Chapter 197 Public Opinion War and Eating the Sweetheart

"Will Milo allow Paladin Media or Yahoo to go public early to raise funds to acquire the two oil companies?"

That afternoon, Milo held a press conference with James Mulvey.

Some media, led by the New York Times, published a sensational news item in their respective evening papers.

Paladin Media is seeking to go public, and Yahoo is also conducting its final pre-IPO financing.

The use of funds obtained through financing is strictly planned.

If Milo moves to attack Connor Oil, it will lead to a collective attack by investors, which will be extremely disadvantageous to Milo.

The New York Times has always had a good relationship with Milo, so why would it take the lead in attacking Milo?

Arthur Jr., the owner of the Times Group, was almost depressed to death.

He had no choice.

It is true that he has a good relationship with Milo, and it is true that the Blackburn family owns 3% of the New York Times.

But behind him there is a real boss, a real master - Rockefeller.

Unfortunately, Rockefeller had shares in the two oil companies that Milo wanted to acquire.

It should be said that there is not a single large energy company in the United States that does not have the Rockefeller family.

Although not much, these two companies did have some Rockefeller shares.

Obviously, even the future son-in-law.

The Rockefeller family still opposes Milo's entry into the energy industry.

They may not directly go down and become enemies with Milo, but they will definitely cooperate with Connor Oil in making things difficult for Milo.

So Arthur Jr., Rockefeller's mouthpiece, was pushed out.

USA Today is the newspaper that has everything, so Connor Oil decided to transfer its advertising to this newspaper.

The Gannett newspaper board of directors spent a night in debating the matter, and the next day joined the media in attacking Milo.

[Who really wants to take over Phillips Petroleum? We all know that Mr. Blackburn became the largest individual shareholder of Phillips Petroleum as early as last year. If Connor Petroleum had not taken action, the one who would most likely launch a takeover bid for Phillips would have been Milo. James Mulvey and the management team would not realize that their cooperation with Milo was inviting a wolf into the house. Even if they saved Phillips Petroleum, they would not be able to escape the fate of being ousted in the future! ]

[The acquisition of Connor Oil is a bad move! A large enterprise with a market value of 45 billion US dollars wants to succeed in a tender offer, and at least a 30% premium is required. With Mr. Blackburn's shareholding ratio, if he wants to buy over the absolute control line, he needs to use about 30 billion US dollars. Even if the acquisition is successful, can Milo take the position of chairman? ]

During the three days when the six companies involved in the takeover battle were suspended from trading, the American media went crazy.

The two sides were fighting and attacking each other, and the war of public opinion was already in full swing before the offer was substantively launched.

Overseas media are also keeping a close eye on the situation.

[Milo's acquisition of two oil companies is expected to become the largest merger and acquisition case in the world's most powerful country, the United States, this year!] Neon "Asahi Shimbun" published an editorial saying:

[However, this acquisition happened too suddenly, without any warning. It was caused by Connor Oil's surprise attack on Phillips Energy. Mr. Blackburn's acquisition of Connor Oil may be a way to save Zhao from Wei, but he also acted as a white knight for Phillips Energy, which added too many uncertainties to the acquisition results, and it is difficult to analyze the real intention behind this acquisition! ]

The British newspaper The Times also made the acquisition a hot news story.

The photo of Milo and the Connor Oil Company sign was put on the headlines of the day, with the title:

[A huge acquisition involving 80 billion pounds! ]

The newspaper provided a comprehensive profile of both parties involved in the acquisition.

【Based on market value alone, the assets controlled and influenced by both parties in the acquisition are close to 80 billion pounds. Although the listed companies under Milo's name only hold controlling stakes in TBS and MCA, the combined assets of these two companies are close to 20 billion pounds. The companies under both parties also have inextricable ties with major capital institutions on Wall Street. Once this offer enters the trading state, it is entirely conceivable that the US energy market will fall into turmoil. The success or failure of the acquisition will affect their surge or plunge! 】

The Wall Street Journal came out relatively late, and in order to ensure the professionalism and authority of the editorial, they did not rush to speak out.

[This is a typical financial backlash defense! ]

On May 19, they published a headline: [Milo responds to Phillips Energy's takeover attempt by acquiring the attacker! There have been similar cases in financial history. Martin Company adopted this tough plan when facing Bendix's takeover. We call it the 'Doomsday Plan'! But it is somewhat different because Phillips is not the doomsday executor. Milo Blackburn acts as their executive white knight! ]

The chaos and fighting are bound to be the news that dominates the American media in May this year.

If you want to blame someone, blame Milo for being too famous among ordinary people.

Ordinary people would at most just glance at the acquisition because of the huge amount of money.

But now, because the name Milo Blackburn is in it, I can't help but pay a little more attention when I watch TV or read the newspaper.

But there is no doubt that the most active groups in this acquisition war will probably be only two groups.

One is the individual stock investors. If they have a good vision, they can obviously make a lot of profit from this acquisition.

Of course, you may also lose a lot.

Another group that is active and must be very happy about the acquisition.

Definitely media professionals across the United States.

Ordinary Americans rarely care about such business cases.

But the party involved in this business acquisition was actually Milo Blackburn.

This attracted the attention of many ordinary Americans who were curious about the acquisition because of Milo's fame.

This makes media practitioners extremely happy. Simply translating the terminology used in the acquisition case into articles that ordinary people can understand can bring in a lot of sales and ratings.

And at this time when the outside world was in turmoil, Milo also successfully ate the American dessert that he wanted to eat but didn't last time.

May 19th.

Long Island, New York.

The hills in the distance and the ravines nearby were all flattened by the thick night.

The earth is like a huge piece of black cloth, illuminated by the bustling lights of the city. The moon like a mirror hangs in the sky, unloading its clear light like flowing water onto the vast earth.

Milo lay on his side on the Simmons mattress, looking at Britney's pretty white face, which had a satisfied smile on its lips even when she was asleep.

He reached out and gently brushed the golden hair away from her cheek, recalling the past few hours of interaction in their physiological classes and their deep physical communication.

It seems that everyone in America is now in love with this slim, smiling blonde girl.

Her fans are directly labeled as "Britney Nation", covering almost all age groups.

Teenage girls listened to her sing about her romantic loves, watched her interact with fans in the media, and sometimes even invited them to parties or gave them gifts.

They believed Spears was a girl just like them.

Young boys can sway to the charming tunes while secretly admiring this singer who looks like a Disney princess.

And those adults, or middle-aged men...are going crazy! Before Britney Spears appeared, there had never been a female star in the United States or even the world who had a youthful and cute appearance and temperament, and at the same time, had a sexiness and charm that was inconsistent with her age.

It can be said that Milo borrowed from the personality she had when she debuted in her previous life, and then polished it to create a perfect and pure image, which caused greater damage in this life.

Besides, she has just made her debut and has not yet caused angry accusations from housewives because of middle-aged men's crazy obsession with her.

So she is now more popular than anyone else in the global entertainment industry.

But when I think about this super idol who has millions of fans all over the world, especially most of them are male fans, I can do whatever I want.

Milo felt secretly happy, which was why he preferred Hollywood girls and female stars who had been famous in his previous life.

In addition to being safe, they are most likely not spies specially trained to target him.

And because of this kind of boring sense of conquest for men, watching the girl who shines brightly on the stage and in the movie screen being pressed down by him...

Well, he is just so vulgar and so boring.

"Of course good things should be collected and enjoyed by yourself." Milo reached out and stroked her fair and rosy cheek, whispering softly, then turned around and turned off the bedside lamp.

The next day, morning.

When Milo opened his eyes and saw the bright sunshine shining into the house, he sincerely felt that life was so wonderful, but it seemed that something was missing.

Britney was not around. Milo looked at the clock on the wall. Although it was already past 8 o'clock, he was still surprised that Britney got up so early.

After all, he bombarded indiscriminately last night.

Tsk tsk, that blood is flowing...

Although she recovered later.

I have to sigh that the physique of the ocean horse is indeed durable...

Snap——

The bathroom door rang, and Britney, wearing a white bathrobe and with her hair wrapped in a towel like a desert tycoon, walked into the bedroom from outside. When she saw Milo, she smiled sweetly and said, "Good morning, my dear master."

"Good morning, you get up really early. I thought you would sleep until noon..." Milo raised his eyebrows and teased meaningfully.

Britney smiled charmingly, then she walked to the dressing table and sat down, took her makeup bag, opened it and took out her cosmetics, looked in the mirror and put on makeup while pouting, "I still have to continue rehearsing in the morning, and I have my last New York tour at Madison Square Garden tonight. Teacher, I'm sorry I can't continue to accompany you."

"I don't mind. There's a long way to go." Milo lifted the silk blanket, got off the Simmons mattress, came behind her, leaned over and kissed Britney on the cheek, looked at her bare face in the mirror, and said, "But are you sure it's okay? How about postponing it for two days? You lost so much blood last night. Doesn't it hurt to walk now?"

"It hurts, but this is the only pain I've ever felt, and it will only happen once in my life. This pain is as sweet as honey to me~" Britney's eyes and mouth corners rose at the same time, revealing a happy smile.

Her charming eyes were reflected on Milo's face through the mirror, and she looked intoxicated. "Besides, this little pain is nothing compared to the pain of singing and dancing with injuries on my body. I can bear it!"

Milo couldn't help but remain silent when she looked at him like this.

He almost forgot that this was a desperate woman.

He is a workaholic who has been working like crazy for five years, sleeping only four to five hours a day.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

He was a super tough guy who had sprained his foot so swollen that it hurt when he touched the ground, but he still got a blocking injection and continued to sing and dance.

She is a super dream-chasing girl who has been away from her parents since she was young and longs to be a star.

At the same time, she is a somewhat neurotic and crazy little girl.

Thinking of her experience in the parallel universe, Milo shrugged, "I won't stop you today. But you have to rest when you need to. From now on, you must sleep more than eight hours a day and rest at least four days a month."

Seeing her opening her mouth to speak, Milo waved his hand and said, "This is an order from the master. You can only accept it. Do you understand?"

Britney opened her mouth, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally smiled, "I will obey you in everything, my master, my teacher, my only one."

After kissing goodbye to Britney, who was wearing a white hollow dress and her usual classic American sweetheart makeup, showing her dazzling star brilliance.

Watching her get into the car and wave goodbye with a sweet smile, Milo nodded, smiled and waved again. He didn't turn around and walk into his villa in Long Island until the convoy left.

As his wealth grew, so did his fame.

He no longer likes living in a Manhattan apartment or townhouse.

There are too many paparazzi in Manhattan, or rather, too many eyes on Manhattan.

Whenever he or his motorcade appears, reporters will flock to them within five minutes.

Over time, even he got tired of it.

So this time when he came to New York, he spent a lot of time living in Long Island.

As a wealthy area in New York, Long Island is surrounded by the sea on three sides. The island is covered with forests, fine sand beaches beaten by clear water, towering and eye-catching coastal lighthouses, well-known wineries, world-famous castles, mansions and British gardens.

It is 20 miles away from Manhattan and is one of the areas with the highest average wealth rates in the United States. It can be called the back garden of New York.

The specific address of Milo's villa is 227 Swan Station Lane, Great Neck County, New York.

The English manor-style house covers an area of ​​more than 89,580 square feet. Milo bought it for $65 million.

Great Neck is located near New York City, on the border of Queens and Nassau County on Long Island.

Like Long Island, Great Neck is also a peninsula. It is named Great Neck because its shape resembles a stretched-out "neck".

This place has pleasant scenery and one of the top 10 school districts in the United States.

Therefore, this place has become a residential area highly respected by Chinese people.

Because it is far away from the city and housing prices are expensive, the Chinese who can live here are relatively wealthy.

In the United States, Chinese people have always been the easiest group to control and have the best security.

Milo chose this place as his house, partly for this reason.

Although there are many Americans like him who have three flags, many people have villas in Royal Point and Southampton on Long Island.

In the manor, Milo came to the study, turned on his laptop, opened his email, and checked today's company briefing.

The acquisition is indeed important, but there is no need to follow it all the way.

This is a major acquisition involving tens of billions of dollars and affecting more than thirty listed companies.

The full-scale tender offer war has just begun, and the final stage of the war may take as short as one or two months, or as long as half a year or even two or three years.

Milo won't put all his energy into it.

Only by ensuring that other companies continue to make more money can we have more financial ammunition support in the acquisition war.

Since the establishment of Paladin Media Group, he has sorted out and reorganized the chaotic and disorderly companies.

Even the work briefings he needed to see became simpler, greatly shortening his working time and improving efficiency.

It's easier to handle in Silicon Valley.

He will follow Yahoo throughout the process, but he will let other Silicon Valley companies go.

Including the instant messaging company ITY.

He just puts his own people in the finance department and lets Musk keep an eye on it.

This energetic and crazy worker is sometimes even more terrifying than Britney who only sleeps four hours a day.

Sometimes he could go without sleep for two or three days, and his energy was so high that even Milo was a little envious.

Therefore, the only company that really needs him to understand every detail and make a decision is Paladin Media.

There's no way, the company is expected to go public next month.

He had no doubt that the listing would not be successful because it was an integration and re-listing through a backdoor listing and it could not fail.

He is concerned about the market value after listing and whether it will be sought after.

This is important and may even affect the ongoing energy company takeover war.

Therefore, even if it is very troublesome and tedious, Milo will not relax his control and attention over the company. He will perform his duties as chairman well and intervene in the company's affairs in an all-round way, even if some things are just to show his presence.

Although this is a bit petty, the effect is very obvious.

The employees and middle and lower-level managers of Paladin Media have greatly enhanced their familiarity and recognition of Milo as the chairman, and he is no longer just a symbol.

Then there was the matter of the Blackburn Bank and the Weaverville Savings Bank.

These two banks are nominally two companies, but in fact they are part of the same family.

Blackburn Bank is a shell, and Weaverville Savings Bank is the main body.

There are now more than 105 Weaverville Savings Bank branches across the United States.

Although most of them are in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston.

But after being acquired by Milo, it expanded from the brink of collapse to its current size in less than a year.

It all depends on Milo's fame and golden bullet support.

Milo's reputation makes ordinary Americans naturally have more trust in it after they know it is Milo's bank.

With the support of Milo's gold bullet, the savings interest rate of Weaverville Savings Bank is slightly higher than that of other banks by 0.5%.

Don't underestimate this 0.5% interest rate.

For example, Wells Fargo's six-month deposit rate this year is 4.625%, while Weaverville Savings Bank's is 5.125%.

If you deposit $10,000, wouldn't it be great to earn at least $50 more in interest a year? Not to mention the reputation and wealth of Milo.

So after a few months, Weaverville Savings Bank attracted nearly $3 billion in deposits.

Of course, it cannot be compared with big deposit-raising giants like Wells Fargo and Citigroup, which easily attract thousands or even trillions of dollars in deposits.

But compared with small and medium-sized banks of the same size.

Taking into account the time of development, Weaverville Savings Bank has far surpassed its peers.

(End of this chapter)