My Age of Investment

“Boni, it’s not that I won’t help you, but my investors and I must make overall considerations based on Penguin’s current situation.

To describe Penguin's current situation as precarious may be a bit exaggerated.

But your dominance over the instant messaging market in mainland China is declining rapidly. This is an indisputable fact.

Otherwise, Penguin’s stock price wouldn’t have fallen so sharply!

Analysts from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are downgrading Penguin's stock rating, and some short sellers are taking advantage of the situation.

In this case, I must consider the investment risks! Please understand this! "

In a mansion in Deep Water Bay, Hong Kong Island, Li Yikai was having the second round of talks with Bonima.

He looked at Bonima, whose face had become a bit stiff, with a troubled expression, but he was actually laughing secretly in his heart.

Isn't he just a "boiled eagle"? He has been attending the board of directors with his father since he was six years old. If he can't even use this elementary method, then he doesn't have to hang out outside and just go home to eat his old age - he Now I don’t think that I am gnawing at my old age, but I am expanding several new industries with unlimited potential for the family whose industrial territory is basically concentrated in traditional industries such as real estate, ports, telecommunications, etc., such as new energy electric vehicles, Internet, and software.

Bonima looked embarrassed and said: "Richard, I understand your difficulty, but changing the board seats will break our current management and decision-making mechanism, and will also cause confusion among the management."

Li Yikai smiled slightly, "Nothing in the world is static, including running a business.

Penguin has now reached a difficult moment when it has to change its thinking. If it does not change... IMHO, it may be difficult to defeat WeChat and domestic holding groups backed by Asia's richest man.

Although I dislike Xia Jingxing very much, I have to admit that he is really talented and hardworking, otherwise he would not be able to manage such a big situation now. "

Hearing these words, Bonima felt as if he had eaten a dead fly.

He remembered that Li Yikai had not commented on Xia Jingxing like this before, saying that he was a grasshopper, a hyena, a vulture, a rat, a man-eating shark after autumn... Anyway, there were no good words to say, and he also said that he was running on the ground and flying in the sky. , everything that swims in the water is gathered together.

Now that Li Yikai admits that Xia Jingxing has real talent and hard work, Bonima won't even believe a single punctuation mark.

Don't you just want to put pressure on him and make him sign the investment agreement that will deprive him of his power and humiliate the company?

Bonima sighed silently in his heart, even if he knew that Li Yikai had bad intentions, so what?

Without signing this investment agreement, Penguin would not have the money to fight against the wealthy Xia Jingxing.

He heard that WeChat was already contacting the advertising departments of TV stations, subways, train stations, airports and other units, and would soon launch a new offline offensive against Penguin.

Coupled with the fact that half of the Internet industry is now embracing Xia Jingxing's thick legs, it won't be long before WeChat advertisements become overwhelming.

Looking back at Penguin, the growth rate of QQ’s registered users has slowed down significantly, and the number of active users is also declining.

According to the investigation and analysis of the operations department, a large number of urban white-collar workers are abandoning QQ and switching to WeChat.

The only good news is that primary and middle school students still love QQ and will never give up on Fat Penguin.

But how long this kind of persistence can last, Bonima doesn't know, and he doesn't dare to bet on whether there will be a chance to create a "Chu-Han divide" with WeChat in the future.

Therefore, he can only go all out to defeat WeChat, cut off the black hands of domestic holding groups in the instant messaging software market, and preserve his own fundamentals.

Just when Bonima was about to surrender to Li Yikai, Liu Zhiping, who had been silent, finally spoke.

"Richard, you have your difficulties, and we have ours.

How about each side taking a step back? Five director seats can be given to you, but you must ensure that we continue to follow the agreement between our management and MIH, that is, when convening a company's shareholders' meeting or board of directors resolution, all shareholder representatives or directors must be present to vote, reaching 75% or above. It is valid only if it is passed by the shareholders or directors present at the meeting.

In addition, our management still needs to reserve three director seats. As for the remaining one director seat, let it be given to MIH. "

After saying that, Liu Zhiping looked at Li Yikai with burning eyes. Unlike Bonima, who was suddenly ill and sought medical treatment indiscriminately, he was always wary of the Li family's investment in Penguin and becoming the absolute majority shareholder.

However, Bonima insisted on using the financial resources of the Li family to fight against the aggressive Xia Jingxing, and he had no choice but to support it. After all, Bonima was the real boss, and the decision-making power rested with Bonima.

But he still hopes to be able to curb the ambitions of the behemoth Li family, so as not to defeat Xia Jingxing in a fight but lose control of Penguin Company.

In fact, from the moment it agreed to introduce investment from the Li family, Penguin's balance of control had been broken.

If the Li family is still not satisfied and continues to push the envelope, there may be a lot of trouble.

Li Yikai's tone gradually became colder, "Martin, the voting support rate of 75% of the shareholders or directors present at the meeting is too high.

In fact, in many companies, simple proposals can be passed with more than 50% approval, and special proposals can be passed with only two-thirds approval.

It's too troublesome for you to do this, and it can easily affect the company's decision-making efficiency.

Now that WeChat is advancing step by step, what Penguin needs is speed! It's efficiency! "

Liu Zhiping refused to give in and said: "This is the agreement we made with MIH. At the same time, because of this agreement, Penguin's golden development is guaranteed for ten years."

"The ten-year golden development period has ended, and what follows is a challenge related to Penguin's life and death." Li Yikai said coldly.

Liu Zhiping opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by Li Yikai with a wave of his hand: "MIH is the one who really knows how to do business. Ten years ago... more than nine years ago to be precise, they spent 12.6 million US dollars from me. Bought 20% of Penguin shares.

Do you know how much they are quoting me now? "

Li Yikai paused, then raised a finger, "They want 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to 1.287 billion U.S. dollars.

In less than ten years, the price has increased a hundred times! "

Bonima felt a little disdainful. You should have earned this hundred times, but you were stupid. You sold Penguin stocks to raise money to leverage on Island Telecom, and in the end both sides lost.

"Sometimes I feel like a fool. I shipped to MIH at a low position, and now I'm taking it at a high position."

Liu Zhiping couldn't stand it any longer. Li Yikai was blaming Sang and Huai. On the surface, he was blaming himself and introspecting, but in fact, he was insinuating that Penguin was in trouble.

If you really think Penguin is in trouble, will you take over MIH's offer?

However, what MIH did this time was indeed not very authentic. The behavior of selling stocks everywhere made it even worse for Penguin, who had some difficulties in raising capital.

Even MIH, who has firmly supported Penguin for ten years, is running away. Who dares to believe in Penguin? Dare to invest in Penguin?

Li Yikai smiled lightly, "I don't mean anything else by saying this. It's the same sentence. It's time for Penguin to seek change."

The rules of the past no longer apply to today's fierce competition.

Let’s change it and lower the approval rate for shareholders’ meetings and board of directors resolutions to 70%. "

Li Yikai glanced at Bonima and Liu Zhiping, who were looking thoughtful, and added a heavy weight to their psychological balance: "I agree to the management retaining three director seats. In this way, the company's You can deny any decision."

Bonima was basically satisfied with this condition. He didn't dare to delay it any longer. Who knew if Xia Jingxing had any backup plans?

If the situation becomes worse for the Penguins next, Li Yikai may impose more stringent conditions.

"Board resolutions need to reach 70% approval rate before they can be passed. I have no objection to this.

But for the resolution of the shareholders' meeting, I think it should be passed with a support rate of 75%. "

Liu Zhiping was worthy of being an elite who came out of Goldman Sachs, and he soon discovered the secret hidden in the conditions offered by Li Yikai.

Take the Penguin board of directors as an example. There are nine seats in total. If the management headed by Bonima holds three of them, as long as they vote against it, it is impossible for any resolution to reach a support rate of 70% or above.

But the shareholders' meeting is a bit particular. Penguin management held a total of 37.5% of the company's shares when it was first listed. In the following years, it continued to reduce its stock holdings in order to improve its life. More than a year ago, it conducted a round of private placement. Now the management's shareholding is low. Less than 30%, comparable to more than 25%.

If Li Yikai's method is really followed, then when the shareholders' meeting is held, Li Yikai can easily bypass the management and elect new directors by simply obtaining the support of other shareholders. By then, Penguin will still be able to retain three directors. Seat?

If the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors were both controlled by Li Yikai, he, Bonima and others would not be able to be flattened and rounded by Li Yikai.

Although Li Yikai may not be that bad, he still needs to be on guard against others.

Facing Liu Zhiping's firm gaze, Li Yikai nodded gently, "Okay, I'll follow your plan."

Seeing that Li Yikai actually agreed, Liu Zhiping breathed a sigh of relief.

And Bonima struck while the iron was hot and asked: "Richard, when will we start financing?"

Li Yikai laughed, "Bonnie, don't worry, since I decided to help Penguin, I will definitely not break my promise.

But before that, we should clean up some unsteady elements, so as not to hold them back in the next big war. "

"Uncommitted elements?"

Bonima didn’t think anyone was not firm, could it be MIH?

Thinking of this organization, Ponima's eyes became a little complicated. The once most trusted and closest partner was now parting ways.

In fact, it doesn't mean that it has completely given up on Penguin. After all, MIH only agreed to sell 20% of the shares to the Li family, and it still retains more than a dozen points of stock.

But compared to the past, MIH was really timid this time and decided to settle for safety.

Liu Zhiping asked: "Richard, do you want to... clean up some shareholders?"

"Yes, there is no need for some weak institutions to remain on the shareholder list. If they really start a fight with WeChat, I'm afraid their hearts won't be able to bear it."

Li Yikai put on a rich and powerful look, which made Bonima and Liu Zhiping look at each other.

However, the two of them didn't think Li Yikai's tone was too arrogant. Who could have such strength in his family?

"What if they don't want to go out?" Liu Zhiping asked.

Li Yikai smiled and replied: "It's not forced, just stay where you like."

…………

…………

"Are we going to kick you out?"

In the courtyard, under the grape trellis, Xia Jingxing was lying on a chair, munching melon seeds leisurely and glancing at Tong Shijie who was sitting opposite him from time to time.

Tong Shijie nodded heavily, "Yes, I estimate that Li Yikai has almost reached a consensus with MIH and Bonima, and now he is free to deal with us small shareholders."

More than a year ago, when Penguin raised more than HK$5 billion in targeted financing, institutions such as Li Yikai, MIH, IDG, SAIF Fund, Legend Capital, Hony Capital, and Axel China all participated in the investment.

Therefore, Tong Shijie accidentally went deep into the enemy camp again.

It can only be said that the $100 million that Xia Jingxing handed over to Tong Shijie was well spent. In the past, Thousand Oaks Group, Venture Capital Alliance, Conscience Group, and now Penguin, all movements were under the control of Xia Jingxing.

It was originally a 100 million he threw out casually as a casual move, but he didn't expect to train an ace spy.

Xia Jingxing looked at Tong Shijie with a smile and said, "What do you think? Should I sell it?"

Tong Shijie wanted to sell it, but he knew that Mr. Xia would definitely let him continue to lurk.

Alas, once you enter the spy gate, it is as deep as the sea! I may never be able to live under the sun in this life.

"Keep on holding on! We have already launched the final decisive battle with the reactionary forces.

As long as this battle is won, China's Internet will be liberated, and so will you. "

Tong Shijie knew that this would be the result, and sighed silently in his heart, and replied: "Okay, Mr. Xia, I will continue to work hard."

Looking at the hard-working general in front of him, who was active in the hidden front, Xia Jingxing felt a little sorry for him. After all, he had promised to lurk for only three years, but it has been almost two or three years now. As for whether there will be any The third three years? It’s not easy to say.

"Mr. Xia, Xiong Xiaoge and the others are planning to withdraw this time. Do I want to persuade them?"

Xia Jingxing smiled and asked, "Are they no longer optimistic about Penguin's development?"

"A little bit, but the main reason is that they are afraid of offending you. If they continue to hold Penguin's stocks, it will be equivalent to standing on the opposite side of you.

But standing on the opposite side of you, life may not be stable. "

Xia Jingxing couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that he had really beaten those venture capitalists into submission and knew what things should not be messed with.

"If they all sell their stocks, you will be the only one left. It's a bit of an eyesore! It's not conducive to your activities."

"It doesn't matter, I've already thought of a solution!"

Tong Shijie looked at Xia Jingxing with a wise look on his face and said, "I can go and seek refuge with Li Yikai. He is from Banana and I am from Yizhou. They are both relatively reactionary and naturally have a foundation of trust."

Xia Jingxing smiled when he heard this, "Okay, then I will give you more activity funds and invest another 200 million US dollars in you!

With this money, take care of Young Master Li, be happy with him, and drag him to invest in any good projects. "

Tong Shijie was secretly stunned. The boss really didn't hesitate to spend a lot of money in order to trick the second young master Li!

But then again, two hundred million US dollars is just an insignificant number to Mr. Xia. It is still a good deal to use this small amount of money to deal with Li Laoer, who is always against him. If he can make Li Huangtai angry to death, then It’s even more cost-effective.

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