The reason for deciding to acquire British Logistics is that Barron knows that in the original time and space, EXEL will be acquired by Deutsche Post for 3.6 billion pounds in September next year.
Also, as mentioned before, on January 1, 2006, the UK postal regulator will begin to implement new rules allowing postal companies to compete openly and "share" the UK postal service market.
Prior to this, as a state-owned company that had monopolized the UK's postal business for 350 years, the Royal Mail enjoyed many privileges, making it difficult for other logistics companies to compete with it.
Next year, the UK's postal regulator will issue long-term operating licenses to 13 postal companies, a move that will pave the way for them to compete fairly with the Royal Mail.
No one knows about this move yet, so the market value of British Logistics is only around 2.5 billion pounds.
After the new policy is promulgated next year, the market value of British Logistics, the largest logistics company in the UK besides the Royal Mail, will rise to 3.3 billion pounds, and will eventually be acquired by Deutsche Post at a premium of 3.6 billion pounds.
Of course, if Barron acquired British Logistics just for such a small premium, that would definitely be impossible.
The main problem is the "Speedbit" logistics company currently owned by DS Capital, which is still developing a little slowly and is currently limited to delivery in London and surrounding areas.
According to the plan, starting from New Year's Day 2005, Argos.com, the official website of the Argos Retail Group, will no longer be limited to the delivery range within the vicinity of the store, but will open up express delivery services to four countries including England, Ireland, France and Germany.
In this case, it is necessary to have a logistics company that can match it to cooperate. The most suitable partner is Yingyun Logistics, which has logistics distribution capabilities all over the world.
According to Barron's plan, Argos Retail Group will begin to complete the transformation from a "mail-order" sales network to a sales model that combines e-commerce and offline sales next year.
According to later statistics, the main market for e-commerce in Europe is in Western Europe.
Therefore, Argos Retail Group must first occupy the online sales market in Western Europe in order to compete with Amazon in the future.
Time is running out for Argos Retail Group. Next, they will occupy Germany, Italy, Spain and other Western European countries at the rate of one country per year. They will first occupy the Western European market through warehousing and logistics, and then gradually improve the pickup outlets.
Therefore, logistics is a very important part of this strategy, and it is also the reason why Caesar Fund first decided to acquire British Logistics.
…
Christmas is coming, and just at this time, snowflakes are falling in London, adding a bit of Christmas atmosphere.
Barron and Rebecca's daughter Jennifer is more than seven months old. The little girl is chubby and very cute.
This made Barron unable to help but pick up his daughter and kiss her pink face.
The fireplace in the room was burning brightly, and the whole room was extremely warm, which created a huge contrast with the snowflakes falling outside the window.
Rebecca was wearing silk pajamas, leaning lazily against Barron's side.
By now, her figure has completely recovered and she looks like a girl. You can't tell at all that she is already a mother.
"You're going to America soon, aren't you, dear?"
"Yes, I have promised the President of the United States that I will go to the White House to attend the New Year's banquet..."
Rebecca had heard about this before. She leaned her head on Barron's shoulder, her big eyes twinkling:
"Will she go with you?"
"Um..."
Barron naturally understood what she meant. He turned his head, kissed her on the cheek, and asked:
"Are you bored in London again?"
"It's been quite peaceful going to school during this period, but compared to London, I prefer the climate in Los Angeles. It's not so cold there..."
"How about this, in two months, I will take you to Los Angeles. I can bring your mother and daughter with me, and you can live there for a while."
Hearing Barron's words, Rebecca smiled:
"Really? That's great, dear."
…
Just as Barron said, after Christmas, he and Bonnie arrived in America on the Devonshire.
They first went to New York, where they stayed in the penthouse on the Woolworth Building.
"Where's Bonnie?"
Upon hearing the news that Barron and Bonnie had arrived in New York, Jenny Butt arrived here as soon as possible.
"She's resting in the bedroom. Well, she needs to adjust to the time difference..."
In fact, they could have had a good rest in the bedroom on the plane, but Bonnie, who originally wanted to rest for a while, ended up feeling tired because Barron wanted to experience the feeling of "making rapid progress" again.
After arriving at the penthouse, she continued to "catch up on sleep."
But after hearing what Barron said, Jenny's eyes clearly lit up...
"I originally wanted to go shopping with her, but now we can use other forms of exercise..."
As for what kind of exercise, Jenny had already taken Barron's hand and walked into a guest room...
Then, she began to "denounce" Barron with great eloquence...
…
I have to say that women's acting skills are truly amazing.
When Bonnie woke up, Jenny Booth, who looked in great spirits, took Bonnie's hand and went shopping on Fifth Avenue like a good sister.
Barron left the two women and went to the New York branch of DS Capital on Wall Street.
Since it started operating in February this year, in ten months, the Zeuss Fund's returns have exceeded 35%!
That is to say, the Zeuss Fund, which had an initial capital of US$1 billion and was invested by Goldman Sachs and DS Capital each with US$500 million, has earned more than US$350 million.
This result also made Goldman Sachs very satisfied.
As the high-frequency trading of the Zeuss Fund becomes more stable, Goldman Sachs Group also intends to continue to increase its investment. By February next year, it will add US$500 million to the Zeuss Fund. Baron will also add an equal amount of funds through DS Capital at that time. By then, the total size of the Zeuss Fund will be close to US$2.5 billion.
In addition, now that the Global Industrial Investment Fund has completed the acquisition of the London Stock Exchange, Barron's is also preparing to replicate a high-frequency trading fund from London next year that specifically operates on the London Stock Exchange stocks. This fund does not need to cooperate with Goldman Sachs Group and can be funded entirely by DS Capital.