Darkstone Code-Chapter 920 - 918: Didn’t Expect There’d Be Someone Even More Greedy Than Me

Chapter 920: Chapter 918: Didn’t Expect There’d Be Someone Even More Greedy Than Me

Every Moment’s business is built on a fragile balance. There are no signs of mutual attacks among the large warlords within the Mariluo Kingdom; they are all quietly developing on their own.

Before they are ready to eliminate others and establish a unified regime, the warlords appear very amicable on the surface.

Even if there are some minor frictions, they will not evolve into larger-scale armed conflicts.

But if Every Moment is severed from the warlord behind it, the other major warlords would have a reason and purpose to act, establishing a supply system with Every Moment and seizing the business!

Therefore, Lynch doesn’t care at all about Sanchez and his General father’s attitude. In the Federation, everyone must comply with the rules of the game here.

No matter if that person is the son of a warlord.

Or the warlord himself, General.

Or even the President of the Federation.

They all have to obey these rules, the rules made by the capitalists.

The happenings at Every Moment’s shareholder meeting did not stay hidden for long. After confirming a reconvening of the shareholder meeting on May 1st, next month, the changes from this meeting spread instantly.

Someone is deliberately publicizing what happened at this meeting, and without guessing, Lynch knows it must be the banks.

If the capitalists of Bupen are crocodiles, then the banks are prehistoric crocodiles.

Their size is larger, their teeth are sharper, and naturally, their appetite is more voracious!

They saw an opportunity, a chance to make big money, so they want to push this matter towards their anticipated direction.

As a major shareholder, Lynch is also obviously within their "co-optation" range.

On the third night after the temporary shareholders’ meeting was held, a manager from Rongsheng Gold Bank’s Asset Execution Department personally came to visit Lynch.

The Asset Execution Department engages in the work of selling off the assets of individuals or enterprises who can’t pay back the bank to recover the "loss" for the department.

Fortunately, they are a bank; they are capitalists; if they didn’t have this façade, people would describe their actions as "fencing."

After meeting Lynch, the manager presented some small gifts, all of them inexpensive crafts, and the two then entered Lynch’s study.

"Mr. Lynch, the bank has already reassessed the risks of what happened at today’s Every Moment shareholder meeting internally. We believe that continuing to hold Every Moment Company’s shares long-term can’t bring us considerable benefits."

Lynch crossed his legs, pressing his hands on them, and nodded slightly, indicating for the manager to continue.

The smile on the manager’s face became even warmer; Lynch’s lack of interruption meant they had a foundation for cooperation. "You are the major shareholder of the company. I have less than ten percent of the shares myself, plus some people we can win over." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"We have already acquired the key votes."

"The dispute over the ownership of Every Moment’s founding stock may last a long time, potentially causing us significant losses, so the bank has provided us with a new option internally."

Lynch nodded again, "Go on."

The department manager pursed his lips as if considering his speech strategy and ideas, and after a while, he said, "We plan to join forces with those companies initiating the acquisition. As long as our shares exceed fifty-one percent, we can dismantle Every Moment."

"We noticed that Every Moment’s currently most profitable department is Kleve, so we will separate it, along with the rapidly developing general tobacco department."

"Most of the other departments are in continuous loss or break-even states, and those will be abandoned by us..."

In simple terms, Rongsheng Gold Bank intends to first unite the power of major shareholders to gain absolute control over the board.

Next, the company will be split into over a dozen different independent companies, and all shareholders’ equity structures will be readjusted; these companies are split into two situations.

The first kind is prepared to be abandoned, and the second is prepared to be harvested.

Those companies set to be abandoned will mortgage all real estate to the bank in exchange for a sum of money, which will then be lent through some special channels in a no-interest, indefinite way to the companies ready to be harvested.

Then those planned-abandoned companies apply for bankruptcy, and the bank takes over their real estate, not only not losing but possibly making a profit.

After all, loaning out six or seven million for ten million worth of real estate isn’t easy, but the bank processes these real estates much more easily.

Having acquired a large sum of money, the company waiting to be harvested sees a sudden surge in market value, because with a large sum of money in hand, a little "adornment" easily attracts investors’ attention.

Then it’s "sold at a premium," where everyone gets a satisfactory return, except for those who were doomed to be "abandoned" from the start.

Of course, their losses won’t be too great; after the company goes bankrupt, their lives won’t change much.

It might just be like ordinary people needing to find a job to make a living instead of sitting in air-conditioned rooms looking at quarterly reports and pondering where to dine at night.

This is a common tactic and currently the most popular financial operation in Bupen; thus, people call these financial companies the "jackals of Bupen."

They don’t care about the founders’ lives; by trampling on others’ dreams, destroying others’ futures, they put future money into their present pockets.

After completing this, they leave behind companies applying for bankruptcy and a mass of unemployed people, without any concern.

Lynch looked at the executive manager, hitting the core, "Is someone planning to purchase Every Moment’s tobacco business?"

The executive manager’s pupils contracted rapidly, and he immediately lowered his head to conceal his unnatural facial expression. When he looked up again, his expression and demeanor were back to normal.

Yet his slight, instantaneous change was caught by Lynch.

"Why would you think that, Mr. Lynch?" The executive manager eventually couldn’t help it; he knew this might fool ordinary people but couldn’t deceive someone like Lynch, who guessed the truth.

If he hadn’t guessed the truth, maybe he’d be kept in the dark for a while, but Lynch had a target now: with just a few calls, he could discover the truth, so the manager did not hide it and voiced his query.

Lynch neither showed any pride nor elation for guessing right, remaining ever so calm, "I don’t need to guess. The tobacco business of Every Moment, plus squeezing other departments, just the Kleve business alone is worth at least six billion."

"A business of this magnitude cannot be quickly absorbed by the market, and the cost of self-operation is too high; the only possibility is someone has an eye on this business, intending to acquire it through you..."

The executive department manager sighed, conceding.

"Shi Haoyun Company has taken a fancy to this business. They also heard what happened at the meeting and contacted us..."

Shi Haoyun, also known as Every Moment, is one of the three major tobacco companies in the Federation, belonging to the later developed companies.

Originally, it was just an ordinary tobacco company, and like most medium and small tobacco companies, it had dominance in a specific region, but nationwide, it appeared weak.

The CEO of Shi Haoyun seized a very important opportunity early on, launching several lines of filtered mixed cigarettes suitable for women.

At the time, feminist groups were launching campaigns like "Women Have the Right to Smoke in Public," but no cigarettes on the market were specifically designed for women with a slightly milder flavor.

As soon as Shi Haoyun’s ladies’ cigarettes came out, they immediately became a hit across the Federation and, because they actively participated in and supported feminist movements, have now become one of the most beloved companies by modern women.

This small, previously unnoticed tobacco company became one of the three major tobacco companies in the Federation overnight.

Of course, this is also directly related to the spending power of those women. Ladies’ cigarettes are often more expensive than men’s cigarettes, but in terms of raw material usage, they require less; adding just a baking process brings more profit.

Shi Haoyun, after rapid expansion, is still seeking further expansion, aiming to grow big and strong.

It’s been said that whether a tobacco company truly has strength is evident if they have the Kleve business.

Kleve, as a favored consumer product in high society, is something Shi Haoyun envies. However, they helplessly couldn’t penetrate this circle.

This is also one of the prices they paid for succeeding with ladies’ cigarettes—as mainstream high society remains male-dominated, they dislike Shi Haoyun’s business strategy, hence the long-pending breakthrough.

After Every Moment encountered problems, Rongsheng Gold Bank’s first reaction was to contact Shi Haoyun. They have always wanted a breakthrough, and now there is an opportunity.

The reason Rongsheng Gold Bank took this step is because they can gain the most benefits from this split acquisition case.

This includes a large number of high-quality real estate properties under Every Moment, the returns from their shares in Every Moment, part of the loans they pay will return to their pockets, and they will lend money to Shi Haoyun, enabling Shi Haoyun to buy Every Moment’s Kleve business.

Even the money lent to Shi Haoyun will transform into debt equity as they did with Every Moment.

Lent money becomes an investment, directly acquiring shares to collect dividends, and when danger arises, they either dump the shares or reclaim interest and principal.

With a quick turnaround, the profits range from tens of millions to billions, which is enough to tempt Rongsheng Gold Bank’s shareholders.

So they sent someone to actively contact Lynch, hoping to gain Lynch’s support. Only with enough supporters can this plan continue.