I Become A Noble in England

"But speaking of which, the new host of ITV has been performing well recently..."

When Barron heard Bonnie mention this, he asked,

"You mean Joe Harriman?"

After getting Bonnie's confirmation, Barron shook his head and said:

"This... can be considered a pleasant surprise."

After failing to stop SEM Group's acquisition of ITV, competition among the top three TV stations in the UK is now quite fierce.

Not long ago, the host of an ITV financial talk show was poached by Sky TV, which had a certain impact at the time - it was a popular financial talk show, and eventually Joe Harriman came to temporarily replace the role of host.

After SEM Group completed its acquisition of ITV, SDTV was integrated with ITV, using the name ITV and a new logo.

Joe Harriman was in charge of completing the integration work at that time, and therefore, after the role of the host was lost, the head of SDTV turned his attention to Joe Harriman.

She is a top student who graduated from Oxford University with a degree in political science and economics. Prior to that, she worked at Ernst & Young, where she was responsible for mergers and acquisitions consulting.

The most important thing is that Joe Harriman has outstanding appearance, bright and elegant looks, so he is really a good candidate.

The only thing is that Joe Harriman had no experience in hosting or appearing on camera before, but now that things have come to this, he has to give it a try.

After a trial recording of the show, Joe Harriman's performance was surprisingly outstanding, with her own unique style.

Then after this episode was launched, Joe Harriman's performance was widely praised, and she became the host of the show.

Because this program was broadcast once a week, it was not a huge workload, and Joe Harriman could handle it while balancing her previous work, so she accepted this new job.

"In fact, she even attended our wedding, but you may not remember it."

"Really? I didn't really notice it at the time. She..."

After hearing Barron talk about this, Bonnie had a thoughtful expression on her face.

After all, although many executives from Barron's companies attended their wedding, they were all top-level managers. And when it came to the fact that Joe Harriman also attended the wedding, Bonnie couldn't help but think more about it.

"She came with the Conservative Party leader, Howard and his family. Joe Harriman has a close relationship with the Howard family. She came to SEM Group on the recommendation of Cameron..."

Bonnie was immediately relieved after hearing what Barron said. She asked,

"Honey, what do you think about inviting her to be the host of Britain's Got Talent?"

"Don't you already have a candidate for the host? And from what I know, she won't accept this invitation."

Barron explained to Bonnie:

"Speaking of which, even a position at SEM Group would only be a stepping stone for her. With her resume, it's clear that her ultimate goal is to enter politics..."

When Barron said this, Bonnie understood.

In fact, since Joe Harriman first joined the SEM Group, Barron, after investigating her, had already realized that the path of her resume was a very standard template for accumulating experience and eventually entering politics.

Joe Harriman has a background as a Conservative Party leader, the Howard family, so it is normal for him to make such a choice.

Just like the ITV financial program she is currently working on, she is very happy to do it because it fits her expertise and at the same time can increase her exposure, enhance her popularity, and give the public the impression that she is professional in economics.

But entertainment variety shows like "Britain's Got Talent" are not attractive to Joe Harriman because they are not very helpful in planning her future.

Barron believed that Howard's suggestion might have been behind Joe Harriman's decision to join the SEM Group - this kind of media group is very suitable for accumulating reputation and building connections in the early stages. At the same time, joining the SEM Group will enable him to establish a relationship with Barron, a figure who cannot be ignored, but without appearing to be too intimate, and thus avoid being attacked by competitors in the future. This can be said to be a very clever move.

…

"I fully agree with the acquisition of Sweden's OMX Group. They have a dominant position in the Nordic securities market. After merging with the London Stock Exchange, they can increase the synergy between the two and effectively explore the application of new technologies..."

Clara Foss, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, said this during a meeting with Barron.

A year after acquiring the London Stock Exchange, Barron's also had a new plan, which was to acquire the Sweden-based OMX Group and merge it with the London Stock Exchange to form the London-OMX Group, which would become the largest stock exchange in Europe.

OMX Group owns and operates the largest combined stock exchange in the Nordic region, with several stock exchanges in the Nordic and Baltic regions. It also develops and provides technology and services to companies in the global securities industry.

At this time, the OMX Group owns many exchanges including the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Copenhagen Stock Exchange, Stockholm Stock Exchange, Iceland Stock Exchange, Tallinn Stock Exchange, Riga Stock Exchange and Vilnius Stock Exchange.

In addition, the OMX Group provides technology solutions to more than 60 stock exchanges and serves clients in more than 50 countries.

Therefore, the acquisition of OMX Group can bring to the London Stock Exchange not only the securities markets in the Nordic and Baltic regions, but also the fact that OMX Group is more advanced in technology than the London Stock Exchange at that time. After introducing these technologies, it will be beneficial for the London Stock Exchange to increase its profits.

It is worth mentioning that in 2004, OMX Group's profit was higher than that of the London Stock Exchange. In addition to part of the profit coming from the technical services they provided, their technology was also able to increase the exchange's revenue to a certain extent.

In Baron's previous life, two years later, OMX Group was subject to bidding from Nasdaq Group and Dubai Exchange. After a period of confrontation, the two bidders finally reached an agreement - Dubai Exchange acquired OMX Group for US$4 billion in cash, and then resold OMX Group to Nasdaq Group.

In exchange, the Dubai Stock Exchange acquired a 20% stake in Nasdaq Group and Nasdaq Group's 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange.

Yes, at that time, Nasdaq Group had previously attempted to acquire the London Stock Exchange, but ultimately failed, but still acquired a considerable portion of the London Stock Exchange's shares.

But now, Barron will not leave these acquisition opportunities to Nasdaq Group. He will take the lead in acquiring OMX Group.

Currently, OMX Group is listed in Sweden, and its market capitalization is similar to that of the London Stock Exchange, both around US$3 billion.

The London Stock Exchange is now wholly owned by Global Industrial Investment Fund (GII). After completing the acquisition of Hua Xia, Finn Hudson, CEO of GII Fund, has returned to London. He will soon use the funds of GII Fund Phase II to support the London Stock Exchange's acquisition of OMX Group.

After all, the profits of the London Stock Exchange at that time could not be compared with those a few years later. In 2004, the gross profit of the London Stock Exchange was only 50 million pounds. There has been a certain increase this year, and it is expected to be only more than 60 million pounds... After 2010, the annual profit of the London Stock Exchange will exceed 400 million pounds.