My 1999

Chapter 380 Plans are not as fast as changes

After the party, Sergey Brin and Larry Page returned to the company.

The two came to the office.

Close the door.

"Larry, we can't spend all the money we raise on the acquisition of Vivendi Games, otherwise we won't have enough funds to compete with Hongmeng Bing in the European market." Sergey Brin said seriously.

Although the structure of the global search market has not yet been completely determined, some signs have been seen.

Hongmeng Bing dominates most of the Asian market. Except for India and Russia, the rest are basically swallowed up by them.

Google dominates the North American and global English markets. Although they have other competitors, they currently have the largest share of the English market.

As for the European market.

Google has an advantage in Northern and Central Europe, and Bing has an advantage in Southern Europe and Germany.

At present, both parties are still competing for markets such as France and Spain.

With abundant funds and an ecosystem created by more applications, Bing is developing faster in Europe.

This is also the main reason why Google has to raise funds while growing rapidly.

The reason why I want to acquire Vivendi Games is that I want to seek more income just like Hongmeng.

The huge amount of funds that Hongmeng has obtained from games is the basis for supporting its global expansion.

After a deep understanding, Google is so envious.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in funding a year, and it's still doubling, they want it too.

So when Larry Ellison came to the door, the two sides hit it off.

But to their surprise, the Vivendi game was too popular.

Hongmeng is not the only enemy. Microsoft and Sony are both Fortune 500 giants with profound foundations and powerful strength.

It's definitely impossible to grab things from them without spending a lot of money.

But if you spend money, how much should you spend?

It's now $2.9 billion.

Google has raised only $1.5 billion in total.

According to their original plan, the principal amount was US$1 billion, and the remaining part was paid with leverage.

But looking at the current trend of competing Vivendi games, the price may exceed their original expectations.

One billion US dollars is probably not enough.

Unless they increase the leverage.

However, if the leverage is enlarged, not only will the interest be higher, but it will also put heavy pressure on Google's finances and affect the company's normal operations. This is something neither of them want to see.

Larry Page pondered for a while, "Sergey, I think we need to set a bottom line. If Vivendi's price exceeds this bottom line, then we will give up immediately."

Although Vivendi's game is important, it cannot affect Google's foundation.

"I have no objection. What price do you think is appropriate?"

Larry Page hesitated for a while, "I don't have a suitable number yet. Let's discuss it with Eric."

Sergey Brin nodded.

After a while.

"I'm afraid Larry Ellison wouldn't be happy if we backed out."

"We can explain that if he is really not satisfied, there is nothing we can do. After all, Google is the first." Larry Page said.

"Um."

——

“Did you watch Google’s press conference?”

After Xie Wen responded on the phone, "It seems that they are completely against us."

"It's a competitive relationship, so it's not surprising that they are facing each other. But why did Google cooperate with AOL?"

"I just got the news. After being rejected by Yahoo, Google has been seeking to cooperate with AOL and just signed a contract a few days ago.

Google promised that 85 cents of every advertising dollar paid by customers would go to AOL and guaranteed a minimum annual payment of $150 million in advertising revenue. "

"Larry Page and Sergey Brin are really willing to give up. However, AOL seems to have made money, but in fact it still lost money." Xu Liangdao.

Although AOL in this era was ridiculed by old American netizens as the "Internet on training wheels," it attracted 34 million paying users in 2002 with its friendly user interface.

This is a mature portal with a large user base.

And it has huge popularity around the world.

In contrast, although Google is developing well, it is limited to the United States and Silicon Valley.

AOL joined Google's "advertising alliance" system, and Google tied AOL to its own tank without spending a penny and even making money.

All AOL customers will gradually use Google's search and Google's advertising alliance software, and then become Google users.

"Google's luck is as good as ever. It used to rely on Yahoo to expand, and now it uses AOL. It's really enviable." Xie Wen said.

"yes."

Xu Liang sighed. They had planned to cooperate with AOL before, but they refused.

In the eyes of the United States, companies outside the United States, especially those in the East, are naturally inferior.

"Lao Xie, please make an announcement to the public. Hongmeng will officially launch Series B financing negotiations in June next year."

"Okay. But is it too early?"

It's only October now, and there's still more than half a year until June next year.

"It's a little early, but we should show our attitude first and attract some institutions to prevent them from turning to Google and our competitors."

"Okay." After a pause, Xie Wen continued, "I heard that Microsoft from Vivendi has continued to quote?"

"Yeah. $2.9 billion, all cash."

"Microsoft is really wealthy." Xie Wen sighed.

"Microsoft does have money, but they invest in games more to sell Xbox game consoles.

Just a contract can make it withdraw from the competition. Sony's purpose of acquiring Vivendi Games is the same as Microsoft's, but now it is on the decline and will withdraw once the price of Vivendi Games is too high.

On the contrary, Google is our main competitor, and they are really planning to enter the gaming industry. "Xu Liang said seriously.

At the beginning, he originally planned to sign a cooperation agreement with Microsoft.

Hongmeng Games' "The King of Fighters", "Samurai Shodown", "Metal Slug" and "Hungry Wolf", as well as the acquired Vivendi Games' games, will be released on the Microsoft Xbox platform in exchange for Microsoft's withdrawal from Vivendi Game bidding.

Unexpectedly, before he went to Seattle to negotiate with Microsoft, Google intervened and disrupted all his plans.

True to that sentence, plans don’t change as fast as they do.

"I'm afraid it will cost a lot more to acquire Vivendi Games this time." Xie Wen sighed.

Xu Liang nodded.

"Lao Xie, Europe will increase investment and continue to put pressure on Google. We held a press conference and said that we will invest US$1 billion to develop the US market."

"Mr. Xu, do you really want to open up the American market?"

"It's just a bluff. Google cannot be allowed to invest all its money in acquiring Vivendi Games without any worries."

Xie Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

To acquire Vivendi Games, it will also have to spend money to develop the US market. Hongmeng will not be able to spend that much money unless it raises funds.

"Mr. Xu, if it's just a bluff, I'm afraid it won't last long."

"Do you have any idea?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Now that Yahoo has spent US$1.63 billion to acquire Internet search company Overtuer, its determination to enter the field of online search is still relatively strong.

In the English search market, Yahoo's main enemy is Google. I think we can visit Yahoo. Even if we don't reach any specific cooperation in the end, just doing it as a show will still make Google extremely nervous, and maybe even make them give up the acquisition of Vivendi Games completely. "

Xu Liang's eyes lit up, "This is a good idea. I happen to be in the United States. When things in New York are over, I will go to Silicon Valley to visit Yang Zhiyuan."

"Um."

After the two chatted for a while, they hung up the phone.

Xu Liang looked at the time.

Depart the hotel by car and drive toward Greenwich, Connecticut.

The 60-kilometer drive took nearly an hour.

Looking at the quiet environment outside the car window and the slightly bleak vegetation in the winter, he indeed preferred the quiet here to the hustle and bustle of New York.

"Mr. Xu, we're here."

Lu Hui reminded.

Xu Liang got out of the car.

The building in front of me looks like a huge manor villa.

Under the shadow of tall trees, granite walls surround a solemn British-style building.

Gray roof, tall chimney.

Red facade and white windows.

From a distance, it looks like Kensington Palace in England.

But it's not as big as other people's homes here.

Of course, it's definitely not small.

It covers an area of five acres and has a main building of 3,402 square meters. It is enough for the New York branch of Hanhua Capital, and it is even more than enough now.

Park your car in the manor's parking lot.

A middle-aged man in a crisp suit hurriedly came over.

"Hello, Mr. Xu, I am Ruan Kai, vice president of the company's New York branch."

When Hanhua Capital opened its London and New York branches, it transferred some personnel from its headquarters and branches.

Ruan Kai is the vice president responsible for establishing the New York branch.

He is only responsible for management, not investment.

After a brief handshake.

"Mr. Ruan, are everything packed inside?"

"Already packed."

"Let's go in and take a look."

"Please."

The main building of the manor has four floors, one underground and three above ground.

The underground floor is a wine cellar, collection room, and entertainment room. The three above-ground floors include a hall with an area of 200 square meters, a restaurant that can accommodate thirty people, as well as more than thirty rooms and a dozen bathrooms.

After renovation, the bedroom became an office.

The lobby and restaurant became the main office area.

Under the leadership of Ruan Kai, Xu Liang turned up and down in a circle and nodded with satisfaction.

The overall environment is very good.

It's also very feature-rich.

"How much does it cost to rent the entire estate?"

"The monthly rent is US$150,000." Ruan Kai said quickly.

"Buy it?"

"About 24 million U.S. dollars. You can pay 20% down, and the interest can be 5%."

"It's really not cheap." Xu Liang said.

"Originally it was not so expensive. After 9/11, many hedge funds moved in and the price went up." Ruan Kai said.

"Um."