RBCT Chapter 84 SoftBank's Son Jung-yi
Chapter 84 SoftBank's Son Jung-yi
Chapter 84 SoftBank's Son Jung-yi
Deutsche Bank has made progress in negotiations to acquire Moneybookers.
Pierce came to Li Xiang in person to deliver the news.
Moneybookers is a privately held company headquartered in the UK, co-founded by Daniel Klein and Benjamin Coleman.
Acquisition deals can be difficult in some ways, and easy in others.
With highly concentrated shareholding, the deal can be finalized as long as the two founders agree.
From the perspective of the British government —
As a European financial center, the UK is very tolerant of the source of funds. It is precisely because it accepts all kinds of money and has relatively relaxed regulations that so many wealthy Russians immigrate there.
It became "Londongrad".
The British government also intervenes less in cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
At most, they will be placed on an "unwelcome list" and forced to sell within a certain period, and this only applies to assets that cannot be moved.
Financial companies like Moneybookers can be packed up and moved around at any time; they can set up their headquarters in another country and still do business.
Governmental factors are irrelevant. Investcorp is Middle Eastern capital, while Li Xiang's capital is Russian. They're evenly matched; it's a contest of who has more money.
The subprime crisis has already begun to surface, and at this time, acquiring financial assets at high prices is extremely risky; few are willing to be taken advantage of.
But it was precisely because there were suckers that the two founders were willing to cash out and leave.
Investcorp offered €1.05 million.
"Klein and Coleman still prefer to sell the company to you. As long as we are willing to raise the price to 1.15 million in one go, they will sign the contract immediately and stop negotiating with Investcorp."
"If the price is increased little by little, then the highest bidder wins."
"Of course, if you refuse the fixed price and Investcorp accepts it, you won't have the chance to offer a higher price."
This deal concerns Pierce's future, so he naturally hopes Li Xiang will agree immediately.
As for how wronged he was at being taken advantage of? That's none of his business.
Li Xiang checked the exchange rate on his phone and deliberately said, "It would cost 1.5 million US dollars, which is too expensive. My target price is only 1.2 million."
Pierce couldn't figure out what Li Xiang was thinking and got a little anxious. He tried his best to persuade him, "Mr. Li, Shopee became popular because of the iPhone. You understand this better than I do. The future will definitely be the era of smartphones."
"At the moment, the $1.5 million premium does seem a bit high, but it's a ticket to the future. If you buy Moneybookers and focus on mobile, you can definitely increase your value tenfold in five years."
"You said it yourself, these are tickets, there are winners and losers. If you win, you get ten times the money, but what if you lose?" Li Xiang emphasized again, "It's not that I don't want to buy them, it's that I can't raise the money."
"The difference between 1.2 and 1.5 is only 3000 million. You can think of another way. Borrowing this much will only put more pressure on short-term debt. Once Shopee completes its financing, the problem will be solved."
Li Xiang said with a sigh, "I was able to accumulate wealth so quickly because of VK shares. This kind of luck only comes once in a lifetime. 1.5 million, you're making me gamble my entire fortune."
"I'm not trying to persuade you to gamble, I just think it's a bit of a waste." Pierce's words were contradictory. You were the one who wanted to buy Moneybookers, how did it become me persuading you to gamble?
Li Xiang circled back to the point, "Actually, I can find bridge financing too, it's just—"
Pierce guessed, "What? Cash?"
Li Xiang replied, "My leverage is already maxed out. Even if I could find a reputable institution willing to take on higher risks and lend me another 30 million, it wouldn't be enough."
"If Deutsche Bank finds out about this, and it triggers risk control, will they still be able to provide me with the promised margin financing?"
"I can only resort to private lending."
Pierce suddenly understood and chimed in, "Private lending is good. You transfer the money over and say it's your own principal."
"I'll record it in your account; no one will be able to find it."
"Deutsche Bank might be able to provide you with additional leverage."
"Is it a deal?" Li Xiang promised. "If I can really buy Moneybookers this time, you can quit your job at Deutsche Bank and become the Russia regional manager at Moneybookers."
Li Xiang flattered him, saying, "You have the ability and resources, and you know how to be flexible and make decisive decisions at crucial moments. I think you can do it."
""
"That's all for the future. If you're sure you can accept 1.15 million euros, I'll call headquarters immediately and finalize the acquisition. At least pay a deposit first, so they don't back out."
Li Xiang said impulsively, "Buy it!"
"Fortune favors the bold; if I win this gamble, I'll be set for life."
The subprime crisis is brewing, and there have been many news reports about it.
Whether optimistic or pessimistic, the risks objectively exist; the only disagreement lies in when this potential risk will explode and what impact it will have afterward.
As soon as Deutsche Bank offered €1.15 million, the two founders of Moneybookers immediately requested to sign the contract as soon as possible.
I'm worried that things might change if I delay.
Li Xiang's acquisition involved high leverage. If the subprime mortgage crisis develops in a pessimistic direction and liquidity tightens, he will inevitably default on his investment if he cannot raise funds.
Even if the acquisition falls through and there's a penalty for breach of contract, Moneybookers, as a financial company, will still be subject to market sentiment and its value will need to be reassessed.
A key characteristic of cyclical peaks in the capital market is the abundance of large-scale mergers and acquisitions. For high-quality assets, only when the market offers a sufficient premium and a willing buyer is found will investors be willing to relinquish their stake.
Li Xiang paid a total of 40 million US dollars as a deposit.
The ten million in personal funds came from Elena's cash deposit, while the remaining thirty million was short-term financing provided by Deutsche Bank.
Once the transaction is completed, the 30 million debt will be transferred to Moneybookers, who will then be responsible for repaying it.
Being ripped off by the boss is certainly not a good thing for Moneybookers, but there's nothing they can do about it.
There is still approximately $1.1 million remaining in the final payment. The final settlement will take place after the auditing firm verifies all the information provided by Moneybookers and confirms that there are no objections.
It will take two to three months.
When the deal is officially closed, Deutsche Bank can help with an additional loan of 40 million, which will require the freezing of Moneybookers and Shopee's shares as collateral.
Batulina can also provide a short-term high-interest loan of 1000 million.
The actual funding gap is 60 million.
Li Xiang had previously sold off all his Apple stock and had already redeemed his VKontakte shares from Deutsche Bank.
SoftBank remained keen on VKontakte, raising its valuation to $200 million, but Durant refused to let them invest.
Li Xiang had what Sun Zhengyi wanted in his hand. Getting the money without letting the other party take the bait was a skill in itself.
Son Jung-yi's investment philosophy is based on the time machine theory, which utilizes the time difference in development between the United States and other countries to replicate successful business models from the United States to less developed regions.
He has invested in e-commerce companies such as Alibaba and Yahoo! Shopping, reaping substantial returns, but he is not optimistic about Shopee.
First, Li Xiang's status as a foreign investor means he lacks political and business resources in Russia.
Secondly, Shopee's product range is limited and it is highly dependent on Apple.
Apple will eventually have to sell iPhones to Russia. What will happen then?
Although SoftBank Asia's visit to Russia to investigate Shopee ended without any follow-up, nothing further came of it.
However, Sun Zhengyi received news that Li Xiang intended to sell his shares in VKontakte in order to raise money to acquire Moneybookers.
Volunteers take the bait.
Sun Zhengyi took the initiative to invite Li Xiang to Japan Island for a face-to-face meeting.
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