"As for why they appear near you, I can help you catch them. I believe you will know by then..."
Mikhail finally said,
"In addition, I also found that there are not just one or two groups of people interested in you, but quite a few people. And when I was following them, I got some unexpected gains, which can also be used as part of the transaction."
Barron was not particularly surprised to hear Mikhail's words. After all, the security on his side was mainly to ensure safety. As for those who were spying for other purposes, it was impossible for him to investigate them one by one.
Just like Barron knew before that reporters under News Corporation would eavesdrop on the phone calls of some important people in the "phone-hacking scandal" that was later exposed. For this kind of thing, Barron could make arrangements and collect evidence in advance for the sake of interests.
In addition, his home and office will be regularly inspected by relevant experts to avoid the presence of eavesdropping devices.
He also rarely uses landlines to make calls - Barron's mobile phones for work and private matters are separate, and both use services provided by O2 Telecom. All his calls are encrypted by O2 Telecom, and the most confidential matters, such as contact with Colo, are all conducted through encrypted satellite phones.
He has always been very careful in these matters.
But as for other people or organizations that might spy on his residence, Barron's security can only ensure that the other party does not enter a certain range. It is impossible to block the entire area.
Therefore, Barron was somewhat interested in what Mikhail said about his "harvest".
"I need to get some information. Otherwise, how can I be sure that the intelligence you so-called 'harvest' is useful to me?"
"You should believe in my sincerity, Your Highness, but I can give you a little reminder that some of the conversations involve a man named Colin Hall..."
Colin Hall?
Barron's pupils narrowed slightly. When the other party contacted him and proposed to provide him with a high-value loan through Northern Rock Bank by mortgaging O2 Telecom shares, Barron had doubts. It seemed that there was indeed some conspiracy behind this.
"I can promise you that you can go to Billou Castle in Northern Ireland and find this person. He will help you accomplish this task..."
Barron wrote a name and contact number on a piece of paper and handed it to Mikhail.
"I hope we can cooperate with each other honestly, Your Highness."
Mikhail took the note, looked at Barron deeply, and said.
…
Global Industrial Investment Fund's acquisition of Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing Group is continuing and has made a breakthrough.
After contacting Japan Trust Bank and Japan Custody Bank, which hold a total of 34.36% of Fast Retailing's shares through Goldman Sachs, GII Fund negotiated with them to acquire their shares in Fast Retailing.
Finally, a week later, an agreement was successfully reached with the two banks to acquire their 34.35% shares in Fast Retailing at a premium of 20%... After paying US$1.115 billion to the two banks, plus the shares of Fast Retailing that continued to be acquired in the secondary market during this period, the shares of Fast Retailing held by GII Fund have exceeded 50%, reaching 50.5%.
At this time, the GII Fund officially announced the proportion of shares they held and began to contact Tadashi Yanai, who currently controls the management rights of Fast Retailing Group, and proposed to them that they hope to continue to acquire shares of Fast Retailing Group.
GII Fund stated that their acquisition of Fast Retailing Group's shares was purely based on financial investment and they did not seek the management rights of Fast Retailing Group. This also dispelled some of Yanai Zheng's hostility towards GII Fund.
After negotiations with Tadashi Yanai, GII Fund agreed to limit the acquisition of Fast Retailing Group's shares to 65% at this time. Once this proportion is reached, it will stop acquiring Fast Retailing Group's shares.
The GII Fund continues to support Tadashi Yanai's management of Fast Retailing Group. Tadashi Yanai will continue to serve as the chairman of Fast Retailing Group, and Genichi Tamatsuka will continue to serve as the president of Fast Retailing Group.
But they demanded that three board members be sent to Fast Retailing to ensure the interests of the GII Fund.
At this time, due to the acquisition by GII Fund, Fast Retailing Group's stock price had risen by more than 20%. After GII Fund reached an agreement with Fast Retailing Group's management including Tadashi Yanai, its stock price began to fall slowly.
After that, GII Fund began to purchase Fast Retailing Group's shares from the secondary market and new shareholders. After spending approximately US$2 billion, GII Fund fixed its shareholding in Fast Retailing Group at 65%, which became the first investment after the establishment of this fund.
In fact, Barron's opinion is to only hold part of the shares of Fast Retailing Group, retain the shares held by the Yanai Zheng family, and let them manage the company.
The strategy of the Global Industrial Investment Fund itself is investment-oriented. Although it will carry out mergers and acquisitions and integration in some industries, it will not interfere in the operations of too many companies.
Therefore, when they are not sure that the operating results can be better than those of the original founders, they would rather make financial investments and leave the management of the company to professionals.
This time, the investment in Fast Retailing Group is a reflection of this concept.
After completing the investment in Fast Retailing, Finn Hudson, CEO of Global Industrial Investment Fund, left his team to handle the follow-up matters, and went to Saudi Arabia to discuss the Four Seasons Hotel with Prince Alwaleed...
…
With Mikhail's help, Barron was able to control three suspicious persons who often appeared around his residence in London.
After interrogation, especially the "friendly conversation" initiated by Mikhail, the other party confessed that they were under the orders of Louis Lafayette.
It's not that Louis Lafayette's tentacles have reached England, but when Barron took Alia to visit Riyadh, Alia beside him was recognized by Louis' men...
After all, the other party has been operating in the Middle East and South Asia for quite some time, and has contacts with many prominent upper-class people.
After that, Louis Lafayette began to send his men to investigate Barron, the Duke of England, with the main purpose of finding out his relationship with Alia.
After all, although it is not clear why Alia suddenly disappeared, whether she ran away on her own or was kidnapped; it is also not clear how much she knows about me, but the fact that she fell into the hands of others, especially the hands of a powerful big man, posed a great threat to Louis Lafayette, who had too many secrets.
Barron had anticipated such a result. Although Alia and Mikhail thought Louis Lafayette was a powerful figure, in Barron's eyes, he was a bit inferior and was not taken seriously.
It is no exaggeration to say that, let alone him, even the dignitaries in the Middle East could not do anything to Barron.
Before, Barron was only interested in some of Louis Lafayette's behaviors as an "observation sample."
But now that the other party has set their sights on him, there is no need to keep him around any longer...
Do you really think that the more than 2,000 armed personnel of the Protector Military Company he has in Iraq are just there to do nothing? Just the elite special operations forces after the expansion of personnel will be enough to give him a hard time.
The action planning team of the special operations force that Barron contacted Mikhail was directly mobilized by him. Then the matter of Louis Lafayette would be left to them to deal with.
They will take Mikhail to the Protector Military Company's base in Iraq, and then carry out this operation from there.