Chapter 663 How did it end up like this?

Is Barron's acquisition of ARM important to England?

You can think about it. Ten years from now, when it comes to the British companies on the Fortune 500 list, companies such as petroleum, finance, telecommunications, tobacco, and electricity...

France at least has manufacturing groups such as Renault, Saint-Gobain, and Schneider. As for Germany, in addition to the three major car companies of Volkswagen Group, Daimler Group, and BMW Group, there are also Siemens, Bosch, BASF, Thyssenkrupp, and Bayer. Group...and a series of manufacturing groups...

So what is left of England?

Talking about Britain later, apart from the financial industry, the only industrial aspect that can be exported is a Rolls-Royce aircraft engine... Even selling academic qualifications has almost become a pillar industry in many of their cities.

Many times, Barron couldn't help but sigh, how could England, the empire on which the sun never set, first carry out the industrial revolution and create one-third of the world's industrial output as a small island nation, end up like this?

Of course, the matter has come to this, and speaking back to the present, at least for now, Britain has not fallen to the point where it will be more than ten years later - although many of the original local companies have been acquired, at least Barron's still has a little bit of hope to save it. Space.

It's not that he loves England very much, it's just that "the butt determines the head." As a Duke of England, only England with considerable strength can ensure the safety of his overseas investments.

Otherwise, just like Abu, even if you spend so much effort to integrate into Europe, what will happen in the end in the original time and space?

Of course, compared with him, Balencia's origin itself has more advantages at the current stage.

As for the fact that Barron and Johnson mentioned the acquisition of ARM, it does not mean that they need any help from the other party in the acquisition of this company...

At present, the Global Industrial Investment Fund (GII Fund) has proposed to ARM's board of directors that it is willing to acquire ARM at a price of US$5 billion, which is a premium of more than 10% compared to ARM's market value at this time.

Under the premise of maintaining ARM's independence and its current business model of widespread chip architecture licensing, their negotiations with ARM's board of directors were relatively smooth.

Of course, the completion of this transaction will definitely not be completed in a short time, but it is obvious that in the current economic downturn, the possibility of reaching a final agreement is still very high.

What Barron hopes more is that after the acquisition of ARM is completed, the London government can guarantee support for ARM in terms of relevant policies.

After all, Barron knows the future application prospects of ARM's chip architecture in mobile devices, and will increase investment in ARM. However, what needs to be noted is that without government support in chip research and development, the future will not be as good as the United States. In the competition with China, it is still difficult to say whether to maintain the lead.

“London Technology City cannot only focus on software. Hardware research and development is also very important. After that, competition in related fields will continue to intensify. Whether it can find new pillar industries besides finance also depends on the London government. Determination."

After hearing Barron's words, Johnson fell into deep thought - even though he didn't have a deep understanding of technology, he understood that Barron's words still made sense.

"As long as it can promote the development of the industry, we will definitely try our best to support it, Your Highness the Duke, and this support will not be said to be only for a certain company or companies, but for the entire industry. As long as the requirements can be met, , then we will definitely get this support.”

…

A convoy of two stretched Bentley Mulsannes and two Land Rover Defenders drove through the streets of London.

After the incident with Ashley Webber, Barron had increased security for himself and those around him, even in London.

Later, Barron received the latest news from Paris.

After learning that Ashley Weber had finally woken up, he even had a brief phone call with her and learned more about the matter.

"I can't recall the specific process of what happened. The doctor said this is a temporary sequelae and it will take time to recover..."

Hearing the weakness in Ashley's voice, Barron said calmly:

"The most important thing now is that you need to rest peacefully. Ashley, I have arranged for people to increase your security. I hope you can cooperate. Leave the rest to me."

"I understand, Your Highness the Duke. Although I can't remember many things at that time, I heard that my driver and secretary had...especially Lucia, she would always remind me to fasten my seat belt on rainy days... "

Her mood was slightly depressed, but she quickly recovered:

"I have met with my father and asked him to ask for relevant information. If this is man-made, I will make them pay the price."

"Yes, Ashley, someone will pay for it!"

After ending the call with Ashley Weber, Barron dialed Bonnie’s phone:

"Baby, are you up?"

"Well, Chris and I were just getting ready to have breakfast..."

When Barron returned to London, Bonnie still stayed at Grace Lavender Manor with the Countess of Bute, and it was also morning there.

"The weather in London is not very good recently. You can stay at the manor for a while. I will pick you up when the time comes..."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, just a small matter. I am going to Asia next month. I can come back with you. This way, I don't have to endure the bad weather in London now."

"Okay, take care of yourself, dear."

Barron naturally would not let his wife worry. After comforting Bonnie softly, Barron took out another mobile phone and dialed a number.

...

"Your Highness, are you going out?"

When Barron walked out of the study, he saw Zhang Junning coming over and heard her say:

"It's raining outside..."

"I'm not going out today. Didn't I just tell you that I can rest?"

When in London, Zhang Junning would live with Barron for convenience - of course, don't get me wrong, it's just that Barron's residence has many guest rooms. If she lives together, it will be convenient to respond at any time.

After all, as Barron's personal assistant, some security measures are often required, and Zhang Junning herself is not a local, so it would be much more convenient to live together like this.

"I was just reading a book, and I came over to take a look when I heard the sound..."

It can be seen that Zhang Junning was still wearing a neat professional suit at this time, and it seemed that she had not started to rest.

"Reading? What book?"

"Some books about business. I feel that there are still many areas where I need to improve, so..."

It must be said that from Zhang Junning's performance after serving as Barron's personal assistant, she is still very outstanding and has always been conscientious. Although at the beginning, she was a little unfamiliar with some things compared to Wang Wanting, she grew up very fast and can now be said to be handy.

"It is also important to combine work and rest. There is nothing to do today. Just go back and rest later."

"Okay, Your Highness the Duke."

"By the way..."

Seeing Zhang Junning, who had turned around and was about to leave, stop and look over, Barron asked:

"If there is nothing to do, then go down and talk together?"