At the same time as the tender offer announcement was released, Digital Domain CEO Xie An and Chairman of the Board of Directors Zhou Yongming also received a letter from the offeror Rui to the group.
Both of them were stunned, having lost their position as the major shareholder inexplicably.
Zhou Yongming is older and is also the co-founder of HTC. He is known as the godfather of Taiwan’s smartphones.
So he calmed down more and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, Ruixiang's purpose is to privatize and delist the company.
After the court hearing, a special general meeting of shareholders will be held.
Approval requires the votes of 75% of independent shareholders participating in the vote, and the number of votes against the resolution cannot exceed 10%.
The most critical thing is, can Ruixiang accept nearly 40% of the shares?
If Ruixiang, as the offeror, is unable to acquire 90% of the shares held by all independent shareholders, then there will be no compulsory acquisition, the offer will be invalid, and the shares will be returned."
Xie An nodded, "If we object, then his privatization will not be completed at all."
Thinking of this, Xie An took some reassurance and was no longer as panicked as before.
"If the privatization fails, Ruixiang will also be the major shareholder of Digital Domain."
Zhou Yongming's expression was not very good, and he then speculated on various serious consequences.
Xie An frowned. Allotments, rights issues, spin-offs, mergers, reorganizations...the major shareholders can play various tricks on the small shareholders to make them want to die.
How they used to play tricks on small shareholders, Ruixiang can use the same methods to manipulate them.
"Then what should we do now? Sell the shares to Zhang Yida and admit defeat and exit?"
Xie An is young and energetic, and somewhat unwilling to give up.
"Talk to Zhang Yida and see what he wants?"
Zhou Yongming said very calmly, "If he wants special effects business, we can just give it to him.
But we must retain the VR business."
Xie An shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid not. The special effects business is just a bunch of burdens. Ruixiang has content production needs, but it can definitely cooperate with Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Digital. There is no need to have a special effects team.
I guess he must have taken a fancy to our VR technology and team foundation and didn’t want to start from scratch.”
Zhou Yongming lowered his head and thought. The only bargaining chip they have now is to prevent Ruixiang from privatizing Digital Kingdom.
If we really want to do that, everyone will probably be stuck in this quagmire.
The Rui Xiang family has a great career, so they don't care about such trivial matters.
But they can't do it. The Digital Kingdom has been ruined, and their personal assets will also be greatly reduced.
If it's just a fight of temper, a desire for revenge, and causing trouble for others, then it's not worth it to put hundreds of millions of your own assets on the line.
"so!"
Zhou Yongming thought of a good idea. He said to Xie An: "Go and talk to Zhang Yida. We can help Ruixiang complete the privatization, but the condition is..."
Xie An frowned, "Is this okay? I'm afraid he won't agree, right?"
Zhou Yongming said calmly, "Just do as I say. Zhang Yida is a smart man and knows what to do is more beneficial to him.
Judging from the failure of negotiations and the launch of a tender offer, his high hopes for the VR industry are no less than those of you and me.
If we keep dragging it on, everyone will suffer losses.
For a large group like Ruixiang, time is the most precious thing.
Samsung, Microsoft, Sony, HTC, and Facebook have all gone so far, and he is still spending time here with us. I don’t believe he is not in a hurry at all.”
…
"Mr. Zhang, we have no other requirements, we just want to retain a research and development team."
In Beijing, Xie An came to Ruixiang Group specially to discuss a solution with Zhang Yida.
Zhang Yida said nothing, raised his hand, "Drink tea!"
Xie An was almost full after drinking tea, but Zhang Yida never gave him an answer.
"If everyone is taken away by you, then what's the point of me acquiring Digital Domain? Buying a shell?"
Zhang Yida felt that the people in Wanwan were too pretentious. It would have been better if they had agreed earlier, and he had to use some means on his own.
"Digital Domain has hundreds of engineers, and I only need a few. Isn't this too much to ask for?"
Xie An said with a smile, "I'd better say hello to Mr. Zhang in advance. If you don't say anything, I'll poach the person."
Let’s not talk about whether Mr. Zhang will file a lawsuit with me, it’s more or less unjust.”
Zhang Yida felt that what he said seemed to mean something. Ruixiang's acquisition of Digital Domain was a bit unjust.
Tender offers are inherently market behavior, and Digital Domain is not your company alone.
That is a company owned by all shareholders. If you don’t sell it, why can’t I find someone else?
Seeing Zhang Yida's silence, Xie An said again: "Mr. Zhang, we can pay a liquidated damages of 50 million yuan for these technical personnel.
The condition is that the non-competition agreement is terminated.”
"Take 50 million, let go of the most valuable engineers, and cultivate a future enemy for yourself?"
Zhang Yida smiled and said, "Do you think I am short of those 50 million?"
Anger flashed in Xie An's eyes. This feeling of using money to pressure people made him very uncomfortable.
Although he is worth several hundred million, he is still considered a small rich man.
But standing in front of the other person, he had to admit that he was really just a poor guy.
"Mr. Zhang, 50 million is just an inconspicuous number to you.
But for those of us who are struggling entrepreneurs, it is a heavy pressure.”
Xie An concealed his emotions very well, but now he played the bitterness card again.
Coupled with his slightly coquettish accent, his painting style is very unique.
If Kurosawa Chiling said this in front of Zhang Yida, he might be soft-hearted and agree.
But Ta Ma was a greasy man in his thirties, which made Zhang Yida very sick.
"Sorry, Mr. Xie, I cannot agree to your request."
Zhang Yida said in a calm tone, "Every engineer is a valuable asset to the company. As a major shareholder, Ruixiang must also safeguard the interests of the company and small shareholders."
Hammer's minority shareholders are going to be privatized soon. Tell me about the minority shareholders.
Xie An felt that Zhang Yida was bullying others too much and did not even satisfy their small request.
This is not only contempt and neglect of them, but also maybe you feel that you are sure to win!
"Okay, anyway, there are still 21 days until the end of the offer. I hope Mr. Zhang will consider it carefully."
Since Zhang Yida refused to give face, Xie An also tore off his mask with a faint threat in his tone.
Zhang Yida naturally knew what the other party was referring to. Isn't it privatization? He was really not in a hurry.
Now that we have a controlling stake, and the situation is basically stable, there are naturally ways to deal with these thorns.
Even if it cannot be privatized in the end, there are still many ways to do other things.
"I have carefully considered it. I will take the money and leave so that we don't cause any trouble to each other."
Zhang Yida smiled and said, "Of course, if you are willing to stay and build the company together, I would also welcome you."