Hollywood Hunter

After making up his mind, Simon asked, "Then, Mr. Maekawa, what price are you going to offer?"

Haruo Maekawa said: "According to the information we have collected, Cersei Capital's current net asset value should be around 2.5 billion US dollars, and we can bid 3 billion US dollars."

Without waiting for Haruo Maekawa to continue speaking, Simon shook his head and said, "Mr. Maekawa, this offer is too insincere. I think you should be able to roughly judge the size of Cersei Capital's long positions. I am very optimistic about the impact of the Nikkei 225 Index above 40,000 points. High, according to this prediction, as long as I keep the long position in my hand, I will be able to get another 1 billion US dollars in the next few months. Moreover, if you still want me to avoid shorting the Tokyo stock market after the market turns, 3 billion U.S. dollar quotations are even more impossible."

"Mr. Westeros, I am sure you are not a greedy person. What you describe is just an idealized assumption."

"If the operation of the North American stock market two years ago hadn't become an established fact, probably everyone would think that this was just an idealized assumption. Mr. Maekawa, I am still very confident in my judgment."

Maekawa was silent for a moment, then raised his hand slightly to indicate, "So, how much do you think is appropriate?"

Simon gave an offer without hesitation: "5 billion dollars."

Haruo Maekawa blurted out, "Too high."

Simon noticed the obvious gestures in Maekawa's words, and suddenly realized that his asking price might be a little low.

If you think about it, the total market value of the Japanese stock market has exceeded 7 trillion US dollars, not to mention the Japanese property market and the entire Japanese economy.

In comparison, US$5 billion can take him out of the market, which may trigger a stock market crash. Such a price is totally worth it.

What's more, the Japanese are not simply paying him a large sum of cash. They can also get the entire investment portfolio of Cersei Capital.

Cersei Capital’s total net asset value of approximately US$2.5 billion has cash reserves of US$500 million, and the value of various investment portfolios is approximately US$2 billion, and the total holding ratio is 80%.

Calculated according to the data in Simon’s memory, if this batch of investment portfolios dominated by financial products such as stocks, bonds, stock index futures have been held to the peak of the Japanese market, the total value will not be less than 3.5 billion U.S. dollars including cash. . In addition, Simon needs to give up the opportunity to short the Japanese stock market in the future, and the asking price of $5 billion is indeed not high.

You know, after the Japanese stock market turned in memory, the Nikkei 225 index plummeted 10,000 points in just four months, a drop of more than 25%. If Cersei Capital can establish a short position of the same size as the current long position, a 25% drop in four months is enough to bring Simon billions of dollars in profits.

Of course, this time it is really just an idealized assumption.

Japan is actually a very closed market.

In my memory, after the Japanese stock market crashed, the Japanese government took a lot of harsh restrictive measures to avoid short-selling by speculative capital. What's more, stock index futures is a two-way zero-sum game. In the case of a stock market crash, it is not so easy for Simon to establish sufficient short positions because of the lack of bullish capital for gambling.

All in all, taking advantage of this opportunity to cash out at one time is definitely the best choice.

Since it was Haruo Maekawa, the former governor of the Bank of Japan, who personally acted, the major Japanese banks and major chaebols must pay for this transaction.

With the rapid development of the Japanese economy over the years, the top ten largest banks in the world are all Japanese banks. The total assets of these banks range from hundreds of billions of dollars to trillions of dollars. The well-known economic strength of Japan's major chaebols is even stronger.

These capital forces only need to get together a little bit between their fingers, and it is more than enough to put out 5 billion US dollars.

However, even though he realized that his offer was low, Simon did not intend to go back.

In less than half a year, the principal amount of US$1.57 billion soared to US$5 billion, which not only exceeded Simon’s expectations, but also saved him a lot of time.

Cashing out such a huge amount of capital in advance, Simon can then focus on the North American bond market, oil futures and many other things.

"Mr. Maekawa, the price of 5 billion US dollars is very reasonable. I don't think you intend to cash out immediately after buying out Cersei Capital’s investment portfolio. If we reach an agreement as soon as possible, you can give a certain guarantee that Cersei Capital can take The way to continue to increase the position is to signal to the outside world that I am still optimistic about the Japanese stock market, so as to minimize the risk of Friday's crash."

Maekawa just showed a hesitant expression, nodded quickly, and continued talking about the Japanese terms: "Simon, we can accept such an offer. However, in addition to the conditions just now, we also hope that you will continue to be on the surface. Dominate the operation of Cersei Capital. Of course, only on the surface, we will remotely control Cersei Capital’s operations."

Simon immediately understood Haruo Maekawa's subtext.

The Japanese want to rely on Cersei Capital to maintain investor confidence in the Japanese stock market.

If Simon is bearish on the Japanese stock market, the result is likely to be catastrophic, as evidenced by the unexpected collapse of the Japanese stock market on Friday. On the contrary, if Simon has remained bullish on the Japanese stock market, he would not dare to bet on the large amount of short-selling capital that has been eyeing the Japanese stock market.

Cersei Capital happens to be the most intuitive expression of Simon's personal will.

Everyone knows how serious the bubble component of the Japanese stock market is.

The main purpose of the Japanese doing this now is to buy time to take more measures to promote a soft landing of the Japanese economy.

Therefore, Simon speculated that after the Japanese bought Cersei Capital’s investment portfolio, they would not choose to cash out unless the situation was completely irreversible.

As long as we can buy more time for the Japanese economy and billions of dollars of funds, it will be worthwhile to lose money completely. Once the stock market crash occurs, the Japanese government wants to rescue the market, even if it spends hundreds of billions of dollars, it may not be effective.

After clarifying the pros and cons of these joints, Simon once again felt that the price he had just offered was too low.

However, as Haruo Maekawa just said, Simon is really not a greedy person.

Perhaps his offer is higher, the Japanese will grit their teeth and agree, but the relationship between the two parties will not be as peaceful as it is now.

The malicious mergers that have been popular in recent years, the acquired company sends away the hostile acquirer by redeeming the stock, and the premium rarely exceeds 100%. Cersei Capital’s net asset value is only 2.5 billion U.S. dollars. If Simon’s offer exceeds 5 billion, the transaction is not a business, but a blackmail.

US$5 billion, a 100% premium, is probably a psychological price that Japanese people can easily accept.

Although his bones have been nurtured for a long time with an instinctive resistance to the Japanese, Simon has no intention of deliberately confronting the Japanese.

As a human being, Simon has no sense of belonging to the United States, nor does he have much hatred for Japan. He is just a lone ghost who fortunately occupy the body of others, and he can only protect the interests of himself and those around him.

Seeing that Haruo Maekawa was still waiting for his reply, Simon nodded and added: "Mr. Maekawa, I can agree that you continue to use Cersei Capital to operate. However, I will not publicly publish any views on the Japanese economy, regardless of Is it positive or negative. In addition, Cersei Capital still belongs to me. You can only get the ownership of the five sub-funds. Moreover, after this incident, I also hope that you can return the shells of these five sub-funds. Give it to me. Of course, it doesn't matter, but they can no longer be affiliated with Cersei Capital. Well, the period is limited to the five years we just agreed."

"No problem," Maekawa promised happily. He reached out and shook Simon's hand. The deal was concluded. He couldn't wait to talk about Simon's proposal: "Mr. Westeros, we can pay a sum of 5 today. With a margin of 100 million U.S. dollars, I hope you can fulfill the promise you just made and increase Cersei Capital’s long position as promised after the market opens tomorrow.

Simon let go of Maekawa's hand and nodded: "Of course, in order to avoid unnecessary speculation in the market, I plan to leave Australia this afternoon."

"That's the best," Maekawa Haruo said, and then asked, "It's just that our transaction agreement?"

The two have just negotiated a general plan, and many details need to be considered in detail.

Simon said: "My girlfriend Jenny and Tony can negotiate with you instead of me."

Haruo Maekawa reminded: "Mr. Westeros, we hope this matter can be kept as confidential as possible, and the less people know the better."

"I understand, but I can't stay in Australia forever. Moreover, Jenny and Tony have been responsible for Cersei Capital during this period. If you want to continue to maintain Cersei Capital's operations, they will definitely pay Get involved. Moreover, we cannot conceal this matter from investors. I can only promise to cooperate as much as possible to control the information. If you feel necessary, you can also sign a confidentiality agreement."

"So," Maekawa stood up, bowed slightly and stretched out his hand to Simon again, saying: "I hope we can cooperate happily this time."

Simon also stood up, reached out and shook his opponent, smiled and said, "I hope so too."

The matter was negotiated, and Maekawa Haruo and his party hurriedly left.

Simon introduced the deal just now to Janet and Anthony. Both of them knew how much benefit Cersei Capital accounted for, and naturally they would not object. Anthony immediately called Raymond Johnston, who was still in Western Australia, hoping that the old man would come back to preside over the overall situation.

Cersei Capital’s other investors are still the most secure communication with the old man in person.

If you can cash out in one go, other investors will not object to it. The key is to keep it confidential.

Simon is not too worried about this. The forces that can be selected to participate in Cersei Capital are closely related to the Johnston family. The investment threshold set by the old man was very high. In the end, only nine external capitals including the Murdoch family, the Fairfax family and the Parker family participated.

In the 1980s, the Australian economy was very dependent on Japan. Like the Johnston family, most of the Australian forces that invested in Cersei Capital had various connections with Japanese capital. Now that everyone has benefited, perhaps coupled with the non-disclosure agreement, there is no need to risk offending the Japanese to expose the other party's layout.

Moreover, as long as proper communication is conducted, other investors do not need to know who bought out Cersei Capital's investment portfolio.

Of course, these details are not something Simon needs to worry about.

Raymond Johnston flew back from Perth, Western Australia at two o'clock in the afternoon.

Simon and the old man met for a general discussion, and rushed to Melbourne Airport in the western suburbs. Janet will stay in Melbourne for a while.

At Melbourne Airport, watching the tractor towing a Boeing 767 to the runway, Simon said to Janet, who was seeing him off next to him: “It just so happens that you can buy a Boeing 767 this time. I don’t like always renting it like this. Go back. Just place an order and you can go back some time and you can design the interior decoration yourself. In the future, we will be able to travel to and from Australia more conveniently."

Janet took Simon's arm and said, "Auntie has helped you buy the remaining buildings in the Manhattan plot."

Simon nodded: "I know."

Although it was handed over to the shell company that Veronica helped to establish, the funds still had to be transferred from Westeros, and Simon naturally knew about this.

Because of the continued decline in the North American property market, Simon's purchase of properties between 59th and 60th Streets east of Madison Avenue in Manhattan in order to build the Westeros Building became very smooth.

All six buildings were purchased, including the land, with a total expenditure of US$173 million, which was much higher than Simon's initial estimate.

Moreover, if you want to imitate the appearance of the Avengers Building and build the tallest building in Manhattan, the cost to be paid is also very expensive. Simon privately commissioned a real estate design company to do general statistics, but the main building cost will not be less than 500 million US dollars. If Simon has high requirements on the building materials, design details, safety protection, etc., there will be no upper limit on the cost.

In addition, to construct such a building, the user problem of the building must be solved first. Otherwise, if a building with more than 100 floors becomes vacant, the result will be disastrous.

The Westeros Building can be regarded as the place where Simon's personal dream is generally. Even if users are not considered for the time being, Simon does not intend to do things with low standards. He hopes that everything will be built with the highest standards. In this way, the cost of the Westeros Building will rise to the $1 billion level.

One billion US dollars may not be a big deal 20 or 30 years later, but this era is a sky-high price.

Although Simon's profit from the Japanese financial market this time is enough to pay for the construction of the Westeros Building, he still has many more urgent things to do, and he has to postpone this plan. The idea of ​​buying a Boeing 767 was just a compromise.

The three wishes that Xingzhizhi talked about with Janet that night, Simon wanted to be in place in one step, but the reality is very difficult to satisfy. If you want to realize your wishes too eagerly, you may not have enough capital to guard those things.

After all, I am still not rich enough.

Janet saw that Simon had just responded and stopped speaking, and suddenly chuckled, and rubbed his head on Simon's shoulder, and said, "Is it disappointed this time?"

Simon was puzzled: "Huh?"

"Auntie is in Singapore in recent days."

Simon acted stupid decisively: "What happened to your aunt?"

"Hmph," Janet squinted at Simon and said with a slight snort, "Someone was drunk last night, and he sniffed like a dog on his neck."

Simon was not fooled, and shook his head: "I'm not drunk, and you fell asleep before me."

"In the middle of the night, I woke up."

"I sleep well and don't do strange things in my dreams."

"How do you know what you look like when you fall asleep?"

"You snore after you fall asleep."

"would not!!!"

"how do you know?"

"Little bastard, you almost changed the subject," Janet clasped Simon's arm, accusing him like this, but his tone softened again, and whispered softly: "That's not right, Simon."

Simon has always known that Janet is an extremely smart woman, not to mention that they have been together for so long, there is probably no second person in the world who knows herself better than her. Moreover, starting with Catherine, certain attributes in him are difficult to hide.

After a pause, Simon still hummed inaudibly.

The two were silent for a moment. Janet leaned her head on Simon's shoulder and said, "Actually, you can find some girls younger than you, they are more suitable for you. Well, don't be too young, or it will be very troublesome. "

Simon smiled and asked, "Then what do you do?"

"Of course I am your girlfriend, and I will be your wife in the future," Janet said of course: "A man steals food outside and always has to go home. Dad used to do this before, and he and his mother have lived for so many years. Very good."

Simon pretended to be interested and said: "Tell me more, maybe you can find an opportunity to blackmail your old man."

"How are you blackmailing? The beating is almost the same," Janet took a picture of Simon, and said: "This is what my mother told me. She used to like to see the old man when he did not return home at night and lied to her. Dad has grown old these years, and settled down. Little bastards, we will continue to grow old like Mom and Dad, right?

Simon nodded without hesitation, feeling the faint melancholy in Janet's tone, and then reached out and hugged the woman in his arms.

For Cersei Capital's affairs, reporters were still arranged around, and they happened to take a warm picture of the two standing next to each other in the slanting sunlight.

The Boeing 767 entered the runway and everything was ready. Neil Bennett signaled that Simon could board the plane not far away.

After a few words, Simon was about to leave, but was stayed by Janetra again, and asked with a worried expression: "Little bastard, do I really snore when I sleep?"

Simon smiled and lowered his head and kissed Janet's lips, and said, "Of course not, I lied to you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Janet was still not at ease, and warned: "You must not lie to me, I will sleep when I go back, and let my mother look at it for me."

A casual joke, it seems that the consequences are serious.

Simon stopped teasing, and finally hugged Janet and walked to the private jet on the runway.