Investment Life

As the world's largest listed underwriter, Goldman Sachs has not yet reached its peak. After all, the Internet bubble has not completely inflated, and most of the Chinese entities that occupy the world's top [-] have not yet taken shape. On the contrary, the bond turmoil and The financial crisis that broke out in neighboring Mexico has greatly affected this century-old store, and it seems to have entered a crisis-ridden dormant period.

Therefore, although Goldman Sachs has an excellent reputation and can be called the mainstay of anti-hostile takeovers, it is not particularly outstanding in terms of strength. It is also as famous as Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. Going to commercial banks such as JP Morgan, Citibank, Zurich Credit, etc., Wall Street has too many choices in the field of listing alone.

In this case, it would be too stupid to go directly to the door and be slaughtered.Therefore, Feiyan did not approach Goldman Sachs directly, but contacted several investment banks one by one, and the companies that were thrown out were Zero Hour and Eagle Nest.Although the relationship between these two companies and Feiyan is not a secret, what Wall Street really pays attention to is Feiyan, which defeated Sony and Toshiba head-on in the new-generation optical disc media battlefield.

Therefore, while giving out the listing plan, these investment banks also tried their best to lure Feiyan to take a step forward. Many of them threw out bait in terms of commission rate or stock price. Even Citibank, which has been providing financial services to Chen Yuanming, was eager to try .

But after going around in many investment banks, the final door is still open to Goldman Sachs partners.

"Mr. Chen, long time no see." Harold walked into Feiyan's headquarters with a smile on his face, and shook hands with Chen Yuanming who came up to him cordially.

"I didn't expect that Mr. Harold would personally take the lead. We are also very honored. Please sit here." With the same commercial smile, Chen Yuanming invited the other party to take a seat at the conference table.

This Harold is really not a stranger. When Chen Yuanming had a close relationship with hedge funds, he often attended internal Wall Street gatherings and had some contact with some partners of Goldman Sachs.Unexpectedly, they actually sent the senior partner who played golf with them directly.In Goldman Sachs, there are actually not many employees with the title of senior partner, and now there are only 1 to 200 employees. Those who can make them come forward must be very valuable business partners.Therefore, it is not difficult to see that Goldman Sachs attaches great importance to this business.

Keeping a perfect smile on his face, Harold sat gracefully at the conference table. This person should be over half a century old, but his energy and appearance are at their peak, just like any competent Wall Street manager Same, gentlemanly, courteous, and shrewd and cunning like a Jew.

"I recently heard the news of Yahoo's listing. Mr. Chen's touchstone is now worthy of the name." Harold nodded and thanked the female secretary for the coffee, and said with a smile.

The opening remarks did not directly cut to the point, but chose a compliment, which seemed to have nothing to do with this meeting.

Chen Yuanming didn't care too much, he just smiled and said, "The Golden Stone is lucky, it's a good time."

Many people may feel the same about this statement, but no one in the financial hunting ground will take chances.For real financiers, luck is always secondary. Being able to see the traps under the table and grasp the pulse of the market in front of dangers and opportunities is the stunt they rely on for survival.All those that are not strong enough have long been swallowed up by the flood of the market.

Not caring about such self-effacement, Harold's tone still carried a kind of gentleness like a gentleman, "But it seems a bit early to sell all the stocks now. Although Softbank is strong, it may not last long. They still have to Spend a lot of effort on the construction of the website in Japan.”

"For the Golden Stone, the current income is already very considerable." Chen Yuanming's smile did not change, as if he did not understand the other party's words.

Harold didn't stop, and directly said something that both of them knew clearly in their hearts, "It seems that Mr. Chen's capital chain is indeed short."

This is not a very difficult question to guess.Just like Netscape’s crazy rise, Yahoo is also being strongly promoted by Wall Street. If you hold its stock for one more day, the profit will increase a little. It is not in line with the principle of profit maximization to withdraw from the market just after listing. .If Chen Yuanming hadn't invested in Netscape before, no one would have made such speculations, but Yuanyang's move into Netscape still caught some people's attention.

Then he will hold Netscape for a long time, but let go of the equally popular Yahoo. If he is not extremely optimistic about Yahoo, it may only be that there is a problem with the cash chain.With reference to Chen Yuanming's layout in China and Hong Kong last year, it is not difficult to see the real answer to the question.

This is very straightforward, and a bit too straightforward by the standards of investment bankers.But Chen Yuanming was not nervous or annoyed. Instead, he nodded calmly, "Yes, that's why we want Zero Hour and Eagle's Nest to be officially listed."

That was not what Harold wanted to hear.Putting away the smile on the corner of his mouth, the middle-aged gentleman suggested very seriously, "Mr. Chen should be very clear about which company we are really looking forward to. Although the results have not been announced, but this year, News Corp. The stocks of all film and television companies headed by it have grown by leaps and bounds. The birth of DVD has given a shot in the arm to Hollywood, which has been stagnant for a long time. As the owner of the DVD format, Feiyan is the best choice that many investors are looking forward to. Not Zero Hour, which is still unknown today, or the Eagle's Nest Alliance under News Corporation."

This is by far the biggest headache for Goldman Sachs.Neither Zero Hour nor Eagle's Nest has the potential for explosive profitability, but Feiyan's true home may not be North America.As a joint venture, Feiyan's branch in China has a larger scale and more stable profits. If there is no accident, North American Feiyan will probably move its factories to China more thoroughly like most multinational groups.

In this case, the opinions of the Chinese side, especially the opinions of this Chinese investor, may be crucial.But now there are not many companies in the world that have successfully started the international listing process of Chinese companies. Most Chinese companies are still rolling in their immature domestic stock markets, defrauding benefits from the messy financial market.This kind of short-sighted internal consumption made the whole Wall Street sigh.After all, many think tanks have predicted that China will be the most worthwhile economic entity to develop in the next century. Compared with the declining old Europe and Japan that has been almost cut, what is more exciting than a piece of virgin land?

Chen Yuanming pondered for a moment, as if hesitating how to express it.

"Feiyan's current development is quite stable." In the end, the young man simply said, "Last year, China Feiyan sold more than 400 million VCD players, as well as a large number of chips and downstream OEM products. The profit alone is about 3 million US dollars. In the second half of the year, Feiyan in North America also had sales of more than 2 million. Although the profit is not too high, it is expected that the sales will make great progress next year. At this moment, I think Feiyan The listing of Yan does not seem to be in our interest."

If these figures are not falsely reported, Feiyan's profitability has exceeded Goldman Sachs' expectations, and it is very likely that it will pass the 10 billion threshold in a short period of time and enter the threshold of a medium-sized enterprise.Therefore, these words not only failed to dispel Harold's interest, but made him feel itchy even more.

After thinking for a while, he nodded slightly, "We can see that Feiyan wants to get rid of Wall Street's firm attitude, just like the establishment of Zero Hour Company, most North American companies will choose to go public directly for financing to expand their R&D departments, while It’s not superfluous like Feiyan, relying on the establishment of a new company to raise private funds with News Corporation. In this, Mr. Chen has shown the way of thinking of a financier, not an entrepreneur.”

When the topic changed, Harold smiled, "Of course, I understand this kind of thinking very well. After all, your income from Yuanyang and the Philosopher's Stone has amazed the world. Even our mutual friend, Mr. Robertson, also pays attention to you. Full of praise. How to obtain money may not be the most critical issue for you. However, the operation mode of industrial enterprises is different from that of financial enterprises. I believe that with your understanding of Silicon Valley, you can also understand the driving force of listing for enterprise development , no one can refuse the temptation brought by stock options. Now the Dow Jones has a bullish trend. At this point in time, going public is the only way to obtain capital as soon as possible. It is too conservative to measure it with financial thinking... ..."

After tapping twice on the armrest with his fingers, Chen Yuanming still shook his head, "Actually, what worries me the most is not Wall Street, but... Washington."

Hearing this, Harold was obviously taken aback, and immediately reflected, "You mean the turmoil on the coast of China?"

Chen Yuanming did not deny it.

Harold smiled, "Wall Street has its own will, and this will cannot be controlled by a mere president. China is the focus of our attention, not the enemy."

The words could not be more arrogant, but Chen Yuanming fully understood that what Harold said was not a lie.In fact, among all investment banks, Goldman Sachs has sent the most talents and consultants to the White House.Goldman Sachs, known as the "Whampoa Military Academy" in the financial world in later generations, has a closer relationship with the US government than any hedge fund or mutual fund.

But contrary to hedge funds, they are not all seeking the interests of the US government. Wall Street is like a sword hanging over the US, which can not only cut down its enemies, but also threaten its own security at all times.Wall Street has its own will, and this will is money that never sleeps.Anything that prevents it from getting money, including laws, people, and even the country, can be trampled under their feet.

So, to any reasonable person, Wall Street is crazy and dangerous.But for Chen Yuanming, this danger of ignoring national interests is a protective umbrella that he can temporarily rely on.If his interests can be aligned with those of Wall Street to some extent, then in the next few years, the safety factor of North American Feiyan may increase.

As for why Goldman Sachs was chosen... This point is actually very simple. Goldman Sachs' interest in China is unquestionable. In the next few years, they will enter the Chinese market with a more urgent attitude, invest, underwrite and go public, and even become the government's financial institution. consultant.The Chinese and American flags hung on the Goldman Sachs building by later generations, as well as the G2 model they talk about, are not lies.

After another long silence, Chen Yuanming finally sat up straight and replied seriously, "I trust Goldman Sachs' reputation in the industry very much, so I choose you as a partner among many investment banks. But in the current situation, even if the funds No matter how tense the chain is, I can't make a decision to let Feiyan go public immediately, you know, after all, this involves a very complicated situation... So, what I want to talk about now is only Zero Hour and Eagle's Nest."

After a pause, a vague smile appeared on his face, "But there is still a possibility later. If the political situation does improve, I also hope to add more chips to Feiyan. At the same time, you I also know that in addition to Feiyan, I have many companies under my management. In addition to the two venture capital institutions in China and the United States, the demand for listing is not small. If possible, I still hope to cooperate with companies like Goldman Sachs. For more cooperation..."

The meaning of the words is very clear. Harold has heard a little about Chen Yuanming's development track in China.This young man's ambition is extraordinary, and his ability is beyond the average level. As long as he puts his investment perspective on his career—even if it is only 50%, or even 30%—he will be an excellent partner for long-term cooperation .

Nodding happily, Harold smiled and said, "Then let's focus on the present first, and then slowly discuss the future development."