Chapter 995
Lost Again and Again
The Li family acted swiftly.
They have money; they can use money to pave the way.
Li Zeju first flew to Beijing to meet with Lianxiang. Old Liu was worried that Lianxiang's development had entered a bottleneck period in the past two years.
After picking up this eldest son of the Li family.
According to this eldest son of the Li family, Cheung Kong Holdings intends to invest in Lianxiang and cooperate with Lianxiang to establish a new subsidiary in mainland China to explore the mainland mobile phone manufacturing market.
I was suddenly overjoyed.
Good thing!
In his view, this was like a pie falling from the sky.
And it seemed familiar.
Just a couple of years ago, the second son of the Li family... When the second young master of the Li family came to him, didn't he do the same thing?
The other party will pay!
He contributed his efforts, technology, and R&D personnel, and together we all tried to grab a piece of the VCD market.
Although in the end.
After several years of effort, the new company, jointly funded by both parties, went bankrupt due to fierce market competition.
So what?
It wasn't Old Liu who paid for it.
For at least the first year or two, the company managed to carve out a significant portion of the market from that Mr. Lu by throwing money at the problem. However, the financial statements didn't look good, showing losses year after year.
But those who know, know; hehe...
Why is Lao Liu able to laugh?
Of course, but that's a secret, I can't say...
Here we go again.
The second young master of the Li family had a bit of a disagreement with him before, so now the eldest young master has come in person instead.
Good guy!
Are the Li family practically begging to give money to Old Liu?
He was so excited that he didn't sleep all night.
Let's get it done!
That's right, he agreed. As long as the money is there, he'll make mobile phones.
Anyway, both parties will contribute a certain percentage of the investment, with the other party contributing the majority. They will also establish a new company. Even if they fail and go bankrupt in the end, it will not affect Lenovo's core business.
First battle won!
Li Zeju was very excited. He didn't think Lao Liu would dare to play him for a fool, after all, he was the heir of the Li family, one of the four major families in Hong Kong.
I won't give him face.
They also have to consider his father, Li Ka-shing.
Who would dare to mess with him?
Feeling triumphant, Li Zeju decided to stay a few more days. He bid farewell to Lao Liu from Lianxiang and headed to Nanjing, a major city in the south. There was also a large mobile phone factory there. What attracted Li Zeju even more than Lianxiang was that this mobile phone factory not only had a state-owned background, but it was also already the leader in market share in mainland China. He believed that with just a little push from behind, its future was definitely promising.
Investing in Lianhe is about looking to the future.
What he valued was Lao Liu's mature R&D team, who might be able to apply their knowledge to other areas and achieve similar success by crossing over from the computer industry to making mobile phones.
After all, they are all technological and electronic products.
right?
And to invest in this major mobile phone manufacturer located in Nanjing.
The focus is on the present.
His goal was clear: to leverage the investment in this major mobile phone manufacturer to achieve rapid success in the short term and allow the joint venture brand to completely dominate the mainstream market in mainland China.
He will prove it to his father.
My brother's approach is no good, and his vision is flawed. Only Li Zeju is the perfect heir to the Li family.
Panda Electronics!
Headquarters on Zhongshan East Road, Jinling.
General Manager Ma Zhiping was eating grapes with his secretary.
Suddenly, I heard magpies chirping outside the window.
Overjoyed.
He quickly pushed away the disheveled secretary with wavy hair.
He zipped up his pants and strode out, grinning from ear to ear as he walked, saying, "I've finally made something of myself! Brothers, come out here and let's go meet that young master of the Li family and see if we can squeeze some money out of that capitalist's son from Hong Kong."
Who is he?
He's a respectable businessman who rose from humble beginnings as a thug!
Panda Electronics has a complex shareholding structure.
Fifty-one percent of the shares belong to the local state-owned enterprise, and forty-nine percent of the shares are money he and a group of old brothers pooled together.
The local authorities don't manage the business.
The operation was fully managed by Ma Zhiping and his group of old brothers.
So how did he do it?
They simply set up another trading company and transferred their goods from one hand to the other.
Panda Electronics only cares about production and OEM manufacturing. It has no technology whatsoever, nor does it need it. Whether the phones it produces are of good quality or not doesn't matter. It's just a matter of moving money from one hand to the other, so it doesn't matter. It's just a matter of issuing IOUs.
Through such a strategic operation.
Panda Electronics has seen its sales soar year after year, with substantial profits. At least on paper, it certainly appears to be a good company on an upward trajectory.
But what is the reality?
The money was all in the hands of a newly established trading company he and a group of old buddies had set up.
Pay on credit!
They pocketed the money from the sales.
The trading company is not responsible for any after-sales services such as returns, defective products, and repairs; they are all sent back to the factory.
In Ma Zhiping's words.
After all these years, what level of equipment and workers are in the factory? Doesn't anyone have a clue?
When I was shipping the goods, I didn't pick and choose. I took whatever the factory gave me. Now that they think there's a problem with the goods, that the quality is substandard, and they want to return or repair them, shouldn't the factory be responsible for that?
Not all of Panda Electronics' management team colluded with Ma Zhiping, but no matter who asked, he would say the same thing.
As for the outstanding payment?
When did he ever say he would not pay back his debts?
It's just not the right time yet.
In this way, through his shady dealings of transferring money from one hand to the other, he emptied Panda Electronics' coffers. Each time, he would only settle a small balance when the other party was truly on the verge of collapse, thus giving them a reprieve.
Even so, the outside world still praised Ma Zhiping for his skillful management. Under his leadership, Panda Electronics was thriving and increasingly showing the potential to become the leading domestic mobile phone brand.
To be honest, it's good to be famous.
look,
Even the Li family in Gangcheng had heard of him.
The heir to the wealthy Li family in Hong Kong, the eldest son of the Li family, came to see him in person. Rumor has it he brought money to invest in his Panda Electronics. Hahahaha…
We must treat them well.
If Ma Zhiping doesn't make the other party readily hand over the money and throw it on the ground to make a sound, he won't be considered a successful person.
For this, he spent a lot of money and specially invited a top-tier female celebrity from mainland China to accompany him.
After a few rounds of drinks!
When Ma Zhiping heard that Li Zeju was willing to invest in Panda Electronics on behalf of the Li Changji Group, helping Panda Electronics to become the top mobile phone brand in China, he couldn't stop smiling.
"That's great!"
He winked at the female celebrity, signaling her to be more attentive.
"Um, I wonder how much the young master is planning to invest this time? As you know, the top brands in the domestic mobile phone market are all foreign brands. Even among the top domestic brands, there's Bird, a fighter jet in the mobile phone industry, and Kejian, which is led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deeply integrated with the South Korean brand Samsung. According to industry news reports, their OEM phones are expected to become the best-selling phones this year. Of course, we hope to make Panda phones the number one domestic brand, and even compete for the world's number one position in the future, but the funds... might not be enough..."
Just a few short sentences.
He practically had "I need money, give me the money right now, the more the better" written all over his face.
But some people just don't understand.
Perhaps because he was surrounded by a sexy and charming big star, and because he was far away from Hong Kong and didn't have to worry about his strict father finding out, Li Zeju's eyes were completely focused on this sexy and charming mainland actress.
Regarding Ma Zhiping's little scheme.
He couldn't be bothered to guess!
If this investment goes through, the other party will be his pet dog from now on.
The dog is barking.
Does it dare to turn on its owner?
"Five hundred million for 25% of the shares, isn't that reasonable?"
That's really not an exaggeration.
Panda Electronics is a listed company, and based on today's stock price, its current total market capitalization is approximately 25.63 billion yuan.
But stock prices are fictitious!
Large-scale financing often requires looking not only at the stock price, but also at its true market-to-book value.
So what is Panda Electronics' market capitalization?
According to the latest financial report for the third quarter of 2000.
The group has total assets of RMB 23.73 billion and total liabilities of RMB 16.37 billion. After paying off all liabilities, its net assets are RMB 7.37 million.
That's right, there's only this much left.
Of course, industry mergers and acquisitions often involve a premium of two to three times the net assets. These are benefits that investors offer to the original shareholders in order to secure a successful financing deal.
Li Zeju just said he is willing to invest 5 million yuan to buy 25% of Panda Electronics' total share capital. If this is based on the net assets of 7.37 million yuan, it is a bit too much. However, if it is acquired at a premium of 2 to 3 times the market value, then it is a bit too low.
Normally speaking!
Now it was Ma Zhiping's turn to negotiate the price.
For the company's benefit, we should strive to gain as much as possible.
But who is Ma Zhiping?
He's the kind of person who sold off Panda Electronics completely, leaving it practically empty inside and out. Why would he care about how many shares he owns in Panda Electronics?
money!
All he wants is money!
The more the better, and the faster the better!
To avoid any unforeseen complications.
Ma Zhiping agreed to the investment proposal that Li Zeju had just casually mentioned almost without thinking.
"Young Master, come, let's wish each other a pleasant cooperation."
"cheers!"
"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Ma!"
Although Li Zeju had some doubts, he wondered if there was a trick behind Ma Zhiping's quick agreement.
But because they couldn't find any clues.
Moreover, he is indeed quite optimistic about the future of Panda Electronics.
In addition, Ma Zhiping was very accommodating. As soon as he arrived, he introduced him to top mainland actresses, which was the highest honor he had ever received during his previous visits to the mainland.
So he gradually lowered his guard.
I spent the whole night exchanging ideas and insights with female celebrities.
The next day, Ma Zhiping went to the door with the contract without stopping.
Call a lawyer!
Both parties happily signed the contract.
They both laughed.
"Little brother, little brother, let's see what you can use to fight me this time? You think you can turn the tables with your little tricks like the mobile phone? You're dreaming."
Li Zeju was smug. After seeing Ma Zhiping off, he casually closed the door and prepared to take another nap with the top mainland actress he had met the night before.
"Young Master Li, you offered yourself up, so you can't blame me. Besides, XX is my woman. I've even given you my own woman to sleep with, shouldn't you be content?"
Ma Zhiping was seen out by Li Zeju. He leaned against the door and listened for a while, then turned and left with a strange smile.
The eldest son of the Li family had a wonderful time all the way.
In his own view, things were progressing very smoothly, so smoothly that it was like a dream!
On the contrary, Li Zekai's trip to the mainland this time was very unsuccessful.
Following his original plan, he visited telecommunications companies in various regions one by one. Initially, the negotiations went smoothly. Seeing that he could produce the patent agency contract for Xiaolingtong technology and that he was the son of Li Chao from Gangcheng, many local telecommunications companies readily chose him as the winning bidder after comparing the prices offered by both parties!
The second young master of the Li family was so happy that he almost jumped up on the spot.
he thinks,
All the hard work has finally paid off.
But things soon took a turn for the better after he traveled non-stop to more than 50 cities across the country.
They persuaded 60% of them.
Now all that's left is the final contract!
Once he has visited all 300 cities and completed his mission, he will integrate all the local telecommunications companies that are willing to cooperate with him, and hold a press conference. I believe that this will make someone so angry that they will vomit blood on the spot!
However, he couldn't live to see that day.
Because of a single announcement from above, every single local telecommunications company that had previously agreed to cooperate with him reneged on their verbal promises without even a word of apology, and turned around to embrace the company invested in by the man he hated to the core.
why?
Li Zekai was filled with resentment and incomprehension!
He went to ask each and every household, trying to find out more, but in the end, he still couldn't get an answer.
Because everyone kept their mouths shut.
It was only through his father's connections that he managed to contact a high-ranking official at China Telecom, who then relented and told him the truth.
Someone reported this!
Li Zekai's actions this time constitute malicious competition that harms others without benefiting himself.
The patent was purchased temporarily.
The company was also a shell company that was set up temporarily!
We need a team, but we don't have one!
There is no production workshop.
Do you really think that just by going to Japan, buying their patent, and then not having a thorough understanding of it or any further research and development, you can just use it right away?
It's important to know that the predecessor of PHS (Personal Handyphone System) was UTStarcom. UTStarcom was originally composed of two companies, UT and Starcom. Before their merger, these two companies had already been involved in cellular communication technology and had conducted in-depth research on PHS signal base stations.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be so optimistic about it.
Therefore, the two parties merged to form a new company, then bought its patents and brought them to mainland China for use.
And that's how we got to this result today.
This company piloted the project in Hangzhou for two years, gradually figuring out a better, more suitable cellular signal base station tower construction model for the national conditions!
Tell me, what makes you think you can snatch food from a tiger's mouth?
"I would like to ask, if your son really wins the bid, what will you provide? What guarantees that the signal coverage of the PHS phone will be sufficient to meet the needs of smooth daily communication in 300 cities across the country within a year?"
"National affairs are not child's play. Your son's behavior has crossed the line. Fortunately, it hasn't caused serious consequences yet, otherwise..."
Li Zekai has messed things up yet again.
In front of his father,
In front of his elder brother, he suffered a crushing defeat this time. (End of Chapter)