While the whole world was in an uproar as a series of insane terrorist attacks unfolded in the evening of Asan-Mumbai, the conference room at the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle fell into silence after some discussion and arguing.

Andy Smith's timing was really difficult for Starbucks to fight back, and the board members and the directors of the three major committees all focused their somewhat gloomy eyes on the face of Howard Schultz, the Starbucks spirit who returned to power this year, and the Starbucks Jobs.

His series of reform measures have indeed allowed Starbucks to reduce losses, reduce the impact of the financial turmoil, and allow Starbucks to regain its brand value.

At the same time, large-scale store closures and layoffs also made investors lose confidence in Starbucks, causing the stock price to reach its current price, giving Andy Smith the opportunity to fully acquire Starbucks.

"Maybe we can convert that $1.2 billion convertible bond into common stock... ”

Someone finally broke the silence, and the chief financial officer, Michael Casey, sighed in his heart and said that there was a solution that was not the way to go.

"That's self-defeating, not to mention whether this common stock will affect Andy Smith's acquisition plan, the key is that it will completely lose the trust of investors.

In the midst of the financial turmoil, do you want Starbucks' stock price to fall into junk stocks? Don't forget, this will not only dilute the other party's shares, but also our own, I don't agree!"

"I don't agree either, Andy Smith has tens of billions of cash in his hands, since he decided to buy Starbucks and absorb so many shares, he definitely started the layout a long time ago, and he definitely thought of various plans to deal with our counterattack.

Let's put it bluntly, we have lost the initiative, we can't stop the other party from entering the board of directors of Starbucks, and now the other party's people have not appeared, which can only show that the other party's ambition and appetite are too big, so big that they want to completely control Starbucks... ”

This time, it was a key member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee who spoke, and as he spoke, he looked at Howard Schultz, who had been frowning, and several company executives, but his heart was full of sneers.

The three committees and the directors are optimistic about Andy Smith's arrival, because no one will threaten their position, and only the executives who have controlled the company for a long time will be rejected and worried.

Howard Schultz looked around at the expressions of everyone in the conference room, and his heart was gloomy, because the dispersed and uniform shares he had formulated could prevent major shareholders from interfering in the company's operations in normal times, allowing the management to better control the company.

But there are also drawbacks, just like now facing Andy Smith, who has deep pockets, they simply can't take out the extra shares to bring in the white knight to stop Andy, a barbarian.

The only way to fight back was the poison pill plan, but in the face of directors who refused to do so, the possibility of implementing the poison pill plan did not exist from the start.

Howard Schultz even thought that the directors present wished that Andy Smith, a super-rich man, would make Starbucks' stock price rebound against the trend and make their asset value skyrocket.

"I need to talk to Andy Smith personally and I'm sure he will recognize our corporate culture and behavior, after all, this is the cornerstone of Starbucks, and as long as Starbucks does not waver, we should be optimistic to welcome the new directors to join."

As for Andy Smith's position... “

"Knock-"

Just when Howard Schultz was quite helpless to make a compromise, there was a knock on the door of the conference room, and soon a staff member pushed the door in, and said to Howard Schultz who was in the first seat in the distance opposite with a somewhat flustered expression: "Boss, a group of people came outside to see you, and the leader claimed to be Andy Smith's representative." ”

Howard Schultz's pupils shrank slightly, and everyone in the conference room had different expressions, and the other party finally made a move.

"Invite them over. ”

After the staff left, Howard Schultz smiled helplessly: "Let's listen to each other's thoughts." ”

Everyone in the conference room also had solemn faces, and nodded silently, there was no way, now there was no way to stop Andy Smith, who held a stake that was comparable to that of everyone present.

It didn't take long for a group of sharp-eyed business elites in suits and leather shoes to walk into the conference room, led by Starbucks staff.

A tall white man in his thirties smiled and shook hands with Howard Schultz, led by Starbucks.

"Hello, Mr. Schultz, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Mr. Andy Smith's plenipotentiary, Olin Smith. ”

Howard Schultz, who shook hands with Olin Smith, stared slightly, with a smile on his face, and said in welcome: "Nice to meet you, please take a seat." ”

There was no ink on either side, and they quickly sat down on both sides, and then Orin Smith took out some documents, handed them to Howard Schultz opposite, and smiled: "This is Mr. Andy Smith's share certificate and power of attorney." ”

After Howard Schultz took it, he smiled at Olin, and then looked at it with an indifferent face, a share of 2%, 3% and even 0.5% of the share certificate, which made Howard sigh helplessly in his heart.

After flipping through them, a smile appeared on Howard's face again, and while handing the documents to David Pace, the executive vice president beside him, he asked Orin, "I wonder what Mr. Andy Smith thinks?"

"Mr. Andy Smith's acquisition of Starbucks is just a normal commercial acquisition, Starbucks is a very good coffee chain retail company, and Mr. Andy Smith is very optimistic about its development potential.

Andy Smith, of course, is also a loyal customer of Starbucks, which has ended its overly aggressive, blind expansion strategy, although sales growth has slowed significantly and its performance is facing serious challenges.

However, with the return of Mr. Schultz, a series of rectification measures have made Mr. Smith feel that Starbucks will enter a new stage of growth.

Therefore, Mr. Smith is very interested in joining the Starbucks family. ”

Hearing Orin Smith's words, everyone present at Starbucks looked at each other, and they didn't believe that Andy Smith would implement the acquisition plan with such fanfare just to join the Starbucks board of directors.

"Thank you Mr. Smith for being so optimistic about Starbucks' growth, and we welcome Mr. Smith to the board.

However, Starbucks has achieved the initial separation of equity and control for a long time. Mr. Smith joined Starbucks with a 25% stake, which is undoubtedly a subversion of Starbucks.

I would like to ask, do you want to take control of the company into the board of directors?"

Hearing Howard Schultz's straightforward words and questions, the smile on Orrin Smith's face slowly converged, his face was serious, and his bright eyes looked at each other and said: "Let me tell you a good news first, through the acquisition, Mr. Andy Smith now holds 30.1% of Starbucks shares. ”

"Wow... ”

"How is it possible ... ”

"This... ”

Listening to the chatter of the Starbucks crowd on the opposite side, Olin Smith only paused for a short time before continuing.

"It's fair to say that as a commercial company, Starbucks has a commendable aspect of fulfilling its corporate social responsibility, which is due to the persistence of our management and the excellent corporate culture we have established.

But Starbucks is ultimately about working for the benefit of its shareholders, and that's what its global shareholder meetings are all about. That's how cruel business is.

Commercially, Starbucks wants coffee quality on the one hand and fast store opening on the other, but the contradiction between speed and quality behind this is always irreconcilable. And as time goes on, we see more and more irreconcilable contradictions.

Mr. Smith believes that Starbucks needs a clear plan and strategy for future development, rather than closing stores and laying off employees after repeated expansions. That's why Andy Smith wants to be the chairman and chief strategy officer of Starbucks!"