Chapter 674 There is a problem
"Steven hasn't come back yet?"
In a luxurious suite of a hotel in Varese, located northwest of Milan and near Malpensa Airport, Tohir was asking an anxious question to a middle-aged man in his forties sitting opposite him.
His name is Jason Levine, he is from New York, he is 40 years old, graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, and has a master's degree in social policy.
In public, he is the CEO of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. A year ago, it was he who brokered the deal for Grizzlies owner Robert Pera to buy the Grizzlies from his predecessor Michael Heisley.
Jason Levine's identity and position are complicated, and his experience is quite legendary.
He had worked as a lawyer for several years, a professor at a law school, and a campaign consultant and strategic analyst for many American political stars. Later, he worked as an assistant to the general manager of the NBA Kings and entered the sports circle.
So far, he has successfully operated the acquisition of three NBA teams and is the most successful operator in the American sports industry. This includes bringing together a nine-person team to jointly acquire the Philadelphia 76ers, and then acquiring the Washington United team of Major League Soccer.
The three successful operations made Jason Levine famous in the American professional sports circle.
It was also when he was running the Philadelphia 76ers and the D.C. United that he met Thohir.
A rich second-generation from an Indonesian wealthy family who always lives under the glorious shadow of his father and brother!
It can almost be said that the two of them hit it off immediately and became close friends!
This time, Thohir decided to acquire Inter Milan, and Jason Levine was the driving force behind it, because he also wanted to successfully enter the European professional football, the core of world football, through this transaction.
Everyone can see that international capital is pouring into European professional football at an increasingly alarming momentum. The potential in this area is huge!
Because football is the world's largest sport, with fans all over the world.
However, they did not expect that they would suffer a Waterloo in their first acquisition battle outside the United States.
It is no wonder that Thohir is so anxious, because he has boasted in front of his father and brother that he will be able to defeat a Serie A giant and persuaded the latter to put pressure on Pirelli. But if he fails now, won't he become a laughing stock of his family in the future?
When Jason Levin was thinking about this, Tohir said anxiously again: "Jason, why don't you give him a call and urge him to hurry up!"
"Don't worry, Eric, it should be here soon!" Jason Levine said with a leisurely smile.
"Rest assured? How can I be assured?" Tohir said anxiously. "It's been half a month, and Morati hasn't contacted us. There are rumors flying around. One moment it's said it's an American consortium, the next it's said it's a Middle Eastern consortium, and the next it's said it's a local consortium. I'm confused."
Jason Levine shook his head and smiled, then stood up. “Don’t be nervous, man. What you need to do most right now is to relax.”
As he said that, he strode leisurely to the window facing the street in the room, opened the curtains, took a look, and smiled.
"Here, look! Here he comes!"
Tohir immediately jumped up from the sofa and rushed to the window.
I saw a red mountain bike coming from the distance on the street. The person on the bike was wearing a full set of mountain bike racer equipment. He was riding very fast and was obviously making the final sprint.
"Damn, does he think he's participating in a mountain bike race?" Tohir cursed angrily and amusedly.
Jason Levine laughed.
This is the character of my partner!
A few minutes later, the mountain bike racer appeared outside their room door.
"Come on, Steven!" Jason Levine opened the door for him.
"Hmm!" Steven panted hard, "Damn, getting here from Milan is really a big challenge!"
Tohir looked at this freak helplessly. He had a car but he didn't drive it, instead he insisted on riding a bicycle. He deserved to be exhausted to death!
"Hey, Steven, tell me quickly, what's going on?"
"The situation is not good!" Steven took off his racing gear and even his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body. The most eye-catching thing was the thick chest hair, but his answer was somewhat irrelevant.
"Is there any water?"
"Here!" Jason Levine obviously knew him very well. He had already taken out a large bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator in the living room and threw it over.
The guy took it, unscrewed the bottle cap, and gulped the liquid down.
Not long after, a large bottle of water was poured into his stomach, and he let out a cry, looking very satisfied.
"Hurry up and tell me, quickly!" Tohir urged anxiously again.
Steven glanced at Tohir and sighed. "I received news that Morati contacted the other party three days after your last meeting with him. In the following week, the negotiation teams of both sides had frequent contacts."
"The Milan-based CG law firm was conducting the negotiations on behalf of Inter Milan, and Lazard Bank was responsible for the financial assessment. I checked and found that the law firm representing the mysterious buyer was from the UK, but it participated in the negotiations through its partner in Italy, and the financial assessment was done by the famous British football investment bank, Cash Harris Investment Bank."
Tohir was a little shocked. What on earth does this guy do for a living? How could he even find out such confidential information?
Jason Levine seemed to be accustomed to this. "It's not strange to entrust Italian lawyers to do it through British lawyers. It's also normal to do it through Cash Harris Investment Bank."
"Yes!" Steven nodded and smiled. "The other party is also a powerful character. He has fooled the entire Italian media and reporters. But in the end, no one knows where they come from."
"But I have a question!" Jason Levine asked again, "How did he buy the shares held by Tronchetti Provera?"
Tronchetti Provera is the chairman of Pirelli and the second largest shareholder of Inter Milan. He does not hold many shares, but has a close relationship with Moratti. Thohir had previously put pressure on Tronchetti through his family, and the latter also said that as long as Thohir took Moratti's shares, he would be willing to sell his shares to Thohir.
It is worth mentioning that one is a tire manufacturer and the other is a petrochemical company, so over the years, the business dealings between Tronchetti and the Moratti family have been very close. When Moratti acquired Inter Milan, Tronchetti made a significant contribution, so over the past few years, Pirelli has always been a sponsor of Inter Milan.
"Good question!" Steven laughed. "In recent years, Pirelli's development has obviously not been as good as expected. Although it is not in the red, seeing that its competitors are getting stronger and stronger, Pirelli is also worried about its market share being eroded. So it has always wanted to develop the Asian market, so they are happy to sponsor Inter Milan, which is quite well-known in Asia."
At this point, Steven glanced at Thohir again, "By the same token, he also supports our acquisition of Inter Milan, because after we acquire Inter Milan, we will definitely vigorously develop the Asian market, which is in line with their strategy."
Jason Levine and Tohill looked at each other and nodded.
Steven's analysis makes sense.
"I have learned that there are two reasons why Tronchetti is willing to sell his shares. One is that he is very tempted by the other party's plan to run Inter Milan and develop Asia. Tronchetti even promised that as long as Inter Milan qualifies for the European Cup this year, he will increase the team's sponsorship fee starting from next season."
This surprised both Jason Levine and Tohir.
Just based on this plan, can Tronchetti promise to increase the team's sponsorship fees?
Who is this guy?
"The second piece of news I received was that Pirelli was about to win the cooperation order from Aston Martin!"
"Aston Martin?" Jason Levine was a little surprised.
What does this have to do with Aston Martin?
Steven nodded and smiled. "Since Aston Martin was acquired by a Chinese consortium, it has made a big push into the Chinese and Asian markets, and its sales have been rising steadily. Especially after the launch of the Lagonda sub-brand, luxury sedans and crossovers, sales have skyrocketed, especially in the Chinese market."
"I've read media reports before that Aston Martin sold over 10,000 cars in China in the first half of 2013, and it is expected that the global sales will exceed 30,000 and the annual sales will exceed 50,000, which is double the sales of last year, and last year doubled the sales of the year before. In the second half of this year, Aston Martin's Chinese branch will officially start operations, and the annual production will exceed 100,000 cars."
"The outside world is also very optimistic about Aston Martin's sales. Now there are a lot of orders, but the production capacity cannot keep up. Once the production catches up, it is entirely possible that the annual sales will exceed 100,000, or even higher. Therefore, almost all tire companies attach great importance to cooperation with this top luxury car brand, and Pirelli is no exception."
Jason Levine and Tohir have also heard about the revival of Aston Martin.
Through the operations in the past three years, Aston Martin has not only successfully achieved revival, but also launched the sub-brand Lagonda, which has broadened the models and markets in one fell swoop, and the average selling price of each car is around 200,000 euros.
In other words, if Aston Martin really sold 30,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, their turnover would exceed 6 billion euros. According to media reports, Aston Martin's gross profit margin of 35% means a gross profit of more than 2 billion euros.
"Oh my god, no wonder that Chinese tycoon dared to come to Italy and spend money lavishly, buying up everything. It turns out..."
As a second-generation rich man, Tohir had long been envious and jealous of the sensation caused by Yang Huan's visit to Italy not long ago. Now that he thinks about it, he does have the capital to show off.
If any other car manufacturer in the world could have such a high gross profit, it would not be able to sell so many cars, and if it could sell so many cars, it would simply not be able to maintain such a high gross profit.
I don't know how that Chinese guy managed to drive an Aston Martin to such a high level.
But wait…there’s a problem!
Toshilton pointed at Steven as if he suddenly realized something and wanted to say something but couldn't. He always felt something was wrong.
Jason Levine also looked shocked, and obviously he had figured it out.
"Yes, I have every reason to suspect that the one who acquired Inter Milan was Yang Huan!"
Although they were mentally prepared, Tosir and Jason Levine were still shocked when they heard it.
They never imagined that the person who secretly fought with them was the legendary Yang Huan!
What was even more unexpected to them was that the Chinese man really lived up to his reputation, he played everyone around without making a fuss, and took Inter Milan into his pocket cleanly and efficiently. Just for this point, it was impossible not to be convinced!
But Toshir is, after all, a rich second-generation, and is used to being arrogant.
When he first heard Yang Huan's name, he still had some psychological trauma. After all, the name was so big that it was scary.
But then he changed his mind and realized that he had been flirting with Inter Milan for so long, but when the moment came to enter the bridal chamber, the groom was snatched away by someone else.
Do you think it is hateful or not?
So, the Indonesian rich second generation snorted fiercely.
"Yang Huan? Competing with me? I'm going to call the newspaper and expose you right now. I want the whole world to know about this. Then I'll see how you deal with it!"