Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 167 Announcement of Listing Plan
In the large conference room of Zhiyun Group, Xu Shenxue and a group of Zhiyun Technology executives were having a closed-door meeting with a group of financial institutions across the street.

This is a strategic meeting before Zhiyun Technology launches its official listing, mainly to determine the final stock issue price and stock issuance ratio.

The financial investment institutions present were all world-famous investment institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, etc. There were a total of eight world-famous investment banks.

Zhiyun Technology is going public. This is no small matter, but a capital feast covering all parts of the world... This is the largest IPO plan in human history.

This is not something that can be accomplished by one or two investment banks alone, but requires the joint efforts of multiple investment banks.

Since its establishment, Zhiyun Technology has only experienced one round of A round and a round of strategic investment before that, except for the initial direct capital injection from its parent company.

It has only gone through two rounds of financing... but now, it is almost universally recognized that its market value has reached more than 150 billion US dollars... and this is still the lowest!
In fact, quite a number of people believe that based on Zhiyun Technology’s revenue and gross profit, it is at least over 200 billion US dollars.

Of course, no one can tell the exact amount now, and it depends on the approval of subsequent investors from all parties.

What is the concept of 150 billion US dollars or even 200 billion US dollars?
Apple's market value is now around 240 to 250 billion US dollars, Microsoft's is 210 billion US dollars, and Google's is 150 billion US dollars.

Among the domestic BTA Internet companies, Baidu is worth 30 to 40 billion US dollars, Tencent is worth more than 30 billion US dollars, and Alibaba has not yet gone public, so it is difficult to say its valuation, but it should be around 10 to 20 billion US dollars.

If Zhiyun Technology goes public, its market value will be conservatively estimated to be comparable to that of Google. Normally, it should be comparable to that of Microsoft. If we are more optimistic, then it will be comparable to or even exceed that of Apple.

Such a large-scale IPO plan involves a huge amount of funds. The IPO financing alone is estimated to exceed 30 billion US dollars.

Once the listing is successful, not only will Xu Shenxue become the world's richest man in the true sense, but the previous multiple investment institutions will also benefit greatly, especially the various investment institutions that participated in the early A round. They will make a fortune... dozens of times the profit.

Even the investors who made strategic investments at the beginning of this year can obtain considerable returns.

Finally, many of Zhiyun Technology’s management and technical personnel will become rich overnight and earn millions or even tens of millions, with hundreds of millions being even more wealth.

It is estimated that although Zhiyun Technology has never announced the detailed plan of equity incentives, it is conservatively estimated that this listing will be able to create at least 20 billionaires and at least several hundred millionaires.

There are even more millionaires, and even quite a few mid- and low-level technical personnel who joined early on have received options that can reach this number.

Then, for each investment bank, the profits that can be earned from this large-scale IPO underwriting are also very large numbers, calculated in billions.

Therefore, Zhiyun Technology’s listing plan will be a large-scale capital feast...the kind that makes everyone happy.

In order to compete for Zhiyun Technology's IPO underwriting business, various investment banks started negotiations with Zhiyun Technology early on, and finally finalized these eight investment banks for cooperation.

The listing location is Nasdaq... Mainly because there are fewer rules and regulations for listing here, for example, a company can be listed after one year of establishment. This is also the reason why many high-tech start-ups choose to list here.

Then this also belongs to the US stock market, a global financial center with sufficient funds... The stock market in small places cannot accommodate a listing of a company as large as Zhiyun Technology.

If Zhiyun Technology goes public, it will raise tens of billions of dollars, which cannot be met by the general stock market.

Then... Zhiyun Technology is seen as a mother machine that lays golden eggs by outsiders, but in Xu Shenxue's view, it is a castle on the beach... the kind that will roll its eyes if Europe, the United States, and Japan choke it!
This is a high-tech enterprise built on the global industrial chain...it is very consistent with the current so-called mainstream economic concepts.

But it does not conform to the view of Xu Shenxue, a reborn person with later life experiences!

In order to prolong the time of subsequent comprehensive sanctions as much as possible, avoid being strangled too early, and avoid being raised by European and American markets too early about anti-counterfeiting and affecting national security, Xu Shenxue tied Zhiyun Technology to various European and American capitals from the very beginning.

Especially the strategic investment in Zhiyun Technology before its listing, the main investment institutions were all formal European and American consortiums.

The company is now listed in the United States, and most of the issued shares are sold to various investment institutions in the United States.

The ones being harvested are American leeks. Using American money to develop the domestic smart terminal industry chain makes me happy just thinking about it...

After such a deep binding, you can impose sanctions when the time comes. Xu Shenxue wants to see whether these European and American investors can tolerate the avalanche of Zhiyun Technology's stock price, resulting in losses of hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars.

The sanctions on Zhiyun Technology caused its stock price to plummet and even go bankrupt, but ordinary Americans may not care... and may even applaud it.

But American capitalists must care and will go crazy about it...

When Zhiyun Technology is sanctioned and its stock price plummets, Xu Shenxue will suffer some losses, but he will most likely still be the world's richest man. After all, Xu Shenxue has more than just Zhiyun Technology, he also has a large number of various industries. At the same time, when the amount of money reaches a certain level, it really cannot bring much change to one's personal life.

To Xu Shenxue, there is no difference between a net worth of 100 billion US dollars and a net worth of several hundred billion US dollars... With his net worth reaching this level, money has actually brought him very few changes in his life or a sense of accomplishment.

What he is pursuing now are some more mysterious life goals, things like a sense of accomplishment... such as breaking the monopoly and leading mankind to the starry sky.

But when Zhiyun Technology is sanctioned and its stock price collapses, a group of capitalists and countless elites on Wall Street will line up to jump off buildings!
Come on... let's hurt each other!

----

On September 3, Zhiyun Technology officially held a press conference and announced its listing plan to the outside world for the first time. It decided to be listed on the Nasdaq with the stock code 'ZHIY'.

According to the prospectus first submitted by Zhiyun Technology in May, the company planned to raise US$20 billion, which translates to a market value of US$180 billion.

This time, it is due to the strong growth and stability of smart terminal businesses such as S10 mobile phones, C3 series mobile phones, Yun Book, etc.

Zhiyun Technology updated its prospectus, planning to raise approximately US$35 billion, with a price range of US$10 to US$108 per share, and a market value of approximately US$200 billion.

This would be an incredibly crazy valuation...especially since Zhiyun Technology is not an Internet company, but a serious manufacturing company with a relatively low price-to-earnings ratio and a strong ability to make money. Its gross profit margin is even higher than that of Zhiyun.

In addition to their mobile phone businesses, they also have very strong music player businesses, PC businesses, etc., each of which is more profitable than the other, but their market capitalization is only 250 billion US dollars. Unlike Internet companies, which have very high price-to-earnings ratios, it is easy for them to have super high market capitalizations.

(In 2014, Alibaba was valued at around US$1500 billion when it went public, raised more than US$2300 billion, and had a closing market value of US$ billion on the day of its listing.)
After Zhiyun Technology officially announced it to the public, it immediately caused a huge public outcry... not just a domestic sensation, but a global sensation.

Especially those working in finance, mobile phones, 3G industry, etc., were all shocked.

This IPO valuation can be said to be extremely exaggerated...two hundred billion US dollars.

Industry insiders basically know that this valuation leaves room for the stock to rise after issuance. Even on the day of listing, Zhiyun Technology's market value will be able to reach more than US$250 billion or even US$270 billion.

Tencent’s portal website conducted a series of special reports on Zhiyun Technology’s listing.

“Why is Zhiyun Technology so valuable?”

This is a question that countless people are concerned about... Many people know Zhiyun Technology and have bought Zhiyun mobile phones. A few people have also purchased Zhiyun laptops or smart TVs.

Then there are a very small number of people who may have purchased some of Zhiyun Technology's ecological chain products.

Since their launch, Zhiyun Technology's ecological chain products have been rather weird, with all kinds of messy gadgets that are basically not very practical, but each one still has some novelty, such as music dancing robots, smart voice-controlled desk lamps, somersault-capable robot dogs, smart video intercoms and other weird things.

Therefore, many of Zhiyun's ecological chain products are very niche, and most people have never heard of them.

However, many people have bought Zhiyun phones, and even if they haven’t, many have seen them... Many office workers in the Shenzhen subway and on the bus are holding Zhiyun phones and looking at them... Even if ordinary workers can’t afford an S series phone, they will get a C series phone.

Zhiyun mobile phone is the most fashionable high-tech consumer product in China today. With it, you will be a fashion trendsetter.

Therefore, the exposure rate of Zhiyun mobile phones among the general public is actually very high... To put it another way, even if you have not seen it, you have heard of it to some extent.

What does this mean? This means that the shipment volume of Zhiyun mobile phones is huge and the stock on the market is also large.

The sales of all types of mobile phones add up to several million units every month...

Then there is another blockbuster product of Zhiyun Technology, Yun Book. The Zhiyun notebook has the highest level of style and business attributes. It is not only the favorite of a large number of business and pretentious people in China, but also performs very well in foreign markets.

Zhiyun notebooks can often be seen in airports, conference rooms, and coffee shops abroad.

This is the only high-end business ultra-thin notebook in the current global PC market, except for the Fruit notebook... It has almost the same market positioning and price positioning, and its appearance and style are also top-notch.

If we have to say there is any difference, it is that the pre-installed systems are different, one is MAC OS system and the other is WIN system.

And the most important point is that Zhiyun’s products are not only sold in China, but in fact Zhiyun phones are sold more abroad.

Foreign markets account for 60% of Zhiyun Technology’s smart terminal business revenue... This is the first high-tech company in China’s history that has been so successful in overseas markets.

The special report not only talks about Zhiyun Technology itself, but also talks about its main competitor in the market, Fruit Company.

At the same time, the situation of some other traditional mobile phone manufacturers is also mentioned, such as Samsung, Motorola, LG, Nokia, etc. Of course, these traditional mobile phone manufacturers are not doing well. The editor lists a lot of data, so that people can clearly see the decline of these traditional mobile phone manufacturers.

For example, the once powerful Nokia's stock price has been halved again and again since last year... Its high-end market share has almost been lost. Now its mobile phone shipments seem to be huge, with more than 400 million mobile phones shipped a year, but the average price is only more than 60 euros, and the gross profit is very small.

Even people who don’t know much about mobile phones will basically know after reading this special report that in the current mobile phone industry, Zhiyun Technology and Fruit have become the two beauties of the new era.

Although its shipment volume seems not as large as that of traditional mobile phone manufacturers, it has reaped almost all the profits in the mobile phone market.

The most important thing is that in the mobile phone business, Zhiyun Technology is still ahead of Fruit. Zhiyun Technology's monthly shipments are approaching 8 million units, but Fruit's shipments are only about 4 million units.

Almost twice as much as fruit!

Of course, among Zhiyun Technology’s eight million mobile phones, more than half are mid-range C series. The revenue and gross profit provided by this series are not that high, so the revenue and profit cannot reach double.

A company like Zhiyun Technology, even though it is still far inferior to Apple in the notebook business and does not have a music player business, can still generate greater revenue and profits just by relying on its relatively large leading mobile phone business.

When all these are added together, Zhiyun Technology has an exaggerated IPO valuation of 200 billion US dollars.

The special reports on Tencent portal are only a part of the many reports.

In fact, most online media departments and offline media have followed up on the report, but different media have focused on different reporting directions.

For example, a report on a portal website speculated how many billionaires, multi-millionaires, and millionaires would be created by Zhiyun’s listing this time.

People are very curious, and then envious...even jealous.

Amidst the numerous public opinion bombardments, Xu Shenxue and the senior management team of Zhiyun Technology also started to get busy... In addition to being busy with the company's internal business, Xu Shenxue also had to take the senior management team to several major places in the world for roadshows.

After all, the stock is going to be listed, so you have to attract investors to buy the stock. If there are no investors buying the stock, it would be ridiculous to just brag about your valuation and market value.

On September 6, Xu Shenxue and his team arrived in neighboring Hong Kong and started their first roadshow.

(End of this chapter)