Wandering in the vast darkness

Chapter 54 Report is out

When Mr. Wang contacted the appraisal company, they asked him how much the financing amount was. Mr. Wang said 250 million yuan. The company replied that they charged an appraisal fee of 0.3% of the target value.

Mr. Wang was startled. "So it'll cost 750,000?" he asked.

"Can you offer a discount?"

The other party said, "You're doing a risk assessment, right? Clients have very rigorous requirements for risk assessments, and our reports are also very cautious. In a sense, we're essentially endorsing you with our reputation, understand?"

Mr. Wang was thinking, "How does this mean I'm being vouched for?" It seemed right, but also wrong. On the one hand, the evaluation report wouldn't contain any clause requiring the evaluation company to guarantee the project or company being evaluated. But on the other hand, banks, funding parties, and finance companies all insist on designating specific evaluation companies and only trust their evaluation reports.

If this isn't a credit endorsement, then what is it?

Mr. Wang was still hesitating when the other party said, "Mr. Wang, I'm very busy. Please think it over first, and then contact me again, okay?"

Before Mr. Wang could say whether it was good or bad, the other party impatiently hung up the phone.

Mr. Wang searched for this appraisal company online and found that it was a very reputable company with many well-known enterprises as clients. It didn't seem like the kind of company that would overcharge. Mr. Wang even noticed that one of the companies they had worked with was someone he knew.

Mr. Wang immediately called his friend, who thought for a while and remembered, saying, "Yes, yes, we cooperated with them when my company went public."

Mr. Wang immediately transferred 300,000 yuan. After confirming receipt of the remaining payment, the other party sent Mr. Wang a tracking number, saying that the appraisal report had been sent out. They also sent an electronic copy of the appraisal report to Mr. Wang and the finance company.

Five working days later, actually seven days because of the Saturday and Sunday in between, the appraisal company notified Mr. Wang that the appraisal report had been completed.

This is true; Mr. Wang needs money to make things change, and he is currently short of money.

"Are their fees very expensive?" Mr. Wang asked.

The next day, three people from the appraisal company arrived at Mr. Wang's company. Upon arrival, they went into the finance department to audit their financial statements. They worked at the Hangzhou branch for an afternoon and a morning, and then went to the site of their new factory in the afternoon to inspect the project.

Mr. Wang kept thanking him.

"You have a lot of influence, could you please talk to them for me and ask for a discount on the assessment fee? We're just a small company, we can't compare to those big companies or companies that are preparing to go public."

Both parties agreed over the phone that Mr. Wang would pay an appraisal fee of 600,000 yuan, with 50% prepaid and the remaining 50% to be paid upon completion of the appraisal report. Once the other party receives the full appraisal fee from Mr. Wang, they will send out the appraisal report and also provide an electronic copy to Mr. Wang and the finance company.

Mr. Wang was still unwilling to give up, so he gritted his teeth and called the vice president of the finance company, explaining the situation and pleading with him:

Secondly, the assessment report states that, after investigation, their new factory has not yet obtained a property ownership certificate. The reason for not obtaining a property ownership certificate is that one of the plots of land is still agricultural land, not development land. When this land can be successfully converted to agricultural land is still unknown.

The people sent by the appraisal company still didn't offer to treat them to a meal. They would leave work when it was time to eat and go home to eat on their own. They didn't even need Mr. Wang's company car to take them; Mr. Wang didn't even know where they lived.

Because they expected to finish their work at Mr. Wang's company the next morning and head straight to the new factory, they brought bread as lunch to eat on the way.

Mr. Wang begged the other party for help, but they said, "I can't do anything about it, Mr. Wang. We also have our own system. If we take this kind of assessment report and pretend we don't see it, we will personally bear the responsibility. No one dares to take that responsibility, nor can anyone afford to."

A dozen minutes later, the vice president called Mr. Wang and said to him:

"There's only one way. Check if the assessment company's assessment is wrong. If it is, you can raise the issue with them. If they can change their conclusion, there's still room for us to salvage the situation," the vice president and General Manager Wang said.

Because their factory is built on farmland, when higher-level regulatory authorities conduct inspections, their factory may be identified as an illegal building at any time and be forcibly demolished to restore its original state.

"Hey, which company isn't expensive? Accounting firms, auditing firms, valuation companies, etc., which one is cheap? They're all designated; you can't do without them. And these are still considered good; they're just small expenses. There are even bigger ones. Do you know how much our company spent on this lousy IPO? More than 60 million." My friend said to Mr. Wang.

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Wang felt his hands and feet turn cold. It was all over, there was no way out. It wasn't that he was unwilling to spend another 300,000 yuan for a second evaluation, but the other party told him that another evaluation would be useless.

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Wang quickly transferred 300,000 yuan. The other party confirmed receipt of the payment and responded quickly, saying that they would send someone from Shanghai the next day to start work.

It's important to understand that their market expansion mainly focuses on large supermarkets in various cities. Supermarkets require stocking products and have payment terms. The reason they are shrinking their market presence is because they can no longer afford to stock products.

Mr. Wang called the appraisal company again. The company told him that changing the appraisal conclusion was impossible. He could request a second appraisal, and they would halve the fee for that. However, they cautioned him that unless he had addressed the risks identified in their appraisal report, the second appraisal would likely yield the same result.

The assessment report concluded that their company was at high risk for two main reasons: first, their market was shrinking rapidly, and they had lost 30 percent of their market share from the second half of last year to the end of last month.

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Wang sighed heavily. He felt like a piece of meat on a chopping board, waiting to be chopped from the left and right, completely unable to move.

"Isn't there any other way?" Mr. Wang asked.

They stayed overnight at the new factory and returned to Shanghai the following afternoon. Mr. Wang asked when the evaluation report would be available. The other party replied that generally, the report would be ready in about four business days, but they needed to conduct an internal review; he should just wait for further notice, e.g., one week.

If he does it, Mr. Wang will have to scrape together the 750,000 yuan he already has. If he doesn't do it, not only will the money he's spent so far be wasted, but all his previous efforts will also be in vain. Most importantly, Mr. Wang feels that he has no other way to go, and if he's fooled by those so-called investors in society, he'll suffer an even worse fate.

After listening, the vice president sighed and said, "Okay, I'll give it a try, okay, Mr. Wang? I can only say I'll give it a try."

He saw that the assessment concluded that their company was at high risk.

Mr. Wang quickly said thank you, thank you!

Theoretically speaking, Mr. Wang has no way to refute this; there is indeed such a risk. If that day really comes, the development zone will be powerless to stop them, and they will all be punished together.

When Mr. Wang called the person from the appraisal company again, the other party's attitude was noticeably better. Mr. Wang breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that the vice president's call had worked.

Mr. Wang agreed, meaning that he needed to prepare the remaining 300,000 yuan within a week, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get the assessment report.

"I've already given you the call, but you'll have to contact him directly for the specifics. We really can't get too involved, please understand, Mr. Wang."

Mr. Wang quickly opened his email and, sure enough, saw the assessment report that had been sent. He opened the report, which was over twenty pages long. He didn't have time to read the previous pages carefully and quickly flipped to the last page, which was the assessment conclusion. Mr. Wang was stunned.

Thank you to Baby Tin Soldier, Starry Sea Bookworm 1977, Tianchi Pavilion, and the third person from the top for the donations! Thank you to Baby Tin Soldier and Yuehai Xiaozu for the monthly tickets! Thank you for all the recommendation tickets and reads! Good afternoon everyone!