Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 854: Untitled (Two in One)

Don't forget that Lu Shaohua has an intelligence network that spans the globe. Although finding a person is like looking for a needle in a haystack, with designated borders and the fact that he is a football player, the search scope is greatly narrowed and the possibility of finding him is so great, almost 100%.

It was precisely because of the existence of the Tiger Roar Intelligence Network that Lu Shaohua was not afraid of not finding the person. He stopped the scouting network on the Manchester United side and sent people to find him. After finding the person, Lu Shaohua asked Manchester United to send scouts to lobby, and then sign the contract to become a member of the Manchester United team.

But then again, finding someone takes time after all. Lu Shaohua was not in a hurry, nor was he in a hurry to call Li Zhijie immediately. Instead, he was waiting for the player's name to be faxed from Manchester United.

From the beginning to the end, the staff sent by Phoenix Group did not report to Lu Shaohua the names of the players who could not be found. Lu Shaohua was completely in the dark and knew nothing. He could only wait for the fax.

Well, if Lu Shaohua hadn't requested it, the staff there would have wanted to report it directly over the phone, but Lu Shaohua stopped them and asked them to compile the names of the players who had been called up to Manchester United and the names of the few players who could not be found into a file and then fax them over.

Faxing from abroad always takes time. Lu Shaohua waited for twenty minutes before the fax machine on his desk responded. He took out the paper, put it into the fax machine, and then printed the document. It was a very simple thing.

After reading the faxed documents, Lu Shaohua breathed a sigh of relief. The reason was very simple. The players who could not be found were not the most critical players. For example, Ronaldo, Messi, and Kaka were obviously on the list of players who had been called up.

Whether it is Ronaldo, Kaka, or Messi, their future achievements will reach the pinnacle. They are the kind of players who must be called up. Now they belong to Manchester United. How can Lu Shaohua not breathe a sigh of relief?

However, after Lu Shaohua breathed a sigh of relief, he sighed again. This time it was because of Ribery, a super striker. Although he had never won the European Golden Ball and the World Footballer of the Year, his offensive power was definitely top-notch. In the future, his name in France will be second only to Zidane.

The player could not be found, which was the reason why Lu Shaohua lamented, but it didn't matter. Lu Shaohua knew that Ribery's family environment was extremely poor. When he was young, he had to work and play amateur football at the same time. He was always spotted by a French club, and finally he was able to enter a wealthy team like Bayern and become famous throughout Europe.

On the surface, this information is useless, but if it is handed over to Li Zhijie, I believe that Li Zhijie will be able to find Ribery in a short time. Yes, Lu Shaohua believes that Li Zhijie can find him.

In this case, what did Lu Shaohua have to worry about? He printed out the names of the missing players and the known information, put them into a file, and faxed it to Africa. He then called Li Zhijie and explained the matter to him, and the matter was over.

However, what Lu Shaohua didn't know was that Li Zhijie was actually also a football fan. Well, when it comes to Li Zhijie being a football fan we have to mention his wife. His wife is a typical French person, unrestrained and passionate, which makes her deeply fascinated by football.

Maybe influenced by his wife, Li Zhijie also became fascinated with football a few years ago. He likes the French team very much and admires Zidane, who is known as an artist on the football field.

Now, Lu Shaohua has acquired Manchester United and is planning to buy Zidane. Li Zhijie is naturally very happy. When Lu Shaohua called him, Li Zhijie said that after buying Zidane, a box must be reserved for him at Manchester United's home stadium, and he would go to England to watch the game when he is free.

A private room is worth a lot of money, but that is what the outside world thinks. To Lu Shaohua, a private room is worthless. What's more, Lu Shaohua is the boss of Manchester United, so he is not losing money. At most, he will just charge less for a private room.

"Ha ha……"

When Li Zhijie learned that Lu Shaohua agreed, he laughed loudly, paused for a moment, and then got back to the point. "One of the people on the list you sent over is French. I can definitely ask my wife's family to help. They are local bosses, and it's easy and quick to find someone."

In Li Zhijie's opinion, his wife's family has already benefited a lot. For example, during the Asian financial crisis, Li Zhijie's information prevented them from entering the Hong Kong financial market and avoided losses. They have to thank Lu Shaohua for this.

But what about them? They haven't shown any sign of support until now, which makes Li Zhijie really unable to bear it. Now that he has found an opportunity, it's time for them to repay the favor. He should find something for them to do as a way of repaying the favor.

Lu Shaohua, who was staying in Hong Kong, certainly didn't know what Li Zhijie was thinking, but even if he knew, Lu Shaohua wouldn't say anything, at most he would just laugh it off. "Just go and make the arrangements. Well, the people on the list must be found. Those people are the future of Manchester United, and we can't afford to lose them."

"I will ensure that the mission is completed." Li Zhijie vowed.

……

After Lu Shaohua finished finding several players, he went back to his work. Before he knew it, two hours had passed and it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. If someone hadn't knocked on the door and brought Lu Shaohua back to reality, he would have continued working.

"Please come in."

Lu Shaohua shouted, and then stopped staring at the documents on his desk. Instead, he lit a cigarette and stared at the door without blinking to see who was coming.

Not surprisingly, the people who came were Lu Shaohua's acquaintances and also one of the few senior executives of Phoenix Group. They were Liu Mingzhang and Li Yunqing, and another one was Li Zongen who rarely appeared in Phoenix Group.

The three giants of Phoenix Finance, yes, they are the three giants of Phoenix Finance. However, they appeared together in Lu Shaohua's office today, and it is conceivable that Lu Shaohua is brewing a big action.

When Lu Shaohua saw that it was Liu Mingzhang and the others who came, he patted his forehead and looked helpless. Yes, Lu Shaohua was helpless, because he almost forgot that he had called Liu Mingzhang and the others. If they had not come to him, Lu Shaohua would have forgotten that he had called them.

Now that Liu Mingzhang and the others have arrived, Lu Shaohua also remembered and pointed to the sofa next to him, motioning them to sit down. Lu Shaohua then stood up from the boss chair and came to sit down next to the sofa.

"I called you here today because of Wal-Mart." Lu Shaohua got straight to the point in his first sentence, and then he continued, "You should know that the first Phoenix Supermarket in Hong Kong has opened. It won't take long for it to be standardized. After accumulating enough experience, we will officially enter the international retail industry."

At this point, Lu Shaohua paused for a moment, glanced at Liu Mingzhang and the other three, and then continued, "While we are accumulating experience, it is also the time to acquire Walmart. You must acquire Walmart shares during this period, whether it is to achieve a controlling stake or to acquire more than 40%. This is a task that must be completed."

Lu Shaohua's tone was extremely tough, with a hint of refusing to refuse and not allowing failure. Also, there was a different message faintly revealed in Lu Shaohua's words, which roughly meant that the acquisition must be made at all costs.

Liu Mingzhang obviously understood what Lu Shaohua meant, but this kind of thing is not a joke. Even if Liu Mingzhang understood what Lu Shaohua meant, he still had to confirm it. "At any cost?"

"That's right, at any cost." After saying that, Lu Shaohua paused and added, "If necessary, I can have people cooperate with you, and we must complete the mission even if we have to use force."

What? Use force?

Liu Mingzhang and his men knew that the Tiger Roar Mercenary Group, the world's largest and most powerful mercenary group, was established by Lu Shaohua. To put it bluntly, the powerful Tiger Roar mercenary group belonged to Lu Shaohua. If Lu Shaohua used force, would he use the Tiger Roar Mercenary Group?

If Lu Shaohua mobilized the Tiger Roar Mercenaries, things would become really serious, and the Walton family would inevitably suffer a devastating disaster.

"Pray, pray for the Walton family." Liu Mingzhang said this secretly in his heart.

However, although Liu Mingzhang looks very gentle, that is only his appearance. In fact, he has a warlike heart hidden deep inside. To quote Liu Mingzhang: No poison, no hero.

"I will try my best to acquire Walmart Group without using force. Well, I can't guarantee it. If peaceful means of acquisition are not possible, I will tell you." Liu Mingzhang said lightly.

"Okay." Lu Shaohua nodded and said.

In fact, Lu Shaohua doesn't want to use force to solve all problems. If they can be solved by peaceful means, Lu Shaohua is happy to solve them by peaceful means. As for the use of force, that is Lu Shaohua's last trick and also Lu Shaohua's strongest trump card.

"Okay, if you want to smoke, just get one yourself. I see your saliva is dripping." Lu Shaohua shook his head with a wry smile and said to Liu Mingzhang.

Liu Mingzhang almost never smokes. It's not that he doesn't smoke, but his wife doesn't allow him to smoke. He quit smoking over time. But not long ago, after smoking the same cigarettes as Lu Shaohua, he became addicted again and would occasionally smoke a few cigarettes secretly.

As a result, when he knew that Lu Shaohua had finished talking about the main point, Liu Mingzhang set his eyes on the pack of cigarettes that Lu Shaohua had placed on the table. Even a three-year-old child could see the greedy look in his eyes, let alone Lu Shaohua, who was a shrewd man.

"hey-hey……"

Liu Mingzhang laughed and said, "Then I won't be polite."

"Take it, take it." Lu Shaohua said impatiently.

……

With Lu Shaohua's order, the operation to acquire Walmart began. It was presided over by Liu Mingzhang, and cooperated by Li Yunqing and Li Zongen. The funds were divided into three streams to carry out a large-scale sweep of Walmart's stocks in the stock market.

But then again, Lu Shaohua had no idea how Liu Mingzhang and his team were going to carry out the sweep, because Lu Shaohua had never cared about what was happening over there from beginning to end. After Lu Shaohua arranged the acquisition of Walmart, he started to get busy with other things.

On the British side, the issue that Lu Shaohua is concerned about is not the Manchester United team, but the results obtained by the British inspection team.

Lu Shaohua always keeps his word. He would do what he promised to the British President. Two days after he returned to Hong Kong, an investigation team consisting of thirteen people set off for Britain for investigation.

Seeing that more than ten days have passed, the team that went to the UK for investigation should be back. When they come back, that is, when the report is out, Lu Shaohua will naturally start to study the results.

This is also the reason why Lu Shaohua did not have time to pay attention to the acquisition of Walmart.

According to the report made by the inspection team, the economy in the UK is indeed developed, and there are no giants in the retail industry. There are almost scattered retail companies. Although Carrefour and Walmart also have branches in the UK, they are only in some cities and have not invested in too many branches.

This was an opportunity, and Lu Shaohua seized it very quickly. If the acquisition of Walmart was successful and Walmart did not stand up against Phoenix Supermarket, then it should not be difficult for Phoenix Supermarket to quickly occupy the British market.

In addition to the investigation into the retail industry, the delegation also came up with an assessment of where most cities in the UK are likely to develop in the future. This assessment was made at the request of Lu Shaohua.

The reason for this evaluation is that Lu Shaohua feels that rather than opening a Phoenix Supermarket branch in a prosperous place to compete with others, it is better to open one in a place that is not very developed now but will suddenly surpass others in the future. In this way, he can almost have the monopoly.

Of course, Lu Shaohua also had a requirement, which was that the place must have a certain amount of traffic so that Phoenix Supermarket could attract customers as soon as it opened. At the very least, break-even operation was a must. As for investing and operating at a loss, Lu Shaohua had never even thought about it.

It is for this reason that Lu Shaohua asked the inspection team to evaluate certain places to find the most suitable places for investment and open overseas branches of Phoenix Supermarket.

The results came out. The inspection team provided Lu Shaohua with ten locations in the evaluation report, which was the final result according to Lu Shaohua's requirements. If Lu Shaohua adopted it, Phoenix Supermarket's overseas branches would be located in the locations listed in the evaluation report.

Lu Shaohua trusted the inspection team and read their professional evaluation report carefully. Finally, he nodded with satisfaction, which meant that the decision had been made and the tone had been set.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Shaohua read another investigation report on British cars. This kind of report was also something that Lu Shaohua required the inspection team to investigate when they went to the UK.

Now the report is out, and the results show that in the UK, the majority of people buy cars of their own country's brand, which accounts for nearly half of the market, and the rest is taken up by other car brands.

Phoenix cars seem to be more popular in the UK, and their market share has increased rapidly, ranking behind local car brands. Well, I mean local car brands, all British car brands, not just a single brand.

If we count the ratio of a single brand, Phoenix Automobile will definitely take the first place.

Since Phoenix cars are so popular in the UK, why doesn't Lu Shaohua acquire Rolls-Royce Motor Company, inject funds to keep the Rolls-Royce brand, and inject Phoenix car production into the Rolls-Royce car base to form an overseas production base for Phoenix cars.

Obviously, this method is feasible, and Lu Shaohua made the decision at this moment. However, before that, Lu Shaohua must first acquire Rolls-Royce. Only after the acquisition will Lu Shaohua take further action.

"Hey……"

Lu Shaohua sighed. The Rolls-Royce car brand was certainly attractive, but Lu Shaohua had too many things to consider. For example, the overall consideration of the Phoenix Group, the result was not very optimistic.

The reason is very simple, too much money. Recently, Lu Shaohua has spent too much money, including the acquisition of Manchester United, the ongoing acquisition of Walmart, and the increase in the overseas market share of Phoenix products. These are all things that cost money.

Coupled with Phoenix Group's own expenses, Lu Shaohua had to consider whether it was feasible to acquire Rolls-Royce now and whether it would cause a funding gap for Phoenix Group.

The answer is a definite yes. If Phoenix Group acquires Rolls-Royce Motor Company at this stage, it will definitely cause a funding gap.

"Hey……"

Lu Shaohua sighed deeply and murmured to himself, "After a while, it will get better."

Yes, Phoenix Group's profit is greater than its expenses and investment. The reason why there is less capital now is because Lu Shaohua has invested too much during this period, and all the money he earned has been spent, leaving not much capital available.

If we wait for a while, the situation will be different. At least, the agency rights of Phoenix Group products can receive more than one billion US dollars. You heard it right, Lu Shaohua's pricing is like that. A rough calculation shows that if all the agency quotas are sold, Phoenix Group will earn more than one billion US dollars.

Using one billion dollars to acquire Rolls-Royce is obviously too much. With the current market value of Rolls-Royce, it would not exceed 500 million dollars at most. Of course, this is Lu Shaohua's rough estimate, and the exact amount needs further investigation and evidence collection to be determined.

"Give me another month, and I will definitely acquire Rolls-Royce Motor Company in a month." Lu Shaohua said to himself with gritted teeth.

Indeed, after another month, all the agency rights should be sold, and Lu Shaohua will have more than 1 billion US dollars in funds. Is he still worried that he will not be able to acquire a Rolls-Royce Motor Company?

What's more, Lu Shaohua still holds 17% of the shares of the Dutch Royal Shell Oil Company. If he needs the money urgently, Lu Shaohua can sell the shares to the British royal family and raise a large amount of cash to acquire Rolls-Royce Motor Company.

If this is the case, then what Lu Shaohua said about one month later was not just empty talk, but a real oath.

……