Reborn, back to a small county town to become a wealthy family

Chapter 822 The Importance of the Investment Department
"Putting aside Hengrui Medicine's potential, I'm just curious to ask, how do you acquire shares in a company that's already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange?"

Luo Yang looked at Song Wan and said, "Are you thinking of acquiring it in the secondary market?"

It's like becoming a shareholder through stock trading, but not because you're stuck with losses; you actively want to invest.

"Of course, we should talk to their minority shareholders first to see if we can acquire some shares."

Song Wan replied in a serious tone, "In this way, we won't need to raise our bids in the secondary market."

Stock market regulations stipulate that if the shareholding ratio acquired in the secondary market exceeds 5%, it must be disclosed publicly. Moreover, such behavior is likely to be regarded as a hostile takeover by the company, leaving a bad impression.

"Even if everything goes as smoothly as you say, the acquisition will require at least two or three billion yuan. Will that money have to be taken from my personal pocket again?"

As he said this, Luo Yang was already gritting his teeth slightly.

"That's not necessary."

Song Wan smiled and replied to Luo Yang, "President Luo, don't we still have Gray Rhino Capital?"

Her answer stunned Luo Yang.

"More than a month ago, Gray Rhino launched its first private equity fund product, totaling 100 million US dollars. According to the contract, the fund product will be unlocked at the end of October, and its amazing performance will surely amaze many investors in the market."

Song Wan spoke eloquently: "When the time comes, Gray Rhino will launch a new fund product, which will definitely be favored by many investors in the market. 10 billion may be a bit too much, but raising several billion is not difficult."

Luo Yang had this plan all along.

The next fund product launched by Gray Rhino will no longer be a short-term product, but a long-term wealth management product with a term of 3 to 5 years. The funds raised will be invested in US stocks for long-term investment.

This product offers an annualized interest rate of around 12% to 15%. The fund settles the annual interest income at the end of each year, while the principal and the final interest income are settled at the end of the product contract.

Now Song Wan has offered a new approach.

The money invested in Hengrui Medicine can be raised through the private equity fund products issued by Gray Rhino, extending the investment period to 5 years and giving an annual return of 12% to 15%. Even if we calculate based on the 100% return predicted by the investment department, this investment can still yield more than 50% after 5 years.

Of course, all investments carry risks.

Everything Song Wan said was based on the premise that Hengrui Medicine's market value would double in 3 to 5 years. If it remained lukewarm, this investment might lose more than a billion yuan in interest over 5 years.

This is still the apparent loss, without calculating the cost of using the funds.

In total, the losses could exceed 20 billion.

So even though he had a way to make money, Luo Yang hesitated.

It's not that the company's future prospects are necessarily bad, but rather that there's no information about it in my memories before I was reborn.

The meeting room fell silent as Luo Yang was still deep in thought.

"This Song Wan really knows how to give me a hard time."

Luo Yang thought to himself, "Whether I've been reborn or not is irrelevant to my current situation. The only information I know is the general trend: the domestic biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are expected to develop well over the next ten years. Beyond that, I know nothing." Under these circumstances, he needed to assess the information reported by his subordinates and ultimately make a decision on whether to support such an investment project worth two to three billion yuan.

He, who had always been in control, suddenly felt the pressure.

This pressure stems partly from the enormous amount of investment involved. After all, it's two to three billion yuan, which, without even considering the extra profits from the futures market, is equivalent to one-tenth of his current net worth. If he were to suffer a loss, even if it were spread over five years, it would still be enough to make him feel the pinch.

The hesitation and indecisiveness stem more from the fear of the unknown.

This was the first time, and Luo Yang believed it would definitely not be the last. Perhaps in the future, more and more such events would occur, forcing him to make a decision.

Of course, one can also choose to play it safe.

With the information from the prophet, Luo Yang could have avoided taking this risk and steadily followed the path he had laid out beforehand. In four or five years, his business empire would have taken shape, and he would definitely have become a billionaire.

But what about ten years from now?
To be more precise, what about twelve years from now?

At that time, Luo Yang was only in his early thirties, in the prime of his life, and controlled several large comprehensive conglomerates with assets in the hundreds of billions. Every day, he had to make decisions on many business investments and cooperation agreements.

Without the confidence of a prophet, does that mean he will stop doing things?

"Wu Yonghuai, present the investment proposal for Hengrui Medicine again, starting from the beginning."

After a long while, Luo Yang raised his head, first instructing the head of the third investment group on his tasks, and then said to Song Wan, "I'm going to Gray Rhino Capital on Wednesday morning to hear Zhao Pengcheng's report. You come with me; we can talk about launching the private equity fund product."

His words almost implied that he was inclined to agree to invest in the project.

This time, however, we are being more cautious. We need to understand the investment project information more carefully and communicate with the Gray Rhino team first to find out if such a fund product can raise two or three billion yuan from the market.

Luo Yang will only make a formal decision when all conditions are met.

But thinking about it, it's understandable. After all, this is an investment of two to three billion yuan. Luo Yang couldn't possibly make a hasty decision based solely on the research of a small team in the investment department and some verbal explanations from Song Wan.

In other companies, such a large investment project would not be easily decided without one or two months of repeated consideration, three to five intense meetings for discussion, and a detailed and meticulous business investigation.

Song Wan saw all of Luo Yang's actions.

To be honest, the three groups submitted an investment project for Hengrui Medicine, which she almost rejected in the previous internal discussions.

Song Wan was well aware that this project, which involved the pharmaceutical industry, was completely unrelated to the industries Luo Yang was currently developing. Moreover, the entire project involved a huge investment, had a long cycle, and carried considerable risks.
But after much consideration, she decided to keep the project and eventually had Group Three report it to Luo Yang.

And the current outcome is exactly what she hoped for.

Song Wan vividly remembered the last reporting meeting of the investment department. For all the projects that were presented at the meeting, whether they were approved for investment or rejected, Luo Yang made a decision in a very short time.

This is abnormal, at least in Song Wan's opinion.

Her grandfather, father, and a host of uncles and aunts were all in the investment business. Even though the family business was so professional, they would repeatedly study, discuss, and investigate every decision, and many details were done to an extreme degree.

In Luo Yang's department, this applies not only to the investment department but to the entire group.

Very rough!

Therefore, Song Wan hoped to create a model through the Hengrui Medicine project—a standard procedure for the group's future investment projects.

Whether Luo Yang will veto the project is no longer the most important thing; for Song Wan, the process is more important than the result.

The meeting was extended because the third group's report was repetitive, even though it was supposed to end around 4:30.

"We'll take a short break during the meeting and continue in 15 minutes."

After Wu Yonghuai finished his report, Song Wan thoughtfully announced that the meeting was suspended, giving everyone time to have a smoke, a few sips of hot tea or coffee.

She followed Luo Yang to the chairman's office.

"Is Mr. Luo angry?"

Seeing Luo Yang light a cigarette without saying a word, Song Wan sat down across from him at his desk and said with a smile, "I checked the company's investment projects over the past few years. Apart from Lemon CC and shared bikes, it seems that the other projects were invested in without even a decent business plan. I really have to admire the efficiency of our company."

Ok?
Luo Yang's hair stood on end.

His deepest secret seemed to be in danger of being exposed. If murder weren't illegal, he would have almost used the pen on his desk to stab someone.

"So this is a characteristic of first-generation entrepreneurs?"

Song Wan's next words made Luo Yang breathe a sigh of relief: "With your keen sense of smell and unwavering courage, you made quick decisions, entered promising industries in the shortest time, started companies, and then continuously adjusted your strategies during the company's development, eventually making it bigger and stronger. Mr. Luo, all your previous actions are perfectly in line with the characteristics of a first-generation entrepreneur."

"So what do you want to say?"

After his heart rate calmed down, Luo Yang said in a trembling voice that was almost imperceptible to others, "Prove whether I am a first-generation founder?"

"You are a first-generation entrepreneur, which needs no further proof."

Song Wan said seriously, "The reason we put Hengrui Pharmaceuticals at this discussion meeting is to make project investment more standardized and serious in the company in the future. If we act solely based on your feelings, the invested projects will run into problems sooner or later. Also, what is the point of our investment department?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Yang was stunned.

"Mr. Luo, I must apologize to you first."

Seeing Luo Yang stunned, Song Wan seized the opportunity to say, "In the discussion just now, I didn't mean to argue with you. I wanted to make you realize that our group's investment projects need to establish several standard procedures, set several passing data points, and require a complete set of research materials. Only by standardizing them in this way can the group's investments reduce risks and maximize profits."

Luo Yang took these words to heart.

“My own investment company is only of medium size, but it invests in more than a hundred projects every year.”

Seeing Luo Yang looking thoughtful, Song Wan continued, "Not to mention those large conglomerates, which invest in hundreds of projects and companies every year. Without a strict review mechanism, relying solely on the big boss's feelings to make decisions, I think you'd be spending all your time in our investment department and wouldn't have time to deal with anything else."

She is absolutely right.

For example, Tencent has invested in as many as 1200 companies.

Moreover, the investment department holds a very important position at Tencent. It is described as the pioneering assault team and the strategic defense department in the rear of the Tencent Group.

According to many industry insiders, Tencent's investment department is even more mysterious than the General Office, the highest power center of Tencent Group. However, it communicates closely with the General Office and often makes headlines in various media financial news. Its every move can become a barometer of the investment market for a period of time or even longer.

For example, Alibaba's investments cover various industries.

In terms of daily life, including clothing, food, and clothing, Alibaba has invested in many companies such as Taobao, Tmall, Koubei, Ele.me, Hema, Yiguo Fresh, Sun Art Retail, Intime Department Store, Red Star Macalline, Lianhua Supermarket, NetEase Kaola, and Suning.

In the travel sector, Alibaba has invested in companies such as Gaode Maps, Didi Chuxing, OFO, and Fliggy.

In terms of logistics and delivery, Alibaba has invested in companies such as Cainiao, ZTO Express, STO Express, YTO Express, Yunda Express, Best Express, RRS Logistics, Singapore Post, and Lazada.

Ant Financial is involved in finance and wealth management.

In addition, it actively invests in AI startups and humanoid robot startups, constantly venturing into new trending projects.

"So whether or not we invest in Hengrui Medicine is not important."

Luo Yang looked at Song Wan with much more seriousness this time: "The important thing is that you want to use such a complex project to tell me that the company's investment department needs to build a standardized system, or even want to further improve the investment department's status within the group?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I think."

Seeing that Luo Yang understood what she was trying to say, Song Wan smiled and said, "Although I will no longer serve as the vice president of Ling Shi Gong Group or be in charge of the investment department starting next year, I feel that you have been good to me, so before I leave, I should do something for the investment department."

"Who said you're no longer serving as the group's vice president?"

Luo Yang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately said, "Don't forget, you still have 5% of the shares in Gray Rhino, so I plan to appoint you as the vice chairman of the board of directors of Ling Shi Gong Group. As for the investment department, I originally had other plans, but now that you've said this, I'm even more determined to keep you."

Song Wan: "."

"Am I shooting myself in the foot?"

"This is called 'the capable should do more'."

"Mr. Luo, a person's energy is limited."

Song Wan counted on her fingers and said, "Guobao Films wants to become a comprehensive large-scale film and entertainment company, and I'm also responsible for coordinating the community-based lifestyle platform, and the investment department is also assigned to me. Do you really think I'm a robot?"

She got angrier and angrier as she talked.

"Lemon CC will be sold next year. Nayuki's model has matured, and its expansion will slow down. Any professional manager can be put in the president's position and do a good job."

Song Wan glared at Luo Yang and said, "The busy are working themselves to death, and the idle are working themselves to death. Can't you let your CEO An take on some of the responsibilities?"

In her opinion, An Ying is currently being wasted.

Luo Yang could have given her a more important position.

Is it because you can't bear to part with it, or is there some other reason?

Song Wan suddenly became curious.
(End of this chapter)