Chapter 943
The Last Step Before Delisting
One week later.
As expected, Chen Fan successfully completed the task assigned by Lu Yang.
Five hundred and fifty million US dollars.
As originally agreed, apart from Pengcheng High-tech Investment and Shenzhen Guotou, two state-owned enterprises that still hold shares in Xiaoshentong, and Nande Group and Qianshi Group, two private enterprises, all other shares will be acquired by Lu Yang and Century Group.
This brings Lu Yang one step closer to completely privatizing the company and delisting it from the Nasdaq.
Success is within reach.
Chen Fan immediately reported this good news to Lu Yang in China.
"Boss, what should we do next? Should we immediately convene a board meeting in the name of the controlling shareholder and present a takeover offer to the other shareholders in person?"
He said with an excited expression.
He knew the true nature of Little Genius's company better than anyone.
As long as the boss can complete the second acquisition.
Next, if he returns to China, he must strive for the position of president of this little prodigy company.
Ideally, he should also serve as the vice president of the group headquarters.
With these two identities combined, his future status in the company may not be lower than that of the current CEO of the group, Wei Shu, who is known as the Iron Lady of the East.
After all, this was once a behemoth with a market value of up to $200 billion!
If Chen Fan can take over as CEO of such a company after returning to China, wow, his future is limitless!
Lu Yang had no idea that Chen Fan was thinking so far ahead.
He simply said on the phone, "It's too early to convene a board meeting. You continue to keep an eye on the stock price in the secondary market. As for what happens next..."
Lu Yang smiled and said, "I'll handle it. Just wait for my notification, and then you can submit a stock termination report directly to the exchange."
Chen Fan was completely stunned after hearing this.
But since the boss said so.
He couldn't argue back, but he felt a little uneasy.
I thought I could finally stand on my own this time.
But in the end, he was still just a puppet, doing whatever the boss told him to do, without even being told how to reap the final fruits of victory.
Is it...
Chen Fan thought about the delisting regulations for companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange that he had recently researched.
Holding more than 65% of the shares, it became the controlling shareholder of the company slated for delisting.
This is the first step!
And I have already helped my boss achieve that.
The next step is to convene a board meeting, reorganize the board, and have the controlling shareholder issue a takeover offer to the remaining shareholders present.
This step is generally not difficult as long as the controlling party is strong enough and the compensation is adequate. After all, there's no point in stubbornly resisting when there's no way to turn the tide; it will only offend the powerful controlling party.
Chen Fan had already made up his mind.
The boss had just agreed, and he returned to China with a great victory in his wake. Now even Wall Street's financial giants have compromised, let alone those insignificant domestic entities!
However, the boss actually rejected his suggestion.
I also want to pick and eat a peach myself.
He was unwilling and resentful to have the fruits of victory taken away, but he dared not object.
So, after hanging up the phone.
Aside from those things that were just on his mind.
Then, I started to doubt myself: Does my boss not trust me anymore?
Just as Chen Fan was feeling conflicted and uncertain...
Across the Pacific Ocean in Shenzhen, Lu Yang invited General Manager Liu of Pengcheng High-Tech Investment, General Manager Shen of Shenzhen Investment Holdings, a general manager of Nande Group, Ms. Qian Youyou of Qian's Group, Mayor Fu of the Municipal Party Committee, and He Weijun, the retired district party secretary, to witness their event.
"Ten days ago, Mr. Hong, the head of Goldman Sachs Capital in Asia, came to me and proposed a plan. He said that many investors on Wall Street were willing to sell all of their shares in Little Prodigy to me through him, in order to help me complete the delisting and privatization of Little Prodigy."
"I'm sure everyone understands."
"But the real goal is to regain control of Little Prodigy and complete its delisting and privatization from the US stock market. I will dedicate my efforts to building Little Prodigy Electronics into one of the core industrial chains of our Century Group after the restructuring. Of course, these are all things to be discussed later. Let me first tell you the purpose of this meeting, which I'm sure you are all very curious about."
"Mr. Hong told me that as long as I agree to one condition, what is that condition?"
“The stock price a week ago, he made me use the stock price a week ago, which was 10 days ago, when our company had just announced a complete separation from the listed company Little Prodigy Electronics.”
When Lu Yang got to this point...
Everyone present understood that this was the condition the foreigner had proposed.
14.9 dollars.
The closing price 10 days ago, a week ago, or 17 days ago in North America.
Coincidentally, Little Prodigy Electronics' stock closed at $14.9 that day.
"That's outrageous!"
"Given Mr. Lu's character, he probably wouldn't agree to these Japanese devils' excessive demands, would he?"
"Probably not. If it had really been signed, it would have been reported in the news long ago."
"During this period, my people found out that a legal team from Century Group was sent on a business trip to North America. Could it be!?"
Everyone present had their own thoughts.
Most people were actually more looking forward to Lu Yang's next offer to them.
Lu Yang wouldn't invite them out for tea for no reason. He even invited Mayor Fu and Secretary He of the district committee, who had just retired last year, to join him. Presumably, he wanted these two big shots to act as witnesses.
So, does that mean... Mr. Lu's eating manners won't be too bad?
To be honest, they don't expect a price of $14.9, but at least it shouldn't be calculated based on today's Little Prodigy stock price. If it were, they would rather keep all these shares and let them rot than sell them at a bargain price.
Mr. Liu from Pengcheng High-Tech Investment and Mr. Shen from Shenzhen Investment Holdings kept glancing at each other, then stealing glances at Fu Changjun and He Weijun, who were helping out on the other side.
He couldn't help but ponder it.
Which side are these two big shots on? And which side will they help later?
Once they can't confirm this, they feel uncertain and... very panicked, not just a little panicked!
Mu Qizhong and Qian Youyou exchanged a glance.
Smile at each other.
Then he looked away and began to drink his tea by himself.
They're just here to go through the motions and maybe watch a good show.
As for the Little Prodigy stock I hold.
In fact, it had already been bought by the boastful Lu Yang.
As for the price, well, that's a secret, hahaha!
In short, they weren't taken advantage of, after all, one was Lu Yang's old friend, and the other was his confidante. Lu Yang glanced around and said, "I can guarantee the truthfulness of what I'm about to say. I didn't agree to Hun Sen's conditions; I refused on the spot. However, I proposed another acquisition plan: I promised to acquire the shares of Little Prodigy held by the Wall Street institution behind him at a price 50% higher than the current price. Hun Sen agreed."
Lu Yang took a fax from Lu Nini, who walked up quickly.
He handed the fax to Qian Youyou, who was closest to him.
"Please help me forward this, Mr. Qian, so that everyone can see it."
"Here are my quotes to several Wall Street firms, as well as the final contracts I signed. Take a look, everyone, are the numbers the same as what I just said?"
Qian Youyou gave Lu Yang a gentle smile.
He glanced casually at the fax in his hand, then handed it to Mr. Shen of Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. “Mr. Shen, you can take a look. I won’t bother. Everyone knows my relationship with Mr. Lu, so I won’t pretend. No matter what price Mr. Lu offers in the end, I, representing the Qian family, will absolutely support it wholeheartedly. We will transfer all of the Little Prodigy shares held by the Qian family to Mr. Lu personally or to the Century Group represented by Mr. Lu shortly.”
The others didn't say anything.
Although the couple is not legally married, they have a child together, so they are in a de facto marriage. Moreover, the Qian and Lu families have been cooperating for many years since the Lu family settled in Pengcheng, and they have invested in countless projects together.
We've long since become inseparable.
Some even joked: What Qian family? That's clearly another Lu family, and should have been classified as a member of the Century Group long ago.
Gossip less.
He took the fax that Qian Youyou handed him.
Mr. Shen, the general manager of Shenzhen Investment Holdings, only glanced down at it, and then his heart sank.
"These foreign investors aren't going to take a beating either!"
"Why did you surrender?"
"If you all surrender, what are we, the domestic investors, supposed to do?"
He was really scared.
They were afraid that Lu Yang would later offer the exact same price as the one in the fax.
So, what did he do?
Or not answer?
Agree or disagree! Well, how should I put it? His time as general manager of Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. is over.
why?
You still have the nerve to ask why?
Good heavens! In less than three months, the losses reached a staggering 90%. Is this the kind of disaster a human being could cause?
Some people might say...
Yes, Little Genius's stock price once reached as high as $59. But Rome wasn't built in a day, and a stock price doesn't just appear out of thin air. It grew from a small company, and initially, investing in it didn't actually cost much!
If we calculate based on this price, not only would we not lose money, but we could even make a small profit, enough to cover the interest on the initial investment over the years.
Only a truly intelligent person would think this way.
Unfortunately, not all those in positions of power possess such great intelligence.
Merit is merit, and fault is fault.
There were rewards from above for profitable investments initially. And some people even pocketed the year-end dividends. Now that the investment has failed and losses are astronomical, someone has to take the blame, right?
If Mr. Shen, the company's general manager, doesn't take the blame, then who will?
The problem is, even an average person couldn't carry that!
"Let me see."
Mr. Liu, the general manager of Pengcheng High-tech Investment, looked at his old friend as if his own mother had died.
I started to get anxious.
He snatched the fax from Mr. Shen's hand, which was gripping it tightly.
I glanced at it.
His expression changed drastically, and he loosened his grip, causing the fax to fall to the ground.
He slumped back into the chair, almost falling to the ground. His face was as white as a sheet, and large beads of sweat were pouring from his forehead. He looked worse than if his own mother had died.
"This...this...this..."
He couldn't utter a single word for a long time, his lips trembling, and he wanted to slap himself hard.
If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.
He should have started cashing out step by step at the beginning of this year, when the company's stock price was still high. If he had done that, not only would he not be in this situation today, but his superiors would see that he turned the tide and saved the company at least hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. He would probably be promoted soon.
Sigh, it was just a single thought that made all the difference. How did things turn out like this?
I'm so regretful!
That's him right now.
Fu Changjun and He Weijun, the two old men, couldn't stand it anymore and glared fiercely at Lu Yang, who only spoke half of what he wanted to say.
Tell him to hurry up.
They announced the repurchase plan that they had previously discussed behind closed doors to everyone present.
In case someone can't handle the shock and has a moment of despair, they might secretly run back, grab a rope, hang themselves, and swing on a swing.
Lu Yang winked at the two elders.
To indicate that you have received it.
He Weijun glared at him. "Do you have eye boogers? Why are you squeezing? I'm not a young lady, why do you need to wink at me? Speak your mind, or shut up. After I finish this, my fishing rod is still on the riverbank. I have to go back and guard it. I haven't caught a single fish in days. If I don't catch another one, your teacher's wife will laugh at me, and I'll never forgive you."
Lu Yang was about to joke around: "Isn't that easy? If you can't catch one, you can always buy one at the market, right? I'll just pay for it!"
He almost blurted it out, but in the end he covered his mouth.
That's all.
I'm just afraid of getting beaten up!
So he chuckled and said, "You can say it, but you two have to be my witnesses. I, Lu Yang, am a man of my word. I will never go back on my promise to you two."
However, the acquisition plan I presented was the final plan.
I don't want anyone here to raise any questions, not even to haggle. Anyone who doesn't want to sign can leave later, but once they're out of this door, next time... next time even if someone asks you two to plead for them, I, Lu Yang, won't give them any face. Everything will be settled based on the closing price of the stock on the day the contract is signed."
First, some good news, then mixed in with some bad news.
This is called "courtesy first, then force"!
Lu Yang gave everyone time to process what was happening.
Then, after everyone had digested it almost completely...
Then he gestured to Lu Nini, who was waiting nearby, and asked her to bring over a stack of contracts that had been prepared in advance from her briefcase.
Two copies are required.
"Please read carefully first. If you have no objections, then please sign."
Everyone looked down and examined it carefully.
I discovered that some of the more glaring numbers were actually larger than I had expected.
Thankfully, President Lu is very magnanimous. As expected, with Mayor Fu and Secretary He present, the other party won't go too far.
"I'll sign!"
"I'll sign too..." (End of Chapter)