The reputation of the United Group is shocking, and even the Fast and Furious series of United Motorcycles has shown its face in New York this time, which is not inferior to Harley in the United States, Wall Street has long been thinking about seeing if it can get a piece of the pie, Al Smith and several major investment banks have invited the United Group to go public in the United States more than once, thinking that this is worthy of the identity of the United Group, and at the same time said that he would pay a good price for the shares, but Contini always thinks that the company is still in the expansion stage, and it is appropriate to consider this matter after the situation stabilizes.

However, he did not completely refuse, after all, some industries can be spun off and listed, and the most interesting thing in the capital market is United Motorcycle. Goldman Sachs was still a very conservative family business in this era, but Merrill Lynch was already a giant in the investment securities industry, and its headquarters was in New York, so it was impossible not to give Merrill Lynch a little sweetness. In addition to Merrill Lynch, there are also JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and the newly founded Bear Stearns, and Contini sighs when he thinks of the tragic collapse of Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns, which experienced the economic crisis of 1929, in 2008.

But now even 1929 has arrived, and 2008 is even more out of reach.

This time, Antonio's first financing bank was Citi, Citi attached great importance to this negotiation, and Contini's choice of Citi to negotiate first was also carefully considered:

First, because Citibank was not the giant it was later at this time, and was only a medium-sized bank restructured from the City Bank of New York, since it wanted to give Al Smith face, it was first necessary to start the negotiation with the local snake in New York State, and Citibank also received a call from the governor to negotiate as much as possible;

Second, because Citi was more open-minded at this time, although Citi was not allowed to open branches across state lines in the United States at this time, Citi was obviously not restricted by this ban, but opened branches in Singapore, the United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines and India, and Contini believed that if Citi wanted to open a branch in Italy, he could provide convenience.

Thirdly, because Citi is currently jointly controlled by the Stillman family and the Rockefeller family, and the United Group has just signed a contract with Standard Oil, this is almost a transfer from the left pocket to the right pocket for Citi, and the security will be fully guaranteed.

Therefore, the negotiations were a package of strategic cooperation: on the one hand, the possibility of Citi landing in Italy, and on the other hand, the possibility of Citi as the main financing bank of the United Group in the United States.

The former intention was quickly reached, and the latter intention encountered a little twist and turn.

"You want to use some of your shares as collateral for a loan?" Citi's vice chairman in charge of negotiations, Akerman, said hesitantly, "But the stock price fluctuates greatly, and the slightest carelessness may lead to a liquidation, which is not good for both parties......

"Theoretically, yes, but it depends on what stocks to look at." Antonio proudly opened his handbag and took out a large stack of warrants, "Here are the 1 million shares of Radio Corporation of America stock that are held in a scattered manner, with a market price of $41...... We think it's easy to go above $50! ”

Akerman's eyes straightened when he saw the 1 million shares of American Radio stock: everyone on Wall Street knows that the most out-and-out bull stock this year is American Radio, which began to rise from a little more than $2 to $40 now, and even so, there is almost no sign of a pullback, and the daily trading volume is very small - all shareholders are holding on tightly and refusing to let go. If Citi buys 1 million shares now, it is guaranteed to break the $100 mark in an instant.

"You...... How much do you want to borrow? ”

"$40 million." Antonio raised four fingers, "Use these 1 million shares and 50% of the equity of United Motorcycle as collateral." ”

"I'm afraid that's not enough, because even if we accept the stock collateral, it's going to be discounted......"

"Okay...... Antonio smiled and pulled out another stack of warrants, "plus another 500,000 shares of General Motors!" ”

General Motors is also a big bull stock...... Akerman swallowed his saliva and secretly scolded his mother in his heart: How can the luck of the Italians be so good? Why are the bull stocks in their hands?

"This ......"

"Still not working?" Antonio smiled, "Our contract with Standard Oil is worth $4 million, and we can not withdraw the $4 million, but directly allocate it by Citi - if the contract is only 1 million, then the other 3 million will not need a loan." ”

"Can you also take care of the business you handed over to Wright Company to our bank?"

In fact, Akerman also wants to take down the business of Westinghouse and General Electric, but he knows that this is impossible, without the size of a shark but delusionally thinking that eating alone will definitely be beaten on Wall Street, and it will not be good to attack it in a group at that time, Wright's order is not large, and he will eat it, and the business of Standard Oil is what Citi should eat, and he is unceremonious about it.

As a result, the collateral submitted to Citi before and after exceeded $60 million, while the United Group could only withdraw more than $30 million, and Akolman thought about it in his heart, believing that the risk was basically controllable - it was almost impossible for the two stocks of Radio and General Motors to fall by half in a short period of time. So he said cautiously: "Yes!" ”

"So let's talk about interest ......," Antonio laughed, "We've inquired, the current standard interest rate in the U.S. market is 5-5.5% for 5 years, and 3 years is lower, but given our amount, should we give a discount?" ”

"I only give 5.1 per cent of my mandate."

“4.8%！”

“5%！ The minimum is not good......"

“4.9%！ It couldn't be higher, after all, I still have to help Citi land in Italy. Antonio said, "If not, I'll have to go to the Chase Manhattan Bank?" ”

As soon as he heard Chase Manhattan, Akerman's brows furrowed: Chase Manhattan is the property of the Morgan Group, and now Morgan and Rockefeller are evenly matched opponents, just Citi losing to Chase Manhattan is nothing, but if Rockefeller loses to Morgan Group, then he will be in trouble as the vice chairman.

He struggled for a moment, and finally said, "I went to ask the board of directors for advice, and I personally agreed." ”

With this sentence is enough, Antonio laughed and got up and said goodbye - if it is Contini negotiations, it will definitely be closed at 5%, but don't underestimate this 0.1%, 40 million a year means saving 40,000 US dollars - enough to buy more than a dozen Cadillacs to give away!

The next day, Citi came with the news: sign! The only requirement was confidentiality, and Citi didn't want to be the target of public criticism.

The United Group naturally agrees with this, and Contini does not want to be very ostentatious.

After the signing, Contini and Antonio laughed - they had a total of 4 million shares of American Radio in their hands, put 1 million to Citi, and 3 million to continue to use as collateral.

On September 3, the United Group and Bank of America signed a strategic cooperation agreement: a loan of $35 million, on terms slightly better than Citi, with only 4.8% interest. It's not because Bank of America is better to speak, but because Bank of America is not only larger than Citigroup, but also Bank of America was originally an Italian bank run by Italian immigrants, and it was mainly engaged in the deposit business of Italian immigrants in the Pacific Rim states in the early days...... In the same way, this agreement is also a secret.

On September 7, the United Group signed a contract with Chase Manhattan, although the outside world is confidential, it is impossible to keep it secret, of course, a giant like Morgan also has a piece of the pie, besides, Citigroup you have a loan, Bank of America you have a loan, you don't come to Morgan for a loan? Do you look down on us? Besides, Contini was more interested in loans, so he borrowed $45 million from Chase Manhattan.

After tossing and turning, a total of $120 million in loans were obtained, which not only mortgaged all the orders and equipment that the United Group planned to purchase in the United States, but also mortgaged and removed the United Iron and Steel, United Shipbuilding, United Motorcycles, and other brains, and in addition to the nearly $300 million in shares held by Contini, in addition to the mortgage needed by the market, the remaining nearly 200 million yuan were also mortgaged.

In other words, except for the 100 million US dollars in small money, the domineering president is all controlled by Wall Street, and now the United Group is working for the Wall Street tycoons - not only can they not make money, but they also have to pay nearly 6 million in interest a year!

There is one thing Antonio thinks is strange: why does the young master only borrow for 5 years? Shouldn't you borrow for 10 or even 20 years? The longer it is, the smoother the transition, and the saving is always refinancing.

Contini only smiled but didn't say anything, and only he knew the real reason: it's 1924, and in 5 years, well...... 1929 year!