Chapter 132: Go with the Flow

Barron's intention in saying this was to give the other party the right to choose first.

When the future of SDTV was still unknown, it was not easy for any company to invest 300 million pounds over five years in Digital UK.

What's more, at this time, Sinclair Group, as a listed company, had a market value of only about US$2 billion.

Speaking of SEM Group, Barron will sooner or later raise funds or accept investments from other companies. Even if there is no financial pressure, it will always need to exchange resources through these methods, or win more allies.

As long as it is handled properly, it will not affect the Devonshire family's control over the company.

Just like the Sinclair Group, even though it has become a listed company and its shares are very dispersed, the Sinclair family's control over the company is still solid.

Founders release shares of their company either to seek funding or resources.

If someone is willing to share the pressure of initial capital investment without affecting his control over the company, Barron will not completely refuse.

"We don't need too many shares to maintain our partnership. 10%-20% is enough. In exchange, we are willing to issue you no more than 8.5 million shares of Sinclair Group."

Currently, the total share capital of the Sinclair Group is around 85 million shares, which means that they can allow Barron to hold less than 10% of the group's shares, which would make him a major shareholder - but whether Barron is willing to use the money to purchase the additional shares in full is not within the other party's consideration.

Barron's once checked that Sinclair Group's current stock price is around $24, so it would take about $200 million to buy its full shares.

He believed that if he had not proposed the need to make a large investment in Digital UK, the shares of SEM Group that John Smith wanted would not be as small as 10%-20%. It was also this incident that made the other party "cautious" about holding shares in SEM Group.

"I basically agree with this approach, but I will send someone to discuss the specific operation methods with you."

Actually, now is not the best time for SEM Group to raise funds, because the development prospects of terrestrial digital television are still unclear; in addition, "Downton Abbey", a TV series that will be popular worldwide, has not yet been broadcast, so the valuation that SEM Group can get will definitely not satisfy Barron.

But these are all things that can be discussed. Anyway, it is only half a month away from the completion of filming and broadcast of "Downton Abbey".

It would probably take at least half a month for their mutual shareholding negotiations to produce any results, especially if Barron were to procrastinate a little.

…

"Are you still awake? Barron."

Chris's words brought Barron back from his thoughts on the cooperation with Sinclair Group.

Turning around and looking in the direction of the sound, Barron saw the Viscountess standing at the stairs wearing a slightly loose long dress.

"I just came back and saw that Bonnie had fallen asleep. I didn't want to disturb her, so I sat here for a while."

There is a small villa in the villa, which is prepared for guests to stay overnight. Barron and his friends live here.

"I just wanted to go see her again, so I won't go over there, so as not to wake her up."

As she spoke, the Viscountess walked up to Barron.

When Barron looked up and met her gaze, he found that her eyes seemed to be able to speak, and the meaning behind them...

The Viscountess squatted down in front of Barron and looked up at him with a dazed look in her eyes.

When her hands, which were resting on His Royal Highness's legs, began to move dishonestly...

Barron took a deep breath and said lightly:

"You want to be here? Chris..."

"Are you scared?"

Facing the Viscountess's slightly provocative words, Barron smiled slightly:

"Why not go to Bonnie's place?"

"I'm a little excited when I think about it. Do you really dare?"

Barron answered her by carrying the Viscountess by the waist on his shoulders and then walked towards his and Bonnie's bedroom.

Seeing that the young duke really did this, the Viscountess finally panicked as she approached the bedroom door. She lowered her voice and said impatiently,

"Go, go to my room..."

"Actually, I'd rather try the balcony..."

…

"Bonnie, how are you feeling today?"

The next morning, during breakfast, Jenny Booth came to their villa and saw Bonnie sitting at the dining table, and asked enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Jenny, I feel much better."

"That's great. You look much better than yesterday. We can go shopping together this afternoon. There are a few stores on Fifth Avenue that I think are great."

As she spoke, Jenny Boot looked at Barron:

"Your Highness, would you like to go with us?"

Well, regarding this issue, I'm afraid that as men, we will subconsciously avoid accompanying women shopping:

"Dear Jenny, I have promised John that I will visit the Sinclair Group with him, so..."

"Well, you men are always so boring."

This is not an excuse. Barron had already agreed on today's itinerary with John yesterday.

The main reason was that he didn't have much impression of the programs owned by the Sinclair Group, so he wanted to see if there was any inspiration from his past life memories during today's visit that could help him achieve better cooperation results.

In addition, after visiting the Sinclair Group, John Smith would take Barron to meet several of his friends, who were also members of American business families.

This time, John Smith did not say much about the cooperation with the SEM Group. After determining the general policy, they would leave the rest of the matters to their subordinates to "bargain". Naturally, they would not do such things personally.

But in the end, their previously planned trip to Avalon Hollywood nightclub in Los Angeles did not take place.

Because there were things to deal with in London, and the Viscountess also received a call from Viscount Bute, who seemed to have something to deal with, so they only stayed in New York for two days and then flew back to London.

"Your Highness, here is the information about the Imperial Shield military company, as well as the relevant information about its founder, Melvin Coy."

In the intelligence team's office, Nigel Inkster handed Barron a relatively thick folder.

After opening it and glancing at it, Barron said,

"Give me a brief introduction."

"The 'Imperial Shield' military company was founded three years ago and currently has about 200 employees. Among private military companies, it is considered to be relatively small..."

Nigel said,

"Larger-sized private military companies, such as the well-known Blackwater, have as many as 20,000 employees, enough to overthrow the regimes of some small countries. As for Empire Shield, although the number of employees is not large, the personnel are still elite. Most importantly, according to our investigation, this company currently has no affiliated groups or forces. It was completely developed by McVin Coy and a few friends."