Chapter 828 - 306: Want to Punish Yang Chen? Dream On! (Part 3)

Chapter 828: Chapter 306: Want to Punish Yang Chen? Dream On! (Part 3)

"Then I’m going to go drive ride-hailing now, you go do your thing." Yang Chen said.

Wang Zuoyun: "What the hell? You still drive ride-hailing?"

Yang Chen: "Yeah! My main job is driving ride-hailing, and I deliver food as a part-time gig during meal times. I’m still young, the more I work the more I earn, gotta save up some money to get married."

Wang Zuoyun: "Not bad! I think aside from your education level being a bit low, you don’t have any other shortcomings. I’m serious, you should seriously think about dating me. My family has everything, you can just move in with your suitcase."

If it were any other man running into this kind of good fortune, he’d be so happy he couldn’t sleep for days.

But it really didn’t have much appeal for Yang Chen.

"Don’t mess around, I know my own limits. Okay, I’m done talking to you. I’m leaving, suit yourself. I’ll pay for the bill." Yang Chen said, then got up and left.

It was boring for Wang Zuoyun to drink coffee alone, so she quickly got up and left too.

Even though the system had issued a special mission, Yang Chen still didn’t deliberately try to get close to Wang Zuoyun.

Just let everything follow its course; when it’s time to meet again, they’ll meet again.

A few days later, BMW Group officially released an announcement.

The main content was as follows:

First, BMW Group will inject an additional 2 billion US dollars into Shen Yang’s super battery factory in Dragon Country.

Second, BMW Group will invest 5 billion US dollars in Dragon Country Sea City to set up a new factory, which after it begins production will be mainly responsible for BMW electric vehicle production for the Asian Area, European Area, African Area and other regions.

Third, BMW Group and Longchen Group have reached a new agreement, extending the cooperation period to 2040. Longchen BMW Company will undergo an equity restructuring: BMW Group will hold 60%, Longchen Group will hold 30%, and Minghuang Investment will hold 10%.

As one of the international auto giants, every move BMW Group makes naturally draws worldwide attention.

The United States side saw this announcement and immediately became unsettled.

What’s that supposed to mean?

No capital increase for the US factory, and instead they’re building a new plant in rival Dragon Country—does this mean they’re preparing to abandon the US factory and shift future investment focus entirely to Dragon Country?

Sure enough, a certain leader at the US Department of Commerce, Lolita Michelle, called BMW Group’s CEO Ramu, explicitly demanding that they cancel the new plant plan and switch to increasing capital for the US factory.

If BMW refused to comply, they might face certain penalties.

With no other choice, BMW Group could only convene a shareholders’ meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Besides personally holding 1.9% of BMW Group’s equity, Ramu was also the representative of the major shareholder, the Conti Clan.

So his position effectively represented the Conti Clan’s position.

Yang Chen was in Dragon Country, clearly impossible for him to fly to Germany just to attend a shareholders’ meeting.

So this shareholders’ meeting could only be held via video conference.

At ten in the evening, Yang Chen returned home, immediately turned on his computer and entered the conference room.

The shareholders got acquainted with each other, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then moved on to business.

Ramu laid out the problems BMW Group was currently facing and asked the shareholders to share their views.

The other minor shareholders began voicing their opinions.

"I think we should just go along with what the US side wants."

"I think so too. Last year we sold a total of 360,000 cars in the United States—that’s a market we absolutely can’t give up."

"But in Dragon Country we can sell 250,000 units in a single quarter, that’s a market we even more cannot afford to lose. We’ve already reached an agreement with Dragon Country; if we tear up the agreement now, it will inevitably cause Dragon Country people to resent our brand and will definitely affect our sales. And to be honest, the cost of investing and building factories in Dragon Country is very low; the expenses we save are equivalent to profit, so we absolutely can’t abandon the plan to build a plant in Dragon Country."

"Then what do we do? We can’t offend either side, and that’s simply impossible to pull off."

...

Ramu looked at Yang Chen and asked with a smile, "Mr. Yang, what’s your take?"

Yang Chen: "Just tell the US side that I’m the second-largest shareholder, holding 21% of BMW Group’s equity, and I do not allow a capital increase for the US factory. Shift the problems targeted at BMW Group over to targeting me. I’m not afraid of them anyway. As long as we can successfully redirect the issue onto me, BMW Group will be fine. If the US side doesn’t fall for it, then we’ll keep thinking of other solutions."

Ramu: "But that... will definitely affect your future investments in the United States."

Yang Chen: "I don’t care. It won’t be long before people all over the world will be scrambling to invest in Dragon Country. I’m Dragon Country people; I know more than you do. If BMW Group doesn’t take the chance now to be the first to break into the Dragon Country market, it’ll be too late in the future. It’s already quite late here, I’m done talking with you. That’s settled then—call me if anything comes up."

There was no room for negotiation in this matter. Since the US side had already clearly blocked BMW from building a new plant, Yang Chen would of course not give an inch, and would absolutely not allow BMW to increase capital for the US factory.

Anyway, Yang Chen’s 21% equity was solid and effective; no matter how you looked at it, it carried more weight than the United States’ verbal threats.

Ramu did exactly as Yang Chen said, sent a reply to the US side, clearly stating that it was the 21%-equity shareholder Mr. Yang Chen who refused to increase capital for the US factory and who was insisting on the plan to build a new plant.

At present, only Dragon Country was the most suitable place in the world to build a new plant.

Under the premise that capital could no longer be increased for the US factory, in order to meet production demand, BMW Group had no choice but to build a new plant in Dragon Country; there was simply no alternative.

Sure enough, Lolita Michelle fell for it and immediately turned her spearhead toward Yang Chen.