After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 703: $300 Billion Valuation

"A total of 1.58 units were delivered in July, exceeding production capacity expectations. It is expected that the number of units delivered in August should reach more than 2.1."

Wang Xiaofeng reported on last month's sales figures, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the new energy vehicle sales rankings will be released next week, and they should be able to enter the top five.

If it were a ranking of new energy vehicles, they would at least be in the top three, with a chance of being second, but the first place is out of the question; it would definitely be BYD (Qin).

However, the drawbacks of rapid production expansion also began to emerge. The Tian Shu car had only been in production for a little over two months, and the $23 billion in the account was almost gone.

Because they collect a deposit of 5,000 yuan, but also order various spare parts with a total cost of about 220,000 yuan, as well as pay for labor and utilities.

The reason why the real manufacturing industry is a capital-intensive industry is that it not only requires huge investments in the early stages, but also requires a large amount of funds to be paid in advance.

Faced with this situation, companies typically choose to shift some of the financial burden onto their suppliers.

For example, BYD, the most famous company in the industry, has suppliers who, while not lacking in orders, should at least be prepared for their payments to be held up for more than a year.

In order to secure priority order placement and reduce the procurement costs of spare parts, Tianxing Auto implemented a quarterly settlement plan.

The payment cycle for our collaborations with them is twice as fast as with Tesla and twice as fast as with Dizi. Tianxing has always borne this financial burden alone.

Based on the current trend, they will have to hold on for at least four more months before they can see a return on their investment, provided that Boss Lu doesn't have any more ideas.

After a moment's thought, Lu Liang suddenly asked, "Can 10% equity financing raise $50 billion?"

Wang Xiaofeng clicked his tongue in surprise: "It seems like it should be quite difficult."

Tianxing Auto has already shown the potential to become a leading domestic automaker, but its scale in the new energy vehicle market is still not large enough.

Although the industry's total sales for the first half of the year have not yet been announced, as far as he knows, it should be less than 900,000 units.

Some analysts believe that even with the peak sales season of September and October approaching, the growth rate this year is unlikely to reach 100%, and the total sales volume for the year will be at most 200 million units.

The industry's ceiling also limits their potential ceiling; a $500 billion valuation is far too inflated.

A reasonable valuation now would be $210-240 billion, which should also include Tianxing Technology, its brand value overseas, and Lu Liang's celebrity effect.

"Only 240 billion..." Lu Liang said indignantly.

Wang Xiaofeng smiled bitterly, speechless, and listened quietly as Boss Lu lashed out at those unscrupulous venture capital firms.

To be honest, he felt that the price was already very good.

Although Lu Liang had been preparing for car manufacturing for three years, he made little progress in the first two years and only started to develop in the last year.

Given the market size at the time, a valuation of $24 billion likely already exhausted their growth potential for the next five years before any significant growth occurred.

"Then let's leak some information first, let's release the news that Tianxing Auto plans to raise funds."

Lu Liang calmed down a bit. Although he thought the valuation was too low, he felt better when he thought that Ningde Times' current market value was only 2300 billion.

Because the market capitalization of Ningde Times can also provide insight into the current size of the new energy market.

Furthermore, as the company grows larger, it can no longer rely on Lu Liang's funds for development. It's better to share happiness with others than to keep it to himself, and it's time to share his joy with them.

"What's a reasonable expectation?" Wang Xiaofeng asked. Corporate financing is like doing business; you announce one price, but the final price you agree on is something else entirely.

Asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating on the spot will generally result in a price 10-30% higher than the actual valuation.

"300."

Lu Liang smiled and said, "If anyone asks during this period, just talk about the price first, but say you're unsure when the financing project will be established. Let's stretch our resources a bit and see if we can catch a big fish."

He thought of his good friend Sha in the Middle East, a group of men in white coats who had nothing but plenty of US dollars.

If we can attract their investment.

$26 billion, $30 billion
It's like asking whether you should eat three or five dollars for breakfast.

"Mr. Lu, are you so confident that you can... persuade them?" Hearing Wang Xiaofeng's words, Lu Liang looked displeased: "They probably couldn't be happier!"

When gods fight, mortals suffer. How much more so for a camel, who possesses mountains of gold and silver but is defenseless, in the current turbulent international situation, it will certainly want to find a new patron.

The government might feel embarrassed to bully others by abusing its power, but Mr. Lu, a well-known entrepreneur from Dongda University, has no such concerns. Moreover, he doesn't think he is abusing his power; at most, he is guiding them to make the right investments.

Perhaps years from now they will have to thank Lu Liang.

That afternoon, news broke that Tianxing Auto was planning to launch its second round of public financing.

When someone inquired about it, they immediately burst out cursing: "Is Lu Liang crazy for money? 300 billion US dollars? Let's sell him and see if he's worth 300 billion."

"To be fair, if Lu Liang can guarantee that his earning power will not change in the future, at least those rich guys in the Middle East would be happy to buy out his assets for life for $300 billion."

"Damn it, is that what I meant?"

"But then again, even if we quote a normal premium of 30%, $300 billion is still too much. Does he really think everyone else is like him, not caring about money?"

"I'd like to see which suckers will actually admit to such an outrageous premium valuation."

As Lu Liang had expected, the reaction was met with a barrage of curses.

After all, a valuation of $300 billion is almost several billion dollars more than the combined valuation of Li Auto, XPeng, and WM Motor, excluding the already listed NIO.

"With such a high valuation, will anyone buy it?"

Since Lu Liang returned to Shanghai, Li Bing has been coming to talk to him every few days. Even though NIO went public and could raise funds from the market, the hole caused by the battery swapping stations is still too big.

It's unlikely that NIO can achieve much by relying solely on itself.

Li Bing is trying to persuade Lu Liang to let Tianxing Auto also participate in the construction of battery swapping stations.

"If I have it, I have it; if I don't, I don't. Do I look like someone who's short of money? The main thing is to share my happiness with others. Don't you understand the saying 'You can't get fat by eating alone'?"

Lu Liang glanced at Li Bing, too lazy to play games with him, and directly handed him a document: "Take a look."

"What's this?" Li Bing subconsciously flipped through the documents, then his eyes widened suddenly: "You invested in charging stations?"

Kunpeng Fast Charging Technology Co., Ltd. has a paid-in capital of 300 million RMB. The legal representative of the company is Meng Changkun, and the shareholders are Lu Liang and Wang Xiaocong. Meng Changkun holds 40% of the shares, while Lu Liang and Wang Xiaocong each hold 30%.

"It's too difficult for battery swapping to develop," Lu Liang sighed.

He can deduce the process by using known results and collecting fragmented information from the market.

The only company he still can't understand is NIO, how did it achieve a market value of over $900 billion three years later?
Are those Wall Street institutions just stupid and rich? Do they really think battery swapping can become the two oil giants of the electric vehicle industry?

Putting aside the infighting among competitors, no one would be willing to help NIO develop its battery swapping stations, not even Lu Liang, as NIO's co-founder.

The batteries also come in different sizes, which is quite a headache.

"Even you don't have a positive outlook on the development of battery swapping stations?" Li Bing's face was ashen, his despair beyond words. He suddenly asked, "Then why did you invest in NIO in the first place?"

He remembers clearly that the reason he firmly chose the battery swapping project was because he had Lu Liang's support.

However, Lu Liang's words now made him suddenly feel like his former sweetheart had turned into a bitter old hag.

Lu Liang said softly, "Although I'm not optimistic, it's good that someone is willing to be."

He didn't mind telling Li Bing the truth: his investment in NIO was purely for making money.

Lu Liang hoped that Li Bing also shared this idea, waiting for a favorable opportunity to propel NIO's stock price to new heights, at which point they could cash out and leave together.

Stop thinking about unrealistic battery swapping stations. It's one thing to fool others, but don't fool yourself, and don't try to drag others into this mess.

　Thank you @blank_Da for the donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)