Just as the outside world was paying attention to the battle between Far Away and Carrefour.
On April 18th, Far Away Technology, which had been quiet this year except for the announcement of financing, finally made some noise.
On April 18th, Far Away Mall, PP, Weibo, and Wan Tong finally broke through the barrier. The four services could be used with one account.
That was what Li Dong had wanted for a long time.
However, as Far Away's business and users increased, the original data center was not enough to provide such services for Far Away.
Before the new data center was built, Far Away could only choose to rent IDC services from Telecom.
With the support of IDC services from Telecom, Far Away finally had enough ability to break through the barrier.
For the first time, the four major business accounts were interconnected.
As if afraid that everyone was not surprised enough, Far Away Technology announced that Far Away Video had officially won the broadcasting rights of the Olympic Games.
Of course, it was only the broadcasting rights. It was impossible to have exclusive broadcasting rights.
In addition, Far Away Mall would soon merge with Wan Tong to officially open up the O2O market and further expand its online and offline business.
That was not all.
Far Away Technology had been holding back for a few months. Apart from the battle with Taobao at the end of last year, there had been no movement.
In the past few months, Far Away Technology had been investing in Far Away Technology. Naturally, it was impossible for that to be the case.
Far Away Technology also announced that from May 1st, they would officially launch the mobile versions of PP and Weibo.
As for the mall, the current mobile phones and the Internet could not support it.
With the launch of the mobile version, the merger of Far Away Mall and Wan Tong, the four major business accounts could be used, and they had won the broadcasting rights of the Olympic Games …
Far Away Technology amazed the world with a single brilliant move.
Of course, amateurs would just watch the show, while experts would see the artistry.
During the announcement of Far Away Technology's financing, there was suddenly so much noise. It was obvious that Li Dong was expressing his dissatisfaction.
He was telling the major investment banks that he was impatient.
If it dragged on, Far Away Technology might not continue to choose financing, just like last year.
Last year, the total valuation of Far Away Technology was only a little more than 2 billion US dollars. It had doubled in half a year.
If it dragged on any longer, Li Dong might not even be willing to pay double the price.
…
Li Dong was indeed dissatisfied.
These investment banks were too cautious, which made him a little annoyed and impatient.
It had been more than a month since the financing was announced in early March.
In March, he gave a floor limit of 30 billion yuan.
By mid-April, these organizations were still dawdling and waiting.
Li Dong knew what they were waiting for. They were waiting for Far away to run out of money. They were waiting for Far away to lower their heads and beg for help. Only then would they be able to reap greater benefits.
Was 30 billion RMB a lot?
It wasn't much at all. If converted to USD, it would only be 4.2 billion USD, and Weibo alone had quoted more than 1 billion USD.
The Far Away Mall and PP, the two major businesses, had offered more than 3 billion USD.
One had to know that the Merchant Shop and PP were not in the incubation stage, nor were they in the seed stage. They were already in the mature stage.
Even if it was not a backdoor listing, the mall and PP, which were launched on May 1, 2006, could be listed on their own in a year's time.
It was reasonable to say that a company that was about to be listed on the stock market would be scrambled for financing at this time.
Far Away did not become the first in these two major businesses, but their potential was not low. After the Merchant Shop merged with the Wanjia website, it might even surpass Taobao.
Under such circumstances, was 3 billion USD really appropriate?
Li Dong was too lazy to waste time with them. He finally understood that rushing was not a good deal.
Far Away's financing was not smooth. On the one hand, it was because the market environment was not good. On the other hand, it was because Li Dong's lack of money was too obvious.
Far Away spent money like water. He had just borrowed 10 billion last year, and he chose to raise funds in half a year. It was obvious that he was short of money, very short of money.
At this time, the investment banks naturally had to give it a try.
However, they did not understand Li Dong. In Li Dong's eyes, time was money.
If these people were more straightforward and straightforward, they could complete the financing quickly at this time and let them take advantage of it, Li Dong would accept it.
However, these people repeatedly delayed time, causing Li Dong to miss many opportunities. Even when Li Dong went out to borrow money, these people were still holding on. He was not going to take it anymore!
After the announcement, Li Dong asked Sun Tao to announce the new financing plan to the major investment banks.
The mall, PP, and Weibo did not accept a unified quotation or unified financing.
This meant that Li Dong was going to talk about the three major businesses one by one!
Okay, didn't you all look down on Second Brother? Let's not talk about the mall and PP first. Let's talk about Weibo first!
Weibo had more than 100 million registered users and 20 million daily active users. The number of Weibo posts per day was more than 25 million, and the advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2008 was 50 million.
50 million did not seem like a lot, and the monthly revenue was less than 20 million.
Don't forget that Weibo had only been online for a short period of time.
Far away Weibo had found an entry point in such a short period of time and realized profits. What did that mean?
No one would refute him if he said that he was the well-deserved leader of the country.
Even if Second Brother did not like it, the leader would like it, right?
Also, everyone had the ability to enter the market.
The value of the previous three businesses was too high, and some small and medium-sized institutions did not even have a chance to quote. The major investment banks had completely monopolized the market.
Now, Li Dong was giving others a chance. The more competitors there were, the more benefits the company would receive.
It was not that Li Dong did not think of this before. But at that time, he wanted to finish the business quickly and get the money in one go, which could help him.
But now, time was delayed, and Li Dong did not want to let those guys take advantage of him.
…
Far away Weibo Building.
The new financing plan was released, which meant that the major institutions were going to start quoting and competing again.
They had been talking for more than a month, and it was almost a waste of time.
Sun Tao was also exhausted for the past few days. He said tiredly, "The major investment banks are very unhappy. They think that we are cheating them, and they want us to give them an explanation."
Li Dong snorted. "What explanation? It's a good thing that I did not ask them for an explanation!
If I had known that the financing would not be successful, I would not have wasted time with them and delayed so many things.
Tell them that this financing is their last chance. It's fine if they don't want to enter, but even if they have financing in the future, Far away will blacklist them!
These days, they are not the only investment banks.
The financial crisis is coming, and the market environment is not good, but this is also an opportunity.
Many financial oligarchs have too much money to invest, and they can't spend it.
Moreover, the market environment is good, and they want to enter the technology market Far away with 30 billion? It's just a dream. "
Sun Tao smiled bitterly. The financing this time was getting more and more complicated.
Just as the two were chatting, Bai Su knocked on the door and entered.
Seeing Li Dong looking at her, Bai Su said softly, "General Manager Li, the financing project team just received a few letters of intent."
Li Dong looked at Sun Tao, and Sun Tao shook his head. "The proposal has just been announced, and I don't know who sent it."
But both of them knew that it was definitely not an ordinary institution for Bai Su to come and report so quickly.
Li Dong asked, "Who sent the letters of intent?"
Bai Su did not say anything, and she handed the letters of intent to Li Dong.
Li Dong picked up the one on top and looked at it. Then, he said with some familiarity, "Horizons Venture Investment Fund?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Tao asked curiously, "Mr. Li's private fund?"
The Mr. Li he was talking about was obviously not Li Dong.
But Li Dong immediately understood and asked in surprise, "Victoria Harbor Investment Fund?"
"Yes. I didn't expect a golden phoenix to be attracted after the division." Sun Tao smiled and said, "Looks like Weibo is quite popular."
Of course, Sun Tao was not surprised or surprised.
Victoria Harbor Investment Fund had been spreading its net for the past few years, and Old Li's confidantes helped him invest around the world.
At the end of last year, Victoria Harbor Investment Fund even invested 60 million USD in Facebook.
Now, it was not strange for Victoria Harbor to be on China's Weibo.
Although it was not strange, Sun Tao still asked curiously, "What's the price Mr. Li is offering? He is the richest man in China, and he's rich … "
Li Dong rolled his eyes. Sun Tao must be joking with him.
Rich people might be rich, but they are not fools. They will not think their money comes from nothing.
As Li Dong expected, Victoria Harbor's price was not high, 1 billion USD.
In fact, this price had already been exceeded in the subsequent negotiations.
Now, Victoria Harbor's offer of 1 billion USD was not surprising.
Li Dong knocked on the table and thought for a while. "Director Sun, do you think we can negotiate?"
The price given by Victoria Port was not high, but who asked Old Li to be so famous?
This time, money was not the most important thing, but fame.
Using Old Li's name to advertise, the effect should not be too bad.
Sun Tao had the same thoughts as him and nodded. "We can negotiate, but we cannot give up too many shares. We just need to express our intentions and show that the other party is participating. If not, we will just work for them. "
"That's true." Li Dong smiled. "We can negotiate, and it's a good start. Money is not the most important thing. I can accept 1 billion USD, but it depends on the other party's appetite. If they want too much, I will not agree. If they want less, we can continue negotiating. I need their name, and they need the benefits. This is the best way to cooperate. "
Sun Tao nodded. "Then I will contact Victoria Harbor's side."
"Ok." Li Dong smiled. "They gave me a surprise with the first document. I want to see who is the second one."
As he spoke, Li Dong picked up the second document.
After taking a look, Li Dong chuckled. "It is indeed a surprise. Guess who is it?"
Sun Tao smiled bitterly. "How do I guess? Give me a hint."
"Internet company."
"Internet company …" Sun Tao thought for a while, and his eyes lit up. "Baidu?"
"Correct!"
Li Dong did not ask him how he guessed it. It was not hard to guess.
There were only a few well-known Internet companies. Ali would not invest in Far away. Tencent was planning to develop Weibo, and they would not invest in Far away.
The only company that might invest in Far away was Baidu.
Far away had discussed with Baidu last year, but it fell through.
Now that Baidu was interested in Weibo, Li Dong was not surprised, but he was still happy. "Not bad. It's a good advertising gimmick. Both Victoria Harbor and Baidu are interested in Weibo. This alone is enough to advertise. Similarly, I am not interested in Baidu's money. I am interested in technical support. We can discuss more with Baidu. "
Sun Tao nodded. Far away had been hoping to get technical support from Baidu.
As the largest search engine in the country, Baidu's users far exceeded Far away and Ali.
If they could get technical support from Baidu, it did not matter if Weibo did not make money.
After looking at the first two companies, Li Dong was looking forward to the third one.
Bai Su had sent a total of three letters of intent. The last one would definitely not be worse than the first two.
When Li Dong opened the document and took a look, he shook his head and laughed. "Alright, this is interesting. I did not expect Weibo to attract so much attention. SoftBank sent it. Our three businesses are packaged, and they will not support the development of our shopping mall. But Weibo has no business conflict with the shopping mall. Now that we have split it, SoftBank actually came. "
Far away's three businesses were packaged. In order not to affect Ali, SoftBank was tempted, but they did not make a move.
Now that Li Dong wanted to talk about it, SoftBank was tempted.
Li Dong was slightly pleased, but he soon heard Sun Tao shake his head. "SoftBank is not easy to discuss."
"What do you mean?"
"General Manager Li, don't forget our goal. The financing money is to be diverted to other projects.
SoftBank only wants Weibo. How can they agree to us diverting it?
If we use the money on the shopping mall or supermarkets, the result will be the same. Far Away Mall will only become stronger.
If it were Ali's other small investment institutions, it would be fine. Both investments will have the same losses and profits.
SoftBank is different. They have invested too much in Ali, and they are too deeply involved.
They don't want to see our shopping mall prosper, so the financing money will only be used on Weibo. "
At this moment, Li Dong also sobered up. He nodded and said, "That's true. In that case, there's no room for discussion with SoftBank?"
Sun Tao smiled and said, "We can still discuss. Just like what you said, even if we can't reach an agreement, we can advertise it. Ali's biggest investor has their eyes on Far Away Mall. What do you think everyone will think if this news gets out? Of course, let's not talk about Weibo. If we speak vaguely, people will Association it to the shopping mall. "
Li Dong gave a thumbs up and said, "I didn't expect you to learn this now. Not bad!"
Sun Tao couldn't help laughing, and Bai Su also laughed.
After reading three letters of intent, Li Dong was in a good mood. Whether it succeeds or not, at least Weibo's fame will be completely spread.
Victoria, Baidu, and SoftBank are not fools, and they are well-known. If they are all optimistic about Weibo, doesn't it mean that Weibo has a bright future?
Li Dong laughed for a while before saying, "Let's settle this quickly. We can't drag it any longer. Carrefour is still waiting for money."
Sun Tao quickly nodded and regained his composure.
This time, they really can't drag it any longer. If they drag it any longer, Li Dong might doubt his ability to execute.
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