From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 306: Chapter 95: An Unexpected Outside Instep! Arsenal Climbs to the Top of the Table! Ma’el’s Strategy and Acquisition_4

Eventually, Ma’el realized that the entire company had come, more than a dozen people, almost like a team-building event.

To be honest, there are certain perks to being interviewed by a tabloid; it gives you the feeling of being the center of attention.

”Hold on.”

He suddenly paused and turned to ask, ”Does your newspaper have an evaluation?”

Since he’s to have his first-ever exclusive interview here and double this newspaper’s value in the short term, why not try acquiring it first?

Ma’el wasn’t acting on a whim or looking to make a quick buck; he knew his focus for the next few years would definitely be football.

But for someone aiming to be the best athlete, gradually setting up some streaming platforms and football-focused newspapers to gain a certain level of influence isn’t a bad idea.

He could just use this opportunity to give the newspaper some fame and then develop it through his own identity’s advantages... not by acting as a mole.

Then, whenever he needs the newspaper to speak for him, he can utilize it at any time.

Not to mention, this could potentially earn him quite a bit of money.

”Huh?”

The newspaper owner, Peter, was taken aback, his eyes lighting up as he paused the filming and invited Ma’el into a room for a private conversation.

”This is my father’s newspaper; he founded it in 1964 and handed it over to me in 1999.”

Peter proactively poured Ma’el a cup of tea, explaining, ”Unfortunately, I haven’t done well, and with the rise of streaming media later on, we’ve gradually lost our survival space, and our attempts to transition have constantly failed.

”The fortunate thing is that when Amelia came from Sky Sports, she brought the opportunity for your interview, which we value... we should first thank you for that.

Do you know how newspapers are operated? The traditional way has mostly faded away; most newspapers have transitioned now.”

Ma’el shook his head, looking at Peter seriously and listening to him continue introducing.

”Advertising and subscription for paid columns... these are our main income sources, and of course, there’s endorsement and such, but that’s too far away from us.”

Peter took a sip of tea and got to the main point, ”The bulk is still advertising. We can roughly pull in 400,000 pounds in revenue annually here, with another 150,000 pounds from subscriptions.”

”Is it almost a balance?” Ma’el speculated, noting Peter’s company still had more than a dozen employees.

”Pretty much.” Peter shook his head bitterly, thought for a long time, and said, ”If calculated by that set of standards, I think the newspaper’s valuation is around 2 million pounds, so we indeed have some foundation.

”Mr. Ma’el, are you thinking about investing? I must be upfront; the newspaper has always been looking for investors.

”If our investor happens to be a top soccer player... oh, I wouldn’t dare to dream of that.”

”Haha...” Ma’el smiled a bit, still not accustomed to being called ’Mr.’, ”If you accept investment or acquisition, what percent of shares are you willing to give up?”

”Uh.” Peter was a bit troubled, cautiously asking in return, ”With this valuation, how much is Mr. Ma’el willing to invest?”

”We’ll discuss the valuation later.” Ma’el definitely wouldn’t just agree with what he said. He considered for a moment and replied, ”I’m willing to invest 70-80%, depending on whether you’re willing or not.”

If it’s too little, there’s no need, and there’s no control; if it’s a full investment, turning Peter into an employee, then no one would be worried about running things.

For him, 70-80 is the most reasonable range and also worth the attempt.

”That much?”

Even though Peter was mentally prepared, he was still startled when Ma’el mentioned the figure.

To casually suggest this number means he must have more than a hundred thousand pounds readily available.... How much does he have in his pocket then?

But he’s only 18!

Peter inwardly lamented with agony; as a businessman, it’s the first thing that comes to mind.

Ma’el wasn’t too surprised by his expression; he’d seen many similar faces before.

”Let me think for a moment.” Peter swallowed, taking the tea cup and stepping out, seeming to want to discuss with the core members, ”Mr. Ma’el, please wait a moment.”

”Okay.”

Ma’el sat at the seat and chuckled, ”Looks like the interview will be postponed.”

He’s quite confident, as long as the other party is considering, it means they’re certainly tempted; the rest is just a matter of price.

”If the acquisition succeeds, Football Record and ins might make a good combo.”

His mind sparked with inspiration, outlining a rough development path, ”With me involved, forming a corner trap, all three parties can profit, and I’ll share in all the benefits.”

Acquire the newspaper, ignite it from ins, first occupy the blank market here; grow as ins grows.

Then, use his own fame and ins’s traffic to lift it up; once it has a certain influence, use it to feed back to ins and himself.

It’s a closed loop!

Whether it’s advertising or the income from columns, in the future, they will be an important source of extra income for him.

Peter soon returned, with his face showing no discernible expression, ”We discussed...”

”Mr. Peter.”

Ma’el didn’t give him any room for preamble or pointless talk, pointing to his watch, ”Tomorrow is the match, I’ll have to leave in the afternoon; there’s not much time.

”So, just give me a straight answer, accept or not, other details can be discussed later.”

Peter placed the tea cup on the table and sat down without hesitation, ”We’re willing to give up 78% of the shares, if you agree to the acquisition, you’ll become the largest shareholder and actual controller of this newspaper.

”But we won’t accept a valuation below 1.8 million pounds; I hope Mr. Ma’el accepts this point.”

”I like straightforwardness.” Ma’el stood up, smiling and clapping hands with him, although he didn’t agree to anything, ”We’ll talk about everything else later, once the month’s schedule eases, I’ll come over.”

In his eyes, those 78% of the shares are as good as his!

In the future, he can find a professional firm to value them, talk over the price with them again, then prepare the funds and sign the contract.

Walking out of the office, Ma’el hadn’t anticipated that today’s interview would inadvertently lead to acquiring a newspaper.

He saw Amelia looking at him with surprise, seemingly aware of what just transpired.

What is this?

My superstar boss?

Ma’el gave a slight smile and waved goodbye to the newspaper folks, as if he’d completed the acquisition, ”Bye-bye, the interview can wait until next time, got some other things to handle first.”

He drove his beloved Ferrari back home, rested for two or three hours and packed his things, preparing for the away game.

Tomorrow’s match, against Ligue 1 champion Marseille, can’t afford any negligence.

It’s time to put on a good show in front of the future France team coach Deschamps.