Chapter 323 Target: London Stock Exchange

 has entered September, and Mars Fund has begun to withdraw its share of capital gains. After that, the investment window will be opened again.

  Starting next year, the Mars Fund will only open an investment window once a year in early September.

  The total size of the Mars Fund has exceeded 3 billion USD. The funds invested in September last year have achieved a return rate of nearly 150% so far, which is terrifying!

  According to the profit-sharing rules of the Mars Fund, DS Investment can get nearly 600 million USD from these funds this time!

  This is also based on the terrifying rate of return of the Mars Fund.

  Since Barron last visited Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, many wealthy people in the Middle East had the intention to invest in Mars Fund before the establishment of the Global Industrial Investment Fund, but the Mars Fund had not yet opened its investment window.

  After the Mars Fund opened its investment window, the funds from them and other enthusiastic investors not only filled the gap after the Mars Fund's division, but also increased the total fund size again, exceeding US$3.5 billion.

  After all, the next investment window for this fund will open only a year later.

  In fact, if the Mars Fund had not set a minimum investment amount of more than 10 million pounds, the total amount of funds flowing into this fund would be even more terrifying.

  After all, through more than two years of operation, this fund, which is capable of stable and high-multiple growth, has accumulated a certain reputation.

  This is why these wealthy people in the Middle East are so confident in investing their huge amounts of money into this fund.

  The most important thing is the demonstration effect of Barron himself. Relying on repeated investments, he directly entered the top of the Forbes Global Rich List this year and surpassed the Duke of Westminster to become the new richest man in Britain.

  His investment vision and achievements are naturally more convincing than those of other so-called "star fund managers".

  …

  After completing the privatization acquisition of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Finn Hudson, CEO of Global Industrial Investment Fund, returned to London.

  Currently, the GII Fund holds 65% of Fast Retailing Group's shares and 47.5% of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In addition, there is approximately US$2.8 billion in funds remaining.

  This time he came to London, Barron had found the next target for the GII Fund.

  "In recent times, the share price of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been between 3.9 and 4 pounds per share. We have started to acquire its shares and now hold approximately 11.46 million LSE shares, accounting for approximately 4.5% of their total share capital..."

  Finn Hudson told Barron's:

  "The circulation ratio of the London Stock Exchange's shares is relatively high, but in addition to absorbing their shares in the secondary market, we are also trying to contact investment companies that hold shares in the London Stock Exchange, including Threadneedle Investments and Scottish Widows, to acquire their shares."

  Yes, this time the GII Fund's target is the London Stock Exchange.

  The London Stock Exchange is one of the four largest stock exchanges in the world and the largest stock exchange in Europe, handling more than two-thirds of international stock underwriting business.

  The history of the London Stock Exchange, a "noble lady", can be traced back to the London Coffee House in the 17th century.

  In 1760, 150 stock brokers in London spontaneously formed a club for buying and selling stocks, which was renamed the Stock Exchange in 1773.

  The modern London Stock Exchange was not formed until 1973 after the merger of 11 British and Irish stock exchanges.

  The total market capitalization of companies listed on it has now reached US$2.56 trillion, making the London Stock Exchange the world's third largest stock exchange.  

  It is the "lady-like" temperament of the London Stock Exchange that has attracted "olive branches" from almost all stock exchanges in the world.

  In fact, as early as 1998, the London Stock Exchange had become the target of M&A "marriage".

  Among them, the earliest and most persistent one is the German Stock Exchange. In 1998, Werner Seifert, CEO of the German Stock Exchange, first proposed an alliance to the London Stock Exchange, but failed.

  Baron knew that at the end of this year and the beginning of next year, the German Stock Exchange would also launch two acquisition offers for the London Stock Exchange, which would ultimately be rejected by the British side.

  In addition, in October 2000, the Swedish OMX Exchange also intended to invest 1.06 billion pounds to acquire the London Stock Exchange, which was also rejected at the time.

  It can be said that these intentions to acquire the London Stock Exchange, in addition to the review of the British regulator, are also due to the fact that the London Stock Exchange is not satisfied with their bids and believes that they do not reflect the value of the London Stock Exchange...

  At this time, the share price of the London Stock Exchange was between 3.9 and 4 pounds, and its market value was around 1 billion pounds.

  But it is definitely impossible to acquire the London Stock Exchange at a price of 1 billion pounds.

  You should know that four years ago in 2000, the Swedish OMX Exchange offered 1.06 billion pounds to the London Stock Exchange. This price was about 21% higher than the market value of the London Stock Exchange at the time, but it was also rejected by them.

  According to Finn Anderson's prediction, in order to impress the London Stock Exchange, the premium would need to be more than 30%, or even 50%.

  Therefore, if the acquisition of the London Stock Exchange is to be completed, the funds used will probably be between 1.3 billion pounds and 1.5 billion pounds.

  Barron was quite satisfied with this estimated price, because he remembered that at the end of this year in the original time and space, the German Stock Exchange offered a price of 1.35 billion pounds to the London Stock Exchange, which was more than 20% higher than the share price of the London Stock Exchange at that time, but it was still rejected...

  The two investment companies currently contacted by the GII Fund both sold their shares in the London Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Group after Barron's original time and space.

  Among them, Threadneedle Investments, which can be translated as Tianli Investment, is currently the largest single shareholder of the London Stock Exchange, holding approximately 14.5% of the London Stock Exchange's shares; the other one, Scottish Widows, uh, translated as Scottish Widows Fund Company, holds approximately 5.8% of the London Stock Exchange's shares.

  Currently, GII Fund Company has offered them 4.6 pounds per share, which is about 15% premium over the current market price, to acquire the London Stock Exchange shares held by the two companies. Their current response is only that the offer needs to be discussed, and no clear answer has been given.

  Therefore, in the future, in addition to continuing to acquire shares of the London Stock Exchange in the secondary market, the GII Fund will continue to contact other institutions holding shares of the London Stock Exchange and make acquisition offers.

  "We must act quickly to purchase stocks on the exchange. Even if it causes a slight fluctuation in the stock price, it can be tolerated. After all, as we get in touch with more shareholders of the London Stock Exchange, the intention to acquire the London Stock Exchange will be known to others more quickly. In addition to the response of the London Stock Exchange management, their stock price will definitely rise accordingly..."

  Barron's concerns were also recognized by Finn Anderson, CEO of GII Fund. He nodded and said:

  "We will speed up the acquisition of LSE shares, but we still need to communicate with their management. We just hope that before that, we can get as many chips as possible."

  Barron is also looking forward to this. After all, the acquisition of the London Stock Exchange is not only very important for his future financial layout, but it will also be a very cost-effective investment.

  The current market value of the London Stock Exchange is only 1 billion pounds. Even at a 50% premium, it would only cost 1.5 billion pounds to acquire the world's third-ranked exchange.

  What he still remembered was that in 2019, when the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was preparing to acquire the London Stock Exchange, the offer it made was close to 30 billion pounds, a full 20 times difference.