America's Road to Wealth

The three Taylor brothers finally agreed to Abel's offer.

Now in 2001, Abel's offer can be said to be the most sincere offer.

Even among the many buyers interested in Sempra Energy, his offer was the most attractive.

In the end, it was Abel who purchased the 59.64 million original shares of Sampra Energy held by the Taylor family for US$78 per share.

This news was learned by Qi Xiu Martin, chairman of Sampra Energy, on the same day.

"Fuck Taylor! Fuck Taylor! Fuck! Fuck!!"

He is about sixty years old and is the founder of Enova, one of the companies that merged into Sempra Energy.

Qi Xiu Martin, chairman of the merged Sampra Energy Company, was so angry that he almost smashed things in the office.

"BOSS, anger will not help." General Manager Delevingne advised.

"I understand, I understand" Zixiu Martin knew this too.

"BOSS. The next thing we should consider is how to maintain our control over the company when Smith joins the board of directors." The general manager said.

Zixiu Martin is very sure of this.

"Although the shares we directly hold are only about 31.1%." Qi Xiu Martin said confidently:

"But shareholders are willing to trust us. At least 30% of the voting rights are on our side! In the board of directors, we are not afraid of Smith's 21%!"

The general manager also smiled and nodded.

After all, Zixiu Martin has been running Sempra Energy for two years.

Under his leadership, the company performed very well.

The annual dividends and dividends are also satisfactory.

What's more important is that he is one of the company's founders.

The control of the company and the win over of the company's shareholders have been very successful.

"Ling~Ling~Ling"

The phone in Qi Xiu Martin's office rang, and the chairman picked it up.

"Mr. Chairman, would you like to transfer Mr. Mayo's call?"

"turn around."

Mayo is a minority shareholder in Sempra Energy.

He is also a friend of Zixiu Martin.

He was also one of his supporters at the shareholder meeting.

"Hi~ Mayo, good morning." Qi Xiu Martin said in a cheerful voice:

"How long has it been since we played golf together? Last month, oh, no, it was last October. When will we meet again? Old friend, I miss you a little."

"Sorry. Martin, I may be very busy next time."

The voice of shareholder Mayo came from the other side. He said on the phone:

"In addition, I am making this call to tell you, Martin. The 9.09% Sangpra Energy shares I hold have just been sold."

"Mayo!"

Qi Xiu Martin's voice couldn't help but become louder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to do it, but Martin, the price they offered is too good."

"Mayo Jones, you are betraying, naked betrayal." Qi Xiu Martin hissed.

"Haha...you can say whatever you want. Goodbye, Qi Xiu Martin." The small shareholder hung up the phone.

"Snapped!"

Qi Xiu Martin hung up the phone hard.

Within two seconds, the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Qi Xiu Martin held back his anger.

The secretary's voice was still on the phone, and the secretary seemed to hear the boss's anger.

She whispered hesitantly: "BOSS, it's Mr. Mayo's call again."

"Answer."

Qi Xiu Martin said in a deep voice.

Soon the voice of the minority shareholder came over the phone:

"Because we got along relatively well in the past. Mr. Martin, let me tell you one last piece of news."

"what news?"

"The news is that in fact, as early as two or three months ago, someone from Smith Capital was contacting us."

"us?"

"That's right. It's us." Mayo said on the phone:

"Similar to me, the shareholding ratio is no more and no less, the small shareholders of Sampra Energy. We have all received their quotations."

Qi Xiu Martin was already anxious, and he tried to look calm.

He continued: "It's impossible. If that was the case, they should have told me earlier."

"No one will be at odds with their own interests. No one." Minority shareholder Mayo said:

"You should understand this, Martin. I hope you will be well next. Goodbye."

Qi Xiu Martin refused to say goodbye and hung up the phone directly.

After hanging up the phone, he immediately began to order general manager Delevingne.

"Dlevin, contact the shareholders immediately. Especially the small shareholders, immediately!"

said Zixiu Martin loudly.

General manager Delevingne, who was watching the whole process, also knew what happened.

He agreed immediately.

Then the chairman and general manager of Sampra Energy took action.

But before noon, they received bad news one after another.

The two of them contacted more than a dozen small shareholders separately and informed them.

Just in the past two days, a company called Alais Energy bought their shares.

"15%." Delevingne said with some fear: "Including the 21% of the Taylor family, it exceeds 36%!"

Qi Xiu Martin had a cold face, and just as he was about to speak, his secretary walked in.

Then the chairman and general manager of Sampla Energy Company heard the news they least wanted to hear.

"Mr. Martin, Mr. Lexley. Just now, a Texas energy company announced that it holds a total of 36.3% of our company's shares."

"And they launched a comprehensive tender offer for us in the secondary and primary markets!"

Qi Xiu Martin, who was in his sixties, felt his eyes go dark.

That night, some TV stations focusing on finance and economics published the news.

For example, Fox News Channel, owned by News Corporation.

It has a special program.

Fox News Channel, after the news broadcast every night.

Produce a one-hour special to analyze the important news happening in the United States of the day.

In this program, the good-looking young female host specifically talked about Alais Energy's comprehensive tender offer to acquire Sampra Energy.

[Since last year, Texas-based Alasvas and Electric Power Company has been buying Sempra shares. 】

[As of mid-March this year, the holding ratio has reached 6.26%. 】

[The day before yesterday, Alan Baker, special adviser to Alles Energy, and Abe Smith, chairman of Alles Energy, reached a deal with the Taylor family, the majority shareholder of Sempra Energy. 】

[Ales Energy acquired 21.07% of Sampra Energy shares held by the Taylor family in cash.

[The total share capital held by Alais Energy Company immediately rose to more than 27%. 】

[But Mr. Smith is not satisfied with being just the second largest shareholder of Sempra Energy. 】

[Ales Energy has privately contacted many shareholders of Sampla Energy and purchased 9.5% of Sampla Energy’s shares yesterday and today]

[Ales Energy’s shareholding line has exceeded the 36% offer line recently. 】

[Ales Energy launched a comprehensive tender offer for Sampra Energy today. 】

[Sempra Energy is a West Coast energy giant with a market capitalization of US$16.6 billion, providing nearly one-third of the electricity and more than a quarter of the natural gas in many areas of California, with more than 20 million customers]

【.There is no doubt that the fiercest first battle in the stock market this year is about to begin. 】

Under the gushing tongue of the Fox host.

Many ordinary Americans who would otherwise not pay attention to such things.

Because one of the acquirers is Abel Smith, and the host said this.

Many ordinary Americans began to pay attention to this news.

Many people are paying attention, including other newspapers and TV stations.

In order to compete for sales and ratings, to compete for eyeballs.

Naturally, they quickly followed suit.

The next day, the largest newspaper in the United States, the Wall Street Journal, which had previously initiated the second wave of the "Smith Storm", also came to an end.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed this transaction from a more professional financial perspective and from a Wall Street perspective.

A reporter from this daily newspaper opined in the article.

Sempra Energy is a very low-key company.

It had never made any news before this year.

It has never been outstanding, because its performance has been stable all year round, its scale has not declined or developed, it has not been paid attention to by securities analysts, it has been ignored, and it has not attracted the interest of investors.

But since November last year, the stock price has been rising.

The original market value fluctuated around US$13 billion.

In just four months, the stock price has soared 38% and is about to break through the 17 billion mark.

Obviously at that time, it was time for Abel Smith to start making arrangements in advance.

The Wall Street Journal is gone.

Financial experts from major media outlets were naturally unable to bear it.

They began to research the business thoroughly.

This made them realize that even if the stock price rose so much.

Sampla's current market value is still far behind its net assets.

For example, Sempra Energy's market share in California is actually about the same as that of another California company, Pacific Electric.

But California Pacific Electric's market value is as high as $25 billion.

And Sempra Energy holds a large number of offshore oil exploration rights.

These ocean exploration rights would be fine if oil is not found.

$17 billion will never be the true value of Sampra Energy if oil is found.

In addition, Sangpra Energy is also actively exploring overseas markets.

Especially in South America, we have signed technology transfer and sales contracts with companies in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and other countries.

In addition, Sangpra Energy has also signed long-term affordable natural gas contracts with several companies in Maoxiong.

It was signed two years ago.

Two years ago, the Mao Xiong exchange rate collapsed and the sovereign foreign debt defaulted, which was their most difficult time.

That was also when global natural prices were low.

This allowed Sempra Energy to sign contracts with very low natural gas prices at the time.

The low price of natural gas means that for a company that provides electricity, the cost is lower than others.

Such a low-key and under-appreciated listed company was suddenly targeted by the "Financial Moses" this year.

It was Abel Smith who was the first to announce a general takeover bid.

This means he values ​​the company very much.

This means that Sempra Energy's current market value does not match its true value at all.

The most authoritative local newspaper in California, the Los Angeles Times, also commented:

[Abel Smith, chairman of Ales Energy, arrived in California on March 28. 】

[With his arrival, more threatening actions will inevitably be taken against Sampra Energy. 】

[Whether he can bring Sampra Energy under his control, all the local financial authorities on the West Coast have given a positive judgment. 】

The New York Times is also paying attention, and they even sent people to interview leading figures related to Sampra Energy.

[Mr. Zixiu Martin, chairman of the board of directors of Sampra Energy, said that he is not afraid of any hostile takeover and has contacted major banks and is always ready to counterattack the 'invasion' of Ales Energy. 】

[This newspaper also conducted an exclusive interview with another founding family of Sampla Energy. 】

[According to Mr. Musk Taylor, chairman of the Taylor Charitable Foundation Board of Directors, Zixiu Martin broke his promise first, and the Taylor family’s sale of shares is not a betrayal! 】

All the major newspapers showed up.

Of course, financial magazines will not fail either.

"Fortune" magazine, as a media for the American elite, also participated in the reporting of Sampra energy news.

But "Fortune" magazine only mentioned Abel's acquisition of Sampra Energy.

In the following content, as the headlines on the front page, they actually no longer mentioned the recent heated acquisition battle of Sampra Energy.

But consider Abel Smith and Warren Buffett.

With American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.

The photos of the three people were hung on the headlines in a triangle shape, and arrows for a three-party game were also drawn.

[Are Smith and Buffett acting in concert? 】

"Person acting in concert" is a term used in business transactions, acquisitions, especially in the stock market.

Generally speaking, it refers to several people who cooperate secretly based on formal or informal agreements and tacit understandings, and achieve the acquisition of a listed company through any party.

All stock exchanges around the world are strictly guarding against persons acting in concert when it comes to the acquisition of a certain listed company.

Securities regulatory commissions in various countries do not even investigate written agreements when handling such lawsuits.

As long as the fact of concerted action is determined, the acquisition will be rejected.

All concerted actions are covert operations.

Two or more parties are eyeing a listed company.

In order to take the controlling stake by surprise.

They will introduce a visible acquirer to fight the listed company openly.

The remaining partners fight secretly, waiting for them to complete absolute control, and then suddenly attack the listed company.

This kind of attack has already established the victory, and the listed companies have no chance of comeback.

Precisely because the harm is so great, all China Securities Regulatory Commission's restrictions on "persons acting in concert" are extremely strict, and they only look at the facts and not the agreement.

Fortune's speculation that Abel and Buffett are acting in concert is not groundless. They analyzed:

[As we all know, Warren has always been very bullish on American Express Bank. Because American Express Bank is the only service company among the stocks included in the Dow Jones industrial data. 】

[Buffett has been increasing his holdings of American Express Bank shares from a long time ago. 】

[But recently, we have noticed that Smith Capital and Pacific Commercial Bank have become the actual largest shareholders of American Express Bank]

[After this, Warren Buffett also suddenly began to increase his holdings of American Express Bank shares]

[Before this newspaper issued this news, both parties already held 36% of American Express shares]

[No matter who sells the stock to another person, the other person must be able to control American Express. This is very similar to the standard of "persons acting in concert\