Silent

While Katya led the acquisition team in their busy work, Wang Ye was not idle either.

On April 3, Gazprom Industrial Group convened a board meeting. Following a vote by all shareholder representatives, its shareholding reform plan was officially finalized.

The group's original largest shareholder—the state—transferred 30 percent of its shares to a Russia-based investment company, an investment company from the United States, and an oil company from an Asian country.

The company was valued at 40 billion US dollars.

The 30 percent stake alone brought 12 billion US dollars in cash back to the state!

After the share restructuring, Gazprom Industrial Group's new shareholder structure was as follows:

The state held 40 percent and remained the largest shareholder, but no longer had absolute control.

Future chairmen of the group would also be elected by a vote of all board representatives rather than appointed by the government.

This greatly weakened Gazprom Industrial Group's image as a "state-owned enterprise."

The three new shareholders each held 10 percent.

The remaining 30 percent had a more complicated shareholder structure, including several Russian financial institutions, energy companies, and individual shareholders.

However, none of these shareholders held much stock. Compared with the four largest shareholders, they had far less say on the board.

Wang Ye did not appear before the new board of directors. In fact, barely anyone even knew that he had acquired a stake in Gazprom Industrial Group this time.

Konstantin did not appear either. He merely appointed a professional manager to serve as a director on Gazprom Industrial Group's new board, acting as the shareholder representative.

Although the investment company he and Wang Ye had established was registered in Russia, its funding sources had been made rather mysterious. The money had been routed through offshore companies abroad, passing through several layers before