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Chapter 738: The CEO’s Great Escape

After watching the Super League final, Chen Yiyang did not return to Lin’an with the accountant, but flew alone to Tokyo, Japan."Mr. President, I came to see you as soon as I arrived in Tokyo this time."

Chen Yiyang stood in front of Moy Hua, smiling as he spoke.

"I’m about to take a bath, want to join?" Moy Hua invited.

This president was indeed preparing to bathe as the bathtub was already filled with water.

One could say Chen Yiyang arrived just at the right time.

It had been quite a while since Chen Yiyang exercised with Moy Hua, and now working out together again, he felt a bit more refreshed.

Afterward.

Moy Hua traced her manicured nails over Chen Yiyang’s chest and then asked, "Why did you suddenly come to Japan?"

"I have a friend back home who wants me to inquire about the sale of Nissan Headquarters."

"I’ve heard about this too," Moy Hua raised her head in surprise. "But isn’t a Huaxia company trying to buy Nissan Headquarters? Won’t that cause some extra trouble?"

Indeed, Chen Yiyang suddenly arrived in Japan specifically for the matter of Nissan selling its headquarters building.

Nissan, official name Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., primarily engages in automobile manufacturing.

At one time, Nissan was among Japan’s top-ranked auto manufacturers. However, in recent years, they have become increasingly financially strained, ultimately having to follow the playbook of top-tier companies by opting to sell their headquarters building.

Of course, once the building is sold, Nissan’s headquarters will still be in the original location, but they will pay rent to the buyer annually.

This way, Nissan can obtain a lump sum of liquidity to tackle emergencies.

In truth, Nissan’s decline has been ongoing for several years. Before the tariff war, Nissan could still maintain a break-even status.

But now, compounded by the tariffs, Nissan’s financial report last year showed a net loss of 670.8 billion yen, a year-on-year drop of 257.3%, turning from profit to loss, the largest loss since the company was founded.

Therefore, Nissan has to sell its headquarters building to acquire cash for restructuring efforts.

But Moy Hua mentioned trouble, which was not without reason.

After all, Nissan used to be a symbolic enterprise of Japan. Selling its headquarters building to a Huaxia company is likely to rattle some old Japanese folks who might stir up trouble.

But such things are easily resolved.

Chen Yiyang directly said, "The intermediary found a Japanese real estate company owned by a North American private equity group."

"That makes it no problem," Moy Hua nodded.

Growing up in North America, she didn’t find anything inappropriate about this.

In Japan, North America constitutes political correctness. Anything involving North American companies will clear procedural hurdles.

After resting one night with Moy Hua, Chen Yiyang went to meet Toyota Osamu the next day.

This transaction for purchasing the headquarters building, though seemingly straightforward, could possibly hurt some Japanese people’s pride, leading to unnecessary incidents.

Hence, the intermediary must be strong and socially reputable.

Only then can post-transaction issues due to public opinion be avoided.

Chen Yiyang already discussed this matter over the phone with Toyota Osamu.

Toyota Osamu agreed to act as the intermediary.

So this meeting was merely to confirm the processes and benefits for respective parties.

"The purchase price was finally set around 97 billion yen."

Toyota Osamu, while pouring tea for Chen Yiyang, mentioned Nissan’s final determined selling price.

billion yen, roughly 4.5 billion RMB, surprisingly cheap, Chen Yiyang pondered.

A building like this would be priced well over a hundred billion at home.

Nissan’s headquarters building is not poorly located, right behind the Hilton Hotel in Yokohama, surrounded by other top companies’ buildings.

Yet it sold for only 4.5 billion, indicating apprehension about future commercial prospects even among Japan’s business community.

For a residential building of similar size, this price wouldn’t suffice.

"Nissan deserves it," Toyota Osamu leisurely sipped tea and commented, "If they hadn’t arrested Ghosn, Nissan wouldn’t be in this predicament."

"Indeed," Chen Yiyang agreed.

Toyota Osamu referred to Ghosn, full name Carlos Ghosn, born to a Lebanese family in Brazil.

Ghosn later moved to France for education, holding nationality from France, Brazil, and Lebanon.

Ghosn’s connection to Japan’s auto industry emerges from his radical reforms at Michelin’s Brazilian subsidiary during the second oil crisis in the 80s.

Within two years, he rapidly revived the Brazilian subsidiary, peaking the company’s profitability.

This gained him recognition of his abilities in the international business realm.

Later, Renault employed Ghosn as vice president.

At Renault, Ghosn proved his abilities weren’t by chance by helping Renault save massive costs, earning the nickname "cost-killer manager."

By ’99, Nissan, heavily affected by the financial crisis and burdened with massive debts, faced consecutive seven-year losses.

Renault invested 5.4 billion US Dollars to purchase 36% of Nissan shares and appointed Ghosn as CEO to help Nissan out of the woods.

Ghosn indeed accomplished this.

Upon taking charge of Nissan, multiple reforms not only turned the company around but also raised sales and profit margins beyond those of Renault.

Calling Ghosn the savior of Nissan wouldn’t be an overstatement.

Then came the classic Japanese-style repayment.

Towards the reform’s later stages, Ghosn discovered numerous supply chain companies reliant on connections and nepotism within Japan’s auto industry.

These companies produced obsolete products, yet Nissan had to purchase their parts due to various reasons.

Ghosn decided to replace them with French and Chinese parts that better suited current needs.

Yet this move affected the local supply chain’s interests.

Benefiting from Japan’s insulated elite environment, operating within supply chains involved business among relatives and friends.

You, a foreigner, dare jeopardize our decades-long livelihood at Nissan for a mere performance gain?

Besides, you’re not even North American, only count as a Frenchman.

Then we’ll show you what Japanese might is like.

Thus, just as Ghosn had recently salvaged Nissan and proposed merging Nissan and Renault,

Ghosn was promptly arrested at the airport by the prosecutors.

The charges were underreporting his labor remuneration, evading and underpaying taxes, and misappropriating company funds.