Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1209 asks, "Did you ask for an extra penny?"

Despite it being a massive financing deal for China.com, Cornell somehow felt that if they didn't subscribe this time, they wouldn't be able to acquire any shares in China.com.

This strange phenomenon was something Cornell had never encountered before.

Regardless of what Cao Zongyan, Wei Jiaxuan, Cornell, and the others thought, Li Dongling spoke up.

"Of the 30% equity financing this time, you can only get 15% of the equity. China.com will need to bring in investors from the mainland, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and other regions for the rest!"

Li Dongling's meaning was clear: even if Bank of China, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs were to provide the funds, it would still be giving them an opportunity. If they didn't want it, Li Dongling wouldn't mind giving the shares to others.

That's only partly true, of course. It's a financing of 840 million US dollars, not something as cheap as cabbage. How could you easily find so many big investors to take over?

If it were that easy, Li Dongling wouldn't have approached these three organizations beforehand today.

However, there is no need to worry too much about China.com's financing. If institutions and wealthy families in mainland China, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and other places cannot absorb such a large amount of financing.

The philanthropist Li sent the Zhixing Foundation to bail out the remaining shares of China.com. With the Zhixing Foundation's strength, it wouldn't be difficult for them to absorb all of China.com's financing.

But this kind of back-and-forth exchange, aside from being self-amusing, doesn't offer much benefit to China.com.

This round of financing is not just about raising money; more importantly, it's about getting major institutions to endorse China.com and clear the obstacles to its listing!
Upon hearing that the three companies would only receive 15% of China.com's shares, Cornell and his team's expressions immediately became subtle.

All three of them were shrewd enough to see through China.com's intentions: to play a game of killing three warriors with one peach, making them fight over the 15% stake in China.com!

Cao Zongyan also had a headache. If the $800 million financing sounded scary, then the 15% stake in China.com, worth $420 million, didn't seem expensive. But this stake wasn't enough for Bank of China, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs to divide!
It's worth noting that Bear Stearns was known for its ruthless tactics; for example, when they took Pets.com public, Bear Stearns directly acquired a 19% stake.

The current 15% stake in China.com is barely enough to satisfy Bear Stearns, let alone the fact that it's being split among three parties.

While Cao Zongyan and the other two were still considering the pros and cons and no one spoke up, Li Dongling spoke up again, saying, "I believe that this is just the beginning of cooperation between the two sides!"
"With the future IPOs of companies like Ruyan e-cigarettes, Zorro lighters, 3721, Jiangmin antivirus, Kingsoft, and even Tianya Sports, I hope to have deeper cooperation with the partners who invested in China.com this time!"

Li Dongling's sudden words caught everyone on the yacht deck off guard, but even Cao Zongyan, Wei Jiaxuan, and Cornell couldn't help but breathe more heavily!

They all understood what Li the philanthropist meant: this was a ticket!
Investing in China.com is like getting a ticket to invest in companies in the Dongke Group.

It's hard to say whether China.com is worth $2.8 billion now.

If you add investment opportunities in e-cigarettes, 3721, Jiangmin antivirus, Kingsoft, and Tianya Sports, is that still expensive?
I asked Mr. Li, "Is this price too high? Did you ask for an extra penny?"

Believe it or not, once this news gets out, the slots for investing in China.com will be so popular that people will be fighting tooth and nail for them. It's not just those three companies; Wall Street institutions, Japanese conglomerates, and old European financial groups will all be coming in droves.

Wei Jiaxuan, who was in charge of Bear Stearns Asia Pacific, began to breathe heavily. This was an opportunity to invest in Ruyan e-cigarettes, an opportunity that Bear Stearns headquarters had been dreaming of!
Ruyan e-cigarettes are still selling very well in America, Europe and other regions, with daily sales exceeding 15,000 units. This does not include the highly repurchased cartridges. Ruyan e-cigarettes' monthly revenue has exceeded 60 million US dollars.

Compared to traditional tobacco giants, Ruyan e-cigarettes' revenue is certainly far less, but Ruyan e-cigarettes has developed too fast!

Almost every month, sales of Ruyan e-cigarettes have been soaring. Coupled with its exaggerated advertising claims that it can help people quit smoking and has no harm from traditional tobacco, Ruyan e-cigarettes have become very popular in places like America.

More importantly, the states of America have now joined forces to sue tobacco companies such as Philip Tobacco and Reynolds, indicating that the traditional tobacco industry in America is facing its most dangerous moment.

If they cannot cope with this class-action lawsuit, no one can say for sure where the major American tobacco companies will go.

There have even been alarmist rumors that traditional tobacco giants might go bankrupt. Everyone knows that's nonsense, but the existence of such rumors still shows that the current situation of tobacco companies is probably not very good.

At this critical juncture, e-cigarettes, which represent "justice," are incredibly popular with Wall Street institutions.

The slogan that e-cigarettes like Ruyan are now being used to replace traditional tobacco is even louder, and there are so many things that Wall Street institutions can speculate on here!
It's no exaggeration to say that Bear Stearns had a hundred ways to manipulate the stock price of e-cigarettes like Ruyan. Moreover, Bear Stearns didn't just speculate on stocks; they also loved playing the options game. During this internet boom, Bear Stearns built up massive long positions in tech stocks, and the profits they made from the futures market accounted for 35% of Bear Stearns' total revenue.

To put it bluntly, Bear Stearns was a speculator, even a gambler, willing to take any risk as long as there was a chance to make money!
Ultimately, Bear Stearns also perished due to futures and bonds, and was swept away by the subprime mortgage crisis...

Bear Stearns has been eyeing Ruyan e-cigarettes for quite some time now, but unfortunately, Ruyan already has two major American shareholders, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, leaving other Wall Street institutions with no opportunity to acquire it.

But now, the opportunity to invest in Ruyan e-cigarettes has presented itself to Bear Stearns. Can Wei Jiaxuan miss it?

"Li, are you sure you're not drunk?" Wei Jiaxuan stared straight at Li the Philanthropist.

If they really invest in China.com, they will have the opportunity to invest in Ruyan e-cigarettes. So what if China.com is valued at $28 billion? Bear Stearns would buy it without batting an eye!
As a woman herself, and both being female managers in the workplace, Ning Wenke, who had been sitting to the side watching the scene unfold, sensed the madness deep within Wei Jiaxuan.

Li Dongling chuckled. "You must have heard some rumors. I've always kept my promises!"

Li the Great Philanthropist's reputation is widely known, and no one can refute that. Even the boasts he made have all come true, making his reputation much more reliable than that of the likes of Lao Mouzi.

“Bear Stearns is willing to acquire a 10% stake in China.com at a valuation of $28 billion!” Wei Jiaxuan said. “No need to report to headquarters, I can sign the agreement right now!”

With $2.8 million, he acquired a 10% stake in China.com and secured investment from Ruyan e-cigarettes. If this performance were reported to Bear Stearns headquarters, the board members would have to give Wei Jiaxuan a huge year-end bonus!

But when they heard that Bear Stearns wanted to take 10% of China.com's shares in one go, Tsao Tsung-yen and Cornell were immediately dissatisfied!
Whether the $28 billion valuation was too high or not was no longer of concern to them at this point. For them, not being able to acquire shares in China.com was the most painful thing.

Even if Goldman Sachs has already invested in Ruyan e-cigarettes, what about Zorro lighters? Does Goldman Sachs want its equity?

3721. Would Goldman Sachs like to invest in Jiangmin Technology's equity? And what about the huge amount of good stuff that Dongling Hi-Tech has? Given Dongling Hi-Tech's current performance, it is still in a period of rapid growth and is very likely to establish new companies in the future. With such investment opportunities, wouldn't Goldman Sachs be tempted?
Moreover, Goldman Sachs has always wanted to acquire a stake in Dongling Hi-Tech's headquarters. Although opportunities are hard to come by, the more Dongling Hi-Tech-related companies Goldman Sachs invests in, the greater the chance of finding a breakthrough!

Dongling Hi-Tech is leveraging Goldman Sachs' influence in America, and Goldman Sachs is well aware of this. However, Goldman Sachs is still cooperating with Dongling Hi-Tech. On the one hand, it can obtain benefits, and on the other hand, Goldman Sachs is also waiting for an opportunity to take over Dongling Hi-Tech!
"impossible!"

Cornell immediately said, "If Bear Stearns wants 10% of the shares, then they want us two companies to split the remaining 5%?"

"President Cornell, you didn't express your opinion just now, so I assumed that Goldman Sachs wasn't interested in China.com!"

Wei Jiaxuan retorted, "Cornell didn't say anything earlier because he thought China.com was too expensive. Since he thinks it's too expensive, Bear Stearns will accept it for him. Bear Stearns doesn't think it's too expensive."

Cao Zongyan also spoke up, saying, "Bank of China cannot give up this 15% stake in China.com!"

Having finally turned things around by betting on Cyberport, it's time to reap the MVP prize. How could BOC possibly give it up so easily?
Looking at the three parties vying for shares in China.com, Lin Xianhui felt a sense of disorientation.

China.com is valued at a staggering $28 billion. It's such a valuation that it's attracting three major institutions vying for a stake in China.com.

This scene, no matter how you look at it, is full of a magical feel.

Seeing that the dispute was deadlocked, Cao Zongyan and Cornell firmly disagreed, and Bear Stearns directly took away 10% of China.com's shares.

Seeing that the argument was fruitless, Li Dashan even started looking for fishing rods, preparing to go sea fishing. The three of them had no choice but to compromise and split 15% of China.com's shares equally!

At this point, Cao Zongyan, Wei Jiaxuan, and Cornell actually felt "fortunate" for acquiring shares in China.com.

The idea of ​​spending such a large sum of money just to seize shares in China.com seemed absurd to them, yet they all sensed the shrewdness of Li Dashan.

It's clearly about harvesting leeks, yet the leeks somehow manage to feel like they've gotten a good deal...

(End of this chapter)