Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 653 The Former Number One in Europe

"What did you say?" Phoenix slammed his hand on the table, glaring at Lei Jun.

Lei Jun looked at Phoenix with a puzzled expression, thinking that his English was not very standard, and repeated, "I said you sound like an idiot."

Phoenix felt he had been humiliated twice.

The second time, I asked for it myself.

Lei Jun swore he had never seen such a request in his entire life.

Having lived in Europe for a long time, Lei Jun has also developed some European habits.

That means they don't like to beat around the bush when they speak.

Europeans tend to express their opinions and needs directly, and they often prioritize efficiency.

When rejecting a proposal, Chinese people often say: "Your proposal is very good, but it is not suitable for us now."

Europeans, on the other hand, express themselves much more simply. They would say: "Oh, I disagree with your proposal because it looks more like a pile of dog shit."

The French, in particular, are among the best of Europeans.

In their view, it wasn't that they lacked respect; they saw this direct expression as a way of showing sincerity.

Therefore, Lei Jun was just expressing his sincerity.

Lei Jun stopped looking at Phoenix and turned to Evelyn, saying sincerely, "Director Evelyn, Momo Group has always adhered to business ethics. Our success in the Chinese market stems from our ability to better meet the needs of local users. Microsoft, unable to adapt to the fierce market competition, has tried to suppress its competitors through political and legal means, which is the real violation of the principle of fair competition."

Mike then played the peacemaker, spreading his hands and saying, "Director Evelyn, Mr. Phoenix, Enze Capital is a responsible investment institution. All our investment activities strictly comply with local laws and international practices. Acquiring semiconductor companies is a completely normal business strategy aimed at integrating resources and improving efficiency. There is nothing wrong with it. The pressure exerted by Microsoft has seriously affected our normal business operations, which is causing us great distress."

Phoenix scoffed, "Trouble? Mr. Mike, when your investment targets resort to underhanded tactics, you should have expected this to cause trouble. If Enze Capital cannot restrain Momo Group's behavior and clarify the doubts surrounding its own funds, then I guarantee that even greater trouble is yet to come!"

The meeting room was instantly filled with tension.

Evelyn had to bang on the table several times to maintain order.

As she listened to the argument where each side presented their own version of events, she had already formed her own opinion.

For the EU, Microsoft is an important partner that has been working with them for many years and a representative of American capital, but Enze Capital is their own European company.

In the absence of conclusive evidence, she still leans towards Enze Capital's side.

“Gentlemen,” Evelyn interrupted the debate, “the Committee understands the positions of all parties. However, the allegations of technical interference do require more concrete evidence. We will also conduct a careful assessment of Enze Capital’s acquisition activities in accordance with EU law. I suggest that the parties consider some constructive solutions. For example, could Momo Group be willing to disclose its operating system logs to us in the EU for inspection? Could Enze Capital provide a more detailed explanation of its funding sources to dispel market concerns?”

Evelyn's suggestion immediately made Lei Jun frown.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the conference room door, and one of Evelyn's senior assistants strode in, leaned down and whispered a few words in her ear, and handed her a fax document that had just been received.

Evelyn looked at the documents, and for the first time, a look of surprise and seriousness appeared on her usually calm face.

She looked up, glanced at Mike and Lei Jun with a complicated expression, then cleared her throat and said, "Everyone, please wait a moment. We have just received a very important notification from China."

The meeting room fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on Evelyn and the thin document in her hand.

After carefully reading the document, Evelyn slowly raised her head, her gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on Phoenix's face. She said, "Mr. Phoenix, I think many of the issues we just discussed may need to be reassessed."

She waved the document in her hand and said, "This is an official note sent to us jointly by the China Information Industry Association and the China Ministry of Commerce. The note formally announced a major business decision: in order to safeguard national information security, they have launched a strategic repurchase plan for Moc-os intellectual property rights."

"what?"

Phoenix jumped up from his chair, his face filled with shock and disbelief; he even wondered if he had misheard.

"Buyback? China Capital wants to buy back Moc-OS? This is absolutely unacceptable! We at Microsoft strongly oppose this!"

"Objection overruled." Lei Jun raised his right hand, provoking Phoenix once again.

Evelyn put down the file, looked at Phoenix with a hint of barely perceptible sympathy in her eyes, and said, "Mr. Phoenix, if China Capital repurchases the Moc-os system, it means that the entity you accused of unfair competition by the Moc-os system controlled by Enze Capital may cease to exist in the future."

Evelyn's words made Phoenix's ears ring.

His meticulously planned attack, and the pretext he relied on for exerting pressure, were all easily dismantled at this moment by this official note from the East.

They were still figuring out their next move when their opponent pulled a fast one, completely changing the chessboard.

The so-called official note was merely a polite, routine notification.

Regardless of whether the EU agrees or not, it will be difficult to stop the buyback program from proceeding.

Mike hadn't expected China's note to arrive so quickly and at such a convenient time. He showed a slightly regretful expression and sighed, "Director Evelyn, Enze Capital only learned about this a few days ago and has been actively communicating with China. Alas, China has long admired this operating system, but it only has a market in China, so we have no choice but to agree."

Phoenix's face turned ashen. He opened his mouth, but found himself speechless for a moment.

Continue the charges?

Who are they accusing?
Is the accusation against a domestically developed system that is about to be acquired by Chinese state-owned enterprises and supported by the Chinese government?
That would no longer be a commercial dispute, but a direct challenge to a country's development strategy, with political risks and complexities far exceeding the scope of his authorization.

The EU would never easily support its suppression of a sovereign nation's strategic industries under such circumstances.

Evelyn is now aware of the seriousness of the problem.

She originally just wanted to go through the motions and balance the pressure from all sides, but now, the nature of the matter has changed.

After a moment's thought, she quickly made a decision, saying, "Given the significant changes in the situation, this meeting is temporarily suspended. The committee needs time to thoroughly study the notification from China and reassess the relevant matters. I suggest that all parties exercise restraint and await further notification."

The meeting ended abruptly.

Phoenix, with his team and a grim expression, strode out of the conference room. He needed to immediately report this astonishing turn of events to Waters and Redmond headquarters.

Mike and Ray politely said goodbye to Evelyn and left the EU headquarters building.

Once inside the car, Mike finally dropped his pretense, let out a long sigh of relief, and smiled at Ray, saying, "Ray, your boss really pulled a brilliant move. I think Phoenix's face turned green."

Lei Jun also smiled, a hint of admiration in his eyes, and said, "Yes, this is a very famous strategy in China, called 'drawing the firewood from under the cauldron.' President Cheng has completely turned a dead end into a viable one. Now the pressure is entirely back on Microsoft. If they have the ability, they can go to China and sue China Software Group."

Three days later, in the conference room of Enze Capital's European headquarters, Enze Capital's legal and business teams began intense discussions with Huang Wenrong's team. The next few hours became a showcase for the elite personnel from both sides.

Both sides approached the issue of Moc-os's buyback from various angles, with the main difficulty lying in pricing.

The market share of the Moc-OS system is already comparable to that of Apple's system, and if we calculate it according to Apple's valuation, it would be astronomical.

However, unlike Apple's system, Moc-OS has not gone overseas, and its popularity and user base are far inferior to those of Apple's system.

Apart from Huang Wenrong, no one else knew that this was a transaction that was essentially a left-hand to right-hand exchange, so naturally they were all trying their best to maximize their own interests.

This is also the result Cheng Yi wanted to see.

Many business elites have never encountered a cross-border buyback program in their lives.

Since we've finally encountered this opportunity, we should naturally use it to practice our skills properly.

Most importantly, representatives from the European Commission were involved in and documented the entire acquisition negotiation process.

The negotiations lasted for two full days, and the negotiating proposals were overturned time and time again.

Because neither side wants to lose even the slightest bit of benefit.

After two days of back-and-forth, a draft proposal that was barely acceptable to both sides was placed in front of Mike and Huang Wenrong.

The soldiers' mission is over, and now it's Mike and Huang Wenrong's turn to negotiate.

The junior staff only finalized the details and framework; the amount of money involved required the approval of the two responsible persons. This time, reporters from major well-known television stations came to follow up and report on the event.

Instead of rushing to discuss solutions, Huang Wenrong guided Mike's team to analyze the current predicament one by one.

Potential fines from the EU investigation, the threat of asset freezes from the US FCN, the long-term costs of the Microsoft lawsuit, and the negative impact of the Moc-os business on Enze Capital's other investments.

Every word Huang Wenrong said was like peeling away the shell of Mike's anxiety.

Once Mike's team's defensive mindset was gradually broken down, Huang Wenrong said at the opportune moment: "Therefore, President Mike, the initial $5.8 million in cash can be injected into Enze Capital immediately to stabilize the situation. The 28% share of net profit over the next five years, with a maximum of $16 billion, can also ensure that Enze Capital can share in the huge dividends of the Moc-os system in China, the world's fastest-growing market."

"Once the transaction is completed, the legal connection between Moc-os and Enze Capital will be greatly weakened, and most of Microsoft's accusations against you will be baseless, because their accusations are completely unfounded."

Huang Wenrong's statement effectively cleared Enze Capital of some suspicion.

His words were also broadcast on major European television stations.

Mike carefully read through the terms of the agreement, his brow furrowed.

Huang Wenrong's proposal was undoubtedly very tempting, especially given his current predicament. However, as a seasoned professional manager, he instinctively began to look for loopholes and room for maneuver.

"Cash portion, $6 million, not a penny less; profit sharing, 30%, capped at $20 billion." Mike tried to raise the price.

"Furthermore, the technology sharing terms must be expanded; we need to obtain all non-classified technology updates."

"Payment milestones need to be more clearly defined, with quarterly payments instead of annual ones."

Mike's demands plunged the negotiations into a difficult tug-of-war.

The legal and financial experts brought by Huang Wenrong once again engaged in a word-for-word battle with the Enze Capital team.

Sometimes it's for a percentage point split, sometimes it's for determining a payment date.

Huang Wenrong remained calm throughout, adhering to the bottom line set by Cheng Yi and making appropriate concessions on secondary terms in exchange for achieving the core objective, repeatedly bringing the negotiations back on track.

The most tense moment is undoubtedly the one concerning the definition of control.

European Commission representatives attempted to attach certain veto clauses to the retained 40% stake, but Huang Wenrong's team firmly rejected the proposal.

The negotiations lasted for five days.

Finally, late on the fifth day, both sides reached a consensus.

Initial cash payment: $6 million.

Profit sharing: 29%, five-year term, total cap of US$18.5 billion.

Control: Momo OS Company obtained absolute global operating rights for the Moc-os system.

Technology sharing: Enze Capital will be granted the right to update technology within the agreed scope.

When the chief representatives of both sides signed their names on the thick agreement, Mike finally breathed a long sigh of relief, as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

The Moc-OS system was like a piece of meat bone, which attracted Microsoft, the hungry wolf, to linger in front of them. Now that they have thrown this meat bone back to China, their crisis can be considered resolved.

If Microsoft wants to continue this entanglement, Enze Capital, without the Moc-OS system as a weakness, may not necessarily be subject to Microsoft's European region.

Now he must complete the task assigned by the big boss as soon as possible.

Although he didn't know what the big boss wanted to do with these semiconductor companies.

These semiconductor companies were all driven to the brink of bankruptcy by companies like Intel. European companies are strictly prohibited from producing CPUs and motherboard chipsets.

For example, they acquired the British company ARM in 2003. ARM was founded in 1990 and produced many ARM-based chips in its early days, such as the world's first 32-bit RISC architecture ARM1 processor. This processor was characterized by low power consumption and high performance, and it crushed all similar products at the time, making it the number one semiconductor company in Europe.

However, because they were too high-profile, they were quickly blocked by a coalition of American IT giants.

In 1998, just when ARM was being suppressed to the brink of collapse, Apple spent $300 million to acquire 43% of ARM's shares and modified the ARM1 processor into the iMac G4 processor, which became Apple's most classic processor in 2002.

After ARM went public in both the UK and the US, Apple gradually sold off those shares.

The ARM shares that Apple subsequently sold were taken over by Enze Capital. Together with some scattered shares, Enze Capital has essentially achieved true control of ARM.

Actually, Mike didn't understand what the big boss meant either, because ARM had long ago signed a global agreement not to participate in the production of computer chips.

In Mike's view, the company he bought for hundreds of millions of dollars was a complete waste of money, even more unreliable than Tesla.

(End of this chapter)