Rebirth of England

Chapter 986 European Missile Group

So far, Barron has a total stake of more than 15% in BAE Systems through the Cavendish Trust and funds under DS Group and Standard Chartered Merrill Lynch.

It can be said that BAE Systems' shares are very dispersed. Although Barron only controls 15% of BAE Systems' shares, he is already the largest shareholder of the largest weapons manufacturer in Britain. Before he joined BAE Systems, the company's largest single shareholder was Barclays Bank, which held less than 5% of its shares...

It can be said that the shares of BAE Systems that can be obtained are the current limit of Barron's - in addition to having bought the shares of institutions willing to sell shares, they can no longer continue to absorb in the secondary market, because the circulation volume is already low, and buying more will directly increase the stock price...

After all, BAE Systems is one of the major military equipment suppliers including the United States, Britain, and some European countries...

It is worth mentioning here that although the American branch of BAE Systems is the main military equipment supplier of the U.S. military, it is also because of this that, according to relevant regulations, its American branch is basically operated independently. Even if Barron becomes the largest shareholder of BAE Systems, it will be difficult for him to interfere in some matters of the American branch, otherwise it will inevitably affect the company's sales to the U.S. military.

BAE Systems is mentioned because it is one of the major shareholders of the European Missile Group, holding 37.5% of the shares of the European Missile Group.

Although Barron said that Cameron only needs to make a gesture of cooperating with Britain and Europe in the development of strategic missiles, if possible, he still hopes that this research can be started now, rather than waiting until a few years later, when Britain discovers its shortcomings in long-range missiles through the Russo-Ukrainian war, and then joins Europe's strategic missile development.

The European Missile Group is the world's second largest missile manufacturer after Raytheon of the United States. It is also the only manufacturer in the world that can simultaneously develop current and future missile systems for the three services of navy, army and air force.

Therefore, if Europe jointly cooperates in the development of strategic missiles, it must be done through the European Missile Group.

Currently, the European Missile Group includes capital shares from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. Among them, AES-Matra Missiles, a subsidiary of the French-German European Aeronautic Defense Group, holds 37.5% of its shares, BAE Systems holds 37.5% of the shares, and Italy's Finmeccanica Group holds 25% of the shares.

In this way, by controlling BAE Systems to a certain extent, Barron will be able to exert a certain influence on the European Missile Group.

But in the final analysis, projects like developing strategic missiles, which require huge investments but do not bring much commercial returns, naturally need to be carried out through government investment.

The reason why they say the returns will not be too great is also limited by the relevant military framework of NATO. If the sales are really open, then apart from anything else, the rich in the Middle East alone will dare to place large orders. But this is impossible. After all, Europe is now militarily bound to NATO, and NATO's leader is the United States. How could it allow the regional "balance" they have established to be broken?

Therefore, not to mention the great difficulties in research and development - after all, before this, not only Britain, but also all European countries except France were within the framework of NATO and relied on the "military protection" of the United States. It can be said that they were far behind in the research and development of strategic missiles. Before this, the main business of the European Missile Group was air defense missiles and air-to-air missiles...

Even if they have achieved research and development results, their products will at most be provided to some countries within the NATO framework. You must know that the United States has always been "lenient with itself and strict with others". Although they will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty later, it will not affect their strict review of arms exports from other countries, especially within the NATO framework.

But even so, if the support of relevant governments is obtained, the research and development of strategic missiles can still be a relatively stable and profitable business - the government is often willing to invest in such strategic security-related projects.

……

"The Ukrainian people have made the right choice. We support Ukraine's upcoming general election and believe that under the leadership of the democratic civilization, this place will be completely integrated into the big family of Europe in the near future..."

In early March, British Secretary of State for Business, Skills and Innovation Joe Harriman visited Ukraine and made a public speech in support of Ukraine's democratic process.

In addition to showing support, Joe Harriman was accompanied by some British business representatives. After expressing their optimism about Ukraine's future and their hope that it would stabilize as soon as possible, British capital, including the European Wealth Fund, also expressed its willingness to invest in Ukraine, covering agriculture, mining and finance.

According to the latest opinion polls, the Conservative Party's support rate in the UK has declined. In response, Cameron is preparing to make adjustments to the cabinet before the general election.

William Hague has stated that he is willing to give up his position as Foreign Secretary and will serve as Speaker of the House of Commons after a cabinet reshuffle.

Jo Harriman will take over from William Hague for her "outstanding work" and become the second female Foreign Secretary in British history after Margaret Beckett during the Blair era.

Given Joe Harriman's age, it would have been impossible for him to become Foreign Secretary, one of the core members of the Cabinet, if it had not been for the preparation of the two previous cabinet positions.

Even so, the competition for Foreign Secretary was still fierce enough, but after Cameron listened to the opinions of Barron and William Hague, he chose Joe Harriman.

Therefore, before taking up his new position, Joe Harry took advantage of the opportunity to lead his team to Ukraine. On the one hand, he wanted to "show his face" in this hot spot that has attracted global attention, and on the other hand, he wanted to help the European wealth fund controlled by Barron cooperate with Ukraine.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Like Russia in the past, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's land, mining, energy and other industries fell into the hands of oligarchs, and the lives of ordinary Ukrainian people can be said to be getting worse year by year - Ukraine, which is rich in resources, was once the country with the lowest per capita income in Europe.

Now that Ukraine has once again sided with the United States and the West, the oligarchs in their country are also happy to cooperate with the European Wealth Fund to help them transfer part of their assets to European countries including Britain, thereby obtaining an additional layer of protection.