Media Tycoon since 1999

Chapter 379 Strong Acquisition of Kuxun
On April 4, Saturday, Gao Yang stayed at home with his children and played golf with Ding Lei, Li Yan and others in the morning.

As soon as I got up after lunch break, I received a call from Chen Hexiang.

Chen Hexiang was a little frustrated: "Mr. Gao, I'm sorry, I asked a friend to help me get in touch at noon. I met with the founder of Kuxun, Chen Hua, and I couldn't talk. Chen Hua has no intention of transferring this project..."

Gao Yang said: "Hexiang, come to my house and talk about it in detail. My house is on Wanliu's side, and the neighborhood is called Wanliu Huafu."

At 3:[-] in the afternoon, Chen Hexiang arrived at Wanliu Hua Mansion, Gao Yang found a nearby hotel, and the two sat down to drink coffee.

Chen Hexiang reported: "Mr. Gao, I invited Chen Hua to dinner at noon, and my friend was with me. At that time, I proposed that 51.com wanted to acquire Kuxun. Chen Hua directly spoke up, saying that he had no intention of transferring this project, and his attitude was very firm."

Gao Yang asked: "Have you talked to him about the project valuation?"

Chen Hexiang shook his head: "I don't have a chance to talk about this. My intuitive feeling is that Chen Hua is very arrogant."

"Arrogance?" Gao Yang smiled, "What is this person's background?"

Chen Hexiang said: "It's amazing. I graduated with a master's degree in computer science from Peking University in 2004. During my postgraduate study, I started to do research and development part-time. The main direction is search engine technology.

He helped Beijing University build a file search engine, and helped a company develop an IM software, which is UU Tong.

After graduating from graduate school, Chen Hua entered Microsoft Research Asia and worked as a core member of Chinese, shopping and paper search engines. He also went to Microsoft headquarters to participate in the development of search codes.

My friend said that in terms of search engine technology, Chen Hua is a top technical talent.

In addition, another important reason for Chen Hua's reluctance to transfer the Kuxun project is that he just received a $3 million venture capital investment in March..."

"Top talent, arrogant?" Gao Yang smiled, "Developing a search engine, is there anyone in China who can catch up with Brother Yan and Baidu? This is Guangwen's junior, how many people does Kuxun now have?"

Chen Hexiang said: "There are nearly 50 people, including 40 technicians. At the beginning of the establishment, Kuxun only had less than 20 people. After raising 200 million US dollars, 30 people were recruited at once."

Gao Yang thought for a while: "How about this, you can contact this Chen Hua again, I'll go talk to him, and when the appointment is made, I'll inform Fang Jian, Jin Yang and He Guangwen to go together."

Chen Hexiang said: "Mr. Gao, with your position in the industry, what if..."

Gao Yang shook his head and smiled: "Don't worry, there is a high probability that Chen Hua is willing to see me. As long as it is a start-up and a company, it is nothing more than a matter of valuation and price. If you make an appointment, please ask him to bring the name you mentioned yesterday. An engineer called Zhang Yiming, let's get to know each other."

Chen Hexiang said: "Okay, Mr. Gao, I will contact you as soon as possible."

In the evening, when Chen Hua received a call from Chen Hexiang, she was startled at first. She didn't expect that for a small company like Kuxun, a bigwig like Gao Yang would personally arrange a dinner.

In just two or three years, 51 Group has risen rapidly like a myth in the Internet industry. In the eyes of many people in the circle, Gao Yang has already become an image of an industry leader.

Chen Hua is arrogant, but he is not stupid. After all, Gao Yang is the boss of Group 51, and he has a very good friendship with Ding Lei and Li Yan. Boss Gao took the initiative to make an appointment for dinner, and Chen Hua is not so arrogant as to not save face.

So, Chen Hexiang made an agreement with Chen Hua to have dinner on Monday night, April 4th, and Chen Hexiang asked Chen Hua to bring Zhang Yiming with him.

Chen Hua didn't think much about it either, Zhang Yiming was the technical backbone of the company, and Chen Hua was used to bringing Zhang Yiming along for this kind of dinner.

On the evening of April 4th, Gao Yang once again went to the Capital Club for dinner. Chen Hexiang rushed to the club early, waiting for Chen Hua and Zhang Yiming.

Chen Hua didn't dare to show off, and arrived at 6 o'clock in the evening at the appointed time, 10 minutes early.

He Cheng, the client director of the Capital Club, is now the executive general manager of the club. When he heard that Boss Gao was coming to the club for dinner tonight, he also greeted him in person, and treated Chen Hexiang very kindly.

Seeing this, Chen Hua was also secretly surprised. The boss Gao of the 51 Group has a lot of energy.

At 5:55, Gao Yang and his entourage arrived at the club, and He Cheng, with a smile and respect all over his face, quickly stepped forward to greet him and exchange some pleasantries.

Next, it was Chen Hexiang's turn to introduce Chen Hua and Zhang Yiming to Gao Yang and the others.

Gao Yang was also smiling all over his face, and shook hands with the two of them.

Chen Hua is only 27 years old this year, and Zhang Yiming is even less than 23 years old. In front of Gao Yang and others, they are all young people.

Gao Yang, Fang Jian, Jin Yang, and He Guangwen are all high school classmates and born in 74. They are already or will soon turn 32 this year.

Sitting at the dinner table and starting to drink and eat, Gao Yang asked with a smile: "Mr. Chen, today we at 51 Group, except for Hexiang, the four of us are all high school classmates. I heard that Mr. Chen graduated from Peking University. You and us are promoted to Both Zong Zong and Mr. He are alumni."

Chen Hua smiled and said, "Yes, Mr. Jin and Mr. He, I have admired their names for a long time, especially Mr. He, who is in the same academy as me, so I have to call Mr. He a senior brother..."

When eating and drinking, it is natural to chat mainly about the development of the Internet industry and the rapid rise of the 51 Group.

Under Gao Yang's instruction, Fang Jian focused on introducing the overall development and strategic layout of 51 Group, while Jin Yang focused on introducing 51.com.

After dinner, they moved to the private tea room of the club, and the two parties sat down and began to formally chat about 51 Group's plan to acquire Kuxun.

Gao Yang took the initiative to speak: "Mr. Chen, Hexiang, on behalf of 51.com, approached Kuxun Company to discuss the acquisition. I heard that Mr. Chen is unwilling to sell this project. I don't know what Mr. Chen thinks specifically?"

Chen Hua said: "Mr. Gao, Kuxun is just a start-up company that focuses on the development of life-related search engine platforms. Compared with Kuxun, the strength and scale of 51 Group have already made us look up to the mountains.

It’s not easy to start a business on the Internet nowadays. Does Mr. Gao also like to play the capital game that some big companies in the industry are used to, where big fish eat small fish? "

Gao Yang smiled and said: "Mr. Chen, you really misunderstood. Kuxun focuses on the development of life-related search engines, and 51.com is currently the only one-city life-related website in China. Our two companies have natural complementary advantages.

From the perspective of the 51 Group, we will not play any capital games where the big fish eat the small fish. The 51 Group and its peers have always treated people with sincerity and sought sincere cooperation.

51 Group has developed very fast. Since the establishment of the 51.com project, venture capital institutions have been approaching us to seek capital cooperation. We have never accepted a single venture capital investment.

From the perspective of business ethics, what 51 Group pursues is to cooperate, to do good, and to work with partners to promote the development of the entire industry, rather than to use capital advantages to do evil.

Therefore, although the various projects established by the 51 Group have developed very well, they have never been acquired by any large company. This is also the reason why the 51 Group has reached strategic partnerships with Yiwang and Baidu. "

Chen Hua said: "Thank you Mr. Gao for being so open and honest. However, Kuxun is not short of funds and has sufficient technical strength. We still want to run this company independently."

Gao Yang said: "Mr. Chen, let's open the skylight and speak clearly. 51.com has a lot of room for development. Within two years, we will cover major prefecture-level cities across the country. By then, the employees of this project may It will reach 4000 people.

As a life application website, our business lines are divided into five major directions, and search engine technology is also something that 51.com must pay attention to and vigorously develop.

In contrast, Kuxun's business scope is very narrow. In terms of search engine technology, 51 Group has a strategic partnership with Baidu. It is not difficult for 51.com to develop a search engine like Kuxun. It only needs to organize With technical strength, we cooperated with Baidu to tackle the problem and solved it in a few months.

At that time, 51 Tongcheng and Kuxun will form a direct competitive relationship. With the traffic advantages of 51 Tongcheng and 51 Group, as well as their industry status, once we compete directly, it will not be difficult to judge who will win and who will lose, right? "

Facing Gao Yang's straightforwardness, Chen Hua finally let go of her arrogance, and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Gao, I have to admit that 51 Group has a huge competitive advantage."

Gao Yang said: "Mr. Chen, although we are seeking to acquire Kuxun, it is only a superficial form. The purpose is to cooperate sincerely with the entire team of Kuxun to make the 51.com project bigger and stronger. We are looking for about 5 years to achieve an IPO.

The purpose of starting a business is naturally to become bigger and stronger, and then use the capital market to further grow.With Kuxun's current business model, even if it takes another ten years, it may not be able to develop to the level of an IPO. "

Faced with Gao Yang's dominance, Chen Hua thought about it seriously, and tentatively said, "Mr. Gao, if 51 Tongcheng acquires Kuxun as a whole, what valuation level can Kuxun be given?"

Gao Yang asked: "I heard that Mr. Chen just raised 200 million US dollars?"

Chen Hua said: "Yes, the financing was obtained in mid-March, and it was invested by Lianchuang Fund."

Gao Yang thought about it: "Then we give Kuxun a valuation of 4000 million, which is close to 500 million US dollars. What does Mr. Chen think?"

Chen Hua smiled slightly: "Mr. Gao, to be honest, 4000 million is an underestimation of the value of Kuxun."

Gao Yang didn't take it seriously, and slowly increased his stake to 6000 million, but Chen Hua still shook his head.

In fact, if he really wanted to sell a small company like Kuxun that had only been established for three months, Chen Hua also knew that 3 million would already be a sky-high price.

Unexpectedly, Gao Yang suddenly said: "Mr. Chen, let's say 8000 million, which is close to the valuation of 1000 million US dollars. I believe Mr. Chen should know that this is definitely a sky-high price.

8000 million, represents the greatest sincerity of the 51 Group, and it is also our sincere pursuit of cooperation.

If Mr. Chen still doesn't accept such a high valuation, then the 51 Research Institute will organize forces immediately, cooperate with Baidu to tackle key problems, and quickly solve the life-related search engine technology..."

8000 million, to acquire such a small company with some technological advantages?
Fang Jian, Jin Yang and He Guangwen were all stunned, Gao Yang really dared to give it.

Chen Hexiang was so startled that his chest was jumping. Are you crazy?
Zhang Yiming was also extremely shocked. Is 51 Group so financially powerful?

Facing Gao Yang who kept smiling all the time, Chen Hua was stunned for a while before replying: "Mr. Gao, we will seriously discuss the 51 Group's acquisition motion. We will give you an accurate reply within this week..."

(End of this chapter)