Chen Lang and the Carrefour representative talked for a long time.
Both sides still couldn't reach an agreement, mainly because of the money.
A few hundred million RMB wasn't a small amount. It was a huge figure for any company, even if Carrefour was the world's second largest retailer.
In the end, Chen Lang said with a regretful expression, "It seems like we can only stop here today. But I'm afraid our chairman isn't very patient. He has been urging us to speed up the negotiation. If there's no progress, Far Away might give up on this negotiation and continue with the previous promotions. Every day that this drags on, Carrefour is losing millions of RMB. I don't agree with the chairman's opinion, but I can't do anything at this time. I'm sorry. "
In business negotiations, they could threaten and entice others if they could.
Anything that could be useful could be taken out to try.
Carrefour wasn't willing to lower the price, and Chen Lang didn't mind using Li Dong to scare them.
As for whether it could scare them, it was hard to say, but it would definitely affect them a little.
After all, Li Dong had dealt a heavy blow to Carrefour several times before.
As expected, Luo Guowei and the rest's expressions changed.
Especially Luo Guowei, who angrily said, "Chen, negotiations can't be done in a day or two. We need time! Also, it won't benefit Far Away if we do this. If Carrefour's stores continue to suffer losses, Far Away won't be able to reverse the situation even if the negotiation succeeds. "
Chen Lang sighed, "I understand that, Mr. Luo. Unfortunately, Far Away belongs to the chairman. Far Away belongs to us, and we're just professional managers. We can't change the chairman's mind.
You should be clear about this when we fought against Su Guo back then.
We can't change the chairman's mind when he decides to do something.
Now that there's no progress in our negotiation with Carrefour, we have reason to suspect that you're deliberately stalling for time.
Also, the impact of the financial crisis is getting bigger and bigger, and the retail business is also affected.
If you don't quickly integrate the resources, we won't be willing to continue the negotiation even if you want to leave.
Mr. Luo, I hope that Carrefour can consider the reality.
Now that you are in a deadlock with us for some petty profits, I am worried that Carrefour will suffer even greater losses. "
Luo Guowei frowned and said after a long time, "We need time to think about it."
"This is your right, but I hope we can reach a consensus in the next round of negotiations. Otherwise, we'll just be wasting each other's time. "
Since the formal negotiation was over, Luo Guowei didn't have to stay calm anymore. He was annoyed and said, "You should've asked that stingy Li to give us a price that's more in line with Carrefour, instead of using threats to force us."
"Mr. Luo, you can talk to our Chairman about this." Chen Lang smiled.
Luo Guowei shrugged. "Forget it then. I heard that Li has a bad temper. I'm worried that he won't be able to control himself."
When he said that, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Chen Lang also smiled and continued, "I will convey President Luo's opinion. The price can be discussed, but what we need is speed and progress. The earlier we reach an agreement, the better for all of us. "
At this time, there was no need to insist on 11.2 billion.
Initially, Chen Lang's target price was above 11.6 billion. Since Tesco didn't increase it later, Chen Lang wasn't in a hurry to increase it.
Now that he gave in, there was still room for negotiation.
Otherwise, if things really went bad and the negotiation ended, it wouldn't be beneficial for Far Away.
Far Away had too many things to do now. How could they have the time and money to continue fighting with Carrefour? What he said before was just to scare them.
Luo Guowei nodded. "I hope we can see Far Away's sincerity next time. Similarly, Carrefour has always been sincere."
"I hope so."
Chen Lang and Luo Guowei shook hands and left with their people.
When they walked out of the conference room, Chen Lang took out his phone and called Li Dong.
When the call connected, Chen Lang smiled. "General Manager Li, it's almost done."
…
At the hotel.
Li Dong had just returned to his room when he received Chen Lang's call.
When Chen Lang said that it was almost done, Li Dong was a little surprised. "So fast?"
Both sides had only started the negotiation in May. It hadn't even been a month, and Li Dong didn't expect the progress to be so fast.
Yes, it was fast.
Usually, it was normal for such a large-scale business negotiation to be in a deadlock for a year or two.
Now, it had been less than a month, and Chen Lang actually said that it was almost done.
Chen Lang wasn't someone who liked to brag, and he wouldn't brag about this matter. Obviously, there was a breakthrough, or he wouldn't say that.
After Chen Lang explained the reason, Li Dong couldn't help but ask, "People from the Ministry of Commerce?"
He really didn't know about this. He hadn't paid much attention to them these few days.
Chen Lang smiled. "Actually, I wasn't the one who invited him. A few days ago, I attended a government banquet, and this person took the initiative to mention this matter. It would be a waste not to use the resources that were delivered to my doorstep. That's why this happened. "
Li Dong touched his chin. "Is this his personal will or the intention of the Ministry of Commerce?"
"It's hard to say. But I think it's more likely that the Ministry of Commerce wants to facilitate this negotiation. After all, Far Away represents a national enterprise in the department store industry, and the government actually doesn't want foreign investors to continue growing. Now that Carrefour has taken the initiative to withdraw, and Far Away is interested in taking over, they can also ensure that the situation is stable. The Ministry of Commerce might have considered this and decided to speed up the process. "
Li Dong said, "Forget it, let's not care about them. Anyway, it's fine as long as it's not harmful to us. Does that mean that we might be able to achieve our goal in the next negotiation? "
Chen Lang thought for a moment. "That's hard to say. But at most, there will be two or three more negotiations before we succeed. I'm still confident about this. As for the price, I estimate it to be around 11.5 billion. "
"This price is barely acceptable. It's not much different from our estimation, so I can accept it. If we really reach this price range and reach an agreement on other aspects, you can directly make the decision to sign the agreement. "
Li Dong then added, "But Carrefour must guarantee that we can take over and integrate the company as soon as possible. You're the king of mergers and acquisitions, so you don't need me to guide you. But we're running out of time, and we don't have much time to take over. If we succeed now, I'm thinking of completing the integration before the end of the year and integrate Carrefour into Far Away's system. "
Chen Lang suddenly felt the pressure on him. Business negotiations aren't difficult.
Li Dong's request for the price was not too harsh, and it wouldn't be difficult to acquire Carrefour if they can reach an agreement on this.
But it's a huge problem to integrate Carrefour's over a hundred branches into Far Away's system within half a year.
Although Chen Lang was confident, he wasn't confident in this matter.
Even if he wasn't confident, Chen Lang still replied, "Don't worry, I will do my best!"
"That's good."
Li Dong softened his tone and looked at Shen Qian. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he lowered his voice, "Did she encounter any trouble?"
Before Li Dong left, he gave Chen Lang's number to Yuan Xue.
Li Dong wasn't at ease leaving Yuan Xue alone in Shanghai.
Furthermore, he wouldn't stay there all the time, and Li Dong wouldn't be able to fly over if he encountered any trouble.
After some pondering, Li Dong still gave Chen Lang's number to Yuan Xue and instructed Chen Lang to take care of Yuan Xue.
Chen Lang was now the person in charge of Far Away's branch in Shanghai, and he could even enter the City Government to discuss matters with the mayor.
With Chen Lang around, most matters could be resolved.
Chen Lang did not ask about the relationship between Yuan Xue and Li Dong. Sometimes, it would be troublesome if he asked too much.
It's just taking care of a girl, and she's not a dangerous person, so Chen Lang felt that he could take care of her.
Furthermore, the fact that his boss gave him such a private matter meant that they were close.
Upon hearing Li Dong's question, Chen Lang immediately said, "No, we didn't encounter any trouble. It just so happens that there's one of our hypermarkets over there. I've asked the security guards of the hypermarkets to patrol there more at night.
"Alright, I'll hang up now."
Li Dong didn't say anything else and hung up the phone.
Li Dong heaved a sigh of relief, and he felt a lot more relaxed.
Carrefour's matter was almost settled, and OPPO's controlling stake was about to be completed. Next, if he could reach strategic agreements with a few other manufacturers, Faraway Supermarket's cost would also be reduced.
Everything was going in a good direction. Of course, it would be even better if he didn't have to spend money.
…
June 7th, Li Dong went straight to Guangzhou.
Guangzhou and Dongguan weren't far apart, and it was only an hour's drive.
In recent years, there were many new cities in the country, and many of them had successfully transformed or achieved outstanding development in certain aspects.
However, no matter how famous the other cities were, Guangzhou had always been one of the top cities in the country.
As the provincial capital of Guangdong Province and the international business center, Guangzhou's geographical and strategic location was very important.
At the same time, there were also many famous companies here.
Especially the internet companies. Tencent didn't count in Shenzhen, but there were also NetEase, UC, Kugou, and Huaduo Network Technology Co., Ltd. Huaduo was the parent company of YY.
Other than these existing internet companies, there was also a project that could change the future.
WeChat was born in Guangzhou.
Zhang Xiaolong, who was known as the father of WeChat, was currently in charge of the QQ email project in Guangzhou. It wasn't a very high position.
Tencent had a lot of business groups, and QQ was only one of them.
Zhang Xiaolong was currently in charge of the development of QQ email, which was an insignificant position.
Even the CEOs of some business groups Far away were more famous than Zhang Xiaolong in the internet industry.
No one would have thought that the unknown Zhang Xiaolong would come up with WeChat a few years later. He would amaze the world with a single brilliant feat!
Of course, the development of WeChat couldn't be attributed to Zhang Xiaolong alone. In fact, before WeChat appeared, Xiaomi had already developed a similar Mi Chats software.
However, if one were to trace back further, both Mi Chats and WeChat could be said to have borrowed from a software called Kik.
However, regardless of whether they borrowed from others or not, WeChat's popularity was real.
Some of the improvements that Zhang Xiaolong made were more suitable for the people in the country. It was obvious that Zhang Xiaolong had good strategic foresight.
Most importantly, Li Dong didn't know who had developed Mi Chats. Even Xiaomi was nowhere to be found, let alone looking for the person.
Kik was developed by a foreign team, and Li Dong was even more clueless.
All in all, Zhang Xiaolong, who had a name and an address, was the most suitable candidate.
Now that the 3G era was coming, and the iPhone 3G would be released in a month, it was time to develop WeChat.
Even though Li Dong knew that developing WeChat was not difficult, it was creativity that was difficult.
However, he didn't care. He would poach Zhang Xiaolong if he could. He shouldn't give Tencent a chance.
He wasn't a match for Tencent in the PC market. If he kept Zhang Xiaolong in Tencent, he might cause trouble for himself in the future.
He might as well take drastic measures and poach Zhang Xiaolong into his own company.
In any case, Zhang Xiaolong was only the head of a third-level department. He wasn't famous, and Brother Ma wouldn't care if someone like him was poached away.
Li Dong only had a few objectives for coming to Guangzhou this time: signing a strategic agreement with Li Bai, gathering with his business school classmates, and poaching Zhang Xiaolong.
Not long after Li Dong and his group arrived at the hotel, Li Dong's phone rang.
The call was from Chen Kaixuan. Old Chen was exceptionally happy and said excitedly, "Dongzi, where are you now?"
"I just arrived at the hotel." Li Dong laughed.
Chen Kaixuan hurriedly said, "Which hotel? Dongzi, you're treating me like an outsider. You even booked your own hotel when you're here. Do you think I won't let you stay there? If not, just stay at my house!"
Li Dong instantly laughed and said, "Big Brother Chen, you're the one who said that. I brought more than ten people with me this time. I'll check out now and stay at your house later."
"Hahaha, Dongzi, don't bully me. If it's more than ten people, then so be it. If it's not enough, I'll sleep on the floor. I guarantee that everyone will be able to stay."
The two joked for a while before Li Dong continued, "I'm at Shangri-La Hotel now."
"Alright, I'll be there soon. Let's have lunch together."
After saying this, Chen Kaixuan immediately hung up.
Li Dong laughed. Chen Kaixuan was quite impatient.
Old Chen was 50 years old this year. When he was in business school, his relationship with Li Dong was average.
But now that they were working together, their relationship became better.
That was how it was in business. Relationships didn't come out of nowhere. If you couldn't bring benefits to everyone, why would others want to curry favor with you?
Li Dong wasn't weak, and neither was Chen Kaixuan.
Li Bai was now a household name in the country. In terms of assets, he might not be as rich as Far away, but his reputation wasn't any worse than Far away.
Chen Kaixuan's net worth was less than Li Dong's, but he was still a billionaire. Naturally, he didn't need to curry favor with Li Dong.
Of course, it was different now.
The two families had signed a strategic cooperation agreement. They would be working partners in the future. Plus, they were classmates, so they naturally had to be closer.
Thinking of this, Li Dong couldn't help but touch his chin.
It had to be said that their relationship as classmates had brought him quite a lot of benefits.
He didn't go to business school often, but he had signed a strategic agreement with Huiyuan. After that, Guangming and Mengniu also had the same idea, but because of the milk powder issue, the two of them didn't have the time to talk about it.
In addition to Li Bai, Yang Shaopeng, who helped with shipping, and Lan Xingguo from Sichuan Airlines …
A business school brought Li Dong countless connections. No wonder that guy Ma Yun later founded Lakeside University. Xiangjiang's Old Li also founded a business school. These were all rare resources.
But a business school wasn't something ordinary people could do. At least, the current Li Dong didn't have the qualifications.
If he didn't have enough reputation, he would become a laughing stock.
When the time came, not many people would come to participate, and he would become a laughing stock.
Even Ma Yun later didn't have enough influence on his own. He pulled a large group of successful entrepreneurs to open Lakeside University.
Shaking his head, Li Dong didn't think about it anymore. This kind of thing could wait until he had enough status in the future.
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