Since they are reborn, they must be supported by the school beauties.

Chapter 149 I want to treat him to a meal

Having found a way to break the deadlock, Chen Cheng, who had been frowning the whole time, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

Although he had only known Shen Luning for a short time, she had always trusted him. Of all the operational strategies he had developed at Wild, Shen Luning was the only one who had almost never questioned him. Moreover, she had lent him most of her savings, a fact he would never forget.

Now that Shen Luning's company is facing such a huge crisis, when I heard about the tens of millions of yuan in buyback funds, I almost didn't dare to hope that I would be able to help her.

But when he thought about what was about to happen, if Shen Luning's family could seize the opportunity to boost their sluggish performance, it would be a piece of cake.

If Shen Luning's company, Lingzhou Pharmaceutical, starts to transform into a producer of Banlangen (Isatis root) at the end of the year, stockpiles raw materials in advance, and operates at full capacity, its performance will surge in February or March of next year.

During that special period, Banlangen granules were in high demand and short supply. Regardless of the brand, large or small, any product in stock would be snapped up immediately.

There's no need to even try to achieve sales targets; countless distributors will come knocking on your door, eager to deliver them.

Therefore, even if Tianyun Pharmaceutical wants to suppress Lingzhou Pharmaceutical again, it will definitely be powerless to do so.

The solution was found, but a problem arose.

Chen Cheng knew that he couldn't immediately give Shen Luning advice on how to transform her family's business to produce Banlangen granules.

Since there are no clear signals related to this yet, coming up with such an idea at this time is too outrageous.

Moreover, there is absolutely no basis to convince others.

However, SARS actually appeared in Hong Kong Island and Guangdong Province at the end of this year. However, it did not initially attract national attention. The real panic that began to spread in Beijing next year will be the outbreak of SARS.

In other words, even if I were to give Shen Lu Ning some advice, I would have to wait until the end of the year when there are confirmed cases in Hong Kong Island and Guangdong Province at the earliest, and then use my so-called "keen sense of smell" to package things in a way that makes them seem reasonable.

Now we'll see if Shen Luning's father can hold out until the end of the year under the heavy pressure from Tianyun Pharmaceutical.

Shen Luning also noticed Chen Cheng's change. Ever since she started talking about the problems her family was facing, his expression had been very serious, but at this moment, he suddenly seemed much more relaxed, and even had a smile on his face.

She wondered if Chen Cheng had some solution.

At this moment, Chen Cheng, having figured out the logic behind it, said to Shen Luning, "Sister Ning, I have a suggestion, would you like to hear it?"

Shen Luning asked impatiently, "What suggestion?"

Chen Cheng said, "I suggest we take two steps. The first step is simple: don't accept any conditions offered by the other party for the time being."

At this point, Chen Cheng explained, "As I just said, when the other party invested in you, they should have already started planning to take you over. If you agree to their compensation of shares now, they may soon gain control of your company, and at that time, there will really be no chance to turn things around."

Shen Luning sighed and asked him, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Chen Cheng said, "Since the other party wants your lives, the sooner you surrender, the sooner you will die. So don't accept any solutions offered by the other party until the last day of the betting agreement."

Shen Luning said with some worry, "If we don't accept their proposal, the only option left is to fulfill the contract. My father and the shareholders can't come up with that much money, so the company will definitely be sold off cheaply in the end."

Chen Cheng shook his head and said seriously, "As long as you don't surrender, there's always a chance. There are still six months left, right? What if we can find a breakthrough in performance in the next six months? I'll keep an eye out for various opportunities for you and see if there's any chance of turning things around."

Shen Luning gave a bitter smile: "The possibility of a comeback is too small. Since the beginning of this year, our sales have been declining. Before we received the investment, we had annual sales of 30 million. The contract required us to reach 60 million in the third year. In the first year after receiving the investment, we expanded our factory and production lines, and sales reached more than 40 million. At that time, everyone felt that everything was going well."

"In the second year after securing investment, our growth rate was already far below expectations. We originally thought we could reach 60 million in the second year, but by then the competition had become more intense, and we barely managed to reach 40 million."

"We need to reach 60 million in sales from April this year to the end of March next year to meet our target, but from April to September this year, a full six months, we only made 18 million..."

"There are still six months left. Even if our performance doesn't decline, we can only achieve a maximum of 37 to 38 million for the whole year, which is still far from 60 million."

"Moreover, given the current trend, it's impossible to stabilize performance and prevent a decline; the performance in the second half of the year will only be worse..."

At this point, her voice tinged with frustration, she said, "Actually, my dad is starting to waver. He's afraid that if he misses this 20% opportunity, the losses will be even greater next year."

Chen Cheng said earnestly, "Sister Ning, you must persuade Uncle and tell him what I just analyzed. Isn't he unwilling to give up his hard work? As long as he agrees to compensate Tianyun Pharmaceutical with 20% of its shares, it's equivalent to surrendering immediately. It's certain that the other party will take control, and then they will squeeze him out of the company."

Shen Luning thought for a moment and said, "He seems to trust those few minority shareholders quite a bit."

Chen Cheng asked, "Have you signed a concerted action agreement? If you have, there's no problem. The other party can't sell shares behind your uncle's back. If you haven't signed one, you should have him communicate with the other shareholders to see if they are willing to sign. You must be very careful about this matter, as they may have already reached an agreement with the minority shareholders!"

"Agreement on concerted action?"

Shen Luning murmured to herself, then suddenly came to her senses and blurted out, "I understand what you mean! I'll call him right now!"

Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Shen Lu Ning's father, Shen Zhou, stayed at a modest three-star hotel near Tianyun Pharmaceutical.

Shen Luning returned early today because Shen Zhou was worried about the company's situation and asked her to come back first to keep an eye on things, while he stayed behind to continue negotiating with the other party.

Although it was during the National Day holiday, Tianyun Pharmaceutical and Lingzhou Pharmaceutical basically did not take a break. The factories continued to produce, and Tianyun Pharmaceutical's business team also kept busy, negotiating with them for the past few days.

When Shen Luning called, Shen Zhou was smoking in his room, which was already filled with smoke.

Shen Zhou answered the phone and asked her, "Ningning, are you home yet?"

"No," Shen Luning said. "I've come to Zishan's place to sit with her."

Shen Zhou advised her, "It's okay to relax, but try not to drink alcohol."

Shen Luning nodded and said, "Don't worry, Dad, I won't drink much. One or two bottles of beer at most."

After saying that, she asked, "Dad, is there any progress on your end today?"

Shen Zhou replied, "Not yet. They're holding firm and won't budge. Their CEO, Mr. Ren, is on vacation but will be back at work tomorrow. I plan to talk to him and see."

Shen Luning felt a little sorry for him, so she said, "Dad, come back tomorrow. Don't go and talk to that President Ren anymore."

"go back?"

Shen Zhou immediately said, "How can we go back now? Although we haven't been able to finalize the percentage yet, we must settle this matter. Otherwise, if Tianyun Pharmaceutical raises its demands after October, we'll be in real trouble."

Shen Luning said seriously, "It would be a real problem if this matter were settled now! Dad, have you thought about what we would do if Tianyun Pharmaceuticals acquired a controlling stake in us?"

"Controlling stake?"

Shen Zhou immediately denied it, saying, "No, they want us to compensate with 20% of the shares, which only adds up to 45%. The other shareholders are all on my side. We've been building this business together for so many years, and I trust their character. Together, we have 55% of the shares, and Tianyun Pharmaceutical can't control us."

Shen Luning remembered Chen Cheng's instructions and said, "Dad, I talked to Chen Cheng. He thinks that Tianyun Pharmaceutical's motives were sinister from the beginning. The investment was a pretense, and the real intention was to launch a hostile takeover."

"Chen Cheng?"

Shen Zhou asked her, "Is it that young man you always mention who works at Zishan's shop?"

"Correct."

Shen Luning explained Chen Cheng's analysis to Shen Zhou in its entirety.

After listening, Shen Zhou's mood immediately turned serious: "What Chen Cheng said does make some sense, but we realized it too late. Once the deadline for the bet expires next year, we will really have no chance at all."

Shen Luning knew that her father wouldn't be persuaded so easily, so she reminded him, "Dad, since you're inclined to agree to Tianyun Pharmaceutical now, then listen to Chen Cheng and have the other shareholders sign a concerted action agreement with you. I learned about this in school, but we've always overlooked it. Thanks to him for reminding us."

Shen Zhou asked curiously, "What's this 'Action Agreement'? What does it mean?"

Shen Luning said, "The point is to make their shares firmly tied to yours. The shares are still theirs, but the decision-making power should be given to you to make unified decisions. If you decide to sell your shares, they must sell them with you; if you decide not to sell, then they cannot sell any of their shares."

Shen Zhou asked her, "Are you afraid that the other shareholders will secretly sell their shares to Tianyun?"

"Correct!"

Shen Luning reminded him: "Chen Cheng said that you can't be too careful. If you agree to Tianyun's conditions, they will have 45% of the shares. If Tianyun takes another 6% of the shares from other minority shareholders, we will have no chance. You will definitely be squeezed out by them."

Shen Zhou also realized the seriousness of the consequences and immediately agreed, saying, "Okay, I'll talk to them. If they have no problem with it, I'll sign this agreement first, and then sign the agreement with Tianyun. Is that alright?"

Shen Luning felt helpless, but still went along with him, saying, "If you insist on accepting Tianyun's agreement, then this is the best solution."

Shen Zhou nodded: "Then I'll call them now, they'll definitely agree."

Shen Luning asked him, "Dad, let's make a deal. If they don't agree, you come back tomorrow and we'll think of another way. Chen Cheng also promised to help us find a solution."

"Row."

Shen Zhou made up his mind.

An agreement to act in concert serves as a safeguard before surrendering.

If the other shareholders are willing to sign, I will still retain 55% of the voting power; if they are unwilling to sign, then I cannot give them the remaining 20% ​​of the shares.

Lingzhou Pharmaceutical has only three minority shareholders.

These three people were all people who worked hard alongside Shen Zhou in his early years.

Some of them invested money, while others invested technology. They were all long-term partners, and Shen Zhou trusted them completely.

However, to Shen Zhou's utter surprise, after making three phone calls and explaining to the three individuals what a concerted action agreement was, none of them were willing to sign it.

Even though Shen Zhou repeatedly explained the pros and cons to them and that the agreement was meant to put them in a position of shared destiny, the three of them still disagreed.

One of the veteran shareholders even told him that he no longer wanted to struggle and wanted to find an opportunity to cash out and retire. If Shen Zhou really did not want to be controlled by Tianyun, then he hoped that Shen Zhou could use his own money to buy his shares first.

It was only at this moment that Shen Zhou realized that while he was desperately searching for opportunities in Guangzhou, these so-called entrepreneurial partners had already developed ulterior motives.

After hanging up the phone, he silently smoked a cigarette.

After finishing his cigarette, he stubbed it out in the ashtray and made a phone call to Shen Luning.

As soon as the call connected, he said seriously, "Ningning, I'm going back tomorrow. Could you help me make an appointment with Chen Cheng? I'd like to invite him to dinner."

(End of this chapter)