Chapter 428 AuthenTic

"AuthenTic?"

"Yes, did you forget? In the list of companies related to fingerprint recognition that I asked you to collect, AuthenTic was at the top of the list."

Seeing Ivanta's surprised expression, Barron said lightly.

"I remember... but I was a little confused at the time. Could it be that... you were going to configure fingerprint recognition on the phone? But the current technology is totally unable to achieve that!"

The company they are talking about is called AuthenTec, which was founded in 1998 and its main product is fingerprint scanner.

AuthenTic owns many patents covering fingerprint recognition chips, chip packaging, software and end-use.

Just as Ivanta said, the current fingerprint recognition is still far from being applied on mobile phones. Otherwise, it would be impossible that there are no mobile phones using this function.

In fact, as early as 1998, Siemens demonstrated its own fingerprint recognition mobile phone.

The fingerprint technology of this phone comes from Bromba. Although it is only a prototype and has not been mass-produced, it proves to the world the possibility of mobile phones being equipped with fingerprint recognition.

Until Barron's previous life, the Motorola Atrix 4G [ME860] launched in April 2011 was the first smartphone to have fingerprint recognition. However, until then, these fingerprint recognitions were all performed using a sliding (also known as scratching) method.

Then in 2012, after Apple acquired fingerprint sensor manufacturer AuthenTec for $356 million, the iPhone 5S they launched the following year could be called the world's first mobile phone equipped with press-type fingerprint recognition.

"Yes, the current technology is still a long way from being able to install fingerprint recognition on mobile phones, but I hope to start planning now and conduct targeted research, and AuthenTic is a related company that I am optimistic about."

Sorry, Steve Jobs, you've already walked the path for me...

So I can only intercept it again.

It is worth mentioning that AuthenTic's current size is only modest. They will not go public until 2007. When Apple acquires the company, the price of $356 million is a 60% premium over its market value.

According to relevant assessments, if this company is acquired at present, the price will not exceed 50 million US dollars.

Ivanta was still very convinced of Barron's decision, and her previous questions were just because she wanted to know more.

After the two of them reached an agreement, she left New York and started the acquisition of AuthenTic.

…

After Barron went to Los Angeles to spend a few days with the Hearst sisters, Rebecca and their daughter, and took a look at the technology companies in Silicon Valley, he left America and returned to London.

When I returned to London, it was already October.

He just happened to catch up with the listing of Argent Real Estate Group - Argent Real Estate Group started the IPO process a few months ago. This time, Argent Real Estate Group will publicly issue 171 million shares, accounting for 15% of the total capital after issuance.

October 3rd is the day when Argent Property Group officially lists on the main board of the London Stock Exchange.

The sponsor of Argent Real Estate Group's listing this time is Barclays Bank, which finally determined the issue price of their shares to be 5.5 pounds. Based on this calculation, after Argent Real Estate Group's listing, its market value will exceed 6.27 billion pounds.

On the day of listing, Argent Property Group's stock price performed well, with an opening price of over 6 pounds and an intraday high of over 6.5 pounds. It finally closed at 6.37 pounds that day, up 15.8% from the issue price.

This brings the market value of Argent Property Group to £7.26 billion.

Barron's DS Holdings and Devonshire Family Trust Fund hold a total of nearly 300 million shares in Argent Real Estate Group, which is now worth 1.911 billion pounds, which can be said to be a huge profit.

At the same time, due to the issuance of shares, the shareholding ratio held by DS Holdings and Devonshire Family Trust has been diluted from 31% to 26.35%.

It can be said that the IPO process of the entire Argent Real Estate Group was relatively successful, so the group's shareholders, including Earl Bute, were very satisfied with the result.

Because the 171 million shares of Argent Real Estate Group that they publicly issued this time were all new shares, and none of them were sold by the original shareholders.

The fact that the current share price is higher than the share issue price also allows other shareholders to choose the opportunity to sell off their holdings at a better price - of course, this is for those shareholders who already want to cash in on Argent Real Estate Group shares.

Neither the Butt family nor Barron are planning to sell off their holdings in Argent Property Group anytime soon, but for them, the increase in the value of their holdings will also help them increase the amount of financing loans they can use these shares for.

"My dear wife, don't work too hard. After all, you are not alone now..."

When Barron returned home, he saw that his newly married wife Bonnie Stuart had returned early. However, when he saw her, she was handling official business in the study, so he couldn't help but remind her.

"Okay, honey, I just need to send them an email."

Bonnie said this with a sweet smile on her face when she saw Barron walk in.

After she finished sending the email and turned off the computer, she saw Barron coming over to help her stand up. She couldn't help but smile and said,

"I'm not incapable of moving. Don't worry, dear. I have already arranged to delegate most of the work to my subordinates, and I have recently hired another assistant. If the company runs normally, there won't be too much trouble."

By now, Stuart Media is on the right track.

In addition to their previous shows "Strictly Come Dancing" and "Sparkling Life", new shows have also been arranged.

The second season of "Dancing Miracle" has ended. Bonnie will no longer be able to serve as the host of the second season of "Sparkling Life", but the new host's current performance can also satisfy her.

As for the new program, which is named "Britain's Got Talent" and is a grassroots talent show, both the commentating guests and the host have already been confirmed.

Yes, this show is the "Got Talent" that Barron produced in his previous life. It was first launched in England in 2007. After the overwhelming response, many countries including the United States and China purchased the copyright to produce it.

It was still Barron who provided Bonnie with creative ideas. Even the commentators and hosts of this show were found by Stuart Media according to Barron's ideas (the lineup of the original time and space).

At that time, Bonnie had not yet discovered that she was pregnant, so she was personally in charge of the planning and invitation of the program.

However, after she found out she was pregnant, she could no longer take on so much work and gradually handed over the main work of this new program to her subordinates.

Britain's Got Talent will be produced by TalkbackTHAMES, which was previously acquired by Stuart Media, and Bonnie will also follow the progress of the show and try to make it a hit.

"Baby, you have to get used to having a bodyguard by your side. You know, after what happened on the London Underground, safety is the most important thing now."

Hearing Barron talking about this topic, Bonnie looked at him helplessly:

"Okay, I will, but don't make it too grand."

Although Bonnie now works mostly behind the scenes, she is still a public figure.

Especially after marrying Barron, the most popular Duke in England, her every move has attracted much attention.

Correspondingly, some slight changes in her figure have been captured by reporters recently, so the news that the Duchess, known as the "English Rose", is pregnant has also appeared in many media reports.

Bonnie is Barron's legal wife, so there is no need to hide this matter.

But the issue of her safety is of course worth noting. Barron has carefully selected two female bodyguards for her personal protection, and every time she goes out, there will be a team of security personnel following her to provide protection.