dognovel Chapter 320 A Chance Encounter Leads to Acquaintance: The Division of Bausch & Lomb
Chapter 320 A Chance Encounter Leads to Acquaintance: The Division of Bausch & Lomb
Chapter 320 A Chance Encounter Leads to Acquaintance: The Division of Bausch & Lomb
Thomas Reed is a former director of the Lake Erie Railroad, now the owner of the Rochester Freight Terminal, and also one of the major shareholders of Bausch & Lomb, holding more than 5% of the company's shares.
This shareholder did not attend the last shareholders' meeting because he did not care who Bausch & Lomb would eventually sell to, since his stake in Bausch & Lomb only accounted for a small portion of his assets.
But after the shareholders' meeting, Mr. Reed heard that Kodak and Zeiss of Germany were both preparing to acquire Bausch & Lomb.
Reed said he didn't care, since he had no intention of selling the stock anyway.
But a few days later, a middle-aged gentleman with black hair visited Reid's residence. This gentleman was tall and handsome, and spoke politely; if he didn't say he was German, no one would be able to tell.
After a few pleasantries, the other party made a request: if Mr. Reed could support the acquisition of Zeiss, he would not only provide an additional $5000 in consulting fees, but also invite Mr. Reed's only son and his fiancée to visit and learn from Krupp in Germany. If they wished, they could both join Krupp and work in Krupp's New York office.
Reed was quite tempted by the offer. His son was currently studying at Yale, and his fiancée was a local socialite. If he could secure a job at Krupp's New York office, it would not only provide his son with a respectable job but also extend his family's influence into New York.
The other party also specifically reminded him that if Reed was willing to sell his shares, their offer would be $42 per share, and in cash.
Reed was even more tempted.
He was terrified that the newspapers would stir up trouble over the matter, and it would be a huge loss if he were accused of colluding with the Germans. But the other party smiled and promised that no third person would know about it.
So when Goldman Sachs came to visit Reed, he made it clear that he refused to meet him.
On the afternoon of May 20, Herzog's envoys traveled by carriage to Reed Estate again to finalize the details of the cooperation.
Halfway through the journey, a wagon loaded with timber went out of control and crashed into the front axle of the carriage, breaking it.
Herzog's commissioner was caught off guard, and when the carriage overturned, he was thrown into the ditch by the roadside.
The wagon also broke the shaft of the horse-drawn carriage, and the two horses were startled and ran away.
The commissioner scrambled to his feet, utterly distraught, only to find his tuxedo torn, one of his glasses shattered, and his file box rolled into the muddy water.
"What happened? Was this a traffic accident?" The commissioner looked bewildered.
A group of men dressed as workers rushed up to him, but instead of helping him up, they started waving their fists at him.
The other side angrily shouted slogans, "Germans, get out of Rochester!"
"Bausch & Lomb is ours!"
The commissioner was startled.
Originally, its owner had already provided it with a pistol for self-defense. But now, the angry crowd and the wolf that had just fallen into the ditch...
The wolf had already made the commissioner forget about the pistol, and instead watched as everyone trembled in fear.
Among these workers, the leader had a strange scar on his face. He looked at the commissioner with ill intent, puffing on a cigar as he approached.
"I heard that you and your master are planning to move our company to Germany?" The other person's voice was a little hoarse, like a smoker's voice.
"I...I don't know anything—" The commissioner was determined to deny everything.
The other person wore a slick smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should apologize first. The road was too slippery, and I accidentally knocked over your carriage."
"No, it's alright—this is unavoidable," the commissioner said politely.
The other person had a mocking smile on their face, and just then, one of his employees handed the commissioner his briefcase.
The commissioner's eyes narrowed, and he hurriedly exclaimed, "This is mine—!"
Before he could speak, the man had already taken out the documents from his bag, held them up to the sunlight, and read aloud, "Oh, so it's an invitation letter for Mr. Reed's son? It's even a special approval from the German Emperor. By the way, how much money did you guys pay Reed?"
Laughter erupted from the crowd as the clerk tried to retrieve his documents. Unexpectedly, the other party had already torn the letter to shreds and tossed it into the wind.
"Your emperor, your lousy emperor, is useless here! This is the only one that's effective in this land!" As he spoke, the man kept shaking his fist at the commissioner and laughing.
"You, how dare you—" The commissioner was so frightened he couldn't speak.
The man took another puff of his cigar and blew the smoke into the commissioner's face. "Get out! This land belongs to the capitalists! Follow your emperor's orders and go back to Europe."
The commissioner had never seen anything like this before. He turned around in a fluster and ran off onto the dirt road.
After running for more than 200 meters, the commissioner realized that his pocket watch, wallet, gun, and other belongings had all vanished.
Undoubtedly, this was a trick played by that group. But the commissioner dared not ask them to return his belongings.
How the commissioner ran back to Herzog's apartment to report to him is another matter.
That evening, the torn letter appeared on the front page of the Rochester Evening News with the headline, "German secret letter exposed: Zeiss seeks to seize control of Bausch & Lomb, local shareholder becomes inside man."
The newspaper report did not mention Reed's name, but the descriptions of him as a "traitor" and his identity made it very clear to the reader that he was the one.
Mr. Reed was sitting at home when a pot fell from the sky.
The next morning, Mr. Reed's fiancée's father came to their door demanding an explanation: "What's going on in your family? Why are you colluding with the Germans? My daughter cannot marry a traitor!"
Reed was furious! He rushed to town by carriage to confront Herzog. "You promised to keep this a secret, how could you leak it to the local newspaper?"
Herzog was also speechless. His commissioner said that the letter had been torn up, so how could it appear in the newspaper?
Having finally managed to shoo away the furious Reed, Herzog stood at the window, his face ashen, continuing to gaze at the azure Lake Ontario outside.
Standing behind him was a tall, dark-haired middle-aged man, the same man who had first gone to Reed's house to make demands.
"Mr. Herzog, they certainly came prepared—it seems they are determined not to let us acquire Bausch & Lomb."
Herzog stared out the window for a moment before turning to the middle-aged man. "Mr. Schmeisser, I transferred you from New York not so you could make sarcastic remarks—"
Schmeisser nodded and said solemnly, "Sir, this is not sarcasm, it's a suggestion. I've spent a long time in the United States, and I know it's definitely not as rigorous and respectable as Europe. But even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, so I suggest abandoning the plan to acquire Bausch & Lomb in the United States."
"Give up? On what grounds? I am the emperor's special envoy."
Schmeisser waved his hand slightly. "Actually, it's okay even if we can't acquire it. We can settle for something else."
"What do you mean by settling for second best? What's your idea?" Herzog asked, turning his head.
Schmeisser's words were also very simple and straightforward: "If we can't have it, we'll just destroy it! Just a small fraction of the money you used to pay for the equity is enough for us to shut Bausch & Lomb down—"
Herzog took out his gold-plated pocket watch, glanced at it, and then sighed softly, "Time is running out. The second shareholders' meeting is on the 22nd—we might really have to do what you said."
Schmeisser nodded and said calmly, "Don't worry, we'll keep this in mind—"
"What a pity! What I fear most right now is that Bausch & Lomb will be able to make high-end lenses. That young man was talking about Corning glass—if it can really replace Schott glass, then things will be really difficult!" Herzog looked up at the ceiling.
Just when the two thought they had to destroy Bausch & Lomb, a servant came in to inform them.
"Sir, someone is looking for you. He says his name is Larry Livingston."
"Livingston?! How could that be?" Herzog's face showed a wary expression. Louis Schmeisser also frowned deeply.
After thinking for a moment, Herzog ordered, "Let him in first. I want to see what he has to say."
A moment later, Larry Livingston entered. He had no attendants, only a briefcase. Approaching Herzog, he held his top hat in his hand and greeted the two men warmly.
"Mr. von Herzog, it's been a long time!"
Although Larry made a point of calling out the surname of the other party's noble representative, Herzog and Louis Schmeisser were sitting in their seats with indifferent expressions.
"Mr. Livingston?" Herzog said, frowning. "I thought you were too busy persuading the Navy to cooperate and didn't have time to talk business."
Larry smiled. "It's precisely because the Navy is interested in Bausch & Lomb lenses that I'm here to discuss a win-win-win deal."
"What kind of business?" Herzog's mind raced, his eyes fixed on Larry.
The other party pulled out a stack of documents from his leather briefcase and continued with a smile, "Please take a look. This is the inspection report for Corning's products—this proves that, at least in the grinding of lenses, Bausch & Lomb no longer needs the Schott glass you import."
Herzog didn't take the documents, but instead looked at him with cold eyes. "So you're here to flaunt your victory, aren't you?"
"No!" Larry's gaze shifted from the documents to his face, and he continued with a smile, "On the contrary, I'm here to get a piece of the cake, the cake you all thought you could eat alone."
Herzog and Schmeisser exchanged a glance but said nothing.
Larry continued, "Zeiss wants the future of microscopes and telescopes. After all, only these two fields can bring out the best in terms of the technological properties of barium crown glass. Right? It's about making Jena a temple of science, and Bausch & Lomb as the contract manufacturer."
Herzog remained expressionless and silent.
Larry said slowly, "Actually, I can give you all of this! After all, I bought the company to make money, not necessarily to help Bausch & Lomb gain any brand recognition in the academic field."
Herzog frowned, but his eyes were already gleaming with anticipation. He asked, "What do you mean?"
"I know that Zeiss has been bundling similar products with Bausch & Lomb's licensed products in the Americas. You make a lot of profit from this. But ultimately, this business isn't particularly profitable for Bausch & Lomb right now, because you've completely squeezed its profit margins."
Herzog nodded involuntarily, "You could say that."
"So we're selling all of these things to you as a package, including the glass formula authorized by Zeiss, the relevant customer channels they've found, the technology they've developed, and Bausch & Lomb's brand rights in the academic field—all of it is yours."
Herzog asked calmly, "What price do you want to sell it for?"
"$95, plus a commitment that Zeiss will not obstruct Bausch & Lomb's research and production of civilian consumer goods and military equipment!"
Larry raised his eyebrows as he spoke.
Herzog's pupils contracted as he considered the condition offered—in fact, this was exactly what Zeiss had been dreaming of. After all, Bausch & Lomb had always been producing under its own licenses, so technical considerations weren't as important as the most profitable research and astronomical mirror fields.
The key point is that by cutting off the application of high-tech technologies, it will be very difficult for Bausch & Lomb to break into the high-end technology field.
But even though that's what she thought, Herzog still drew out her words.
"This price is a bit expensive."
Larry explained calmly.
"It's not expensive anymore. Do you know what's the most important asset of Bausch & Lomb? It's its distribution channels. It has its own familiar distribution channels throughout the Americas, including parts of the South American market. That's where Bausch & Lomb's greatest value lies. If you were to open up new channels yourself, it would take a lot of time, and you might not even be able to succeed."
Schmaiser glanced at Herzog, nodded slightly, and silently agreed with Larry's statement.
"Please continue," Herzog continued.
Larry unfolded a piece of paper and continued reading, "Furthermore, I will grant the civilian portion of Bausch & Lomb to George Eastman. What he needs are camera lenses. Civilian patents and distribution channels don't conflict with your interests at all."
"And what about you? Are you just going to take the money and leave?" Schmeisser couldn't help but ask.
Larry laughed. "To be honest, I want the military optics component—as you can see, I finally managed to get in touch with the Navy. If I were to sell the military component to outsiders, wouldn't that be a huge loss of face?"
After a pause, Larry continued, "Besides that, I also need the factory in Rochester, and a team of technicians. In short, if you cooperate, I'll buy them all, make them into a cake, and put it in front of you. The three of us will then divide it up."
Herzog remained silent for a long time, then looked up and thought for a moment before suddenly turning to Larry. "I don't understand! Why do you assume we can't acquire these things under the same conditions, and that I'll be the one to distribute them to you? Is this your contempt for the Germans?"
"Alright, we've become friends through a misunderstanding. Let's not put all business on the table!" Larry smiled knowingly. "Besides, now that the Navy is here, and it involves national security, if you're too greedy, it probably won't do your business any good."
Herzog gave a wry smile. "Do you really think we should listen to your business advice?"
Larry continued, "I have another card to play: the orders from the U.S. Navy and Army. So, our business can continue, and if you continue to supply us, I'll take all your orders."
"Supply? And pay 60% tax? Are you working for the doctor's family?" Schmeisser said with a smile.
"Excuse me, sir, who are you?" Larry couldn't help but ask the other person.
"Louis Schmeisser, the new representative sent to the United States by the German company," Herzog introduced.
Larry raised an eyebrow; he recognized the name! Just a month or two ago. What could it be? That's it!
This is the guy who wants to buy the automatic pistol that made Waldorf famous in World War I!
Although he recognized the other person, Larry remained calm and instead smiled, saying, "Nice to meet you!"
Then, turning to Herzog, he continued, "Anyway, you don't need to worry about what I do, but Bausch & Lomb and Zeiss can continue doing business."
I will exclusively supply the Navy with all the lenses they need—but I want to remind you of one thing: How many military lenses Bausch & Lomb produce in the future is none of your business. And without my consent, Zeiss's similar products cannot be allowed to enter the US market.”
Herzog said coldly, "Oh, what a big mouth you have! What makes you think you can?"
"The system! I rely on the power of the system," Larry said with a smile.
Herzog's expression darkened further as he said, "Trying to blackmail Zeiss through regulations so they can't sell lenses in the US? That's robber logic."
Larry chuckled and wagged his finger. "The Navy needs technology, but even more so, it needs a sense of security. That's something other brands can't provide. The reason I'm comfortable letting you each take your other product lines is precisely because I'm transitioning the new Bausch & Lomb to military products. It's quite difficult, but what's the saying? National security comes first. I doubt you want an American company supplying you with firearms, or rather, binoculars, right?"
Herzog remained silent.
Schmeisser suddenly interjected, "You sacrificed overall interests, but in return, you secured Zeiss's continued supply of lenses and even used national security as leverage to force us to cooperate with you on glass checks—that's brilliantly done!"
Schmeisser figured it out.
The navy needs technology, but it needs security even more. If we don't give him military orders, this kid might really put his company's products above national security and stir up trouble. In that case, not only will we lose business, but we won't even be able to do research business.
Schmeisser glanced at Herzog, who nodded silently.
Larry laughed. "The Germans are good at making lenses, the Americans are good at setting the rules. This game is never going to be played on the same level."
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