The predecessor of the Belmond Group was the Orient Express Group, which was the prototype of the story of "Murder on the Orient Express" written by the suspense writer Agatha.

The group initially operated a luxury train from Paris to Istanbul in the late 19th century.

Since that one became popular, the Orient Express has also been crowned a symbol of a refined and elegant lifestyle.

However, after the impact of war and new transportation technologies, such as the birth of airplanes and high-speed rail, luxury trains have lost their market and gradually declined.

It wasn't until 1977 that James Sherwood, a veteran of the Yale Navy who graduated from Yale University, acquired the luxury train set that originally belonged to the Orient Express through auction and spent a lot of money to restore the antique train.

With both the fame it brings, and the luxury of investing heavily, the Orient Express has become popular again in Europe.

Tourists from all over the world come here.

Even though a one-way ticket from Paris to Venice is expensive at £1,200 a ticket, it is still popular with tourists.

James Sherwood took the opportunity to invest in some hotels along the train line, and then used its original cruise ship advantages to form a new Orient Express group.

However, after several changes, the shares of the Orient Express Group are now jointly owned by the French Railways and the French state-owned rail transport group SNCF.

In other words, if you want to take down the Belmond group, you have to get the nod of the French railway authority.

Recently, in addition to Louis Mohd Group, Accor Group has also begun to make offers to Belmond Group.

Accor is the world's third-largest hotel group, with a market capitalization of around $15 billion.

Compared with the 100 billion euro Louis Mohd, Accor's only advantage is their relationship with the French railway authority.

Even the brand ownership of the Orient Express was previously acquired by Accor and later transferred to the French railway authority.

The Belmond Group suddenly became particularly sought-after.

There are only three known bidders who are interested in bidding, and other fund institutions and consortia are also potential buyers.

Since the French railway company has decided to sell the Belmond group, it must hope that the higher bidder will get it.

The Belmond Group, which was scrambled by many consortia, has been soaring since the market opened.

Li Changqing and the others followed the bidding for several rounds one after another, and found that the other two had no intention of backing down, so they hurriedly reported to Chen Dongcheng.

"Boss, at present, the French railway authority is hesitant to choose to sell half of the shares, or to stay out of the matter completely. ”

"If we were to sell half of the shares, the actual value of the Belmond Group would be around $1.8 billion, and even if there was a bidding factor, we would expect $2 billion to be the limit. ”

"If the French railway company chooses to sell it outright, the value of Belmond will increase dramatically, and we predict that it will reach around $2.5 billion. ”

"The above quotations are based on ignoring the current debt of the Belmond Group, and if you add the other party's $600 million in debt, the transaction could exceed $3 billion. ”

After hearing this, Chen Dongcheng nodded and asked, "Which offer do the other two prefer?"

"Accor's limited market capitalization and lack of capital at its disposal are trying to convince Railways to sell only 50 percent of their shares, so they can feel less pressure. ”

"LVMH's deep pockets would have preferred a wholly-owned acquisition option, with an offer of $2.3 billion without debt. ”

Li Changqing said with a smile: "But I think the French railway bureau should be more inclined to leave behind, rather than continuing to spend energy on Belmond, it is better to sell it at once." ”

"Besides, this kind of opportunity to clear the warehouse at a high price is extremely rare, and I don't think Accor Group may be able to persuade it. ”

The two were chatting when Li Changqing's phone suddenly rang.

"Boss, the latest news, the French railway authority has decided to liquidate Belmond's shares, and Accor has announced that it has withdrawn from the bidding!"

"Really?"

Li Changqing was pleasantly surprised: "That's great, you guys make the latest round of offers immediately, and I'll make an appointment with their CEO Roland Wirth tomorrow." ”

Li Changqing's amplification, Chen Dongcheng heard it clearly.

Accor's management is still very sensible, they just don't want to let a luxury hotel like Belmond have nothing to do with them.

Accor has always had ambitions to enter the luxury hotel segment.

The Belmond Group is exactly what Accor has been looking for for a long time.

It's just that Accor never dreamed that Louis Mohd and a foreign foundation would fall in love with Belmond at the same time.

The crazy bidding of the two directly forced Accor to withdraw from the bidding.

Whoever wins Belmond will be a huge blow to Accor.

The field of top luxury hotels is not so easy to enter.

Otherwise, Accor would not have been unable to take out the loud brand for so many years.

Mandarin Oriental is too expensive for Accor to buy.

Finally, there was a Belmond who grew up under his nose, but he was targeted by a group of greedy competitors.

Accor's luck is really a bit weak.

"Boss, would you be interested in meeting Roland Wirth?"

"I'm gone, if there's any progress, just report it to me directly. ”

"Okay, then I'll get busy first. ”

Li Changqing didn't finish his coffee, and left in a hurry.

......

Belmond Group.

In front of Roland Wirth, the group's president, are two takeover offers.

There has been a long discussion within the group about which one to take.

Among them, the management agreed that instead of selling to an unknown fund institution, it would be better to invest in Louis Mohd.

After all, Louis Moët is in the luxury business, and there is some synergy with the top luxury hotels in Belmond.

While management's opinion is important, the board's decision is even more critical.

On the board of directors of Belmond, the French railway company has a single hand.

Since they decided to get out of the way, they must want to sell for a high price.

Seeing that the French railway bureau was relieved, the two began to continue to offer.

"Louis Mohd's latest offer, $2.45 billion, excluding debt. ”

"Junting Fund is $1 more than Louis Mohd and also debt-free. ”

Louis Mohd raised its offer again, $2.5 billion, still without debt. ”

"Damn, the Junting Fund is still only one dollar higher than the other party. ”

......

The conference room in Belmond was busy, and they were both a little surprised by the persistence of the two consortiums.

Raising Belmond, which was originally worth only $1.8 billion, to $2.5 billion, there is no hint of backing down.

Roland Wirth frowned, obviously a little surprised that the Junting Fund bit so tightly.

Today, some of the information of Junting Fund is no longer mysterious.

The fund that competes with Louis Mohd is from the United States.

This fund was established relatively early, but in the most recent stage, it was suddenly acquired.

Then it received capital injections from several consortia and completed the fundraising in a low-key manner.

However, in terms of the information obtained by many institutions, this Junting Fund manages assets of three billion US dollars, and its strength is not bad.

But let Roland?? What Voss is puzzled by is that according to the other party's current offer, if you add debt, it is already beyond the other party's tolerance limit.

Could it be that this Junting Fund has other allies?

"Help me make an appointment with Mr. Li, I want to meet with him. ”

Roland Wirth didn't dare to be careless and instructed the secretary to contact Li Changqing.

He felt that he needed to know more about the situation of the Junting Fund.

Louis Moët is easy to say, and its head, Arnault, is no stranger.

But for the Junting Fund, Roland Wirth is completely blank.

That's not a good sign.

If the bidding of Junting Fund is really successful, it is likely that the new boss is already looking for someone to replace him.

That's not what Roland Wirth wants.

......

In the face of Roland Wirth's invitation, Li Changqing readily accepted the invitation.

The two met at a well-known restaurant in London.

Roland Wirth cut to the chase after ordering and asked the question that had puzzled him for a long time.

"Mr. Li, I would like to know why your company is so obsessed with acquiring the Belmond Group, and I think it will help to change the attitude of the existing management towards your company. ”

"Mr. Voss, the acquisition of the Belmond Group is just the first step in building an internationally renowned hotel group.

We are confident in Belmond's growth after the acquisition.

In the Chinese market, we have ample resources to help Belmond increase its influence. ”

Roland Voss nodded slightly, at least he had a key piece of information now.

The boss behind Li Changqing is from Huaxia.

"Will you make any changes to the management after the acquisition?"

Roland Wirth asked in a deep voice, worry in his eyes.

This is also the question that bothers him the most.

Louis Moësm, for its part, has promised not to make a big move, and will fully trust the management headed by him and give them more autonomy.

"I asked the boss, and he was satisfied with your achievements in the past two years, and he will invest more money in the future to help you expand your global layout. ”

Li Changqing smiled: "If the Belmond Group can be successfully taken over by us, you will immediately take control of a high-quality resort in the Maldives." ”

"Resorts in the Maldives?"

Roland Wirth's mind frantically searched for memories, especially with the resorts that were about to open in the next two months.

Suddenly, the dark color froze, and he looked at Li Changqing sharply.

"Mr. Li, your boss is ......"

Obviously, Roland Wirth has guessed that the boss behind Li Changqing is Chen Dongcheng.

The island is definitely the most anticipated resort in the Maldives at the end of the year and has a high reputation all over the world.

Thinking of Chen Dongcheng's worth, Li Changqing promised resources in the Chinese market.

It seems that the identity of the buyer is not so difficult to guess.

If it were, Roland Wirth didn't think it was so unusual.

Forbes' statistics last year have been confirmed to be seriously substandard.

This year, Forbes re-published the list.

Chen Dongcheng rushed directly to the top ten, just through the sale of Didi's shares, as well as the holdings of many companies, Chen Dongcheng left behind many rich people who have been famous for many years.

"I would like to have the opportunity to visit Mr. Chan and our management welcomes Mr. Chan to the owner. ”

Roland Wirth spoke with ten thousand deference.

"Definitely, the deal is done, and the boss will meet you. ”

Li Changqing smiled and nodded, already knowing in his heart that Belmond's management would not be a moth.