Top of the big era

The current mobile Internet has entered a period of momentum.

Many technology giants who didn't pay much attention to it at the beginning have become anxious and are trying every means to keep up with the times and make up for the mobile Internet ticket.

How to make up for it?

Buy other people’s tickets!

For example, domestic Baidu has launched a number of large-scale transactions this year, such as the acquisition of UC Mobile Assistant, which is owned by UC, and changed it to Baidu Mobile Assistant; such as the acquisition of Nuomi.com, which was changed to Baidu Nuomi; and another example is the acquisition of UC Mobile Assistant. PPS, integrated into iQiyi, has promoted iQiyi to become a domestic streaming media giant.

Same here in the United States.

In the past few years, Zhou Buqi has been keeping an eye on Microsoft. In fact, there are many major technology companies that are far behind Microsoft in their ability to keep up with the times, such as IBM, Oracle, Cisco, Adobe, AOL, etc. The response speed is too slow.

Microsoft's actions in recent years are considered slow in the Internet industry, and are considered by many emerging Internet giants to be traditional antiques.

This is somewhat unfair to Microsoft.

Because compared to other Silicon Valley technology companies, Microsoft's transformation speed is fast enough.

When he came to the United States this time, Zhou Buqi first asked Zhou Shaoning to contact Goldman Sachs, and he went to see an old subordinate, Fu Sheng, who was currently starting a business in the United States. Under the guidance of Boss Zhou, Panda Mobile founded by him can be regarded as a rising star. It has three mobile apps with more than 100 million users, and its latest valuation has exceeded US$2.5 billion.

These three apps are all tool types.

One is mobile phone cleaning, one is mobile phone security, and the other is mobile phone file processing.

There is a market for this kind of tool type App in the past few years.

With the powerful functions of smart phones and the improvement of mobile operating systems, there is less and less market for such tools, and they will completely withdraw from the big stage of the era. Zhou Buqi has seen this a long time ago, so he had communicated with Fu Sheng as early as the beginning of his business. Don't think too far, seize the opportunity and cash out quickly!

How to cash out?

Zhou Buqi's target is Microsoft.

He wanted to push Microsoft to acquire Panda Mobile, start the business in three or four years, earn billions of dollars, and leave happily. Why not?

Just like picking up money.

I just didn't expect that it wasn't Microsoft who took action.

Fu Sheng was very anxious.

So after Zhou Buqi arrived in the United States, he immediately went to find him.

Fu Sheng said: "There is an offer! It's not Microsoft!"

Zhou Buqi saw that he couldn't hide his excitement, so he smiled and said, "Oracle Bone Inscriptions?"

Fu Sheng said quickly: "Not only Oracle, but now the news that Panda Mobile is for sale has spread, Cisco and IBM also want to follow up. There is no movement from Microsoft. Didn't Ballmer say he wants to resign? Maybe he is already discouraged. I feel cold and want to wait for the new CEO to handle it after he takes office. He is no longer interested in leading Microsoft to launch such a large acquisition. "

Zhou Buqi did not hesitate, "As soon as possible! Don't wait for Microsoft!"

Fu Sheng hesitated and analyzed: "I think there is still a lot of room for growth in Panda Mobile's business. The current valuation is only US$2.5 billion, and I think it can reach US$5 billion in one year."

"Don't wait!" Zhou Buqi didn't want to have long nights and dreams. "Since you want to sell it, you must sell it during a period of rapid growth. This will give you more bargaining power. The current market valuation is US$2.5 billion, and several companies are competing. The premium... is estimated to reach US$3.5 billion or US$4 billion, which is about enough to satisfy your appetite.”

Fu Sheng said with a smile: "Cisco's offer is the highest. Even before the negotiation, it has already quoted US$3.78 billion. I don't know how they calculated this number."

Zhou Buqi was very happy, "Okay, hurry up and follow up! You have also seen the current mobile Internet trend. It is developing so fast. While they are anxious to seek medical treatment, quickly sell the company. This kind of tool I estimate that the vitality of this type of product can last for at most two or three years. There is no need to earn the last copper. Now that the opportunity has come, act quickly, contact us now, and promote the transaction now.”

This is an old office building near Stanford University. It's a bit dark and small.

Fu Sheng's office is only about 10 square meters in total, with only a table and a few chairs, not even a sofa. However, this is already considered a good idea in the entrepreneurial park. Many start-up companies do not have separate offices at all, and everyone works in a large office area.

Many early-stage entrepreneurial projects are even located in dormitories, warehouses, garages, and abandoned factories.

Fu Sheng rubbed his hands, "Although we had planned it for a long time, we are really excited that this day has actually arrived. Just like planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, now is the harvest season."

"Well, it's quite a sum of money."

"For me, it's really not about money, it's about the sense of career accomplishment."

Fu Sheng told the truth.

He has been financially free for a long time, and there is nothing too high in pursuit of wealth. He was previously a senior executive of Ziweixing, and now holds Ziweixing shares with a total value of more than US$400 million. Normally, such a large amount of money would be impossible to spend in a lifetime.

However, he didn't know that Boss Zhou valued it very much.

The reason why he pushed Fu Sheng to do this entrepreneurial project was because he focused on money. He provided all the early entrepreneurial funds for Panda Mobile alone, and even after two rounds of financing, his shareholding was as high as 40%.

If only Panda Mobile could be sold for $4 billion...

For Zhou Buqi, it was enough to bring back a large wave of blood.

This can reduce some of the family’s debt burden.

Zhou Buqi was worried that he had other ideas in his mind, so he said: "The direction the panda is moving in is not good at all and has no future. Now that the opportunity has come this time, we must seize it and take action quickly. After leaving the field, I have several other good directions you can choose. If that doesn’t work out, just come to Ziweixing International to be a senior vice president and be in charge of some software business development.”

Fu Sheng is not worried about the future at all. Although he has left Ziweixing for several years, he always thinks that he is from Ziweixing. He said with a smile: "I'd better handle this case first. Well... you have What are the terms of the sale of Panda Mobile?”

Zhou Buqi said: "Just three points. First, cash transactions, the more cash, the better. If there are some stock exchanges, the shorter the lock-up period of the stocks, the better; second, only do sales transactions, don't have any Gambling agreement; third, you have to exit. Now that you have sold it, leave the market quickly and stay away from the place of right and wrong. In the future, the tool-based apps of Panda Mobile will lose market recognition because the company that took over the deal has poor operational capabilities. , it has nothing to do with you.”

Fu Sheng nodded, able to follow his train of thought, "It's all about stability."

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, sell the company safely. After the sale, we will completely draw a clear line. From now on, we will not cross the river, and we will no longer have any dealings with Panda Mobile, so as not to take the blame."

Fu Sheng took a deep breath and clenched his fists, "Okay! Let's do it! Cisco has already made a quotation, and Oracle has also sent a team to contact me to see what conditions they can offer... These people don't want to Knowing the Internet, I can only see the current success of Panda Mobile, and I estimate that there will be several more rounds of bidding.”

Zhou Buqi feels that stability should be the priority.

The top priority is to ensure that Panda Mobile can be sold, and that it is sold without any relationship.

Then, strive for a higher price.

Don't compete. The market situation has changed suddenly. Panda Mobile's tool-based mobile products have lost recognition... It's really hard to say this kind of thing. It mainly depends on Apple and Google's operating system strategies.

As long as they make a few adjustments, this kind of tool app can die overnight without a burial place.

It's so dangerous.

Gotta sell it quickly.

Whoever wants to take over will take over.

Zhou Buqi said: "If you ask me, 4 billion US dollars is enough. No matter who it is, as long as the price is 4 billion US dollars, and it meets the three conditions I mentioned, then you can agree to them. For such a large-scale transaction, follow-up The approval and process are not easy, and we have to leave enough time to deal with potential risks in the market.”

Fu Sheng said: "Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible! Well... why don't you send someone over?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, you can handle it yourself. Once we've negotiated, just tell me the plan."