America's Road to Wealth

Aiden Buckley feels tonight's negotiations are a bit shaky.

Because it's so fast, it doesn't sound like we're talking about an expensive media group worth £350 million.

On the contrary, it is as simple as buying a potato in the vegetable market.

But in fact, in tonight's negotiation with Aiden Buckley, Abel's advisory group has already done a lot of work in private.

Including examining and observing in real time the value of British Telecom Media Group, as well as the value of several newspapers owned by the group.

The only thing that is really valuable in this company is the Daily Telegraph.

The Daily Telegraph is an influential national newspaper in the UK.

It was founded on June 29, 1855. In 1937, it merged with the "Morning Post" in England and was called "The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post". It was later changed to its current name.

It is the largest selling of the four national "premium" daily newspapers in the UK.

The newspaper has a compact layout and extensive content, but its news is shorter than other national newspapers. In 1994, the newspaper became the first online newspaper in Europe.

Like its counterparts in the United States, the Internet appeared after entering the new century.

The British newspaper industry, which was originally particularly developed, has been gradually shrinking.

At its peak, the Daily Telegraph's daily sales record was 2.45 million copies.

It was the day of the victory of World War II, and it published news about the victory of World War II.

On that day, the sales of newspapers in the UK and even around the world almost doubled compared to usual.

This is the highest sales volume in history, but its gold content is slightly low.

But from the postwar period to 1990, during this long period of more than 40 years.

The Daily Telegraph can almost maintain sales of around 1 million+ copies.

When the new era comes and the Internet appears.

The Daily Telegraph, like its peers, has seen declining sales.

As of now in 2001, the average daily sales volume of "The Daily Telegraph" is only about 800,000+.

Even this sales volume still allows the "Daily Telegraph" to secure the top spot in the daily sales volume of British newspapers.

The Times, which came in second, and the Guardian, which came in third, fared even worse.

The key is that these newspapers are more serious and cannot let too much advertising affect their sales. In recent years, they have even had problems making profits.

The Daily Telegraph, for example, has been losing money for two years. The Times has been losing money for nearly three years.

Worst of all is the Guardian, which is said to have been losing money for more than five years.

Fortunately, The Times is backed by News Corporation UK, which is Murdoch’s News Corporation.

For The Times, which is backed by a huge tree, that little bit of loss is not a problem at all.

The Daily Telegraph and the Guardian, which have no legs behind them, are gradually becoming a little bit unbearable.

As the largest newspaper, the "Daily Telegraph" has a relatively thick health bar.

As for the Guardian, there have been frequent reports of bankruptcy and liquidation since last year.

In this era, the fate of these overlords of the paper media era is like the fate of the empire on which the sun never sets.

He has grown old, and only his former glory remains.

Aiden Buckley was a little uncomfortable. Abel's fast and concise negotiation style was too inconsistent with the rules of the business world.

What Aiden Buckley doesn't know is that the foundations of the Telecom Media Group and the "Daily Telegraph" have been completely searched out by Abel.

The advisory group also gave reference to the group's possible offer.

Aiden Buckley's offer of £350 million is within the reference price.

Abel, there are still many negotiations to be conducted tonight.

Make sure this quote is based on psychological expectations.

Abel cut the knot quickly, and quickly resolved the matter with Telecom Media Group in Aiden Buckley's somewhat confused mood.

Of course.

After Aiden Buckley returns, he will have a meeting with the family and shareholders.

It was finally decided whether to sell the British Telecom Media Group for 350 million pounds.

Not to mention Aiden Buckley’s messy mood.

Here at the Savoy Hotel.

Abel has already started the next negotiation immediately.

The second person was sitting next to Aiden Buckley, who had just left.

The second businessman’s name is Kerry Kirsch.

Kerry Kirsch is not British, he is German and just arrived from Germany today.

Kerry Kirsch is a member of the Kirsch family, the founders of the Kirsch Group.

As for the Kirsch Group, it is one of the largest media groups in the world, the largest media company in Germany and the top three media companies in Europe.

Kirsch Media, a subsidiary of the group, has a monopoly on the broadcast rights and advertising industry of the Bundesliga.

Abel's purpose in finding Kerry Kirsch was simple.

"Mr. Kirsch." Abel said:

"To be honest, I want to buy the shares of SELC owned by Kirsch Group."

Kerry Kirsch as well as Aiden Barkley.

To be able to come here, I have negotiated many times with Abel's advisory group.

Those who can come to the site have basically agreed on the price and various terms and conditions.

It can be said that everyone has the intention to trade.

These are the people in front of me. They came here to have final contact with Abel.

As long as both parties have no doubts, the next step is to formally sign the contract.

Kerry Kirsch looked at the young and outrageous Abel.

The German businessman, who was already in his fifties, sighed and said:

"Okay. I came here to sell SELC's shares. Kirsch Group has no objection to this offer."

Abel smiled and said: "We have already agreed, haven't we? Since we already have intentions for each other, it will be beneficial to both parties to confirm it as soon as possible. Time is money, my friend."

"You're right, Mr. Smith. Time is money!"

Kerry Kirsch, who is in his fifties, strongly agrees with this statement.

"Then it's like we said. 800 million euros, 75% of SELC's shares." Abel smiled.

Kerry Kirsch nodded in agreement.

Before the old man comes.

The Kirsch Group headquarters and shareholders have already agreed to this price.

When the old man came here, he basically came over for a formality.

I saw Abel's cheerful look just now when he was with Aiden Buckley and himself.

Kerry Kirsch, who originally had no extra thoughts, couldn't help but said:

"By the way, Mr. Smith. Are you interested in the Kirsch Group?"

"Kirsch Group?" Abel said with a smile: "As far as I know, your current situation is very bad."

Kerry Kirsch's face darkened, but he also knew that what Abel said was true.

Now everyone knows that the Kirsch Group has huge problems.

As the largest media group in the world, the Kirsch Group is in very bad shape at this time.

At present, the total debt of the entire Kirsch Group is as high as more than 6.5 billion euros.

It's not scary to have too much debt, but what's scary is the sharp decline in profitability.

From 2001 to the present, the pre-tax profit of Kirsch Media Company, the only integrated company within the company, has dropped by 9% to only 178 million euros.

As of now, the debt of this subsidiary of Kirsch Media Company has reached 2.2 billion euros.

Even in Germany, local media used the word "cancer" to describe the spread of debt problems within the Kirsch Group.

The Kirsch Group claimed to the outside world that Germany's Bayerische Landbank, Mortgage Union Bank, Commerzbank and DZ Bank would all participate in the action to help the Kirsch Group.

The banks will also decide together who will take over the Kirsch Group.

None of this is a secret in Europe.

It's precisely because the situation is very bad. Kirsch Group will have to start selling some high-quality assets that are wanted.

In order to obtain new capital injections to save the dying parent company.

Some are just a drop in the bucket, and some are drinking poison to quench their thirst.

"The hard days will pass," Kerry Kirsch could only say. "My brother always told me that."

Kerry Kirsch is the younger brother of Leo Kirsch, founder, chairman and CEO of Kirsch Group.

"Then I wish Kirsch Group to get through these difficult days as soon as possible." Abel said with a smile.

Kerry Kirsch sighed inwardly.

The old guy knew that the American tycoon in front of him did not want to take over the mess of the Kirsch Group.

But Kerry Kirsch can't blame Abel, because Abel isn't the only one like this.

Even local German banks and even the German government do not want to help the Kirsch Group in its current situation.

The reason is simple. The Kirsch Group has found itself in the predicament it is in now.

This media group company is a typical example of someone who has no money and still wants to pretend.

It was the Kirsch Group that abruptly increased the price and fees of Bundesliga broadcast rights by three times in five years and three times in ten years.

The exaggerated broadcast fees allowed the Kirsch Group to monopolize the broadcast rights of the Bundesliga, making the Bundesliga teams very happy.

It’s just that whatever you eat will eventually be vomited out.

In parallel time and space, Kirsch Group will be liquidated next year.

Then the Bundesliga, which had relied on the Kirsch Group for several years to make a good living, was all unlucky except for Bayern, which was suspected of insider trading and took a sum of money from the Kirsch Group in advance.

The big teams are okay and can still hold on. Those small and medium-sized teams almost followed suit after the collapse of the Kirsch Group.

The Kirsch Group's 800 million euro contract with the Bundesliga has evaporated. Many small clubs are on the verge of bankruptcy. Kaiserslautern, Nuremberg, etc. even need donations from players to maintain operations.

It was later that German banks and local governments came forward to provide loan support, which allowed the Bundesliga to continue.

But after that, after a few years of fun, the Bundesliga once again turned from extravagance to frugality, and the hard days passed again.

In parallel time and space, the Kirsch incident caused Berbatov and other stars to leave the Bundesliga.

This crisis has even spread to distant Italy.

Before the start of the 2002-03 season, Italian national television drastically reduced the broadcast fees paid to Serie A from 88.5 million euros to 45 million euros.

The sharp drop in broadcast revenue has put a large number of small and medium-sized clubs in trouble. Fiorentina, one of the seven sisters in Serie A, directly declared bankruptcy.

The same example is the World Cup.

It is exaggerated that the Kirsch Group can accumulate such high debts.

It has to do with Leo Kirsch, the founder and chairman, insisting on buying out the global television broadcast rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cup for a sky-high price of US$1.67 billion.

Leo Kirsch's series of wise operations since the 1990s have almost ruined Germany's number one media group.

Kerry Kirsch saw Abel's "rich wealth" at this time.

If the desperate Kirsch Group can obtain funds from Abel.

Or if Abel is allowed to take over the Kirsch Group, Kerry Kirsch feels that there is hope that the Kirsch Group can be brought back to life.

Who knew that Abel Smith's reputation as a wealthy man had already crossed the Atlantic and reached Europe?

Maybe that way, the turnover can be maintained and the company can last longer.

It's just that Abel's advisory team has already reported these situations to him.

Even suggestions were given.

That is that Kirsch Group is not worth owning. It is too heavily in debt and has become insolvent.

What's even more troublesome is that something went wrong with Leo Kirsch's wise judgment.

The profitability of most of the things owned by Kirsch Group does not match its costs.

For example, Kirsch Media Company's average annual pre-tax profit over the past three years was only about 200 million euros.

If corporate tax is paid, even the profit of 150 million euros may be lost.

The profit of 150 million euros is only enough to pay off the interest on debts, and this year's situation does not even seem to be enough.

In addition, it is impossible for its income to increase significantly within a few years.

This means that Kirsch Media will continue to lose money for at least five years.

With a debt of 2.2 billion euros and continued losses, few people can bear it.

Subsidiaries like this can be said to be spread throughout the Kirsch Group.

The local German media described it best. At this time, the Kirsch Group was covered in cancer, and the cancer cells had spread throughout the body.

Only two or three ounces of good flesh were left on the body, and the rest was full of cancer cells.

This caused Abel, who was originally quite interested in the Kirsch Group, to retreat.

It is true that Abel is not short of money, and it is true that he wants to let the world hear the voice of Smith Media.

But even he would not jump into such a huge pit.

Fortunately, the advisory group also gave him advice.

The advisory group suggested that Abel should not invest in the Kirsch Group.

But if the Kirsch Group wants to borrow money, it can lend it out with some terms.

In that case, Kirsch Group really has a contingency, and with priority clauses, Smith Media may have the opportunity to acquire some high-quality assets of Kirsch Group.

It's just a pity that everyone thinks so.

The banks and companies that lent money to the Kirsch Group have already allocated the high-quality assets of the Kirsch Group.

Unless Kirsch Group can survive, it will not be able to mortgage high-quality assets that can still be disposed of to Abel.

In other words, even if Abel wanted a loan, the Kirsch Group would not be able to provide him with the high-quality assets he wanted.

SELC's shares are already the only high-quality assets available for sale.

Everything else has been mortgaged.

Kerry Kirsch did not mention the loan, but directly asked Abel if he was interested in the shares.

That is naturally not the case.

Kerry Kirsch had to leave with regret.

Abel also felt a little sorry.

There is no doubt that the Kirsch Group is a big piece of fat. Unfortunately, this fat is covered with cancer, making it prohibitive.

Fortunately, it was not without gain. At least I bought 75% of SELC's shares.

After getting rid of Kerry Kirsch, Abel talked with everyone else.

As said before.

Those who can come here have already negotiated with Abel's advisors in advance.

I came here just to go through the motions and make final decisions.

Among the remaining guests were the owners or representatives of several newspapers including the British Daily Mail, Daily Star, and Daily Express.

Don't look at these newspapers, each of them has a "daily" prefix.

They actually have nothing to do with Telecom Media Group. It's just like the "Daily Telegraph", it has "Daily" in front of its name.

The "Daily Mail" is a "high-end newspaper" similar to the "Daily Telegraph", which is similar to the Times and the Guardian and focuses on serious international and financial news.

"Daily Express" is a middle-level newspaper. It is famous for its short, concise and easy-to-understand articles. Most of its readers are from the middle and lower classes.

As for the "Daily Star", it is a pure tabloid, and its status in the UK is similar to that of the British "Sun".

This newspaper covers betting, weather forecast, women and sports news, entertainment news, etc.

It is also one of the most famous paparazzi newspapers in the UK.

For the owners or representatives of the owners of these newspapers, Abel also cut through the mess quickly.

No problem with the price, then start preparing the contract and transfer agreement.

If there is a problem, ask someone to leave first and talk to their own advisory team.

This allowed him to take care of the first five customers in only about an hour.

After sending away these five guests, only an old man in his seventies was left in front of Abel.

Allen continued to introduce Abel, "BOSS. This is Mr. Kerry Landzer. He is the chairman and CEO of Landzer Entertainment Media Company."

"Hi, Mr. Landzer." Abel smiled.

He cut through the mess quickly and reached many deals in a short period of time.

He is now very happy that he has established this advisory group similar to the "Military Aircraft Department".

Otherwise, if you have to lead people by yourself and talk to these people in detail one by one.

He felt that he would not have to do anything else in the future.

It is estimated that the time spent negotiating and traveling to the negotiations all day long is terrible enough.

Fortunately, there is now this "Military Aircraft Department", and most of the trivial matters and preliminary preparations can be left to them.

You just need to be cautious and make judgments.

The only thing that needs to be worried is that the internal members of the advisory group may collude with the outside world.

Abel had thought of this, but now he was still negotiating with the last guest.

Kerry Landzer shook hands with Abel, and the old man smiled and said:

"Mr. Smith, it's really wonderful. I've never seen anyone buy a company like buying a bunch of potatoes."

Abel thought to himself, are you Europeans really incapable of making metaphors without using potatoes?

"It's okay." Abel smiled: "After all, they are some inexpensive companies."

When Kerry Landzer heard his answer, the corners of the old man's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

While the old man was still muttering in his heart, Abel said:

"Mr. Landzer, let's be honest. I want the shares of MUPLC held by Landzer Entertainment Media."

"Of course, of course." Kerry Landzer smiled back at Abel, and the old man said:

"I came here to sell you these shares. One hundred million pounds, right?"

"That's right." Abel smiled.

The old man stood up directly and extended his hand to him: "I am willing to sell, sir."

Abel stood up and shook hands with him, and also smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to work with you, sir."