Chapter 527 Meeting
After British Automotive Group cooperated with McLaren Technology Group to establish McLaren Automotive Company, British Automotive Group will not only provide funds, but also use their related manufacturing resources to help McLaren restart the production of civilian vehicles.
In the future, the McLaren brand will compete with Ferrari and Porsche in the supercar field and produce track-level sports cars.
Of course, the British Automotive Group has only taken a stake in McLaren. McLaren's team and civilian car manufacturing will be led by Ron Dennis.
Barron knew that in his previous life, Ron Dennis was also very successful in transforming McLaren into civilian cars. For example, the McLaren P1, one of the "three great cars" that became very popular in the car circle, was produced by Ron Dennis. En Dennis' decision.
McLaren P1 is also the second successful counterattack on the world sports car market since McLaren Automotive was first established in 1989 - the first counterattack was with the 1Laren F1.
Now McLaren Automotive is setting out again and will continue to target the top supercar market - in fact, the supercars launched by this supercar brand are often limited editions, corresponding to each car. The profits will be good.
But if you add in the investment in research and development and the team, you won't be able to make much money - this can be seen from the fact that the only supercar brand in the world with good profits is Ferrari.
But the significance of the investment in McLaren to the British Automobile Group is that it can use it to develop and experiment some new technologies, which can then be applied to other products of the British Automobile Group. In addition, having a supercar brand has a great influence on the entire British Automobile Group. A bonus to the image of the automobile group.
Of course, the British Automobile Group also owns Aston Martin, but Aston Martin has left the F1 arena for a long time. It will take time to re-enter, and its results will definitely be difficult for a considerable period of time. Beyond McLaren.
Besides, for such a brand, except for research and development, which plays a significant role in the entire group's automobile manufacturing, as long as there are no major decision-making errors, it will not lose much money, so it is not too much at all.
…
"Wow, you really bought McLaren, honey..."
On the way back, Tamaran couldn't hide her excitement, which could be heard in the tone of her voice.
"It's too early to say, baby, now we are just cooperating with McLaren and are their shareholders."
"But you are already a major shareholder, aren't you? And you will eventually buy it outright..."
Hearing what Tamaran said, Barron couldn't help but smile:
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I know you, you will definitely buy something you like..."
Although Tamaran seems careless and has a "silly and sweet" feeling, in fact, she can actually understand some things very clearly.
"By the way, honey... I want to do a show about cars."
With the girl holding his arms and listening to her sweet words, Barron turned to ask:
"Why did you suddenly have such an idea?"
“Because it’s something I’m interested in, and now that I have some experience producing shows, I want to give it a try.”
Barron himself is very supportive of the interests of women around him, and Tamaran also has her own advantages. Her father is an authority figure in F1 events, and she has been exposed to it since she was a child, and she also has her own ideas about it.
By this time, Murdoch and his wife Wendy Deng had arrived in England, and after their arrival, they also received media attention - he also enjoyed being chased and intercepted by reporters this time.
After Barron returned to London, he had a secret meeting with Murdoch in one of his villas.
"Is it possible that the Duke is behind our incident this time?"
Before coming here, Wendy Deng raised such a question to Murdoch.
"There is no evidence of this yet, Wendi..."
Murdoch said slowly:
"But it doesn't matter. Just understand that Cavendish is one of the keys to solving this problem."
Murdoch understands that even if the outbreak of the "eavesdropping scandal" has little to do with Barron, the emergence of this matter will inevitably allow the other party to take advantage of it.
Just like what he said to Wendy Deng:
"The biggest competitor of News Corporation in the UK is SEM Group. Although the BBC seems to be stronger, because of its non-profit nature, it does not pose a great threat to us. Only SEM Group owns ITV in TV stations; In the newspaper industry, there are independent newspapers, which have a very similar layout to News Corporation, and are therefore direct competitors. So, if it were me, I would spare no effort to defeat my competitors..."
…
"Welcome to London, Mr. Murdoch. It's a pity that the weather in London has not been very good recently."
After the two met, Murdoch heard more meanings from the young British Duke's words.
However, as an "old fox", Murdoch can say that he has seen all kinds of scenes, and will not be affected by it. He still smiled and said:
"Although the recent rain is indeed very London-like, it will be sunny soon, Your Highness the Duke."
"Yes, we all need optimism, even when reality is often not ideal."
Barron shrugged and sat down on the sofa in the living room with Murdoch:
"By the way, this is the purest English black tea. It is very warming. I wonder if you are used to drinking it, Mr. Murdoch."
"Thank you, Your Highness the Duke..."
Murdoch understood that he did not come here to say these useless words to the other party. Of course, the British Duke in front of him could continue chatting with him without any burden, but here, he still needed to get straight to the point.
"I think you should know what happened to News Corporation. Your Highness the Duke, I came here because I hope that we can cooperate with each other as friends. I don't know how to impress you?"
After hearing these words, Barron knew that the time had come to negotiate terms.
"I heard that many people on News Corporation's board of directors have expressed the hope of getting out of trouble by selling News International Group, right? I think this is also a good way for News Corporation to get out of trouble."
At present, News Corporation's business in the UK mainly consists of two parts, BSkyB and News International Group.
News Corporation holds a 39% stake in BSkyB and is its largest shareholder, controlling the most successful commercial television station in the UK.
News International Group includes all British print media and publishing businesses under News Group.
"There are indeed such voices on the board of directors regarding this, but I think escaping is not a good strategy, but rather taking responsibility."
Murdoch's meaning is very clear, that is, News International Group will not be sold easily...
He continued:
"I believe you also understand, Your Highness the Duke, whether it is News International Group or BSkyB, even if we sell it, it will be difficult for you to become a buyer unless you give up SEM Group..."
His words hit the point. Newspapers owned by News International Group account for about one-third of the UK's circulation.
The independent newspapers owned by SEM Group account for one-fifth of the circulation of newspapers in the UK.
If News International Group is sold to SEM Group, it means that they will control more than half of the print media distribution in the UK, which is something that the relevant regulatory agencies will never allow.
As for TV stations, the same is true. Currently, the three largest TV stations in the UK are BBC, ITV and BSkyB.
Among them, the BBC is a public television station, and only ITV and BSkyB are commercial television stations.
So why did the British government allow SEM Group, or Barron's, to control the two largest commercial TV stations, thereby almost monopolizing British TV broadcasting?
Therefore, whether it is News International Group or BSkyB, even if News Group is sold, the target cannot be SEM Group or other companies controlled by Barron. This can be regarded as the first consensus reached by Murdoch and Barron...
