Rebirth of the investment era

"2.5 billion to 3 billion US dollars?" Su Yu frowned slightly, "The market value is almost 20 billion US dollars. The market premium given by General Atlantic Capital is really cruel!"

Although the company's peak market value is close to 2 trillion, the current market valuation of 20 billion is nothing.

But at this moment, Meituan website, a subsidiary of Sankuai Online Company, has just broken out of the siege and determined its business model. Moreover, the competition for traffic in the future mobile Internet era has just begun. Can it consolidate its dominant position in the group buying field? And to expand the scope of business, harvest more user traffic, and finally find a path to profitability, everything is still unknown.

At this time, General Atlantic Capital dared to give a valuation of US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion, which is really outrageous.

You know, Meituan, a website owned by Sankuai Online Company, was valued at less than US$200 million when it raised Series A financing two and a half years ago. In two and a half years, its valuation has increased by more than 10 times. Of course...the company's development scale has been very rapid in the past two and a half years.

Liang Bin nodded and said: "It is indeed ruthless. It is nearly 30% higher than the valuation of relatively conservative domestic investment institutions. Of course... this year, so far, the first quarter operating data of 'Sankuai Online Company' is still quite impressive." , and there will be an increase in the traffic entrance of 'mobile Internet' in the future. It can be expected that the group buying market will expand in the future, and the development potential is still quite large. I think this is also the case for General Atlantic Capital, even if it is priced at a substantial premium , and the reason why we are willing to lead the investment.”

"In fact, in the current primary market, Sankuai Online Company is not the only one with a fairly premium valuation." He Qian also said, "The current general situation is that everyone expects the arrival of the 'mobile Internet' era. This will lead to a blowout process for the Internet user group. Therefore, as long as it is a start-up Internet company that has caught the attention of the 'mobile Internet', and an emerging Internet company that is beginning to take shape, the valuations are ridiculously expensive."

"This situation is very common when capital swarms into a field." Su Yu nodded slightly, "There is too much hot money in a field, and natural waste will be sold at high prices. From this investment logic, first-level There is no essential difference between the market and the secondary market.”

"The key is……"

Su Yu paused for a moment and said, "We must find real gold in the wind. That is the most important thing."

"Based on the results of our several surveys, as well as the analysis of the prospects of the entire domestic group buying market, as well as the evaluation data of users after using relevant functions, etc..." He Qian said, "Mr. Su, please name me. This 'Sankuai Online Company' still has great investment potential."

When Liang Bin contacted and followed up on the ‘Vail Semiconductor’ investment project.

She has been conducting in-depth research on the company 'Yanjing Sankuai Online', so she has a very good understanding of its basic situation.

that is……

She did not expect that during her in-depth research, General Atlantic Capital suddenly arrived first, contacted the counterparty who was eager to raise funds, and quickly provided quite generous financing conditions and valuation levels, causing her to quickly fall into trouble in following up on this investment project. Passive.

Su Yu chuckled and said: "Only those who have used it can have a say. I have also experienced it, and only then did I suddenly discover the future potential of this company and have the intention to invest."

"If we want to participate, I think... we can no longer hesitate." He Qian continued after Su Yu responded, "According to some rumors in the industry, I heard that Red Mountain Capital is also interested in participating in this project, and also I heard that Ali Baba, who had participated in the A-round investment of 'Three Fast Three Lines', also intends to continue to increase capital and participate in this C-round financing."

"Hongshan Capital and Ali Baba!" Su Yu murmured, "They are all very powerful opponents with strong capital!"

"Ali Baba should be on the market soon, right?" Su Yu continued after a pause.

"It should be soon!" He Qian said, "In the past year, Ali Baba's layout in the field of 'mobile Internet' has been quite frequent. I think facing this round of financing of 'Sankuai Online', if the final agreement is estimated If the value is locked at US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion, they probably won’t miss this opportunity, and there is a high probability that they will still invest.”

"If the agreed valuation is between US$2.5 billion and US$3 billion, with our company's current capital reserves, it will be difficult to compete with these giants!" Liang Bin thought for a while and said, "Compared to these giants Giants, our 'Yuhang Investment' is indeed too weak, both in terms of financial strength and influence, it is not enough."

Su Yu thought about the company's current cash flow reserves and the cash flow he could use.

Comparing the investment efforts of several giants with hundreds of millions of dollars, it is really not enough.

However, he holds more than 700 million yuan worth of real estate and 35% of Kumho Group's shares with a current market value of close to 1.2 billion. Counting almost 600 million in cash, he can raise 1 billion yuan in funds in the short term. It is not difficult. If you include the dedicated investment fund of the company's venture capital department, after deducting the 300 million yuan for the 'Vail Semiconductor' investment project, there will be 300 million available funds left.

It is possible to raise a total of 1.2 billion or 1.3 billion in funds.

In other words, if they do not have to take the leading position in the C round of financing of 'Sankuai Online' company, and can accept the valuation conditions of US$3 billion, they want to get a piece of this investment project. Fatty is not difficult, of course... If you want to directly compete with giants such as General Atlantic Capital, Red Mountain Capital, and Ali Baba, and independently acquire this round of investment projects of 'Sankuai Online', it will be quite difficult.

After all, it is calculated based on the 10% equity interest that Sankuai Online plans to release in the C round of financing.

If they want to acquire all 10% of the shares of Sankuai Online, they will have to pay at least US$500 million to US$300 million.

And an investment of this magnitude...

Apart from settling the net value of the 'Yuhang No. 2' fund product in advance and withdrawing excess investment income, Su Yu simply could not raise such a large amount of cash.

"Don't worry too much about the funding." Su Yu pondered for a moment and said, "The key is that we have to find a way to get involved in this project. We need to contact Mr. Huang from the 'Sankuai Online' company and Mr. Huang from the Asia-Pacific Investment Area of ​​General Atlantic Capital." We also need to contact Mr. Du."

"Let's start from both sides and test each other's tone."

“If Red Mountain Capital, Ali Baba, and General Atlantic Capital have not yet formed a consistent joint investment relationship, then we have a great opportunity to participate, replace Red Mountain Capital and Ali Baba, and form a joint investment relationship with General Atlantic Capital. Investment relationship, and invested in 'Three Fast Online'."

"Of course, if Red Mountain Capital and Ali Baba have confirmed their participation..."

Su Yu thought for a while and continued: "Then we can only use more favorable financing conditions to impress Mr. Huang of Sankuai Online and squeeze out Hongshan Capital, Ali Baba, or Pan Atlantic. Investment rival."

"However, if things develop like this, we will definitely have greater pressure on capital costs."

"But for the company 'Sankuai Online', it has already fought hard in the group buying war and has accumulated a certain reputation among the user groups. In the expected 'mobile Internet' era in the future, both the user scale and business scale are still small. "Meituan.com" is expected to grow explosively, and it is worth the pressure on us to bear certain capital costs!"

"Is Mr. Su so optimistic about this 'Sankuai Online' company?" After hearing Su Yu's analysis, Liang Bin always felt that it would be risky to use all the company's reserve funds, and even Su Yu's current net worth, to gamble on this project. I couldn't help but ask, "The business model of 'group buying' is not particularly mature at present. With this business model, no one can predict how far 'Sankuai Online' company can go in the future in the era of 'mobile Internet'." And as an early-stage growth company, the valuation of US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion is really not low.”

"Developing upward..."

Liang Bin paused for a moment and continued: "Even if the company's business develops smoothly and the market share and user volume of the national business increase in both directions, the expected space will only be 4 or 5 times larger at most. If we force it to Given the relative premium, the investment risk of taking on this project...is really not small!"

"Only 4 or 5 times at most?" Su Yu smiled when he heard this and said, "The cluster effect of Internet companies is very serious. A business model in the same competitive field usually leads to the winner. "Tong Chi", "Meituan.com", a subsidiary of "Sankuai Online" company, has determined its leading advantages and first-mover advantages in the field of group buying, and then superimposed on it in the era of "mobile Internet", the surge in user groups of netizens has With the expected market share and user volume continuing to increase in both directions, a growth space of 4 or 5 times is considered quite conservative."

“The four largest categories of people’s basic living needs include clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.”

“Group buying is exactly using Internet thinking to change people’s traditional way of ‘food’.”

"It is foreseeable that with the deepening of the 'mobile Internet', the netizen user group will shift from PC to mobile terminals. At the same time, with the full popularization of smart phones and 4G networks, the netizen user group will explode. Once people accept this 'group buying' model, the development space in 'catering', a huge national trillion-level field, is unimaginable."

"If we say that the 'mobile Internet' trend is under the wave."

"If most start-up and growing companies in the industry tell stories, then the story of Sankuai Online Company is undoubtedly the most fascinating and vivid."

"General Atlantic, Red Mountain Capital, Ali Baba..."

"These are all well-known investment institutions in the primary market at home and abroad."

“When they all focus on ‘Three Fast Online’ at the same time, it means that there is a high probability that there is certain investment value and investment opportunities here.”

"Okay!" After Su Yu analyzed the pros and cons of this investment project, He Qian nodded hurriedly and said, "General Manager Liang and I will follow up on this project as soon as possible."

Seeing that Su Yu's doctrine had been decided, Liang Bin thought for a while and said: "Since we have decided to participate in this project, and we can accept the valuation conditions of 2.5 billion to 3 billion US dollars, then I suggest that we follow the two terms you just mentioned, Mr. Su." We will conduct contacts and negotiations on all aspects at the same time.”

"Mr. He has been following this project for almost a month."

"And we have had several contacts with the management personnel of the 'Sankuai Online' company. As for the line of contact and negotiation with Mr. Huang, I will leave it to Mr. He to continue the follow-up."

"I'm responsible for contacting Mr. Du from General Atlantic Capital to see if I can get involved from his side."

"After all, the entire Series C financing scale is US$300 million. Considering the risks of concentrated investment, I think it would be difficult for General Atlantic Capital to take it all in one go. Otherwise, there would be no news in the industry that General Atlantic Capital is leading the investment and that multiple investment institutions have joined forces. There are some rumors about investment.”

"Okay!" He Qian responded.

Then, she thought for a while and said: "Mr. Su, with our company's financial strength, we need to give you an accurate answer on how much share of Sankuai Online's C-round financing we can maximize." , so that Mr. Liang and I can accurately formulate negotiation strategies, and at the same time, how high a market premium can we accept to the maximum extent?"

Su Yu pondered for a moment and replied: "With a financing scale of 300 million US dollars, if we take 100 million, we won't have much pressure. Of course, if there is an opportunity, we will take all the investment share of 300 million U.S. dollars." , is also possible, so there is no limit on the maximum share you can eat. You can try your best to negotiate as much as you can."

"As for the maximum market premium that can be accepted..."

Su Yu thought for a while and continued: "Let's say 50%. I think once the C-round valuation of 'Sankuai Online' is higher than this standard, there will be basically very few institutions in the domestic and foreign markets to follow the investment. "

"Okay, I understand!" He Qian responded, already having an idea in her mind.

Next, the three of them talked about the investment and follow-up of some small projects that the venture capital department had recently contacted, and then they dispersed.

The next day, early in the morning.

He Qian and Liang Bin then led their own teams, belonging to two directions, and rushed to different destinations to continue to follow up and negotiate on the investment project of ‘Three Fast Online’.

According to the previous agreement, one of them went north and the other went south.

He Qian went straight to Yanjing to interview Mr. Huang from "Sankuai Online"; Liang Bin went south to Hong Kong City to interview Mr. Du, the head of Asia-Pacific investment of "General Atlantic Capital".

And while the two of them were acting independently...

At this time, in the secondary market, bullish sentiment has once again revived due to the positive stimulation of external trends and internal news.

And under this kind of emotion brewing.

When Monday, May 26th arrives, the market welcomes trading time again.

Several major market indexes continued to open slightly higher after last week's closing results were not ideal, and the main funds were still flowing out significantly, and the market's money-making effect continued to slump, creating a sign of short-term prosperity.