Chapter 243 Another Business War

London, City of Finance.

Early in the morning.

"Boss, this is the acquisition plan we adjusted in real time according to your requirements!"

Andre, who had been running back and forth between London and Paris in the past few days and looked very thin but energetic, and obviously very concerned, handed me the adjusted plan.

Milo leaned back in the soft and comfortable boss chair and began to read carefully.

After a while, he showed a satisfied smile and praised: "Not bad! I think it can't be better."

"Thank you for the compliment, boss!" Andre said with a smile.

It was worth it for him to run around Paris and London like crazy these past two days, sometimes even making three round trips in a day.

Fortunately, Paris and London are close to each other, otherwise he would be exhausted just from flying.

Milo told Andre, "Someone from Blackburn Bank will be here soon. You should transfer all of the LVMH shares held by the company, except for the shares held by BNP Paribas, to Blackburn Bank today."

Blackburn Bank currently only has some business overseas in Europe.

The European headquarters is directly in London.

"I hope you can take over the shares held by the Vuitton, Hennessy and Moët families within a week, no matter what means you use. Act separately from BNP Paribas according to the plan."

"You know, I can't stay here for long. I have to leave by mid-November at the latest because Yahoo is going public."

Of course Andre knew all this, as it was already late October.

The boss doesn't have much time left to stay in Europe.

He exhaled softly: "Please rest assured, my dear boss, you will see everything you want to see."

Just as Andre started to act, BNP Paribas on the other side took action again for the high commission.

BNP Paribas' mission is to buy out the shares held by the Moët and Hennessy families.

In order to be as successful as possible, David Baptiste, the president of BNP Paribas, went straight to his junior, Alain Chevalier.

Alain Chevalier was the former president of Moët Hennessy Wine Group, an outstanding professional manager, and co-founder of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Group).

As we all know, the full name of LVMH Group is the abbreviation of three old European luxury brands:

LV is the most familiar Louis Vuitton, while M stands for Moët & Chandon, the royal champagne brand with nearly 300 years of history, and H is the abbreviation of Hennessy, the world's most famous brandy brand.

Chevalier was in charge of the "MH" part back then.

When people first hear the words “founder of LVMH”, the person who comes to mind must be the already famous Bernard Arnault.

He has been in charge of the LVMH Group for many years and in recent years has been called the "Napoleon of the luxury goods industry" by the French.

People may feel a little unfamiliar with the name Alain Chevalier.

This is because there was a thrilling business war after the establishment of LVMH Group.

Unfortunately, Alain Chevalier was the loser.

The reason why David Baptiste took on the task of acquiring the Moët family's shares was because there was a very deep relationship between the two.

When Alain Chevalier integrated and established LVMH Group, it was BNP Paribas that provided support at the beginning.

But later, one of the three parties introduced Bernard Arnault - he originally wanted to find a helper, but in the end it turned out to be "letting a wolf into the house".

LVMH was eventually controlled by Bernard Arnault.

Alain Chevalier was then driven away by Bernard Arnault.

David Baptiste was also familiar with the nature of his junior and knew that he had always been resentful about being expelled from the LVMH Group.

You know, he founded the LVMH Group. Without him, there would be no combination of the Big Three and the emergence of LVMH! But in the end, Bernard Arnault took the cake of the LVMH Group.

Who could be willing to accept this? But before Milo showed up.

No matter how unwilling he is, Alain Chevalier is just a senior manager.

Just a wage earner.

He is powerless.

And now, the Americans showed up.

David Baptiste felt very confident.

Because Alain Chevalier had a very good relationship with the Hennessy and Moët families, the merger of the two families was purely due to Alain Chevalier.

At that time, the Hennessy and Moët families also strongly opposed Bernard Arnault's decision to drive Alain Chevalier away.

Unfortunately, Bernard joined forces with the second largest shareholder, the Vuitton family, and the opposition of the two families was ineffective.

Moreover, the president of BNP Paribas has a very good relationship with Alain Chevalier.

Alain Chevalier’s current achievements are inseparable from David Baptiste.

In 1970, Charles de Gaulle died and President Pompidou came to power and overturned many of de Gaulle's policies. This made Alain Chevalier, who worked as an auditor in the industrial sector and brokerage agencies, disappointed with politics and wanted to realize his ambitions in the business field.

It was at a party that David Baptiste told him that the Moët & Chandon Group was looking for a new leader.

He also stated that the current head of the Moët family is not very concerned about the family business and is willing to give up management power and hand over the group to a team of professional managers.

It was because of this news that Alain Chevalier recommended himself and stated his alumni relationship with David Baptiste.

At that time, David was already a senior executive at BNP Paribas.

So Alain Chevalier succeeded and became the general manager of Moët & Chandon Group.

When the Moët & Chandon Group merged with the Hennessy Group, it was David Baptiste who stepped in to help and provided Alain Chevalier with leveraged funds, allowing the Moët family to hold more shares in the merged company and preventing the Hennessy family from taking control of the company.

BNP Paribas even contributed to the merger process of LVMH Group.

This is also why so many other French banks were not approached in the acquisition plan formulated by Andre.

That’s why I only look for BNP Paribas.

Because David Baptiste and Alain Chevalier were both tricked by Bernard in the beginning.

It is a sunny afternoon in the suburbs of Paris today, October 22nd.

David Baptiste invites Alain Chevalier to play golf.

During the break, something David Baptiste said made Alain Chevalier, who had originally looked relaxed, suddenly become solemn.

"Alan, I need you to do me a favor. Help me convince the Moët family. I want to acquire their shares."

"Dear David, may I know who commissioned you to purchase this?"

"Has the equity held by BNP Paribas been transferred?"

Alain Chevalier asked two questions in a hurry because he was too curious, his eyes were fixed on David Baptiste, and his hands gripping the chair subconsciously exerted force.

David Baptiste watched all this and knew that he still couldn't forget LVMH.

"Alan, don't be nervous, relax."

David Baptiste said with a faint smile.

Alain Chevalier smiled bitterly, shook his head and sighed: "Dear David, you know everything. I have paid too much for LVMH Group, and it was already on the right track in my hands. But in the end..."

David Baptiste's smile gradually faded. He nodded slightly and looked into the distance, looking at the plane tree with golden leaves falling all over the ground, feeling infinite emotion in his heart.

Before he knew it, he and Alain Chevalier had known each other for more than twenty years, and the latter was already sixty years old.

And what about him? He is already 67 years old, and I don’t know how many years he can live…

For a moment, both of them remained silent with emotion.

a long time.

David Baptiste calmed down and said to Alain Chevalier solemnly, "Alain, I am very happy to see that you still want to return to LVMH Group. I can tell you that you now have a chance to return to LVMH and regain control of this company that you created and merged."

"I don't like Bernard Arnault. That guy doesn't respect me. He thinks he can do whatever he wants by relying on the Americans. He drove you away, and he made BNP Paribas not even have a seat on the board! Looking back, when you were here, we had such a pleasant cooperation."

"And now, Alan, the opportunity has come. A more powerful American has set his sights on LVMH. But they did not choose to cooperate with Bernard. They chose BNP Paribas. And I recommended you to them. Alan, I think this should be your last chance to return to LVMH Group."

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Hearing this, Alain Chevalier, who knew that David Baptiste never spoke nonsense, became serious.

Because since David said so, it is very likely to be true.

Is there really a chance for me to return to LVMH?

Alain Chevalier looked at David Baptiste with a serious look in his eyes and asked, "Dear David, I need more real information to make a decision. This way, when I go to convince the Moët family, they will trust me more."

Realized that Alain Chevalier had been persuaded.

A smile appeared on David Baptiste's lips.

He smiled faintly and said, "You should have heard of this company. It's Paladin Investments, an American company, a Wall Street company. If you haven't heard of it, it doesn't matter. I think you should have heard of its boss, Milobu Lakeburn."

If David Baptiste just said the name of the boss of Paladin Media, or the name of the boss of Paladin Investments.

Alain Chevalier may not have heard of it, because the French are so confident.

The vast majority of French people don’t even care about European affairs. They still believe that France is the center of the world - because in the era of the Sun King, France was indeed the center of the world.

They don't speak English, they don't like the British, and as a result they don't like America either.

So even if they are business elites, if they don’t have much contact with the international community.

Then they probably haven’t heard of Paladin Media and Paladin Investments.

But most French people still know the name Milo Blackburn.

Thanks to Forbes's efforts in compiling the global rich list for more than a decade.

The French may not know who the richest person in the United States is, but they definitely know who the richest person in the world is.

The world's richest man, Milo Blackburn, is a name that Alain Chevalier is certainly familiar with.

Alain Chevalier's expression changed slightly, and he nodded and said, "The richest man in the world? I remember he is also an American media tycoon, right?"

David Baptiste smiled and nodded and said, "Yes, that's the gentleman."

"I have already confirmed this with them. The acquisition of LVMH is just the beginning. Their goal is at least to be the number one in the luxury sector, and may even involve other sectors."

“Do you think this platform is enough for you to show your abilities?”

Alain Chevalier was silent again, his eyes flickering.

After a long while, Alain Chevalier said in a hoarse voice: "Dear David, if possible, I would like to meet the person behind the scenes."

Just after he finished speaking, he realized something and immediately added: "I just want to understand his attitude. As for his cooperation with your bank, I will not touch it."

After hearing the latter sentence, David Baptiste smiled and thought that Alain Chevalier had a good emotional intelligence.

And this guy should be able to convince Hennessy and the Moët family. At least the Moët family should be willing to listen to him.

Then my mission is accomplished.

David Baptiste nodded and said, "Although I think he will meet with you, this matter still depends on their willingness. I will communicate with Paladin Investment first and give you a reply when the time comes."

This was understandable, so Alain Chevalier said softly: "Yes, please!"

“No trouble!”

"Hehe, how's the resting place going? Shall we continue?"

"certainly!"

After saying that, the two of them stood up one after another and walked towards the golf course with their golf clubs.

But after chatting, how could the two people who each had their own thoughts not be able to play as relaxed and happy as before.

But compared to Alain Chevalier, David Baptiste was undoubtedly in a very relaxed mood.

After all, the two have known each other for more than 20 years, so he roughly knows Alain Chevalier's current mentality.

This is also the reason why he did not directly launch the acquisition of Hennessy and Moët family, but first did ideological work on Alain Chevalier.

Although Alain Chevalier is just a professional manager and was kicked out of LVMH Group.

But he made indelible contributions to the merger of LVMH Group.

He himself has great prestige in the company and has a relatively large influence on the Moët family.

In addition, he has strong abilities - if he was not so capable, Bernard Arnault would not have spent 15 million francs to drive him away.

Because Bernard was also worried that the presence of the LVMH co-founder would affect his control over LVMH.

So David came to him directly first. With his support, it should be very easy to acquire the shares held by the Hennessy and Moët families.

As we all know, the Vuitton family, the Hennessy family and the Moët family have completely controlled LVMH since Bernard took control of it.

They were almost all marginalized.

In addition to the shares, there are also shares that do not receive dividends every year.

They are nothing in the LVMH Group!

This is outrageous, considering that even the name of this company is a combination of the names of their three families.

Because of this, these three companies have become a disgrace in the field of European high-end products.

For other brands such as Hermès and Chanel, ownership is now firmly in the hands of the founding families.

Only these three families are still listed as shareholders.

But in fact, apart from the name and a small share, LVMH has nothing to do with them.

In addition, now we have persuaded Alain Chevalier, the co-founder who has great influence on the three companies and LVMH.

David Baptiste felt that it would depend on whether the world's richest man could seize this excellent opportunity.

(End of this chapter)