Chapter 267： : The birth of a shipping giant

Pietro Ferrero is in his thirties. After he came down, he saw Hardy and heard that this customer was from the United States and wanted to invest in his own candy store. This surprised him.

"Hello, gentleman, my name is Pietro Ferrero, the owner of this candy store." Pietro Ferrero offered to extend his hand.

"Hello, my name is Jon Hardy." Hardy introduced himself.

Pietro Ferrero was slightly startled, he seemed to think of something, and he looked hard at Hardy and asked:

"I read the newspaper and said that in this US investment delegation, one of them was Mr. Jon Hardy, the owner of the American Hardy Group. Not long ago, the Ministry of Commerce also advertised that Jon Hardy would invest in the Italian fashion industry. ?"

"Hehe, that's me." Hardy smiled.

Pietro Ferrero was shocked. The newspaper said that this is the president of a large group with a net worth of more than one billion US dollars. This is a super rich man.

But how can such a rich man take a fancy to his own candy store.

Hardy picked up a golden ball again and said, "I like this chocolate very much. You use hazelnuts, nut crumbs and wafers in it. This saves a lot of chocolate, which saves costs and tastes better. I don’t know whose idea this is."

When Pietro Ferrero heard Hardy mention Golden Ball Chocolate, his face immediately became a little proud, "I have researched it myself."

Pietro Ferrero’s parents used to run a pastry shop. Later, Pietro Ferrero was more optimistic about the chocolate confectionery industry and changed the family pastry shop into a chocolate confectionery shop. The business was indeed much better than before.

He used to operate in a small city in northern Italy. Later, for development, he invested in this store in Rome, which only opened for two years.

"Are you interested in making this business bigger?" Hardy asked with a smile.

"Of course there is."

The reason why Pietro Ferrero moved the candy store from a small city to Rome was to pursue development. Now that a big money owner is standing in front of him and proactively making an investment, how can he not be tempted.

"Hehe, I also have a chocolate company in the United States. I think we can merge and operate, find some better candies, and make them popular in the world. Are you interested in joining them?" Hardy sent an invitation.

"I am willing." Ferrero responded excitedly.

Ferrero currently has only two stores, one in Rome, the other in a small town in northern Italy, and two candy-making workshops, which are very small in scale, at best a workshop-style enterprise.

Hardy decided to invest 300,000 US dollars to occupy 80% of the company's shares. Ferrero can use this money to invest. At the same time, Hardy asked the chocolate company in the United States to cooperate with Ferrero, so that Ferrero could provide sufficient and low-priced raw materials.

Since then, Ferrero has entered the fast lane of development.

When Ferrero returned home and talked to his wife about all this, he still felt incredible, "Mr. Hardy, he only ate a few hazelnut chocolates and invested 300,000 US dollars. Oh, my God, those big capitalists paid back. It's so capricious."

The wife smiled and said: "Isn't this what you dream of? Now that you have money, there are people who can help you get more raw materials, and even help you open up overseas markets. I believe you will become the best confectioner in Italy. ."

The man kissed his wife **** the cheek.

"Yes, I must work hard in that direction." Ferrero said excitedly.

The entire trip to Italy lasted for 12 days. Many companies of the delegation reached an agreement. Hardy was also very rewarded. They were going to France for the next stop.

......

Time entered October 1948, only one month before the U.S. general election, and it has entered the countdown stage.

Various domestic election campaigns are in full swing.

Johnson stepped up his speech.

In the recent public opinion survey, his approval rate reached 48.6%, and Dewey's approval rate was only 45.1%, which has been suppressed by Johnson.

But Johnson still did not slack off. He kept traveling between cities and gave lectures. When the approval rate was low, he was not discouraged. When the approval rate was high, he had to consolidate his advantage, because only the final election result was released. He can secure the victory.

Any polls are predictive and have great limitations. They cannot fully reflect the real situation. There is no other way but to work **** their own.

Competitor Dewey was unwilling to fail and began to give speeches, but the effect was far less than Johnson’s. Everywhere he went, the number of people on the scene was often only tens of thousands, which was significantly lower than Johnson. I lost my temper several times and even scolded my campaign team for incompetent propaganda.

......

The two planes landed at Paris Airport one after another.

French Prime Minister Robert Schumann greeted him at the airport, and then French President Panchamp Auriol received the aid team at the Presidential Palace Elysee Palace and hosted a banquet in the Presidential Palace.

As for the next work, the French Minister of Economy, George Pidour, is in charge.

The United States had previously provided 65 million US dollars in aid to France to help France rebuild. France was arguably the worst in World War II. The country was completely occupied and many cities were in ruins, which was a great loss of vitality.

Despite the victory of World War II, the domestic economy declined sharply, causing the franc to depreciate, prices soared, commodities were scarce, and people's lives were extremely difficult.

France is in urgent need of assistance at this time.

However, the French are wary of the American aid plan. The Americans actually have a conspiracy to help Europe. They want to become the world's boss. Many people can see it. But there is no way. Now the first priority. Is survival.

Only if the husband survives can we talk about rights. Therefore, European countries succumbed and accepted aid one after another. It is precisely because of this aid that European countries agreed to the conditions put forward by many Americans. In the end, the European economy recovered, but it became a vassal of the United States.

France also produced a list.

There are state-owned companies and private companies on this list. Similar to the situation in Italy, state-owned companies must be controlled by the state. Private companies do not have to do so. They can negotiate with the business owners themselves.

There are also some special enterprises, which were confiscated by the French government after the war and sold directly to the outside world.

The investable companies in France include petroleum, banking, steel, automobiles, machine tool manufacturing, tobacco, insurance, liquefied gas, construction, aviation, shipping, etc.

Wells Fargo was preparing to acquire a bank in France to continue the European bank expansion plan, and Hardy asked Andy to contact the shipping companies on the list to see if he could buy a stake in the French shipping business.

Hardy had already thought about it.

Shipping is also a very important business in the future. He now has resources in his hands. He has shipping companies in the United States, Hong Kong, and Italy. If he acquires a few more shipping companies in other countries, he can form a super shipping group covering the world in the future.

Of course, he has not forgotten to acquire the luxury goods industry.

These are mainly small investments,

Pave the way for the future.

Hardy hired an official from the French Ministry of Commerce and made the same request from Italy. The Hardy Group hopes to invest in the luxury goods industry in France. French officials can only provide the list of companies on the list. If you want to invest in others, please find your own way.

This service attitude is not a little bit worse than Italy.

Hardy asked the person in charge of the French branch of the Global Times and asked him to be responsible for advertising in French newspapers. That is to say, the US investment delegation. The Hardy Group is interested in investing in the luxury goods industry. If you are interested, you can find the French branch of the Global Times. Sign up.

There are many fashion products in France, such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Cartier, Lancome, L'Oreal, Crocodile, Dior, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and so on.

During the occupation of France during World War II, the fashion industry ushered in a cold winter. Numerous brands were either ordered to be shut down or their assets were forcibly moved to Vienna. A few very valuable luxury brands were retained, but the management was replaced by Germans and the benefits were all. Owned by the Germans, even the fashion design majors of the colleges have mentors inserted by Germans to correct their values.

Of course, there are also some brands that have chosen to be effective.

Later, some of these brands were dealt with by the French government, and some escaped, but life was very difficult.

Soon after the news was sent, the Global Times newspaper office received a lot of news.

Christian Dior was the first to find him, and Hardy knew who it was when he heard the name.

Christian Dior is very tall, standing in front of Hardy, who is about 1.8 meters tall, one piece taller than Hardy, not enough. Dee shook hands.

"Hello, Mr. Hardy, I am Christian Dior, and I am a designer. I have opened a clothing store under my surname and I hope to get your investment." Dior respectfully said.

Before World War II, Dior was just a tailor. During the occupation, he was good at making clothes for the German army, so he was almost liquidated after the war. This also made him a little trembling. When he saw Hardy’s cooperative advertisement, he immediately had an idea. .

He wants to lean on a big tree, he wants to survive.

Now that the liquidation activities in France have not yet ended, he is really afraid that one day the situation will be severe, and if he is caught out again, he does not want to enter the labor camp.

Americans invest in Europe. This matter is known throughout Europe. The Hardy Group is one of the investment groups. In the past two days, he learned about the Hardy Group, which is also a very famous group in the United States.

If he can join such a group, he will have a life-saving talisman on him. I believe that the government will need to think about it if it wants to move him. If it doesn't work, he can go to the United States.

That's why Christian Dior looked a little servile in front of Hardy.

Hardy and Dior had a good chat.

Can't be unpleasant,

Hardy said everything Dior said, can it be unpleasant.

Hardy invested 500,000 US dollars to establish Dior Company, accounting for 65% of the shares. Dior used the Paris store and his operations, accounting for 35% of the shares. Dior will operate in France and the United States at the same time. After arriving in the United States, Hardy will be in the media. Give strong support.

Christian Dior left with a surprise.

Later, Hardy acquired part of Lancome's shares. Lancome had a difficult time during World War II and has been suspending production. After the Second World War, it has not recovered. It is expected that someone will inject capital, so Hardy acquired 15% of the shares.

L'Oreal is now in the suspension period because the boss was arrested and said that he helped the Germans during World War II.

As for Chanel, several stores are still closed. Some people say that Mrs. Chanel had a close relationship with the Germans during World War II. Now Mrs. Chanel is hiding in Switzerland.

Hardy sent a letter to the owner and his wife of L'Oreal. If they are willing to sell part of their shares, Hardy Group is willing to help.

To put it bluntly, it's all about survival.

Hardy doesn't care what they have done before. Anyway, it is a traitor who is not a traitor.

Moreover,

Later, the French government did not deal with them, indicating that their problem is not too big.

at the same time.

Andy got in touch with the French Bolloré shipping company. The boss Vincent Bolloré came to visit Hardy, and the two parties had a very pleasant chat.

The French Bolloré shipping company is an old French shipping company founded in 1822. They also suffered heavy losses in World War II. Now the company still has 12 ships, which is already very powerful, with routes connecting the United States, Australia, African countries and Asia. , The owner Vincent Bolloré is very interested in Hardy's investment.

In fact, the so-called companies from various countries on the list are only after soliciting companies before the Ministry of Commerce will put them on the list. That is to say, these companies are willing to accept investment from the beginning.

The other party is willing to accept an investment of no more than 30% of the company’s shares. After the two parties negotiated for an afternoon, Hardy finally obtained 35% of the shares. Hardy invested 9 freighters as investment, and Hardy Shipping leased 10 to Bolloré Shipping freighter.

So far,

Hardy has mastered 4 shipping companies to become an absolute global shipping giant.

The Marshall Plan, the United States' aid to European countries, requires the transportation of a large amount of materials, which is a great stimulus to the trade industry, and it is also the spring of the shipping industry.

A total of 15 days in France, the next station of the delegation is going to Austria. This time Hardy did not follow. He sent Andy and the president of Wells Fargo Bank to go there. If you see any good projects, you can communicate with him by telegram, and Hardy wants to rush back. domestic.

The general election is about to begin.

Johnson reached the final sprint stage, and Hardy had to go back and stare to make sure that there were no other accidents.

His private plane had flown to France a few days ago to wait, and Hardy returned directly to the United States in his private plane.

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