General Motors' offices are all on high floors, and you need to take an elevator to get up. However, in order to restrict the entry of outsiders, you must swipe a magnetic card to allow the elevator to operate.
After Hans contacted the other party again, he waited for a long time before a staff member came down from upstairs to the first floor, and then took everyone into the elevator and went up to the 40th floor.
In the conference room, only one GM executive and two staff members accompanied everyone.
"I'm very sorry. Mr. Han is still meeting with important guests. He will come as soon as possible."
It wasn't until Bai Shuo finished drinking a cup of coffee that the CEO of General Motors finally entered the conference room at the appointed time.
"Mr. Hans, I'm really sorry. I've been too busy recently. I just met with someone from Morgan yesterday and just had a negotiation with someone from Goldman Sachs. I'm not late."
"The time is just right, Mr. Han is really punctual." Hans said playfully.
Old Han walked to his seat, unbuttoned his suit and was about to sit down. He spotted three Asian faces, Bai Shuo, Cao An and Anna, in the conference room.
"Well...these three are...Japanese people?"
Hans was about to introduce, when Bai Shuo said first: "Hello Mr. Han, nice to meet you. My name is Bai Shuo, I am Chinese, these two are Cao An and Anna."
Old Han frowned slightly and adjusted the position of his seat.
"I don't think General Motors has reached the point where it can only sell to Chinese people. Who is the main body of your restructuring plan?"
Everyone did not expect that the first sentence Lao Han said was such an opinion, and the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became a little quiet.
Seeing the embarrassment on both sides, Hans immediately responded: "Mr. Han, the subject of this reorganization is of course our Philode Investment Company. But you know that a big project like the reorganization of General Motors can only be carried out by our company alone."
If it is difficult to achieve, we will also seek support from many consortiums, including Citigroup, Barclays, Deutsche Development Bank, and of course Chinese consortiums..."
"Why can't GM be sold to Chinese companies?" Bai Shuo interrupted Hans's response and looked directly at Lao Han and asked.
Lao Han didn't expect that the young man in front of him had such a sharp gaze, and his heart trembled slightly. But he soon returned to his arrogant posture.
"Do Chinese people understand cars? Chinese people only know how to copy other people's products. And General Motors is a company with a century-old heritage. It was once the world's largest automobile manufacturing company, carrying countless honors and pride..."
"Pah!" Before Lao Han could finish speaking, Bai Shuo slammed the table.
"We in China have a saying that everyone who comes is a guest. At the invitation of Mr. Hans, we came here all the way to save you who are in crisis. We have a sincere heart to advance and retreat together with General Motors and share weal and woe.
.But is this how you treat guests?”
Bai Shuo's words made everyone at GM look at each other in shock. Apparently everyone was aware of Lao Han's impoliteness.
Lao Han is worthy of being a battle-hardened veteran. He quickly adjusted his posture and said: "I'm very sorry. I think my words have caused some misunderstandings. I am not discriminating against China. You see, this tie of mine is made in China.
…”
As he spoke, Lao Han pulled out the leader and showed the "madeinxx" nameplate on the back to everyone.
Then, Old Han pointed down at the leather shoes on his feet. "These leather shoes are also made in China."
"Actually, I don't discriminate against China. On the contrary, I like Chinese products very much. However, automobile manufacturing is a high-end technology industry, and China is indeed relatively backward in this regard. If General Motors wants to seek cooperation to get out of the predicament, I still hope that it can
Working with partners who can provide us with tremendous support and enablement.”
Lao Han's words covered up his rudeness just now, and gave Bai Shuo a reason that seemed difficult to refute - China was too backward in the field of automobile manufacturing.
Bai Shuo smiled slightly, looked at Lao Han and said, "Mr. Lao Han, I would like to ask what is the most important help that General Motors needs to get out of this predicament?"
Old Han was slightly startled, as if he didn't understand what Bai Shuo was referring to.
"Mr. Han also said just now that it does not only value financial support, so what GM lacks is technology?" Bai Shuo continued to ask.
"Of course not, our GM technology is still world-class." Old Han replied proudly.
Bai Shuo nodded: "That's true. I think that excluding some internal factors, the biggest crisis for GM from the outside is actually the market crisis. Under the shadow of the financial crisis, people's desire to buy cars has weakened, and GM's
There were some problems with the market positioning, and it was not fully recognized by the market. Coupled with various internal shortcomings, it finally got to where it is today."
Lao Han said nothing because he knew that what Bai Shuo said was indeed the crux of General Motors' current situation.
Bai Shuo continued: "But we have all seen that as global car sales continue to shrink, only the Chinese market is rising against the trend. It can be said that China is currently supporting the global sluggish car market. If I remember not
If you are wrong, the total sales of General Motors in China last year were 1,094,561 vehicles. So far this year, General Motors China and its joint ventures in China have achieved a total of nearly 800,000 vehicle sales, an increase of 38% over the same period last year. It can be said that
If General Motors wants to get out of this predicament, in addition to seeking financial support and eradicating its own shortcomings, the most critical thing is how to control its market share in China. Mr. Han, do you still think General Motors should not cooperate with China?
?”
Bai Shuo's words left Lao Han speechless. After a long while, Lao Han said hesitantly: "Mr. Bai has done a good job in his homework. I also fully agree with the reasons you said. It's not that General Motors doesn't plan to
We have in-depth cooperation with Huaguo. Currently, we have established more than 8 joint venture factories and joint venture companies in Huaguo. It is even possible to sell several production lines and transfer one or two car brands to Huaguo during future reorganization."
Then, Lao Han changed the topic: "But... no matter how General Motors changes, it should be an American company with pure blood. If a Chinese company wants to fully acquire General Motors, it may even turn General Motors into a Chinese company."
, but that is absolutely impossible..."
"nothing is impossible……!"
Bai Shuo felt a little angry. He had said so much just now, but this old Han was just like a piece of wood, always resisting the participation of Chinese companies in the merger and acquisition plan.
"As far as I know, General Motors' current liabilities have reached more than 170 billion yuan, while your assets are only about 80 billion yuan. Are these two contrasting figures so blind to you? Are you planning to
When General Motors sinks deeper and deeper into the quagmire of debt, until it is so deep that there is no other way, it will spread its hands and say, okay, I have tried my best and this is the only way. At least we ensure that General Motors will be in the end.
Still pure blood!"
Bai Shuo paused, looked at everyone at General Motors, and then raised his voice and said: "I think that in any case, a vibrant enterprise is far more valuable than a pure-blooded corpse...!"
Bai Shuo's words made Lao Han and everyone at General Motors feel very embarrassed.
After a while, a senior executive in charge of finance at General Motors said: "First of all, I have to say that a considerable part of the more than 170 billion debts are conventional debts naturally generated by business activities. For example, security deposits, or
Sales incentive funds, as well as a large part of accounts payable and staff salaries, are all very normal debts. The figures we see now include guaranteed liabilities and non-guaranteed liabilities, including various pensions and medical insurance.
and other employee benefits. Considering our company’s current market demand and profitability, we must truthfully present these figures on our statements.”
At this time, Hans questioned the senior executive: "We all know these financial number games. But no matter what, General Motors' actual debt must be more than 100 billion yuan. General Motors has already been unable to make ends meet and is insolvent.
Right?"
The senior executive nodded helplessly and stopped talking.
At this time, Lao Han said again: "In any case, General Motors still has many options, and it is not as serious as Mr. Bai said. First of all, many financial investment groups in the United States and even around the world are actively negotiating with us.
Let’s work together to find ways to save General Motors. For example, I just met with people from Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Secondly, we have reached a consensus with the federal government and have a complete reorganization plan, and the current progress is quite smooth..."
"Mr. Han, we also know something about the reorganization plan you mentioned."
At this time, William also spoke: "This plan requires bondholders to give up 27 billion yuan of debt in exchange for 10% of GM's shares after reorganization, and it requires the support of 90% of bondholders for its debt-for-equity swap plan. This
You know best whether it is possible to complete it. And I think President Xiao Hei must have given you a time limit for this plan. How long is this limited time? Is there still a chance to complete the plan within the time limit?
I won’t say any more…”
Old Han was about to explain, but William continued: "In addition, you said that you have recently been in contact with people from Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Unfortunately, I happen to have a close relationship with these two companies, and I also worked for one of them. We
This restructuring plan initially considered introducing support from the two companies, but they are not optimistic about the future development of General Motors at all. I would like to know who has been in contact with you..."
William's words exposed Lao Han's lies and seemed to make him a little angry.
Old Han's face darkened, and he suppressed his anger and roared from his throat: "Believe it or not, it's up to you. In short, the reorganization of General Motors cannot be led by Chinese companies."
Bai Shuo felt a little speechless. Faced with Lao Han's stubbornness, Bai Shuo suddenly realized that if General Motors was really fully acquired by a Chinese company, it might not be just people like Lao Han who couldn't accept it. I'm afraid there are many others in the United States.
People also hold the same view, and maybe the US government may also come forward to obstruct it.
It seemed that the preparations for the acquisition of General Motors were still somewhat inadequate, and Bai Shuo began to feel that he might have overlooked some important things.