Jasper said flatly, “Mr. Reynoldson, I think you haven‘t realized the situation. Our meeting is a fact, and it is also a fact that I intend to acquire Nokia. Since they are all facts, I didn’t fabricate any content. It’s just that the media got hold of the news, so what explanation do I need to give you?”
“If even that requires an explanation, then how do you explain you coming here to seek me out now?”
Reynoldson was furious. He replied, “Do you know how much pressure the board of directors and shareholder meetings put on me over the past ten hours? They all think that I colluded with you to sell the greatest national brand in Finland.”
“What a joke. You are just a high end wage earner. Even if you have some shares on hand, they are only a small minority. If I wanted to collude with someone, it’d be with the major shareholders on the board of directors. Why would I collude with you?” Jasper asked rhetorically.
Reynoldson was taken aback, and his face turned purple from resentment.
“Then why did you come to me last time?” Reynoldson asked.
“For a chat, of course. It was to determine whether I would succeed or not. It’ll be great if there was a chance for cooperation, but it’s fine if there wasn’t.”
Jasper shrugged.
At this moment, Jasper was a hoodlum from the east in Reynoldson’s eyes.
“Laine, I don’ t know if this is your negotiation strategy, but I must tell you that if you do this, it will only make your chances of success even slimmer.”
Reynoldson calmed his burning rage. He looked at Jasper calmly and said, “It is difficult for foreigners to understand what Nokia means to the Finnish citizens. Maybe there are some possibilities for you to acquire Nokia if you keep a low profile and pass through all the necessary levels.”
“But now you have made it known all over the country. Who do you think will sell their shares to you under such tremendous pressure from the outside world?”
Jasper laughed upon hearing that and said, “They will reject me, but… They won’t reject the US Dollar.”
“What does it matter to me whether a company is powerful and spectacular to the Finnish?”
“To me, all I see is a mobile phone company with decent assets and good technology, and that this company is caught in the conflict between shareholders and management. If one accidentally falls out with each other, both parties will be destroyed indiscriminately. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, the mobile phone company will be the one that gets ruined in the end.”
“Do you not understand this or do the shareholders not understand this?”
“Either take advantage of the current high value to cash out and leave after accepting the large sum of dollars from me, or wait for Nokia to be eliminated.”
After Jasper finished speaking, he stood up and stared at Reynoldson. He continued, “Mr. Reynoldson, you’re standing on a tightrope and there’s a cliff under you, but the initiative is on the opposite side. Now I will hand you a pole, but it’s up to you whether you want to accept it or not.”
“However, you have to understand that I can give my pole to the weak because it is easier for the weak to compromise, but it doesn’t mean that I can ‘t unite with the strong and kill the weak first.”
Reynoldson scrunched his face. The craggy square face with a heavy beard that was unique to the Finnish was filled with worry and conflict He needed a little time to digest this or perhaps find a way to get out of this situation.
Jasper was not in a hurry anyway. He estimated that about 20 minutes had passed, meaning he still had 10 minutes to entangle with Reynoldson.
Jasper finally obtained the upper hand in this negotiation, and he did not want to mess up at this time. It was unknown how much time had passed, but just as Jasper was getting impatient, Reynoldson spoke. “Laine, how do you ensure our success? You said that I’m just a manager and my team and I own very few shares in Nokia. We have only 3.7% and it can’t influence the board of directors’ decisions, let alone the general meeting of shareholders.”
This question made Jasper laugh with satisfaction.
