Reinventing the Millennium

Out of the blue, someone suddenly announced the acquisition of Qualcomm.

This inevitably makes people wonder, who is Chen Fuyang?

Based on the first impression, there cannot be another more famous yellow skin behind this yellow skin, right? Why did Yike and Qualcomm come forward when they were engaged in a patent lawsuit?

However, baseless suspicions have no roots after all. The resume of "hillbilly" is clear. He is a Malaysian. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT, and also studied for an MBA from Harvard Business School. Work experience at General Motors, PepsiCo, Hume Industries, and venture capital fund Pacven.

As for Avago, this company was only established in 2005. It is led by KKR and Silver Lake Capital.

Judging from the company and personal resumes, it is Avago and Chen Fuyang who have achieved mutual success. One has developed continuously and successfully landed on the Nasdaq, and the other has successfully turned around and completely become the head of a listed company.

In this way, this person was on the US news last year. It was he who led Avago's US$6.6 billion acquisition of LSI, and he was interviewed by many media at that time.

It seems that this may indeed be an independent acquisition intention from Chen Fuyang, Avago, KKR and Silver Lake Capital.

However, a question lies before us, does Avago have that much money?

Avago's market capitalization is barely 20 billion US dollars. How can it acquire a company like Qualcomm worth 100 billion US dollars?

Oh no, Qualcomm has been beaten to the tune of less than 100 billion by Yike, but it still has a market value of US$70 billion, which is far beyond Avago's capabilities.

At the end of last year, Avago acquired LSI with $1 billion in convertible bonds from Silver Lake Capital to fully finance its acquisition. It has developed well over the years, but it is far from being able to swallow up Qualcomm.

Qualcomm now has US$70 billion, and if you want to acquire it, you will definitely have to pay a premium. Why should Avago? Why should he, Chen Fuyang?

Without the need for Jacobs, the leader, to come forward, COO Mollenkopf stood up to clarify and refute, claiming that Qualcomm has not had formal acquisition contact with Avago and Chen Fuyang, and...doesn’t think so. Qualcomm will be acquired.

"With all due respect, Avago's acquisition of Qualcomm is just a naked hype. I don't know what Chen Fuyang's purpose is, but Avago has absolutely no funds to acquire us."

"Qualcomm is not for sale. That's not only my answer, it's the answer of Qualcomm management, it's the answer of Qualcomm's board of directors."

"Qualcomm is the best chip design company in the world. Who can understand Qualcomm's development better than us?"

"Are shareholders willing to hand Qualcomm into the hands of a company that is far inferior to us?"

Mollenkopf was less angry than Jacob, feeling ridiculous and offended.

He is the chief operating officer of Qualcomm. In fact, he is infinitely close to the position of CEO. If Yike had not caused a big storm, he might have taken over from Jacob this year.

No matter what method Qualcomm uses to calm the opposing antitrust alliance, considering the doubts Jacobs has suffered during this period, he may have to take office quickly.

Anhua Gao came out at this time...

This is not to snatch the family wealth from Jacob, but also to snatch the company's management rights from himself. It is to snatch his own CEO!

The media has been aroused by Qualcomm's new turmoil, and accurately conveyed the anger and contempt from Qualcomm COO.

As for Qualcomm's internal...there really isn't much to deal with.

Jacob just held a small meeting with Mollenkopf and a few others to discuss "what if" situations, and he could casually list several ways to deal with it.

Even if Avago does spend money, there is no need to fear its offensive.

"Jacob, do you think this has anything to do with Yike?" Mollenkopf hesitated after the meeting to discuss with the boss whether there was some possibility.

"You mean, Fang Zhuo saw that he couldn't win the lawsuit against us, so he ordered this Singapore company to disrupt our view?" Jacob said.

Mollenkopf nodded, indeed, and he was not the only one who thought so. The media had already found out the previous interaction between Avago and Yike. The former sold the image sensor business to the latter for US$53 million. .

This deal may be more or less, but it is most likely Yike's preparation to seize Sony's business. The two companies seem to have had some dealings.

However, apart from this matter, the two companies have nothing to do with each other on the surface. Oh yes, it is still a small customer of Bingxin International.

"What can he disrupt? Disrupt the judicial process? Stir up public opinion? Avago doesn't have the acquisition power, and Chen Fuyang is just a clown who jumped out when he saw our stock price drop!" Jacob was disdainful.

After all, Qualcomm faces a relatively big challenge this time. Yike's breakthrough in the field of communications is shocking. This shock caused the market value of US$30 billion to be evaporated.

In Jacob's view, it was the disappearance of $30 billion that allowed clowns like Chen Fuyang to emerge. Will Qualcomm's opponent be Avago?

Qualcomm's opponents will only be companies such as Yike, Intel, and Apple.

Mollenkopf pursed his lips.

Jacob glanced at the COO, thinking about the teasing from the Singapore company, and still felt angry. At this moment, he couldn't tell whether it was the anger of being offended, or the anger of facing the anti-monopoly alliance headed by Yi Ke during this period. He just said: "If Avago can acquire Qualcomm, I will jump off our building immediately!"

"Jacob, don't be so angry." Mollenkopf felt the boss's immediate anger and said, "I will let them discuss a more graceful response."

Jacob sneered, but he no longer commented on the interest of Avago and the Chinese CEO. Instead, another yellow-skinned figure appeared in his heart again.

This is far trickier than that.

Jacob calmed down a little, and then chatted with Mollenkopf about patent litigation and his future CEO position.

Since Mollenkopf joined Qualcomm in 1994, his 20-year career has been exemplary, so Jacobs has nothing to worry about as his successor.

Both of them put aside the inexplicable Anwargao for the time being and discussed other more important matters.

Public opinion is paying attention to the new turmoil in Qualcomm. Like the head of Qualcomm, many reporters even called Mr. Fang after considering the competition between Yike and the business transactions between Yike and Avago.

Fang Zhuo never expected this time that he would take the blame?

There are so many companies that have business cooperation with Yike, and Bingxin has so many customers. Can we still rely on ourselves for this?

But don't tell me, it's really... really accurate.

After receiving the reporter's call, he pretended to be confused: "Huh? Me? This?"

Fang Zhuo calmed down and said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "What does this have to do with me? At first glance, I thought Yike was going to acquire Qualcomm. You... you can ask something related to Yike, for example, I Confidence in Patent Litigation.”

The reporter didn't ask, and instead asked Mr. Fang what he thought of Avago's acquisition of Qualcomm.

"I don't have any opinion, but Mr. Chen Fuyang of Avago has been able to bring the company to this point in just a few years. He does have strong leadership skills." Fang Zhuo thought for a few seconds and praised, "An Varco and Mr. Chen achieve mutual success, and Mr. Chen and the institutions that invested in Avago together achieve each other. This is the win-win situation that everyone likes."

He pondered for a moment and sighed: "If I had to say, I would rather have more companies like Avago in the industry and less giants like Qualcomm that engage in monopolistic behavior."

KKR and Silver Lake Capital once held up to 80% of Avago's shares, and also had complete control over the selection of the board of directors. Later, as the company successfully went public, they gradually reduced their holdings to less than 10% today, but they maintain a stable relationship with management such as Chen Fuyang. Have an excellent relationship.

The company's scale continues to expand, investment institutions receive high returns, and the management's career is further improved. The coordination between industry and capital is quite perfect.

As someone who has worked with him before, Fang Zhuo briefly described the development of Avago, emphatically praised Chen Fuyang's growth and personal abilities, and expressed his blessings without concealment.

Yi Kezheng is at odds with Qualcomm, so he doesn't have to hide his position.

Although Mr. Fang was not the mastermind behind the scenes, the reporter interviewed the head of Yike, who competes with Qualcomm, and included his comments in the report as if he had found a treasure.

Speaking of which, it's not that Anhua is not well-known, or that Chen Fuyang is low-key, but when the measurement standard is raised to the level of Qualcomm, Yike, Jacobs, and Fangzhuo, the former becomes eclipsed.

Qualcomm's contempt and public opinion's analysis were reflected in the secondary market. Qualcomm's stock price rose slightly, but Avago's began to fall.

Many investors have expressed doubts. Mr. Chen Fuyang is indeed good at mergers and acquisitions and using capital leverage. However, this time facing a company like Qualcomm, it is really difficult to leverage!

Within three days, just when the popularity began to decline, Avago officially announced that it had received support from 11 financial institutions including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley, and they would provide up to 80 billion to Avago. U.S. dollar credit facility, which includes a $4 billion revolving credit facility and bridge financing.

In addition, KKR and Silver Lake Capital will provide $5 billion in convertible note financing.

It is reported that Avago will soon propose a formal acquisition plan for Qualcomm.

As soon as this news came out, Qualcomm's share price soared 6.9%, and its market value jumped directly to US$75.36 billion, while Avago's share price also rose 5.3%, and its market value exceeded US$23 billion.

Many investors have praised Chen Fuyang, who is good at mergers and acquisitions, even when facing a company like Qualcomm, he can compete!

Some media took a look at the financial institutions announced by Avago and found that most of them are well-known institutions, as well as emerging private equity funds in Europe in recent years. There are also rumors claiming that the two major funds KKR and Silver Lake Capital are not excluded from Anwar. Higher financing available.

Eleven financial institutions!

Two major private equity funds!

More than $80 billion in funding ammunition!

The news about Avago not only detonated the stock prices of the two companies, but also directly detonated Wall Street and many technology and financial media!

What Chen Fuyang said is true!

Avago really wants to launch an attack on Qualcomm!

Which means... it's fun to watch!

Just when the news of Avago's financial support was disclosed, Qualcomm head Jacobs, who had already flown to Los Angeles, took a flight back to San Diego, California, and Qualcomm headquarters immediately held an emergency meeting to discuss the current situation. situation faced.

Unlike last time, Anhua Gao and Chen Fuyang were only regarded as clowns. This time, the opponent, who has received blessings from multiple institutions, has emerged as a threat.

This does not seem to be hype. It seems that a Singaporean company thousands of miles away wants to acquire Qualcomm, and it has already taken action.

When Jacob arrived at the company, many key points had been sorted out.

——Although Avago is listed on Nasdaq, it is still a foreign company and attempts to acquire Qualcomm. This is an extremely sensitive act and may not be compliant.

——Avago is under great financial pressure. Even if it has not launched an acquisition offer, its price will not be attractive for Qualcomm, whose market value once exceeded US$100 billion, which means it will be difficult to tempt most shareholders.

——There are indeed certain uncertainties in Qualcomm today, such as China’s official antitrust investigation and the key patent litigation with Yike. These can easily affect the current stock price. It is recommended to end the patent litigation as soon as possible.

——Qualcomm has a variety of counterattack methods, claiming to investors that the stock price is undervalued, lobbying regulatory authorities, launching poison pill plans, acquiring other high-quality companies to increase market value, etc.

"We are the leader in global mobile communications technology, and our position in the 4G and future 5G fields is also important to national security."

"Jacob, we need to take action! Avago's acquisition is not absurd, it is reality!"

Compared with the last discussion, COO Mollenkopf’s discussion this time was much more dignified. It seems that Anhuagou has been able to obtain the support of so many financial institutions because it has been planning for Qualcomm for a long time.

Seeing that the leader was silent, General Counsel Rosenberg also reminded an important point: "I must say that 11 of Avago's institutional shareholders also hold Qualcomm shares. If Avago's acquisition fails, If it continues to increase its offer, it cannot be ruled out that its shareholders will be lobbied, no, they have definitely been lobbied now."

There was a hint of ferocity in Jacob's expression: "Okay, okay, Chen Fuyang cares so much about Qualcomm. I really want to know how his Singapore company came to acquire us."

However, before his ferocity could last, the latest news came again.

Chen Fuyang, the head of Avago, was interviewed again and announced that he would relocate Avago from Singapore to the United States in order to pursue more global development.

This news had a cooling effect and directly solidified the atmosphere in the Qualcomm conference room.

Avago moved to the United States... This seems to have no regulatory issues, and a countermeasure that everyone has been discussing has been greatly weakened.

Jacob saw the gazes of many executives on him, and for the first time he began to pay attention to this sudden opponent in his heart.

Instead, his mood calmed down and he frowned and said, "Anvago really wants to acquire us. Everyone, the offensive and defensive battle has begun."

From warm-up of intentions to financial support to company relocation, Chen Fuyang drove Avago with great force. He really wanted to take advantage of Qualcomm's weakness to make a capital grab. (End of chapter)