HBWnovel Chapter 582 Price Gouging
Chapter 582 Price Gouging
Chapter 582 Price Gouging
To say that Tang Yijing has been having a run of bad luck lately is truly an underdog story.
First, Gao Sheng Group gave her the task of spending 10 billion yuan to acquire Bai Ye Ji. Unfortunately, Gao Yuan turned herself from an investor into a creditor in just a few words.
In retrospect, that loan actually accelerated the expansion of Gao Yuan Group's business empire, making their acquisition plans even more distant.
Okay, fine, I was just thinking of taking the opportunity to acquire an oil tanker and make some money from the price difference.
It turns out they were just a middleman too...
I don't know where the information came from, but they set the price at a price that was almost below their client's bottom line, making a huge profit while I was busy for nothing!
What bothered him even more was that, it was said, Gao Yuan had once again habitually gone all in with the money from selling the boat.
During the cyclical downturn in the shipbuilding industry, the company leveraged its financial resources to place a massive shipbuilding order worth 200 billion yuan, causing a sensation in the domestic shipbuilding industry.
However, just when everyone thought Gao Yuan had gone mad, most ordinary people were unaware that the market had already been quietly changing...
Almost immediately after Gao Yuan sold those oil tankers, the international market underwent a dramatic change, with ship prices rising day by day, showing signs of bottoming out and rebounding.
Based on the current trend of ship price recovery that he has been aware of, this gamble by the other party is likely to be another sure-fire way to make money...
He didn't know how Gao Yuan predicted the market, or why she could always accurately buy at the bottom.
But the current situation is...
Their hopes of acquiring the other party through normal business means are becoming increasingly slim.
As a result, Tang Yijing made a foolish move, which was to "drive a tiger to devour a wolf"!
By exploiting the malicious competition from external rivals, we can disrupt the unbridled expansion of Gao Yuan Group's cash flow at a crucial point, thus delivering a fatal blow by cutting off their lifeline!
If they take advantage of the situation or even restructure the debt, then there will be a lot of room for maneuver.
The theory is sound, and the approach is sound.
The problem is, he just had to choose Xu Jinsong, his incompetent teammate...
I thought they were one of the top local bullies in Suzhou, and even a broken ship has some nails, but it turns out they're just a pretty face with no substance.
Acquisition, subversion, intelligence warfare, psychological warfare...
Gao Yuan's series of moves, a pincer attack from both inside and outside, utterly routed the outwardly strong but inwardly weak Xu Jingsong, leaving him deserted by his followers.
One second he was a prominent and successful entrepreneur, the next he was embroiled in lawsuits and imprisoned...
They truly don't make a move unless they're absolutely sure of it, but when they do, it's a fatal blow!
What was expected to be a fierce and protracted business battle turned out to be settled before anyone could even react.
This left not only everyone waiting to watch the spectacle stunned, but Tang Yijing was also dumbfounded.
Unlike others who just watched the spectacle from the sidelines, Gao Sheng actually spent real money!
During this period, in order to support the Xu Group in competing with Gao Yuan, they provided Xu Jingsong with both manpower and money.
For example, of the billions invested in Xu's Automobile in its early stages, although the publicly listed investor list is long, a large portion was actually indirect funding raised by Gao Sheng through various shell companies...
In other words, after tracing the shareholding structure, Gao Sheng is actually the second largest shareholder behind Xu's Automobile!
They originally intended to use the gimmick of the Xu Group's transformation into car manufacturing to implement their tried-and-true method of hyping up concepts, going public through a reverse takeover, and fleecing investors.
In this way, even if they suffer some financial losses due to a price war with Idol New Energy, they can make up for it through equity transactions.
While I wouldn't say I'd make a fortune, this investment is at least guaranteed to be profitable.
But who could have imagined that Xu Jingsong, who seemed to have the upper hand in terms of strength, would be so easily defeated?
Xu's Auto had barely begun to emerge when the person in charge was immediately sent to jail...
Without a leader, even if Xu's Automotive Group didn't collapse on the spot, its employees were filled with anxiety.
Even a portion of the funds in the account were diverted by the Xu Group to fill the hole left by Da Niu Venture Capital.
Furthermore, given the recent technological advantage of idol cars in the new energy vehicle sector, the newly formed board of directors of the Xu Group has raised questions about the future profitability of this automotive industry.
Many people even want to terminate this highly risky investment.
Management chaos and disagreements have brought Xu's Automotive's various businesses to a near standstill.
In this situation, let alone going public to raise money, even loan sharks would avoid it!
Not only did Xu's Automobile suffer heavy losses, but in the final battle for control of the Xu Group, in order to help Xu Jingsong fight against Gao Yuan's hostile takeover, they also inadvertently provided the other party with a considerable amount of emergency funds.
Although a harsh loan agreement was signed at the time, but...
Now that everyone's in jail, who are you going to ask for your money back?
Even if we can recover the money, the amount will likely be significantly reduced.
This time, Gao Sheng's attempt to gain support from the Xu Group backfired spectacularly, resulting in heavy losses!
Although Tang Yijing did not make these final decisions alone, as the proposer and implementer of the plan, his personal promotion record will definitely be severely criticized!
I thought I would be severely reprimanded by my superiors, or even be dismissed and sent back to China. I didn't expect that the headquarters would treat me so lightly this time.
Even his position remained unchanged; he was still responsible for the acquisition and intelligence gathering targeting Baiyeji.
Tang Yijing is not a fool.
The more tolerant the headquarters across the ocean is of its own failures and the higher its tolerance for losses during the acquisition process, the more it demonstrates the importance they place on Baiyeji.
That's why they have an attitude of never giving up until they achieve their goal, no matter how many times they fail or how much they have to pay.
However, even though he had overestimated the other party as much as possible, recent developments still exceeded Tang Yijing's expectations...
At the joint press conference of Idol New Energy and Baiyeji, L4 autonomous driving, Bajie 2.0, and AI advanced content generation were showcased...
Each of these, taken individually, represents a significant technological breakthrough.
Not to mention the grand vision of the Internet of Everything and even the digitization of the world that they proposed on this basis...
Perhaps feeling threatened, several major AI giants across the ocean announced the formation of the TGO Technology Alliance on almost the same day as their press conferences.
The timing is intriguing.
I thought that was exaggerated enough, but unexpectedly, Gao Yuan, who was at the center of the storm, showed no sign of backing down.
At the entrepreneurs' dinner on the same day as the press conference, she actually publicly proposed to form her own "AI Technology Alliance".
What's even more shocking is that this seemingly presumptuous proposal received strong support from two giants, including Huawei and JD.com!
As the news gradually spread in the business and technology circles, Bai Yeji became the talk of the town!
Some industry insiders jokingly refer to this fledgling alliance as the "JBJ Alliance".
The "TGO Alliance," led by Tesla, Google, and OpenAI, and the "JBJ Alliance," led by Huawei, Baiyeji, and Jingdong, have vaguely formed two major AI camps in the world that are in conflict with each other.
The overwhelming technological advantages of these two camps will undoubtedly determine the ultimate development and direction of AI in the world...
However, the more outstanding Baiyeji is, and the more remarkable its achievements are in technology and business, the slimmer Gaosheng's hopes of acquiring it become.
It's clear to everyone that if Gao Yuan's plan—using Web3.0 and AI programming technologies to catalyze the Internet of Things and ultimately redefine the internet supply chain—can be realized…
No! Even if we only achieve one-third, we can create a third super ecosystem that can rival the Android and Apple ecosystems.
Therefore, the future value of Baiyeji will far exceed hundreds of billions.
When Baiyeji was still in its early stages, Gao Sheng wanted to acquire it with a huge sum of 10 billion yuan.
Now that their potential is approaching 100 billion, what bargaining chips can they offer to negotiate with the other party?
Moreover, the sale of shares in such high-tech companies that possess key technologies can sometimes not be measured solely by monetary value; military and political implications must also be considered.
Tang Yijing was certain that even if they could afford the price now, China might not necessarily agree to such an acquisition.
After all, you can come to dig for gold, but if you want to take away the hens that lay golden eggs in your own yard, who can tolerate that?
Taking all factors into consideration, Tang Yijing has almost given up on the idea of directly acquiring Baiyeji.
Fortunately, they acted early, leaving Bai Yeji with a stock-backed loan amounting to tens of billions.
If the other party's cash flow runs into trouble within three years, this debt will be a time bomb that I have planted inside Baiyeji...
Perhaps it was because of this achievement that the headquarters did not criticize him too harshly for his major decision-making mistakes in the Xu Group.
However, after the press conference, Bai Yeji's value has increased significantly.
With the prospect of directly acquiring Baiyeji's shares becoming increasingly slim, Tang Yijing decided to take a roundabout approach, starting with other companies under Wanwu Holdings...
In Gao Yuan's business empire, besides its core business Changqing Biotechnology, Baiyeji is undoubtedly the core of the core!
However, other subsidiaries may not receive the same level of attention.
With the idea of "taking a shot first, even if it doesn't work out," Tang Yijing rushed over immediately after receiving news that Lingjing Media was seeking financing.
Unexpectedly, a Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere...
……
"This... Mr. Yan, you really think highly of Lingjing Media?"
"who are you?"
"Oh, I am a senior investment advisor at Gaosheng Group. Like you, I am here to conduct investment research."
"Oh~ Gaosheng Group, I think I've heard of it... So, you're a professional?"
Yan Feng, who had just been somewhat indifferent to Tang Yijing, this young man who suddenly tried to get close to him, suddenly became interested.
"Hehe, I wouldn't presume to call myself a professional, but I do have some reputation in the industry." Tang Yijing gave a slightly modest smile.
"Oh! So tell me, do you think Lingjing Media has a good future?"
Despite claiming it was an inspection, Yan Feng, who had absolutely no concept of the operating model of film and television media companies, was completely clueless.
Isn't this like running right into an investment advisor? Perfect, I should ask them.
"Uh……"
Tang Yijing was somewhat speechless at the question that had been thrown back at him.
I came here to find out what's true about you, and you're asking me instead?
Practicing Tai Chi? I can do that too...
"Whether I personally think it's good or not isn't important; what's important is whether it has value that makes it worth investing in."
To outsiders, this statement was meaningless and a complete waste of breath.
However, Yan Feng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he nodded in complete agreement.
"Hmm! As expected of a senior advisor, those words are very insightful and resonate with me!"
Losing the bet was only part of the problem; more importantly, Yan Weiwei mentioned it at the time.
It turns out that Meng Lang recommended Yan Weiwei to invest in this project...
For him, 5 million was a bit painful, but it was nothing compared to the birth of a master of the Transformation Realm in his family!
That's a martial arts legend that only appears once every thousand years, and its value to a martial arts family is immeasurable.
The secrets of the art are not to be passed on lightly. The tuition fee for a master of the Transformation Realm is 5 million, and people are scrambling to pay it.
Moreover, if the other party can train one expert at the Transformation Realm, they might be able to train a second one...
Trading 5 million for a favor from Meng Lang is an incredibly worthwhile deal!
Does it matter whether I have a positive view of Lingjing Media or not?
It's a pile of shit, but it's a valuable pile of shit!
Tang Yijing looked at Yan Feng, who had an approving look in his eyes and seemed to think that great minds think alike, and looked completely bewildered.
Uh……
Is what I said... insightful?
I originally intended to use Tai Chi, but I didn't expect it to produce the effect of a five-hit lightning whip.
Am I too strong, or is my opponent too weak?
No, no, the other person is definitely trying to disrupt my train of thought and throw off my rhythm. I can't let them lead me by the nose...
"Then, Mr. Yan, may I ask, in your eyes, what is the most valuable aspect of Lingjing Media?" Tang Yijing asked.
Although the other party seemed completely unaware that Lingjing Media had a game department as soon as they came in...
But who would believe it if I told them!
He was certain that the other party dared to make such a decisive bet; the money would arrive before the person even arrived.
They must be like me, coming for "Honkai Impact 3rd"!
Yan Feng gave Tang Yijing a strange look.
What is its most valuable aspect?
Can I just reveal such martial arts secrets to you?
Seeing Yan Feng purse his lips and give him a look that said, "Young people really don't know any better," and then walk forward on his own with the burly bodyguard-like follower, he began to casually tour the Lingjing Media office area...
Tang Yijing's lips twitched slightly.
We were just thinking the same thing, and now you're saying "young people are ignorant" and ignoring me?
He changes his attitude faster than turning the pages of a book!
Having no other choice, he took two steps forward and approached Song Bin.
"Manager Song, may I ask how much money this Mr. Yan invested this time?"
Song Bin glanced at Tang Yijing and felt a surge of joy.
I'm coming!
Tang Yijing had just approached Yan Feng and started a conversation with him, and he hadn't stopped him. Wasn't he just waiting for Yan Feng to ask that question?
He pretended to hesitate for a moment.
"Well... it's not exactly a secret, anyway, it will be posted on the company information board in a couple of days."
This time, Mr. Yan didn't invest much, only 5 million yuan.
"Oh...wait a minute?! How much did you say?"
Tang Yijing was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening and showed an incredulous expression.
5 million? And that's all?
According to his previous calculations, even if Lingjing Media boasted the most, its net assets would be at most 5 million.
He originally wanted to acquire a portion of the other party's shares at a valuation of 10 billion, which was already the highest offer that several interested investment institutions could make.
However, Song Bin now tells him that the unexpected newcomer has already invested 5 million yuan...
They've probably already become the controlling shareholder, haven't they?
However, Song Bin just stated that the other party was only the second largest shareholder...
A bad feeling crept into my mind.
"May I ask another question? What is Mr. Yan's current shareholding percentage?"
Song Bin smiled and gave Tang Yijing a number that left him speechless.
"10%."
What?
You only bought 10% of the shares for 5 million.
Doesn't that mean you valued Lingjing Media at 50 billion?
Even the most extravagant spendthrifts can't be this wasteful!
Yes! I admit that I am also optimistic about the future of Lingjing Media.
But no matter how promising the prospects are, you can't use Series C funding to raise funds for an angel round, can you?!
Is this how you inflate prices?
(End of this chapter)