Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 466 Those who wish take the bait

The domestic capital market is constantly changing, while foreign giants never stop their activities.

Top giants such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank have sent letters to their presidents, preparing to personally visit them.

"Mr. Paulson, please rest assured, Goldman Sachs will definitely have a share."

"Mr. Pei Xiliang, you're too kind. You're welcome to come anytime."

“Mr. Edison, you are God. Your visit will only make us feel honored.”

……

After a series of polite exchanges, the heads of major Wall Street investment banks arrived one after another.

Every investment bank hopes to get a bigger slice of the pie and make a huge profit.

However, many people are destined to be disappointed this time, as the youth are only prepared to give Americans 15% of the shares.

"President Paulson, you must be making a killing investing in the internet industry lately."

Xinghai Group and Goldman Sachs have a long history of cooperation, having started as early as after the bursting of Japan's bubble economy.

Therefore, when they met, Masato Takeshita didn't stand on ceremony but instead made harmless jokes.

“Aren’t you the same, my friend? Not only did you get involved in the stock market early on, but you also invested in internet companies everywhere.”

"When it comes to Yahoo, Amazon, and Cisco, who wouldn't be envious?"

He didn't know about others, but Goldman Sachs' investment department was incredibly envious and wished they could replace Xinghai Investment.

A Yahoo! investment of tens of millions of dollars has now grown to billions.

Amazon, with an investment of less than ten million dollars, can yield similar returns.

The most enviable company is Cisco. The initial investment was indeed a bit too much, with a transaction amount exceeding 100 million, but based on Cisco's current market value, it has directly increased to over 10 billion.

And that's not the most critical point. The most critical point is that the three companies mentioned above still have enormous potential.

Cisco, in particular, is the hardware gateway to the internet industry, second only to Microsoft in status, and its market value has enormous potential.

This is a company that sells shovels right next to a gold mine; they're guaranteed to make a fortune without any effort.

"No, it was just luck. We also have a lot of failed projects."

Xinghai Investment is already a huge financial group, so it is impossible for it to be entirely guided by Masato Takeshita.

This resulted in a large number of loss-making projects.

Taking Xinghai Venture Capital as an example, it invested in hundreds of technology startups, but only seven and a half of them ultimately became successful.

That half refers to a situation where, after reaching a certain stage of development, the founding team felt they couldn't compete, so they simply sold the business, took the money, and left.

As for the remaining seven companies, apart from Cisco, Yahoo, and Netscape, which he specifically requested, only Amazon has exceptional potential.

The rest will either be acquired by other companies or go bankrupt and disappear.

"That doesn't matter. After all, successfully investing in a big fish is a win."

"Isn't it?"

Although Goldman Sachs, under Paulson's leadership, follows the investment banking route, which means investing only after a company's business has matured, he has a very deep understanding of the venture capital industry, which focuses on early-stage investments, and naturally would not be misled by the young man's statement.

Of course, the young man didn't expect to be able to deceive Paulson; he was just subconsciously exchanging a few polite words.

"That's right, so this time Goldman Sachs can catch a big fish, right?"

"Indeed, thank you, friend."

Paulson was very happy because of the size of Xinghai Group's internet division.

Even the least popular Starsea Mailbox probably had a market value of several billion when it went public.

For slightly more popular e-commerce and online marketplaces, making several billion yuan is no problem at all.

As for its flagship company, Xinghai Communications, given the hype-driving capabilities of Xinghai Group and major investment banks, a market capitalization of less than 10 billion US dollars would be considered a failure.

Of course, this is just Paulson's current thought.

International capital that swept across Asia has not yet returned, and countries outside the United States have not yet been blinded by the Nasdaq frenzy.

There is indeed a bubble in internet technology stocks, but it's not very high yet.

1999 was different. The influx of more hot money caused the stock prices of internet-related companies to skyrocket like a bubble.

At that time, not to mention Xinghai Communications, the instant messaging giant, even Xinghai E-commerce and Online Marketplace, the two e-commerce companies, as well as Baidu and Google, the two search companies, could easily have a market value of over 10 billion.

Back then, Nasdaq was all about who could tell the best story, and many mediocre internet companies with little to no performance could reach market capitalizations of several billion dollars.

Take China.com, which is relatively unfamiliar to Chinese netizens, as an example. This company has basically nothing, but just by its name, its market value easily exceeded 15 billion US dollars on the day of its listing, and even exceeded 50 billion US dollars at its peak.

An overheated market can drive people crazy and cause them to lose themselves.

Internet companies with nothing can experience explosive growth; Xinghai Group's internet subsidiaries have both traffic and brand recognition, so their market value will only be higher.

If he weren't worried about the Nasdaq crash happening sooner, he would have even wanted to take his company public in the early 21st century.

"Indeed, this is the eternal truth of the venture capital industry."

After arranging for Paulson at Goldman Sachs, Masato Takeshita then met with financial giants such as Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers.

In short, we must make these people feel at home and avoid offending anyone.

The time for formal negotiations arrived quickly, and Masato Takeshita led Paulson and others into the meeting room.

"I won't bother with formalities. In this round of financing, each company will receive a 30% stake, and everyone here will receive half, which is 15%."

"Then this is the valuation that Xinghai Group gives to each company. Those who agree, please continue to sit down. Those who disagree, we can cooperate again in the future."

Companies like Xinghai Communications already have a semi-mature business model, and their valuations are not as flexible as those of startups.

In addition, Xinghai Group is not short of money, so it determined a reasonable valuation for each company early on.

He is willing to give up some benefits, but he won't appear too yielding, as that would only make people look down on him.

Paulson's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the exaggerated numbers written on the document.

星海邮箱估值15亿美元；星海电商估值40亿美元；网络卖场估值35亿美元；千度估值50亿美元；谷歌估值40亿美元；星海通讯估值80亿美元。

This is outrageous and makes you want to leave immediately.

However, considering the development of Xinghai Group and the remarkable growth of Xinghai Financial, he finally said with a smile.

“No problem, Goldman Sachs is very willing to complete the cooperation with Xinghai Group at this price.”

Prior to their arrival, Goldman Sachs had already held a board meeting. Everyone unanimously decided that as long as the valuation wasn't too outrageous, they would agree immediately.

The valuation offered by Xinghai Group was indeed a bit high, far exceeding his expectations, but considering that investment is about investing in people, he decided to be even more bold.

He now even hopes to gain more favor among young people in order to secure a larger share.

"We at Deutsche Bank also hope for a smooth handover."

Before Edison joined Deutsche Bank, the bank's business in the United States was negligible.

Since he joined, Deutsche Bank's investment banking business is now the third largest, after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Such outstanding achievements have made him very bold and decisive in the field of investment.

He would accept even a higher number, let alone the current one.

As for the heads of investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers, neither of them were as decisive, both saying they would contact their superiors. "No problem, I hope to receive everyone's share contracts by the day after tomorrow."

"Then I will determine the specific investment share based on the proportion that everyone hopes to receive, combined with the industry influence."

Money isn't everything. As representatives of Wall Street investment banks, even if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley didn't say anything, the young people would still give the two companies the highest percentage of their investment.

Unless they choose to withdraw, then I'm sorry.

After finishing their business, Masato Takeshita looked at Paulson and the others with a slightly apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, I have investment discussions to attend to in Japan. I won't be able to keep you company any longer. Vice President Rogers, Takamasa Kamoto, Shinji Kikuno, and others will be accompanying you."

Faced with the young man's bowed apology, Edison and the others were naturally not foolish enough to show their sincerity, and they all echoed his words.

"It's alright, Mr. Takeshita, you're busy."

"Business is more important; we need to discuss investment matters next."

"This is already very good. We have our own branch office here."

Masato Takeshita didn't care whether everyone was being insincere or not; he took it seriously and assigned the task of accompanying people to his subordinates.

He himself took a short rest before starting the next meeting.

This time, they will be facing Japanese investors, with a 10% share.

After repeating the content of the previous meeting, Masato Takeshita looked at the Japanese investors with a gentle expression.

"Everyone can go back and discuss it first, and we'll talk about how much each company's share will be the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, then we'll excuse ourselves."

My old acquaintance, Senior Brother Toyoshima Akio, was the first to respond, and then returned to the company with the valuation report provided by Xinghai Group.

Following this, heads of major trading companies and securities firms echoed the sentiment.

The numbers were a bit beyond their expectations, and they need to discuss whether it was worth it.

"Vice President, do you think we should invest?"

Upon returning to the company, the president of Industrial Bank immediately summoned Akio Toyoshima.

Then, after seeing the numbers above, my previously firm resolve began to waver.

This is only the first round; the valuations going to be sky-high in the future are bound to be even higher.

Seeing the chairman's worry, Akio Toyoshima immediately smiled and said...

"Chairman, don't worry. Xinghai Group will only conduct one round of financing, and the next round will be the listing process."

"I see. No wonder."

A round of financing is great; we can go public next year. Maybe then, it can cover some of the company's losses.

However, this person likes to consider everything from the worst-case scenario.

He felt it was better not to take too many risks.

If the IPO fails to reach its valuation, it's all over. Industrial Bank is already burdened by debt and is selling off assets everywhere; it simply cannot afford another huge loss.

Having made up his mind, he looked embarrassed at Akio Toyoshima, who was running around taking care of him.

"Mr. Toyoshima, this time our investment amount won't be too large, so you should be mentally prepared."

"This, why?"

Akio Toyoshima was puzzled. It was a rare opportunity for a company under the Xinghai Group to raise funds. Shouldn't they be eager to participate?
Throughout Japan, everyone knows that the Xinghai Group is thriving and has become one of Japan's leading technology and capital giants.

"Industrial Bank can't withstand any more major fluctuations; we need to weather this storm."

"$5 million, that's the maximum number the company can come up with."

After some thought, he ultimately decided to take a conservative approach. Industrial Bank needed a break; overly risky business was out of the question.

"This, okay."

Considering the company's situation, Akio Toyoshima ultimately did not insist.

Although Xinghai Group's projects have a very high success rate, there are indeed many failed projects.

Industrial Bank cannot gamble, because the minimum cost of losing is severe financial damage, while the maximum cost is bankruptcy and closure.

Industrial Bank opted for a small participation, while Changxin Bank decided to go all in.

The company is already on the verge of collapse, so let's go all out.

If they succeed, they will regain their former glory; if they fail, the government will bail them out.

Yes, at that time, the senior management of Changxin Bank thought the government would bail out the bank.

Because in the many years since the end of the war, no major banks in Japan have gone bankrupt.

As for the bankrupt Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, although it was called a large bank, it was actually just a medium-sized bank in the Hokkaido area.

It's far inferior to banks like Mitsubishi, let alone Changxin Bank.

They were just worried that if they were taken over by the government, they would face retribution and lose their current power.

However, both Industrial Bank and Changxin Bank were only making small-scale moves, and ultimately the four major financial groups had the final say.

However, these four conglomerates are relatively dispersed, requiring a president's meeting to make decisions. The president's meeting also determines the investment proportions that each company within the conglomerate can receive, and then they act in unison to address external threats.

After the US and Japan have made their statements clear, the remaining 5% share should be reserved for China.

Both Starsea Communications and Baidu Google hold a significant market share in China.

If China is not invited to participate, many problems will arise in the end.

He then dialed his private phone number, which he had always treasured.

"Mr. Jiang, our group is preparing to raise funds for several internet companies, and we hope that your country can also participate."

"Okay, no problem, I'll have my staff send it to you right away."

"When? It would be best if you could tell us your decision the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, okay, uh-huh."

"The share is neither too much nor too little, just 5%, which is enough to make a small profit."

"Okay, bye-bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Masato Takeshita immediately arranged for Miho Uchida to send the relevant data to China.

The valuation is a bit high, and I don't know if they'll agree to it.

"It shouldn't be a problem. All our collaborations with Xinghai Group are win-win situations."

Although he was a little apprehensive, the young man still felt that the Chinese side would agree.

All of Xinghai Group's collaborations with Chinese companies are currently profitable.

The most well-known is naturally the internet cafe, followed closely by food.

In particular, the White Rabbit brand, under the painstaking management of Xinghai Group, is currently the strongest dominant player in China's confectionery and chocolate industry.

Its White Rabbit milk candy has swept the Chinese snack and gift market, and has even created the miracle of generating over 100 million yuan in revenue on holidays.

(End of this chapter)