"Two of them are more persistent and have not given up yet. One is Pegasus Rubber Tire Company, which is also one of the tire suppliers for the military during the war and has made a lot of money. The other is the famous Hollywood Paramount Pictures."
Hardy thought to himself that Paramount's involvent shows that these people are also very insightful.
"A year ago, Pegasus Rubber Tire Company offered to buy ABC. Edward Noble asked for $20 million, which drove Pegasus away. Six months ago, he asked Paramount Pictures for $18 million, and they didn't agree either."
Wow, 20 and 18 million that's tough.
Hardy had suspected that the candy owner would raise the price, but he didn't expect it to be that high.
"Later, both companies renegotiated with Edward Noble. His current asking price is $15 million."
"Oh, why did the price drop?" Hardy asked, surprised.
"World War II ended, and the military drastically reduced personnel, which naturally ant fewer suppliers were needed. The candy company, which could earn hundreds of thousands a year, now only has annual profits of tens of thousands without the military supply."
"Edward Noble's candy company has started to lay off workers with unsold stock and less demand he dares not produce as much. ABC has beco a huge burden for him, so he's eager to offload it."
$15 million is not a low price. Should he really mortgage everything to buy it?
Hardy carefully reviewed the docunt again and then handed it to Andy. "Andy, the acquisition task is yours."
"Boss, are you sure you want to buy it? Running a broadcasting company isn't easy," Andy advised.
Broadcasting companies require large investnts and slow returns.
Unlike movies, which can sell tickets, TV programs are free to watch and rely solely on advertising revenue.
To attract advertisers, you need high viewership, which requires good programs, which in turn require significant investnt.
Before getting advertising, you need to develop, and the initial investnt can be hard to sustain.
Hardy understood this logic.
But he wasn't focused on ABC's profit potential.
He believed in his ability and foresight to make money elsewhere.
But owning a nationwide TV station would give him significant influence and rapidly elevate his status.
dia influence is a sharp weapon.
Dislike a company? Investigate, find its problems, and expose them. One exposure could sink the company.
Dislike a politician? Investigate, find corruption or scandals, expose them, and force them to resign.
Dislike the President? Criticize daily. In Arica, free speech is valued. As long as it's legal, you can say it. Such a dia company would be a headache for the President.
"Andy, negotiate with that candy company owner. Try to lower the price, but my decision is to buy it!" Hardy said firmly.
Actually, Hardy could take so unconventional asures, such as kidnapping Edward Noble, forcing him to sign a transfer agreent, and then making him disappear accidentally.
But this thought only flashed through Hardy's mind before he dismissed it.
This ti it is legitimate business, and doing legitimate business requires following legitimate business rules. If you always use underhanded thods, you will beco increasingly unscrupulous.
No one is a fool. Others can easily see through such tactics, and knowing that you use such aggressive thods, all business people will shun you, making it impossible for you to stand firm in the business world.
In the underworld,
You can use aggressive thods.
Because that is the style and survival rule of the underworld.
In the legitimate world,
You have to do business using legitimate ans.
"Andy, you take so people to Illinois and negotiate with Edward Noble. Henry, you take more people, on the one hand to protect Andy and his team, and on the other hand to use reconnaissance ans to investigate Edward Noble's situation and provide information support to Andy and his team."
Andy and Henry prepared their teams and the next day chartered a plane from HD Airlines to Springfield.
Springfield is located by the Great Lakes, with beautiful and pleasant scenery. It is the capital of Illinois, known for two things: it is the hotown of Lincoln, and the Springfield rifle, also known as the Springfield Rifle.
After Andy and Henry got off the plane, they found a hotel to stay in, and Henry took his team out directly.
They bought two cars and a truck, found telephone company logos from their box, and stuck them on the truck, turning it into a telephone repair vehicle.
Edward Noble has a manor villa in the suburbs, which was easy to find out. Henry and his team drove nearby and started tampering with the telephone lines. They connected devices to the lines to eavesdrop on the calls directly.
Useful calls were listened to, and useless ones were disrupted with interference signals, making Noble's household think the phone was broken.
Mrs. Noble called her friends to invite them over for cards, but each call was filled with screeching static, which made her very angry, and she imdiately called the telephone company.
The phone was quickly connected.
"Hello, is this the telephone company? Static static~~" Mrs. Noble asked angrily.
"I am the telephone company, what's the matter? Static static~~"
"What do you think? Can't you hear the loud static on the phone? I pay so much phone bill every month for this kind of service? Send soone over to fix it quickly."
"Okay, we will send soone to repair it right away, can you give us the address?" said the person on the other end.
Mrs. Noble gave the address and hung up the phone. Henry on the other end also hung up and gave a signal to his subordinates.
"Let's go, help Mrs. Noble fix the phone," Henry said with a smile.
Within half an hour, a truck with telephone company logos drove into the Noble estate, and the guard quickly led them inside.
There were five phones in the Noble house. Henry and his team checked each one, leaving a small device in every phone handset.
They carefully inspected every phone and the lines, and finally smiled and said to Mrs. Noble: "Dear lady, we have checked your phones, it was a small problem with the line, so poor connections, but it has been fixed." Henry said.
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