The merger of Dogford Dog Food Factory by Pate Holding Group has finally come to an end.
Based on a valuation of US$1.25 billion, Pate Holdings issued an additional US$510 million in shares to acquire 51% of Dogford's equity.
After the equity change, Zhang Yida’s personal shareholding in Pate Holdings will drop to 29.82%;
In addition, Ruixiang Industrial Fund’s shareholding ratio in Pate Holdings dropped to 8.52%, and Zhang Yida personally held an indirect shareholding of 0.65% through the industrial fund;
Through merger and share exchange, Zhang Qinghua will become the second largest shareholder of Pate Holdings, holding 28.98% of the latter's shares.
Taken together, the two father and son's shareholdings in Pate Holding Group will reach 59.45%.
Of course, Zhang Qinghua holds A shares, and Zhang Yida holds B shares with 10 voting rights. The right to speak is still firmly in Zhang Yida's own hands.
The acquisition of Dogfud does not mean that Zhang Yida needs his father to help him strengthen his voice in the company.
It's just to bring the industry together and make it easier to manage.
Zhang Qinghua signed the last contract in the office of Pate Holding Group in Beijing, put down the pen gently, then looked around and asked: "Is it ready?"
"Okay, okay, thank you Mr. Zhang for your cooperation!" Lu Fenghai said with a smile.
Zhang Qinghua laughed, he was already Mr. Zhang at the age of forty-six.
When he thought about the company being sold, he felt a little disappointed. Although it was almost only three years since Dogfud was founded, Zhang Qinghua felt as if it had been thirty years.
The development of the old factory encountered a bottleneck, so his son persuaded him to transform into pet food, and then went to Jizhou to inspect, recruit talents, form a team, and open a new factory...
This scene all came to mind at this time. Although it had been a long time ago, it felt like it had just happened, making the memory fresh.
"Mr. Zhang, congratulations. From now on, you will be the second largest shareholder of Pate Holding Group and Dogford Company."
"Yes, congratulations to Mr. Zhang..."
The legal, accounting and other teams sitting nearby applauded and sent their own congratulations.
Lu Fenghai saw that Zhang Qinghua didn't seem particularly happy and was in a low mood. He guessed that Zhang Qinghua might have put a lot of effort into the development of Dogfud and he couldn't let go of it.
He smiled and reassured: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang has already given instructions. You will continue to serve as the general manager of Dogford Company, and you will also serve as the director of Pate Holding Group.
As long as you want to continue working, these positions will always be reserved for you.
We will not interfere with Dogford’s daily operations and management, and everything will remain the same as before.”
Zhang Qinghua knew that Lu Fenghai was his son's partner, he also had shares in the group, and he was also his immediate boss.
So he didn't make any excuses, waved his hands and said with a smile: "Mr. Lu, there is no need to be like this, Dogfud will be a part of the group from now on.
I will be rewarded and punished, no need to save me any face, everything will be done in accordance with the group's rules and regulations."
Lu Fenghai nodded in agreement, but even so, he really didn't dare to treat Zhang Qinghua as his subordinate.
He felt that if he was caught between the father and son, he might encounter a lot of trouble in the future.
However, based on his contact and understanding of Zhang Qinghua during this period, he found that although he was a peasant entrepreneur with low knowledge and culture, he was still very decent and easy to get along with.
In addition, the other party has strong operational experience in the manufacturing and pet food industries, which was confirmed by Lu Fenghai after reviewing Dogford's financial reports and conducting an on-site inspection of the production plant.
Not a theorist, but a doer! This is what Lu Fenghai said about Zhang Qinghua.
No wonder Mr. Zhang is so powerful. If I am so strong, my son will not be any worse.
Just as Lu Fenghai kept sighing in his heart, Zhang Yida opened the door and entered the conference room, "Sorry, I'm late. Has the agreement been signed?"
"It's all signed, everything is done." Lu Fenghai was the first to respond.
After the meeting, Zhang Yida accompanied his father to sit in his office.
"By the way, what's the name of the football star you invited? Oh, Beckham, is he reliable?"
Zhang Qinghua remembered something. It seemed that his son wanted to spend a lot of money to hire a British football star to be the spokesperson for Dogford.
"It's very reliable. It's well-known and has many fans in China. It endorses major international brands such as Nike and Adidas.
If we hadn't happened to be able to chat with each other, they might not have been willing to accept the endorsement contract from our unknown dog food factory?"
Zhang Qinghua shook his head and laughed, "A one-year contract of 2 million euros, signed for five years, is 10 million euros, which is 75 million yuan in RMB.
It’s just a matter of taking a few sets of photos and videos, and it’s so easy, why would he not accept it?”
"Celebrities don't just accept endorsements casually. If you accept a luxury product advertisement and then another commercial product advertisement, you will lose your value. In the future, you will not be invited to endorse high-end products..."
Zhang Yida briefly explained the details to his father.
"Are you just saying that Dogfud is not well-known and cannot compare to big brands like Nike and Adidas?"
Zhang Yida spread his hands and said: "Isn't this obvious? Although we are in different industries, to put it bluntly, we are not qualified to carry shoes with others."
"Well, the gap is still huge, and we have to admit it."
Zhang Qinghua nodded and added: "However, Dogfud has only been established for three years, and there is still a long time to come. If we make little progress, we will one day become a "famous brand."
Zhang Yida originally thought that his father would use the "endorsement fee" to talk things out, but he didn't expect that he didn't mention it, which surprised Zhang Yida.
In fact, Zhang Qinghua has never eaten pork or seen pigs running away? Hiring spokespersons and advertising are the only magic weapons to increase product visibility and sales.
Now that Dogfud has become a large-scale enterprise with an annual revenue of over one billion and a net profit of over two hundred million, his vision and strategic height have also improved a lot.
Although RMB 75 million is a lot, it was only for Zhang Qinghua three years ago.
"Remember to shoot your commercials well. Even if you spend tens of millions, you can't spend it in vain. You have to sell hundreds of thousands more tons of dog food!"
Zhang Yida laughed, this is the father he is familiar with.
…
After Zhonghe Group's press conference was held, a hurricane blew up throughout China's Internet and technology circles.
The term AI has entered the field of vision of many people.
In fact, there are already domestic companies engaged in research in this area, such as giants Ali and Penguin, and startups such as Shangchao Technology, Kuangshi Technology, etc.
Zhonghe Group recruited former Microsoft Vice President Lu Qi and announced its entry into this field in a high-profile manner. The public had mixed opinions.
Colleagues such as Ahri, Penguin, etc. looked on with cold eyes and did not express any opinions.
Whether it is disdain or whether it is to remain unchanged in response to all changes, outsiders have no way of knowing.
Startup companies feel that another powerful player has entered this field, and they are very much looking forward to what answers Zhonghe Group can deliver.
Ordinary netizens are curious about the background of Zhonghe Group? Is it really a company focusing on AI research and development, as most people say?
Robin Li called Zhang Yida and said on the phone: "Lu Qi is a talented person! Qiandu also wanted to recruit him, but it's a pity that you got there first."
Zhang Yida laughed after hearing this. The internal factional struggle in Qiandu was too fierce, and there were many conservatives. If an airborne soldier like Lu Qi went over, it would probably end similarly to his previous life, and he would encounter the Waterloo of life.
It is more promising to follow your own path and create a truly global Internet group, and then produce some AI achievements to promote social progress.
Talents should be valued and should not be trapped in those trivial matters all day long.
The first thing Lu Qi did when he took office as CEO of Zhonghe Group was to integrate its three companies.
After having a rough understanding of the operations and ownership structure of each company, Lu Qi found Zhang Yida and provided a recommendation report.
After reading the report, Zhang Yida said: "Mr. Lu..."
"Mr. Zhang, you should call me Lu Qi. I'm more used to being called by my first name."
"Okay, I'll call you Lu Qi, and you can call me Yida or Zhang Yida."
After reaching a tacit agreement with Lu Qi on the title, Zhang Yida began to put forward his own opinions on the contents of Lu Qi's proposal.
"Do you think Huimin Travel has encountered a growth ceiling and there is not much room for growth in the future?"
Lu Qi nodded, "Yes, I have seen the coverage of Huimin Bicycle, and it basically covers all the larger cities in the country.
Some cities whose terrain and climate are not suitable for bicycles are not included. Some small towns are also not included because it is meaningless and the frequency of use will not be too high.
Our country's urban population is only 700 million. Based on the optimal bicycle placement ratio of "40 people for one bicycle", the market capacity is only 17.5 million units.
According to statistics, the current number of shared bicycles on the market is just over 11 million. In other words, there is less than 60% room for growth.
No matter how many bicycles there are, it is a waste of resources.
Let’s talk about online ride-hailing. The current market leader is Didi. After they merged with Uber last month, they have occupied the largest market share in the industry.
The aggregation of taxi-hailing and ride-hailing services we do pose little threat to Didi, and cannot challenge their industry dominance.
Unless, Yida, you invest tens of billions of dollars in this industry to provide subsidies."
Zhang Yida waved his hand, "That's not necessary. If we spend money, Didi will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. We may lose both sides in the fight.
I launched aggregated taxi-hailing and online taxi-hailing, mainly to add a traffic monetization channel and improve the financial situation of Huimin Travel.
As for bike sharing, you are right, the ceiling is already obvious.
Next, we will not vigorously launch new bicycles. The more important thing is to refine operations and improve the profitability of bicycles."
"good!"
Lu Qi continued: "As for the short video and social e-commerce fields, these are two emerging fields. I have seen the operating reports of DouShi and Pinduoduo, and the growth rate is very gratifying.
In terms of the number of users, these two companies should not exceed Huimin Travel by much, but their profit potential is much larger.
Huimin Travel is too heavy on assets, so it may be difficult to make a profit. Even if it makes a profit, the data will not be too optimistic.
When it comes to the secondary market, I’m worried about dragging down Zhonghe Group’s market value.”
"Then how do you think we can solve it?"
Lu Qi said: “Bicycle sharing itself has very weak profitability, but for Ruixiang, it has the utility of expanding payment scenarios and personal credit scenarios.
It has also played a certain diversion role for Ruimin Financial Management, Yimin Loan, and Pate Holdings Group.
This company is burning too much money, and I think everyone should pool their efforts to support it.
Every company can also get the benefits it wants from it."