Start by trimming cow hooves

Super-large commercial acquisitions with a scale of more than 20 billion US dollars will definitely be discussed in a short time.

Yahoo's ownership is relatively dispersed, which is one of the reasons for the company's long-term infighting. It was listed as early as the 1990s. At that time, the protection of the founding teams of Silicon Valley Internet companies was far less complete than it is now.

Nowadays, Internet company founders generally use the method of different rights for the same shares to firmly control the company's voice in their own hands and avoid being taken over by doves.

For companies such as Suri's S Electric Vehicles and Tweet, according to the company's articles of association, even if his shareholding ratio is reduced to less than 10%, he still has the final say in the board of directors.

As for Netflix Entertainment, Suri never thought about holding shares in it. He thought it was similar to releasing an album. The popular IP in his head would one day be exhausted, so he just wanted to launch a streaming movie platform as soon as possible. Then harvest a sum and cash it out in a timely manner without making too many demands.

However, given Suri's prestige, even if AB shares were not set up and the same share with different rights model was adopted, Netflix Entertainment's board of directors still acted in accordance with his ideas.

For example, he spent money to acquire the Listening music platform across borders and founded the Netflix mobile smart terminal project. In fact, he gave the nod first and then actually implemented it.

On the other hand, the founder of Yahoo, Jerry Yang, is aggrieved. He lost absolute control of the board of directors very early. Especially after successively rejecting acquisitions from Microsoft and Alibaba, he was completely marginalized by other shareholders and rarely heard about him anymore. information.

In Yahoo, the top ten shareholders are Capital Research and Management, Legg Mason, David Filo, Jerry Yang, Barclays Asset Management, Citigroup, Vanguard, State Street and Clearbridge Advisors.

Suri does not need to obtain the consent of all shareholders. As long as he gets the support of the vast majority of shareholders, he can try to privatize and delist the company when Yang Zhiyuan is "out" and then proceed according to his own ideas. Split and reorganize.

By then, he will not only be able to obtain the land he wants to buy, but also pocket a large number of Alibaba Group shares.

If all goes well, Yahoo Japan shares can be used to exchange Alibaba shares from SoftBank Group. SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son has been coveting Yahoo Japan shares for a long time.

The next few days.

Suri still didn't change his mind about the acquisition, but instead became more and more interested.

It was rare for him to be so serious about personally taking charge of a business. He was worried that it would just be wishful thinking in the end. So when David Levin's team initially completed the investigation of Yahoo, Suri immediately made an appointment with David Levin to take some time to come. Visit Yahoo headquarters as a guest.

Former Google executive Marissa Mayer just got angry at a senior executive meeting and asked the heads of various departments to issue military orders to complete the original layoff plan and revenue targets as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, they learned that Suri was here. The executives under her, a strong woman, managed to escape and ended this morning's meeting early.

In the office of CEO Marissa Mayer, she said with a smile on her face:

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you visit the vacant land just now? The location is very good, right? I asked a third-party team to help evaluate the price, and also discussed with other members of the board of directors. We can price it at US$155 million. Price sold to you.”

Su Rui shook his head and said straight to the point:

"I'm afraid the land purchase will have to be put on hold for now. I came here today to talk to you about something else. This is David Levin, my friend and the co-head of Goldman Sachs' investment banking department. You should have met him."

CEO Marissa Mayer was a little depressed when she learned that the land purchase had to be put on hold. It was rare for her to meet a strong potential buyer. She was also planning to use the funds to acquire a ticketing platform, but now it may be ruined.

Sitting on the sofa in the office, Marissa Mayer smiled at David Levine and said enthusiastically:

"The last time I saw you was several years ago, at a party hosted by Mr. John Akers, the former CEO of IBM. I have a lot of ideas recently and may need to cooperate with you, Goldman Sachs."

David Levin looked at Suri and immediately told him: "There is no need to wait until the future. We have the opportunity to cooperate now. Suri is very interested in Yahoo and has entrusted me to formally initiate an acquisition invitation to you."

".Acquisition? You mean acquiring the entire Yahoo?"

Seeing Marissa Mayer looking at him with wide eyes, Su Rui had a fascinated smile on her lips, nodded calmly, and replied:

"Yes, I want to privatize your company, delist it, and then reorganize it. Don't worry, you will still retain your position as a senior executive. I will give you an option incentive plan with better conditions, and even give you some option stocks. , I need you to stand by me during the acquisition negotiations and persuade other shareholders to vote for me. "

"."

For a moment, Marissa Mayer was really worried that not long after she became CEO of Yahoo, her company would be acquired and she would lose her job.

Su Rui's words gave her a reassurance. She thought a lot in her head and said slowly:

"Although the board of directors has also discussed the topic of selling, the choice of me as CEO is to revitalize Yahoo. I think it is not that simple if you want to acquire Yahoo."

David Levine said:

"I have handled hundreds of acquisitions, and my experience tells me that the vast majority of acquisitions are unsuccessful mainly because the price offered is not generous enough. But this time, Suri has prepared a sufficient budget, and he is willing to pay today's closing price on the basis of a premium of 15%.”

"I have one thing to say, I'm not belittling your ability, but with Yahoo's current situation, its core business has already been squeezed out by Google and Microsoft's Bing. Even the Bing search engine, which was just launched in 2009, has rapidly gained market share. More than Yahoo."

"He can offer generous terms that Yahoo's board of directors cannot promise you, which is very beneficial to you and other investors."

Marissa Mayer certainly knows what Suri is capable of.

But after much thought, she couldn't figure out why Suri wanted to acquire Yahoo. She asked in confusion, "Why? To be honest, I don't quite understand what it is about Yahoo that can attract you."

Suri sat on the sofa and replied:

"I'm really not interested in your core business, but it can help my other companies. Netflix Entertainment needs advertising monetization channels, Tweet needs a news platform, and of course, the land you hold."

"The most important thing is that my BuyMe and some other online shopping projects in China also need your resources. Acquiring Yahoo will make my business easier and bring some profits at the same time."

"A few days ago, I considered whether to split up your core business, squeeze it out and sell it to Google or Microsoft. Later, I felt that with my influence, I could take it to China and open up new markets. Overall Look, acquiring Yahoo will help me a little bit, and that's why I made the move."

The reason why you want to acquire something is to make a profit, there is no need to hide it.

Thinking of the many projects Suri was incubating, Marissa Meyer immediately understood his thoughts. After organizing the words, she continued:

"I'm not sure what other shareholders think. We need to convene a board meeting to discuss it before we can give an answer on whether to start acquisition negotiations. However, it is indeed a good idea to open up the Chinese market. Unfortunately, Yahoo didn't succeed that year, and Google didn't succeed either." (End of chapter)