King of Capital

Chapter 38 I'm in China, just got off the plane

The 3Q war cured Tencent of its "plagiarism". With one sentence, Mr. Ma admitted that Tencent does not necessarily have to do everything by itself, which means that Tencent cannot copy all industries.

Therefore, the significance of strategic investment has been infinitely elevated. Since the 3Q war, Tencent's strategic investment department has carried out hundreds of investment and mergers and acquisitions around the world. It can be said that in the field of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, Tencent's strategic investment department has business capabilities that are superior to most domestic securities companies.

This is why Su He was annoyed when she learned that the potential clients were Tencent and WhatsApp. She certainly knew the value of WhatsApp and vaguely understood Tencent’s development strategy, but the question was whether Tencent would hand over a multi-billion dollar M&A project to a domestic securities firm?
Moreover, Tencent just announced today that it had acquired a stake in Snap. Putting aside objective analysis, just looking at subjective factors, there is a probability that it is willing to turn around and try to spend tens of billions of dollars to acquire another instant messaging product.

Su He couldn't think of how Juntai could convince Tencent. At least Xie Jingxing's analysis could only make her interested, which was far from enough.

"You should go out first and go to the Human Resources Department to complete the entry procedures. There is also an interview with the Publicity Department."

She paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Come see me again before you get off work."

"Okay, the third internship test question should be announced later, right?" Xie Jingxing reminded.

Su He felt it was absurd for some reason, and explained in a strange tone: "The test question is a simulated merger and acquisition project, and there is plenty of time."

What the hell is going on between a multi-billion dollar cross-border merger and acquisition and a simulated merger and acquisition for fun.

Xie Jingxing didn't say anything more, shrugged and turned away tactfully.

Most M&A businesses make money if successful, but lose nothing if they fail. However, it is not uncommon for M&A projects to fail after working hard for several months.

So it is understandable that Su He considered it carefully. After all, she is the MD who gives year-end bonuses to her subordinates.

It was a busy Monday morning and Xie Jingxing was left alone in the human resources department for more than half an hour before a human resources director came out in person to handle his entry procedures.

VP of Internet M&A Group 2 of Juntai Securities’ investment banking business line.

——Xie Jingxing put on his freshly issued work permit and went to the organization construction department. The administrative colleague who was responsible for interviewing him was very curious about how he could achieve in 7 days what many ordinary employees had to work for in 7 years and earn an annual salary of .

When he took out a jade pendant that was said to be carved based on the calligraphy given by Zhou Gong to his friend, he talked at length about the so-called concept of "floating boat on the sea and standing horse on Kunlun Mountain", and said that the original manuscript of the calligraphy was collected in the office of Yunshan Chairman Xie Cheng.

The administrative colleagues were no longer curious. This person was indeed a capable and good comrade, and he deserved the VP!

At the end of the interview, Xie Jingxing showed off his calligraphy: The people have faith, the nation has hope, and the country has strength.

My administrative colleagues were so impressed that they decided to use this sentence as the title of the interview article. This is what the ideal youth of the new era are like. The next time the company’s red construction activity uses this sentence as the theme, it’s a sure thing.

After a busy morning, Xie Jingxing returned to the office at noon to have a quick lunch and began to understand the M&A project test questions that were announced during his absence from the morning meeting.

A, a film and television company valued at 20 billion yuan, attempted to acquire B, a listed company with a market value of billion yuan and its main natural gas business, across industries.

"The film and television industry's backdoor listing is a very interesting project." Qi Tian gave a summary with great interest.

Xie Jing Xing confirmed doubtfully: "Is this really a simulation project?"

"What's wrong?" Fan Haonan, who was sitting next to him, asked.

"Nothing, the content is very practical, we can't finish it in a week."

Xie Jingxing intuitively felt that this project was not right. Compared with the previous "update prospectus project" which was fake at first glance, this simulated M&A project was too pragmatic. Domestic semiconductor high-tech sounded a bit hollow, and film and television entertainment companies were trying their best to operate capital and go public through backdoor listing, which suddenly sounded down to earth...

The contents of each part of the project book are also very subtle, and can be roughly matched with several domestic film and television companies that are eager to go public.

Qi Tian couldn't help but complain: "Old man, please stop using your magical powers. This typical backdoor listing case is enough to be written as a graduation thesis, but it can't be completed in a few weeks."

"Don't feel pressured, we will ensure the lower limit and strive for the upper limit." Fan Haonan encouraged with full confidence.

For this assessment, the eight interns were divided into two groups, one with three people plus Feng Shuo, and the other with Zhao Mengche and Song Anli, who had not gotten along well before, plus Xue Haoran and Stanford.

At the same time, they followed up on this M&A project and held a project discussion meeting on Friday. The two groups presented the complete project plan to Company A (the customer) or gave an evaluation on giving up the acquisition of Company B.

The latter was obviously due to Xie Jingxing's previous operation to temporarily fill in the assessment loophole.

With such a genius who challenges the rules leading the team, Fan Haonan felt that he was getting better. He was also quite curious about why Song Anli took the initiative to apply for a disrupted grouping, saying that she wanted to try more possibilities of competition and cooperation.

Several instructors actually agreed to this and created groups with obvious differences in ability, causing Stanford to faint in the toilet.

Xie Jingxing knew this very well. He had to work on two fronts and had no time to take care of the mock exam questions. In fact, the grouping was quite reasonable.

So he took the time in the afternoon to review the work priorities with Fan Haonan and the other two, determine the key content of tomorrow's negotiations with client Company A, and the details of the due diligence to be conducted at the seller Company B the day after tomorrow.

…………

Su He's work efficiency was faster than expected. At 3:30 in the afternoon, just as the direction of the mock exam questions was tentatively agreed upon, Xie Jingxing was called to the meeting room.

Su He, Shen Xin and several core members of the M&A team were there, and the screen was projected showing the basic company introduction of WhatsApp.

"We need a preliminary pitchbook," said a tall and thin senior male VP with dark circles under his eyes.

Xie Jingxing couldn't help but frown, took out his work badge from his pocket and hung it on his chest without saying a word.

Another colleague wearing gold-rimmed glasses raised an eyebrow and said, “It’s better to get the sellside mandate first.”

"Do you have any other questions?"

Xie Jingxing asked with his hands in his pockets. When he didn't get a response, he explained himself: "First of all, I don't think there is a need for a promotional brochure for the time being. Secondly, it is more efficient to convince Tencent about this cross-border M&A project first."

The promotional brochure is for Tencent to read, which explains why it wants to acquire WhatsApp and why Juntai should do this.

The same is true for seller authorization. Why did WhatsApp want to be acquired by Tencent and why did Juntai let it do this?

In short, the prerequisite for matchmaking M&A transactions is that investment banks must deal with both buyers and sellers.

Usually it is easier to do a project if you get the "seller authorization" first, just like if the girl on a blind date nods and agrees to marry, it is not easy to find a good family.

But in this transaction, the woman is a foreign horse who cannot speak the language, has a thin waist, long legs, a big butt, is good at giving birth, and has no shortage of suitors.

It would be better to find a man with good enough conditions first. As long as the man is willing to take advantage of you, it doesn’t matter whether your mother’s foreign horse can understand Chinese or not. You should at least recognize the green American dollar, right?

“If we don’t even have a pitchbook, how can clients trust our professional capabilities?” said the colleague with dark circles under his eyes in a gloomy tone.

Xie Jingxing suddenly smiled, shook his head and said, "Don't be so self-indulgent. You haven't even communicated with Tencent yet, but you've already made a PPT of hundreds of pages to express your loyalty. Do you think too highly of Tencent, or do you think you're too worthless?"

“Please take out those professional English terms in your mind first. All we need to do now is to go to Tencent and ask: Do you want to acquire a high-quality instant messaging product?”

Su He flipped the carbon pen in his hand, raised his head and asked: "What if Tencent says "no"? " "Will you die?" Xie Jingxing asked back.

The carbon pen in Su He's hand stopped moving, and he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the subject in scrutiny.

"Will you lose your job, or will there be unacceptable consequences?"

Xie Jingxing did not hide his disgust: "I think what I said to you this morning is enough motivation for us to go to Tencent for a chat. Instead of trying to convince you here and then using the same words to convince Tencent, I would rather face Tencent directly."

"Well, don't get excited, we are discussing..." Shen Xin quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

Xie Jingxing waved his hand and interrupted, "Director Shen, could you please go out first?"

Shen Xin looked at Su He, and after getting permission, he left the meeting room silently with the other three colleagues.

"I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear this morning. I don't have any expectations for Juntai and your team."

Xie Jingxing's words became more straightforward: "I just need a platform like an investment bank, it can be Juntai, CICC or CITIC."

"As you said, I will lead this project. If it succeeds, I will prove myself and you will gain practical benefits. In the general direction, we are a cooperative relationship, and I will lead the specific work of the project."

Su He's expression completely changed and he sneered, "I think respecting others is the most basic education."

"In an industry where success makes money and failure leaves you with nothing, the word 'respect' sounds particularly humorous." Xie Jingxing retorted.

He took a few steps forward and walked in front of Su He. The two stood opposite each other. "Even if I fail, you can still get the compensation for Yunshan's spin-off and listing. This is a sure win for you, right?"

"Move aside Tencent and WhatsApp, your current customer is me."

Xie Jingxing smiled and said seriously, "Now God says, let there be light!"

"Bang bang."

He tapped the table with his knuckles, and after two short, firm clicks, he turned and strode out of the meeting room without hesitation.

"Oh, by the way, tell your people to use less English words. I'm allergic to them."

Xie Jingxing finally said, closing the conference room door politely.

He had intended to get along with Su He as a working partner, but what he ended up with was a three-way trial. Well, he laid his cards on the table, he only wanted the Tencent-WhatsApp merger project, and the process was not important at all.

…………

"How confident are you that you can be when you talk to Tencent? A conversation where you don't know anything is a waste of everyone's time."

Half an hour later, Shen Xin in the tea room spoke with a tense expression and unfriendly tone.

Xie Jingxing put down his phone and drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat: "I have key business information that Tencent needs."

"...You should prepare in advance. You will go on a business trip to Pengcheng on Thursday to visit Mr. Peng Zhijian from Tencent." Shen Xin said quietly.

After thinking for a moment, he added bluntly, "Peng is the fund manager of Tencent Industry Win-Win Fund. He also serves as the general manager of Tencent Strategic Investment and the vice president of Tencent. Mr. Su spent more than an hour on the phone during his lunch break today to connect with his connections and finally got an appointment."

Xie Jingxing was slightly stunned and didn't know how to comment. In his opinion, this was a typical case of path dependence. If you are good at studying details, you will be able to pour Coke with ice cubes. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to have a broad vision, see further and have great courage.

He had clearly made the decision but was still thinking about suppressing him and figuring out how to establish his prestige and take the lead. It turned out that the enemy knows the opponent best. It was not unreasonable for Tang Man to despise Su He's petty-mindedness and short-sightedness.

"Who is going on a business trip with me?" Xie Jingxing asked, collecting his thoughts.

Shen Xin glared angrily: "Who else could it be except me?"

"Thank you for your hard work. Then you can hand over your work, pack up and book a flight. We'll be ready to leave." Xie Jingxing raised his phone to signal.

Shen Xin's brain froze when he looked at the note in the WeChat chat box on the screen: Chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings, Pony Ma!
"He will be returning to Pengcheng from Lijiapo on a business trip at 9:30 tonight. We will meet him at the airport."

Xie Jingxing elaborated: "The first business information I can tell Tencent is that WhatsApp has other suitors. Whether Tencent wants to acquire it or not, it has to make a decision as soon as possible. Talking directly to the person who has the final decision-making power can effectively save time."

"How much time do we have for conversation?!" Shen Xin ignored the point and asked with shining eyes.

The second-generation rich guy in front of her was becoming more and more hateful. As a sponsor, she had been working in the industry for so many years and had been dealing with bigwigs from listed companies every day, but she had hardly met a bigwig of Mr. Ma's level in private a few times.

Xie Jing Xing helplessly poured cold water on him and said, "It depends on whether there is a traffic jam or not."

"what?"

"If there's traffic jam on the way from the airport to Tencent Building, it will take longer."

Xiao Ma Ge's schedule was very full, and it was not easy for Yan Wenhua to get this interview opportunity at the last minute, so he had to make do with what he had.

At 6:30 pm, Xie Jingxing and Shen Xin boarded the flight to Pengcheng, along with Su He, who looked like she was born not to smile. No matter what she felt in her heart, since Xie Jingxing was working under the name of Juntai, she had a responsibility and a share of the benefits...

The flight lasted two and a half hours, and the three of them arrived at Pengcheng Bao'an Airport just after 8:30. It would take some time for Xiao Ma Ge to arrive.

Currently, the T3 terminal of Bao'an Airport has not been put into use, and domestic arrivals and international arrivals are not in the same terminal. Shen Xin suggested going to the international terminal to pick up the passengers to show his sincerity.

Xie Jingxing vetoed it and honestly found a coffee shop nearby to wait for Xiao Ma Ge to arrange someone to pick him up. It would be better to gather your energy and prepare for the conversation if you have time.

"You prepare for the conversation by browsing Zhihu?" Shen Xin asked dissatisfiedly.

Xie Jing Xing ignored her and typed out the standard answer format with his ten fingers on the keyboard: "Liao Yao, I'm in China, just got off the plane."

[What stage of Internet development is the entire human race in? What is the general direction of Internet upgrade in the next decade? 】

Shen Xin couldn't hold back his expression as he looked at the question he was about to answer on the screen. He wanted to laugh but was afraid of Su He's expressionless face next to him, so it was very difficult for him to hold back his expression.

This question was asked by Pony Ma on Zhihu at 2 a.m. last summer. At that time, Lei Jun personally admitted that MiTalk lost to WeChat.

Although Pony Ma got the ticket to the new era, he is still as anxious as an orphan abandoned by the times. He promotes WeChat 4.0 internationally and ponders over his future.

Xie Jingxing could not answer which stage of Internet development humanity was currently in, but no one in the world knew better than him where the Internet was headed in the next decade.

“Mobile terminal – mobile payment port.”

He typed the second sentence on the keyboard.

(End of this chapter)