“。。。 The UK is currently facing serious challenges in the security of power supply, which will pose a real threat to its future economic development and social stability. On the one hand, a large number of power stations will be taken offline one after another, and the power supply capacity is seriously insufficient.

The total installed capacity of coal-fired power stations is 28 million kilowatts, accounting for 30% of the total power generation. According to the European Union's Large-Scale Combustion Power Plants Directive, 8 million kilowatts of coal-fired power plants will be shut down by the end of 2015.

Nine of the 10 nuclear power plants in service will reach the end of their design life and will be retired by the end of 2020, bringing 4 million kilowatts of generating capacity off the production line. It is expected that 21% of power generation facilities will be shut down in the next 10 years, and the UK's power generation capacity will be reduced by about 19.1 million kilowatts.

In addition, a number of existing gas-fired power plants will also be retired by 2030, when 21 million kilowatts of power generation capacity will be offline. At the same time, the eight new nuclear power plants planned to be built by 2025 are making slow progress and have a worrying outlook, making it difficult to take on the task of generating electricity in the short term

On the other hand, with the steady growth of the total population and the gradual recovery of various sectors of the national economy after the financial crisis, the demand for electricity continues to expand and is expected to increase by 15% by 2020. At that time, in the event of peak electricity consumption or emergency, the extremely limited power generation and power supply capacity will not be able to guarantee the safety of electricity consumption in the whole country.

How to ensure the security of power supply has become an important issue that the British government needs to solve urgently. ”

Angela highlighted the dilemma facing British Power to increase the future prospects and profitability of the acquisition target, but in fact, to put it bluntly. If the banks can't see enough of the benefits, they will never join Arthur's acquisition plan.

And when this data was laid out, Arthur clearly saw the surprised expression on Bob Diamond's face, and at the same time, he also showed an interested reaction for the first time, and looked down at the acquisition plan in his hand again.

Arthur, who was smiling all the time, glanced at Angela, who had drunk black tea, nodded slightly, the corners of Angela's mouth rose, with a confident smile on her face, put down the black teacup, and continued to talk.

"In the case of power generation other than coal, nuclear power is already operating at full capacity, but the amount of power generated is limited by the installed capacity. The supply of hydropower is greatly affected by the changes of seasonal dry floods, and the power generation in the peak and dry seasons is unbalanced.

Renewable energy such as wind power and solar power generation are random and intermittently unstable, making it difficult to bear baseload power generation. As for oil-fired power generation, the cost is comparatively higher. Natural gas power generation has become an important alternative to coal-fired power generation.

Although electricity is an indiscriminate commodity from the perspective of the power grid, and the feed-in tariff of gas is higher than that of coal-fired power generation, the grid prefers low-cost power such as coal power in pursuit of economic interests, the high pollution of coal-fired power is the biggest problem that cannot be overcome.

The biggest advantage of gas-fired power generation over coal power is that it is clean and environmentally friendly, and the importance of establishing gas-fired power plants in most parts of China is to reduce environmental pollution, improve the atmospheric environment, and limit the development of coal power has become an important means for the government to protect environmental quality.

Natural gas power generation has been developed in the UK for 20 years, and the technology is mature and has many advantages. For example, the power generation level is stable, the peak regulation capacity is strong, the power transmission and transformation grid connection is simple and fast, and the cost is low, and the construction period is short.

In the current and future situation of power supply security, the UK government has regarded gas-fired power generation as a firefighting team and vigorously developed it, hoping to effectively increase the reserve capacity of power generation in the UK and ensure emergency power supply when demand peaks or renewable energy generation capacity is insufficient.

And, with electricity spot prices soaring day by day due to deteriorating weather conditions across the UK, demand-led price spikes are irresistible for UK gas power plant operators. ”

"So have you ever thought about the situation that if there is overcapacity of gas, the price of natural gas will continue to rise, and then there will be a huge downward pressure on the 'clean ignition price difference', and the operating costs of the power station will be too high, and the income will be too low?

With a faint smile on his face and a glint of wisdom in his eyes, Bobo Diamond looked at Angela, who had been talking eloquently and impressing him with considerable eloquence, and asked rhetorically.

Surprisingly, it was not Angela who answered this question, but Arthur, who had been quiet, "Of course, we have all considered these possible risks, after all, investment is for profit, and no one wants to lose money."

In order to reduce risks, we have also prepared a series of follow-up plans to lay out the upstream, so as to form a complete and safe industrial chain. ”

"Well, that's right... Bobo Diamond did not continue to ask, because since the other party did not say much, then if he continued to ask, if it was a trade secret, it would undoubtedly be difficult for a strong man.

"The plan is very detailed and beautiful, then, what does Your Excellency mean... ”

"I would like to raise money from your bank and then buy half of the power plant and take control of it, which will cost about £200 million. Arthur smiled, but still said his thoughts straight to the point.

"Two hundred million pounds ... What financing channels are you going to choose?" Bob Diamond asked after a deep sigh.

"I pledged 50% of the equity of the power plant to finance the bond debt with your bank, and I believe that once the power plant is acquired, the operating profit will be sufficient to repay the principal and interest on time. Arthur's eyes flashed with a flash of brilliance, and he looked at each other with burning eyes.

Leveraged buyouts!

Snake swallows elephant!

Leveraged buyouts, also known as debt buyouts, simply put it simply, are that Arthur only contributes a small part of the money, most of the funds come from bank mortgage loans, and Arthur first uses the assets and future cash flows and earnings of the Bristol Coast (natural gas) power station, which has nothing to do with him, as a secured loan, and uses it to repay the principal and interest.

Although this method is shameless, but the bank is not a good person, the handling fee of financing loans is as high as one percent of the total amount, that is to say, Arthur to Barclays Bank financing 200 million, you have to pay 2 million pounds of handling fees, and if the acquisition is successful and achieves the expected benefits, Arthur can not share the benefits of the appreciation of the company's assets, must be used to repay the principal and interest.

“。。。。。。 Bobo Diamond frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then looked at Arthur and said: "I will take the plan back and let my subordinates study the feasibility, if the plan is correct in the asset assessment of Bristol's coastal (gas) power station, I think this project, we at Barclays Bank are very willing to help you complete this project." ”

"Thank you, then I wish us a happy cooperation!" Arthur smiled and reached out and shook hands.

"I wish us a happy cooperation. Bob also smiled and shook Arthur's hand.

In the car back to the city, Arthur smiled and said to Angela beside him: "You can start to form a negotiation team to negotiate with the board of directors of Bristol's coastal (gas) power station, and formally launch a takeover offer to them." ”

"Okay boss, I'll start implementing the plan as soon as I get back. Angela's beautiful eyes flashed with incomparably bright brilliance, and she nodded.

"Hehe, this is our first step, we must go well, this is related to our overall plan next, whether we can realize the imperial territory you planned for me, this will be the most critical step. Arthur looked at Angela and smiled.

"Rest assured boss, you won't be disappointed. Angela said with a very solemn expression, and then smiled as if she had thought of something: "Boss, to be honest, I didn't expect things to go so smoothly, Bob Diamond would agree to our plan so easily." ”

"Hehe, in fact, it is not difficult to understand, he himself is from a Wall Street investment bank, and the hand we want to play is undoubtedly a typical American-style debt acquisition financial game, which is not new to him at all, and it is commonplace, to make an impossible, even very reluctant project, for them, the benefits are more considerable, and the people who come out of Wall Street are unscrupulous for the profit of capital!"

Arthur smiled disapprethoughtly and said that capital is profit-seeking, so he owes no one anything for his cooperation with Barclays.

The nearly 100-year history of Wall Street investment banks shows that investment banks, whether they are divided or mixed, will never disappear as a synonym for pioneering innovation and high profits, but they need to find organizational forms and business models that are more suitable for the market environment in the midst of continuous setbacks, and Barclays, which has just transformed into an investment bank, needs to expand its business even more.

Therefore, when facing Arthur for support and cooperation, Bobo Diamond will not refuse, even if the two are only meeting for the first time today, it will not affect the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two parties in the slightest.