equity to cash. After all, equity meant dividends and a steady stream of income.
Not only that, but Bright Fund clearly had huge ambitions. After the merger between LVMH and Moët Hennessy, the future would only be brighter, and the company had great potential. The equity would only become more valuable in the future. He would be crazy to want cash.
He would never be arrogant enough to think that his investment ability would be better than Bright Fund's!
Furthermore, if he accepts the shares, he will have to work for Xia Yu in the future. A 50 million franc stake will not be a significant proportion of the merged company. It would be better not to be overly greedy and cause Xia Yu to feel uncomfortable. Once he joins the company, Xia Yu will have plenty of ways to deal with this small shareholder.
Countless historical examples bear out the truth that a minority shareholder can never hope to defeat the absolute controlling shareholder!
It's best to just let it go!
After all, the price is not low! It exceeds his expectations!
After making up his mind, Henri Ricamar changed his attitude. He lowered his posture, looked grateful, and said to Xia Yu in a warm tone, 'Mr Xia, I accept your terms.'
Xia Yu smiled faintly and said, 'Henri Ricamar, happy cooperation!'
'Happy cooperation!'
The two shook hands.
Since the deal had been settled, there was no need for Xia Yu to waste any more time.
He said bluntly, 'Henri Ricamar, within the week, Moët Hennessy will submit a merger application to the LVMH Group. You must make good use of the time and think about how to convince the Vuitton family as soon as possible.'
'If there is anything that Bright Foundation needs to cooperate with, you can let me know in advance, so that I can make the arrangements in advance.'
'Okay, I will do my best!'
Henri Ricamar nodded and said.
'I'll be waiting for your good news!' Xia Yu said with a smile.
...
In the following days, Léo Martin reconvened the board of directors of Moët Hennessy Wine Group, and in the midst of Gil Hennessy's incompetent fury, the resolution for the private placement was passed.
After the board meeting, the shareholders' meeting was held immediately afterwards.
Gil Hennessy, who already knew that he could not stop it, simply refused to attend, so the shareholders' meeting passed the resolution by 100%, just to make sure the process was legal and compliant.
The French version of the Corporate Governance Act does not require the approval of the securities commission for private placements by non-listed companies.
Therefore, after the approval of the general meeting of shareholders, the resolution can be implemented directly.
The billion francs from the Bright Fund were already ready, and they were immediately transferred to the company account of Moët Hennessy Wine Group. Then the president, Alain Chevallier, arranged for his subordinates to handle the procedures for the share increase.
Jean Hennessy could only watch angrily as the family's shareholding fell to 11.85%.
But that wasn't all.
The Bright Fund's acquisition team came back to buy the Hennessy family's shares, and they were very aggressive, completely intimidating, and there was no talk of incentives.
When the company was originally listed, their stake was as high as 17.5%, which was worth more than 1.02 billion francs even at par, and more than 1.33 billion francs at a normal premium of 30%.
But now?
If the previous market value of 5.85 billion francs is added to the 1 billion francs financed by the Bright Capital Fund, the company is worth 6.85 billion francs, and their family's stake is worth more than 811 million francs.
If calculated based on the company's assets from the recent private placement, it is even cheaper, worth only 367 million francs.
The difference is huge!
And what is the current offer from the Bright Fund?
400 million francs!!!
When he heard this price, Gilles Hennessy almost fainted from anger.
The Bright Fund's acquisition team also threatened that if the Hennessy family refused to sell, the Bright Fund would continue to dilute the company and there were ways to make them regret it.
With no choice, the Hennessy family held several meetings. No matter how they analysed the situation, they were no match for Bright Food and the consequences would become more and more serious.
Instead of tying up capital here, they would rather cut their losses and sell their shares to start again.
During the second round of negotiations with Bright Food, after a fierce exchange, Bright Food finally raised the price to 600 million francs and refused to budge. The Hennessy family could only reluctantly agree.
On 12 January,
As expected, the Bright Fund acquired the Hennessy family's 11.85% stake for the agreed price of 600 million francs.
Moët Hennessy became wholly owned by the Bright Fund!
That afternoon, there was a small incident. Alain Chevallier, who was closely monitoring the Hennessy family's movements, learned that the Hennessy family was even trying to persuade the entire Ferveau family to resign. He immediately warned the Hennessy family and also asked the Bright Fund to issue a warning afterwards.
On the other hand, he also separately sought out the head of the Ferrand family, Yann Ferrand, to do some ideological work, and also offered them a pay rise and a more closely monitored contract.
The Ferver family really didn't want to leave Hennessy Cognac, which the family had worked hard to build for two hundred years. The blending skills they had inherited were bound up with Hennessy Cognac. The blending techniques and formulas belonged to the company, and they could not take them with them. If they left Hennessy Cognac, the blending skills of all the members of the entire family would be rendered useless.
Jan Ferver recognised the situation.
So the Hennessy and Ferwerda families, who had worked closely together for 200 years, announced their split, and would henceforth make a living by following the Bright Foundation.
The day after Moët Hennessy became wholly owned, on 13 January,
Moët Hennessy submitted a merger application to the Louis Vuitton Group, and the company's president, Henri Ricamar, immediately convened a board meeting.
At the meeting, the Bright Foundation, the largest shareholder of the Louis Vuitton Group, expressed its immediate approval and showed a bright future after the merger.
The Vuitton family, on the other hand, expressed its opposition, and the first board meeting ended inconclusively.
Apart from the Vuitton family, both Rémy Martin and Henri Richemont knew that this board meeting was just a formality, the purpose of which was to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Vuitton family.
Then Henri Rigaud began to analyse the pros and cons with the Vuitton family, while the Bright Fund occasionally supported him with pressure from all sides.
After Henri Rigaud's constant persuasion and manipulation, the Vuitton family was finally convinced.
Then there was the price.
After many rounds of negotiations, it was finally agreed that Moët Hennessy would pay 6.9 billion francs and LVMH 1.9 billion francs.
On 18 January, at another board meeting of LVMH, the resolution between Moët Hennessy and LVMH was passed by 100%. Immediately afterwards, a symbolic shareholders' meeting was held in the same conference room, and it was also passed by 100%.
On 20 January, Moët Hennessy and LVMH completed a series of changes related to equity, such as the company business license, organisation code, and national tax registration certificate.
The assets of the two companies were incorporated into the newly registered Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group, with the company name abbreviated to LVMH Group. The original shareholders' equity was redistributed, and the group registered one hundred million shares.
Bright Fund was the largest shareholder, holding 91.1 million shares, accounting for 91.1% of the total share capital, while the second largest shareholder, the Vuitton family, held 8.9 million shares, accounting for 8.9% of the total share capital.
Of course, Xia Yu's promise to Henri Rigaud to value the 50 million franc stake was secretly handled, and it had been privately transferred in advance to an offshore processing company, a total of 568,000 shares. As for when Henri Rigaud would be exposed, that was his business.
So in fact, the Bright Fund's shareholding ratio was 90.53%.
Xia Yu didn't care if it was a little less. After all, the smooth merger with the Louis Vuitton Group was the biggest gain. If the Banque Nationale de Paris had been allowed to acquire it, even if it had succeeded, he would have had to pay several hundred million francs more, and the Banque Nationale de Paris would have taken a commission of at least 50 million francs! The price was much lower than the 50 million francs given to Henri Rigamire!
In this situation, he had actually made a profit!
On the morning of the 21st of January, the front page of the newspaper 'Le Figaro' reported the news that the Moët Hennessy wine group had merged with the Louis Vuitton group to form the French LVHM group, and the merger was dubbed 'Europe's largest business merger in 1982'!
The whole of France was shaken!
The repercussions then spread throughout Europe!
It only took a little over a month to perfectly complete this merger, and the name of the Bright Fund, which was mentioned countless times in the media, continued to soar in fame and prestige.
After the exposure, Xia Yu received many congratulations, including from French President François Mitterrand.
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