It was hard for outsiders to guess what the Fang father and son were thinking.
Li Dong couldn't be bothered to think about it. He would know what Fang Keng was thinking when he attended the banquet.
July 21st, night.
Tonghai Hotel, third floor banquet hall.
Li Dong didn't bring too many people to the banquet. He only brought Sun Tao.
When the two of them went downstairs, Sun Tao said softly, "General Manager Li, do you think the Fang father and son are going back on their word?"
Li Dong smiled. "Why do you say that?"
"Fang Keng came to Tongzhou and didn't inform us beforehand. He started the banquet right away. This isn't a good sign. Before the agreement is signed, I think it's better to keep a low profile. This isn't the time to celebrate. "
Li Dong smiled. "Maybe they have this habit. Don't think too much. So what if they go back on their word?"
Actually, there was still a possibility that Fang Keng would go back on his word. However, Li Dong didn't care too much.
Although Times had been talking about acquisition with Far away and a few other corporations, they didn't plan on giving up on financing.
According to Li Dong's understanding, the Fang family had been looking to cooperate with the banks and prepare for financing.
If the financing was successful, it wouldn't be surprising if the Fang family went back on their word.
Of course, the chances of the financing being successful weren't high. If the financing was successful, the Fang father and son wouldn't have had to rush over from Hong Kong to play with Li Dong.
Hearing Li Dong say this, Sun Tao frowned. "If the acquisition fails, it'll be a big blow to Far away. Also, our East China strategy will have to be delayed."
"You're thinking too much. Without Butcher Zhang, we can't eat pigs with fur. If the acquisition of Times fails, there won't be that much of an impact. Are there any small and medium-sized supermarkets in East China? Although Times isn't small, it's just that. We acquired Times only because the timing was right. If the Fang family goes back on their word, then we'll disband. If we can't acquire large supermarkets, then we'll acquire a few small and medium-sized supermarkets. Other than some trouble in terms of integration, the other effects won't be much different. "
Sun Tao grinned and thought to himself, "It's not just a lot of trouble, it's a big one!"
There was a world of difference in difficulty between taking over one company and integrating several companies.
Far away, it was already troublesome to take over three small supermarkets in Jiangbei, not to mention the entire East China region.
To acquire Era, all they needed to do was to integrate Era.
But if he were to acquire other small and medium-sized supermarkets, just the human resources alone would be a problem. Far away, unless Li Dong was willing to poach people on a large scale regardless of the cost, it would waste a lot of time.
…
Li Dong and Sun Tao entered the hall together. They were not early, and there were already many people inside.
They were all local Sunan businessmen, and Li Dong did not know many of them. Naturally, he would not take the initiative to approach them.
He didn't know others, but that didn't mean others didn't know him.
As soon as Li Dong and Sun Tao entered, everyone looked at them curiously.
The Sunan business circle had long heard of Li Dong, an influential figure. Previously, everyone had only heard about him and didn't pay much attention to this young man.
But when Li Dong set his sights on the local Sunan Times supermarket, he became quite famous in the Sunan business circle.
What really made Li Dong widely known in the Sunan business circle was that he had defeated several large groups Far away and was about to complete the acquisition of Era.
At this time, Li Dong's reputation spread far and wide.
Many people wanted to see if this guy had three heads and six arms. Otherwise, how could he snatch food from the tiger's mouth from several large groups and walk with Era to the end?
At this moment, as soon as Li Dong entered the door, everyone looked over.
After looking for a while, some people were disappointed, and some were amazed.
Li Dong was too young. He was just in his early twenties. No matter how mature he dressed, the trace of childishness on his face couldn't be erased.
When they thought that this guy spent a lot of money to defeat large groups such as Bailian and Huarun Resources, everyone was a little emotional. It was really like the new generation of the Yangtze River surpasses the old.
Li Dong and Sun Tao didn't care about these people's gazes. They stood in the same place for a moment, and then they saw Fang Rende hurrying over from not far away.
Although Li Dong hadn't seen Fang Rende in person, he had seen pictures of him.
Fang Rende, who was in his early forties, was twice older than Li Dong, but in front of Li Dong, Fang Rende was very polite.
As soon as he came over, Fang Rende said with enthusiasm, "General Manager Li, Director Sun, I've been looking forward to your arrival. I'm sorry I couldn't welcome you earlier."
"Director Fang is too polite."
Li Dong shook hands with him, looked around and said, "Chairman Fang hasn't arrived yet?"
Fang Rende said with a smile, "He's here, he's here. My father is chatting with several close friends. General Manager Li, come with me. My father has long wanted to have a chat with General Manager Li."
"It's my honor."
Li Dong also smiled and was ready to go with Fang Rende.
Before the two of them took a step, someone suddenly shouted, "General Manager Li, Director Fang, wait a moment."
Li Dong turned his head and looked, and then his face showed a touch of surprise.
The person who called him was none other than the female senior manager of Bailian Group whom he met at the hotel.
Li Dong didn't expect that this woman had not left and was invited to the Fang family's banquet. He didn't know whether the father and son of the Fang family invited her or they came uninvited.
But no matter what, since she greeted him, Li Dong didn't be rude. He responded with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, what's the matter?"
The female senior manager of Bailian Group didn't answer, but introduced the middle-aged man next to her and said, "General Manager Li, this is Mr. Chen Gang, the deputy general manager of Bailian East China District."
The middle-aged man, who was Chen Gang, stretched out his hand and smiled at Li Dong. "General Manager Li, nice to meet you."
Although Li Dong felt that these two guys didn't have good intentions, he still shook hands with him and said with a smile, "General Manager Chen, nice to meet you."
Seeing that both sides were chatting, Fang Rende didn't know whether to take Li Dong to see his father or continue to stay here.
Li Dong saw this and said with a smile, "If General Manager Fang has something to do, just go ahead. I'll talk to General Manager Chen for a while, and then I'll see Chairman Fang later."
Fang Rende let out a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, you guys talk first, I'll come find General Manager Li later."
Fang Rende said goodbye to Chen Gang and Chen Gang, then went to greet the other guests.
After Fang Rende left, Chen Gang smiled and said, "General Manager Li, do you mind sitting down for a while?"
"Okay."
…
They found an empty table and sat down. Li Dong didn't take the initiative to speak. He wanted to see what Chen Gang, the deputy general manager of East China District, had to say to him.
Li Dong didn't believe that the other party didn't come on purpose.
Bailian Group was the industry leader, and East China District was so busy. Li Dong didn't think that the other party had time to come to Tongzhou to attend a banquet.
Chen Gang saw that Li Dong didn't speak, so he thought for a while and took the initiative to speak, "General Manager Li, it's our first time meeting. There's a saying that words carry meaning when you're not close, but today I have a few words to say. Can General Manager Li listen to me?"
"Go ahead, General Manager Chen."
"Ever since Huarun and Wumart pulled out, we're the only ones left to acquire Time. General Manager Li, do you know why we've been negotiating until now, but lost to Far away? "
Li Dong said without hesitation, "Because Bailian's need isn't as urgent as ours."
The price was actually a secondary factor. The real reason was that Bailian didn't have that much demand.
Unlike Far away, which was in urgent need of expansion, Bailian had countless stores. To them, the acquisition of Time was just icing on the cake.
To Far away, Time was related to their overall layout and strategic goals.
The difference in mentality naturally caused a difference in psychological bottom line during negotiations.
Li Dong spent 2.4 billion to acquire Time, but to him, it was worth it.
But to Bailian, 2.4 billion was probably far beyond their psychological bottom line.
Li Dong didn't know what Chen Gang wanted to talk to him about, but there was nothing to hide about this.
As expected, after hearing Li Dong's words, Chen Gang showed a look of agreement.
"General Manager Li is right. This is one point, and also a very important point. But General Manager Li doesn't know that there's another important reason why we gave up on the negotiations. "
"Please speak, General Manager Chen."
"That is, Time's business district overlaps with Bailian and Huarun. Although we want to acquire Time, we actually want to acquire a portion of the stores, such as the Time stores in Sunan …"
"What do you mean, General Manager Chen?"
"Yes, Sunan is considered a vacuum for us, and we're very interested in the Time stores here. Unfortunately, Mr. Fang isn't willing to sell them separately, which is also why we haven't made much progress. "
Frowning slightly, Li Dong said, "Mr. Chen, are you telling me this because you want to buy Time's branch in Sunan from me? Do you think that's possible, General Manager Chen? "
Sunan's economy is very developed, and this is also Time's headquarters.
Although Time has stores in other places, they don't have much influence there.
The reason why Li Dong wanted to acquire Time at a premium price was because of the brand effect of Time. Therefore, it was impossible to sell the Sunan stores to Bailian.
Unless Li Dong was out of his mind, he would never do such a thing.
Chen Gang naturally didn't think of what he thought of.
Chen Gang smiled and explained, "General Manager Li, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean that."
"Then what do you mean, General Manager Chen?"
"I mean, we can cooperate."
"Cooperate?"
"Yes, cooperate."
"How?"
"Far away will acquire Time, and Bailian will hold shares in Far away, or even exchange shares!"
Chen Gang's words shocked the woman beside him. She obviously didn't expect Chen Gang to say this.
Exchange shares?
This wasn't a decision that a Deputy General Manager of East China District could make. At least, it had to be discussed by the board of directors.
But exchange Bailian's shares for Far away's shares?
No matter how she thought about it, the woman didn't think it was reliable. Far away was doing well, but compared to Bailian, the gap was too big.
It was possible for Bailian to hold shares in Far away, but exchange shares? Would the board of directors approve such a decision?
No matter what she thought, Chen Gang looked at Li Dong with burning eyes, as if he was looking forward to hearing Li Dong's answer or seeing his shocked expression.
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