Chapter 272 Good Harbor

As for Colo’s re-export trade, it mainly comes from its capital, Lodi.

Loti, with an area of ​​90 square kilometers and a population of nearly 2 million, is located at the southwest end of Colo, on the Gulf of Guinea.

This is the political, economic and cultural center of Kolo. It has textile, oil refining, cement, fertilizer, metal processing, (palm) oil, food and agricultural product processing industries. It is a natural port with the best natural conditions in West Africa. The port can berth 25,000 people. tons of seagoing ships.

In 1990, Loti opened a free trade zone, which has since opened the way for Loti Port to "transit to West Africa".

In fact, the market of both Kolo and Loti is small, and the domestic consumption space and purchasing power are relatively limited. Therefore, most businessmen carrying out economic and trade activities in Kolo mainly wholesale products to neighboring countries, while local small wholesalers and retail sales.

Therefore, to a certain extent, it was the Port of Loti that helped the small West African country of Kolo to become the mainstay of West African trade.

Similarly, experts from the British-African Institute suggest that Kolo will then use the advantages of Loti Port to expand the port and implement liberalization and low-tariff policies to make it a small "HK" in West Africa.

…

"This winter is finally over, and by then the construction progress in King's Cross will be accelerated."

Viscount Bute said to Barron with a somewhat relaxed tone.

Although it was already March, the fireplace in their home was still burning brightly, which made the living room feel extra warm.

It can be said that the indoors and the outside at this time are like two seasons.

Just like the pregnant Viscountess beside her, she was only wearing a thin skirt.

There are still two months until her due date, which reminds Barron of Rebecca in Los Angeles. Before that, he needs to go there in April to stay with the girl until she gives birth.

But when he came today, Barron didn't want to talk to Viscount Bute about the Argent Real Estate Group, but had another purpose.

But before that, in addition to matters related to Argent Real Estate Group, Viscount Bute will inevitably talk about the recent hot topic, which is Barron's acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank:

“I heard that the Mergers and Acquisitions Review Committee has approved DS Capital’s acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank?”

"Yes, this is nothing, is it? This is not a merger between banks, and there is no monopoly factor involved."

Barron received the meaningful look from the Viscountess and said to Viscount Bute calmly:

"The key now is to see how far this acquisition can go, whether it is just to complete the control, whether it can exceed the absolute control of 67%, or whether it can directly acquire them wholly."

In the control of a company, more than 50% of the shares have achieved the purpose of controlling the company, and it can be said that it can exercise most of the operating power over the company.

However, in most countries, some votes, such as those involving a company's capital increase, capital reduction, merger, division, dissolution, modification of the company's articles of association, etc., require a larger proportion of votes to pass. This proportion, Some countries stipulate that it is more than 2/3, and some countries stipulate that it is more than 3/4. Therefore, the corresponding holdings exceeding 67% and 75% are called absolute holdings.

In other words, when the holding reaches 67% (some countries and regions require 75%), the party that reaches the holding can exercise almost any company's operating power.

For Barron, he naturally hopes that the higher the shares he can control, the better. He would even be happier to delist Standard Chartered Bank from the exchange and complete the privatization.

"Mr. Butt, I know that your family's Stuart Mining Group also has some business in Africa. I wonder if you are interested in the iron ore in Colo?"

"Khloe? We need to do some evaluation on these."

To be honest, if you are just interested in Colo's mineral deposits, then there is no need for Barron to go to all the trouble to participate in their domestic coup. Anyway, with the existence of the Protector Military Company, Barron will not be able to mine minerals there. No need to worry about being attacked.

But his ambitions don’t stop there. What matters more to him is Kolo’s geographical location. Because it has the best port in West Africa, with Kolo’s conditions, it is fully capable of becoming a shipping transit center for the entire West Africa. This way, in the future development , which is very worth looking forward to.

Therefore, after taking control of Kolo, he has no intention of developing it just by relying on his own strength. At this time, instead of investing a lot of money to develop Kolo, there will be greater opportunities to invest it in other places. income.

It is also for this reason that Barron does not mind sharing some of Colo's interests with his "allies" to guide them to invest there together. Anyway, in the end, as long as he can firmly control the country from the political, economic and military aspects, Just control this place.

Among the minerals currently discovered by Colo, the number one one is naturally phosphate mines. However, most of the mines currently mined have been occupied by French companies. Next, Colo only needs to use the power of the country to Just come and get some of those shares.

The second-ranked iron ore is iron ore, with proven reserves of more than 500 million tons. It can be developed in cooperation with the Stuart Mining Group of the Bute family - after all, mining iron ore still requires a certain amount of technology. Cooperating with Stuart Mining Group, which has extensive experience in this area, is still a good choice.

In this case, if they feel that Kolo has development potential, will they be willing to invest in more infrastructure projects such as roads and real estate?

For a country like Colo that relies on trade as its development direction, attracting foreign investment is also very important.

After Barron gave a general introduction to Colo and its iron ore reserves, Viscount Bute also showed a certain interest. He planned to ask Stuart Mining Group to send people there for an on-site inspection.

As far as Barron knows, Viscount Bute has accepted almost all of their family's property. The reason is that in addition to the fact that he has an heir, which makes the old earl quite happy, the old earl's physical condition is also deteriorating. He is already preparing to pass on the title and family property to Viscount Bute at the appropriate time.

Therefore, in the near future, Ian Butt will become Earl Butt, and Chrissy will become the Countess.

The core industries of the Bute family are mining and real estate, and also involve shipping and warehousing.

If they can join in the development of Kolo, it can also provide a lot of help.

There are still more than two months until the Viscountess's due date, and this is the time when she needs the most attention.

So although Viscount Bute deliberately left later to create an opportunity for Barron and the Viscountess to be alone, Barron was also very restrained and did not provide any stick education in advance.

"What do you think the child should be named?"

At this time, under the sunlight, the Viscountess's body seemed to be glowing, with a bit more maternal brilliance.

"Didn't he say this?"

"He said he respects my opinion..."

When she said this, the meaning in the Viscountess's eyes clearly told Barron that this was an opportunity for him to name his child.

"Well, since it's a girl... let's go with Ethel."

"Ethel Bute, or Ethel Cavendish?"

After hearing the meaningful question from the Viscountess, Barron smiled and said:

"It doesn't make any difference to me, I just need to know that she is my daughter."