After all, Zhang Yida was the boss, so Ma Jun had no choice but to take a step back and said that during this period, he would have someone conduct a thorough investigation on the Indian market, and then decide whether to launch a new short video APP for differentiated groups or markets.
Zhang Yida didn't object. It would be better to do some research. After all, you can't just make a decision based on your head. Project establishment must be supported by data.
Just like Ma Jun said, the money spent on re-assembling resources to produce a short video is measured in billions of dollars.
Lan Lan doesn't speak much. She is usually responsible for the strategic investment department, such as post-investment and liaison work for companies such as Grab, BBPay, and Ola.
She is really not particularly familiar with the short video market, and it is not within her scope of authority, so it is not appropriate to interrupt randomly.
Zhang Yida and Ma Jun communicated in Chinese for nearly half an hour before they found Nikhil standing aside, as if listening to a book from heaven.
"Sorry, Nikhil, I just forgot about you as soon as we started chatting."
Ma Jun was very relaxed and took the initiative to apologize to Nikhil.
Nikhil shook his head and said it was okay. He also said that he would learn Chinese as soon as possible so that everyone could communicate more smoothly.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yida immediately looked at Nikhil with admiration and praised him.
Nikhil was very happy when he heard Big Boss praising him, and became more determined to learn Chinese.
“Boss, I see that users often upload PUBG game videos on Musical.ly. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a very good game and has become a national mobile game in India.
There is also BBPay. As long as young people surf the Internet, almost all have a digital wallet.
Our group is really powerful, and it has penetrated into almost every aspect of the lives of ordinary people in India."
Nikhil's flattery made Zhang Yida happy, but at the same time, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes.
Will such a high profile cause any blow?
Zhang Yida remembers that TiKTok was banned in Indonesia, and it seems that it also happened in India, but he can’t remember exactly when.
But there is no point in remembering this thing. If someone wants to mess with you, they will just find any reason to do it, making you unable to guard against it.
Soldiers will come to block it, water will come and earth will cover it!
After Zhang Yida completed the equity change in BBPay this time, he also thought about whether to split up Musical.ly in India in the same way.
If you just do this, you can still call it a woolly global enterprise, one country and one independent short video platform, and change it to the Short Video Matrix Alliance.
This will bring some difficulties to management and valuation.
After dispelling the thoughts in his mind, Zhang Yida decided to develop it for a while and see if there were any problems. He would have to bear the pain and split it up.
No matter what, it is better than losing the market that you have worked so hard for.
The Chinese legal team drafted the contract and discussed it with the partner law firm in India. After revisions, they finally came up with a series of agreements that complied with the Indian Company Management Law.
Including "Equity Transfer Agreement", "Equity Pledge Agreement", "Supplementary Agreement on Suspension of Contract" and a lot of contracts.
The team of lawyers hired by Singer helped him review the contract word for word, and after confirming that there were no problems, the employer Singer was named on each agreement.
After signing the agreement, Singh couldn't help but let out a long breath.
The company BBPay went round and round and finally returned to its own hands.
However, the company that was sold for US$100 million had to bear US$1.4 billion in debt to buy back only 20% of its shares.
I still feel grateful, but sometimes life's encounters are so magical that it's hard to explain.
BBPay’s shareholding structure has also changed: Singh holds 20% of the shares, ranking as the second largest shareholder; Ruixiang holds 40% of the shares, ranking as the largest shareholder;
Zhang Yida personally and more than 100 other investment institutions collectively hold 40% of the shares.
Among them, Yanhuang (Hong Kong) Investment, owned by Zhang Yida, holds the largest shareholding, holding approximately 18.41% of the shares, ranking as the third largest shareholder.
Singer smiled and shook hands with Zhang Yida, "Mr. Zhang, thank you for your support and trust. I will definitely not let you down."
Zhang Yida smiled and nodded, and suddenly handed over BBPay. He still felt a little reluctant to let go, but the actual situation was that there was nothing he could do.
"Hey, by the way, BBPay will complete a round of Series A financing of US$1.75 billion next. This can be regarded as the last support that Ruixiang and I will give you!
You need to explore the next path on your own, and we can only help you on the sidelines."
When he heard this, Singh's eyes lit up. With US$1.75 billion, this would be the largest single round of financing in India's financial technology sector, surpassing the US$1.4 billion strategic investment from SoftBank that Paytm received the year before.
"Is the financing based on a pre-money valuation of US$7 billion? Then doesn't the post-money valuation reach US$8.75 billion, approaching the 10 billion mark?"
Singh was a little excited. As of the last round of financing, Paytm was valued at US$9 billion.
As long as BBPay completes this round of financing, its valuation will be close to that of the other party.
At the same time, with US$1.75 billion in hand, he is confident of launching an attack on Paytm's top spot, which it has held for several years.
"That's right!"
Zhang Yida nodded and said that Singer's calculation was fine, and BBPay would dilute 20% of its shares in this round of financing.
“Ruixiang and I hold a high shareholding ratio, and we are Chinese investors, so we will not participate in this round of financing.
This round of financing will be led by SoftBank, Temasek, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and several investment giants such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley."
Singer grinned, feeling that the former boss and current major shareholder was so generous and gave him such a big gift before leaving.
Zhang Yida is not just doing it for him. BBPay's funds will not last long and financing will definitely be carried out in a short time.
After staying in India for more than a week, Zhang Yida finalized the matter.
There are also some considerations in finalizing such a large amount of financing and choosing a foreign giant to invest.
On the one hand, it is to completely wash away the identity imprint of Chinese-owned holdings and remove the constraints on the development of BBPay;
On the other hand, they also hope that such a large amount of financing can overwhelm Paytm.
Over the years, BBPay has not surpassed Paytm even once in eight or nine years, even from the beginning.
In the minds of the public, Paytm has always been stronger than BBPay, whether in terms of valuation or financing scale, or the number of users and transaction scale.
Zhang Yida fired this first shot at BBPay, and will then sound the clarion call to charge at Paytm.
After raising them for so long, it’s time to take them out for a run, whether it’s a mule or a horse.
Singh said: "Next, I plan to apply for a small finance bank license. In addition to deposits, loans and foreign exchange, I will also issue credit cards.
In addition, comprehensive financial services such as wealth management, mutual funds, and insurance will also be fully launched.
What do you think, Mr. Zhang? Give me some advice."
Zhang Yida smiled and said, "This is very good. Payment is just to attract new and retain users. You expect to make a lot of money from this business, unless you learn how to charge PayPal for transfers. But for the Indian market, that may be disastrous."
To make money, you have to engage in financial management, financial investment and loans.
However, there are risks involved. You are an Indian and are more familiar with the market, so I won’t judge you."
Singer felt that Zhang Yida was being too modest. He was able to create a financial technology unicorn with a valuation of tens of billions of dollars in the Chinese market. He was extremely familiar with this industry.
However, Zhang Yida also pointed out the problem to him in a concise and concise manner. Next, he only needed to follow the steps.
The momentum has been established and it’s time to soar into the sky.