When will I have a long tassel?

Liang Zile's intuition was correct. Huang Liting's acquisition request to Hegeman Company was rejected by the other party. Later, Huang Liting and Liang Zile went to Tarrant Company again, but also failed.

Lijia Supermarket has expanded to Europe, and Huang Liting showed her name, which made the top executives of Hegeman and Tarrant not dare to underestimate it. Although they did not agree to Huang Liting's acquisition request, both families were still polite and did not talk to each other. Huang Liting also gave the other party a chance to survive, claiming that she was very interested in the acquisition and that the door to mergers and acquisitions would always be open to the other party.

"What do you think of the acquisition request made by the Chinese?"

At the board meeting of Hegman Company, Chairman DeGraaf asked a room full of executives.

In front of Huang Liting, DeGraaf did not leak any words and insisted that the company had no intention of selling it and he was willing to accompany the company until the end of the world. But my family knows their own affairs. In fact, the current situation of Hegeman Company is not optimistic. The option of selling the company has faded away and has become an alternative.

Of course, given that the company has not yet reached the point of depletion, and that recently some machine tool companies such as PATEO have drawn several large puffy, crispy and shiny pies for Hegman, there is no need to rush the sale of the company. More directors believe that they can wait and see for a while, or at least wait for the price.

"What price are the Chinese willing to pay?" asked a director named Mattis.

"EUR 800 million for 100% acquisition, or EUR 400 million for 60% of the equity." De Graaf said.

"This price is completely unacceptable." Another director named Pigou said.

"This price is higher than the valuation that several European appraisal companies have given us. The highest valuation we received before was 700 million euros, and considering the current economic situation in Europe, we estimate that it will actually be difficult to close a transaction at this price." Financial Director Teng De Le reported to everyone.

"EUR 700 million is even more unacceptable." Matisse said, "We are the world's largest supplier of machine tool parts and have the most comprehensive patented technology and sales channels. The Hegeman brand alone is worth more than 300 million. Euros. I think it needs to be at least 1.2 billion euros before we can consider selling the company. Anything less than this number, we don’t need to pay attention to.”

Sales Director Luo Tuo said lightly: "Mr. Matisse, I think you may not know enough about the current machine tool market. Since 2009, the global machine tool market has been shrinking. Of course, I am referring to countries other than China. Outside the global market, because China's machine tool market has been expanding.

"Because machine tool sales are in trouble, our machine tool accessories cannot be sold. Our sales this year are only equivalent to 60% of 2008. Our patented technology, sales channels, and what you think are worth 300 million euros Brands cannot turn into actual income.”

"Yes, the company has been losing money for two consecutive years. If we cannot obtain enough funds, we may need to close more than 40 after-sales service centers this year, and our research and development funds will also be compressed to the extreme, only enough to continue the daily expenses of the technical department." Bray Xi has already complained to me, saying that if we maintain the current investment, we will lose our technological leadership and become a second-rate company in at most three years," Tendler said.

After hearing what Tendler said about himself, technical director Bracey sighed and said: "This is not a complaint, but a fact. You have to know that the Chinese are desperately chasing us. If we can't have enough R\u0026D investment, use In less than three years, the Chinese will make better screws, electric spindles, dampers, hydraulic tool holders, etc. than we do, and they are currently investing huge amounts of money in these products."

"Bracy, I think you are a bit alarmist, right?" Pigou said, "When did the Chinese technology reach this level? The technological gap between us and the Chinese is at least ten years or more, three to five years. With time, they may be able to develop some mid- to low-end technologies, but for the most high-end parts, it is impossible for them to break through so quickly.”

"They don't need to break through the most high-end technology," Luotto said. "What the Chinese are best at is minimizing the cost of the technology they master, making it unprofitable for all manufacturers in the market. In this case Next, we either have to lose money to compete with them, or we can only withdraw from the market. In fact, competing with them is completely futile, and exiting the market is the wisest thing to do.

"The mid-to-low-end technologies mentioned by Mr. Pigu, although the profit margin is not high, are the ones with the greatest market demand and are our main source of profits. If this part of the market is taken away by the Chinese, just relying on the most high-end products will It’s hard for us to stay afloat.”

"Everyone should remember what happened to Tuo Software Company, right?" Tendler said. "At first, they didn't believe that they would be squeezed out by a completely unknown Chinese company. But in the end, Tuo was indeed squeezed out. This In just a few years, it has been reduced to an insignificant software company. Now the Chinese are also competing against us. Unless we can maintain the absolute leadership in technology, it will be very dangerous."

"What do you mean, do you think the company should be sold to the Chinese?" Mattis asked, staring at several executives.

"No, I didn't mean that." Tendler quickly denied, "I just said that the company's current situation is not optimistic and everyone needs to have a more rational understanding."

"I think if it's less than... well, less than 1 billion euros, we won't accept the request for a merger."

Mattis originally wanted to stick to the 1.2 billion euro asking price he had mentioned before, but when he said it, he was still squeezed out by 200 million euros. In fact, he didn't know how much Hegemann was worth. The previous quote of 1.2 billion euros was based on hearsay.

However, the figure of 1.2 billion euros has taken root in his mind, and he has always calculated the value of his shares based on this figure. When he heard that the company could not be sold at such a high price, he felt as if someone had robbed him of his money. mad.

"Now is indeed not the best time to sell the company." Pigou also said, "The European economy is currently at its lowest point, many companies are for sale, and the asset market is seriously undervalued. If we sell the company at this time, we will suffer a lot. Loss."

"However, some analysts believe that Europe's depression will continue. In other words, the current economy is not at its lowest point, and the situation in the next few years may be worse than now." Luoto said coldly.

"Are you sure?" Mattis asked, looking at Luoto.

Luoto shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

The global financial crisis of 2008 slapped all Western economists in the face. Previously, people believed that economics had developed to a very high level, and the mathematical models produced by economists were so complex that even mathematicians were amazed. However, such a complex mathematical model could not even predict a major crisis sweeping the world. Before the crisis came, the economics community did not give any influential early warning.

After that, no economist dared to analyze economic phenomena with any conclusiveness. They had to leave some leeway when saying anything, saying that the market is very volatile and predictions must be cautious.

There are several schools of thought regarding the trend of the European economic crisis. Some people believe that the economy has passed the bottom and will soon rebound. Others believe that there is still the possibility of a second bottom for the economy. Maybe the situation in the next year will be worse than now. Oops.

Luoto himself studied economics and has a very impressive diploma. But in the face of divergent opinions in the academic community, he didn't know who to believe. Mattis asked him if he was convinced that Europe's depression would continue. How dare he answer?

"In any case, the purchase price of 800 million euros is too low for our company." De Graaf expressed his stance, "I think the 1 billion euros bid mentioned by Mattis still makes some sense. .The question now is, do we need to maintain contact with each other? Or do we ignore each other for the time being and wait and see again."

“I think it’s important to stay in touch,” Luotto said. “Whether we’re selling the company or not, connecting with potential investors is necessary.”

"I think we probably don't need to rush to conclusions," Bracey said. "You should remember that we just took action against the Chinese to restrict high-end parts for their export-oriented machine tools. I suspect that the Chinese are It is because of such constraints that they are eager to acquire us in order to break the blockade.

"If so, we don't have to worry about them cutting off contact with us. On the contrary, if we don't proactively contact them, we will be in a better negotiating position in the future."

"What if they make a deal with Tarrant?" Pigou asked.

DeGraaf said solemnly: "This is what I'm worried about now. If they acquire Tarrant, it will be a very bad thing for us. It means that the Chinese will get rid of their dependence on us. , they will use Tarrant's accessories more and we will lose the only growing market in China."

"If this is the case, I'm afraid it's not just us that will be unlucky, but also PATEO and Heimsat. I think neither PATEO nor Heimsat wants the Chinese to have a stable source of spare parts." Bracey said sadly.

"You mean we should let Botey persuade Tarrant not to make peace with the Chinese?" DeGraaf asked.

"Why not?" Bracey said, "We should tell the machine tool manufacturers that the Chinese are trying to acquire us. I think they will know what to do."