When she came across from Simon's desk, A girl in an OL suit handed over several documents and said, "Boss, this is the latest meeting memorandum on Christie's acquisition negotiations in Europe, and the collection and auction industry information you ordered to collect. In addition, this is the work schedule for tomorrow in San Francisco."

Simon turned off the computer on his desk, picked up a memo of Christie's acquisition and said, "Let's go back, and the rest of the information can be read at home."

Alison quickly put away the remaining documents again, held them in his arms and followed Simon away from the office.

Walking into the elevator, Simon opened the memo and found the part he cared about the most.

After agreeing to Sofia's proposal to acquire Christie's auction house a few days ago, the female senior executive began to negotiate with Christie's shareholders who were interested in selling their shares.

It has been in operation for more than two hundred years, and like its arch rival Sotheby's, Christie's has long been a listed company.

Because the auction industry has fallen into a downturn with the global economic recession, Christie's's has a market value of only 430 million pounds, or about 670 million US dollars, which is only equivalent to 13 times the price-to-earnings ratio compared to its profits in the previous fiscal year. The stock price of a listed company is often more inclined to reflect its forward business performance. The 13 times price-to-earnings ratio undoubtedly represents the capital market's dissatisfaction with the prospects of this auction company.

After confirming the acquisition plan, Melisandra Company had secret contacts with Christie's shareholders and management, and on the other hand, it began to privately absorb the company's stock. In this way, even if the acquisition case cannot be completed in the end, Melisandra Company can make a small profit by buying low and selling high.

The reason for doing this is mainly because Simon is not determined to win this historic auction industry giant.

During the initial contact, Christie's board of directors directly proposed a purchase price of 20 times the price-to-earnings ratio, with a total value of up to US$1 billion, equivalent to a 50% premium.

If it is a malicious acquisition, such a transaction price is actually not high. However, Christie's is different.

It is mainly the limitations of the auction industry itself.

If Simon invests in the Internet for a billion dollars, he may be able to get hundreds of times the return in the future. If he invests in the fashion field and operates properly, he will also get ten times the return in the future. However, because the auction industry mainly targets the people and the annual market capacity cannot show a stable upward curve, even if it can be determined that this auction house will bring very stable returns due to the continued economic prosperity in the next ten or twenty years, the value of Christie's itself will not rise too much. Ten years later, it is already the limit.

Therefore, Simon's plan will give Christie's a 30% premium of about US$870 million based on the recent market value of US$670 million.

If the agreement cannot be reached within the 30% premium range, Simon will decisively give up the acquisition.

At that time, it is not illegal to sell stocks that have been absorbed in advance and make a little difference while the stock price is at a high stage after the news leaks.

Not only that, Simon did not intend to pay all the 870 million US dollars planned by Melisandra. Black Rock Asset Management, a subsidiary of Cersei Capital, has agreed to enter the market for US$100 million. Sofia is still looking for other partner investors recently. Simon's goal is only to achieve Melisandra's absolute holding of Christie's.

But Simon thinks so, and others obviously don't think so.

In recent years, the areas that the Westeros system is optimistic about have basically shown very strong growth momentum.

Perhaps, when Melisandra Company initiated an acquisition offer from Christie's, many of Christie's shareholders and management had already changed their mentality of initially disgraceing the development prospects of this auction house.

This is a company that Simon Westeros is interested in.

Therefore, Christie's either wants to use Simon, who has strong financial resources as a sucker, or has already developed the idea of ​​not planning to sell it.

The US economy has not recovered yet, and Europe has just experienced a financial catastrophe. At this time, the possibility of bidding against Simon for the auction house is very low. If the two parties cannot agree, Simon will definitely not have the intention to openly acquire maliciously. Christie's is not worthy of malicious acquisition at all. This is something that all parties are very clear about.

In short, the prospects for this acquisition are very uncertain.

This is also shown by the memo in Simon's hands.

In the past two weeks, Christie's board of directors has not yet intended to give in.

Moreover, Christie's stock price has also risen to a certain extent. Compared with two weeks ago, the stock price has risen by 11%, and the news has obviously been quietly leaked.

Through secretly absorbing, Melisandra currently holds Christie's shares and is worth more than US$20 million.

The journey back to Dumei Point Manor from Malibu Daenerys Cinema is very short. Girl A sat quietly beside Simon and found that she was about to arrive at home. The man was still reading the documents in his hand carefully. After thinking about it, he said, "Boss, I think that acquiring Christie's is not a very good business."

Simon looked up, looked at the girl beside him and asked, "Why?"

Girl A has obviously made a lot of preparations and said: "The auction industry itself has very little development potential and great uncertainty in performance. Even if the boss believes that the world economy will improve rapidly in the next few years, the 800 million US dollars of cash investment is still not worth it. If this money is invested in other fields, it will definitely get more returns."

Simon nodded with a smile: "You are right, but buying Christie's is not just about buying an auction house."

After saying this, Simon did not go deeper.

In the top auction industry, those involved are basically the top group of people in the world at the top of the pyramids. If you can own Christie's, it is equivalent to having a pass to establish a huge network of personal connections.

The wealth Simon possessed at this time had reached a peak that ordinary people could not reach, and his power in Hollywood was also unparalleled. However, even if he reached the current height, Simon did not think that connections were no longer important to him. On the contrary, for him now, connections were becoming more and more important.

On the other hand, the top social circles are just the light part of the auction industry ‘above the water’.

This industry is actually more exciting than the surface.

Money laundering, tax avoidance, transfer of interests, etc.

If possible, Simon certainly hopes that all business activities of the Westeros system can be upright.

However, this is just a fantasy after all.

Simon has been discussing something with some core senior executives of the Westeros system these days, which has greatly increased the "investment" of the Westeros system in the political field.

According to preliminary plans, this year, the Westeros system is not just Schlap Consulting Company directly controlled by Westeros, but also core companies in Westeros system such as Daenerys Entertainment, Cisco, American Online, Verizon Telecom, Cersei Capital, and Egritte. It is estimated that in 1993, the total amount of funds planned for political donations and lobbying will reach 100 million US dollars.

In this era, with US$300,000,000, it is enough to squeeze into Forbes' list of 400 rich Americans.

The Westeros system plans to invest in the political field for one year to reach 100 million US dollars. However, this money must be spent. Even if a large part of it may be wasted, the money will not decrease and will continue to increase every year in the future.

However, this part of the investment cannot be completely operated on the surface. Those who are truly registered in accordance with the provisions of the US lobbying law may be less than one-fifth of the $100 million.

But this is still not enough.

If you own an auction house like Christie's, you can do a lot of things in the future.

People outside the United States always feel that this country is so good. After being in it and having more experience, you will probably understand that the systems may be different, but many things are actually similar.

Because human nature is the same.

Girl A is quite smart. Simon just woke up and immediately understood, and tactfully did not express any opinions on this.

The next day is Thursday, February 25th.

Simon flew to San Francisco early in the morning.

The financial report of Igret Company in 1992 has also been released recently.

Compared with Daenerys Entertainment's relatively "normal" annual growth rate, the past year Melisandra Company can be described as wild growth.

Therefore, when the financial report for the new year was released, the whole of Igret was happy and a little uneasy.

If this financial report is announced to the public, it will be too eye-catching.

In 1991, Egret's annual revenue was US$491 million, and the loss reached US$381 million, almost losing a wealthy man who ranked lower in the Forbes US 400 Rich List.

Whether it is the revenue of US$491 million in a new industry or the shocking loss of US$381 million, it triggered strong discussions in the media at the beginning of last year.

However, if this year's data is announced to the public, it will definitely attract more attention.

In 1992, the Amazon Online Mall, which opened at the beginning of last year, relied on the super traffic import of the only interface of the World Wide Web. In the first year of its opening and operation, it achieved an annual turnover of US$623 million.

Although it is well known that sales in the retail industry are often easier to achieve large sales and profit margins are often very low, the annual sales of Amazon Online Mall of only $623 million still easily surpassed the annual revenue of Igrit in 1991.

In addition, relying on the nearly exponential growth of Wanwei websites in the past year, the YWS department of Igrit Company achieved revenue of US$437 million throughout the year by relying on application software sales, server space leasing, solution services and even corporate emails, and other businesses. Among them, the most basic web design software sold US$283 million, surpassing the US$233 million of IE browser software.

Simon valued the most. Compared with the revenue of US$83 million in 1991, in 1992, because traditional advertising players such as Coca-Cola and cleaning also began to advertise on Internet platforms. In addition, the original technology advertisers such as IBM, Compaq, HP, Microsoft, and Intel, Igret's advertising revenue in 1992 also increased significantly to US$278 million, an increase of more than 330%.

Finally, the scattered revenue of application software stores such as Ystore and Ypay, online payment tools, and other aspects also achieved US$366 million in the whole year.

After all calculations, in 1992, the total revenue scale of Igrit Company reached US$1.937 billion in one fell swoop, and compared with 1991, the revenue growth rate reached 394%.

Even after accounting, the annual loss of Igrit Company in 1992 was still US$139 million. However, facing such a crazy annual growth rate of performance, not to mention a loss of US$139 million per year, even if it doubles a few times, it is completely worth investing.

If the financial data in 1991 only made the outside world realize the huge growth potential of the Internet industry, then the revenue performance of Igrit in 1992 is completely jealous.

A global economic downturn does not mean that capital lacks funds. On the contrary, it is more accurate to see that many funds cannot find suitable investment directions.

Once the financial report of Igret Company in 1992 was announced, it would be like a bright light suddenly lit up in the dark night.

One or two moths pounce on you may only be burned to death by the light flames. When countless moths swarm, the lights may be in danger of being extinguished.

The light of the Igrit Company happens to have another obvious fatal weakness.

monopoly.

On the original timeline, the Internet industry began to rise in 1995 and was basically in a state of blooming flowers. Netscape and Microsoft own browser software, Yahoo provides portal business, and companies such as Amazon and eBay operate e-commerce. At that time, Internet cloud services had not yet appeared. Website design software, server rental business and other basic software and services were also shared by many companies.

Now, because Igrit Company has built a patent barrier for the World Wide Web in advance, it basically represents the World Wide Web platform of the entire Internet industry. From the lowest-level tool software to server rental, to graphical interface browsers, and even portal websites, online malls and other online businesses that have proven successful on the timeline, Igrit Company has taken over all of them.

So, when the Internet industry began to explode, Igret Company was immediately supported.

The annual performance growth rate is close to 400%. It doesn’t have to last long. Even if it lasts for another two or three years, Igret will grow into an industry giant with a revenue scale of 10 billion yuan.

Other industries are constantly sluggish due to the overall environment, and everyone is looking for prey carefully, but Igret Company is alone guarding a pasture full of fat cattle and sheep.

Capital comes to the world, from head to toe, with blood and dirty things dripping from every pore.

If there is 10% profit, capital is guaranteed to be used everywhere; if there is 20% profit, capital becomes active; if there is 50% profit, capital takes risks; for 100% profit, capital dares to trample on all human laws; if there is 300% profit, capital dares to commit any crime, or even risk being hung.

Marx, "Das Kapital" says this.

Now, the Internet industry that Egret Company is involved in clearly represents more than 1,000% of its interests.
Chapter completed!