America: My Time

Chapter 577 Compromise
Chapter 567 Compromise

"Gentlemen, although your salaries have been increased, the club will also conduct a series of assessments based on your daily performance. Those who fail to meet the standards will be dismissed. This isn't targeting any individual, but rather a necessary change for the club. Remember the 1985 tragedy; English clubs were banned for five years. We must make changes. We can't let those football hooligans harm everyone. As long as they're around, the club will suffer significantly. Of the £100 million, £10 million will be used to improve the club's youth academy, £10 million to improve training facilities, £50 million to renovate the stadium, and the remainder as operating funds. Of course, this is just my personal opinion; the details will be implemented reasonably by you. The sports group will provide some support in this regard." A combination of incentives and constraints is the right approach. Benefits for the club must be accompanied by checks and balances, and changes are necessary.

No one doubted the financing issue, because Manchester United had now been fully acquired, and Hurricane Investment could complete the financing at any time; it was just a matter of the owner's word. Anyone who knew their owner even slightly would have no doubts about this, except that it was clear their owner vehemently disliked football hooliganism, and had even stated it explicitly.

The club doesn't want these guys to cause trouble, but they have no way to manage them. However, since the boss has brought it up, they have to find a solution, or they'll have to be careful that their positions aren't taken away.

The players were naturally aware of the club's change of ownership, and this change at this time and under these circumstances had a significant impact on them, causing them to worry about their future. However, after the meeting ended and the management conveyed the good news, their concerns vanished.

Peter Kenyon and Alex Ferguson, however, were under a lot of pressure. Although the owner didn't care about profits or the team's performance, they couldn't think that way. Moreover, the owner was clearly a novice, which gave them a headache, and many things were difficult to explain clearly.

“Alex, don’t worry, the boss is very satisfied with you and doesn’t have any requirements for the team’s performance. Now the boss is concerned about the changes in the club, and I’m under more pressure. Although the boss said he wouldn’t interfere with our specific operations, making changes to the club is not an easy task. It requires changes in all aspects, not to mention there’s a sports group watching us from above.”

John's sports group, although still in its early stages, is already well-established. They only need to supervise the teams and cooperate with the teams' promotions, without participating in any team management.

John's every move was under the control of the British, and they even knew everything about his conversations at the club. No one thought that John was there to acquire Manchester United. The real purpose was the cooperation and acquisition of Gulfstream Aerospace.

One club has already invested 100 million in financing. If Gulfstream Aerospace's acquisition is successful, how much more money will they invest? This has the British people all looking forward to it. However, there is one problem standing in their way: can the cooperation be achieved? If the cooperation falls through, there is no use thinking about it anymore.

"I believe everyone is already aware of the other party's conditions. Now let's discuss how we should respond: refuse or cooperate, give up the controlling stake in Rolls-Royce engines, or abandon that demand!" At this point, the British were no longer considering the Westland Aircraft Manufacturing Company issue, but rather the Rolls-Royce engine issue.

“Actually, I think we’ve only ever had one path: to hand over the investment to them. With Gulfstream Aerospace’s own strength, they don’t lack engine problems at all. They have Pratt & Whitney, so they naturally have the upper hand in this acquisition. Under normal circumstances, we could negotiate with them, but not now. In the midst of the stock market crash, if we want to recover our economy as quickly as possible, we can only rely on external forces. If we refuse, I believe we won’t get any investment. The other party is not only an aviation giant but also a media tycoon.” At this moment, someone stood up and expressed their opinion, making no attempt to conceal how difficult the situation in Britain was.

"How can you think like that? That's Rolls-Royce, the power source of Imperial Industry. Having Gulfstream Aerospace take over would affect our own security. You're basically surrendering to those Americans. I don't approve!"

"Heh, you don't agree? When all the news leaks out, how will you explain it to the Chinese people? Don't bring up the security of Britain. Mr. John is American and poses no threat to us at all. Besides, do you really think that after the other side completes the acquisition of the two major aircraft companies, they will still choose Rolls-Royce engines? They have Pratt & Whitney. Doing that would only put Rolls-Royce in trouble and drag them down little by little. Since that's the case, why don't we be more generous and let Gulfstream Aerospace complete the acquisition of Rolls-Royce engine company? That way, all the trouble will be gone, and we will have enough funds to restore economic order."

"You are right, but how do we explain this kind of sale to the public?"

"Explanation? What's there to explain? Restoring Britain's economy is the best explanation. We don't have that much time now. The other party is a man of his word. If we exceed the time limit, we all know the consequences of a failed negotiation. This Wall Street crocodile is not so easily fooled, and he always acts swiftly and decisively."

"Let's decide by vote, the minority shall obey the majority!" The result came quickly, with the majority winning by a narrow margin. In the end, the British decided to agree to Gulfstream Aerospace's acquisition. The only remaining issue was the price, which was exactly what these guys were looking forward to. Money is essential for getting things done; without it, they couldn't accomplish anything.

Gulfstream Aerospace and the British company soon resumed negotiations and quickly reached an agreement. There were no major disagreements regarding the price, but the British company required a one-time payment, which put enormous pressure on Gulfstream Aerospace. After all, this was not an ordinary acquisition, and making such a large sum of money in one go required the assistance of banks.

John did not appear during the negotiations; everything was handled by Carol Tomey. Although the British were somewhat surprised, they did not react much. However, they got stuck on the last point: paying this amount in one lump sum would put enormous pressure on even Gulfstream Aerospace.

"It seems the British economy isn't doing too well, otherwise they wouldn't have asked us to pay the entire acquisition cost upfront, and even offered us a discount. It's unrealistic for Gulfstream Aerospace to come up with this amount of money right now; they'll definitely need bank assistance. Standard Chartered is expanding and it'll be difficult for them to spare such a large sum. Hurricane Investment will provide a portion, Gulfstream Aerospace will cover a portion without affecting normal operations, and we'll talk to the Japanese bank about the rest."

At this moment, John thought of the Bank of Japan again. After all, the Bank of Japan was currently the richest. The appreciation of the yen made them incredibly wealthy. Otherwise, these guys wouldn't be clamoring to buy up the entire United States.

"Boss, will the banks approve our loan at this time, especially during a stock market crash?" Carol Tomey didn't think her boss's proposal had any chance of success, because US banks were already tightening their lending.

"Don't worry, if I dare to say it, then there's a chance. Japan is different from the United States, and we don't necessarily need their funds. It's just that using funds from the United States would be a bit troublesome, after all, this is a stock market crash, and the impact isn't very good."

"I understand," Carole Tomé instantly grasped the reason. Withdrawing a large sum of money now for the acquisition of Britain would raise eyebrows among the American public, causing them to reconsider their perception of their boss. It would instantly shatter the image the boss had painstakingly cultivated. This wasn't just an ordinary acquisition; it was a massive one involving huge investments.

Soon, John picked up the phone and first called Hitomi Kuroki, asking her to inform Sanwa Bank. Half an hour later, John picked up the phone again and called Sanwa Bank directly. As soon as they received John's call, they immediately said that any loan request was no problem, without even asking John what the purpose of the loan was.

Soon, the Japanese Sanwa Bank sprang into action. This was another big deal, and this time it was different from the past! Although they didn't know what the situation was in England, John's reputation convinced them that this was a valuable asset and there wouldn't be any problems. They quickly arranged for professionals to go to London.

"Gentlemen, our opportunity may have arrived. Mr. John's actions this time are unusual. He did not contact Mitsui or communicate with Akio Morita, but chose to cooperate with us. It seems that he is still dissatisfied with Mitsui. This is our opportunity. I believe that if Mr. John wants to continue to expand, he will need more funds. What would it be like if we could take over this business entirely!"

“It’s difficult. Although I’m also very interested, it’s probably going to be very difficult. We didn’t make a good impression on them before, and this time Mr. John didn’t contact us directly. Instead, he chose to have Ms. Kuroki Hitomi inform us first before contacting us. This is very unusual. We need to think about it.”

Given John's status, he could have communicated directly with Sanhe Bank without going through all that trouble. But John did just that, which made the guys at Sanhe fall into deep thought, pondering his intentions.

(End of this chapter)