Chapter 778

As they spoke softly, Sophia noticed that Yulia shurchigina was a little lost when she got up and left silently. She whispered to the little man who was still holding her waist: "another one, do you like to capture a woman's heart in this way?"

Simon paid attention to Sophia, but didn't find the state of schulthina. He said, "you've wronged me. Now I'm almost forgetting how to capture women's hearts. It's a little easier to capture women's bodies."

Sophia smiles and pats the man on the shoulder.

But think about it.

With Simon's wealth and power status, he does nothing. He just needs to appear in front of people, which can easily attract a lot of women.

Where else do you need to work?

However, Sofia suddenly found that the woman who was close to Simon with a simple heart of giving up and giving up at first, but later, it was inevitable that he would gradually fall because of his strong, gentle, mysterious, generous, erudite and other personality, because these had a strong attraction for women, and his wealth and aura of power magnified this attraction infinitely.

Think about yourself, isn't it one of them?

Without an outsider, and feeling the man's slight exertion, Sophia sat on the man's leg, put her arm around Simon's neck, went over and kissed the man's face, and said, "suddenly I'm worried. When you wake up, you'll forget me completely."

Simon drew a circle on her belly across the woman's black undershirt: "it was possible before, but not now. You are the mother of my child."

Sophia leaned up to the man and said, "it seems that I have found a big secret. If you don't want to forget it, just have a baby."

Simon tinkled on the keys of the piano and said with a smile, "I think you must be more determined to guard this secret than I am, right?"

Sophia didn't answer.

But, of course, I don't want this secret to be discovered by other women.

Quietly also made up his mind, must try to avoid this kind of thing, perhaps in private should also discuss with two Jennie.

She was never a generous woman.

With this in mind, Sophia heard the sound of the piano in her ear, turned slightly towards the keys and said, "play one for me, too. Well, there are two babies."

"Good."

Simon agreed with a smile and felt the enchanting fragrance of a woman in his arms. After thinking about it for a moment, he still put one hand around Sophia, and his spare right hand began to jump. He pulled out Beethoven's "to Alice" with one hand, which is a very simple song, but it fits the atmosphere at this time.

Sophia nestled in the man's arms, listening to the sound of the piano floating in the air, suddenly some understand the feeling of schulthina just now.

This little man is really a devil who can steal a woman's heart without knowing it.

Little bastard.

However, the most basic skin bag is excellent enough, the character is so easy for women to get close to, but also has the wealth that ordinary people can't catch up with, but it seems to know everything, such a little man, in this world, it's probably difficult to find a second one.

I don't know how long it took until girl a reminded that dinner was ready, Sophia reluctantly got up from the man's arms.

Because it's new year's Eve in China, the Chinese chef specially invited prepared a big dinner according to the specifications of the new year's Eve dinner. Simon and Sophia couldn't eat it at all. Fortunately, there are enough people in the villa. They just left their own portion, and the others were distributed directly, which can be regarded as the welfare of this special day.

During the dinner, Sophia also talked to Simon about Burberry.

Burberry was founded in 1856, and its brand is famous for its classic "plaid pattern" and "Royal use", and has been prosperous for more than a century. However, in the 1950s, burberry's successor sold the brand to Gus, a large British retail chain, thus getting rid of the label of family business.

The economic boom in the 1980s made us increase the pace of Burberry's expansion, and gradually extended its business to North America, Asia and other markets. This expansion ended abruptly in 1992.

The European currency crisis has led to the economic recession of major European countries.

As an important sub brand of Gus, because of the economic downturn, burberry's excessive expansion has led to inefficiency and confusion in enterprise management and sharp decline in profit margin. With the rise of comprehensive luxury groups such as melisandro and LVMH, Burberry, which is only attached to a diversified retail group, is increasingly unable to find its own direction.

As a result, when Sofia began to contact us at the end of last year, the other side quickly gave a positive response.

As one of the largest retail chains in the UK, Gus's retail business covers not only fashion, but also home furnishings, electrical appliances, insurance, finance and other aspects. Recently, the group's total market value on the London Stock Exchange has exceeded 13 billion pounds.

Because of the economic downturn, Gus, which involves too many fields, is also streamlining its business. At this time, Burberry, which is out of control or even lost its development direction, is undoubtedly a good choice.For GUS group, burberry's expansion in the 1980s was a bit excessive, while Sofia saw the extensive market resources established by this luxury brand in Europe, North America and Asia, which can help many brands of melisandro's global expansion strategy.

Moreover, burberry's unique style does not form too clear competition with Gucci, Versace, CK and other brands. On the contrary, it can further enrich melisandro's luxury categories.

Taking this brand into consideration, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

After expansion in the 1980s, burberry's total global revenue in 1994 reached 530 million pounds, and its net profit was 62 million pounds, equivalent to 790 million dollars and 93 million dollars respectively.

After several successive negotiations after the new year, the two sides finally settled a price of 800 million pounds, equivalent to 1.2 billion US dollars, and traded again in the form of stock and cash. Melisandro paid 400 million pounds (about 600 million dollars) plus 6% of its own shares in exchange for a 100% stake in Burberry from Gus group.

The deal also raised melisandro's valuation to $10 billion, up from $7.3 billion when she bought Bulgari last year.

After the completion of the transaction, melisandro's equity distribution will be 72.8% owned by Westeros, 18.2% owned by Sofia, 6% owned by Gus group, and 3% owned by Bulgari family.

Simon and Sophia discussed melisandro's IPO last year.

Although melisandro won't make any big moves in the short term after taking the chin Baoli, the investment or merger of some small brands won't stop. IPO operation can make it more convenient for melisandro to carry out various capital operations. Moreover, unlike privatization, after the public listing, the stock premium will also give melisandro more advantages in various investment operations .

To determine the IPO, it is inevitable to consider where to conduct the IPO.

After a discussion at dinner, we finally decided to put it in the United States.

Simon doesn't like to put all the eggs in one basket. However, considering the increasingly deep-rooted westero system in the United States and the super prosperity of the U.S. economy in the late 1990s, it is undoubtedly the best for melisandro to go public in the United States.

Even Nokia, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, will start listing on the New York Stock Exchange this year.

Melisandro, which owns a series of luxury brands such as Gucci, Versace, CK, Burberry, Bulgari, van cletta and Constantine, has completely surpassed the French LVMH group with Dior and LV as the core.

In the original time and space, Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH, took advantage of the economic prosperity of the United States and Europe in the 1980s and rose through a series of mergers. In the early 1990s, he was dormant because of the economic downturn, and began to expand on a large scale by taking advantage of another economic boom in the late 1990s.

The other two comprehensive luxury groups, Kaiyun and Lifeng, also began to rise in the late 1990s.

Now, the pattern of luxury industry is doomed not to follow the track of previous life.

Relying on the towering tree of westero system, in the early 1990s when other luxury brands recuperated due to the economic downturn, melisandro has built a powerful luxury brand "fleet". The next step is to continue to plough deep into the globalization wave in the late 1990s, expand its own industry advantages, and snipe as much as possible The rise of other competitors.

At least, Kaiyun group, which used to be just a Gucci company and occupied most of the sales share, will definitely not appear again this time. Although Richemont group, which focuses on jewelry and watches, already owns Cartier as its flagship brand, it is difficult for it to develop again under the attack of melisandro's enterprises such as Bulgari, Vanke Yabao and Constantine.

During the dinner, Simon also discussed with Sophia that maybe he could eat Cartier in the future.

Early the next morning, Simon and Sophia left London for Rome.

Angela arenz, Sofia's right-hand deputy who was promoted a few years ago, will be responsible for the work here. After more than six years in melisandro company, Angela arenz has followed Sofia's pace from the original president of Gucci US branch to Gucci CEO and then to the president of melisandro company. Her ability has also been quite affirmed.

Coincidentally, in the past, it was Angela arenz who joined Burberry after the new millennium and started this declining luxury brand again. In eight years, burberry's share price has tripled and returned to the ranks of first-line luxury brands. Relying on this qualification, she has become the second most important person in apple after Tim Cook.

Although Apple's Luxury Strategy ended in failure, it can't cover up that Angela arenz made apple keep the difference with other brands through the luxury strategy in the period of more and more fierce competition in the mobile phone industry, avoiding the mediocrity of price and brand.

You know, it's very difficult for any industry to impact the high end from the low end, and it's even more difficult to impact the high end from the high end.Therefore, there is no mistake in Apple's luxury strategy, just no success.

On the contrary, after Angela arenz left, apple readjusted its pricing strategy and began to cut prices sharply. In the short term, it may increase sales, but in fact, it is damaging Apple's own brand value, and the product's profit margin will also be greatly reduced. Once the price is fully in line with the flagship of its competitors, the two sides will fall into a close fight, and the result is even more unpredictable.

Both Simon and Sophia are very relieved that Burberry will be handed over to Angela arenz for integration this time.

From leaving the entertainment room last night to boarding the plane in the morning, Simon didn't see Yulia schurchigina again. He probably understood that Sophia had quietly pushed her away, but he didn't mind. However, Simon didn't forget the solo MV that schulthina had promised. On the plane to Rome, he sent an email to danielis entertainment UK branch, asking the other party to plan this.

Compared with Rome, Simon prefers Cannes in several cities along the Mediterranean coast, because Cannes' top luxury houses overlook the Mediterranean Sea. Simon likes this feeling very much. Rome was built on a plain, with no commanding sea view for Simon to enjoy.

The reason why we didn't go to Cannes is because the westero system has been in constant discord with France since last year's war in Rwanda.

Because of a big setback in Rwanda, the French side's small moves against Simon have never stopped in the past half a year. Last year, the French media went to Ukraine to dig into ufms. Simon doesn't think this is the spontaneous act of the French media out of their enthusiasm for news.

Moreover, the rise of melisandro, with Italian brand as the core, has also created a strong fear and hostility for many French luxury enterprises which have always been dominant.

There are Hollywood movies in France in recent years.

From the beginning of Batman, under the continuous bombardment of a series of blockbusters, the market share of French local film, which was still dominant, has shrunk rapidly in recent years. In recent years, the annual box office champions of French film market are all Hollywood films.

Moreover, whether it was Batman, Jurassic Park or lion king, or Batman: the rise of the dark knight, which was the top box office movie in France last year, it happened to be inextricably linked with danelis entertainment, or the westero system.

For this reason, the French film circle has been strongly calling on the French government to set the threshold for Hollywood films. Of course, Hollywood will not give in and use the power of Washington authorities to counter by lobbying. The private game between the two sides is very fierce.

In a word, Simon is now a thorn in the eye of all aspects of France. Even if he keeps a low profile in the past without saying a word, it is inevitable that there will be nothing wrong with the French side.

Not at all.

In contrast, despite the Stefano family incident last year, Simon has a deep foundation in Italy under the continuous operation of the westero system for many years. Without accident, the Universal Studios in Europe will probably be located around Rome, so that Sophia can raise the fetus here just right.

They settled in a 30 acre farmhouse on the southern outskirts of Rome.

Many areas in northern Europe are still covered with snow, not getting rid of the coldest season of the year. Rome, located on the Mediterranean coast, is warm as spring. Under the planning of Sophia, the manor in the southern suburbs complements each other with lawns, green trees, low walls and stone castles. At first glance, it looks like a beautiful rural picture.

In addition, when he came here, Simon finally met the girls he had been raising for exactly a year.