Milan, Italy.

In a conference room, Mr. Lin met with Andre and his team to hear about the progress of the Gucci acquisition.

"At the moment, it seems that Gucci management has only two options: first, to ask us to fully acquire Gucci, so that our price is about $8 billion, which is very attractive to Gucci shareholders, after all, the premium is very high; The second is to find helpers to issue new shares to dilute our stake, such as the French group LVMH, which is eyeing Gucci. ”

When Lin Zuhui heard this, he said: "The LVMH group is not as good as us, this group has always only subscribed to the shares of the controlling company, and then sucked the blood of the subsidiary and developed the group. Gucci's management must also understand that if LVMH helps them, it is nothing more than trying to suck Gucci's blood and make Gucci's competitors LV and others develop better. ”

A senior executive chimed in: "The boss is right, Gucci is not going to bring in LVMH. Moreover, under the legal process, Gucci's management does not have the right to issue new equity rights until we have denied the full acquisition. ”

Lin Zuhui nodded and said: "I didn't think about controlling Gucci, I planned to make a full acquisition from the beginning, and then re-listed when the time is right." ”

At this time, the Hilton Hotel has embarked on the road of reform, and after the new management team, the Hilton Hotel is changing in an orderly manner.

Similarly, in Lin Zuhui's view, the price of $8 billion to acquire Gucci is not high. At the peak of its previous life, Gucci had an annual profit of about $3 billion, accounting for 60%~70% of Kering's group, which was simply a super cash cow.

The two countries that contribute the most are the United States and China, so Gucci's potential is limitless.

"We have already negotiated several banks that are willing to lend about $3 billion to the special fund for the acquisition of Gucci," Andre said. Acquire underfunded funds and invest in Bahrain Bank client funds. ”

Bahrain banks have become the darlings of the financial world, after all, large mergers and acquisitions require banks to take out loans, and future re-listings require investment banks and securities firms to underwrite shares, which generate a lot of wealth.

Lin Zuhui nodded and said: "Then prepare and officially launch a comprehensive acquisition of Gucci!" ”

"Okay!"

In this acquisition of Gucci, Lin Zuhui withdrew $4 billion from Hengjin Investment, which was cashed out from Citibank, Wells Fargo and other U.S. bank-themed stocks.

In the past year, Lin Zuhui has continuously injected a full 9 billion US dollars into the Bank of Bahrain, and the Bank of Bahrain has also become a complete giant. As its influence grew, more and more public funds were placed in the hands of the Bank of Bahrain, and the Bank of Bahrain naturally grew stronger.

.......

André and his team arrived at Gucci's headquarters, where they were received by Felinder and Gucci management.

Although they were very annoyed by the hostile takeover of the Bank of Baring, Felinder and the others already had a premonition of what the Bank of Baring's would do next, so they did not dare to act rashly.

Coming to the conference room, Felinder tentatively asked: "What does it mean that the Bank of Bahrain violently increased its holdings of Gucci Group shares in a short period of time?" ”

André said with a smile: "Of course, we are optimistic about the development prospects of the Gucci Group, and we intend to invest in it!" ”

A Gucci executive immediately said: "The Bank of Bahrain acquired a 34.4% stake because it wanted to take a controlling stake in Gucci. However, this is unrealistic. Following an agreement by the Gucci Board of Directors, we hope that Bank of Bahrain will make an offer to acquire all of Gucci's shares. ”

As soon as the words ended, Gucci's senior executives looked at the Bank of Bahrain and his group, their expressions complicated.

If the Bank of Bahrain refuses to make a full takeover, they feel that it is the best outcome because they have a back-up plan against the Bank of Baring.

But if Baringi agrees to a full takeover, Gucci's shareholders seem to be more than happy because the premium is very high.

Andrei immediately said: "No problem, we are already preparing the legal documents to officially file for a full acquisition." This time I came to Gucci just to inform you that after all, we will be partners in the future, and we hope to be friendly. ”

"What? Are you really going to buy Gucci in full? Felinder said incredulously.

Andrei said lightly: "Of course! I believe this is something that Gucci shareholders would be more than happy to see. And we also know that if we don't, the Gucci Board of Directors has the right to offer shares to legal entities for a period of five years, in accordance with a resolution of the Gucci Board of Directors in 1995, which means that our shares are at risk of being diluted. However, we were planning to acquire Gucci in its entirety from the outset. ”

Gucci's management suddenly felt a punch in the air, and the strength and determination of others were greater than expected.

One of the top executives couldn't help but say, "You bought Gucci at such a high premium, aren't you worried about whether it's worth it?" ”

】

Andre said with a smile: "We estimated that it would cost about $8 billion to acquire it, so naturally we think Gucci is very worthwhile. ”

In the end, Fellinder could only say: "In that case, then you should go through the formal legal process!"

André left Gucci Group with his team satisfied, and the next step was to formally submit the takeover offer to the Dutch and US Securities and Futures Commissions and the Italian government. As for whether the Italian government will intervene to stop it, it is very unlikely that the Gucci Group is listed in the Netherlands and the United States, and it has nothing to do with the Italian government. The only thing that matters is that some of the commitments need to go through the process, such as not moving the headquarters out of Italy, etc.

.........

In a villa in Milan, Monica, Li Jiaxin, and Li Zi gathered around Lin Zuhui, excitedly asking about 'Gucci'.

Monica clinged to Lin Zuhui and asked excitedly, "Honey, did you really buy Gucci?" Is this our national Italian luxury brand? ”

Lin Zuhui sat on the sofa, surrounded by beautiful women on the left and right, and he said with a hint of contempt: "Where is it so powerful, didn't Gucci almost go bankrupt in 1992!" As soon as he spoke, he said confidently: "Of course, since Gucci is in our hands, the future is naturally infinite." ”

He said that it was true that Gucci almost went bankrupt, and that Gucci was caught in a family dispute in 1987, after which an external consortium intervened in the equity but not in management; In 1992, Gucci lost more than $40 million and almost went bankrupt, so the foreign consortium wholly owned Gucci, hired Tom Ford as the creative director, and introduced professional managers such as Felinder.

In fact, the majority shareholder of Gucci at this time was the fund, but it entrusted Gucci management.

"Honey, you're amazing!" Monica gave her a kiss and said, "From now on, I will only buy the Gucci brand, because it is a luxury item for our family." ”

After being included in Lin Zuhui's family office, Monica has been very excited and proud, and Lin Zuhui has seen it all.

Lin Zuhui shook his head and said, "It's very tiring to live like that, so you don't have to kidnap yourself like this, it's more important to buy what you like!" ”

"Of course Gucci is going to be my favorite, because when I hold a Gucci bag, I always think that it's my family's, and my mood will naturally change," Monica said. ”

Lin Zuhui touched Monica's hair and suddenly said: "In the future, Gucci will be listed, and the three of you will have a small number of shares, so you will have a greater sense of accomplishment!" ”

The three girls looked at Lin Zuhui in surprise again, and then pounced one after another, their happy expressions overflowing.

Lin Zuhui was enjoying it while thinking about things in his heart.

The acquisition of Gucci is only the first step, and the next step is to develop Gucci: to develop the global market, especially in China and the United States; Through mergers and acquisitions, Gucci Group will expand its business and become one of the world's top three luxury groups.

.......

Paris, LVMH Group headquarters.

The assistant hurried to the office of Bernard Arnault, the founder of the LVMH group.

"Boss, Bank of Bahrain has launched a full takeover offer for Gucci Group!"

Bernard Arnault looked up, then said in surprise: "How did the Gucci board of directors respond?" ”

The assistant said, "It's agreed!" Gucci's shareholders agreed, and Gucci is expected to be privatized and delisted soon. ”

Bernard Arnault slapped the table and said angrily: "Does this Bahrain bank know how to surprise luxury? Also, a Chinese person also wants to get involved in European luxury goods, I really don't know what he is thinking? ”

The assistant was submissive, and he was very afraid of the 'Napoleon' of this luxury.

But then again, someone else bought it for $8 billion in real money, can you care how others play?

........

Seeing that the acquisition of Gucci was imminent, Lin Zuhui also summoned the team of the Bank of Bahrain again.

Lin Zuhui got straight to the point: "The purchase of Gucci cost $8.15 billion, so Gucci must make even bigger changes to make Gucci worthwhile." It's been almost two months since you took over, what plans did you have in place for Gucci? ”

Although Lin Zuhui can say that even if Gucci does not change management, it can still get good development; However, this development is due to the increase in the global wealth, not the ability of the management itself.

For example, in the future, LVMH Group will grow by 10% per year, and Gucci will need to achieve an annual growth rate of more than 15% in order to satisfy Lin Zuhui.

Andre hurriedly said: "We are already planning to hire Unilever executive Robert Porett as an executive officer, he is a professional manager who is good at turning losses into profits. We hope that when he takes office, he will be able to make drastic reforms, accelerate the launch of new products, and increase the speed of marketing and advertising. ”

In this kind of acquisition, it is very important to really choose a good professional manager.

Lin Zuhui also thinks about some advice he can provide, he has a very high talent for business and a very long-term vision, if he comes to Gucci president, there is absolutely no problem. Of course, his time does not allow it, and his energy does not allow it.

"In this way, I have recently learned about Gucci's designer-led corporate culture, and I found that Gucci is too dependent on those big-name designers who are too independent, and I don't think it is a good long-term development plan. A real corporate design culture should be a continuous training of new designers, giving new designers more opportunities, and even luxury goods like Gucci should put down their bodies and learn from FMCG brands such as ZRA and GAP, so as to make Gucci's products more fashionable and younger. ”

The team at the Bank of Bahrain echoed Lim's statement and put forward their own opinions, which in conclusion should be made to exude a more fashionable and youthful charm of this old luxury brand.

After a meeting, Lin Zuhui felt that he could finally get rid of this matter, and the rest was left to his subordinates, and he only needed to understand the development of things regularly.

Lin Zuhui still has a lot of plans in mind, that is, to let Gucci mergers and acquisitions and development at the same time, a single luxury product is always not advantageous, although Gucci has jewelry and watch collections, but there is still a lot of potential for development.

For example, Lin Zuhui plans to sell the Luchen family to Gucci, so that Gucci can learn from Chanel's all-round development.

Of course, we have to take it step by step and communicate directly with the new president of Gucci later.

In fact, although he intends to re-list Gucci at a certain time, he will not hand over the rights of the majority shareholder; Although professional managers can have a certain degree of independent management, at a certain time, Lin Zuhui will take back the management rights.

This 'certain time' is whether he and Monica's children can perform well. Of course, these things are too far away, and Lin Zuhui will not force the children of the family to take over these enterprises, and his priority is the development of the enterprise.

.......

At the end of March, Lin Zuhui left Europe contentedly and flew back to Hong Kong.

In addition to supervising the acquisition of Gucci, he also inspected his other properties and went to the Luxembourg shipyard in Germany to order a 108-meter-long superyacht.

Once built, the yacht will be the world's longest and most luxurious superyacht, capable of taking off helicopters, sending small submarines, and accommodating up to 36 guests (design only) with a crew of hundreds.

The cost of the entire superyacht is about $150 million, which can be called the price of a Boeing 747, which is simply inhumane.

With this superyacht, Lin Zuhui estimates that he will spend more time at sea.

Of course, it's just a superyacht, and Lin Zuhui doesn't pay too much attention to it, he still focuses on his career.

The business in Europe has also made great progress in recent times, first of all, Amazon Mall won the site of the "1908 Franco-British Exhibition", and plans to build a 1.8 million square feet of Europe's largest shopping center.

The total investment required for this project is 1.5 billion pounds (about 1.8 billion US dollars), which can be called a large investment project.

With the advancement of this project, it also marks the beginning of Amazon's shopping mall's vigorous entry into European shopping malls, and Lin Zuhui will also become the largest 'landlord' in Europe.

After all, he also owns 16 million square feet of commercial space at Canary Wharf.

With the expansion of the Bank of Bahrain's business, Lim Zuhui's business was mainly focused on real estate, and now it has also formed to extend its investment into luxury goods and hotels.

In the future, he will also dabble in the sports brand - Fila, so that Lin Zuhui and Li Chaoren will go to different paths of development.

Li Chaoren likes to invest in infrastructure, Lin Zuhui feels that this is just 'asset trading' and 'asset transfer', he feels that he should adjust the more difficult: investment banking, clothing, luxury goods, hotels, etc., after the acquisition of these industries, better management methods are needed, after all, assets need to appreciate faster.

In short, Lin Zuhui has no plans to invest in infrastructure in Europe and the United States for the time being, so leave this field to Li Chaoren to play!