Rebirth 76: Industrial Internet Empire

Hakan Friesenger shook his head and said: "No, the brand value is not overestimated at all. After Volvo Cars was separated from the group in 78, it only took more than three years to develop the best-selling model Volvo 760 and Successfully entering the North American market, the launch of the first front-wheel drive sports car Volvo 480ES two years ago established Volvo Car Company as the number one car brand in Northern Europe!"

Before Yang Mo could speak, Hakan Frissenger continued to talk: "We are also preparing to develop luxury versions of the 760 and 960 series based on the best-selling Volvo 940. If the Uddevalla factory were not occupied, We have too much capital, and Volvo Cars is not prepared to use equity financing at this stage of rapid development..."

Yang Mo fell into deep thought. With such a high valuation of Volvo, the investment value is not very great. If his memory is not biased, 12 years later, the price for Ford's overall acquisition of Volvo Cars was US$64 billion, compared with the current price of US$26 billion. Compared with the US dollar valuation, it is only about 2.5 times.

After Volvo was acquired by Ford, its development gradually became mediocre. Not only did it fail to shine, it even gradually became a burden to Ford. After many years, Ford once again sold Volvo to Geely for a mere US$18 billion...

But time waits for no one. Zhiyuan Group cannot wait for Volvo to depreciate before getting involved in the automobile industry. A complete independent automobile industry chain can drive upstream and downstream industry chains worth tens of billions or hundreds of billions. This is also a standard feature of an industrial power. !

However, before looting the Japanese stock market and property market, Zhiyuan really could not spare the funds and energy to get involved in the automobile industry chain.

The reason why Yang Mo suddenly felt a sense of urgency was because Luo Binghui mentioned a brief message from a domestic newspaper on the phone: Volkswagen's joint venture car company in the mainland rolled out its 10000th Santana sedan in just three years, but it was made in China. The proportion of spare parts in automobiles is less than 6%. In order to speed up the localization process of auto parts, the Donghai Municipal Government joined hands with the Planning and Economic Commission to set up the "Poussin Localization Office"...

"How dare he sell a car for more than 20 yuan? It's just four wheels and a steering wheel! It's really profitable to produce cars..." Luo Binghui's envious tone brought back Yang Mo's long-cherished memory.

In this era when households with more than 20 yuan are rare, a Santana with more than [-] yuan is the standard equipment for the privileged class...

Volvo's valuation is indeed a bit high, but compared to Volkswagen, which generates billions of yuan in sales from the mainland market every year, it is not unacceptable!

But the difficulty of the subsequent negotiations was far beyond Yang Mo's imagination. Not only did Hakan Frissenger refuse to give in on the market value assessment, he also refused to use more than 30% of the equity to raise funds. This made Zhiyuan Group unable to find any investors. Opportunity to take control of Volvo.

"Mr. Yang, I don't think it's the best time to acquire Volvo Cars! Volvo has been developing well in recent years, which has led to overvaluation in the capital market. They have the confidence to sell at a price..." Several rounds of negotiations ended with The failure ended, but it was Christian's words that woke up the dreamer!

"Do you think we should give up the acquisition of Volvo?" Yang Mo asked thoughtfully.

"Mr. Yang, I also think that the negotiations with Volvo Cars should be temporarily suspended. We are currently very passive in the negotiations. We are constantly increasing the pressure, but the other party is unwilling to make any concessions!" Qian Ning also agreed.

After Yang Mo pondered for a long time, he nodded and said: "What you two said is not unreasonable. We can't hang ourselves on this tree. Qian Ning, contact Saab Automobile Company immediately. In addition, get all the information about Saab Automobile as soon as possible. The more detailed the better!”

Zhiyuan International Headquarters quickly sent all the information about Saab via fax machine to the hotel where Yang Mo and his party were staying.

"Saab was formerly an aircraft manufacturing company?" Yang Mo asked in surprise after reading the information.

"Yes, Saab was formerly a Swedish aircraft manufacturing company. It was founded in 1937. After World War II, it entered the field of automobile manufacturing. Their first car was designed and built by a group of aircraft engineers. The car was equipped with a two-stroke engine. , front-wheel drive, and the design of the streamlined body was inspired by the wings of aircraft. In 1969, after Saab acquired the truck manufacturer Scania, like Volvo, it began to produce both cars and heavy-duty trucks..." Christian So many family treasures.

"How do you know so clearly?" Yang Mo looked puzzled.

"Zhiyuan International Investment Department has always paid close attention to Saab Automobile Company. Saab Automobile Company was the first to apply aircraft turbocharging technology to automobile manufacturing. All the cars they produced used turbocharging technology. Three years ago, they launched The Saab 900 series sports car is the first car in the world to use a sixteen-valve turbine engine. With its elegant and luxurious styling and the adoption of many new technologies, it has successfully entered the high-end car market..." Christian continued to ramble. said.

"Since there are so many product advantages, why did Zhiyuan International Investment Department not have in-depth contact with Saab in the end?" Yang Mo asked in confusion.

"We have not contacted Saab Automobile Company for the time being because their financial situation has not been very good in recent years. Their debt ratio and labor costs are high, and the construction of sales channels is also unsatisfactory..." Christian explained.

Trollhättan, Sweden, Saab Automobile Company Headquarters.

The high welfare of Nordic skilled workers has kept Saab's production costs high. Company CEO Karlsson is very aware of this. Saab's top priority is to expand production capacity and reduce average production costs.

Otherwise, Saab, a rising star in the automotive field, would have to compete with top Western European car brands such as Ferrari, Spyker, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Yang Mo, President of Zhiyuan Group, will make a special detour from Volvo headquarters in Stockholm to Trollhättan in the past two days to discuss future cooperation plans with Saab Automobile Company..." Just as Karlsson was anxious about Saab Automobile's production capacity At that time, Helena, assistant to the president, opened the door and came in to report.

"Zhiyuan Group Yang Mo? He went to Volvo headquarters?" Carlson asked in surprise.

"Yes, Mr. President! It has been confirmed. Zhiyuan Group is negotiating cooperation with Volvo Car Company. The cooperation includes equity acquisition, mortgage financing, and helping Volvo establish new production lines and sales channels overseas, etc.!" Helena replied.

"Coming to Trollhättan during negotiations with Volvo? Could it be that Zhiyuan Group wants to use Saab to lower the price?" Karlsson asked after pondering for a moment.

"According to the news we have received, it seems that the negotiations with Volvo are not going smoothly. It cannot be ruled out that Zhiyuan Group is preparing to choose a new partner..." Helena analyzed.