Shaw was indeed a believer, and half an hour later, he personally accompanied Zhang Heng to the Peninsula Hotel Cafe, where the two soon met an old gentleman who had been invited.

Chen Jun, 56 years old this year, is the chairman of the board of directors of Heung Kong Crocodile Shirt & Apparel Co., Ltd., which was listed the year before last.

"Hello Chen Dong. Zhang Heng took the initiative to get up and shake hands with him.

"Zhang Dong, hello, what a terrifying boy. Chen Jun smiled and patted his hand, and then turned to Run Run Shaw and said, "Sixth brother, such a young talent has appeared in Xiangjiang, it seems that an old guy like us has to obey the old." ”

Shaw pursed his lips and did not speak.

People who can work until they are 100 years old, and they are only 66 years old at this time, so of course they will not serve old age easily.

Zhang Heng hurriedly snorted, invited Chen Jun to sit down, and instructed the waiter to bring refreshments.

"Mr. Chen, this time Mr. Shao asked you out to discuss with you the possibility of Daheng Group entering your company's board of directors. Waiting for the old gentleman to take a sip of Darjeeling black tea, Zhang Heng went straight to the topic.

Chen Jun looked at him with a smile: "Are the children so impatient now?"

Aren't you in a hurry?

Zhang Heng sneered.

The crocodile shirt is a clothing trademark registered in 1911 by a German businessman in Xiangjiang, using the English capital "CROCODILE" and the black crocodile pattern on the left, and the main manufacturing of cotton shirts at that time was the main manufacture of cotton shirts.

After the end of World War II, the crocodile shirt trademark was legally confiscated by the British colonial authorities as a victorious country, and in 1952, Chen Jun, a clothing merchant from Xingjiapo, bought the idle trademark and changed the black crocodile to a green crocodile, still mainly making cotton shirts, T-shirts and leather shoes.

Because of its excellent workmanship and trendy and not frivolous style, the crocodile shirt brand has gradually occupied the middle and upper class consumer market in Hong Kong since the 60s, including Li Ka-shing, Li Fuzhao, Ho Hongluan and many celebrities in the political and business circles of Hong Kong, most of the time on weekdays wear crocodile shirts.

In 1971, the Hong Kong stock market entered a booming period, and Crocodile Shirt took advantage of the trend to go public, reaching a peak in market value of 170 million Hong Kong dollars in March 73, and the founder Chen Jun held 41% of the shares.

Since April, following the ups and downs of the Hang Seng Index, the market value of crocodile shirts has also been falling, and Zhang Heng has just learned that its market value yesterday was 103 million Hong Kong dollars.

Since Chen Jun deliberately took Qiao, Zhang Heng was not polite, and pointed to the core: "Chairman Chen, how is the lawsuit between your company and Lacaste going?"

Chen Jun's face was gloomy: "This kind of transnational lawsuit is not a result that can be reached in a day or two, and the French will slowly wear out, and in the end they can always find a way to solve it." ”

The sharp drop in market value is actually not the biggest dilemma of crocodile shirts at this time, Zhang Heng's so-called lawsuit is the most deadly, which involves a famous case that will be recorded in the history of world trademarks in the future.

As a well-known animal on the planet, it is not uncommon for the crocodile pattern to be used as a trademark by enterprises, and for now, there are three of the world's largest clothing brands that use the crocodile pattern.

Xiangjiang crocodile, Xingjiapo crocodile, and French crocodile.

Xingjiapo crocodile was founded in 1947, the trademark English CATELO (Cadile), the pattern is the left white crocodile, the trademark owner Chen Xianjin is Chen Jun's biological brother, the two sides have made a sales agreement, but there is nothing to do.

The French crocodile was founded in 1933, the English name is LACOSTE (Lacaste), the pattern is the right green crocodile, its founder is the famous French tennis player Lacoste in the thirties, nicknamed "crocodile".

After the establishment of Lacaste, after decades of painstaking operation, it has occupied the mainstream sportswear market in Europe and the United States, and its customers have many celebrities, such as President Kennedy, Prince Charles, Elvis Presley, etc., it can be said that the Western world at this time, to a certain extent, Lacaste is synonymous with polo shirts (polo shirts).

Due to the inertia of Europeans and Americans to worship French famous brands, the two Asian crocodiles naturally cannot enter the Western market, and they can only guard the small ponds in Asia, but they can also be satisfied, and the three parties have been safe and sound in the past few decades.

With the continuous development of the global economy, the French crocodile has finally set its sights on the emerging Asian market, and in the face of this hunting ground that has gradually turned from a pond into a large lake, the self-proclaimed noble and strong French crocodile will not let go of its own kind that originally occupied this place.

In November 1972, French crocodiles entered the Hong Kong market and opened their first store in Causeway Bay, and on the first day of opening, they also filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Hong Kong Crocodile with the Hong Kong Court.

The prepared French crocodile has not only hired a team of elite lawyers and experts, but has even exerted constant pressure on the Hong Kong court system through its influence in the political and business circles of Europe and the United States.

At present, all export channels have been temporarily frozen by the court, and only the local sales of Xiangjiang are barely retained, but it is also declining because of the public opinion offensive of the French crocodile.

After the outbreak of the stock market crash, two unfavorable factors intertwined, and in just two months, the market value of Xiangjiang crocodile shirts fell by nearly forty percent.

"Chairman Chen, I believe that as business elites, we can all judge that this round of stock market crash is far from the end. Zhang Heng smiled confidently, "So, in the unfavorable situation of lawsuits, where will the stock price of crocodile shirts go?

Zhang Heng didn't know how low the stock price of Crocodile Shirt had fallen, but he knew that the lawsuit would continue until the end of the 70s, and it was not until 1980 that Lacaste finally reached an understanding with Crocodile Shirt and granted his agency in Xiangjiang to Crocodile Shirt, so he withdrew and turned to the mainland market.

Then, in that much larger market, La Castel will once again snipe at the Xiangjiang crocodile and the Xingjiapo crocodile, and the lawsuit between the three has been entangled until the 21st century.

In other markets in Asia, Lacaste has also continued to file lawsuits, with wins and losses, but the winning markets are more valuable, such as Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

Chen Jun listened to Zhang Heng's words, his face became more and more ugly, he got up and wanted to leave the table, but Run Run Shaw reluctantly sat down through his mediation, and did not speak with a straight face.

"I'm sorry, Chen Dong, but I spoke too directly. Zhang Heng sincerely apologized.

He was still full of respect for the old man who created and promoted the crocodile shirt as a spiritual symbol of Hong Kong, but unfortunately his children were really unwilling to accept and develop the family business, so he had to resell the crocodile shirt to Lin Baixin's Lai Sun Group in 86.

"You may have heard that Daheng has a Lantian Industry and Trade Company, which is currently engaged in the laundry industry, and recently they want to enter the field of branded clothing, so they specially recommended your company to me. Next, Zhang Heng frankly said the reason for the incident, "It just so happens that Mr. Shao invited Daheng to be the main sponsor of the Miss Xiangjiang election event of Wireless, and he is your old friend, so I am anxious to ask him to invite you to come over and talk about this matter in detail." ”

"With all due respect, it is indeed difficult for crocodile shirts to get out of the predicament in a short period of time, and the stock price is likely to hit new lows in the future. Zhang Heng lowered his posture this time, his expression was extremely sincere, "As a Xiangjiang person, I don't want to see such a local brand defeated by foreign capital, it would be a pity, perhaps, we came in for crocodile shirts, it is a good opportunity to regain a new life." ”

"Reborn?" the corners of Chen Jun's mouth showed a hint of mockery, "Dong Zhang, maybe you are quite talented and accomplished in the electronics industry, but in the traditional clothing industry, I really don't believe in you too much." ”

Zhang Heng said solemnly: "Chen Dong, let me ask you, is the biggest problem encountered by the crocodile shirt at the moment is Lacaste's lawsuit?"

Seeing his sincerity, Chen Jun was no longer hostile, and said: "Yes, our export channels have been frozen, the stock price has fallen so badly, the shareholders are unwilling to invest in it anymore, the company's cash flow has problems, and it is a little reluctant to deal with lawsuits." ”

Zhang Heng asked: "So, if I say that I can stop this lawsuit, do you think the crocodile shirt will still be in trouble?"

"How is that possible?" Chen Jun and Run Run Shaw both looked incredulous.

Zhang Heng smiled: "What if Daheng can influence the board of directors of Lacaste......? Acquire La Castel!"

The two old businessmen looked at him in amazement, and after a long time, Chen Jun shook his head and exclaimed: "Sure enough, it's a young hero, I don't even dare to think about this idea." ”

Run Run Shaw asked with suspicion on his face: "Dong Zhang, Lacaste's market value is at least hundreds of millions of dollars, can you really buy it?"

"I don't need to buy it all, I can influence its board of directors by becoming the second largest shareholder, I think, 20 million dollars should be enough. ”

"That's really fine. Chen Jun nodded repeatedly, "Now their majority shareholder is the Lacaste Family Foundation, which is said to hold less than 40% of the shares. ”

"In that case, Daheng found a way to enter the board of directors of La Castel, facilitated a settlement with Crocodile Shirts, and granted the distribution rights in Asia to Crocodile Shirts, wouldn't it be a perfect solution?"

It's a pity that he doesn't have enough US dollars in his hands at this time, otherwise Zhang Heng's original intention is to completely acquire Lacaste, and then acquire Cartile, so as to completely integrate the three crocodile brands together and avoid the recurrence of continuous internal friction in the future.

However, if you can join the board of directors of La Castel, it is not without the opportunity to promote the integration of the three, and to achieve this vision, the acquisition of crocodile shirts is the inevitable first step.

Chen Jun's face changed, and he fell into a long contemplation.

Zhang Heng whispered a few words to Tang Jihua, he then walked to the front desk to borrow the phone, and a few minutes later, he came back to report: "Chairman, the stock market closed in the morning, and the latest market value of the crocodile shirt is 99 million Hong Kong dollars." ”

Tang Jihua didn't deliberately lower his voice, and several people heard it, with different expressions.

Thinking of the current situation of the crocodile shirt, and thinking of his children's attitude towards this family industry, Chen Jun finally made a decision, and said with a long sigh: "Okay, I can agree with Zhang Dong's suggestion, now it depends on your bid, first of all, I must retain at least 20% of the shares, and I can help you persuade other shareholders." ”

In the afternoon, Xia Di, Shen Yunxia, Jiexi, and He Jie hurried to a luxurious suite at the Peninsula Hotel, and were dumbfounded in the face of the draft contract preliminarily agreed between Zhang Heng and Chen Jun.

Lantian Industry and Trade invested 20 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire 21% of Chen Jun's crocodile shirt shares at one time, and the remaining 20% shares, Lantian Industry and Trade has the first right of first refusal.

Chen Jun needs to convince the other shareholders within a week to transfer their 29% stake in Crocodile to Lantian Industry and Trade at a price no higher than this sub-bid.

After Lantian Industry and Trade de facto became the absolute majority shareholder of Crocodile, it immediately launched the acquisition of Lacaste, and after successfully entering its board of directors, it promoted the reconciliation between Lacaste and Crocodile Shirt, and handed over the Asian market to Crocodile Shirt.

The two mergers and acquisitions will cost almost $30 million, which will be the total amount of loans that Daheng Group can get at present, and the financial pressure is not small.

"Xiao Heng, if you do this, the risk is not too high, the stock market is still falling, we can wait for a while longer. Xia Di leaned into his ear and whispered.

In fact, at the beginning of next year, after the oil crisis broke out, the market price of crocodile shirts may indeed be lower, but since the opportunity has appeared, Zhang Heng does not want to wait any longer, 86 years Chen Jun had to resell all the shares in his hands to Lai Sun Group before retirement, the transaction price at that time was 320 million Hong Kong dollars, at this time to pay 20 million Hong Kong dollars to get half of it, it is really not expensive.

And Zhang Heng is sure that the future trend of Lacaste's stock price will be more fierce, and if you want to completely solve the crocodile dispute, of course, the sooner you intervene, the better.

After all, Daheng Group or Zhang Heng completely had the final say, seeing his resolute attitude, his subordinates did not say more, the two sides quickly drafted a draft and signed to confirm, and agreed to wait for all the shares to be traded to be negotiated, and then do it again and notify the regulator.

Run Run Shaw also signed as a witness, and after agreeing with Zhang Heng to go back to the wireless station to continue the detailed discussion, he helped Chen Jun, who was a little unsteady, to leave first.

Zhang Heng looked around at a few people in the room and cautiously explained: "In order to avoid stock price fluctuations, this matter must be kept secret!"

Then everyone dispersed, he and Tang Jihua rushed to the wireless, in the closed car, he suddenly said: "Jihua, I will come out of the wireless, I want to visit my uncle." ”

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. vertex