"The location is really ok." Chen Zhiwen listened to Li. Iacocca's introduction while looking at the materials in his hand.

This information is very well prepared, many places have used maps to show the location, these sales stores are located in the city, only a small number of such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and so on he has been, other places that have not been to also rely on the map to see the location of the city.

"In fact, a long time ago, Chrysler had more stores, including GM Ford, but then faced with the antitrust threat of the U.S. federal government, the three companies unanimously agreed to sell the terminal sales industry, leaving only a small number of self-sustaining positions in a better position." Plum. Iacocca explained.

"It's very smart, not like the Hollywood crowd." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

He hasn't heard of this history, but if you think about it carefully, it is also possible that the capital giants in the United States like to merge and acquire upstream and downstream together when they expand, such as several giants in Hollywood, from film and television shooting, film distribution to theaters, the three important links have been monopolized for a period of time, and other small companies can only be attached to the giants, otherwise the films shot will not even have the opportunity to be released, and some independent theaters can only be sold to giants in the end, because there are no high-quality movies, and independent theaters can only go out of business.

Several giants monopolized all the profits of the upstream and downstream of the entire film industry, and Hollywood stars were also suppressed, just like Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers, and the result of such arrogance was naturally targeted by the US anti-monopoly agencies, and finally it was naturally ruthlessly suppressed.

Obviously, the automotive industry has a similar story, but the automobile industry chain is very factory, even if it is an automobile giant, it is impossible to achieve a complete monopoly on the upstream, and because it involves technology research and development, even if you have money, you may not be able to do it, but if you have terminal retail, you can buy terminal retail stores if you have money, but when you encounter anti-monopoly agencies, several major automobile giants will be smarter and take the initiative to admit defeat, but as long as it is not a monopoly and holds a small number of sales stores, the US official will not care. And what can be left by the three major auto giants is naturally in a superior position, and if it weren't for Chrysler's survival, these would not have been sold.

"That's a long time coming." Plum. Iacocca said: "What does Mr. Chen think of these positions? ”

"I can consider buying these stores, but there are a few prerequisites." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Mr. Chen, please speak." George on the side. York said.

Chen Zhiwen said: "First, although the information here is more detailed, I still need to send people to investigate these sales points, and some of them I also need to invite a third party to review. ”

"Of course, it can." Plum. Iacocca nodded and said that when it comes to hundreds of millions of dollars in acquisitions, it is natural to be cautious, and a large number of financial investigations, property investigations, business status investigations, market surveys, etc. are necessary.

"Second, we will discuss the price after review, but the premise of my acquisition is that I can acquire AMC, and if the acquisition of AMC is not successful, then the acquisition will be abandoned." Chen Zhiwen said again.

"Mr. Chen, even if you don't acquire AMC, it won't affect these sales facades." George. York said.

"That's right, but if we didn't buy a car company, it wouldn't make sense to buy these points of sale." Chen Zhiwen said casually.

"Okay, I see what Mr. Chen meant. The scale of the AMC is not large, and it is not sensitive to the US authorities, as long as the review is in place, there should be no problem, and we also have some friends at Goldman Sachs in the Ministry of Commerce, so I will inquire about them after a while. "George. York somewhat understood what Chen Zhiwen meant.

Chen Zhiwen said: "That's just right, during this time, I also need to send people to investigate the situation of these sales points, maybe when it is completed, the Ministry of Commerce will also agree to my acquisition of AMC." ”

In fact, no matter which foreign capital wants to buy American companies, there must be a certain commitment to protect jobs, and this commitment does not necessarily need to keep everyone, but if you want the US government to agree, most of them still need to be guaranteed, besides, Chen Zhiwen does not plan to lay off employees after taking over, and AMC has small benefits. That is, the union forces are not as strong as the giants of GM, Chrysler, and Ford, and the entire American auto industry is not good now, so many aspects can be discussed.

The current card point is still on the side of the Ministry of Commerce, and Morgan Stanley's persuasion team is still working hard, if Chrysler and Goldman Sachs can help at this time, it may be easier to succeed sooner.

As for the acquisition of 330 terminal stores selling automobiles, it is not a loss-making business, one is because Chrysler's funds are on the verge of collapse, and the price will not be very high, and the second is that as long as the oil crisis passes, oil prices will usher in a decade of low oil prices, which will be good for the American auto industry.

With these terminal stores, there will always be great benefits to the future sales of AMC brand cars, 3% Although it doesn't seem like much, this market is a market of hundreds of billions of dollars per year, plus these stores cover many states, and the future terminal repair and maintenance can also be guaranteed.

In fact, there is also a king bomb, that is, Costco, in the history of the original United States, Costco, which has hundreds of supermarkets in the United States, also sells cars, and has become a force to be reckoned with in the automobile sales industry.

Plum. Iacocca thought for a moment and then asked, "Mr. Chen, I would like to ask you a question, I wonder if Mr. Chen is willing to invest in Chrysler in addition to acquiring these storefronts?" ’

"Now that the U.S. government is the majority shareholder of Chrysler, can they agree to my stake in Chrysler?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

The U.S. government gave Chrysler $1.5 billion, but it was not without a price, and many of Chrysler's rights were restricted by the U.S. government, and even spending money needed to be reported.

"I can issue a bond and the yield will not be lower than that of the bonds in the market." Lee Iacocca said.

"Bonds don't work, the so-called returns, it's just for ordinary people, if you want me to invest, you can, but it has to be stocks, but I don't have voting rights." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile that now in the 80s, any investment can easily exceed any bond, and it is really not possible to buy a house in Japan.

Chrysler's stock has now fallen into penny stocks, just like Hutchison in Hong Kong, after all, the first two years of annual losses of more than $1 billion, anyone will wonder if one day will suddenly and completely collapse, and in five years, the company's net profit can exceed $2 billion a year, Chrysler's stock price will also multiply to the top 20 in the United States, this rate of return is still very high.

"If it's just a purely economic investment, I think there should be no problem, as long as Mr. Chen is willing, I can find a way to arrange all this." Plum. Iacocca said.

"Okay, in addition, I have one more condition." Chen Zhiwen paused and said: "If I acquire AMC, I hope that our two companies can work together in terms of technology, and some patents related to engines, turf, transmissions, and safety configurations, I hope to buy some from Chrysler." ”

"In the case of technology patents, this needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis, and I can't answer that question yet." Lee Iacocca said.

"It won't be Chrysler's most advanced technology patent right now, I just want to add a little bit of AMC's shortcomings." Chen Zhiwen said.

As an automobile company outside the three giants, AMC and other small brands are relatively lacking in all kinds of technology, the first is because of limited funds, the research and development of high-tech patents is very costly, and the second is the technical road of automobiles, in the final analysis, it is similar, when other companies born earlier or larger companies register a patent, latecomers want to bypass, it is very difficult.

For example, in the mainland of later generations, before the 21st century, it can be said that the Mercedes-Benz engine can not be copied in front of you, but after the 21st century, this sentence is basically not true, maybe it is not so good, but it can still be made, but it is just stuck by the patent, and it is easy to bypass it.

Chen Zhiwen also did not expect to buy the most advanced patents from American automobile companies or other countries, it is impossible to sell, this has nothing to do with nationality, and American cars may not be able to buy top patents in Japan and Germany.

The automobile industry is a collection of modern industrial achievements, even if you have a little capital, if you want to develop in this industry, you have to come step by step, first ensure that there is, and then slowly progress.

"If that's the case, in principle, it should be fine." Li Iacocca nodded and said, Chrysler is in a hurry to sell terminal retail stores, how can he care about some patents that are not top-notch!

(End of chapter)