"Mr. Barn, GEICO shares are not for sale in our company, and I am very optimistic about its future, so I have been increasing my holdings of its shares for the past four years, so I'm sorry, I won't sell it, and I'll let you run for nothing. ”

In the office of the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, looking at a manager in the M&A department of Merrill Lynch sitting opposite, Buffett suppressed the sense of urgency in his heart and refused with a serious face.

Before he came, Barn was prepared for the relevant information, so he knew that Buffett was right, Berkshire Hathaway had been increasing its holdings in GEICO.

But he scoffed at Buffett's remarks that he was not for sale, believing that this was Buffett's foreshadowing of the price increase.

He has been in the financial industry for decades and has long seen the true face of Wall Street, where there is nothing for sale, as long as there are dollars, you can buy everything you want here.

If you can't buy it, then there's only one possibility – the dollar is not enough!

Barn smiled and said: "Mr. Buffett, before I came, I have made relevant preparations, so I think we should be honest, GEICO seems to be improving at the moment, but the unknown risks are too great, which is why we at Merrill Lynch will downgrade its rating." ”

"Berkshire Hathaway has an awkward shareholding right now, and you don't have enough strength to eat it, so it's better to get out of it than to get bogged down. ”

"Berkshire Hathaway had a lot of revenue last year, but if you get bogged down because of GEICO, it will be a disservice to your company. ”

Buffett's face did not change, but his heart sank, and from Barnes's words, he heard some potential meaning.

Is this a threat to him?

He frowned and said tentatively: "Mr. Barn, I remember that Merrill Lynch is the third largest shareholder of GEICO, can I know who your shares are sold to?

Warren Buffett wasn't sure if Merrill Lynch was buying it itself, it was just his tentative questioning.

Although Barnes said that Merrill Lynch lowered the market value of GEICO, it cannot be ruled out that Merrill Lynch itself is sitting in the bank to suppress the market value of GEICO.

Of course, Barn would not be stupid enough to let Buffett figure out the truth, he said with a smile: "Mr. Buffett, I am just the person in charge of the acquisition, I don't care about other things, I just need to do my own duty." ”

"Mr. Buffett, we are willing to bid $57 million for Berkshire Hathaway's 27.3 percent stake, and with that money, you will have more money to invest in more valuable companies. ”

Buffett didn't get the information he wanted, he was full of doubts, he directly ignored Barn's offer, and politely refused: "Mr. Barn, I understand what you mean, I myself am unwilling to sell GEICO shares, and GEICO shares are an important investment project of our company, if we want to sell, we also need to be approved by the board of directors, I can't give you any answer for the time being." ”

Barn also knows that it is impossible to negotiate the first time, and as long as Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway's board of directors are considering this matter, then his purpose for today has been achieved.

But he won't let Buffett drag on like this, they Merrill Lynch have the qualifications and strength to set the rules.

So he smiled and nodded: "Okay, then I won't bother, looking forward to your reply, I will visit again tomorrow!"

Buffett's face shook, suppressed the unhappiness in his heart, squeezed out a smile and said, "Okay, please!"

After sending Bath out the door, Buffett returned to the office, sitting on the couch with a frown, thinking about Bath's purpose and motives.

At this moment, a subordinate hurriedly walked in and woke Buffett up.

"Chairman, I have a special situation to report to you!"

The subordinate stood in front of Buffett with a solemn face and said.

Seeing the solemn expression of his subordinates, Buffett, who was already in a heavy mood, had a bad premonition in his heart again, and he took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "What's the matter?"

The subordinate immediately replied: "The company's stock analysis department found that our company's stock price is now fluctuating abnormally, and the trading scale is rising in Daifuku, and there is no trend of stopping or shrinking." ”

Buffett was shocked, and immediately got up and ordered: "Follow me." ”

After speaking, Buffett took his subordinates to hurry to understand the situation.

Soon, he knew that his subordinates were not lying to him.

He suppressed the thoughts that kept surging up, picked up the phone and made several calls in a row, and after hanging up the phone, his expression was solemn.

His friend, who works on the New York Stock Exchange, has confirmed with him that there are large quantities of Berkshire Hathaway shares that are being traded, and that they are now constantly placing buy orders, the largest of which is a company called Polaris Capital, the details of which are unknown.

Xia Yu did not intend to hide this operation, so the acquirer clearly showed Polaris Capital.

"Polaris Capital ......"

Buffett muttered and frowned, but he couldn't recall the relevant information, and he felt very unfamiliar.

Merrill Lynch has just come to buy shares in GEICO, and now a Polaris Capital company has popped up to buy shares in their company.

The motives of neither the former nor the latter are clear.

His instinct told him that there should be a certain connection between the two, otherwise it couldn't be such a coincidence!

But either way, he knew the company was in trouble, and now it had to be solved.

Moreover, the acquisition of shares by Polaris Capital is even more urgent, and he can't sleep well if he doesn't understand the situation.

Thinking of this, he immediately ordered his subordinates to make every effort to find out the information of Polaris Capital Company, and at the same time raise funds and make emergency preparations.

He then had his secretary inform the other directors and immediately convene them for a board meeting.

......

"Boss, here's a list of shares that have been acquired so far. ”

Polaris Capital Company, Xia Yu came to the special working group office, took the list submitted by Xia Yu and looked at it.

It clearly states the stock acquisition process of the two targets, including the time, the transaction partner, the transaction price, etc., and of course, the aggregated information is also essential.

The specific acquisition process, Xia Yu skipped it after a few glances, and looked directly at the final statistics.

Among them, GEICO has held 18.7 percent of the shares, of which Merrill Lynch alone has contributed 12 percent, accounting for nearly two-thirds.

In addition, there is another investment institution that originally held 5.2% of the shares and had a board seat in GEICO, but also sold all of its shares directly to Polaris Capital.

The remaining 1.5 percent of the shares were acquired from the market.

GEICO has been in the limestone for four years, although it has improved, but it is still difficult to change its image of junk stocks in recent years, and the patience of investors has long been exhausted.

At present, the company is still tackling several important shareholders, as long as it is won, it can easily surpass Berkshire Hathaway, jump to the position of the second largest shareholder, and even surpass the original largest shareholder.

As for Berkshire Hathaway, thanks to its good performance last year, the capital market has high expectations for it, and ordinary investors are relatively optimistic about its future, so it is more difficult to acquire.

At present, it has not won any major shareholders, but has only taken 1.7 percent of the shares held by a financial institution, and then acquired some shares in the market, accounting for 2.6 percent of the total.

However, Xia Yu is already satisfied with this achievement, and Peter Lynch has contributed to this achievement in just a few days, he has been in the Fidelity Fund for so long, and has accumulated a wide network of contacts for him, and now when needed, he immediately plays a role.

After putting the list away, Xia Yu once again advised and encouraged the subordinates of the acquisition team, then looked at the time, and went to prepare for the interview.

Wall Street is the place with the most financial elites, Polaris Capital will play an extremely important role in the field of acquisitions in the future, the company is in urgent need of a large number of talents, and now the branch is seriously short of talents, so it has been recruiting externally, and Xia Yu also entrusted Korn Ferry New York Branch to be responsible for hunting and recommending.

Peter Lynch is running around for several acquisitions, so naturally he can only come to the interview in person.