In a private club in Beijing, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son greeted Zhang Yida politely.
SoftBank has always had a good relationship with Zhang Yida. Not only has it invested in many of his companies, but it has also launched the mobile payment software PayPay in conjunction with Yahoo Japan.
Son Zhengyi came to China in person and solemnly made an appointment to meet with him in such a secretive place.
This left Zhang Yida a little confused. What exactly did Sun Zhengyi want to do?
Sun Zhengyi greeted Zhang Yida and drank tea, and then talked about the ups and downs that have occurred in China's Internet arena in recent times.
Son Zhengyi looked at Zhang Yida with a smile and praised: "Among the many entrepreneurs in China Mobile Internet, Mr. Zhang is the one I am most optimistic about."
"I?"
Zhang Yida smiled and said, "Thank you Mr. Sun for your optimism and encouragement!"
Son Zhengyi smiled again and said: "Of course, Chen Wei, Huang Xin and others are not bad, but compared with Mr. Zhang, they are still far behind."
Zhang Yida shook his head, "I'm just lucky and hit one or two more opportunities."
Son Zhengyi took a sip of tea and smiled but said nothing.
He carefully analyzed Zhang Yida and reviewed the entire process of his rise.
What I admire the most is that I have a particularly keen sense of business, and I always launch products first before a trend breaks out to seize the opportunity.
Chen Wei and the others were just a few steps behind. If they realized it later, they would have to spend several times or even more energy and resources to catch up with the leader.
Bike sharing is a typical example! If SoftBank hadn't brokered the deal, Chen Wei would have been able to drool on the sidelines.
What puzzled Sun Zhengyi the most was how could such a smart man as Zhang Yida fall out with Penguin?
Moreover, the conflicts are getting more and more intense, and now they are even talking about cashing out all the shares.
That's right, Penguin is looking for him.
Looking around the world, how many people dare to take over the equity of unlisted Internet startups?
Only Masayoshi Son, who holds the $100 billion Vision Fund, has the strength and courage to take over the $10 billion stake in Zhonghe and Ruixiang held by Penguin.
Penguin and Zhonghe have indeed made a lot of money in Ruixiang, holding a 16.362% stake in Ruixiang, worth US$10.9 billion;
It holds a 14.45% stake in Zhonghe. Based on a valuation of US$55 billion, this stake is also worth US$7.95 billion.
The combined value of these two equity transactions is close to US$20 billion.
Even if someone is as wealthy as Masayoshi Son, he still has to weigh it carefully and not be careless in any investigation that needs to be done.
So he came to China from Japan just to have a good chat with Zhang Yida and learn more about the two major groups.
SoftBank currently holds a small amount of equity in Ruixiang and is relatively familiar with the company.
Moreover, Ruixiang has already reached revenue balance, has abundant cash flow, and has nearly 10 billion US dollars in cash reserves on its books.
Therefore, as long as Penguin is willing to sell this share of Ruixiang's shares, he is sure to take it.
But Zhonghe Group left him a little hesitant.
Zhonghe Group's current entry into long-form video, games and other large entertainment sectors will form fierce competition with Ahri and Penguin.
There is also Pinduoduo, which is said to have attracted Jack Ma’s great attention.
Taking a stake in Zhonghe Group will be a battle between the left and right hands for SoftBank.
As for risk hedging, Duoduo is just as big as Duoduo. It is not yet qualified to be on par with Taobao and Tmall.
Sun Zhengyi told the truth about his purpose, and he wanted to hear Zhang Yida's opinion.
"You mean, Penguin wants to sell you all its shares in Ruixiang and Zhonghe?"
Son Zhengyi nodded, "Yes, Mr. Bonima even talked to me on the phone in person.
After my repeated confirmation, Penguin does have the intention to sell its shares."
Sun Zhengyi observed Zhang Yida's face calmly. He wanted to see how this young man who created miracles would react to such sudden news.
Disappointment, fear, or panic.
Although Zhang Yida was a little surprised when he heard the news, he was generally relatively calm.
It was not that he had not speculated on the consequences of completely parting ways with Penguin.
But Penguin's high efficiency still surprised him. It seemed that he was determined to do something to himself.
Zhang Yida asked with a smile: "What does Mr. Sun mean? Do you want to take over?"
Son shook his head and chuckled, "Mr. Zhang, don't test me anymore, SoftBank hasn't made up its mind yet.
We have to ask for your opinion first!"
"My opinion?"
Masayoshi Son nodded and smiled, "That's right! After SoftBank takes over Penguin's shares, it will become an important partner of Ruixiang and Zhonghe.
Of course we have to ask our partners what they want! What if we are not welcome?"
Zhang Yida laughed and said: "Mr. Sun is joking, how could he not welcome you?
But I have a question! If SoftBank becomes a shareholder of Zhonghe and Ruixiang, how will SoftBank treat our competition with Ali and Leech Financial?"
"We don't want to help each other, and we don't want voting rights. We will just be a financial investment shareholder."
Zhang Yida nodded, "In that case, of course I don't have much objection."
Then Zhang Yida's face darkened and he added: "But there are some things I still have to remind Mr. Sun.
Once Penguin escapes from the Zhonghe Group, the attack on us will be intensified. This is absolutely true."
Sun Zhengyi nodded, and before he could escape, he started to block and tremble.
If the equity is liquidated, then any tricks may be used!
"Thank you Mr. Zhang for your candor. SoftBank has also taken everything you said into consideration."
Son Zhengyi asked again: "According to Mr. Zhang's opinion, shouldn't SoftBank take a stake in Zhonghe Group?"
"You can join, but don't take Penguin's shares."
Zhang Yida looked at Masayoshi Son and said with a smile: "Zhonghe Group will independently open a round of financing to SoftBank."
"What about the valuation?" Son asked.
“$60 billion!”
"High!"
Son Zhengyi shook his head repeatedly, "Penguin is willing to give us a 10% discount on the shares it holds."
“10% off!”
Zhang Yida shook his head and said, "Penguin is eager to sell its shares and will usually give a discount for large transactions."
Zhang Yida also explained the actions of Zhonghe Group during this period, including the acquisition of Blue Hole Studio, etc.
After hearing that Blue Hole's annual revenue was nearly US$1 billion and its valuation was US$5 billion, Son was finally moved.
He said: "Pinduoduo's valuation has been severely damaged, and even adding a blue hole may not be able to make up for it.
Well, $50 billion before investment is the limit SoftBank can accept. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to take over Penguin’s shares.”
If he had not fallen out with Penguin, Zhang Yida would have been completely indifferent to whether SoftBank would invest in Zhonghe.
But now the situation is different, and SoftBank's investment becomes very important.
If SoftBank takes a stake in Zhonghe, Zhang Yida will want to see who Penguin can sell these shares to.
Looking at Zhang Yida who was thinking, Sun Zhengyi thought that his words had worked, and struck another chord while the iron was hot: "Zhonghe's current stall is too big, and it lacks stable cash flow projects.
At this time, besides SoftBank, who else can help Zhonghe?"
It turns out that I saw Zhonghe Group’s cash flow drying up and wanted to take advantage of it!
Zhang Yida immediately guessed Sun Zhengyi's true thoughts.
Zhonghe Group raised US$4.5 billion, spent US$2 billion in cash to acquire Kuaishou, invested more than US$400 million in Noon Sunshine, and controlled Lagou.com for US$120 million...
Lin Lin finally calculated that the cash reserves were less than 2 billion US dollars.
These fund movements are not a secret at all as long as SoftBank checks them carefully.
Now that BAT is announcing its entry into short videos, Zhonghe’s relationship with Penguin has deteriorated, and Pinduoduo has been hit hard.
Under such circumstances, few institutions dare to invest in Zhonghe Group.
At least everyone has to wait and see for a while to see if Zhonghe can go through a few rounds under Penguin's hands before deciding whether to "risk investment".
If we can withstand the pressure of the Penguins, counterattack, and even defeat the Penguins in some areas, then there will be a golden road waiting for Zhonghe, and a new generation will replace the old ones.
However, there are more voices in the industry that criticize Zhonghe, believing that as long as Penguin's two major traffic tools "QQ + WeChat" start to show their power, there will be no enemy of Zhonghe in the industry.
All dithering and fast hands are just paper tigers that will be crushed in one go.
In addition, Zhonghe entered the entertainment industry too late and lost the opportunity. What kind of loss has Ahri suffered? Here comes someone who is not afraid of death.
Needless to say, there is quite a market for this theory of Zhonghe collapse.
Many big names in the self-media have made sound analysis and believe that they have accurately predicted the next "LeTV".
These articles are a good gimmick, and they have produced some articles worth more than 100,000 yuan.
But Sun Zhengyi underestimated Zhang Yida's resilience and options. How could he be forced to submit with this little pressure?
Zhang Yida said very forcefully: "Since we can't reach an agreement, SoftBank will take over Penguin's shares!
Although Zhonghe’s funds are somewhat tight, it is not completely unable to operate.”
After all, he is a young man who is too confident.
Sun Zhengyi earnestly advised: "Mr. Zhang, don't worry too much about the gains and losses of one city or one place.
Zhonghe Group will definitely have to go through a tough battle in the future. Pushing investors away for a little valuation issue is not the behavior of a wise man."
In the end, Zhang Yida still did not compromise, and Sun Zhengyi did not persuade him any more, and the negotiation between the two broke up unhappily.
Zhang Yida returned to the company, convened the board of directors again, and raised the issue of capital increase.
“According to the shareholding ratio of all shareholders, the internal capital increase will be US$2 billion!
As a major shareholder, I took the lead in increasing my holdings by US$1.218 billion!"
After the acquisition of Blue Hole, Zhang Yida's personal shareholding in Zhonghe increased to 60.09%.
US$1.218 billion is not a small amount of money for him.
Had it not been for the large cash withdrawal from Huimin Travel, the billions of dollars would have been available, but it would have been quite laborious.
With Zhang Yida taking the lead, Shen Beipeng and Xu Xiaoming also agreed to increase capital.
Bao Zheyu said with some embarrassment: "BlackRock Group's main investment direction is not venture capital. We have already invested US$800 million. Now it may be difficult for us to continue to increase capital."
Zhang Liping also said: "Doesn't the company still have nearly 2 billion US dollars in its account now? It should be enough to save money.
How long has it been since the last round of Series B financing of $4.5 billion?”
Liu Zhiping looked at all this with a smile, and Penguin would definitely not participate in the capital increase.
Zhang Yida is so squandering, how long can he sustain it?
He understood that Zhang Yida wanted to quickly expand his business layout and catch up with Penguin and other front-runners as soon as possible.
But the Zhonghe Group is already there, so how can it withstand his torture?
Now it's better, even shareholders like BlackRock and Blackstone can't stand it anymore and no longer agree with him.
As for Blackshirt Capital and Zhenke Fund, how long can they support him?
Penguin hasn't even taken action yet, and Zhonghe Group itself can hardly hold on.