1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 574: Lafite from 82!

[Mitterrand's latest election proposal: to vigorously protect the artistic environment and ensure the fairness of the Cannes Film Festival]

[Cannes News: Adjani's new film is released, and her amazing acting skills are revealed in "Possessed"]

[Les Echos: Cartier will change hands again, and the shareholders behind the scenes are negotiating a sale with several wealthy people]

In the hotel, Li Changhe looked at the newspaper on the table and smiled slightly.

Mitterrand acted quickly, found his opportunity within a few days, and made the statement during the campaign.

This kind of statement actually represents his certain political inclinations, which may not necessarily be realized, but it can make his opponents treat it with caution.

To put it bluntly, after Mitterrand made such a statement, if the RM Alliance continued to put pressure on Cannes, it would be nothing more than handing a knife to its opponents and digging a hole for itself.

So Li Changhe guessed that since Mitterrand chose to alert the enemy, the people who put pressure on Cannes must act with caution.

And the facts turned out to be exactly as Li Changhe had expected.

By the end of April, Brownsco came to Li Changhe's room again.

"Mr. Victor, I am really curious, how did you convince Mr. Mitterrand to speak up?"

Bronsco asked in surprise as he entered the room.

"It's a secret, Mr. Bronsco."

"But I think your visit today should bring good news, right?"

Li Changhe would certainly not tell him the inside story, but he estimated that Brownsco's visit must have brought good news, otherwise there would be no point in his coming.

"Of course, I came here to tell Mr. Victor that we won't have any problems winning the Palme d'Or this time."

"The film produced by your company is very profound and fits the taste of Cannes, especially the idea of ​​the seven deadly sins. It is hard to imagine that this film was produced in the East."

"For now, the Palme d'Or and Best Director are more likely to win, but other awards are relatively difficult."

"Although the performances of the male and female protagonists are outstanding, there are also many supporting roles that perform well. These roles share the drama, so it is difficult to work hard on the best male and female protagonists."

Brunsco said seriously at this time.

He certainly won't help "Parasite" to get all the awards, which is very difficult unless the film is particularly popular.

The quality of "Parasite" is certainly very good, but it is quite difficult for the male and female protagonists to win awards. This is also the result of their internal discussions.

"Of course, winning the Palme d'Or and Best Director is enough, Mr. Brunswick. I'm leaving Paris soon, so I'll have to trouble you with the Cannes matters."

"This one million dollars is my public relations expenses for supporting Mr. Braunschweig and is not included in the amount we promised."

At this time, Li Changhe pushed a check from BNP Paribas in front of Brunsco.

"Mr. Victor, you are so generous!"

When Bronsco saw the check in front of him, his eyes turned red.

Li Changhe looked at Brownsko seriously.

"Mr. Bronsco, I have a purpose for this money."

"If you have seen Parasite, you should understand that at the end of the film, in addition to the metaphor of the contradictions between human classes themselves, there is also a metaphor between countries."

"Mr. Victor, are you talking about Japan? That war was actually a parasitism and plunder of the University of Tokyo by Japan. I know this! It invaded the East during World War II."

At this time, Brunsco also nodded and said.

These film critics he hired had already analyzed the metaphorical points in the film, so of course he knew it.

"Yes, as far as I know, there are some groups in Japan overseas that specifically target films and books that reveal the truth about World War II, and use money to buy them out or suppress them in order to protect their national image."

"After all, in the East, they don't admit that they were invaders in World War II."

"So I hope Mr. Brunsko will be on guard against this, and don't let them ruin our efforts!"

To put it bluntly, Li Changhe gave him this money to guard against the Japanese.

Li Changhe didn't know whether this group of birdmen would affect Cannes, but he still had to be on guard against them just in case.

After listening to Li Changhe's explanation, Brownsko's face showed a look of indignation.

"I see. Don't worry, Mr. Victor. As long as I'm here, the Japanese won't be able to do anything."

"This is France!"

"Mr. Brunsko said so, then I feel relieved!"

"Then I'll leave it to you. I look forward to your good news in Cannes."

After seeing off Brunsko, Li Changhe looked at the time. Not long after, Wells walked in again.

Wells has been on a killing spree in Paris recently!

The Bosak Group was cleaned up inside and out, and all those who pretended to obey were eliminated, including those from Pierre Cardin.

Then, at the same time, we also had to negotiate with Vacheron Constantin and Cartier.

"Looking at you, I think I need to give you a good vacation after I'm done with this busy period!"

Li Changhe looked at the rather tired Wei Er Si and said jokingly with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Wei Er Si shook his head decisively: "I've just been running around these two days, but I'm not tired."

Are you kidding? He is now in power and is gradually becoming the multinational president of a world-class company. How can he take a holiday at this time?
"Let's get down to business!"

"The progress with Vacheron Constantin is going very smoothly. You are right. The sales performance of Swiss watches has been very poor in recent years. The shareholders of Vacheron Constantin are not interested in continuing to hold the shares. They are not opposed to our acquisition. We expect that the deal will be concluded in a month at most."

"As for Cartier, although Al came forward to help us make the connection, the investment institution currently seems to be waiting for a higher price."

"The Rupert family in South Africa is also very powerful. They have also shown a strong interest in Cartier. If we insist on competing, the cost we pay may be much higher than the actual value."

"What are your thoughts?"

Li Changhe asked Wei Ersi at this time.

Wells said seriously: "I want to contact the Rupert family to see if we can join forces to take over Cartier."

"In this way, we can avoid bidding against each other and buy Cartier at the normal market price."

"After all, the reason you want Cartier is for the new shopping mall over at Jardine Matheson. We can totally reach an agreement with the Rupert family, and we can all hold shares together and then divide the global market."

"For example, Asia belongs to us, Europe belongs to Rupert, America is divided, and so on!"

Li Changhe smiled when he heard this: "In this case, will the Cartier family be kicked out by you?"

After all, if Wells were to reach an agreement with the Rupert family, he would certainly not let Al continue to run Cartier. On the other hand, if the two companies jointly negotiated with private equity institutions, Al Cartier's role would be minimal.

"Yes, in this way, Al can be eliminated."

"I don't think the Rupert family will allow Al to be in charge of Cartier for ten years." Wells didn't care whether Al was kicked out or not. After all, in business terms, Al's role was really limited.

Li Changhe shook his head gently: "No, Al means a lot to us. Will, we will not only make this one acquisition in Europe. I will make more acquisitions in Europe in the future."

"The Cartier family may not have power, but they are well-known. If we play a trick on Al, it will actually do more harm than good to us."

"Many of our subsequent collaborations in Europe will be affected, and by then, we will have to pay much more than we do now."

"You continue to cooperate with Al. At worst, you can increase your offer to Cartier, even if it's a premium."

"I can give you the authorization to use Bosak's assets to borrow money from European banks."

Li Changhe gently rejected Weiers' proposal.

It is not difficult to kick Al out, but the difficulty lies in that once word of mouth spreads, his image in Europe will be negatively evaluated, which will cause trouble when he acquires other assets in the future.

Not to mention anything else, just in the automotive industry, many car companies in Europe will be sold in the next few years.

From England to Italy, from Rolls-Royce to Ferrari, these car companies are on the list of those being sold.

In this case, a negative reputation has a great impact on Li Changhe.

So Li Changhe would not allow Weiers to do this.

After hearing what Li Changhe said, Weiersi nodded: "Okay, I thought it was simple!"

"You are actually right to think so. From the company's perspective, your idea is actually correct."

"But for me, I have a comprehensive consideration, not just limited to Cartier, so I can't lose the big picture while picking up sesame seeds."

From the perspective of the company president, there was nothing wrong with Wells's idea, but he did not know Li Changhe's overall considerations.

So Li Changhe wouldn't blame him.

"In that case, I will increase my offer to Cartier. At worst, I will compete with the Rupert family to the end."

Wells said helplessly at this time.

"Don't worry, I don't think the Rupert family will fight Cartier to death. They are just diversifying their asset investments, not corporate strategy."

Li Changhe smiled and comforted him. He remembered that in the early 1980s, old Rupert was still the head of the Rupert family.

His consideration of luxury goods is more for asset acquisition rather than corporate strategy.

The real Richemont Group will not fully enter the luxury goods industry until his son takes over.

Therefore, Li Changhe predicted that the current Rupert family would not fight to the death with Bossack over Cartier.

"Okay, then I'll continue to contact them."

Li Changhe shook his finger: "Don't be in a hurry. Be prepared for them to give up for two days. The more anxious you act, the more certain they will be that you want to buy it!"

"Don't worry. Knowing there are multiple clients, they won't just sign a contract with one of them. They will keep testing and trying to get the other party to offer the lowest price."

"Let's take two days off first and let them contact the Rupert family to see what the Rupert family offers."

"Go back and pack your things. I'll take you to Bordeaux!"

"To Bordeaux?"

After hearing this, Weiers looked at Li Changhe in surprise.

"Yes, let's go to Bordeaux. I'll take you to taste some red wine!"

"By the way, let's see if we can buy a winery!"

Li Changhe said to Wei Er Si with a smile.

Wells was speechless.

This guy, why does he want to buy everything?

But think about it, he has money anyway, he can buy whatever he likes.

After Wei Er Si returned to the room, Li Changhe also stood up and came into the room.

I packed up my things.

Going to Bordeaux was also a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Li Changhe had originally planned to leave Paris in the next few days, mainly to wait for news from Brunsko.

He didn't have time to wait until Cannes was over, because the end of Cannes overlapped with the Golden Rooster Awards in China.

And his wife was shortlisted for this year's Golden Rooster Awards.

Zhu Lin and Gong Xue did not come to Cannes. On the one hand, they did not want to cause trouble for Li Changhe. On the other hand, the Golden Rooster Awards would start in mid-to-late May.

By then, Zhu Lin's "The Shepherd" will also be selected, and Li Changhe is expected to win the award for sure.

After all, considering Li Changhe's reputation in the cultural department and the performance of "The Shepherd", it would be unreasonable not to give him this award.

At times like this, Li Changhe must stay with Zhu Lin, as this is a major event in his wife's life.

It was just that when he talked to Pierre Cardin a few days ago, Pierre Cardin asked Li Changhe to leave a few days later.

The reason is very simple. Starting from late April, French wines begin to come out of the cellar. This is the time when major wineries jointly hold wine tastings to sell them to the outside world.

Pierre Cardin wanted to take Li Changhe to Bordeaux to taste the freshly-cellared red wine.

In fact, Li Changhe was not very interested in simple wine tasting, but he got a piece of news from Pierre Cardin, that is, in addition to tasting wine at the wine tasting event, there is also a business, which is to buy futures wine!

The so-called futures wine is actually an anticipated purchase, usually buying the next year's wine in advance. The price of futures wine is often based on the price of new wine opened in the previous year.

This also made Li Changhe notice the opportunity.

After all, this year is 1981, and anyone who has read novels in his previous life knows about the 1982 Lafite.

It’s a pity that the wine ordered this year is not from 82!

Because grapes mature in September and October, that is to say, the grapes opened in April this year are actually from 80, and the pre-sale wines this year are also made from grapes from 81.

So theoretically speaking, the wine from 82, after being picked and stored in cellars, would not be opened for bottling and put on the market until 83, which would be next year’s en primeur!

However, for Li Changhe, as long as he knew the futures wine system, there would be room for maneuver.

It’s a pity that Chateau Lafite is now in the hands of the Rothschild family, and this family has held Chateau Lafite for nearly two hundred years, so it is impossible to sell it.

The same is true for the Romanee-Conti winery, which is also jointly managed by two major families behind the scenes. It has been for forty or fifty years since the 1940s, and they have been steadfast in not taking any action.

Li Changhe can only go and see if there is any other opportunity to purchase other first-class wineries!

(End of this chapter)