I Am a Nobleman in England

The next day, at the New York City Forest Group, Arthur led his men to visit the current owner of the New Jersey Nets, Labrus Ratner, at the appointed time.

Labrus was very enthusiastic about Arthur, the young British earl's visit. Of course, he already knew the purpose of Arthur's visit this time.

After the two parties exchanged polite greetings, Arthur did not try to beat around the bush. Instead, he directly expressed his willingness to acquire the New Jersey Nets.

However, regarding Arthur's acquisition intention, Labrus was not happy because there was a buyer. Instead, he frowned slightly and took a few sips of coffee before saying apologetically.

"Sorry, Mr. Bolling, regarding the trade of the Nets, at the end of last year, I have reached a verbal agreement with Mr. Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire of the Bear Country, and he will be the team's first choice. . .”

Hearing this answer, Arthur didn't show too much surprise, but smiled and looked at the other party, and continued: "I have already understood this, but according to the regulations of the NBA, whether the team can successfully acquire depends on the league The owners of the other teams vote to decide.

And the background of Mr. Mikhail Prokhorov seems too complicated. I think this will be a very troublesome thing, won't it? "

"Hehe..." Labrus looked at the extremely young Arthur meaningfully, shook his head and laughed and said, "Actually, it's not as difficult as you imagined. After all, the NBA is a commercial sports league. To put it bluntly, it's just a business." .”

"Twenty million!" Arthur squinted his eyes slightly, raised the corners of his mouth, stretched out two fingers, and said to Labrus: "On the basis of the two hundred million, I will add another twenty million dollars, please believe me, my sincerity Perfect."

Labrus frowned slightly, lowered his head and stretched out his chin, and then looked at the smiling Arthur from time to time, pondering.

And Arthur was not in a hurry to urge the other party. He had already investigated the greed of the Nets owner. The reason why the Nets fell was because Ratner was too stingy.

"Sorry, although this makes me very tempted, but I can only say sorry to you, it's not just about money, Rokolov promised me that the Nets will win the championship, I believe the Nets will Back to the finals.

Everything we do is to allow the team to have more sufficient funds as a backing. Only in this way can we get the best players and we can share greater happiness. The most important thing is the development of the team, and I don't care if I have the largest equity. I hope the team will develop better in the future. I love the Nets. "

Hearing what Labrus said,

The corner of Arthur's mouth couldn't help twitching, and he almost sprayed him to death with a sip of coffee. What he said was true. However, Arthur was not angry or discouraged, but turned his eyes to the faces of his subordinates who had been following him, remembering the What the subordinate said in the car that came to meet Labrus.

"...Boss, Ratner made his fortune in real estate. In 2004, the New Jersey Nets were transferred to Ratner. After acquiring the Nets, he announced that he would move the Nets back to New York City. Brooklyn. However, the relocation of the Nets to Brooklyn is only part of Ratner's "Atlantic Courtyard Plan", which is expected to be completed around 2010. After that, Ratner also plans to build a high-end apartment, office building, luxury hotel and other supporting facilities. It will be the largest construction project in the history of Brooklyn, New York, with a total cost of $4 billion.

However, due to the impact of the US economic crisis and the lack of funds, his "world's most expensive arena" project had to be postponed. Another point is that Bruce Ratner's Forest City Group spent 300 million US dollars to acquire the Nets in 2004. , But in the last 5 years, the team's pre-tax loss was as high as 380 million US dollars.

At the same time, although the plan to relocate Brooklyn was supported by New York Mayor Bloomberg, strong opposition from local people and the huge funds involved have repeatedly delayed the relocation plan. Opponents have even sued Forest City Group in court. To sum up, it can be seen that it is very difficult for Ratner to complete the "Atlantic Courtyard Project" by himself, so he thought of selling the Nets to find a partner to complete his "Atlantic Courtyard Project". Selling the Nets is not the main purpose, but mainly Must be able to complete the Atlantic Yard Project. I think Ratner should think so. . .

"Hehe, Mr. Ratner, don't rush to refuse. To be honest, apart from being interested in the Nets, I am also interested in the Atlantic Yard project led by you. If possible, I hope to join this plan. Of course, the Nets can serve as the basis for our cooperation, and to be honest, I attach great importance to the development of real estate around the new arena." Arthur smiled and looked at his words with bright eyes, thinking that his words changed. A staring Ratner.

"Really? This is really unexpected good news..." Ratner smiled happily, swept away the previous sense of alienation, and began to chatter and introduce his Atlantic Garden plan.

An hour later, Arthur left the City Forest Group under the enthusiastic greeting of Ratner with a bright smile. After getting into the car, he smiled at the subordinate named Ron next to him: "Ron, what did you analyze with you?" All the same, sure enough, he puts more emphasis on the Atlantic Yards plan."

"Hehe, he has no choice. Once the big plan costing 4 billion is unfinished, his loss will undoubtedly be huge, and he can't bear it at all. The sale price of the Nets this time is, to a large extent, A friendly price, the key point is to find a partner who can invest in his real estate project.

But boss, we can't take it lightly. That Mikhail Prokhorov is really not short of money. He ranks 40th on the Forbes Rich List with a worth of 9.5 billion US dollars. If the time comes, the acquisition will become a bidding war. ,us. . . "

Arthur frowned and nodded. Although his subordinate didn't finish his sentence, he naturally understood that if it was really more than money, he really couldn't compare with this big local tyrant of the Xiong Kingdom.

According to the information he saw, this Mikhail Prokhorov was not only very rich, but also the most ardent sports fan. He was once the owner of the basketball team that won the European championship in Xiongguo and the coach of the national team.

This time he entered the NBA because after seeing the success of his compatriot Abramovich in Chelsea, he tried to create a "Chelsea myth" in the NBA.

He has a gold mining company in Siberia, and he also holds a large part of the country's aluminum producers. There is also a media empire, two banks, an insurance company and many real estate assets.

Like most Bear Country billionaires, though, Prokhorov's fortune was shaped from the ashes of the former Bear Country, with the help of a little luck and powerful zz connections.

And this is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle for him to enter the NBA. After all, the United States' hostility and rejection of Xiong Guo is extraordinary. Moreover, this guy's private life is even more chaotic, and he doesn't have a good reputation in Xiong Country or Europe.

Especially in 2007, he and his friends went to a French ski resort and brought eight models to help them entertain. The French police detained Prokhorov for three days on suspicion of Na Han Na Han.

Thinking of this, Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly with a sharp cold light, and said with a sneer with a slightly raised corner of his mouth: "Help me make an appointment with David Stern, and at the same time, it's time to release the news that I'm going to buy the Nets." Take advantage of the New York media."

"Good boss."

"By the way, did I ask the person you contacted?" Arthur suddenly remembered something and asked.

"Bob Myers was very surprised and very happy about your invitation. He has already left for New York and will return in the afternoon."

"Ah That's good."

The corners of Arthur's mouth turned up and he smiled. Although his seemingly insignificant decision of inviting a strange American to join the team to acquire an NBA team was unknown to his subordinates, he knew it better than anyone else. It is because this man named Bob Myers led the transformation of the Golden State Warriors.

To revive an nba team, reform is necessary. However, how to reform and who will host it are more important. Arthur has decided to intercept Bob Myers and let him become the team he wants to buy. General manager.