Robert Green motioned towards the stack of documents in front of Elly Campbell, careful not to sound too pessimistic.
Even though the Jones corporation indeed needed financing to more smoothly resolve some issues,
it also meant that the shares of all Jones’ shareholders would be diluted.
After some thought, Green added:
"Other shareholders might agree to the financing out of consideration for Jones’ well-being, but it’s hard to say with Director Gresia. I suspect he wants to use the financing opportunity to buy up the diluted shares and increase his stake in the firm. Therefore, I believe there’s a high chance he could collaborate with the financing company, or perhaps... he is the hidden mastermind behind the financing company."
Elly Campbell agreed with Green’s suspicion, which was one of the reasons she had opposed the financing at the recent board meeting.
If the shares diluted from Jones were bought up by Edward Gresia, and he then acquired the outstanding floating shares on the market, it was very likely that he could become the largest shareholder, potentially replacing her.
Green paused, then continued:
"Shuyi Thompson still holds ten percent of Jones shares. If she decides to go against you, it’s quite possible she’d sell her stake to Gresia. In that case, your position in Jones would become very passive."
Elly Campbell understood what Green meant.
She’d never been involved in the operations of Jones, while Edward Gresia had been immersed in it for decades and undoubtedly had many of his own people within the firm.
Moreover, in the eyes of the other shareholders at Jones, she was just a woman, and when it came to business tactics, she definitely couldn’t compare to Gresia. Therefore, Gresia had a certain advantage with the shareholders.
Once he acquired enough shares to challenge her, Jones could indeed completely fall into Gresia’s hands.
Right now, her task was to stabilize the situation at Jones, prevent the stock price from falling further, and simultaneously, gain the trust of the shareholders.
As for the ten percent stake held by Shuyi Thompson, Campbell had given up on that.
Now that Jones was in crisis, with Adam Jones missing, given Thompson’s character, it was very likely she would sell off her shares before the stock could hit rock bottom, with a high chance of selling to Gresia.
"Therefore, the pressing matter at hand is to prevent Gresia from obtaining more of Jones’ shares through financing,"
Elly Campbell spoke slowly, "I will review these projects within the next two days and then make arrangements for them to continue."
"As for the financing plan, I’ll discuss it with you once I’ve figured it out."
"Alright, Mrs. Campbell, I’ll take my leave now."
Green did not ask Elly Campbell how she planned to finance. At the moment, no matter how Jones financed, there was a possibility that Gresia could buy the diluted shares.
Unless, like Gresia, she found a way to finance it herself and claimed all the diluted shares from the other shareholders, including Gresia, into her own hands.
However, if the shareholders found out, this would be akin to deceitfully taking their shares through a compulsory financing scheme, and she would inevitably face a lot of criticism at the board meeting.
More crucially, it would require a substantial sum of money—at least tens of billions.
But Green had heard about Elly Campbell’s impressive achievements, how she had resuscitated Campbell’s firm from the brink of bankruptcy.
Thus, since Mrs. Campbell had not explicitly stated her plans for the future, Green had decided that he would execute any of her decisions unconditionally, just as he would with those made by the president.
After Green left, Elly Campbell immediately immersed herself in her work.