We are all reborn, who wants to be the richest man?

The merger between San Miguel Brewery Group and InBev is not something that can be decided by just talking to each other.

The two parties had a pleasant negotiation and the Hong Kong San Miguel Brewery Group basically agreed to all the conditions that they could agree to.

The first is the price. Hong Kong San Miguel Brewery Group plans to acquire InBev at a market value of US$82 billion, which is 26% higher than InBev's current market value.

Then in terms of M&A method, $42 billion in cash plus $42 billion in stock.

The name of the merged company will be San Miguel InBev. In addition to the global headquarters in Hong Kong Island, Belgium will retain the existing management team as its European headquarters.

"A pleasure to work with."

"Of course, I think this is the wisest choice for both sides."

The two parties planned to complete the full integration in June 1995. As for why it took a year, it was because the trouble was only beginning now.

On July 7th, the World Cup quarter-finals, Hong Kong Island vs. Italy.

At this time, the number of supporters for the small island of Hong Kong should have created a historical high, and it definitely surpassed the old powerhouse Italy on a global scale, which was a big honor.

The reason is very simple. As long as the Hong Kong Island team can beat the Italian team, these supporters will get a half-price refund.

Unfortunately, the Hong Kong Island team eventually lost to the Italian national team 1-.

The Hong Kong Island team had all the advantages on the field, but they just couldn't break through Italy's impenetrable defensive formation in front of the penalty area.

Italy's two goals were scored by relying on defensive counterattacks, a formation that the Hong Kong Island team is also good at.

However, for the Hong Kong Island team, this defeat was an honorable one, as it allowed the world to see the strength of Hong Kong Island football.

The team had over 18% of the ball possession in the entire game and had 7 shots, of which were on target.

On the other hand, the Italian team only hit the target four out of 11 shots.

Especially in the 80th minute when Italy overtook the score, Baggio fell in the penalty area facing Dolcico's defense, and the Spanish referee decisively awarded a penalty.

The penalty was obviously controversial when replayed in slow motion, because Dolcico did not trip Baggio, but just held him with his body.

No wonder many people said after the game that the Hong Kong Island team lost not to the Italians, but to the Spanish.

On the same day, another industry closely related to the World Cup also broke big news.

The acquisition of InBev by Hong Kong-based San Miguel Breweries, a giant in the beer industry, came under antitrust investigation by the newly established European Union. That afternoon, the United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also issued a statement to launch an investigation into the acquisition.

This is why the two companies will not begin full integration until a year later, in order to give these institutions room to investigate.

This kind of large-scale merger and acquisition case is not just the business of these two companies. As long as the area is covered by the business of their two companies, all of them must go through this antitrust investigation.

In fact, most countries will approve this. Some small countries' companies of this level don't care about your market at all, and many larger countries have no competitiveness in the beer industry. If you don't come, other foreign beer brands will come and occupy the market.

The most important ones are actually Belgium, where InBev’s headquarters is located, the European Union, where both companies have high market shares, and the United States.

In fact, even if the two companies merge, it will not affect the North American market, because InBev has not entered the North American market yet.

The reason why the United States got involved is that there is a company that does not want to see the merger of San Miguel Brewery Group and InBev, and that is Budweiser.

With a market value of US$182 billion, Budweiser is now the world's largest beer producer. If the two companies merge, San Miguel InBev's market value is likely to exceed US$ billion, dethroning Budweiser, which is something they do not want to see.

No matter what, the title of world's number one is still very valuable and meaningful. Otherwise, why would so many companies rack their brains to get closer to the title of world's number one during their publicity?

"Jason, it all depends on you this time."

At the San Miguel Building, McNair welcomed Jason Fellick, one of the absolute bosses of the Far East.

It’s not that San Miguel Brewery Group doesn’t have a legal department. The reason why this big boss was invited to come out is because this hearing is not only related to the two beer companies, but is also crucial to the entire Far East Group.

Why are Far East Chips, Honor Games, and Honor Computers, the brands with the largest market share in the world, no longer expanding and developing, and even giving many of their patents to competitors for use? Isn't it because of the sword of anti-monopoly hanging over their heads?

In fact, many people have misunderstood one thing. Anti-monopoly does not look at how big your market share is, but whether you hinder market competition.

Even if a company has a market share of over 80%, it won't be a big problem as long as others use your patents.

On the other hand, even if your market share is only 10%, but you hold on to your core patents and refuse to make them available to everyone, you will be subject to an antitrust investigation.

Of course, this is only a one-sided statement. Some core technologies may not be disclosed.

Luo Nianzhong let Jason be in charge of this matter in order to curb the arrogance of the EU and the US Antitrust Investigation Bureau. Not everything can be monopolized just because you say so.

"I heard that the FTC of the United States asked you to produce more than 200 million internal documents? I need a copy of each of these items. My team will screen them one by one to look for possible loopholes."

What does the FTC Federal Trade Commission do? It is a U.S. inspection agency that investigates whether there is any problem with an acquisition, collects evidence and then appeals to the court.

Ultimately, the decision on whether the acquisition can be successful lies with the court, not the FTC.

Simply put, they only have the power to investigate but not the power to make decisions, and they are always looking for potential monopolies and unfair competition in the market to prove their own value.

And when it comes to demonstrating value, the prestige gained by blocking a takeover by a large company can outweigh that of many small businesses.

The 200 million internal documents requested include all the acquisition-related emails, chat records, meeting minutes, etc. from the two companies in recent years.

What is the purpose? To find a needle in the haystack of 200 million documents, and it would be best if they could find a sentence that could decide life or death.

For example, in a certain acquisition case, an executive said that the purpose of acquiring a beer company was to monopolize a certain market and then raise prices to earn more profits.

"Don't worry, I have prepared these things, and I have asked the group's legal department to review them. This will reduce a lot of your work."

McNeill also knew what the FTC was looking for, but fortunately he was well aware that all this was in vain, at least the group's top management had not made such remarks.

Jason did not stay in San Miguel Corporation for long. After telling the San Miguel Corporation’s legal department what he needed, he returned to Felix Law Firm in Central.

Today, Felix & Co. is one of the largest law firms in Asia, with more than 8000 staff members and branches around the world.

"Convene a meeting, we have to race against time and move quickly."

As Jason's secretary, he knew the importance of this matter, which could be seen from Jason's serious expression, which he had never seen before.