William opened the bottle of wine with a wine opener and poured half a bottle into the decanter. He took two glasses and the decanter and sat down on the sofa next to Pierre.
He smiled and said, "You're an expert. Try this wine."
"No problem," Pierre took the decanter and looked at it under the light. "The color looks good, but it hasn't been opened for long. If you want to taste the wine, you'll have to wait for a while."
"It's okay, we have time." William knew that the wine needed to be sober. While waiting, the two chatted about the interesting things in the Chantilly Castle.
Ten minutes later, it was still not time to sober up. Pierre, who couldn't wait any longer, couldn't resist the temptation of the good wine. He picked up the decanter and poured himself some wine. He took a few sips and said with an intoxicated expression, "As expected of the best vintage wine. Every time I drink it, I experience a different feeling. Thank you."
"You're welcome. If you like it, I'll give you a box when you leave." William laughed.
"Thank you." Pierre shook his head and said regretfully, "Next time. I don't dare to accept expensive gifts from you before this transaction. If it's found out, we'll all be in trouble."
Hearing this, William realized that he really couldn't give Pierre expensive gifts during the transaction. "Okay, I'll treat you to a 1982 Latour at the Chantilly Castle next time."
"Haha, it's a deal." William's words made Pierre very happy and relieved. "Mr. Devonshire, with your connections, you probably already know what happened to our bank.
So I'll be direct with you. "Pierre put down the wine glass and said seriously," We need your financial help to get through the most serious trust crisis since the establishment of the Bank of France a hundred years ago. "
"I can help you, but what do I get in return?" William said calmly.
It was impossible for him to help for free. Even if William was willing to help, the Bank of France might think that he had ulterior motives.
Pierre couldn't help but clench his fists. He thought for a moment and said, "We'll sell the Chantilly Castle to you for 3.5 billion USD."
"No, no, Pierre, I can help you, but that doesn't mean that I will help you at the expense of my own interests.
We all know how much the Chantilly Castle is worth. I need something tangible, something that can be seen. "William gestured with two fingers.
"I understand." Pierre nodded helplessly. Now, they were begging William, not the other way around. There were still people in the world who could afford the Chantilly Castle, but the only one who would be interested in the Chantilly Castle and offer a price was William.
They also wanted to use William's reputation to offset the negative news as much as possible. "So, if you can agree to our offer for the castle, we will give you 5% of the shares of the Bank of France, and you will only need to pay 1.5 billion US dollars."
"Hehe, so you're saying that you're already treating the five billion US dollars I deposited in your bank as meat in your mouth?"
Pierre spread out his hands and shrugged. "You know, any possible funds are the most precious in our eyes. Whoever dares to give it up will be fired by the board of directors the next day."
1.5 billion USD for 5% of the shares. William calculated in his mind. This meant that Pierre and the others had set the valuation of the Bank of France at a low price of 30 billion USD, which was more than half of their current market value of 70 billion USD.
It seemed that the situation was more serious than he had imagined. However, on second thought, during this period of stock market disaster, all banks were already having a hard time. Now that they had lost one-tenth of their market value, if they didn't handle it well, the Bank of France might even face the risk of bankruptcy.
Otherwise, even if the news of the bank's loss of 7 billion USD was exposed, and the stock price plummeted, no one would directly cut their market value by half to ask for help.
However, this was a good thing for William. "Can I join the board of directors?"
"Of course." Pierre nodded quickly. "You hold 5% of the shares and are already the fourth largest shareholder of our bank. Of course, you have the right to join the board of directors.
Also, we welcome you to join us. Your achievements in the stock market are exactly what we need. "
"Very well, I'll think about it."
If he could join the board of directors, it would ensure William's position in the bank and give him the opportunity to reach into the bank.
At this stage, money was no longer the most important thing to him, but status and reputation.
This was also the overt scheme used by the Bank of France. They knew that William didn't lack money, but what he lacked was a foundation.
The only pity was that it might take a long time to recoup this money. However, only 1.5 billion USD in cash was not enough for William to take to heart, and it wasn't impossible for the stock price to recover.
"OK, happy cooperation." This kind of thing didn't need much consideration. William only thought for a dozen seconds before agreeing.
"Thank you." Pierre stood up excitedly and held William's hand tightly. "Thank you very much, Mr. Devonshire."
"Don't be happy too early, Pierre. It's still uncertain whether the Bank of France will agree to sell the Chantilly Castle or not," William said calmly.
"But since the decision has been made, I'll authorize you to use the 5 billion USD. But there's a premise. If the Bank of France denies the sale of the castle, then the 5 billion USD will be converted into 18% of your bank's shares to compensate for my loss."
"This, this," Pierre hesitated after hearing this. "God, your appetite is really big."
Pierre lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then shook his head regretfully. "Not to mention that the Bank of France's Board of Directors won't agree to give you 18% of the shares. I think the Bank of France would rather sell the whole castle to you than approve this agreement."
"What if I can help you solve part of your loss?"
Thinking about Amir Barkavi these days, William was still confident that he could help the Bank of France make some money from the stock market.
He didn't personally take part because Amir Barkawi had set the location of the attack in London. William wanted to live a comfortable life in England. He couldn't take advantage of this kind of national disaster. Once he took advantage of it, people would come after him, and the days of trouble would not be far away.
But there was always a solution. The Bank of France's stock price had plummeted because they had lost money in the stock market. As long as they could make a large amount of money back, their market value might not return to its peak of 70 billion USD, but at least 50 or 60 billion USD would be guaranteed.
As long as he could buy a stake in the bank at the price of 30 billion USD, including the bank's market value, William would be making money for himself, and it would be legal money.
So William said with a smile, "I can't promise anything else, but I'm confident that I can help you recover at least half of your losses in the stock market."
"What?"
Pierre was stunned. But when he thought about how the Bank of France had invited William to join the Board of Directors, he thought highly of William's past achievements in the stock market and hoped that William could lead them out of their predicament.
Now he didn't need to mention it, but William had taken the initiative to mention it. How could Pierre not be surprised and happy? He grabbed William's arm and said excitedly, "Are you serious? Mr. Devonshire. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
