Feng Xiaochen did not rush to Stuttgart, but went around other places and delayed for a few days, and then he took a few of his attachés and came to the place of the last negotiation.

The European representatives who negotiated with Feng Xiaochen still included Heinzl, Bovard and Emmeline, and in addition, there were two new faces.

"This is Mr. Hottby, CEO of Hawk's Information Technology Investments in Birmingham, UK, and Mr. Dobbins, Mr. Hotby's assistant, who will provide us with a constructive proposal for this merger and acquisition. ”

Before the start of the talks, Bovard introduced the two newcomers to Feng Xiaochen, who were sitting on the same side as Bovard and belonged to the European camp.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hotby, and you, Mr. Domus?" Feng Xiaochen greeted the two cordially, and when he called Dorbins, he actually mistook the other party's name.

"My name is Dobbins. Dobbins reluctantly corrected. Boss, let's have tea together last week, even though I'm just a little transparent who is in charge of pouring water next to me, you won't remember my name, right?

Hotby's Holmes Information Technology Investments is a British company registered in Birmingham, with five European companies holding shares in addition to Hotby. These European companies also have a very complex shareholding structure behind them, which are ultimately attributed to a number of companies registered in several international offshore registration centers. A common feature of these offshore registries is that they refuse to disclose the background of their enterprises to various countries and international organizations.

There are many enterprises and wealthy businessmen in Western countries who will register some subsidiaries in international offshore registration centers to handle all kinds of business that are not on the table. The fact that Huo's shareholders have a relationship with these international offshore registration centers is not a big deal and will not attract attention in the slightest. Huo's company is a company that has been registered in the 90s of the last century, and has done a lot of business in Europe over the years, and has business dealings with many European companies, so whether it is Heinzl or Bovard, they firmly believe that this company is an authentic European company and has no relationship with the Chinese.

Only Feng Xiaochen, Bao Chengming, and Hotby themselves know that Huo's Company is a fake Chinese company, and its five corporate shareholders are all controlled by Chinese companies, and the parent company of its parent company's parent company is actually Feng Xiaochen's company, and Hotby himself is just a pair of gloves for Feng Xiaochen in Europe.

What Hotby didn't know was that Feng Xiaochen had many pairs of European gloves like him, and the gloves didn't know each other, which also ensured that if one pair of gloves wanted to wash himself, he would not be implicated in other gloves.

Two months ago, Feng Xiaochen issued an order to Hötby to contact Heinzl to discuss the purchase of the so-called "sensitive assets" of Prometheus Construction Machinery in the name of Huo's company. The value of this sensitive asset, Feng Xiaochen also gave the bottom to Hotby, that is, no more than 300 million euros. The required acquisition funds will be transferred to Huo's company's account through appropriate channels.

From the beginning, Heinzl had the idea of selling sensitive assets to third-party companies, thinking that this part of the technology could only be left in the hands of Europeans and not handed over to the Chinese. If the Chinese want to buy, they should buy the parts that have been stripped of the core technology, including the buildings of several factories, a large number of non-cutting-edge equipment, and some patents that are not important enough.

Bovard believes that if this part of the core technology is divested, the Chinese may abandon the acquisition of Promethe. But Heinzl proposed a plan, that is, after finding a European company willing to buy the core technology, the European company will cooperate with the Chinese to jointly restore production in Promax's factories. At that time, the core technology will still be in the hands of Europeans, and the relevant technology transfer ban will not be violated, and the Chinese will still be able to use Promai's factories for production, at best, they will need to pay some royalties.

"The Chinese will not accept this condition. After hearing Heinzl's plan, Bovard said categorically.

"It depends on the determination of the European Union," Heinzl said. If the EU can convince the Chinese that they will not have access to these technologies anyway, they should accept this workaround. After all, the brand of ProMeda represents a kind of goodwill, and Chinese want to enter the European and American markets with their construction machinery products, and they urgently need the brand of ProMacro. ”

"So, can you find a European company that is willing to do that?" asked Bovard.

Heinzl said to himself: "I have found it, and that is an information technology investment company registered in the United Kingdom. Its CEO, Mr. Hotby, fully agreed with my proposal and was willing to buy Prometheus' key core technology for 300 million euros. ”

Bovard met with Hotby, who showed a positive willingness to cooperate. Bovard asked people to investigate the background of Huo's company, and determined that this company was a purely European company, and Huo's company would not involve any legal issues when it acquired the key technology of Prometheus, and the U.S. Department of Commerce would definitely not intervene.

In this way, Heinzl, Bovard and Hotby agreed on their opinions, and Bovard called Feng Xiaochen and asked him to come for talks.

"Mr. Feng, I regret to inform you that the U.S. Department of Commerce has challenged your acquisition of Prometheus Construction Machinery, and this merger is currently facing many obstacles. According to the most pessimistic estimates, it will take more than a year to break through these barriers and finally complete the merger. As far as we know, your company wants to complete the merger as quickly as possible. ”

At the beginning of the talks, Bovard said to Feng Xiaochen.

Feng Xiaochen nodded and said, "That's true. Large-scale construction is currently underway in China, and we are also helping some countries in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia and Africa to build infrastructure. All these construction projects have put forward a great demand for construction machinery. Chenyu Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. hopes to complete the merger of Prometheus as soon as possible, so as to use Prometheus' technology and production capacity to meet the needs of China's domestic and international markets. ”

"So, we've worked hard to come up with a workaround for your company. In the case that your company is bound by the relevant EU laws and is temporarily unable to obtain some of Prometheus' core technologies, we contacted Huo's Investment Company to acquire this part of the core technology, so as to circumvent the relevant legal restrictions. Your company has access to Prometheus' other assets, including major manufacturing capabilities, and when it comes to core technical support, Huo's promises to license the technology to you without affecting your production, what do you think?"

"It's not what we were expecting. Feng Xiaochen said coldly.

"But that's probably the best outcome. "You should know that the EU is under a lot of pressure right now, and we have to be accountable to our allies, so we can't agree to your full acquisition of Prometheus until the U.S. Department of Commerce dispels the suspicions." ”

Bovard had just noticed that when he proposed a workaround, a complicated expression passed over Feng Xiaochen's face, which seemed to be a little tempting. What he has to do now is to show the attitude of the European Union, so as to force Feng Xiaochen to accept the result of this compromise.

"Mr. Hotby, are you sure that you are willing to provide us with technical support without reservation?" Feng Xiaochen asked as he looked at Hotby.

"There is no doubt about it. Hotby said seriously. In order to say this, he rehearsed twice, once in front of Feng Xiaochen and the other in front of Bovard, both sides hoped that he would play the same role, and he didn't have to worry about having symptoms of schizophrenia.

"Mr. Yang, what do you think?" Feng Xiaochen asked Yang Haifan beside him again.

Yang Haifan's face was ugly, and he asked Bovard several questions, not so much arguing as complaining. Bovard bit it and said that this matter was non-negotiable, and if he wanted to remove the obstacles, he would have to wait at least a year later, and whether he could really remove these obstacles after a year, he didn't dare to guarantee the ticket.

Therefore, the current plan should be the most suitable for the Chinese side......

"If that's the case, then our original purchase price will have to be adjusted. Feng Xiaochen said.

"Of course. "We have already calculated last time that the original transfer price of Prometheus Construction Machinery was 2.5 billion euros, and now it has divested assets worth 300 million euros, and the remaining part is worth 2.2 billion. ”

"2.2 billion? What are you kidding. Feng Xiaochen said disdainfully, "What we originally looked for was these core assets, so we were able to accept the premium of other assets." Now that this part of the core assets is not in our hands, the rest of the information is chicken ribs for us. If Prometheus is willing to sell for 1.2 billion euros, we may consider accepting it, and we will not accept more than 1.2 billion euros under any circumstances. ”

"This is impossible!" said Heinzl, "your financial staff has made a detailed assessment of the Prometheus plant, and the assets of the Proumer plant, as well as the goodwill, are worth at least 3 billion euros." We promised to transfer for 2.2 billion euros, which is already a great value, how can we make concessions again. ”

"If so, we will refuse to buy Prometheus. Feng Xiaochen said, and was about to get up and say goodbye.

Yang Haifan grabbed him and persuaded: "Mr. Feng, this matter ...... I think it's still negotiable. I think it would be acceptable for us to get the full assets of Prometheus at a price of 2.5 billion euros if Huo's company gave up on acquiring this part of the assets. ”