Chapter 151 Spoiler

Sure enough, a few days later, Argent Real Estate Group made a move.

"Due to the rise in raw materials and other additional factors during construction, we currently need an additional £300 million in funding."

In the board meeting of Argent Real Estate Group, their CEO said:

"Banks can only provide additional loans of 150 million pounds, and the remaining funding gap of 150 million pounds can only be completed through financing."

Barron currently holds a total of 20% of the shares of Argent Real Estate Group, of which the family trust fund holds 15% of the shares; DS Industrial Investment Company holds 5% of the shares.

As a result, he holds two seats on the board of directors of Argent Property Group, of which Barron himself and Amber Sheehan are board members.

But even so, the Bute family still occupies a strong position on the board of directors of Argent Real Estate Group - the support their family can obtain exceeds 50% of the shares.

"In this round of financing, our original shareholders will contribute a corresponding share of the capital and use a portion of their shares to seek new investors to join."

Viscount Bute, chairman of Argent Real Estate Group, explained to Barron:

"It's really because the additional loans from banks are no longer able to cover the funds we need. The missing part cannot be completed by shareholders increasing capital, and it is imperative for new investors to join."

The entire King's Cross area renewal plan will be a super project with a total cost of more than 11 billion pounds, including the renovation of two stations, as well as the renovation and construction of public facilities and welfare facilities. The government's investment will be around 8 billion pounds.

The investment involving Argent Real Estate Group's own properties will also exceed 3 billion pounds, most of which is completed through bank loans, and they also need to come up with a certain amount of funds themselves.

Of course, these funds are used for the renewal plan of the entire King's Cross area and are not meant to be a one-time expenditure.

The renewal plan for the entire King's Cross area will last for nearly 20 years. It will not be constructed in the entire area at the same time, but is divided into several stages.

Each stage will be commercially developed immediately after the construction is completed, and the newly built buildings will be sold or rented. Those buildings used for rent can also bring in new loans to support the next stage of development.

Therefore, in the current first phase, the original plan was to be able to carry out the project with 500 million pounds. However, due to various reasons, the current funding demand is as high as 800 million pounds, so an additional 300 million pounds of funds are needed.

This is why Argent Real Estate Group needs to continue financing this time.

"Of course, according to the original agreement, Your Highness the Duke, you can also come up with corresponding funds to ensure the proportion of shares you hold."

Faced with these words from Viscount Bute, Barron frowned slightly:

"You know, I have been acquiring O2 recently, so I am still a little nervous in terms of funds."

"I can understand this, but even if the shares are slightly diluted, there will be a huge increase in assets. Our plan is to use the additional 20% of the shares in exchange for at least 200 million pounds of capital to join. Calculated this way If this is the case, the valuation of Argent Real Estate Group will reach 1 billion pounds, and even if you no longer continue to invest, the shares you hold will only change from 20% to 16%, with a value of up to 160 million pounds, which is higher than your initial investment. The assets have appreciated at least five times.”

What Viscount Bute said is true. Although in fact, after the financing of Argent Real Estate Group, if Barron no longer contributes capital, the proportion of shares held by Barron will drop to 16%, but its corresponding assets are still several times higher. growing.

But the problem is that this will not be the last financing of Argent Real Estate Group. If it happens a few more times in the future, Barron's shareholding will soon be reduced to less than 10%, and his influence on this company will be great. Almost nothing.

This is also a conspiracy. A party with abundant funds can "wash" other shareholders in the company into small shareholders in this way, thereby firmly controlling the company.

"Or will I provide the £200 million for the group?"

Hearing Barron's words, Viscount Bute was surprised for a moment, but seeing the somewhat joking expression on the face of the young Duke, he asked:

"Are you serious? Your Highness the Duke."

"Maybe, but then I would have to give up on acquiring O2, which is very confusing."

Barron shrugged and said:

"But the current increase in loans from banks is enough to sustain the situation for a while, right?"

"But eventually more funds will be needed, and we can't wait like this, because even the addition of new investors will require negotiations and investigations."

"That's it for now, Mr. Butt. I'll think about it and get back to you as soon as possible."

Just like that, watching Barron leave, Viscount Bute's face became a little uncertain.

…

While waiting for changes in international oil prices, Barron encountered not only the financing of Argent Real Estate Group, but also changes in the acquisition of Manchester United club stocks.

"Our current total shareholding in Manchester United has increased to 8%. However, in recent days, Manchester United's stock price has also seen some changes. We found that there are still people in the market who are secretly making acquisitions..."

Daisy told Barron that in addition to DS Capital, there are also funds that are acquiring shares of Manchester United Club.

Through investigation, it was found that the other party is an investment institution called Red Football LLC. However, it is not yet known whether the other party is purely optimistic about the development of Manchester United and is making financial investment, or whether it is also preparing to acquire the club.

Red football?

Hearing the name of this organization, Barron raised his eyebrows slightly. He knew that this company should be the company registered by the American Glazer family to acquire the Manchester United Club.

It seems that they have finally started to enter the market...

"Do you know how many shares they have bought now?"

"Through the analysis of the data, they should have just started buying, and they are definitely far from reaching the 5% shareholding ratio that requires a sign. Judging from the trading volume and price changes of the stock in the past few days, I can be sure that their shareholding is Far below us, it should be less than 1%.”

After hearing the news, Barron felt relieved and said to Daisy:

"Keep an eye on them. My intuition tells me that this Red Football LLC has bad intentions and is very likely to become our competitor."

"They also want to buy Manchester United?"

"I'll have people investigate to find out more information, but I think that's their purpose."

Now most of Barron's funds are placed on shorting crude oil futures. Neither Argent Real Estate Group nor Manchester United Club can take any more actions. They can only wait for the oil price to reach a psychological price before proceeding.

After returning to his office, Barron stretched himself. Everything came together. The acquisition of O2 Company was still under negotiation. Here at Argent Real Estate Group, the Bute family started to engage in trouble again. In a small move, on the Manchester United side, the Glazer family also appeared as if they were in time and space, ready to disrupt the situation.

Just when Barron was thinking this, a pair of hands were placed on his shoulders. He felt Barron's body tighten, and the other party said softly:

"Your Highness the Duke, let me press it for you."