Chapter 108 Share Swap

"Josie, do you know what the Continental Bank of Illinois means?" John Leibler asked with a funny look at the young man in front of him.

In his opinion, Josh Kahn is undoubtedly a very good young man, even better than his eldest son, whom he has always considered to be proud.

It just has to be said that young people are still a bit high.

If you think you have some money, you can buy a bank?

Of course, he knew that Josie had taken a large order from the military in Europe, that is, a light potion worth 200 million US dollars.

In addition to this order, he estimated that Josie's other businesses in Europe might also make hundreds of millions of dollars.

To be honest, with two or three hundred million, it is not impossible to acquire a first-class bank in the United States.

The problem is that the Continental Bank of Illinois is not an ordinary first-class bank.

In later generations, many people may be very unfamiliar with Continental Illinois Bank compared to famous banks such as Flower, America, America, Mellon, Morgan, and Wells Fargo.

This is normal because the bank collapsed in the 1980s.

But please don't feel that this bank is weak just because it went bankrupt.

In fact, before the collapse, Continental Bank of Illinois was the largest bank in the Midwest and the seventh largest bank in the United States, with a market value of US$2.3 billion and assets of more than US$42 billion. one.

That alone may not be intuitive, but taking another bank, Wells Fargo, the third-ranked U.S. bank in 2022, makes it clear.

In 1986, Wells Fargo had a market value of less than 1 billion and assets of only more than 20 billion.

But in 2022, Wells Fargo's market value has reached 180 billion, with assets close to 2 trillion.

In this comparison, you can actually see how awesome the Continental Illinois Bank is.

And the reason for the failure of the Continental Illinois Bank is precisely because it was too strong.

Strong enough that the management is overconfident and blindly carried out the expansion of various high-leverage projects, so that the debt crisis led to a wave of run-offs.

The failure of this bank eventually became a classic example in the history of world finance, and for the first time broke the perception that "a bank that is too big will not fail".

Its collapse is also one of the important reasons for the decline of the Chicago consortium in the original world.

The current Continental Bank of Illinois is naturally not as strong as it was in the 1980s, but its market value still exceeds one billion, and it is the core bank of the Chicago consortium.

It's no wonder that John Leibler thinks Josie is whimsical. Why does Josie think that he can buy such an important bank, and that the tycoons of the Chicago consortium will sell it?

"Of course I know what the Bank of Chicago means. It is the core bank of the Chicago consortium with a market value of over 1 billion." Josie replied.

"You know? Then why do you think you can buy the Bank of Chicago? Why do you think our shareholders will sell? Josie, I know you want to join the Chicago consortium. In fact, you also have absolute qualifications to join us, but the acquisition of the mainland Bank, it's too much!" John Leibler said, shaking his head.

"Uncle John, don't be in a hurry to deny it. Of course I understand the importance of Continental Bank to the consortium. I also know that what I have so far is not enough to buy Continental Bank. In addition, I don't plan to use cash to acquire, but to use replacement." Josie explained with a smile.

If you really want to buy a mainland bank with cash, it is not realistic at all. It seems that it only has a market value of several billion yuan. However, because of its importance, unless he pays a premium of more than 50% or more, the other party is likely to sell.

At such a high price, it may not be enough to count all of Josie's gray income and cash out all assets.

But if you replace it, the situation is different.

Not only does it cost nothing, but it can even save a lot of money.

"Replacement? What do you replace it with?" John Leibler was puzzled.

"Austrian National Bank, Austrian Central Bank, Bavarian Bank, BNP Paribas, British Lloyds Bank!" Josie reported the names of five banks in one breath.

All are famous banks in the world.

Especially the Austrian National Bank, Johann Leibler, if he remembered correctly, the Austrian central bank! ! ! ! !

There is also the Bavarian Bank, which is also a state bank, and outflows are extremely rare.

War is war, but with this level of bank assets, who would sell it out?

How did Josie have these bank shares?

In fact, it is very simple. The two banks in France and the United Kingdom are exchanged with materials. Because of the war, the life of these two banks is not very easy, but the shareholders are going bankrupt. For them, Josie exchanged hard materials for , is far more real than buying it with money.

As for the Austrian National Bank and the Austrian Central Bank and the Bavarian Bank, those are the assets of Hydra…

Well, to be precise, that was Schmidt's personal property.

Although Schmidt was "killed" by the US team and the Strategic Science Corps.

However, this part of the theoretical "state-owned" assets is not yet at the disposal of the Americans.

After all, Austria is only cooperating with you, the United States, not being occupied by you.

And since Josie has gathered Schmidt's remnants, it is natural for these assets to fall into his hands.

Although Josie's stake in these five banks is small, the total value is far less than a billion dollars.

But the significance of its representation, for the Chicago consortium, is far more than one billion dollars.

"Are you serious?" John Leibler's face suddenly became extremely serious.

"Of course I'm serious. Although I don't own a lot of shares, they are genuine!" Qiao Xi nodded and said that he would not feel any heartache about the replacement of these shares, because replacement is not a sale.

If these shares are exchanged for the shares and the right to speak of Continental Bank, these shares will still belong to Continental Bank, not a private owner, which means that the actual right to speak of these shares will still be in the hands of Qiao Xi. What is shared is nothing but the profits that these shares may bring.

Money can never be earned, so Josie is more concerned about the right to speak than money.

"...Josie, set a time for the children's baptism. How about setting the location at the Cathedral of the Holy Name? I have a good relationship with Archbishop Cody, and I will convince him to baptize the two children himself. And I promise On that day, all the core members of the Chicago consortium will all appear at the christening!" John Lebiler pondered for a long time.

Compared with other consortiums, the Chicago consortium may be a little slow in responding to capital, but it does not mean that they are all stupid.

Josie took out the shares of these banks, which is equivalent to feeding half of the big fat European meat to their mouths. If they don't eat it, the consortium headed by John Leibler The members themselves cannot forgive themselves.

However, the specific replacement method and amount cannot be decided by the two of them casually, and it must be negotiated.

But this did not prevent the Chicago consortium from establishing Josie's status in the Chicago consortium through a certain christening ceremony.

"Why don't Uncle John go to my place to have a light meal at night, discuss the baptism, and just look at the child, and Margot hasn't seen you for a long time!" Hearing John Lebele's assurance, Josh knew this. Things were stable, and an invitation was issued immediately.

"Of course, I am very happy to accept this invitation!" Josie's invitation made John Leibler very happy, and he began to think about what gifts to bring to the two children and Margot.

Thanks to Xiaolin Zongzheng for the 20,000 yuan reward (≧≦)/