Chapter 1109 Hostile Takeover
Song Yuanchao sipped his tea and listened quietly to Shi Lei's story.
He really had never had much dealings with Shi Lei. Apart from the two of them meeting in business occasions and exchanging a few polite greetings, there had been no deeper contact between them.
Moreover, the main business of Shi Lei's company is different from Shenghua. Shenghua is based on industry and high-tech industries. Shenghua was first established in the textile industry, and then moved into industries such as fast-moving consumer goods, communication equipment, electronics and computer services. In recent years, it has also been involved in some investments in the Internet industry, covering several major industries.
But Shi Lei's company started out in real estate. As early as the late 1980s, Shi Lei, as one of the company's founders, made his first fortune by relying on the booming real estate market in Qiongdao. Then he decisively withdrew before the real estate bubble in eastern Qiongdao burst, and moved to other inland cities, gradually growing bigger and stronger.
Although Shenghua also has real estate business, it is only a supplement to the overall business and does not account for a large proportion. In addition, Song Yuanchao's view on real estate is different from other businessmen, so Shenghua is essentially different from other companies focusing on the real estate industry.
Compared with Shenghua, Shi Lei's company is closer to Liu's company. The way they operate and make money is very similar, and they can be said to belong to the same type of business structure. From this point of view, it is normal for Shi Lei and Liu to know each other and have a close relationship.
After leaving Qiongdao Market, Shi Lei's company has been doing very well and is quite famous among domestic real estate companies. Although it is not as large as Liu and Hu Yaoqing, it is still quite good as one of the leading real estate companies.
In addition to real estate operations, Shi Lei's company also operates some local municipal facilities, such as municipal opening and public transportation projects, which have made quite good progress in recent years.
Although Song Yuanchao had never had an in-depth discussion with Shi Lei, as a colleague in the business community, he still knew this.
Originally, Song Yuanchao thought that Shi Lei came to him through Da Liu today because of issues related to the real estate business. When he saw Shi Lei appear, the first thing he thought of was Shenghua’s recent real estate projects. He was also wondering whether that project conflicted with Shi Lei’s company, which led to today’s meeting.
But what Song Yuanchao didn't expect was that Shi Lei didn't mention any real estate projects when he first opened his mouth, nor did he mention any direct business conflicts between his company and Shenghua Real Estate. Instead, he first talked about the situation of his own company, including his company's current structure, the company's valuation and operating conditions, etc. Song Yuanchao was completely confused by what he heard.
"Wait, Mr. Shi, what do you mean by telling me this?" Song Chaoyuan raised his hand to stop Shi Lei from continuing, frowning and asking, "You don't want to sell the company, do you? I remember that you are about the same age as me, and it's still a few years before retirement. Don't you plan to continue working? Are you ready to retire now?"
"Of course not, Boss Song. This matter is very complicated to explain, and I have to give you a detailed and comprehensive explanation. I have a request. Can you please listen to me patiently?" Shi Lei's expression showed a bit of embarrassment, and he said to Song Yuanchao with a stiff upper lip.
Song Yuanchao thought about it and did not refuse his request. After all, Shi Lei was also a well-known figure in the business world, and today he had the face of Liu Da.
Seeing Song Yuanchao nod, Shi Lei felt relieved and continued to talk. After he told Song Yuanchao the details of his company, including some things that outsiders didn't know, Shi Lei took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over with both hands.
"Boss Song, these are my company's current information and data. I can guarantee that what I just said, including the information in the data, is completely true. You can find someone to verify it at will."
"Mr. Shi, I still don't quite understand what you mean. You tell me all this, and what is the real purpose of this thing? Just now I asked you if you wanted to sell the company, but your answer was no. If that's the case, then why are you telling me all this?" Song Yuanchao did not look at the document, but left it on the coffee table in front of him. He reached out and tapped on the document, and asked curiously.
Shi Lei looked a little confused, as if he was thinking about something. Soon he seemed to have made up his mind and said through gritted teeth: "You are right, I do want to give you an explanation. Since Boss Liu introduced you to me, and as a colleague in the business world, I have always admired you and Shenghua. To tell you the truth, I asked Boss Liu to meet you today because I hope you can help me and lend a hand to me and my company..."
"Help you?" Song Yuanchao was even more puzzled. Although he was confused when Shi Lei was introducing the company's situation just now, he listened carefully. If he heard correctly, Shi Lei's company was in good operating condition, and there were no problems with the various projects under the company's name. The company also had sufficient funds. Although the company had a certain debt ratio overall, as a real estate company, the debt ratio was very normal. As long as there was no problem overall and it did not reach the red line, it would be fine.
"Yes!" Boss Shi said bitterly, "I have run into difficulties, or to be more precise, a hurdle. If I can't get over this hurdle, all my efforts over the past twenty years will go to waste. Not only that, but in the end, the company will no longer belong to me..."
"That's not right. I remember that you are the actual controller of the company. Since there is no problem with the capital chain of your company, how could this happen?" Song Yuanchao asked puzzledly.
Shi Lei sighed, shook his head and told Song Yuanchao that he was indeed the actual controller of the company, but the problem was that his personal shareholding in the company was not high, and he did not even have absolute control. Moreover, unlike Shenghua, his company had a very complex shareholding structure, and because of historical reasons, it was still a mixed ownership equity.
In addition, his company is a listed company with a large number of circulating shares in the secondary market. There are also many old employees, including senior executives, who own some original shares. The shareholding ratio is quite dispersed, which also leads to the inherent deficiencies of the entire company in this structure.
If there were no external forces, the company's structure would not be a big problem, after all, the company's operations were still very good. But not long ago, Shi Lei suddenly discovered that someone was quietly buying a large number of the company's stocks in the secondary market, thereby raising the company's stock price. When he found this problem and investigated it carefully, a new problem emerged, that is, the senior executives and individuals who owned part of the original equity in the company were also selling their shares. When this information was fed back to Shi Lei, Shi Lei instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
As the actual controller, Shi Lei does not actually hold many shares directly. Once more shares are in the hands of others, it will threaten his position as the actual controller of the company. At that time, the other party will complete the layout and directly initiate a temporary board of directors, and then use more shares than him to directly drive him out of his current position, thus completely losing control of the company.
How could Shi Lei be willing to accept such a situation? He was the founder of the company and it took him more than 20 years to build the company to its current size. If this happened, all his efforts would be in vain. Not only would he lose his position in the company, but the company would no longer be his own.
"So you're saying that someone is maliciously acquiring your company?" Song Yuanchao asked back.
"Yes." Shi Lei nodded.
"Is this certain?" Song Yuanchao asked again.
Shi Lei continued to nod: "Of course, all kinds of information have confirmed this. If it weren't for this reason, I wouldn't have come to you for help."
Song Yuanchao was a little surprised by this. He thought for a moment and asked again, "From your introduction to the company just now, your company's cash flow is still very sufficient. In this case, you can definitely conduct a counter-acquisition. Didn't you do that?"
Shi Lei smiled bitterly: "Boss Song, I have already done so." He paused and explained: "But at present, the other party is coming fiercely, and they have been prepared for a long time. If I am not wrong, the other party is definitely not impulsive, but carefully planned. The company's anti-takeover has begun, but the company's existing cash flow cannot support such a large-scale anti-takeover. You also know the business structure of our company. Once all funds are invested in anti-takeover, many of the company's projects will be suspended. Once the project is suspended, the consequences will be quite serious, and it will even be directly reflected in the secondary market. This is definitely not a good thing for us."
Song Yuanchao thought about it and nodded. He admitted that Shi Lei's consideration was correct. Shi Lei's company's market value was not low. In addition, if Shi Lei wanted to conduct a counter-acquisition and win the battle for the company with the other party, the price he would pay would be very huge.
This is a huge amount of money, and I'm afraid Shi Lei and his company can't afford it. The key is that the proportion of company shares that Shi Lei and his people can control is too low. In addition, due to some other considerations, Shi Lei has been deliberately suppressing his company's stock price over the years, making the company's stock price remain at a relatively low level for a long time. The combination of these factors has given people a loophole, so they took advantage of it and caught Shi Lei off guard.
"Boss Shi, I remember that your company has a good relationship with the local government, and the local government is also one of your company's shareholders. Have you ever considered asking for help from the local government in this situation?"
"I've considered it and asked for help, but..." Shi Lei sighed and shook his head, "Local governments are local governments after all, especially when there are risks. They usually won't take action. This involves some special issues, and I think you know that, Boss Song."
After hesitating for a moment, Shi Lei continued, "And I discovered another problem when I was in contact with the local authorities. There are some special people behind the capital that invested in my company. Because of this, I completely gave up this path. I really have no choice but to ask you for help."
