Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1411 Riding a horse in the spring breeze, one can see all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day.
Zhang Xiaocheng and his group watched as the syndicate and Wall Street institutions fiercely competed for shares in Ruyan e-cigarettes, their faces flushed with anger.

Those who know are scrambling for equity in Ruyan e-cigarettes, a unicorn company valued at tens of billions of dollars; those who don't might think they're fighting over discounted eggs at a supermarket...

What does a valuation of tens of billions of US dollars mean? It means that for Ruyan e-cigarettes, which is not yet listed, it would be equivalent to a valuation of 80 billion RMB in the A-share market, which already exceeds the current market capitalization of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which is 596 billion RMB!

Thinking of this, Wu Yaoguo's heart raced. Hanxi Guotou had actually invested in a company with a valuation exceeding that of the king of A-shares?
The money Hanxi Guotou made from Ruyan e-cigarettes alone is almost enough to recoup the funds it invested in Torch Group.

People often say that men fear choosing the wrong career and women fear marrying the wrong man. In the investment industry, the worst thing is making the wrong choice, which may result in all your efforts being in vain.

Now, Wu Yaoguo feels that the wisest and most brilliant decision he has made since becoming the general manager of Hanxi Guotou is to bet on Li Dashanren and Dongling Gaoke!
Zhang Xiaocheng is no better off. Ruyan e-cigarettes are valued at tens of billions of dollars, so how much is Torch Group worth now?

Ruyan e-cigarettes are only one of the three major businesses under Torch Group. In addition to Ruyan e-cigarettes, there are also Zorro metal lighters and disposable lighters.

In Wu Yaoguo's eyes, this scene was like scrambling for cabbage or discounted eggs at the supermarket, but in the eyes of Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell, it was a ticket to become the world's leading e-cigarette brand, a ticket to reap the benefits of the e-cigarette industry!

Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs were willing to fight tooth and nail for this ticket and admission pass.

Among those present, Wei Jiaxuan, Cornell, and Ed were the most fiercely vying for the shares of Ruyan e-cigarette.

Lin Xianhui and Cao Zongyan, on the other hand, were relatively more conservative. There was no other reason than that, among the people present, only the two of them had the least cash flow.

No one would believe it if I told them, but one is a top banking syndicate in Hong Kong, and the other is the second-largest company by market capitalization in Hong Kong. One day, they actually admit their inferiority.

But the reality is that, when faced with Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and Microsoft, the Hong Kong Future Industry Foundation and BOC Hong Kong City are indeed somewhat "outmatched."

This is not to say that it is really inferior to these three companies, but the cash flow of Gangcheng Future Industry Fund cannot be entirely poured into Ruyan e-cigarettes. It also needs to acquire IBA and other companies, and it cannot afford to exhaust its cash flow.

As for Bank of China, if they really had the cash flow, they could have taken over all the shares of Ruyan e-cigarettes this time.

However, like the Hong Kong Future Industry Foundation, BOC cannot say that it uses all its cash flow on Ruyan e-cigarettes.

Cao Zongyan was certainly aware of the potential of Ruyan e-cigarettes, but he also needed to report to his superiors. If it was a small investment, he could make a decision on the spot, but when it involved investments of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars, he would need to submit reports and go through the proper procedures.

After much arguing, and with Lin Xianhui and Cao Zongyan backing down, Ed, Wei Jiaxuan, Cornell, and the others finally reached an agreement.

Microsoft, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs will take the lion's share this time, while Bank of China Hong Kong City and Hong Kong City Future Industry Fund will take a smaller share. However, the listing consultation and stock underwriting of Ruyan e-cigarettes in America will be handled by Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs.

"So, in this round of financing for Ruyan e-cigarettes, Bear Stearns, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs each subscribed for 7% of the equity, while Bank of China Hong Kong City and Hong Kong City Future Industry Fund subscribed for 2%?"

Zhang Xiaocheng stated the decision that Ed, Cornell, and the others had discussed, and they all nodded in agreement, with no further objections.

Li Dongling cast an inquiring glance at Wu Yaoguo. As the three major shareholders of Ruyan e-cigarettes, as long as Li Dongling, Wu Yaoguo, and Zhang Xiaocheng nodded, the deal would be done!

When Wu Yaoguo met Li Dashanren's gaze, he took a deep breath and finally nodded.

Li Dongling tapped his fingers on the table and said to Wei Jiaxuan, Cornell, and the others, "Welcome to Ruyan Company!"

A round of applause immediately erupted inside the suite. Khalid, who was outside, heard the applause faintly coming from inside and felt a mix of envy and curiosity, wondering how high a valuation Ruyan e-cigarette would be given this time.

With the involvement of Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and other firms, the equity structure of Ruyan e-cigarettes has become somewhat fragmented.

The major shareholder is still Dongling High-Tech, but its shareholding ratio has dropped to 24.9%. Pingyang City Investment and Hanxi State-owned Investment each hold 18.7% of Ruyan's shares, while Microsoft's shareholding has increased to 14.5%.

Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs each hold 7%, Bank of China holds shares, Gangcheng Future Industry Fund acquired 2% of Ruyan's equity, Hanxi Tobacco holds 2.3%, and the president and legal director of Dongke North America hold 0.38% of the equity.

The remaining 2.3% of the equity was distributed among Torch Group executives and technical team members, including Zhou Wenyan, the technical manager of Torch Group.

Electronic cigarettes are updated and replaced very quickly, and e-liquid flavors also need to be innovated, which requires the support of Ruyan's technical team.

They need to be tied to Ruyan e-cigarettes' business model as well. If Ruyan e-cigarettes doesn't care about these technical personnel, they might be poached by other companies.

At that time, the development and upgrading of e-cigarettes may encounter major problems, not to mention the possibility of leaking the formula, which would be a real problem!

"I hope that Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs can get the president of Reynolds to come to Hong Kong as soon as possible!"

The traditional tobacco company Li Dongling chose was Reynolds. In the American traditional tobacco industry, Morris is the leader, while Reynolds has always been number two.

Morris, the traditional tobacco industry leader, won't easily relinquish his dominant position, as is the case with any industry leader. After all, sitting comfortably on the throne, would he suddenly lose his mind and decide to transform the industry, only to stab himself twice in the back?

No industry leader would act rashly or willingly give up their advantages to venture into an unfamiliar industry.

It's not so easy to directly pull Morris into the e-cigarette industry. On the contrary, the second-largest player in the industry has more courage to make changes. Which second-largest player doesn't want to be the leader?
Reynolds, the second-largest player in the struggling American traditional tobacco industry, is more likely to accept the offer from Ruyan e-cigarettes.

Upon hearing that Li Dongling was planning to drag Reynolds into the fray—no, to usher Reynolds into a new era—Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell immediately understood Li Dongling's intentions.

"Reynolds is indeed a breakthrough point. If it shifts its focus to the e-cigarette industry, it will bring about a huge change to the global tobacco industry landscape!"

"Moreover, Reynolds was just acquired by British Tobacco this year, and Reynolds' executives are eager to achieve results to curry favor with London!"

After thinking for a moment, Cornell said, “From all perspectives, Reynolds is indeed an opportunity.”

Moreover, bringing Reynolds on board is equivalent to bringing another tobacco giant, British Tobacco, on board as well, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

“But Reynolds CEO Andrew is a traditional professional manager, and he may not be willing to let Reynolds transform into the e-cigarette camp!” Wei Jiaxuan said with a hint of worry.

"People die for wealth, birds die for food!"

"Do the Wall Street institutions in Manhattan and the members of Congress on Capitol Hill really understand the internet completely? But that doesn't stop them from supporting it!"

Li the Great Philanthropist began by saying that when the internet was in its early days, there were some rumors circulating that the CEO of a certain Wall Street giant company, when he first heard that Yahoo was a portal website, even asked, "What kind of portal website is this?"

Whether this rumor is true or false, it shows that those high-ranking figures in Wall Street institutions are actually not very proficient in technology.

But this did not stop Wall Street institutions from quickly recognizing the potential of the internet and starting to manipulate it to fleece investors.

Could it be that those executives at Wall Street firms aren't traditional professional managers?
What nonsense about tradition? The only difference is whether you can actually make money or whether you can fleece people. If you can't, then professional managers are very traditional.

If possible, traditional professional managers will also transform into technology-driven professional managers who are most passionate about technology!
"It all depends on what kind of incentive will make Andrew make up his mind!"

Li Dongling said that for Andrew, it all depends on what kind of offer can entice him and the Reynolds board of directors.

If Reynolds accepts the offer, he'll probably be more supportive of e-cigarettes than anyone else. It's not impossible that he might even say that Reynolds has been waiting for this moment all these years!

……

On May 7, 1999, when Zhou Hongyi opened her eyes, she was still a little dizzy, but she clearly remembered the time of day.

Last night, in mainland China and 3721, apart from the staff who stayed in the office, the remaining dozens of people came to Hong Kong and held the last banquet before 3721's listing.

Zhou Hongyi didn't drink much, but he still had dark circles under his eyes. He tossed and turned all night and didn't fall into a light sleep until the early hours of the morning. Today is the day that 3721 will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange!
When people grow old and look back on their lives, what they can recall are probably the highlights of their lives; the rest of the past has faded away.

Today, Zhou Hongyi knows that this is probably the day he will be most remembered in his life!
"Wear this outfit!"

Zhou Hongyi's girlfriend, Hu Huan, who is known as the "Flower of Fangzheng," gave Zhou Hongyi a red suit and a red scarf.

After getting dressed and going downstairs, several cameras immediately focused on Zhou Hongyi.

This is a group of media reporters from TVB, Yanjing TV, Pingyang TV, and Asia Weekly. Several media outlets jointly secured the interview rights to follow Zhou Hongyi and the day 3721 went public.

Today is also an important day for the port city and Yanjing, and it is naturally something to be recorded.

Zhou Hongyi had no appetite at all, but with media reporters present, the newly promoted "Red-Clothed Cult Leader" forced himself to calm down and ate a few bites. After finishing the simple meal, Zhou Hongyi immediately met up with the executives of 3721 and headed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

……

"Mr. Li, do you think the 3721 index will rise or fall after it opens today?"

"Mr. Li, what price do you predict the stock price of 3721 will reach today?"

The Rolls-Royce that Li Dongling and Ning Wenke were riding in had just arrived at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and hadn't even gotten out of the car when it was bombarded with cameras. Reporters from all walks of life held up a huge number of microphones, almost surrounding the entire Rolls-Royce.

(End of this chapter)