Thomas Kaboré is the leader of the Kolo Socialist Party.
Just three and a half years ago, he ran for president of Kolo against Jammeh Bongo of the Kolo People's Party in the general election, but ultimately lost.
This defeat was due in part to the fact that Jammeh Bongo, with Barron's support, overthrew the previous military government in a coup and established a transitional government. Therefore, he holds a higher prestige among both the upper echelons and the public.
Clearly, his desire for an audience with Barron is motivated by the upcoming general elections next year.
Jammeh Bongo's achievements during his current term have been remarkable, with Kolo's development evident and a significant improvement in the quality of life for the people.
Crucially, Thomas Kaboré is five years older than Jammeh Bongo. Who knows what will happen if he fails to win the next election and waits another four years? Therefore, he hopes to gain the support of Barron, the powerful figure behind the scenes.
The next day at noon, Barron met Thomas for lunch, but the conversation was mostly casual, focusing on Kolo's recent developments and the challenges it faces.
Barron didn't offer a clear response to Thomas Kaboré's apparent "loyalty" rhetoric, simply stating that he would respect the choice of the people of Kolo and hoped Thomas would perform well in next year's election.
After all, by now, Barron no longer had to directly influence Kolo's election results. It wasn't that he deeply respected "democracy," but rather that he had planted the seeds of the West African Group at the heart of Kolo from the very beginning.
Therefore, his approach to Kolo was completely different from the attitude of imperialist powers like Britain and France towards their colonies.
He didn't need to worry that Kolo would slip away from his control if it flourished. As Kolo developed, the West African Group would only take deeper root, absorbing nutrients and growing stronger.
Therefore, he didn't interfere in Kolo's elections. Regardless of who held the presidency, they had to respect the West African Group's interests in Kolo; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to remain in office.
Of course, a meeting with Thomas Cabore was also necessary. As the leader of the opposition party, Barron would also offer some reassurance.
Meanwhile, a meeting with Thomas could also serve as a warning to Jammeh Bongo, preventing him from becoming complacent with his position and popular support, and perhaps even bringing him back to his senses.
...
"Your Highness, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has received another bid from Thomson Reuters to acquire the Reuters Group. This time, they've adjusted their proposal. I'm afraid it will be difficult to suppress it. If you can't convince Reuters, then the outcome..."
The call was from Bloomberg, referring to the Antitrust Division's investigation into Thomson Reuters's acquisition of the Reuters Group.
"Can you find a way to delay it a little longer? Mr. Bloomberg, I believe our goals are aligned."
"I can only try my best, but I can't guarantee the outcome."
In terms of preference, if Reuters was destined to be acquired, then as the owner of Bloomberg News, Bloomberg would certainly prefer the acquisition to be by SEM Group. After all, that wouldn't increase Reuters' market share, and Bloomberg News would still hold the upper hand. Vacation With My StepmomHuge collection of comics at HoneyToon. Start reading now! But from Bloomberg's words, it's clear that getting the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to reject the deal once was already a strong effort. After Thomson adjusted its acquisition proposal to pass the antitrust investigation, even if it dragged on, it likely wouldn't last much longer.
The same is true in the UK, though Barron's influence is slightly better. After the previous rejection, even if Thomson reapplies, Barron can certainly delay the process for at least two or three months...
Two or three months is plenty, because if the UK and EU don't approve this acquisition, Thomson's acquisition of Reuters won't go through.
The reason they want to delay the US as much as possible is that if the US antitrust review passes, it will put immense pressure on the relevant review agencies in the UK and EU, making it difficult for them to delay for too long. It
's already mid-to-late September, and the US stock market will soon reach its peak before the subprime mortgage crisis, followed by a continuous decline.
Whether Thomson's or Reuters' stock prices fall, their acquisitions will be impacted.
It's been over four months since Thomson began its acquisition of Reuters in May of this year... In fact,
the acquisition was essentially finalized back in May, so the fact that it's been delayed for four months, or even six months, is a testament to Barron's "efforts"... Even
so, SEM Group's acquisition of Reuters hasn't made much progress.
It's clear that the Reuters board of directors, including Reuters President and CEO Tom Grosser, favors a merger with Thomson.
The reason, as previously stated, is that for Reuters, a merger with Thomson would give the new company the largest market share in the industry, and the resulting synergies would significantly reduce expenses and generate greater efficiencies. After all,
both acquisitions involve a share swap. Besides the cash involved, they also hope to maximize the value of the shares in the new company.
Unless...
SEM Group is willing to raise its acquisition price for Reuters. But then again, knowing the subprime mortgage crisis would soon erupt further, impacting the stock market and causing Reuters's market value to plummet, how could Barron be willing to significantly increase the acquisition price?
Unless the Thomson Group is truly on the verge of completing its acquisition of Reuters.
For now, it seems he can still postpone this timeline, which is why Barron remains patient with the acquisition.
By this time, Barron had returned to London from West Africa. Immediately upon his return, he instructed his public relations team to continue pushing for a re-examination of Thomson Group's acquisition of Reuters by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Meanwhile, Tianhe Capital, far away in China, mobilized funds through their investment company in Hong Kong and began a massive short-selling campaign against Thomson Group's stock in the US and Canadian stock markets!