Abandoned the Immortal Cultivator, returned to his hometown to farm and sing

Chapter 1352, page 1339: The Chain of Schemes

Lu Shixue's actions infuriated The Climate Company.

But its parent company, Bayer, didn't seem to care much.

The overseas branch has developed ambitions and wants to seize control.

Financial markets are normal, Bayer didn't take it seriously. Anyway, no matter who's in power, the profits stay within the system.

Their minds are entirely focused on fighting old Arnault.

Lu Shixue has money, support behind him, and is an insider with a list of shareholders.

With the mindset of making amends through meritorious service, they went all out.

They quickly acquired a 5.7% stake through premium pricing and resource swaps, thus securing a seat on the board of directors.

Climate Inc. is a joint venture subsidiary of Bayer, not a wholly owned subsidiary.

Because it was originally VitalFields, founded by Martin, which was later invested in by Monsanto and then acquired by Monsanto's investment company.

Since it's an investment company, it's not just Monsanto's money.

It was later split up and reorganized, and merged with several other companies.

After Monsanto was acquired by Bayer, it underwent a series of resource integrations before the creation of Climate Company.

Therefore, the equity structure of Climate Corporation is very complex.

The major grain traders and seed companies that partnered with Bayer exchanged shares. Monsanto's original shareholders held shares, as did those who initially invested in Monsanto, and the shareholders of the companies that were integrated. After the company developed, there were also strategic investors, individual investors, and people who just wanted to make money by taking advantage of the situation.

Martin was so poor that he couldn't afford to eat, and when he was doing business, he traded 1% of his shares for 500 crowns with a farmer.

Listen to this currency unit, the krona. It hasn't even entered the Eurozone yet; when will that happen?

500 crowns was only worth about 30 euros at the time, which was just the cost of a few meals.

The farmer is still on the shareholder list, although he has been diluted to a tiny fraction.

Bayer, the largest shareholder of Climate Inc., holds only 19.8% of the shares.

This demonstrates the complex ownership structure of the climate company.

To protect the rights and interests of all parties, Climate Company stipulates that a 5% shareholding automatically grants a seat on the board of directors.

This created an opportunity.

After Lu Shixue joined the board of directors, he caused quite a stir.

As the true owner and highest decision-making body of a company.

The board of directors has a great deal of power.

They can determine the company's business direction and major transactions, hire and fire senior executives, approve finances, and supervise company operations, etc.

Even a single board member has the right to review the company's business plan, financial budget, and final accounts; the power to approve financial reports and evaluate the performance of senior executives; and the power to supervise the company's business activities and the performance of management.

As for theory, the Climate Corporation's board of directors has never been very useful.

Everyone is very busy, and no one has the time to manage a technology company every day, let alone provide technical support behind the scenes.

To give an analogy, this company's business is similar to a subway in a city, which is considered a public facility.

It is extremely important, serving as the foundational support for the entire agricultural hegemony system, and its role is crucial and irreplaceable.

However, it's not really profitable. Construction, maintenance, human resources, energy and other operating costs are high, and revenue is not enough to cover the costs. Every year, a lot of money needs to be invested in it, like a bottomless pit.

This is hardly a good investment for the shareholders of the climate company.

We've been losing money every year, so there's no chance of getting dividends.

Asset appreciation? It can't be listed on the stock exchange.

If you want to make some money, you can only squeeze it out of operating expenses. It's really pointless to go through all that trouble for such a paltry sum.

It's something that's tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away.

So the board of directors doesn't really get involved. They hold two or three large meetings a year to audit the budget for the following year, calculate how much money was lost last year, and then just grumble a few words and that's it.

Other board members are not involved in any affairs.

Lu Shixue, this "newly recruited" member, is capable of managing everything, and seems to feel the need to make his presence felt, so he manages everything.

Lu Shixue hired a law firm to represent him at Climate Company.

Then they began to exercise their board powers.

At first, they audited the accounts and investigated the taxes.

They nitpick over every little thing they find, creating an atmosphere of panic in the company.

But the other shareholders didn't take it seriously. Everyone knew that Lu Shixue's goal was to prevent a takeover. He treated the company as his own, so of course he had to find out how much it was really worth.

After several attempts, they discovered that no one was taking action.

Let's continue then.

Lu Shixue started picking on senior executives again, investigating whoever was capable and targeting whoever was key.

Those who are capable, get down; those who are sycophants and incompetent, all come up.

The company was thrown into turmoil, several senior executives resigned in anger, and many business operations came to a standstill.

The other shareholders still didn't take it to heart.

It's normal to place people in positions of power; every new emperor has his own people, and everyone has to appoint a few close associates.

I just feel that this young man is really impatient and acts too rashly.

Those who come from the bottom lack vision. Let them make a scene, they'll learn to behave once they've hit their heads.

A bunch of arrogant people just laughed it off.

But then, their laughter stopped.

Lu Shixue then began targeting key technical personnel.

He didn't find fault with anything; he just asked the technical staff to come up with solutions. They submitted eight a day, and he sent each one back to be redone without telling them what was wrong. He just told them to redo it.

The whole thing made the key technical staff extremely irritable, their work was a complete mess, and it even affected the data business of companies like Cargill and ADM.

The shareholders were furious. The Climate Company depends on the Climate FieldView platform to survive. You're going crazy to mess with the core technical staff and affect the platform?
Crazy?
You haven't seen anything even crazier yet.

Lu Shixue directly interfered in the company's operations. He opposed any plan that was beneficial to the company, and he also opposed any plan that looked like a money-making scheme. He couldn't object to the instructions issued by Bayer, so he nitpicked the details and dragged things out.

As a board member, it is only natural for him to offer "reasonable" opinions.

That's called being conscientious and responsible.

Then, under the pretext of rectifying the company's atmosphere, he launched a large-scale whistleblowing campaign.

Reporting colleagues, reporting superiors, reporting subordinates—anything goes, anything is acceptable.

Reporting is rewarded; those who fail to report will be punished.

Everyone makes mistakes; if you want to find it, you can definitely find it. If you really can't find it, you can always make something up.

Lu Shixue didn't care whether it was made up or not.

The company was gripped by panic, filled with suspicion and antagonism, and normal work was completely ruined.

Finally, he even reported the company for falsifying accounts as a shareholder.

Is this something a human would do?
At this point, Bayer's parent company finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Lu Shixue was not a hothead at all.

Look at the things he's done.

Harassment during audits, malicious vetoes, exclusion of talent, promotion of incompetent individuals, proposal fatigue, incitement of suspicion, external whistleblowing...

One incident after another, each linked to the next, involving every possible means... a scourge.

Its core logic is to significantly reduce the company's value through internal sabotage, triggering panic selling by minority shareholders.

In just a few months, Lu Shixue has acquired 17.1% of the shares, becoming the second largest shareholder.

This is a typical "disruptive acquisition" or "scorched earth tactic," an aggressive strategy in business competition.

That's too radical, too much! How could he do that! How dare he!
We've always been the ones using scorched earth tactics against other companies.

In just eight years, Monsanto acquired more than 350 seed and related companies, most of which were acquired after being misled and then sold at low prices.

Now, some greenhorn actually dares to use this trick on us?

I don't want to live anymore!!
Even at this point, they still thought Lu Shixue was trying to reverse the takeover and was using aggressive tactics.
-
Bayer immediately took action.

First, send a representative to the East to contact Lu Shixue, have a proper discussion, and express Bayer's attitude.

"Just settle down and be a major shareholder, and stop causing trouble." Lu Shixue readily agreed, his attitude extremely humble, which greatly satisfied Bayer's negotiating representative.

As a result, they then swallowed up two minority shareholders, pushing their shareholding to 17.9%.

Damn it, you're so ungrateful, aren't you?

The negotiators flew to the East again the following day to begin the second round of negotiations.

He flexed his muscles, threatening, "We Bayer can crush you like an ant."

Lu Shixue was indeed "frightened" and promised on the spot that he would never do it again.

Bayer's negotiators were very satisfied.

While still on the plane, Lu Shixue received more bad news: he had acquired another minority stake, bringing his shareholding to 19.2%, just one step away from Bayer's.

Bayer's negotiators were furious. "Damn it, they changed their tune so quickly! Why don't you just let me land already? They turned on me before I even got home! Is that something a human would do?"
We won't discuss the third round either.

I'll make you experience what's what.

Find a partner assessment company to prepare a climate company assessment report.

The standards are extremely complex.

The advantages are amplified to the extreme, while the disadvantages are hidden to the extreme, resulting in an exaggerated valuation for the climate company.

You, Lu Shixue, want to acquire it, right? Then go with this price.

We'll see how much money you have.

As expected, Lu Shixue stopped acquiring shares.

He started causing trouble again, checking the accounts again and doing it all over again.

Things had only calmed down for a few days; the climate company can't afford to be messed with like this.

Bayer convened a board meeting and initiated a vote to expel Lu Shixue from the board.

Surprisingly, it didn't pass.

Did it not pass?

Why?

A group of minority shareholders united in their opposition.

Because Lu Shixue had privately promised them that he would acquire their shares at a 20% premium, based on the normal valuation from a few months ago.

Bayer's newly come-out valuation is a joke; nobody will take it seriously.

If the climate company is really worth that much money, then you should start distributing dividends.

Alas, the lawyer representing the Lu Shixue school actually moved a motion at the board meeting demanding a share of the profits.

It has gained widespread support.

Nobody wants to turn down money.

It's infuriating that Bayer is so popular.

You won't listen to a polite toast, so you'll have to suffer the consequences, right?

It was you, Lu Shixue, who forced us into this situation; we have to give you a taste of your own medicine.

What intensity?
It's nothing more than the usual methods: kidnapping, poisoning, dump truck, or suicide by being shot eight times in the back.

Bayer's top management gave the order.

The relevant "professionals" took action... No, it's hopeless, they can't get up, this job is impossible.

Nima Lushi's school of thought is in the East, not abroad.

Nima's family is also in the East; they went back long ago.

Go to work in the East? The "professionals" don't want to die.

The previous negotiator suddenly realized, "How could I have forgotten about this?"

He flew thousands of miles twice, and the travel expenses haven't been reimbursed yet.

Ugh.

Since conventional methods are not feasible.

Then we'll have to use something less conventional...
-
"This Lu Shixue is truly a talented individual."

Luo Yihang listened to Liu Piaoliang recount the dramatic battle that had taken place during his absence.

He laughed heartily.

"He is indeed a talented individual," Liu Piaoliang nodded in confirmation. "He is a fine knife."

This is Liu Piaoliang's definition of Lu Shixue: a fine knife.

When on the other side, they are familiar with the rules of the domestic market and can come up with the idea of ​​collecting domestic meteorological data under the guise of "jointly building a smart planting model," thereby damaging national data security.

After being coerced and lured into turning the tide and becoming an "insider," he used his cunning to wreak havoc on the Climate Company and went toe-to-toe with Bayer.

This person is highly capable but has no morals; they'll follow whoever offers them the most benefits.

It's a good knife, but it depends on who's holding it.

We chatted briefly about Lu Shixue.

Liu Piaoliang then went on to talk about the "less conventional" methods Bayer used.

"They reported it to the regulatory authorities, requesting an investigation into Lu Shixue's funding sources and whether he had any illegal transactions with the private equity firm," Liu Piaoliang said with a smile.

"What? Report them?" Luo Yihang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then laughed. "Damn, they really are something else. If they can't beat someone, they report them to the teacher. Even elementary school students don't want to play with people like that."

"I would say you're good at using the rules," Liu Piaoliang said with a smile.

The report naturally yielded no results.

Because that so-called private equity firm was just a smokescreen.

The money for the share acquisition was paid by a shell company registered in the Cayman Islands; the entire transaction was overseas and could not be traced at all.

Moreover, a foreign national of Chinese descent working for a foreign company acquired a foreign company using overseas funds.

Does it have anything to do with China?
It's simply not under the jurisdiction of domestic regulatory agencies...

We've finished discussing Bayer's latest counterattack.

Luo Yihang's smile faded, and he asked seriously, "And how were we exposed?"

He suddenly returned from Inner Mongolia, mainly for this matter.

Upon hearing this, Liu Piaoliang smiled wryly and said, "We also have a mole..."

"Jiahe Agriculture News: Someone leaked the news. Bayer's people already know that the so-called acquisition was a charade, and we are behind it."

"It turns out they also used a feint to cover their tracks."

"They all have the same malicious intentions..."

It's alright, I can still make fun of myself.

Jiahe Agricultural Information is the remote sensing satellite technology company that Lu Shixue originally used as a pretext to obtain sensitive meteorological data under the guise of agricultural cooperation.

This time, they're targeting climate companies.

They first staged a hostile takeover and a white knight came to the rescue.

Jiahe Agriculture has always been a partner, so it's perfectly reasonable for them to act as a white knight.

Meanwhile, the weather data from the East is exactly what Climate Company wants most, and the outcome of Jiahe Agricultural Information could arouse their greed, making them want to reap the benefits.

The purpose of this scheme was to extract cash flow from the climate company to prevent the other party from using a "poison pill" during the anti-takeover campaign.

This is a whole series of interconnected schemes.

As a result, Bayer did the same thing.

The source of the reported funds was fake, but behind the scenes, whether through bribery or seduction, a senior executive of Jiahe Agriculture was turned against him.

This reveals that they did not act as a white knight, nor did they engage in hostile takeover. Most importantly, they bribed the security guards at Aike Agriculture to remove the surveillance footage.

Liu Piaoliang's figure was found inside.

Seeing Liu Piaoliang, it was natural that Luo Yihang was also exposed.

Who's behind all this? Do we even need to guess?

(End of this chapter)