The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 908 - 676: Unexpected Guest

As long as one understands the nature of capitalists, it’s clear that Franz Josef Papp would surely compromise.

The development of the story was as expected, Franz Josef Papp quickly handed over all the shares of BMW, and he even actively helped Australasia to attract German talent.

For Franz Josef Papp, earning enough money to prevent his company from going bankrupt was the most important thing.

As for whether Germany’s talent would be lost, what did it have to do with him?

Acquiring BMW was just one aspect of Australasia’s actions in Germany. In addition to BMW, in May, Australasia also acquired Maybach Cars and Maybach Engine Factory, Porsche Car Factory, and so on.

All these enterprises became renowned in later generations as either part of the World Top 500 or as high-profile enterprises famous within certain industries.

But at the current time, their prices were mostly bargain-level, and the total cost of acquiring these enterprises didn’t even exceed 30 million Australian dollars.

Apart from these German enterprises, Australasia also had its gains in other European regions.

I’ll leave aside the less famous enterprises for now, but among the well-known ones were Maserati Car Company, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley Car Company, among others.

Most of these enterprises were wholly acquired, which meant they had become industries of Australasia.

The first step in acquiring these industries was, of course, to relocate their headquarters to Australasia.

Let’s not talk about the other effects yet; the jobs provided by the relocation of these enterprises to Australasia were enough to prompt Arthur to make this event happen.

If these enterprises could develop to the extent they did in later generations, the contributions they would bring to Australasia’s economy were immeasurable.

In fact, Australasia could even hope to become the country with the most World Top 500 companies in later generations, and their tax contributions alone would make the government wealthy.

Of course, the controllers of the enterprises were still the royal family, and it was the Australasian royal family that would become richer.

The government would take the taxes, the royal family would take the dividends, and the People would get stable and high-paying jobs, meaning threefold happiness for Australasia.@@@@

It’s worth mentioning that at present, the majority of Australasia’s acquisitions are engine and car enterprises.

This is actually understandable. First, car enterprises are greatly affected during an economic crisis.

Second, compared to essential chemical and heavy industries, car-related industries are dispensable for European Nations, and they do not hold the same strategic importance.

Although the results of the car enterprise acquisitions were substantial, Arthur was somewhat disappointed.

After all, Arthur’s most desired acquisition targets were Germany’s chemical industry enterprises, which could help Australasia quickly catch up with Britain and the United States in heavy industry and chemical sectors, at least not being so far behind.

If relying on its development alone, the time to close the gap could stretch to several decades.

But if it could take over Germany’s chemical industry, this time might be shortened to just a few years, which would greatly benefit Australasia’s actions after the economic crisis.

If he failed, at most he’d lose a branch factory, but if he succeeded, it would be a contribution comparable to creating the Bayer Group anew.

After all, among all countries not affected by the economic crisis, Australasia is the closest to Western culture and systems, even a purely Western nation.

Countries like Turkey, although also not affected by the economic crisis, are smaller in size and too culturally and systematically different for young Bayer to consider.

Knowing young Bayer’s intention, Arthur silently nodded in his mind, but his outward demeanor was still nonchalant as he spoke, "These matters should be discussed with the Ministry of Industry and the local government. Australasia is vast; if there’s any particular area you’re interested in, you should directly contact the regional state government or City Council."

"You need not worry about policy issues; whether domestic or foreign enterprises, as long as they comply with the laws of Australasia, the government treats everyone equally."

Currently, it is Bayer Group that wishes to expand its business in Australasia, so Arthur definitely holds the initiative.

Facing the future chemical industry giant Bayer Group, Arthur definitely does not want to let them slip away.

Especially since Australasia has significant deficiencies in the chemical industry, and Bayer Group is one of Germany’s chemical industry giants with extraordinary achievements in this field.

How to coax Bayer Group into moving their headquarters to Australasia? That would be a test of Arthur’s control over human hearts.

"Although this is the case, Your Majesty, we still need your assistance when building the branch factory," said young Bayer, slightly embarrassed.

Previously, when Australasia took the initiative to reach out, Bayer outright rejected the offer.

But now, having to ask for assistance, this situation akin to being slapped in the face made young Bayer slightly embarrassed.

Fortunately, the skin of a capitalist is exceptionally thick; after all, it’s for their own benefit, so losing face doesn’t really matter that much.

"Let’s hear it, Mr. Bayer." Seeing that the other party had initiated the conversation, Arthur stopped pretending and directly asked for conditions.

"Your Majesty, we need policy support, as well as a loan of at least 1 million Australian dollars," young Bayer gritted his teeth and stated his demands, "We shall establish a branch factory in Australasia, second only in scale to our German headquarters, with complete chemical research laboratories, biological labs, and pharmaceutical plants."

"To express our gratitude for Your Majesty’s assistance, we are willing to employ a large number of Australasians, and gift you 20% of the shares in the branch factory."

Young Bayer was indeed paying a steep price. First, the money Bayer Group borrowed from Arthur was inescapably a debt they had to repay.

Those thinking of cheating Arthur out of money simply did not exist—first, they had to contend with the hurdle of Australasia itself.

Moreover, the armed forces at Arthur’s disposal were no pushovers. The intelligence personnel of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency would enlighten anyone trying to cheat Arthur out of money about what God and heaven looked like.

Young Bayer borrowing 1 million Australian dollars in the name of the branch factory also meant that the initial market value of the branch was over a million Australian dollars.

And by gifting Arthur 20% of shares, he was effectively giving Arthur assets worth 200,000 Australian dollars.

Furthermore, according to young Bayer, the Australasian branch would undergo extensive construction to reach a level just below the German headquarters.

This meant that the value of the 20% of shares in Arthur’s hands would keep growing, essentially giving Arthur a small-sized gold mine for free.