Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 740: Coming to the Door_1

Chapter 740: Chapter 740: Coming to the Door_1

The money for a stake in the Russian Gas Industry Group hasn’t been raised yet, and another expense has come up.

One day at the end of March, A Bu suddenly called.

"Misha, been busy lately?"

Wang Ye chuckled: "I’m too busy to even breathe. Sometimes, I admire you. You’ve hidden away in Chukotka, away from the Emperor’s prying eyes. Every day, you either go hunting, skiing, drink coffee, or puff on a cigar. That’s the life. What am I after? I’m just the Deputy Speaker of Duma, busier than the guy in the Kremlin himself."

He only complained in front of A Bu, not meaning to overstate, because A Bu understood Wang Ye’s feelings.

As expected, upon hearing Wang Ye, A Bu laughed heartily:

"You’re still young. It’s right to work hard. If you’re tired in a few years, you could go to a remote area like I did, become a governor, Siberia is nice. By the way, I’m not in Chukotka. Guess where I am?"

A thought crossed Wang Ye’s mind: Where was A Bu?

He remembered their last meeting. A Bu had discussed his plan to live abroad and even...

He answered: "In London!"

A Bu laughed: "Ha ha, correct.

The acquisition of the football team that we discussed last time is proceeding. I’m in London now to negotiate it.

I plan to acquire Chelsea, and the price has been agreed on.

I also contacted Arsenal on your behalf. Apart from the slightly high asking price, there doesn’t seem to be any other problem.

However, with your financial strength, the price should not be a problem."

To buy a Premier League team in 2003 indeed wasn’t too costly.

When A Bu purchased Chelsea, it cost less than 100 million pounds. Even when accounting for Chelsea’s debt repayment and additional funds to buy players, the costs of the first two years did not exceed 300 million pounds.

Of course, that’s from the perspective of super oligarchs like Wang Ye and A Bu!

These costs, considered huge in 2003 had shocked the world.

Once A Bu purchased Chelsea, his global spree to buy players with blank cheques, without exaggeration, changed the global football landscape.

From then onwards, the so-called Golden Age of Football began.

Powerful clubs became stronger, and they no longer cultivated their own players. They utilized their financial strength, and directly "plundered" key players from smaller teams.

As oil capital entered football from the Middle East, this phenomenon intensified.

Like super teams such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain...

Oh, and Newcastle United, whose boss is Salman!

...

"Has Arsenal agreed to be sold? How much is it if bought in full?" Wang Ye asked, very intrigued.

Although he is a casual soccer fan without loyalty to a particular team, he is fairly familiar with the famous Arsenal. Especially the Arsenal of the 2003-04 season. In that season, the Gunners remained unbeaten in the league for more than a year, setting a record by remaining undefeated for 49 games!

They created a history of invincibility in the Premier League, causing a red storm all over the world!

Superstar Henry, due to his outstanding performance at Arsenal that year, was a strong contender for the World Footballer of the Year, ultimately losing to his national team’s teammate Zidane...

Of course, at this time, Arsenal is still in the 2002-03 season, and their performance is not so good.

Otherwise, acquiring the team wouldn’t be so easy.

Arsenal at this time, because of the construction of the new stadium, fell into a financial crisis, and their performance on the pitch began to decline.

They have been overtaken by Manchester United in the league and look set to end this season without a single significant victory.

A Bu replied, laughing:

"It’s hard to say how much money is needed because Arsenal’s shareholders are too scattered. You have to negotiate with each of them.

However, I have found David Dain, Arsenal’s biggest shareholder. He holds more than 30 percent of the shares, and he is open to selling his stake.

In addition, he is willing to help persuade more small shareholders to sell their shares.

By that time, you can acquire all their shares in a package deal. Given Arsenal’s current situation, the price won’t be too high.

The acquisition team I hired estimated that acquiring all of Arsenal would cost between 120 million to 150 million pounds."

Maximum 150 million pounds...

The pound was pretty valuable in those days, and the exchange rate for CNY was about 15. If we calculate according to the highest price of 150 million pounds, that would be 2.2 billion in CNY or just under $300 million!

Pay $300 million to acquire a world-renowned football giant. This deal is a fairly good deal. Wang Ye is quite interested.

"OK! Let’s buy it. Do I need to send someone over there, or should I fly there in person?" Wang Ye stated decisively.

"It’s best this way. I’ve invited David Dain to visit Moscow. You can talk to him face to face.

The reason David Dain is willing to sell his stake isn’t simple, you will know once you meet him.

If you’re just buying Arsenal to make money, he probably won’t sell you his shares.

Of course, I know you’re not interested in the little money the club makes. That’s why I dare to speak big in front of David Dain. He is willing to sell his shares to you, ha ha..." A Bu said.

Hearing what A Bu said, Wang Ye was a bit surprised.

Not selling shares for money?

What is this David Dain after?

At Wang Ye’s questioning, A Bu explained further.

It turns out, this David Dain, the current Vice Chairman of Arsenal Football Club, is also the club’s largest individual shareholder.

He wanted to sell his stake because Arsenal Club’s financial situation was in a predicament. The new stadium was about to be sealed off, but the club was out of money...

The stadium was originally built with bank loans, and now they can’t get more loans.

The club was burdened with more than 60 million pounds in loans, and the income could just barely cover the players’ salaries. After all, Arsenal is a powerhouse; the team had a number of stars, and their wages were not low.

Out of options, David Dain wanted to find a wealthy major shareholder for the club, preferably one who was willing to dig into their own pockets and pour money into the club.

Just like the boss of Inter Milan...

Incidently, A Bu was acquiring Chelsea at this time, and the news reached David Dain.

After all, they were both in London’s football circle, so the news was readily available. He found out that an exceptionally wealthy energy oligarch from Eastern Europe was making a move to the Premier League!

David Dain had an idea, could he coax this oligarch to invest in Arsenal too? Compared to Chelsea, Arsenal undeniably had a bigger reputation.

He then proactively approached A Bu’s acquisition team.

However, at that time, A Bu had already decided to acquire Chelsea. For the Arsenal deal that came knocking, he didn’t reject it. Wang Ye had expressed an interest in buying a club to play with...