Riding the wind of rebirth

"You say." Deputy Director Duan even used a respectful title.

"As far as I know, there are many such examples abroad," Zhou Zhi said. "For artwork mortgages, there is a company that specializes in handling such issues, called a third-party guarantee company."

"The legal persons of these companies are often influential and powerful people in the art industry. They have a very deep understanding of the categories and trends of the art market, and their professionalism far exceeds that of banks."

"They are willing to accept art mortgage business and have the business capabilities to protect and maintain the deposited artworks. Therefore, after receiving the mortgaged artworks, they can use their own assets as collateral to obtain loans from banks and provide them to the art mortgagors."

"In this way, even if the business is done, the bank does not need to bear the risk of unclear judgment of the artwork; the third-party guarantee company facilitates the business, charges handling fees, custody fees, and even shares the loan interest with the bank; and the mortgagor gets the funds he urgently needs."

"But this is jade material..." Yao Chong was unable to understand this.

"The same goes for jade materials. There can also be a third-party guarantee company. They have the ability to accurately judge jade materials, and have a good grasp of jade input prices, price fluctuations, process pricing, market sales prices, etc., and they have strong assets. Such people are qualified to run this company."

"When jade carving workshops are preparing to purchase materials, they can send the jade materials that are not needed temporarily or the works that are not in a hurry to be delivered to the third-party guarantee company for valuation and storage. The third-party guarantee company will obtain the corresponding loan from the bank based on the valuation of the jade materials and works, using its own assets as collateral, and give it to the workshop to purchase new materials. In this way, the normal operation will not be affected by the pressure of goods in the store."

"Is it really okay to do this?" Deputy Director Duan understood the operating procedures of the three-party guarantee company, but he was even more confused: "What if the price of jade drops during the guarantee process?"

Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Since it is a business, there are of course risks. There is no such thing as a business that only makes money and never loses money, right? People who dare to do this business will naturally take these risks into consideration."

"I see. What about the second method?"

"The second method is to introduce a third-party partner." Zhou Zhi continued, "The current jade carving company has a major equity structure consisting of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the jade carving company, and the Wanjia Group. To maintain the relative proportion of the three parties' shareholdings, the best way is to introduce some more shareholders and expand the capital scale by diluting the shares to absorb funds, but without affecting the distribution of decision-making power among the three parties."

“比如现在玉雕公司的股权比例是3:3:4，如果每家拿出自身股份的百分之十让渡给第四家股东，总体比例就会变成27:27:36:10。”、

"The new shareholder holding 3% of the shares entering the board of directors will not affect the decision-making power of the three companies. The relative proportions of the three companies remain 3:4:. The relative proportions and share capital remain unchanged. In addition, an additional % of capital has been introduced for development. This method is also a common way for many companies to grow and develop."

"Our department has also considered the latter method, but it's hard to find such shareholders..." Deputy Director Duan frowned.

"Yes, it's hard to find new shareholders. The third-party guarantee company you mentioned before is even harder to find." Yao Chong also felt that the two methods Zhou Zhi mentioned were not feasible: "I guess there is no such business in China now."

"I don't think it's too difficult to find one." Zhou Zhi had an idea in mind: "If you just want to introduce new shareholders, I am confident that AXA Fund will join in."

"AXA?" Deputy Director Duan couldn't help but be overjoyed: "The AXA Fund run by the third prince of the Li family?" "Uh... yes." Zhou Zhi didn't know when Li Laosan got such a cool nickname, but it didn't stop him from nodding.

"That would be great if that's the case." Yao Chong said, "Our company's total capital is now 50 million. It would be great if you could raise 5 million for us."

Deputy Director Duan quickly waved his hand and said, "We can still discuss this ratio. Ansheng is very wealthy, and they may not be interested in five million. We can show more sincerity."

Zhou Zhi found it somewhat funny. The senior government officials were very good at this trick. No wonder Suzhou could become an economically developed region. This was directly related to the consciousness of those in power.

"As for the third-party guarantee company, it's not impossible." Zhou Zhi smiled and spread his hands to Xu Zhiman: "If Mr. Xu is willing to serve as the general manager of this company, then I can also find the investment for you. The start-up capital should not be less than 50 million!"

Everyone was excited, but Xu Zhiman was the only one who was shocked: "No, no, I'm retired and have never done business before, no, no..."

"I think..." Yao Chong thought for a moment and said, "Master, it seems to be possible."

"You're crazy! I'm just a carver, 50 million! Another jade carving company!"

"Master Xu, please don't rush to refuse." Director Liu also quickly interrupted, fearing that Xu Zhiman would say something final: "Mr. Zhou just said that to operate this third-party guarantee company, you need to have an accurate judgment of jade materials, and have a full grasp of the jade's input price, rising and falling trends, process pricing, market sales, etc."

"Aren't these things something you can do easily?"

"There's one thing I didn't mention just now, which is this person's influence in the industry." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Once the funding and leadership issues are resolved, the rest of the business management, warehousing, security, finance and other matters can all be managed by hiring professionals."

"Master, I think it's OK..." Zhu Qinghong was moved by what he heard. If he could have an extra 50 million to choose jade materials, Suzhou Jade Carving Base would be one step ahead of others: "This is tailor-made for you!"

"If Mr. Xu is unwilling to serve as the legal representative of this three-party guarantee company, I have another idea." Zhou Zhi said: "The company will be registered and established by the investor, and the entire team will be operated and managed by the investor. Mr. Xu only needs to serve as the company's appraisal consultant and provide appraisal opinions on the jade materials and jade carvings used for mortgage."

“In that case…” Xu Zhiman heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this: “In this way, I can go back to my old job, and I have some confidence.”

"It's getting late. How about we move to our office and talk while we eat?"

"Yes, yes, yes, let's go try the Suzhou flavor with this classmate. We can talk while we eat." (End of this chapter)