The Industrial Giant Reborn

"It is possible in theory, but it is very difficult to operate in practice. The radio business belongs to the fringe industry of automobiles, and the technical content is not high. We have the opportunity to enter the supply chain of Liangtian, and even so, the orders we can get are not high. Many, the technical content of automotive air conditioners is much higher and more important, and it is difficult for us to enter the supply chain of Liangtian." Lei Shengli explained.

"That's right, let's take it step by step. Let's talk about civilian technology first." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Compared with the core technology of automobiles, things like radios are completely marginal products. Although they are also very important, technical aspects It is too far away from other parts.

For the automobile industry, Chen Zhiwen also has certain ideas and is very interested, but it involves too much money, and it needs the right time and the right environment to succeed, which is very difficult.

In the original history of another 20 years, Samsung Group became one of the largest electronics giants in the world. Its president, Lee Kun-hee, was ambitious and intended to establish Samsung Motors, but he lost in the end. 40 years later, the Apple Group, with a market value of more than one trillion U.S. dollars, holds hundreds of billions of dollars in cash, and wants to build a car, but it has not even built a wheel for ten years. Although there are many intrinsic reasons, failure is failure.

Car manufacturing is the most extensive industry among human industries. It is not bad to say that it is the crown of the industry. Although there is no monopoly, the players for decades have always been those few. Decades before the electric car revolution fuel car Among them, only Hyundai, which is backed by the South Korean government, is the only new player to enter the top ten in the world.

If you are fully prepared, Chen Zhiwen will find the right opportunity to join in.

It is difficult for new players to appear in the already stable auto market, but after the domestic reform, there will be a very huge market, which is the opportunity to develop the auto industry, and if it still does not work, then strive to develop the auto parts industry and wait With the advent of the era of electric vehicles, the technical fields required by electric vehicles have been laid out in advance. If BYD in later generations is the same as Tesla, it will also have the opportunity to enter the market.

However, it will take a long time, but the automobile industry itself is one of the largest integrations of human industries. If it wants to develop well, it needs a lot of accumulation, and it will eventually be accumulated.

Of course, it is also possible to directly acquire the car company. This is the shortest route, but this requires a lot of funds. Chen Zhiwen does not have this money at present, and it will take a while.

Moreover, the acquisition of a car company, especially some companies that are not very profitable, may be barely affordable, but if you want to develop and continue to invest in the future, the money involved will be huge. Construction requires a unit of 100 million U.S. dollars. If you want to have so much money, you can't do it by relying on normal industries. Even arcade machines and Red Bull can't do it. The only opportunity is some special financial opportunities in history. As long as these opportunities are seized once, the capital needed to develop the automobile industry can be easily obtained.

As for now, I can only use Ryota in Japan to do the simplest auto parts business. It is purely to join in the fun and establish a relationship with Ryota. There may be other opportunities in the future, but the auto industry itself is In a slow-growing industry, the choice of suppliers is very cautious.

If you want to develop quickly, the best way is to continue to acquire companies with a complete industrial chain and customer base.

This can also be said to be the first step in planning for the automotive industry. When he learned that many well-known companies in the compressor field in Europe have automotive businesses, he had this idea.

Compared with the automobile, the investment in the parts industry is much less, and it has a lot to do with its own home appliance industry. The acquisition of a suitable technology company can solve two problems at once, and this kind of acquired company , The auto business itself is normal, and he doesn't need to worry about it. It will still operate independently in the future.

Test the waters first, and we'll see what happens in the future.

"In terms of price, we are still negotiating, but the other party refuses to make any concessions. These Italians feel very proud, and they can feel it after several negotiations." Lei Shengli said after thinking about it.

"Looking down on us? They themselves are a joke." Chen Zhiwen said disdainfully. Many technical fields in Europe and the United States are still very powerful, but Italy is completely for fun. It cannot be said that there is no high technology, but compared to Germany, the United States and even Asia Japan is far worse.

"Maybe they just want to kill us." Lei Shengli said.

"Then make it clear to the other party that we will talk for another month. If we have not reached an agreement, we will give up. At the same time, we can look for other targets during this period. Now that the arcade is about to open the market, for Midea, the funds will not If it's a big problem, let's see if we can buy some larger compressor companies, it's best to go to Germany, I'm more optimistic about the technology there." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

From the 1960s to the 2020s he traveled through later generations, German technology has surpassed other countries in many aspects, and its advantages in industrial manufacturing are too strong.

"Actually, there is another one for us to choose, but the price of this one may be higher, and I don't know if they are willing to sell it. This company is also in Germany, called Bitzer, and this Domone Similarly, he is good at making refrigeration compressors, which are involved in automobiles, industries, and civil applications, but the scale is relatively large, at least twice that of Duomunaike." Lei Shengli said.

"Twice? As long as it's suitable, you can consider it." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

When planning to acquire a suitable compressor company, Midea did not have much money at all, and the choice was limited by funds, but now that it has found an arcade supplier, there are more choices.

"Wait a minute, I'll go get Bitzer's documents." Lei Shengli trotted out quickly, the office was nearby, and quickly came back with the documents.

After looking through the information for a while, Chen Zhiwen said, "This company is a family company? It's a bit difficult to acquire, isn't it? How did you find this company?"

"This was introduced to me by the Deutsche Reichsbank." Lei Shengli said: "After the negotiations with Duomunake came to a standstill, a person from the Deutsche Reichsbank ran over to find us in Italy. He said that he would find a more suitable acquisition target for us. I didn't care at the time. Anyway, if there is no deal, there is no need to pay money, so I told him the demand, and then half a month later, that is, about They sent me this information a week ago.

This Bitzer Group is a family business, which was established 30 years ago, after the end of the European War, and is now one of the top ten compressor manufacturing companies in Germany. However, the founder, Baston Bitzer, passed away last year. The three sons of Deutsche Bank have been fighting a lawsuit because of family shares. Deutsche Bank thinks that maybe we have a chance to acquire this company. "

"Give them a sum of money to share among their three sons? Is this a good way?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile, "What's the approximate price?"

"A conservative estimate is that 15 million dollars is needed," Lei Shengli said.

"15 million US dollars is a lot, but will the German government interfere with the acquisition of this kind of company?" Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

15 million U.S. dollars is about 70 million Hong Kong dollars. If such a large sum of money is invested in property speculation in Hong Kong, it will be easy to earn 300 to 400 million Hong Kong dollars in the next round of real estate peaks, but the land in Hong Kong will never be exhausted. , Really only think about this, don't even think about developing any other industries.

Compressors are the core of air conditioners and refrigerators. After trying their best to spread channels for Midea’s two home appliance businesses, improving quality, technology and reducing production capital have become the top priorities. Make some achievements in these two fields and open up a small part of the U.S. market. After a few years, we will have a thorough understanding of the technology and train a large number of professional talents. After the opening of the mainland, we can build large factories in the mainland. The extremely strong price/performance ratio hits the European and American markets.

If the plan is successful, it will open up a new road to wealth, not to mention the number of jobs driven by home appliances, the industrial chain, and the foreign exchange reserves that can be brought to the mainland, and they themselves can get huge returns.

"I asked Deutsche Bank this question. Refrigeration compressors do not belong to military or high-tech technology. Foreign capital will not have much problem acquiring such companies in Germany, and Bitzer is not the top in this industry. Besides, Hong Kong belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations, so as long as employment is guaranteed, there will generally be no major problems." Lei Shengli replied.

"That is to say, it is not a problem for us to bring their technology to Hong Kong to build a new factory?" Chen Zhiwen asked. This is the most important point. Compared with Italian companies, he is naturally more optimistic about German technology. instinctive behavior.

"It should be fine." Lei Shengli replied.

"Then this Bitzer also supplies to the automobile factory? Which ones?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Europe itself is a powerful country in the automobile industry. The European automobile industry in the 1970s was even stronger than later generations. It not only owned BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Fiat, Renault, Citroen, Volvo, etc., but also some Saabs that have gone bankrupt in later generations. , Lilan, Luofu and other brands can be said to be in the era of a hundred flowers blooming.

Naturally, many other industries in Europe are also close to the automobile industry, especially refrigeration compressors, a technology that is required by industry, civil, and automobile industries. Once a company has accumulated a certain amount in this field, it will inevitably gradually involve When it comes to other industries with needs, European century-old companies are accustomed to developing the same technology, but they will not be foolish enough to choose only one type of customer. Who would be troubled by money?

"It's mainly Volkswagen and Volvo." Lei Shengli said.

Regarding the matter of Bitzer, he has been collecting information in this area, and he has also asked some consulting companies in Europe. He just needs to wait for all the information to be confirmed before he informs the boss. As a subordinate, what he needs is to collect all kinds of information. Done and then report to the boss, instead of waiting until the boss asks a question, and then ask other people.

Of course, it is impossible to complete this kind of data collection. I can only say as much as possible. At the same time, it also depends on the subordinate's understanding of the boss. The deeper the understanding, the more they will know what questions will be asked, which will be much more convenient.

"Volkswagen? It's not bad." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Although it is not a high-end brand, it has a large volume, which is a very high-quality customer for parts companies. The larger the volume of automotive products, the lower the average production cost.

"Chen Sheng, if you have no objection, I will officially entrust Deutsche Bank as our acquisition representative to negotiate with Bitzer?" Lei Shengli continued.

"Okay, let them talk first, and then you entrust a tripartite investigation agency to investigate the details of this company. This kind of acquisition itself has certain risks. Many colleagues often encounter this kind of problem. In this regard, you must Pay attention, in addition, other potential sellers can also be considered, such as going to the United States to release some news, the United States is so big, there are many such companies, negotiate with multiple parties, and find the one that is most suitable for us." Chen Zhiwen said.

As long as the arcade develops smoothly in half a year, Midea can at least earn tens of millions of dollars by relying on snakes, and behind it is the magic cube. It should not be difficult for the two to add up to surpass the profits of future space invaders. The main source of funds for the initial development of Midea in the field of home appliances. With such a huge amount of funds, Midea can make acquisitions in fields involving high technology, so as to master various technologies in the shortest possible time and reduce costs.

"Okay, no problem." Lei Shengli happily agreed. Midea's air-conditioning and refrigerator business can be said to be good or not bad. The price and sales volume are not bad, but the air conditioner is not good, because the air conditioner has a lot of technical content, and all related core components are purchased from overseas, resulting in high cost. The sales in the United States also depend on the special area of ​​Costco. Coverage plus a dedicated after-sales team to keep installation costs down captures a small slice of the market.

Compared with other small brands, this is already an incredible success. In a mature and stable market, it is so difficult for a small company to break into it. The success of Midea is entirely due to its reliable relationship with supermarkets and its generous investment. , but development is accompanied by ambition, who doesn't want to achieve greater success?

After obtaining a certain small share of the market, it can be regarded as a firm foothold. The next step is to increase its competitiveness through technology, low cost, and high quality. .

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