The first negotiations ended with Feng Xiaochen saying that he would provide further information to the EU to prove that Chen Yu Guotou had no government background, and that he would welcome the European Commission to send a commissioner to China to investigate. With billions of euros at stake, adding such a little trouble is not a big deal. Bovard once again expressed his support for the Chinese acquisition of Prometheus Construction Machinery Company, and asked the Chinese side to retain production in Europe as much as possible after the acquisition, so as to ensure the employment of the original workers, and Feng Xiaochen gave him a satisfactory answer.

"It seems that the Chinese have a lot of interest in Pumai. ”

After sending Feng Xiaochen and his party away, Emmeline told Bovard her opinion. The two of them were standing outside the Stuttgart factory with Heinzl.

"Hopefully they will be able to maintain that interest. Bovard was not as optimistic as Emmeline, he muttered under his breath, then turned his head to Heinzl, and asked, "Mr. Heinzl, are you satisfied with the current result?"

"I'm just doing my job. Heinzl said.

"The next step is to understand the background of Chen Yu International Investment, and if we are sure that it does not have a government background, then the sensitive technology transactions you listed will be completed as soon as possible," Bovard said. These technologies are inseparable from other parts, and if the Chinese do not have access to them, there is no point in them buying other assets, they can only create a herd of lame elephants. ”

"If they can prove their innocence. Heinzl said lightly.

Bovard was helpless, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, this is your company's business after all, and it is inconvenient for us to interfere. I hope you can give a candid report to your Board of Directors today, and if your Board of Directors is of the same view, then we have nothing to say. ”

With these words left, Bovard took Emmeline into his car and left the Stuttgart factory. Watching Heinzl's figure disappear in the rearview mirror, Bovard said angrily, "I figured it out, this Heinzl is trying to ruin the deal." He hates these Chinese, so he doesn't want to make deals with the Chinese. ”

"But who else but the Chinese is interested in their factory?" Emmeline said.

"Exactly. I'm worried that he'll continue to get in the way and end up making the deal go through. Think about it, if you strip away all the most important core technologies, why would the Chinese be interested in Prometheus' factory?"

"Shouldn't we report this situation to the headquarters of the Prometheus Group, and let them replace this Heinzl with a more sincere negotiator?"

"I've thought about it, but it's an internal matter for Prometheus, and if the European Commission intervenes too much, it will attract criticism. Now there are some people in Europe who accuse the EU of being too close to China and that we can't give it a handle. ”

"That can only hope for a more satisfactory result in the investigation of Chen Yu Company. ”

"The results of the investigation?" Bovard sneered, "it doesn't really matter. If Heinzl insists on finding fault with the Chinese, any findings will be of no avail. ”

Practice has shown that Bovard was an experienced politician, and what happened next confirmed his predictions.

Feng Xiaochen submitted detailed registration information about Chen Yu International Investment Company to the European Commission, and listed the company's sources of funding, the vast majority of which came from private enterprises in China, and only a small part of it was bank loans. The European Commission has an office in China, and the China office has verified the information submitted by Chenyu Company and proved that its content is true.

The office also reported on Feng Xiaochen's resignation, proving that he had to resign because he had been under great pressure from public opinion during the accident at the Ruishan power plant, which partly answered the question of whether the incident was a bitter ploy.

However, this survey result does not make Chenyu's acquisition of ProMedair any easier. The U.S. Department of Commerce sent an official letter to the European Commission, saying that it had doubts about the Chinese company's acquisition of Prometheus and that the deal would affect the strategic balance between China and the United States. In the official letter from the US Department of Commerce, more than a dozen reasons are listed, each of which seems far-fetched, but one that the EU must respond to positively.

When it comes to coordination between the United States and Europe, things are complicated. The communication between the two sides has been back and forth for several weeks, and it is normal to encounter something in the United States, such as the shutdown of the federal government, and it is normal to have no news for a month. After the EU answers the previous questions, the US side needs to discuss, hear, ask for instructions, and then raise new questions, which is also extremely time-consuming. Bovard believes that it will take at least a year and a half to deal with the inquiries of the US Department of Commerce, and by that time, it is difficult to say whether the Chinese are still willing to buy Promai.

"It's Heinzl playing tricks!"

Bovard roared in his office. Americans are indeed nosy, but they are not concerned with such a purely private acquisition. The U.S. Department of Commerce sent a letter to the European Union, and someone must have taken the initiative to expose the information, and the U.S. Department of Commerce would intervene in this matter in the spirit of believing it rather than believing it. And the person who exposed the information, Bovard could guess by thinking with his heels, it must be Heinzl. The dozen or so reasons listed by the U.S. Department of Commerce are obviously that there are people with inside knowledge who are providing intelligence, otherwise it would take them months to investigate these situations, how could they react so quickly?

"As soon as the Americans intervened, the matter was in trouble. Emmeline frowned and said, "Feng Xiaochen did have the experience of working in the government, and it is very difficult for us to dispel the concerns of the Americans." ”

"The point is that we can't fully trust Feng yet, and he says that he won't apply these technologies to military-related fields, and that promise is unreliable," Bovard said. If the Americans don't interfere, we can still play dumb. Now that the Americans have intervened and asked us to give guarantees on the security of this matter, how can the European Commission make such assurances?"

"Uh......" Emmeline was speechless. His boss is such a person, he didn't believe Feng Xiaochen's promise from the beginning, he was just pretending to be confused, and he was still confused by his righteous and strict performance.

"For the European Commission, the most important thing is to ensure that the Prometheus plant can resume production as soon as possible, and as for whether its technology will be applied to military use, what does it have to do with us? Do you really think that the Chinese will come to Europe in tanks?"

Bovard gave Emmeline a science popularization and taught her a little bureaucracy. In essence, neither Bovard nor Emmeline are politicians, just ordinary civil servants, and their goal is to do their job, and as for national security and the like, isn't that what politicians worry about?

"So, what do we do now?" asked Emmeline.

"This problem can only be solved by Heinzl himself. I think PrometheMiles' board of directors will put pressure on him. Bovard said.

It was revealed to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it was indeed Heinzl's doing. He did not engage directly with the U.S. Department of Commerce, but contacted an American politician he knew in the past and provided him with some information. Politicians have always relied on stirring up trouble to make waves to make a sense of existence, and when they get such information, there is no reason not to use the topic to play. When the parliament was in session, he threw it up, elevating it to the level of China threatening the United States and Europe betraying its allies, and shouting slogans such as "America is at its most dangerous moment."

In matters within the bureaucratic system, we pay attention not to merit but to seek no fault. Some people have questioned it, and the Ministry of Commerce naturally has to say something, as for whether this will have any harmful impact on the economy, the officials of the Ministry of Commerce don't care, anyway, it's not the money in their pockets that they lose, it's my business!

The intervention of the U.S. Department of Commerce has put the merger of Prometheus Construction Machinery in a difficult situation. Prometheus' board of directors immediately recognized the seriousness of the problem, but they had no idea that the initiator of the incident was actually the chief negotiator they had dispatched. The chairman personally summoned Heinzl and asked him to coordinate with the European Commission to resolve the matter as soon as possible, and pointed out that if the problem could not be solved by official means, other ways should be considered. In short, everything should be aimed at facilitating mergers and acquisitions.

"The Board of Directors of the Group would like the European Commission to help us. ”

Heinzl came to Bovard's office and said to him. His tone was still as arrogant and aloof, as if Bovard owed him much money and hadn't paid it back.

"Mr. Heinzl, I think you know better than me why this merger is deadlocked?" said Bovard coldly, he was now out of anger and too lazy to bother with this idle matter, he wanted to see what tricks Heinzl could toss.

Heinzl did not give an inch, saying: "This situation is something I have long anticipated, and I have long warned Mr. Bovard to pay attention to Feng's government background. If the European Commission had taken notice of this problem earlier, we would not have fallen into such passivity. ”

"Well, you're quite right. Bovard said lightly. He won't accuse Heinzl of reversing black and white, anyway, it's your company's business, your chairman doesn't care, why should I care?

"So, what do you want us to do? If the core technologies you list can't be sold to the Chinese, then I'm sure the Chinese won't accept the rest of Promethe's assets." Bovard said.

"I've found a good solution, and I think the Chinese will accept it if they are sure they can't get this part of the core technology," Heinzl said. What I need now is for Mr. Bovard to support my proposal and inform the Chinese to come and hold a second meeting. ”