In terms of commercial real estate, Argent Property Group has completed more than five office buildings and a commercial complex including shopping and entertainment in the first phase of the King's Cross urban renewal plan.
Except for two office buildings that were sold to Barron's company and became the King Cavendish Building and the O2 Building, the occupancy rate of the remaining commercial buildings is currently over 70%.
It can be said that this ratio is already very good and can bring stable and continuous profits to Argent Real Estate Group.
After all, there has always been a great shortage of office space in London. After they opened these office and commercial spaces in King's Cross, they received positive responses from those companies and businesses.
After hiring a professional team to complete the financial "modification" of Argent Real Estate Group, they will hire Barclays Bank as their sponsor and underwriter, and submit an application to the London Stock Exchange to prepare for an IPO.
You know, the urban renewal plan for King's Cross is the largest urban transformation project in London in nearly 150 years.
As the main promoter of this huge plan, the listing of Argent Real Estate Group will inevitably attract great attention from the market.
At present, it seems that the process of Argent Real Estate Group's preparation for listing is relatively smooth. When Earl Butt talked about this topic with Barron, he also seemed very enthusiastic.
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Currently, Giant Studio has completed the integration after acquiring the independent production company TalkbackTHAMES.
The new company is named Stuart Media and currently consists of the previous Giant Studio and the newly added TT Studio.
It is already May, Giant Studio has already started the production of the second season of "Dancing Miracle", and TT Studio is also planning a new variety show.
Fortunately, since Barron advised Bonnie last time, she has gradually begun to delegate many executive tasks and is mainly responsible for management and creativity.
However, this change still requires gradual adaptation.
Today is Bonnie's birthday. Barron came to the SEM Media Building to pick her up in advance. When he learned that it would take some time for her to finish her work, he went to the SEM Group first - Stuart Media and SEM Group have always been in the same building.
"We have had several rounds of negotiations with ITV regarding the acquisition, and the progress is pretty good..."
After knowing that Barron was coming, SEM Group CEO Fergal Hayden waited for him:
"We have reconfirmed the acquisition plan. It seems that both ITV's management and their board of directors are quite receptive to this plan."
Regarding the acquisition of ITV, SEM Group proposed to do it in the form of cash plus stock. ITV stock holders can choose to sell their shares in pure cash or in the form of cash plus stock - that is, they will get a certain share of cash, and the remaining share will be exchanged for Summit Media shares at a certain ratio.
However, in the sale process by ITV shareholders, only a maximum of one-third of ITV shares can be exchanged for Summit Media shares.
Because ITV's market value is similar to that of Summit Media, this acquisition method was chosen to ensure that SEM Group's shareholding in Summit Media will not be diluted too much and to maintain control.
However, now that Summit Media's acquisition of ITV has reached this point, it is naturally impossible to keep it completely confidential. Many media have already received relevant information from "sources".
Neither Summit Media nor ITV revealed much about these reports and related interviews, only saying that the two sides had had contact but no agreement was reached.
Of course, after this news came out, it also attracted the attention of the BBC and Sky TV.
Currently in the British television and broadcasting industry, since the emergence of Summit Media, the previous three-way competition among BBC, ITV and Sky has gradually developed into the existence of four giants.
Among them, BBC and Sky TV belong to the first tier.
They far surpass other TV stations in terms of revenue and scale, while ITV and Summit Media are slightly inferior to these two TV stations and belong to the second tier.
But if the two complete the merger, the scale of the new TV station that will be formed will be enough to threaten the BBC and Sky TV.
Murdoch's eldest son, James Murdoch, chairman of Sky TV, said in an interview that Summit Media's acquisition of ITV will change the current situation of the British television broadcasting industry and will pose a threat to cultural diversity. Relevant regulatory agencies should review the acquisition.
The chairman of the BBC also made similar remarks recently.
Although Summit Media has refuted their claims, it is certain that if their deal is finally finalized, it will inevitably face antitrust scrutiny from regulators.
By that time, neither the BBC nor Sky will give up trying to prevent the deal from being completed.
"By the way, that girl, Joe Harriman, right? How did she behave?"
Hearing Barron's casual question, Fergal Hayden smiled:
"Joe has performed very well, worked very hard, and is very smart. He has also made contributions in the acquisition of ITV."
The Joe Harriman mentioned by Barron was recommended by Cameron.
The last time the two met, Cameron made a small request, which was that one of his friends needed to arrange a job in a large company for his junior.
Barron naturally agreed readily. It was no big deal for him, and it would also allow him to make friends with Cameron.
If you want to do something, you have to do it well. After getting the other party's information, that is, Joe Harriman, and knowing that she graduated from Oxford University with a degree in politics and economics, he offered several positions for her to choose from.
Joe Harriman eventually chose SEM Group and was soon hired as a member of the group's strategic mergers and acquisitions department.
At the same time, Barron also obtained a background check on Joe Harriman through his intelligence department.
Joe Harriman was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1980 and is 25 years old this year.
After graduating from Oxford University, he joined Ernst & Young, where he worked for four years, moving from a certified public accountant to the M&A advisory department.
This is also the reason why Joe Harriman was assigned to the ITV acquisition team after joining SEM Group.
It can be said that Joe Harriman is not only a top student, but also has an outstanding appearance.
Barron had seen her photos in the information. If people only looked at these photos, most people would not think that she was a top student who graduated from Oxford University with a double degree in political science and economics, but would think that she was a supermodel.
She has a bright and elegant appearance, a model-like tall figure and curvy figure. She is an extraordinary beauty.
When Cameron recommended Joe Harriman to Barron, he also speculated that the other party had some close relationship with Cameron.
But after seeing Joe Harriman's detailed background check, I understood why.
Rather than recommending Joe Harriman, it would be more accurate to say that Cameron is deepening his relationship with the current Conservative Party leader Howard.
Joe Harriman's grandmother was a very close friend of the wife of Conservative Party leader Howard. The two had a relationship that began when they were both models many years ago.