I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 552: JD.com's transaction volume is 2800 billion, Pinduoduo's is 6803 billion. Can the merger surpass Ali?

In the depths of winter, darkness falls exceptionally early in Yanjing.

A faint ray of afterglow, huddled in the cold wind, finally shone on the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Dongguan headquarters.

Liu Qiangdong waved his hand, signaling Xu Lei to stay.

Shen Haoyu and Wang Yaqing exchanged a glance and then left the boss's office on their own.

"It seems like things are about to change in Dongguan!"

As soon as Wang Yaqing stepped out, she couldn't help but sigh.

Although he comes from a technical background and holds the position of CTO, he is not unintelligent, and his overall perspective far surpasses that of the average technical person.

Just now in the office, Liu Qiangdong's respectful attitude towards Chen Yansen and his undisguised address of "Brother Sen" were like two pebbles thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples in his heart.

He knows Dong Ge too well. Dong Ge is an arrogant person to the core. The fact that he was able to lower his stance like this shows that the cooperation between Dong Ge and Pinbei, or more accurately, Dong Ge and Senlian Capital, will continue to deepen.

Considering that the boss seemed to be in a low mood after the company submitted its IPO prospectus, Wang Yaqing gradually got a sense of what was going on.

Dong Ge wants to leverage the resources of Senlian Capital to make one last push before the IPO!
Shen Haoyu listened from the side, nodding slightly, but his brows were furrowed, clearly pondering the pros and cons of this "change of power".

Both are senior executives at JD.com and hold a considerable amount of equity.

"What do you think Dong-ge means?" Shen Haoyu asked Wang Yaqing after a few seconds of silence.

"President Shen, don't come with an answer in mind when you ask a question." Wang Yaqing knew that Shen Haoyu had probably guessed Dong Ge's thoughts, so she joked with a smile.

"Okay, I understand," Shen Haoyu said with an awkward smile.

"Anyway, it can't be a bad thing. I have a friend who works in investment banking on Wall Street. I heard that Dong Ge (Liu Qiangdong) approached several securities firms and underwriting institutions, but after evaluating various financial indicators, they only gave him a valuation of 220 billion US dollars."

Wang Yaqing pulled Shen Haoyu to the balcony, and after making sure no one was around, she lowered her voice and said.

$220 billion?
Shen Haoyu frowned slightly. Wasn't this price outrageous?
Pinbei's transaction volume in 2013 was 6803 billion yuan, and its market value hovered around 1060 billion US dollars.

JD.com achieved sales of 2800 billion yuan in 2013. Based on this, it would be unreasonable for the figure to be less than 400 billion US dollars.

"Compared to Pinduoduo, we have our own logistics system, which has higher delivery efficiency. Logically, this should be a plus."

Shen Haoyu said indignantly.

"Mr. Shen, in the capital market, we only look at revenue and profit margin. Pinbei's net profit last year was probably no less than 200 billion yuan. What about us?"

Wang Yaqing sighed softly; he didn't actually agree with many of Liu Qiangdong's decisions.

Admittedly, thanks to JD Logistics, JD has the capability to deliver goods the next day, or even the same day, in first- and second-tier cities and third- and fourth-tier cities.

But the cost is just too high!

For example, the cost of land, equipment and construction for the Asia No. 1 Central Warehouse in Kunshan alone exceeded one billion yuan.

And there are several such warehouses in East and North China.

In addition, the more than 4 deliverymen are also a heavy burden.

Hillhouse Capital, Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Sequoia Capital, Today Capital, and OTPP Fund initially invested in JD.com with the aim of creating a "Chinese version" of Amazon.

However, the investors behind the company have long been dissatisfied with the company's inability to turn a profit.

From 2013 to 2014, Liu Qiangdong was constantly working on financing and going public. The underlying logic was simple: the pressure from investors was too great.

If it weren't for OTPP giving JD.com a boost last year, Liu Qiangdong would either have had to go public at a loss or accept Ma Wenteng's harsh conditions and take on a bunch of worthless projects to secure traffic for JD.com.

"Mr. Shen, let's wait for the boss's notification." Wang Yaqing patted his pocket, took out a pack of cigarettes, and handed one to Shen Haoyu.

The two stood on the balcony, puffing on their cigarettes, each lost in their own thoughts.

Shen Haoyu believes that regardless of whether Senlian Capital is acquiring or investing, the value of his stock options may decrease.

Instead of feeling upset, he was filled with anticipation.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

Chen Yansen's business acumen is widely recognized. With Senlian Capital by his side, how could he not make a living?
Take Yunsu Express as an example. What was it like before it was acquired by Senlian Capital?
In terms of business volume, it can't even compare to second-tier express delivery companies like Tiantian and Guofeng.

There are only 300 express delivery points nationwide.

The total value is less than 3 million yuan.

As a result, in just three years, the valuation reached a staggering 300 billion US dollars!
It increased 600 times!
It's not that he's disloyal to Liu Qiangdong, but rather that loyalty isn't worth that much money.

In fact, including Wang Yaqing and Xu Lei, if the company hadn't been about to go public and they hadn't been reluctant to give up tens of millions of yuan worth of shares, they might have already jumped ship.

After all, talent mobility is frequent in the internet industry, and who wouldn't yearn for a platform that can bring them greater development opportunities and more benefits?
Seeing the rapid rise of Pinduoduo and the expansion of companies under Senlian Capital, they couldn't help but feel uneasy.

I stayed with JD.com because I cherished the friendship I had built with Liu Qiangdong, and I also saw the company's potential.

However, compared to Pinduoduo, Liu Qiangdong's capabilities are clearly inferior.

Others can go public in less than three years and be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars!
JD.com didn't even make a profit!
It faces suppression from early on, and is being chased by Suning, Gome, and Yi Xun from behind.

Dangdang.com also occasionally jumps in to stir things up.

Given the unfavorable outlook from the capital market, it's only natural that Liu Qiangdong would choose to align himself with Senlian Capital.

the other side.

Liu Qiangdong picked up the teapot, poured tea and water for Chen Yansen first, and then poured himself a cup.

He gazed at the emerald green and yellow tea soup, but had no intention of tasting it. After a moment of deliberation, he slowly said, "Brother Sen, I have no objection to the cooperation proposal you put forward last time."

"Old Gao, leave a business card for Old Liu. Tomorrow, find Liao Wei and have him come to Yanjing to personally discuss the merger with President Liu."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, raised his hand, and gave Gao Weilin some instructions.

“Yes, boss,” Gao Weilin replied.

Liu Qiangdong looked up and couldn't help but glance at Gao Weilin again. Gao Weilin was the CFO of Senlian Capital, CEO of Semir Online, and Chen Yansen's chief steward, nicknamed "Gao the Money Bag," and was in charge of investment and acquisitions.

My first battle after joining Senlian Capital was to bring together Augusta Capital, Rakuten Capital, and Ali to complete the sale of FoxTao.

Judging from his performance at Semir Online, Gao Weilin's management skills are not bad.

Thinking about this, Handsome Dong secretly thought to himself: Chen Yansen is really lucky to have been able to poach such a master from Hong Kong Island.

He understands investment, understands business, and I've heard he's also an expert in listing operations on the Hong Kong stock market.

Little did he know that although Gao Weilin was quite capable, he still needed Chen Yansen to give him opportunities and projects, as well as to teach him personally, in order to cultivate him into someone who could stand on his own.

"As for the shareholding, I have discussed it with several important shareholders. 20% is too high, and the maximum is 15%."

Liu Qiangdong then added.

He met with several investors, including Hillhouse Capital, Tiger Global Management, and DST Capital, last week, and surprisingly, none of them objected to Senlian Capital's investment.

To be honest, he didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

The good news is that Senlian Capital's strength is evident to all, and the fact that it has gained the unanimous recognition of these discerning investors is enough to prove that introducing this investment will greatly benefit the development of Jingdong.

Sadly, these shareholders who once fully supported him are now subtly showing distrust in his abilities.

Chen Yansen picked up the teacup on the table, gently blew away the foam, and then slowly said, "Old Liu, whether it's 15% or 20%, the higher the percentage, the greater the support Senlian Capital gives to Dong."

When Senlian Capital came in, it wasn't just bringing money, but also resources from the entire ecosystem.

Think about it: the logistics network of Yunsu Express, the traffic pools of Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and Douyin—the growth these hidden resources can bring to JD.com cannot be measured by a few percentage points of equity.

Liu Qiangdong holds 18.4% of the shares and, thanks to the advantages of Class B shares, has 40.4% of the voting rights.

Tiger Global Management holds a 22.1% stake.

Hillhouse Capital holds a 15.8% stake through HHGL 360Buy Holdings.

DST holds 11.2% of the shares, while OTPP holds 9.5%.

If Chen Yansen acquires 20% of the shares, he can become the largest shareholder of Jingdong.

Although control cannot be gained for the time being, there is no such thing as getting fat in one bite.

He has plenty of time and patience.

In his view, if Liu Qiangdong is obedient, he should continue to sit in the CEO position; if he is disobedient, he should be replaced if possible, and if not, he should sell his shares and cash out.

He can lift Dong up, and he can also crush Dong down.

"Brother Sen, give me three more days. I need to talk to the investors first."

After pondering for a while, Liu Qiangdong gave a reply.

"Then I'll wait three more days."

Chen Yansen picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

He stayed at Liu Qiangdong's headquarters at 6:15, and then the two of them left together in the same car, speeding towards the direction of Jingzhaoyin.

Several reporters who were waiting in the interview vehicle happened to capture the scene of Liu Qiangdong getting into Chen Yansen's car.

They originally intended to follow Liu Qiangdong and Zhang Zetian (the "Milk Tea Sister"), but unexpectedly, they had a pleasant surprise.

"Liu Qiangdong and Chen Yansen are getting a bit too close!"

"Businessmen are always going through periods of separation and reunion. Two years ago, Pinduoduo and JD.com had quite a few online spats."

"Pinbei is now worth hundreds of billions, which is quite a distance from JD.com. Do you think the two companies might be considering a merger?"

“Wow! Brother Cai, you’re really talented! One of these platforms has a low average order value, while the other has a high average order value. Given Chen Yansen’s style of doing things, he might be thinking of taking over JD.com and going head-to-head with Ali.”

Several reporters from The Paper huddled in their car, discussing the matter.

Most importantly, the valuation of Jingdong is not high, and with Mr. Chen's financial strength, he can definitely afford to buy it.

Two hours later, just as Chen Yansen, Liu Qiangdong, Zhang Chaoyang, Zhou Hongyi and others were drinking and chatting in the private room, a news story suddenly went viral.

"The second and third largest e-commerce companies are riding in the same car; could they be considering a merger?"

The news headline was particularly eye-catching, accompanied by a photo of Chen Yansen and Liu Qiangdong leaving the JD.com headquarters together and getting into the same car. The photo was taken from a unique angle, clearly capturing the scene of the two talking intimately.

The analysis, embellished with sensationalism, claims that recent reports indicate frequent contact between Senlian Capital and JD.com. Combined with the recent appearance of the two industry leaders together, it's possible that Pinduoduo and JD.com will engage in deep cooperation at the capital level, or even merge, to jointly challenge Alibaba, the leading e-commerce company.

That sounds very convincing!
Many netizens commented: "Our company is a distributor for Unilever, and we're on Pinduoduo. Last time we delivered goods to the warehouse, they actually went into JD.com's central warehouse. Can you believe it?"

"It's nothing new. Everyone in the industry knows that the two companies share their logistics and warehousing systems."

Holy crap! They're really merging?!

"Last time I placed an order on JD.com, the delivery was handled by Yunsu Express."

There were already signs of cooperation, and with the corroboration from netizens, it seemed to confirm the rumors that the two companies were about to merge.

at the same time.

Ma Liyun, who had just recovered from a fever in Davos, lay on the hotel bed looking listless.

He picked up his phone and casually browsed the latest news from China.

"JD.com's transaction volume is 2800 billion yuan, and Pinduoduo's is 6803 billion yuan. If the two merge, will they surpass Ali?

merge?

Ma Liyun instantly regained consciousness, forced herself to sit up, leaned against the headboard, and clicked on the news details page.

(End of this chapter)