Washington, D.C., U.S.A., Kagok Group's new office.

Gore, the chief representative of Ai Jin Gangbo Law Firm, quietly appeared in the conference room and was warmly welcomed by Zhang Zehong, director of the public relations department of Jiagu Group.

He is one of three law firms in the U.S. that practices outside the firm, and it has a global reputation for its strong political connections and connections. The business it does is at the intersection of law and public policy. In the area of public policy, this includes out-of-hospital activities and services to clients on policy issues.

Gore proudly explains: "Our service in this area is second to none. ”

Zhang Zehong nodded and said, "I believe, otherwise I wouldn't have found your firm." ”

In the United States, lobbying is a large and legitimate industry that refers to working on the U.S. Congress and departmental decision-making bodies in order to benefit policy. The general scheme is that the employer pays a generous commission to the lobby group, and the lobby group systematically supports the employer's interests throughout Washington.

But this is another area of intense criticism.

In this gray area based on interpersonal relationships and rampant "unspoken rules", "scandals" of money and power transactions often break out. It is not uncommon for people to overturn in this industry, and the most famous case is the Jack Abramoff case, known as the "father of the American lobby industry", which caused a major earthquake in American politics, especially on Capitol Hill in 06.

Zhang Zehong, or Jia Gu, is participating in this strange lobbying game in the United States for the first time. In order to play this game of rules set by others, Jiagu hired Ai Jin Gangbo Law Firm.

"Jiagu made a wise choice. Gore smiled: "At the moment, there are not many Chinese companies that hire lobbying firms in the United States. Chinese companies tend to take one step at a time, willing to buy things rather than services......"

"But if a Chinese company wants to make a big difference in the United States, it needs someone on your side. Not only are opinion leaders on your side, but also on your side. What made Gore say this was a few years ago with CNOOC.

In 05, in the merger and acquisition of CNOOC to Unocal, Ai Jin Gangbo was a lobbying company hired by CNOOC, but the ending of the cooperation was not so good.

Gore was not shy about his defeat: "It was too late. If CNOOC had approached us earlier, we would have helped him design a better plan, and the merger would have been successful. ”

Zhang Zehong was noncommittal.

The matter has passed, so what's the point of being an afterthought? He only hopes that Ai Jin Gangbo can give more strength this time, instead of making Jiagu's acquisition of Gao Hong another negative case.

Gore seemed to read Zhang Zehong's thoughts, and in order to show their value, he explained in detail: "In the United States, lobbying requires a holistic plan, and commercial elements, financial factors, legal business factors, and political factors are all indispensable. For example, the sensitivity of the industry in which it operates, whether competitors feel threatened, whether it can pass the investigation of political forces representing relevant interests, which approval department and approver will be encountered, all involve a lot of human and material resources, and it takes the cooperation of many parties to complete the ......"

"Our company is in the United States, and there are still some supporters. Zhang Zehong interrupted him and said calmly.

"Oh, Jiagu's acquisition of Gao Hong will be a blockbuster acquisition, and ordinary supporters may not have much say in it......"

"DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer......" As companies and lobbying groups spit out from Zhang Zehong's mouth, Gore was stunned!

"How is this possible?"

Zhang Zehong smiled slightly and didn't explain much.

Yes, the alliance of American pharmaceutical companies has conditionally agreed to support the acquisition of Gao Hong, the third largest grain trader in the United States, after discussions, first of all, through direct political lobbying.

There are four types of political strategies commonly used in lobbying activities: direct lobbying, indirect lobbying, grassroots lobbying, and political action committees. Each of these four political strategies has its advantages and disadvantages, and depending on the nature of the problem and the political situation, interest groups may choose one or more of them to act on.

Of these, direct lobbying is the most traditional and ancient means of lobbying, but it is still the most effective and commonly used political strategy.

In particular, this face-to-face communication avoids the dissipation, distortion and misinterpretation of information that can occur during the transmission process, and ensures the quality of lobbying.

However, not just anyone can go to the White House or Capitol Hill to find the president, ministers, or members of the parliament to report the situation, and politicians are busy people who have a lot of opportunities, and they don't have time to "make small talk" with you. In addition, there are hundreds of councillors and thousands of staff members in the Capitol and government buildings, each in charge of different things, and when you need to solve a problem, you have to know where to go, which door to knock on, and who to find.

That is, direct lobbying is based on delicate interpersonal relationships. If it can be summed up in one sentence, it is "one more relationship, one more road" that Chinese are very familiar with.

In every major pharmaceutical company, there are retired government officials who serve as lobbyists, and acquaintances in Congress grab a lot of them.

The network of the firm may be wider than that of a large pharmaceutical company, but so many well-known large pharmaceutical companies can easily surpass the firm even if each has only a part of the relationship.

Gore didn't know what kind of PY deal they had with Jiagu, and after confirming that Zhang Zehong wasn't joking, he couldn't help but mutter, "In that case, what else do you need our firm to do?"

"I need you to coordinate the cooperation of all parties. And, as you said, even if political and regulatory factors are not a problem, we still need to convince Gao Hong's shareholders that we need to monitor public opinion during the M&A process......" Mr. Zhang said calmly.

When Gore heard this, he was in good spirits.

Generally speaking, in large-scale cross-border M&A cases, political factors are often the biggest "roadblock". But now it is clear that Kagaya has enough resources to influence the key decisions of politicians, and the success rate of the acquisition has skyrocketed.

Although the failure of the acquisition of a company will not necessarily affect the income of Ai Jin Gangbo Law Firm, who does not want the success of the project they serve?

"Taking people's money and eliminating disasters for others" is a true portrayal of their work. Only when the employer is truly "eliminated" can there be a steady stream of "Franklin" in the account.

It can also be seen from this that the American system, which has long flaunted democracy, is far from reaching the level of the people being the masters. American politicians, with the help of lobbyists, have become almost a mouthpiece for corporate interests.

But who cares?

Zhang Zehong does not care whether this kind of lobbying is harmful to the interests of the American people, especially when Jia Gu is still the beneficiary.

Gore, who makes a living from it, is even less concerned, on the contrary, he shows unprecedented enthusiasm: "...... So, let me sum up, the focus now is to persuade Gao Hong's shareholders to agree to Jiagu's acquisition, and second, to control the trend of public opinion. ”

"Yes, what do you suggest?" Zhang Zehong said.

The focus of the first goal is not on "persuasion", after all, as long as you are willing to offer a sky-high price, a fool will not disagree! But Jiagu is not a fool, and only by winning Gao Hong's shareholders and management at a suitable price is what Jiagu wants.

It is impossible to ignore the trend of public opinion. Public support may not make you successful, but public opposition will definitely make you bad.

Gore thought for a moment and said, "The first goal is actually not difficult. Judging from the data, because of the losses and debts of Gaohong Company, most shareholders have the intention of withdrawing. In the final analysis, as long as the offer and communication are in place, it is not a big problem for them to accept Jiagu. ”

Zhang Zehong nodded slightly.

Gore continued: "As for the trend of public opinion, it is actually related to the issue of competitors, including direct competitors and indirect competitors. ”

"Judging from the current data, the biggest direct competitor is the Marubeni Trading Company in the island country, and the indirect competitor is the grain merchants in the United States, such as Cargill and ADM, who will not want to see new strong competitors emerge in the United States. ”

"Hmm. ”

"But the problem is that Cargill already has a complete grain trading system in the United States, and they don't need or want to take over the debt-ridden Gao Hong, and in the end, Gao Hong will always be swallowed by overseas mergers and acquisitions. Gore squinted slightly and said, "So, I think we can persuade Cargill, a local grain businessman, to support Jiagu's acquisition of Gaohong, or at least not be too opposed to Jiagu's acquisition of Gaohong." ”

"Oh?" Zhang Zehong became interested at this time.

Gore's eyes lit up, and he said slowly: "From a business point of view, most of the grain trading volume of Marubeni Trading Company has to be purchased from Cargill, if Marubeni acquires Gao Hong, it will obviously help Marubeni complete the 'de-ABCD strategy' that has been publicly proposed countless times over the years that Cargill hates; ”

Gore didn't know that there is a saying in China that "if you lose your wife, you will lose your army", but this is undoubtedly what he meant.

If you look at it from this perspective, Kagaku is Cargill's opponent, but at the same time, it is also their opponent's opponent. If you combine the gains and losses, it is really possible to get the support or not opposition of the local grain merchants in the United States.

In addition, there is another very important point, Gore did not say it, but Zhang Zehong also thought of it.

It's hard to enter the U.S. market without acquiring a company, but it's just as difficult to gain a foothold after entering the U.S. market.

So here's the problem.

It is self-evident whether Marubeni, which already has a fairly basic foundation in the US grain trade circles, is it easy to succeed? Or is it easy for Kaya, who is a "rookie egg," to succeed?

If you are destined to have a competitor, why not choose a relatively weak one?

Zhang Zehong finally smiled: "Now I can rest assured." ”

......