Li Mu firmly believes that life is like climbing a mountain. Many people have the potential to reach the top, but the road to the top requires many factors, such as the right time, the right place, the right people, and so on.
On the long road to the top, as long as you miss a step, you may be crushed to pieces. No matter how powerful a person is, as long as the height is high enough, you will not be spared. Some people who are lucky enough to survive, I am afraid that they no longer have the mentality and courage to reach the top.
Many people succeed in one spurt, like running from stone to stone across the raging river, such as Bill Gates, such as Mark Zuckerberg, such as Steve Jobs. Although these people successfully ran to the other side in one spurt, every step along the way was extremely dangerous.
Among these people, Jobs' road to the top was the most bumpy. He failed several times to reach the top, and several times he had to retreat to the foot of the mountain to find another way. It was not easy for him to gain a foothold in the iPod and iTunes. Since then, he finally found a way to reach the top in one spurt.
However, it was not only the iPod that supported Apple to become the world's most valuable company. For example, Prince Zhu Di of Yan, who led his army to the south to usurp the throne, the success of the iPod could only support a vassal king and a piece of land, it could not support a huge empire. If he wanted to conquer the world, he had to attack the south step by step until he conquered Jin Ling city.
Every step before conquering Jin Ling City was actually extremely dangerous. A little carelessness could lead to a tragic death. Jobs succeeded in his previous life. He was like Zhu Di, who miraculously succeeded. But in this life, he was not so lucky. Li Mu took away the stone that was the iPod, causing Apple to fall into the raging river.
After knowing that Jobs had completely compromised, Li Mu concluded that Jobs was no longer the Jobs of his previous life. He was like Zhu Di in another parallel world. As soon as he took his army out of Beijing, the main force was wiped out. Failure made him lose his fief, and more importantly, he lost his original beast and confidence.
Li Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had Andy Rubin in his hands, and he was about to take over Apple. At that time, the two parties would be completely independent. Andy Rubin would develop Android, which was now called MOS, based on Linux, according to his own ideas. At the same time, Tim Cook would lead Apple's R&D staff to develop IOS based on Mac OS.
If everything went well, in 2005, or 2006 at the latest, Makino Technology would be able to come up with two real smartphone operating systems. At that time, it would be more than just killing everyone, it would be destroying the world.
In Li Mu's vision, iOS must be completely closed source, only for his own mobile phone and other mobile hardware to use. As for MOS, which was based on Android, it could be licensed to other mobile phone manufacturers through paid licensing.
Paid licensing, but not a completely open paid licensing. Not everyone could buy it, but whoever he wanted to sell it to could buy it.
When he had two mobile operating systems in his hands, all other competitors in the industry would be ants.
Then, on behalf of Li Mu, Lin Ching-ah began further acquisition negotiations with Apple.
On behalf of Li Mu, Lin Ching-ah made Li Mu's final offer to Apple: to buy all the shares held by Apple's shareholders at the price of $4.15 on that day as the standard price, and 90% of the standard price as the actual transaction price. After signing and confirming, Apple would be forced to privatize at $4.15 as the standard price, and 150% of the standard price as the purchase price for the outstanding shares.
Out of the funds to be paid to Apple's shareholders, 50% would be paid after signing, and the remaining 50% would be paid in three months. The funds to buy the outstanding shares would be paid immediately when the privatization started.
As for the purchase price of the outstanding shares, Li Mu could actually lower it. After all, Apple's stock price was too poor. If the news of his acquisition spread, and then he gave up on the acquisition because of the high cost of privatization, then Apple's stock price would fall again. At that time, the stock price would hit a new low, and it would be extremely difficult to recover. Therefore, as long as he offered a premium of 20-30%, both Nasdaq and individual investors would accept it, and he could achieve a forced delisting.
However, for the sake of Makino Technology's corporate image, Li Mu personally made the decision to privatize the shares at a premium of 150%. It could be considered that Makino Technology would pay out of its own pocket to replace Apple, and compensate individual investors and other investors who had suffered heavy losses.
After all, Makino Technology must be listed on Nasdaq in the future, and Li Mu didn't want to leave an impression on Nasdaq's investors now. He wanted to spend more money to buy a good reputation, and at the same time, it would be much more convenient for him to be listed in the future.
Ding Jian calculated for Li Mu.
Currently, Apple's market value was about $3 billion, and its outstanding shares accounted for about 25%. Its market value was $750 million, which meant that the funds used to buy the outstanding shares were 1.5 times of $750 million, which was $1.125 billion.
The remaining $2.25 billion would be paid to Apple's shareholders at a 10% discount, and the total was $2.025 billion.
That's 3.15 billion USD.
If Makino Technology had a certain amount of cash flow, it could take out up to $700 million, which meant that Li Mu's funding gap was about $2.5 billion.
Seeing that Apple could not wait to be acquired, Ding Jian pulled Li Mu and Lin Ching-ah to have a private meeting. He specifically reminded Li Mu that the biggest problem in acquiring Apple was not whether Apple would agree, but whether Makino Technology could afford so much money.
There was no internet company in the world that could afford 2.5 billion US dollars in cash.
Everyone's market value was piled up by high cash flow, high gross profits, storytelling, and speculation. Most companies' net interest rates were very low, and they did not have enough money on hand. They had to raise funds everywhere. How could they have 2.5 billion US dollars in their accounts?
This reminded Li Mu of a joke.
A naked woman took a taxi, and the driver stared at her. She asked herself, "Have you ever seen a naked beauty before?" The driver said, "I'm just curious, where are you going to get the money later?"
Lin Ching-ah was also very worried.
Li Mu had been asking her to drive forward. Don't worry about the money. When the car reached the mountain, there would be a way. The premise was that they had to drive the car to the foot of the mountain first. However, the car was about to reach the foot of the mountain, and they had not seen the specific road. She was really afraid that she would hurt her back in the end.
However, Li Mu did not have this worry.
Li Mu said to Lin Ching-ah and Ding Jian, "You don't have to worry about the money problem. I've already figured out an operating model."
"What model?" Both of them were very surprised.
No financing, no loans, where could they get 2.5 billion US dollars?
If Makino Technology wanted to get a loan from the bank now, the bank would definitely not accept the pledge of net assets. They would definitely ask for a pledge of equity, and the valuation of the equity would be very low. This also meant that if they wanted to get a 2.5 billion US dollars loan, Makino Technology would probably need to pledge more than 5% of its shares.
Speaking of which, pledging is not a big problem. After going public, they can just redeem it with money. However, Wall Street is not a flock of sheep. They are all fucking wolves. If they really pledge Makino Technology's shares to these people, who knows what kind of tricks they will come up with for the sake of profits. This kind of example is not uncommon in the capital market of the US.
Pledge in China? China's banks will definitely give face to Li Mu, but this 2.5 billion US dollars cannot be equivalent to RMB. It must be real foreign exchange. Otherwise, it would be strange if Apple's shareholders were willing to use RMB to buy their shares.
Ding Jian and Lin Ching-ah did not know how Li Mu could get 2.5 billion US dollars in foreign exchange, but Li Mu had a card up his sleeve. He called Chen Ze in front of the two of them.
In Li Mu's view, Chen Ze is not only a good friend, but also one of the shareholders of Makino Technology. He made so much money by hitching a ride, and naturally, he can't let Li Mu take advantage of him when it's time to contribute.
When the phone was connected, Chen Ze first asked Li Mu how he was doing in the US. Li Mu chatted with him for a while, then said to him, "Old Chen, I have an idea in my mind, but I'm not sure if it will work. Tell me and give me some advice."
Chen Ze laughed and said, "Is there something you can't figure out? Hurry up and tell me about it. "
Li Mu said, "It's like this. I want to set up a private equity fund in the CSC club. It's short-term, about half a year, and the annual return is no less than 8%."
"No less than 8%? That's quite high. " Chen Ze smacked his lips and felt that something was wrong. He asked him, "With such a high rate of return, how much money do you want to get …"
Li Mu laughed and said, "You know me well."
After a pause, Li Mu said, "Not much, just around 20 billion."
"F * ck …" Chen Ze blurted out, "More than 20 billion, the scale of this private equity is too big. It's difficult to go through normal procedures in a short period of time. I'm afraid the country won't approve it."
Li Mu said, "Let's not worry about that for now. First, make an assessment. If we mobilize the entire CSC club, can we raise 20 billion in cash?"
Chen Ze said without hesitation, "In terms of the amount, it's definitely possible. Right now, the CSC Club has more than a thousand members across the country. I can tell you that most of the children of the richest people in the country are in our club. I did a rough calculation before, and the net worth of the entire club's members is already in the hundreds of billions. If we use the hundreds of billions as leverage, the amount of capital they can move will be even greater. If you give them an annualized income of 8%, they don't even need to use their own money. As long as they use their connections, they can easily get funds with an annualized interest of less than 5%. They can take this money and lend it to you and earn half of the interest, easily making money. So, let alone 20 billion, if the government allows it, 200 billion won't be a problem."
"Okay, this is also why I gave them an annual return of 8%, as long as they can guarantee that they can raise enough money." Li Mu said, "Let me ask you another question. If I take this 20 billion and go to the central bank to exchange it for 2.5 billion USD in foreign exchange and use it in the American market, do you think it's reliable?"
Chen Ze was stunned for a long time, then asked Li Mu, "Brother, are you dreaming … 2.5 billion USD in foreign exchange? Do you know what such a large amount of foreign exchange means? If the central bank releases so much foreign exchange, if it doesn't come back, the country's loss will be too great. No one dares to take such a risk, unless you are a central enterprise with the endorsement of a ministry or above. "
Speaking up to this point, Chen Ze thought of something and added, "Oh yeah, there is almost no possibility of success for you to raise more than 20 billion in cash. Even if you succeed, it will leave a loophole. If someone wants to find trouble with you in the future, this matter can easily be used to make a big deal out of it, not to mention taking more than 20 billion in cash to the central bank to exchange 2.5 billion USD in foreign exchange …"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Aren't I going to buy that Apple company in the United States? I don't have enough money on hand."
Li Mu said, "Then let me ask you again. What if I promise to wait for the success of Makino Technology's IPO, return the 2.5 billion USD with interest, and invest an additional 2.5 billion USD in the country? The USD capital investment in the country must first be converted to RMB at the central bank. "
Chen Ze was stunned and said, "You mean, first borrow 2.5 billion USD from the central bank, wait for the Makino Technology to go public in the United States, you return the 2.5 billion USD, and then give the central bank another 2.5 billion USD …"
"Yes, and it's a minimum of 2.5 billion USD, and it's very likely to be more." Li Mu said, "After the success of Makino Technology's IPO, all the money we raised from the US stock market will be USD. If we invest some of it in the country, won't it be foreign exchange?"
Chen Ze sighed after a while and said, "If you said this earlier, I wouldn't have talked to you about the legality of private placement just now. This matter will go directly to the central bank, and the central bank will definitely be willing to help. It needs to go through the approval process. I believe that with the strength of Makino Technology and your personal style, there will definitely be no problem. Even if we don't look at these, just based on the 2.5 billion USD in foreign exchange, they will also help. In this way, you can even save the 8% annual interest rate of private placement."
Li Mu said, "That won't do. If I borrow USD directly from the central bank, it will be a blatant violation of the country's foreign exchange regulations. Even if the central bank gives me a back door, there will be hidden dangers in the future. It's better to save the country in a roundabout way. The 8% annual interest rate is negligible compared to the cost of getting money from the capital."
Speaking of this, Li Mu said, "The most important thing is that the members of the CSC Club have relatively strong family backgrounds. If this private placement is made by one or two hundred, or even five or six hundred rich people from all over the country, the interest groups behind this matter will be quite large. Even if someone wants to make an issue out of it, they will have to weigh the power behind it. I'm spending 8% interest to pull a group of people to bear it with me."
"Understood." Chen Ze said, "I'll go and talk to the central bank about this matter tomorrow. If the central bank agrees, I will start the private placement in the country. I think that with your promise of 2.5 billion USD, this matter will not be far off."
"That's good." Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If it's okay, push forward as soon as possible. Strive to get the money in place by this month, lest a long delay brings trouble."
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