novelraw Chapter 349 - 191: Cutting In
Chapter 349 - 191: Cutting In
Kenneth Osborne’s mind was racing, and he immediately said, "Thank you, Mr. Foster. We’re still in talks with Wayford Intelligence. If they agree to our terms, I hope you’ll provide us with a credit guarantee.""No problem," Gabriel Foster said with a meaningful smile. "I’m waiting for your good news."
...
Justus Spencer returned home intending to get some rest, but AI Vision Promise left him with no time to relax.
He held his phone, making calls to industry insiders, and finally reached out to the boss of Wayford Intelligence, Luke Stern.
"Mr. Stern, have you considered our offer? If there are no surprises, can we schedule a time to officially sign the contract tomorrow?" Justus Spencer asked cautiously with a smile.
Luke Stern was a shrewd middle-aged man and also a professor of computer automatic control at a certain technology university.
He founded this AI company about a decade ago, and it had always been slow-growing. He had long wanted out.
So when he hinted at selling, many investment banks showed interest, eager to act as brokers for him.
The Spencer Group’s Victory Wise Corporation was originally the most promising and highest bidding buyer.
He had already verbally agreed and was even more eager than Victory Wise Corporation to sell.
But because Victory Wise’s foreign AI master, Thomas, kept insisting on evaluating their AI technology level, it was delayed for more than two months.
Luke Stern had always been worried that the deal might not go through, but unexpectedly, another company showed interest in Wayford Intelligence and offered double the price!
Luke Stern was no longer in a hurry and laughed as he said to Justus Spencer, "Mr. Spencer, isn’t your Mr. Stewart still ’reviewing’ our technology? I’m in no rush, take your time, haha..."
He laughed gleefully, while Justus Spencer could only curse him as shamelessly in his heart. Clearly, he had agreed before and urged them every day to sign the contract!
Now, with another potential buyer, he began to deliberately brush him off.
As the CEO of the Spencer Group and Cameron Spencer’s only son, Justus Spencer’s temper wasn’t as arrogant as typical heirs, but he had some pride.
Suppressing his anger, his tone became a bit hostile, "Mr. Stern, business is about trust, and integrity as a person. You’ve agreed and then gone back on your word. What will others think of Mr. Stern?"
This was a threat to Luke Stern, implying he might expose his reneging.
If Luke Stern wanted to remain in the industry, he couldn’t afford this shame.
But the problem was, Luke Stern had no intention of continuing in business. He just wanted to cash out the company and continue as a university professor and PhD supervisor.
Were the female grad students in the school lab not attractive? Or was handling billions in cash too cumbersome?
So he didn’t care about Justus Spencer’s threat, chuckling, "Mr. Spencer, isn’t that a bit much? We’re all in business; the only integrity in business is that the highest bidder wins. Besides, we haven’t signed a contract, not even a verbal agreement, don’t bully our small business..."
"This industry may run on money, but fairness resides in people’s hearts. I don’t need to go on social media to add fuel to your company’s reputation, do I?"
Luke Stern wasn’t easy to deal with either. If Justus Spencer dared to use public opinion as a threat, he wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate similarly.
Justus Spencer realized then that he couldn’t push Luke Stern too hard.
Unless he really decided not to acquire Wayford Intelligence, breaking relations now wouldn’t benefit the Spencer Group.
He immediately changed his tone, speaking sincerely, "Mr. Stern, you’ve taken it too seriously. We are very earnest, otherwise, why would I be so flustered? We truly want to acquire Wayford Intelligence. How about this, tell us your terms, what will it take to sign the contract?"
Luke Stern was pleased, crossing his legs and looking at the terms AI Vision Promise offered him, he said gladly, "Since Mr. Spencer is so sincere, and you approached me first, I’ll give you the favor. If you’re willing to offer 2.5 billion, I’ll sign immediately!"
Upon hearing this, Justus Spencer jumped off the sofa, nearly swearing out loud.
He punched the wall, using the pain in his hand to withhold the harsh words about to escape.
Taking a deep breath, Justus Spencer turned to sit on the window sill, maintaining his smile, "The price jumped so much, I can’t decide—I’ll need to consult the board of directors."
"Alright, go ahead and consult. But I’m not trying to make things difficult. Another company has already offered me 2 billion, which is 1 billion more than your previous offer. I’m just asking for 500 million more from you, which is already a very reasonable price," Luke Stern said, very pleased with himself.