Li Dong was leisurely paving the way for his relationship. Far away had never stopped.
After the end of the internal subscription, Far away Retail gained another 28 billion in cash flow.
After deducting the purchase of its own properties, the amount paid for the acquisition of Taobao, and the investment in Far away City, Far away Retail still had a lot of cash flow left.
Perhaps it was to be more profitable when it went public, or perhaps it was to surpass Wal-Mart as Li Dong had said.
On the eve of the listing, Far away Retail announced Far Away Retail's next strategic plan.
In fact, at this moment, even without the announcement, everyone knew that Far Away Retail was about to enter the international market.
Domestically, they had already reached the limits of what they could do.
Far Away Retail had formed a monopoly in many areas including e-commerce. Even if they were to expand at this time, the effect would be limited.
Therefore, international expansion was Far Away Retail's next goal.
What everyone was concerned about was where Far Away Retail would start from?
Europe?
North America?
Just like what Qi Yunna said, they would enter Russia through land.
Expansion was inevitable, but the key was where to start. This was the information that the outside world wanted to know.
What was the first step of Far Away Retail's expansion?
Online e-commerce? Offline retail? Or Tencent Retail to expand their business?
Soon, the outside world received the exact news.
In mid-March, Far Away Retail announced the news at the same time as Ali.
Ali announced that Ali's management team had bought back Yahoo's Ali shares.
For this buyback, Ali spent close to 8 billion USD to buy back the 39% Ali shares held by Yahoo.
Compared to 2007, this price was naturally not high. 39% shares cost less than 8 billion USD, and the entire Ali Group was worth less than 200 USD.
However, in 2008, Ali was hit by the global financial crisis and was already weak. In 2009, it was beaten by Distance to the point of losing its fastest growing online business in the past two years.
At this time, the 8 billion USD buyback was not a small amount.
After buying back Yahoo's 39% shares, Ali's management team's shares reached a peak of 73%.
At this moment, the only remaining shareholder was Softbank.
Softbank had reached an agreement with Ali during the buyback. They would not increase their shareholding and maintain 27% of the shares. while Ali bought back Yahoo's shares in the name of the group.
According to the agreement, Ali would give Softbank the same compensation. After all, Softbank would have a share of the group's money.
As for the specific agreement between the two parties, no one revealed it. It was just that after Ali got listed, the other party had a series of purchase agreements.
In the end, Old Ma did not kick SoftBank out. After all, SoftBank had not caused him much trouble over the years. The only thing Old Ma could not tolerate was Yahoo.
With Yahoo's exit, Ali's management team had also obtained the ownership of the entire company. At this time, SoftBank's exit no longer mattered to the overall situation.
Just as the outside world was paying attention to Ali kicking Yahoo out of the competition, either by coincidence or on purpose, Distance also announced the news to the public.
Far Away Retail and Tencent Group invested 3.8 billion USD to buy 10% of Yahoo Japan's shares.
Yahoo Japan and Yahoo were not on the same level.
Yahoo was controlled by the headquarters in the world, including Hua Xia.
But in Japan, Yahoo was controlled by Softbank instead of the headquarters.
Yahoo Japan only had two major shareholders. The first major shareholder was Softbank, and the second major shareholder was Yahoo. The rest of the shares came from the stock market.
Yahoo Japan had been the largest website in Asia for many years before Far Away acquired Tencent.
Even Tencent and Ali's market value when they went public were not as high as Yahoo.
Other than occupying more than half of the local search market, Yahoo Japan was also the top three online shopping websites in Japan. It was even the number one e-commerce website!
This time, Far Away and Tencent bought Yahoo Japan's shares. Their intention was clear.
On one hand, it was to expand Tencent's influence, and on the other hand, it was to expand their e-commerce business.
The xenophobia in Japan was not too serious.
But this was only relative. The locals were naturally obedient to the European and American countries, and they acknowledged that the other party was strong. That was why they did not reject them.
But as a neighboring country, Hua Xia's economy was lagging behind, and the locals were not very accepting of them.
Far Away did not have much of a reputation in Japan.
At this time, Far Away bought 10% of Yahoo Japan's shares, and everyone knew Far Away's motive.
10% was not high, but Far Away had officially entered the Japanese market.
In Asia, most of the time, China is not the first market to expand. Japan and South Korea are the first.
But these countries were more difficult to enter.
Many famous companies had no choice but to withdraw from these countries.
Over the years, Yahoo was the only one that managed to take root and grow bigger. The key was that Yahoo was not the controlling shareholder, and SoftBank had a lot of influence there.
This time, Far Away made use of Yahoo and SoftBank's failure in Ali to reach an agreement with them, and it was to fill each other's business.
All these years, SoftBank and Yahoo's biggest partner in Hua Xia was Ali.
But this time, Yahoo was kicked out, and SoftBank was in danger. At this time, Far Away had become a giant in Hua Xia. Compared to working with Ali, working with Far Away was more beneficial for them in the future.
Hence, on the same day that Yahoo was kicked out by Ali, Far Away also reached an official agreement with the two companies to enter Yahoo Japan and become the third shareholder.
At the same time, Far Away set up a branch in Japan.
Other than that, in the Asian region, Far Away was also looking for the best partners to cooperate with, and officially started their expansion in Asia.
Far Away did not enter Europe and the United States first, but chose to go to Asia first.
Compared to the European and American markets, which were not acclimatized to the climate, Asia was relatively more relaxed.
… …
In fact, the cooperation between Yahoo and both parties was only announced to the public.
But there was still some unannounced information.
For example, Wan Tong had officially entered the Japanese market.
If a cross-border e-commerce company wants to develop, the payment system is very important.
With their own payment system, they do not need to hand over their core business data to a third party.
If Far Away Mall wants to expand, Wan Tong must enter at the same time.
Internet payment is related to finance, and under normal circumstances, if the local policies are not open enough, it will be difficult for them to enter.
This time, Far Away was able to enter because of the cooperation between both parties.
Far Away had also set up a branch in Japan.
Nowadays, there are only two ways for payment companies to gain a foothold in the local market.
First, acquire the local financial payment institutions.
This will not work in Japan. Japan still uses cash and credit cards for payments. They also have third-party payment institutions, but it is not the same as in China. It is more like a bus card.
It uses Sony's Felica technology, and it is different from the third-party payment institutions in China.
That's why there is no way to acquire them.
The second way is to cooperate.
Find a large local company to cooperate, hold the shares together, and develop the market together. This is the simplest and fastest way.
Without the support of the local companies, it will be difficult for foreign companies to gain a foothold.
In order to develop in Japan, Yahoo had even given up the controlling stake.
Far Away might not have given up the controlling stake, but Softbank had invested 30% of the shares in this branch.
Far Away had not disclosed this information to the public.
Most of the time, when some information is disclosed, it will only be met with meaningless doubts.
Far Away, including other Hua Xia companies, being able to expand into the foreign market and being held by the local companies is actually a good thing.
But for ordinary people, they might be affected by other factors, and the final outcome will not be good.
Far Away had been holding the controlling stake in China most of the time. But this time, when they entered the overseas market, foreign companies held 30% of the shares, especially the Japanese companies that Hua Xia people hate.
Announcing this information to the public might cause some unnecessary trouble.
Because of this, Far Away did not disclose this information to the public.
… …
Far Away's entry into the Japanese market is significant.
This is also the first time Far Away's Retail and Far Away's first entry into the international market.
This proposal is not made by Li Dong. It is Yuan Chengdao who brought his men to discuss this proposal.
At first, Yuan Chengdao was scared, and he felt the chances of Li Dong agreeing to this proposal is slim.
After all, spending 3.8 billion USD to get 10% of Yahoo Japan's shares is not a big deal.
Far Away's Finance is very important to Li Dong. This is the first time Li Dong is going overseas, and someone else owns 30% of the company's shares. Will Li Dong accept this agreement?
Perhaps in Li Dong's view, the 3.8 billion USD was more of a toll fee.
For the prideful Li Dong, this was no less than being threatened.
But in the end, when Yuan Chengdao submitted this proposal, Li Dong agreed readily.
Yuan Chengdao was still in a daze until both parties signed the agreement. This time, Li Dong is too straightforward.
In the office.
Yuan Chengdao had a hesitant look on his face. Li Dong laughed. "The agreement is signed. What are you waiting for?
This is normal. We are the weaker party outside of China.
At this time, we need to enter the market as soon as possible.
If not, we will not have the chance to enter the market in the future.
Anyway, it's just a branch overseas. If we don't enter the market, we will get nothing. But if we enter the market, we will be profiting.
Do you think I am stubborn?
Find a powerful local company to cooperate with and use their connections and resources to open up the market for us. This is something many companies yearn for.
Of course, you are the one who signed the agreement on behalf of Far Away.
You will be in charge of these matters in the future.
In the future, if the news is exposed, it is your problem. It has nothing to do with me.
In short, you will bear the responsibility. If there is infamy, you will bear it. This is also your duty.
Now, I have almost opened up the domestic market. Far Away can only seek to expand internationally.
Appropriate compromises are inevitable. I can't stand it. So, I rarely intervene in these matters. If I were to negotiate, the chances of the negotiations failing are high.
This might be one of the reasons why I am not too concerned now. I am used to being domineering. I have always held my head high.
Now, I feel that it will be difficult for me to lower my head.
You don't have these concerns. So, you can compromise and make concessions. But I can't, and I don't want to. "
This was Li Dong's true thoughts. Far Away is famous now. But when it enters the international market, it is not enough.
Lowering his head, compromising, and making concessions. These are almost inevitable.
If it were a few years ago, Li Dong would be willing to lower his head and compromise.
But at this point, he wasn't willing anymore.
He is used to raising his head. Suddenly, he is not used to lowering his head, and he will not do it.
Even if he knows that lowering his head will make Far Away's development smoother.
So, when the domestic market is almost opened up, Li Dong did not consider expanding the international business himself.
Yuan Chengdao nodded slightly. He took a deep breath and said, "You are right. We can lower our heads and make concessions, but you can't."
It is not only because of Li Dong, but also because Li Dong can represent more than half of Hua Xia's business world.
It is normal for professional managers to choose to compromise for their own interests.
But Li Dong is not just a businessman. He is an entrepreneur.
At Li Dong's level, he does not only represent Far Away. He is also a spiritual symbol.
That is why Li Dong said that he will not lower his head.
Even if he is deceiving himself, he will maintain his dignity.
Li Dong saw this and said with a smile, "It is good that you understand. Now that we have stepped into the international expansion, I will soon step down as the chairman of the board. Of course, the honorary chairman of the board is still necessary. In the future, the international expansion will be your decision, not mine. "
Since Li Dong does not want to lower his head, or rather, he is not willing to admit that all this is his intention, then it is necessary to withdraw from the Far Away decision-making system.
Although to entrepreneurs, this is not a big deal, and it is even an opportunity that many people want.
But ordinary people may not see it this way. And Li Dong also hopes that he can maintain his legend and strength.
At most, he will stand up and set things right. At least there will be a buffer.
Yuan Chengdao understood Li Dong's meaning, but he does not care too much. They are different from Li Dong. They do not need to consider the things that Li Dong considers.
Moreover, Li Dong's words indicated that the day of his departure was approaching.
Yuan Chengdao didn't continue on this topic. He continued, "Then, for the international expansion, we might have to adopt a cooperative model. What do you think?"
Li Dong laughed. "You all can decide for yourselves. If you all think it is feasible, then we will go with your plan. To me, it is a bonus if we can get some market share and profits overseas. After all, this is their territory, and it is good enough for us to get some benefits. "
This is Li Dong's true thoughts. No matter how chaotic China is, they are all one big family behind closed doors, and it is the same no matter who owns the territory.
But outside of Hua Xia, you will be an outsider. Even Microsoft, Google, and other powerful companies will have to put on airs in front of Hua Xia.
Most of the overseas companies in Hua Xia will choose to invest in joint ventures.
It is easy for a foreign company to establish a foothold in Hua Xia, but it is difficult for them to grow.
Yuan Chengdao and the rest had chosen the simpler path because they had no other choice. Far Away had started late, and it will be difficult for them to monopolize the market.
Choosing to cooperate had become a necessary path for Distance Marketing to develop internationally in the future.
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