Top of the big era

I went to Manchester to watch an English League Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Manchester City.

This year, Manchester United has experienced ups and downs after a coaching change and lineup adjustments.

In the Premier League, it is still the favorite to win the championship; but in the Champions League, the odds have dropped to 4th, behind Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

However, Zhou Buqi did not put pressure on the team's performance.

If we can win the League Cup this year, we will have successfully completed this transition period.

Although this is just a very unimportant small cup match, this is the "Manchester City Derby" and the "Red and Blue Battle". The Old Trafford Stadium is packed with seats, and all the famous players from Manchester United are also present.

This is a focus war.

Klopp's team didn't let up either. In the third minute of the opening, Rooney, Robin van Persie and Vidal completed the frontcourt steal and gave a kick to Bale on the left.

Manchester United's No. 7 strode the ball directly into the penalty area, and the second touch of the ball was a powerful shot!

The ball hit the dead center.

Manchester United got off to a fantastic start.

This is not surprising, the current Manchester City is not at the same level as Manchester United. Without four or five years of careful building, it would be difficult for Manchester City to reach the top level in Europe.

After taking the lead, Zhou Buqi felt relaxed and chatted with his father Zhou Jianjun about the private island.

Zhou Jianjun said with a smile, "It is an island located near the northern part of Ibiza in Spain. It has a blue Mediterranean view and more than 300 days of sunshine every year. After renovation, it is an excellent tourist attraction."

Zhou Buqi asked: "Renovation? Isn't it ready-made?"

Zhou Jianjun said: "There are only some simple construction projects, and the cost is too high. In addition, the economic situation in Spain has been so bad in recent years. The previous island owner has no money to invest in further renovations and construction, so he plans to sell it."

"What about the price?"

"Eighteen million US dollars has been negotiated."

"The price isn't high." Zhou Buqi looked a little funny and turned to look at his father, "Why didn't you choose a better place?"

Zhou Jianjun said with satisfaction: "This is good. The Spaniard bought it 7 years ago and only spent 12 million US dollars. The main reason is that the location is better. We will invest another 30 million US dollars to build a luxury manor on the island." , kitchens, pools, bars, wine cellars, sports fields, airports, and docks are all built. The total price is US$50 million, which is not bad."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "That's okay, then that's settled."

Although the financial pressure on hand is more difficult, the money to honor my parents can still be used. 50 million US dollars is really not much.

Senior Sister Zhen Yu wants to rebuild the "island estate" in Miami. The first project is to bulldoze all the buildings on the island, and then raise the island like a reclamation to cope with the rising sea level every year.

Then recreate a luxurious manor on the island.

The entire project is expected to take 5-6 years to complete, and the total investment may reach US$500 million.

Zhou Buqi is actually less interested in these luxury houses and private islands. He has a larger family, harmonious wives and concubines, and a bustling life is the best life. He does not have high requirements for material life.

However, if others like it, he doesn't object.

Spending money can buy happiness, it is really the cheapest deal.

Zhou Jianjun glanced at his son sitting next to him and felt very proud.

I think this guy is really filial.

He bought a private jet, a luxury yacht, a British mansion, and then a dreamy private island for him.

Of course, this is nothing.

What is even more filial is the inheritance of the family line. According to statistics, three daughters-in-law, Xue Baoshan, Zhen Yu, and Shi Jinglin, were all pregnant last year. This is the most important thing for the Zhou family.

After talking about the private island, my father remembered something again, "By the way, someone in China has found me. I want to ask what you mean and see if I can help."

"who?"

"Someone with connections."

"What's the matter?" Zhou Buqi is actually very cautious about those with connections, "If it's too much, I won't agree."

Zhou Jianjun said: "It's CNOOC."

"I'll go!" Zhou Buqi was stunned, feeling that his father's tone was too loud, "What are you doing? Do you dare to participate in such a big thing?"

Zhou Jianjun said: "I was not involved, but someone asked me about it... CNOOC, you know, right? It is running the Nexen Oil Company that wants to acquire Canada."

"We haven't been talking about it for more than half a year..."

Of course Zhou Buqi has heard about it. This should be the largest merger and acquisition of domestic capital overseas recently. If it is completed, the transaction volume may reach 20 billion US dollars.

Zhou Jianjun smiled and said: "Yes, but it seems that there were some disagreements during the negotiation process. Do you know anyone who you can talk to and be accommodating?"

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "Dad, don't be played like a monkey. Don't get fooled yourself and harm your son."

"That's not true, is it?"

Zhou Jianjun frowned slightly.

Zhou Buqi whispered: "It's a super state-owned enterprise, and it's complicated there. What do you think is the biggest obstacle to spending other people's money to buy things for other people? Let's not get involved in anything. When the matter is revealed, be careful Implicated."

Zhou Jianjun glanced at him and said, "You don't like it?"

"hehe."

Zhou Buqi laughed twice.

Zhou Jianjun was so angry that he hit him with his arm and said, "Speak!"

Zhou Buqi said: "After so many blood and tears, they have learned nothing, but I have. A few years ago, when domestic aluminum giants went to Australia to acquire Rio Tinto Group, I warned them. What was the result? Take They came to Rio Tinto with tens of billions of dollars to help them survive the economic crisis. After they recovered, they immediately broke the contract. Do you know this?"

Zhou Jianjun looked confused, not really sure.

Because the incident was too big and the impact was too bad, it was not reported in the country.

Zhou Buqi simply said: "In order to complete the transaction and achieve such a great political achievement, many terms and conditions were lowered. The compensation for breach of contract was only 1%. When Rio Tinto Group relied on tens of billions of dollars in cash flow to recover from the economic crisis, After the government got relief, it only cost 1%, or about $200 million in liquidated damages, to break the contract. You know, for those tens of billions of dollars, the two-year interest would cost $4 billion."

Zhou Jianjun said speechlessly: "There is no spirit of contract."

Zhou Buqi disagreed, "I paid liquidated damages in accordance with the contract requirements, so why is there no contract? The purpose of liquidated damages is to provide a termination procedure. Either implement the requirements or pay liquidated damages."

Zhou Jianjun said: "What happened next?"

Zhou Buqi said: "It became even more embarrassing later. The person who signed the contract was promoted because of his political achievements. Later, the person in charge who suffered huge losses due to breach of contract took responsibility. So this is not a corporate behavior at all, and it is not for Enterprises make money. A few days ago, I discussed with Liu Qiangdong from JD.com that state-owned enterprises are about power, while private enterprises are about money. Let’s deal with money honestly and not get involved with power.”

At this time, Manchester City received a penalty kick.

Even the score.

Zhou Jianjun's face turned ugly and he said in a deep voice: "Do you think CNOOC will be the same this time?"

Zhou Buqi said: "It's the same, just wait and see the joke. It would be best if the acquisition fails. If the acquisition succeeds, it will definitely cause the country to suffer heavy losses. How do you want me to help? I will promote the transaction and help them Now that the matter is done, doesn’t that mean we are helping Canada plunder the wealth created by the hard work of our country’s people? Am I no longer a national thief?”

Zhou Jianjun laughed angrily and said, "I think you are just lazy and don't want to help."

"It's really not true." Zhou Buqi was angry and funny, "If I could help, I was worried that they would be embarrassed to ask, so I rushed to help. Geely acquired Volvo the year before last, how beautiful was that deal? I I have helped. And so did Alibaba this time. If a private enterprise goes overseas to initiate mergers and acquisitions and only deals with money, I will definitely help anyone who can."

Zhou Jianjun was a little angry, "You are the only one who has a reason!"

Zhou Buqi frowned, "Just say that I am not familiar with Canada and have nothing to do with the energy industry. I have been busy with the listing of several companies recently and I can't get away from it. Anyway, just one sentence, related to power Don't come to me for anything. I'm an entrepreneur and a capitalist, and I'm playing a game of money."

It’s really not that he meant to shirk responsibility, it’s just that he really couldn’t participate.

The case my dad was talking about will definitely become another tragedy worth tens of billions of dollars.

At the beginning of the second half, with plenty of physical energy, Manchester United launched another wave of tyrannical offensive. In just 10 minutes, Rooney scored twice with a head kick.

The score became 3:1.

Zhou Buqi stood up to celebrate. As soon as he sat down, Sun Wanran next to him came over and whispered: "Wanda's president wants to ask you for help."

"What's up?"

It seems that he is going to discuss some kind of acquisition, an overseas acquisition.

"Acquisition?" Zhou Buqi laughed immediately, glanced at his father on the other side, and deliberately raised his voice, "Oh! Lao Wang is coming to acquire overseas, what? As long as I can help, I will try my best to help!"

Sun Wanran pursed her lips and said, "Wanda Cinema is doing very well now and should be the largest theater chain in Asia. They want to acquire the AMC theater chain that is currently in trouble. If this deal is completed, they will be the number one in the world."

"This..." Zhou Buqi nodded, "It's feasible."

As the big boss of Ziweixing Global, he also has some understanding of the situation of AMC Cinemas. Some people have even suggested whether to try to acquire AMC Cinemas.

However, internal discussions failed.

Purple Star Universal's scale is too large. If it merges theater assets again, there will be monopoly risks. Hollywood has encountered the Paramount Act, the Anti-Tosra Act, decades ago.

AMC theater chain is currently in difficulty due to two main reasons.

1. Insufficient cash flow;

Second, the overall performance of the box office market is not good enough.

In the next few years, Hollywood blockbusters will follow the new ideas set by Zhou Buqi for Ziweixing Universal and find the right direction, and the box office market will be particularly prosperous.

In other words, now that Wanda has taken over AMC, as long as it solves its cash flow problem, it will be able to make steady profits without losing money.

This is a good opportunity to buy the dip.

Zhou Buqi went out of his way to help, "Okay, make an appointment with him, and I'll introduce him to a few people."

"Settled in Los Angeles?"

"Can."