Rebirth of England

In mid-March, Barron and his party took the Devonshire, departing from New York and destined for Yanjing.

This time, the Hearst sisters were going to China with him. When they learned that Barron would take them to China and accompany them to play outside of official duties, the two of them were very excited. .

Speaking of which, this will also be the Hearst sisters' first trip to China. Before this, the only impressions they had about China were scenic spots such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, as well as Chinese food.

They are still looking forward to this trip to China, especially being able to spend more time with Barron.

The first stop was Yanjing, but Barron did not stay in the courtyard house he had purchased before. Instead, he booked a top-floor presidential suite at the Grand Hyatt Oriental.

When he purchased the three courtyard houses, it was at the end of September last year, and now half a year has passed.

However, none of these courtyard houses have been renovated yet...

Especially the courtyard house located near the east gate of the Forbidden City, which was purchased by Rupert Murdoch in his previous life and eventually belonged to Wendi Deng after the divorce. Because of the need for structural transformation and the need to maintain the overall Chinese style in appearance, the amount of work was not very high. It’s not small and you have to wait until the second half of this year to move in.

At present, there are no strict regulations on the renovation of quadrangle courtyards. The quadrangle courtyard located near the east gate of the Forbidden City has an excellent location, but it only covers an area of ​​about 250 square meters.

According to the design plan, this courtyard house will have two additional floors of underground area, and some bungalows will be increased to two floors after reinforcement, so that they can have a better view from the rooftop on the second floor.

After the renovation is completed, the courtyard house, which Barron dubbed the "Little Duke's Mansion," will have an underground garage capable of parking five cars, as well as an underground swimming pool and spa room.

In addition, there will be 15 rooms on the ground, including 5 bedroom suites, with modern facilities such as gyms, study rooms, and entertainment rooms.

In addition, this "Little Duke's Palace" will also have a viewing terrace where barbecue parties can be held. Its yard will also be redesigned, and half of it can be turned into a closed area with constant temperature through remote control. …

Since there is a "Little Duke's Palace", there will naturally be a "Grand Duke's Palace".

That was the 1,200-square-meter, four-indoor courtyard building he bought before...

The "Little Duke's Palace" mentioned before, located near the east gate of the Forbidden City, although the appearance will still maintain the traditional Chinese style, the interior design can be regarded as a combination of Chinese and Western styles.

Many rooms in the Petit Ducal Palace are decorated in a Western modern style, but they are perfectly integrated with the overall "New Chinese Style" inside.

The other "Grand Duke's Palace" will be restored completely in accordance with the traditional Chinese style.

In addition to the modernization of living facilities, the overall layout, decoration style and courtyard construction of the Grand Duke's Palace will be completely Chinese style.

Therefore, the renovation and renovation work required by the Grand Ducal Palace will take longer, and I am afraid that it will need to wait until 2006 to meet the occupancy conditions.

Another reason why it takes so long is that Barron needs Yan Hegui, a Yanjing native he met before, to help him collect and buy some mahogany furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to share with his Grand Duke's Mansion. Style to match.

…

After arriving in Yanjing, Barron met with Liu Yanping, vice president of Rich23 Capital.

In Rich23 Capital, Liu Yanping is responsible for investment matters, while President Chen Fuyang, in addition to controlling the overall work, is currently mainly focusing on the operation of Avago Technologies.

"Baidu has started the process of IPO in the United States, with Goldman Sachs Asia and Credit Suisse First Boston as their lead underwriters..."

Liu Yanping himself was born in Goldman Sachs Asia. This time, Baidu's IPO was listed. As a representative of Rich23 Capital, which participated in the last Baidu financing, he also helped in the IPO process.

Currently, DS Holdings holds 5 million convertible preferred shares of Baidu, with a corresponding stock price of US$3 per share; Rich23 Capital holds 745,000 convertible preferred shares of Baidu, with a corresponding stock price of US$6.67.

After Baidu's listing, these convertible preferred shares issued by Baidu during previous financings will be converted into Baidu's Class A ordinary shares at a ratio of 1:1.

Yes, Baidu's listing this time will be in the form of AB shares. The Class B shares held by Baidu's founding team will have higher voting rights to ensure their control over the company.

Rich23 Capital will also participate in Baidu's IPO this time and subscribe for some of the newly issued shares.

According to Baidu's prospectus, for this IPO, they expect to issue 4.04 million American depositary receipts (new Nasdaq shares), and Rich23 Capital is prepared to subscribe for at least a quarter of them...

According to Liu Yanping, currently, Baidu's lead underwriters Goldman Sachs Asia and Credit Suisse First Boston have recommended a pricing range of US$17-19 in the internal pricing of their stocks.

However, Robin Li believes that the price is slightly low and is trying to persuade the other party to increase the issue price.

For underwriters preparing to list companies, they definitely hope to set the issuance price of the stock lower, because based on their own interests, if the price is set too high, the number of subscriptions may be insufficient - after all, as an underwriter, They need to underwrite the stocks.

In addition, the underwriters often receive a portion of the new shares as compensation, which are priced at a lower price, and they benefit more when the stock rises later.

But in the final analysis, the main purpose of a company's IPO is to raise funds. The higher the issue price, the higher the funds they can raise.

Therefore, the stock pricing process will also be a game between listed companies, underwriters and investors.

Barron knew that in the original time and space, after many discussions, the issue price of Baidu's IPO was finally set at $27.

Compared with the price range of US$17-19 proposed by the underwriters at the beginning, the issue price of US$27 can be said to have been greatly improved...

But it turns out that the issue price of US$27 is still a bit low, and can even be said to be very low.

After all, on the first day of listing, Baidu's stock jumped higher and opened at $66. The mid-range share price was as high as $150!

It finally closed at US$122.54, an increase of 353.85% compared to its issue price of US$27!

Not to mention the Baidu shares previously held by DS Holdings and Rich23 Capital, even if they participate in the subscription of Baidu shares now, they can still get good returns after it goes public...

Of course, their holdings will not be sold at the beginning of the listing, but will continue to be held.

After all, Baidu's stock price still has a lot of room for growth in the future.

"By the way, Your Highness the Duke, there is another matter, which is about Ali Company..."

"how?"

"Boss Ma intends to acquire Yahoo China, and Yahoo also has the idea of ​​investing in Alibaba..."

Hearing Liu Yanping talk about this, Barron couldn't help but think of the time in his previous life. Around this time, Yahoo added 1 billion in cash to Yahoo China, acquiring 40% of Alibaba's shares, becoming the largest shareholder of Alibaba...

However, the current situation is very different from that of Alibaba in the previous life. Why does this happen again?