We are all reborn, who wants to be the richest man?

Chapter 270 Sudden strength

The whole dinner didn't last long, it was over in two hours.

It's not that Luo Nianzhong is in a hurry to see off the guests, but that the big shots in Downing Street know the purpose of today's banquet and don't want to disturb them here any more.

So when the banquet was almost in progress, these people left in a very sensible manner, and the last ones left were those who were in the private room last time.

In a lounge in the manor, when Luo Nianzhong came in after seeing off the guests, these old guys were already smoking, chatting and laughing.

“Luo, you still have a lot of good red wine here.

For the 82 Latour, everyone said that last year's Bordeaux was a year blessed by God. I didn't expect the quality to be so good.

No wonder the two major wineries under your name restricted the sale of last year’s red wine, and are also actively purchasing last year’s red wine from other wineries.”

Cavendish, the old man who has been thinking about YDD from beginning to end, really loves wine as much as his life.

But Luo Nianzhong liked his shamelessness the most. He was so rude after getting to know him.

This kind of personality makes Luo Nianzhong very relaxed and seems informal in interactions.

Just like now, the old man saw that there were many good wines in his wine cellar, especially several bottles of his favorite Patrus that were hard to find on the market.

The old guy didn't mean to be polite at all and opened several bottles in succession.

Anyway, there were so many people drinking, so he just had a taste of them all.

When Carson came to ask Luo Nianzhong for instructions, and after Cavendish's visit to his wine cellar was acquiesced, the old guy even had the idea of ​​robbing Luo Nianzhong while standing in his wine cellar.

Luo Nianzhong's wine cellar contains almost all first- and second-level wineries and red wines of good vintages, except for Latour and Patrus.

YDD has a dedicated team responsible for purchasing wine, and one of their responsibilities is to help Luo Nianzhong purchase red wine.

This time Carson contacted the two major wineries and was told that YDD had a batch of newly acquired red wines of good vintages stored with them.

After Carson and Luo Nianzhong asked for instructions, they ordered a few boxes of each red wine to be taken back to Enron Manor.

Many people may not know that red wine is one of the most valuable items in the world. Luo Nianzhong's purchase of a large amount of red wine can be considered an investment in addition to drinking it.

Just like every winery in the Bordeaux region in 82, almost one-tenth of the red wine was taken over by Luo Nianzhong.

To this end, Luo Nianzhong also built a super huge professional wine storage cellar with constant temperature and humidity at a manor in France. When completed, it will become the wine warehouse of the Luo family.

The red wine on the market has also increased a lot because of Luo Nianzhong's operation, and fewer and fewer are being sold.

From now on, Luo Nianzhong's most important job at the manor in France was to take care of the wine cellar. For this reason, Fiona hired a number of professionals to work at the manor.

Seeing Cavendish pouring many glasses of red wine on a table and tasting it over and over again, Luo Nianzhong came to him with a smile.

"If you like, I'll give you a few boxes of good wine to take away when you leave, especially the 82 Latour. You can taste it later."

"Then I'm not welcome."

After thanking him, the old guy said aggressively, "Luo, I see there are many bottles of Wine King in your cellar. How about you give me two bottles as well?".

"Didn't I just give you a few boxes?"

"You mean the 82 Latour will become the king of wine?" Cavendish said in surprise.

"Shouldn't it be right?" Luo Nianzhong nodded affirmatively.

Others don't know the evaluation results, but he knows. Among the 82 red wines, in addition to Lafite, which received a perfect score, Latour and Mouton also won the title of wine king with a perfect score.

People remember Lafite because of its publicity and the fact that it is difficult for ordinary people to have access to this level of red wine.

Look, this time Luo Nianzhong will make Latour and Lafite equally famous or even surpass Lafite, becoming the most widely spread red wine.

Cavendish thought about the 82 Latour he had just tasted, and nodded in recognition of Luo Nianzhong's confidence.

"It seems that I will also stock up on a batch of 82 red wine. This is truly a legendary vintage."

After chatting with Cavendish, Luo Nianzhong sat in the host's seat. Carson poured him a cup of black tea and left. He knew that everyone had important things to talk about and it was not convenient for him to stay here.

After taking a sip of black tea, Luo Nianzhong saw that everyone's eyes were focused on him. Luo Nianzhong said calmly, "I have always been a person who values ​​​​harmony and wealth, and I also believe in the principle that strong melons are not sweet.

Since we can't reach a consensus on Barclays Bank, I mean we won't be diluted."

"No more talk?"

Luo Nianzhong's words were like setting off a thousand waves with one stone. No one expected that Luo Nianzhong would immediately flip up the table.

After everyone looked at each other, it was John who spoke up and said, "Are you saying that Barclays Bank is not going down or is it our cooperation?"

"It will be all right". Luo Nianzhong said indifferently.

"If you are willing to separate Li International, we can renegotiate cooperation.

If you are not willing, then what else can we talk about? "

Luo Nianzhong's sudden toughness made these old nobles a little uncomfortable. The word "strength" used to be their monograph, but now offense and defense have been exchanged.

“Just because of the issue of Barclays Bank’s shares, will our long negotiations be in vain?
Moreover, you were talking about not less than 30% of the equity of Barclays Bank, and you did not ask for a specific number of shares.

With the cooperation plan we proposed, Far East Bank firmly controls the board of directors of Barclays Bank."

It is a firm control, but a prerequisite for this control is that all the remaining directors will not join together.

This is England, and Luo Nianzhong doesn't know how to gamble.

"I don't want to either"

Luo Nianzhong showed a helpless expression, "Both of us have reached the final stage of cooperation, and there are no secrets between us.

But as you said, this negotiation has taken too long and I don’t want to delay it any longer.

Our intention to cooperate with the Texas consortium and DuPont was almost at the same time as yours, but in the beautiful country we reached a deal easily, and here I don’t see any hope of the results I want.”

Luo Nianzhong's words made several old guys look at John.

In their opinion, the happiness of the two consortiums in the beautiful country is based on Chris, the world's richest woman, and they would be willing to do so if the same conditions were met.

But unfortunately, the only woman here who had an intersection with Luo Nianzhong was Sarah from the Spencer family, so they set their sights on John.

The ambiguity in his eyes seemed to say, "If that doesn't work, just give your daughter to someone else. If they transfer 15% of the shares in Barclays Bank they currently hold to Sarah, they can still talk."

We are all smart people, so why can’t we see the meaning behind this?

Apart from John Spencer, who was sitting there nodding and saying nothing, the only awkward person at the scene was Luo Nianzhong.

What do you mean? It's as if I'm forcing you to give Sarah to me as your mistress, but I swear to God I don't mean that.

And old man John, you are so brooding, I have no intention of recognizing you as my father-in-law.

Afraid that John would misunderstand and say something that would be embarrassing for everyone, Luo Nianzhong hurriedly spoke.

"40% is my bottom line. At the same time, the circulating shares cannot be less than 45%. Far East must occupy more than half of the board seats. This is the guarantee I need."

Other conditions are easy to say, but the regulations on tradable shares are just an excuse.

There are too many operable methods here, and Luo Nianzhong can't find them even if he wants to.

However, it is enough to hold 40% of the equity and have a veto power, plus control of the board of directors.

If you can't keep Barclays firmly in your hands, is this still the protagonist's treatment?

However, these old guys obviously did not want to lose the Barclays Bank shares they had obtained, so they discussed another solution, which was AB shares.

What are AB shares?
To put it simply, the same shares have different rights, and voting rights and income are separated.

Only earnings are distributed in proportion to equity, while voting rights are quite different.

A shares are ordinary shares, and one share represents one share of voting rights. B shares are different. Each share generally has ten or twenty times the voting rights.

This allows those who own Class B shares to maintain absolute control of the company with only a small number of shares.

This kind of AB share ownership structure first appeared in the West, especially in beautiful countries. AB shares were also popular in Hong Kong a few years ago.

But things have changed recently. Both Europe and Hong Kong are suppressing this shareholding structure, and some countries have even banned companies with AB shares from listing.

The reason?

No one can guarantee that the person in power with absolute control can perfectly make the best decision for the company every time.

Moreover, capitalists are all self-interested, and their own interests must be the first consideration when making a decision.

Therefore, among companies that implement AB shares, there are many companies that have bankrupted due to decision-makers.

If your business is small, it's okay, just adding some unemployed people.

But what if the company is huge? It is likely to trigger a series of chain reactions leading to a double collapse of the stock market and economy.

In addition to these, there are many regulations for AB shares.

For example, Class A stocks can be listed and traded, but Class B stocks cannot.

Class B shares will automatically be converted into Class A shares when transferred to others.

Also, when the holder of Class B shares no longer holds any position in the company, the Class B shares held will be automatically converted to Class A shares.

Although the structure of AB shares can strengthen the founder's control over the company, it also has disadvantages, that is, those in power have a great influence on the stock price.

There was once a strong man who didn't know his wife's beauty. One incident in the beautiful country caused his company to plummet by 280 billion. There are many similar situations.

But no matter what, the advantages of the AB share structure far outweigh the disadvantages for founders. If they had a choice, I believe all founders would choose AB shares, right?

As for why there are not many AB-share listed companies, it is because companies need multiple rounds of financing before going public. AB shares obviously harm the interests of investors. Which investor is willing to invest in you?

Companies that can adopt the AB share structure are unicorn companies, and you will make money if you invest in them.

These companies have no shortage of investors, so they speak more forcefully, and investors can only accept it.

To be honest, most of the Far Eastern companies that are about to go public will adopt this structure. Not only are these companies companies with promising future development, but also because no one understands future development trends better than Luo Nianzhong himself.

Because of Luo Nianzhong's strength, John Spencer and others put forward the proposal of AB shares, just to stabilize Luo Nianzhong.

This also means that the other party has expressed its attitude that it has no intention to compete for control of Barclays Bank and is holding this stake entirely as an investment.

"AB shares, I need to think about it." Luo Nianzhong pretended to be thoughtful and then replied

In fact, Luo Nian already felt that he could agree to it because AB shares were more suitable for him.

No matter how many times Barclays Bank expands in the future or how high its market value is, he doesn't care. What he wants is real control.

Now John's plan undoubtedly puts Barclays Bank completely into Luo Nianzhong's hands.

However, now they are asking for themselves.

As the saying goes, don't take advantage of the bastard, Luo Nianzhong still has to take advantage of the opponent.

In the entire lounge, everyone was watching Luo Nian who was thinking, except for one person, and that was Cavendish.

From the moment Luo Nian came in until now, Cavendish's eyes have never left the red wine on those tables.

Perhaps because he decided to hoard some of the 82 red wine, he opened several bottles of 82 red wine from different wineries and was savoring it carefully.

Perhaps because everyone knew the character of this strange old man, others were not surprised by his behavior at this time, and regarded him as nothing.

With his status and capital, it shouldn't be difficult to acquire a winery.

But he doesn't like ordinary people, and top wineries are hard to come by, so he hasn't gotten his wish until now. This is why he only wants to invest in YDD.

The two major wineries, Chateau Latour and Chateau Patous, were able to be won by Luo Nianzhong. To be honest, Luo Nianzhong had to thank Arnaud. Otherwise, it would be really difficult for the Luo family to win these two wineries.

Although these two major wineries now belong to YDD, Luo Nianzhong and Arnault are angry, and they will spin off Latour at the right time and transfer it to the Luo family office.

By then it will no longer be Latour, it should be called Roche-Latour.

“40% of the shares cannot be lower.

And one B share is equivalent to the voting rights of 20 A shares. Correspondingly, you can invest in Barclays Bank in the stock market."

In this case, B shares only need 10% to obtain 68% of the voting rights.

The remaining 30% of the stocks can be used as A-shares for capital operations, and basically have no impact on Luo Nianzhong's future plans for Barclays Bank.

"Okay." John agreed happily this time. "To celebrate our partnership, I thought we'd have a drink."

"It really should be a good celebration. I wonder if I have the honor to taste that unique bottle of wine again?"

The cooperation was negotiated, and when it came time to celebrate, Cavendish finally got into the mood, and drank the bottle of Liquor King in the cellar, and looked at Luo Nianzhong with very expectant eyes.

Honored, once again, uniquely, Wine King.

The combination of these words made Luo Nianzhong know which bottle of wine Cavendish was paying attention to, that was the bottle of Patrus red wine used at the Queen's wedding banquet.

The first time Patrus entered the upper class was at Elizabeth's engagement party. What really made Patrus famous in Europe was the bottle of Patrus' best vintage, 1947, at the Queen's wedding. king.

At that time, the world's leaders and top figures really knew about Pattus Winery and red wine. Now, there are only more than 30 boxes of red wine of this vintage in Pattus Winery.

After Luo Nianzhong found out, he took away one box and the rest has been sealed up, maybe it will become eternal.

This bottle of Enron Manor's King of Wine was originally brought by Carson to add to the appearance of Enron Manor's wine cellar.

Think about it, which other country can make this bottle of wine more valued in England, but unexpectedly it was discovered by Cavendish.

But to be honest, Luo Nianzhong was also curious about what this bottle of Liquor King tasted like, so he said generously, "Why not?"

"God praise you, Lo, I'll go get the wine myself."

Cavendish was as excited as a child and ran out as if he was young again. Luo Nianzhong naturally wanted to tell Carson who was guarding the door.

Cavendish's excitement made everyone curious, and they all wanted to know what kind of bottle of wine could make him lose his temper like this.

For a moment, when Cavendish personally carried the bottle of wine over as carefully as a baby, many people's eyes widened.

Many people here have attended the Queen's wedding and have naturally drank this bottle of red wine. Even if they have not drank it, they all know the existence of this bottle of wine after seeing it.

"Luo, today I have a new understanding of your generosity. I never thought I would have the opportunity to taste this bottle of wine again.

Many people say it is almost extinct, and the stocks that are known about it have been preserved."

The output of Patous is already low. In some bad years, no red wine is even produced, for fear of affecting the brand.

Only 1947 bottles of this vintage were produced, one-third of which were supplied to the royal family.

Coupled with the fact that the upper echelons of various countries bought and drank it at that time, this bottle of wine is basically out of print now.

"Red wine? Aren't all wines, no matter what year they are, for people to taste? How can you treasure them if you haven't even tasted them?"

Luo Nianzhong's pretense made everyone respond with applause, especially Cavendish, who showed admiration.

"Luo, I want to write down your words. It will become another wise saying in my life."

Luo Nianzhong didn't know whether he should be happy that such a great nobleman regarded his words as a wise saying.

I just don’t know how Luo Nianzhong will feel after Cavendish uses this sentence to trick many rare wines into drinking.

(End of this chapter)