On the American side.

Since Stanley had already done a full financial investigation, and MUFG Financial Group had even done several valuation models to assess the value of Stanley's shares, Mitsubishi UFJ negotiators quickly had a preliminary purchase amount after Stanley provided the latest financial data.

$8.5 billion, a 15 percent premium to the current market price, to acquire 20 percent of Stanley's shares, including preferred and common stock.

Stanley's side naturally wanted to buy as high as possible, but John. Mark made some concessions on the price because of his eagerness to raise money, and the two sides started non-stop negotiations on Saturday and Sunday, during which they kept changing tactics, and Stanley was eager to reach an agreement before the market opened on Monday.

"How's it going, how are the talks?"

In his office, which overlooks downtown Manhattan, John . Mark asked weakly, half-reclining in the sofa chair. After a long day of negotiations, he was so tired that he could only breathe, and it was difficult to even stand up straight.

"The situation is not very good, the other party's attitude is very resolute, it will not exceed 10 billion dollars!" Chief Financial Officer Colm. Kelleher frowned and replied, "It's rare for the Japanese to be so tough. Now the gap between the two sides is a bit wide, and it has to be said that the other side has a far better grasp of our internal situation than we expected, which makes us lose the initiative. ”

"Don't worry, the Japanese will not give up negotiations easily!" John. Mark smiled and relieved Colm. Kelleher. But the sadness locked between his eyebrows did not diminish at all.

"Why is that?" Colm. The curiosity in Kelleher's heart was touched again. Originally, the Japanese appeared like a god soldier from heaven, which made him suspicious. Now John. Mark actually said such things again, which made his curiosity even stronger. At the behemoth of the gods, he suddenly asked, "If that's really the case." Will we be able to regain the initiative? ”

"Alas...... "John. Mark let out a long sigh, his tone full of despair and helplessness, "Things are a bit complicated, and they can't be explained in one or two sentences. What is certain, though, is that the MUFG consortium may or may not buy our shares. But we have to grasp this lifeline. Otherwise it's all over. ”

"So?" Although I haven't figured out what exactly is going on, Colm. Kelleher understands that MUFG may be Stanley's last chance, "If that's the case, do we need to back down?" After all......"

"There's no rush, as long as an agreement is reached by Monday, everything will not be a problem."

John. Mark is not a top elite in the American business world, and even in this case, he is still thinking about such things as "taking chestnuts from the fire". Striving to maximize the benefits for his company, his wishful thinking was soon shattered by market rumors.

At six o'clock in the evening, rumors about Stanley were spreading in the market, and traders began to spread the gossip one after another.

"Stanley is in talks with an Asian consortium, but the talks are currently in collapse and the board of directors of the Asian consortium is said to have rejected the deal."

"Because of the offense to the Huaxia consortium, according to sources close to the highest levels of the Huaxia government, the Huaxia government is considering sanctioning Stanley. These include the revocation of Stanley's license to operate in mainland China and the strict investigation of non-standard business practices. and the compulsory sale of shares in Huaxia Company, which was invested. ”

"John. Mark has screwed everything up, and the Fed has refused to bail out Stanley because they have too many bad debts internally. From within the Federal Reserve, the Fed does not have an exact timetable for Stanley's pledged assets in exchange for cash, and the other party's internal business situation is very bad, and the possibility that it will not lend money permanently cannot be ruled out. ”

"After breaking up with the Huaxia Consortium. Stanley is rumored to have been unable to find a buyer in the market, and his in-house brokerage clients have fled frantically, and cash flow has been unable to support until Monday. ”

……

Almost at the same time, all sorts of rumors popped up on the market and spread everywhere at the speed of light. In just half an hour. The rumors spread from Manhattan to London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and even Johannesburg, South Africa.

Despite the time difference, the market never stops, driven by the fact that money never sleeps, and traders are on call 24 hours a day. Although it is not the trading time for Stanley stocks, the market has been filled with an extremely pessimistic atmosphere, and many traders have given up time and got up overnight to modify the model or place orders in advance, hoping to sell their Stanley shares in the first minute of the market.

All of a sudden, the situation became a critical one.

"What the fuck is going on?" John who was woken up urgently. Mark was furious, "Why did I just rest for an hour, and the whole world lost order?" ”

"I don't know!" Colm. Kelleher was haggling with the Japanese when he was urgently called out of the conference room by a trader, and only then did he realize that the world was in turmoil. At such a time, he did not dare to make a decision at all, and hurriedly put John, who had been lying down for a long time. Mark wakes up, "According to traders in London, our share price has fallen by 15% in the dark pool, and it is trending worse. ”

The so-called dark pool trading refers to the anonymous matching of buyers and sellers for bulk stock transactions. This type of transaction generally involves institutions, the amount of money is huge, the buyer and seller are anonymous, and the information is not disclosed to the public. Since the establishment of this kind of platform, it has become the new favorite of institutions, and it has grown extremely rapidly in recent years. Because it is an over-the-counter transaction, no one knows how many stocks are traded in these dark pools, and no one knows how much money is involved, but some people have roughly estimated that the amount of these horrific funds may account for 10% of the total stock trading volume in the United States.

Since it is an OTC transaction, there is no such thing as trading hours. As long as someone is willing to buy and someone is willing to sell, the system will make a worldwide match 24 hours a week. This also means that there are trades in this market at all times and in all places, and if calculated on an average basis, at least Stanley has close to 10% of the outstanding shares in the dark pool, and to some extent, it affects the exchange trade.

Because Stanley has its own dark pool trading system, it is easy to retrieve the corresponding stock transaction records from the log. After Kelleher saw the relevant data, the cold sweat on his forehead burst out.

"There's another piece of news that is particularly surprising!" Colm. Kelleher continued, "The news says that we have a deal with an Asian consortium, and it is clear that this Asian consortium will not be Huaxia Investment. In that case, it's highly likely that the people who spread the rumor knew that we were in contact with MUFG, and that their board of directors had vetoed the deal, so it seems that they know more than we do. If all this is true, I'm afraid we really ......"

"Let's go, let's go to the negotiation room!"

John. Mark rolled over and didn't stop for a moment, not even having time to tidy up his crumpled suit. Kelleher made a beeline for the conference room.

Taro Ishida is the top person in charge of the Japanese negotiations, and as the deputy general manager of the investment department of Mitsubishi UFJ, he is a middle-aged man in his 40s, and he has always been the right-hand man of Yongyi Kedian. He was emaciated, his face was like a knife and axe, and he was a tough-willed and difficult fellow.

"Mr. Ishida, I heard that your company's board of directors has rejected this transaction, is this news true?" John. As soon as Mark entered the conference room, he couldn't wait to ask. It's a question that is a matter of life and death for Stanley, and he must ask it in the first place.

He knew very well that Mitsubishi UFJ was looking at Zhongshi's face. Although he doesn't know why Mitsubishi UFJ sells Zhongshi's face, a face worth tens of billions of dollars is absolutely unreliable. So even if Zhong Shi can't handle it, it's not surprising.

In his opinion, the current Stanley is indeed hanging by a thread, so that when he asks questions, the whole person is in a state of slight trembling.

"Mr. John, rest assured on this, we are confident in the transaction, and what you said has never happened." Ishida Taro said lightly, "I can assure you that our board of directors has ample support for this transaction. ”

"That's good! That's it! "John. Mark patted his chest and was afraid, "In that case, let's continue to negotiate, I'm really sorry." ”

Due to the fear of long nights and dreams, coupled with the rapid deterioration of the external environment, in the following negotiations, John. Mark made a big concession, which made the negotiations go exceptionally well. An hour later, the two sides reached a swift agreement that Mitsubishi UFJ would buy a 20 percent stake in Stanley for $9 billion, including $6 billion in preferred stock and $3 billion in voting common stock.

The agreement between the two parties was formalized and John. Mark and Taro Ishida, who had ample authority, initialed the agreement on documents that were rushed out by lawyers on both sides. But soon another question popped up: how to pay?

Since Japan's banking system is largely at rest at this time, and no bank's system can handle $9 billion in transfers, Stanley's side simply can't wait for the Bank of Japan to open on Monday. As a last resort, the two sides sat down and began to communicate on the way to settle the account.

As a result of the final communication, Mitsubishi UFJ wrote a check with a face value of $9 billion overnight and handed it over to Stanley's Tokyo department. The financial systems of both parties were quickly activated, and the deal was finally settled when the largest bank check in history was accepted by Stanley's Tokyo department.

Stanley narrowly escaped. (To be continued......)