kvmb Chapter 411 The True Purpose of Fantasy
Chapter 411 The True Purpose of Fantasy
Lingyun was reviewing the OLED production line debugging report sent by Xinvino when his phone rang. It was Fiona calling from the United States; her voice sounded a little urgent.
"Mr. Ling, I've received some information. People from Yixiang Group have recently been in contact with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley; they want to acquire shares in Xingchen Technology."
Ling Yun stopped, put down the report, and leaned back in his chair. "Is the information reliable?"
"It's reliable. I have a friend at Goldman Sachs who told me this privately. The people from Yixiang have already been to New York twice and are talking to Goldman Sachs' investment banking division. They want to buy Star Technology's shares from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have given up hope on Star Technology now; the board is fighting every day, the company has no CEO, and the stock price has fallen below eight dollars. They want to sell, and Yixiang wants to take over."
Ling Yun remained silent. It turned out that Yi Xiang's actions in the MP3 market were merely a diversionary tactic. They created a stir in the media, drawing everyone's attention to MP3s. Their real objective was to gain control of Xingchen Technology.
Despite its internal strife, Xingchen Technology still possesses a solid foundation. If its operating system, browser, and development tools fall into the hands of Yixiang and are integrated with their PC business, it will create a complete ecosystem encompassing hardware, software, and peripherals. That would be Xinghuo's strongest competitor in the domestic market.
More importantly, besides Lingyun holding Xingchen's core patents, Xingchen's patent pool also contains a large number of underlying technology patents, many of which were developed under Lingyun's personal leadership. If Yixiang obtains these patent licenses, they can not only use them, but also use them to attack Xinghuo through patent litigation. Lingyun has seen this tactic far too many times in Silicon Valley.
"How much did they talk about?" Lingyun asked.
"Negotiations are still ongoing. But Yi Xiang is determined to win this time; they've borrowed a lot of money from the bank, all for the sake of Xingchen."
"What about Dell and HP?"
"Dell is still hesitant. HP wants to sell; their stake in StarCraft is a hot potato, and they want to sell to cut their losses. Dell doesn't really want to sell; he thinks StarCraft still has value, but he's also fed up with the current chaos in the board of directors."
Ling Yun thought for a moment and said, "Help me contact Dell and HP. Tell them that Xinghuo Group is willing to acquire their shares in Xingchen Technology. The price will be the market price, no discounts, no haggling."
Fiona paused for a moment. "President Ling, is Spark now acquiring shares in Starry Sky?"
"Yes. If Yixiang wants to buy, we'll get there first. Dell and HP together hold about 20% of the shares. With that, Xinghuo can become Xingchen's major shareholder. It won't be so easy for Yixiang to acquire it then."
"Okay, I'll contact them right away."
The call ended. Ling Yun stood up and walked to the window. Yi Xiang's plan was shrewd. They knew Xingchen Technology's stock price was low, that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wanted to sell, and that Dell and HP were hesitant. They wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to acquire control of Xingchen at a low price. But they forgot one thing—Xingchen was founded by Ling Yun, and although he was no longer involved, he would never let it fall into Yi Xiang's hands.
The next morning, Fiona called back.
"Mr. Ling, Dell has responded. He said if you want them, he can transfer his shares to you. But he has one condition."
"What are the conditions?"
He said that if Xinghuo Group wants to raise funds, it must consider Dell.
Ling Yun smiled and said, "Okay, Xinghuo Group will definitely invite Dell if they need funding."
Ling Yun thought to himself, "Trying to take advantage of us? Xinghuo Group won't go public. Manufacturing companies can't withstand these capitalists' exploitation. A financial crisis can bankrupt a company and reduce the value of its production lines to scrap metal."
"HP has also responded. They are willing to sell, but at a price slightly higher than the market price. Their cost basis for the shares is high, and selling now would already result in a loss; they don't want to lose too much."
"They're losing money based on their costs? That's shameless! Even with Star Technology's stock price plummeting like this, they've still made at least ten times their initial investment." Ling Yun was almost amused by the situation, then calmed himself and asked, "How much higher?"
"Ten percent."
"Okay. Sign the contract, the sooner the better."
"it is good."
Ling Yun calculated in his mind: Dell held 8.8%, and HP held 14.6%, totaling 23.4%. To become the largest shareholder of Xingchen Technology and control its board of directors, he needed to hold more than 30% of the shares. The remaining shares would have to be quietly acquired through the secondary market.
The next day, Fiona called again, her voice even more urgent than before.
"Mr. Ling, something's happened. Yixiang approached HP, but I don't know how the negotiations went, HP changed their minds and won't sell to us anymore. Moreover, they changed their strategy; instead of buying shares from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, they're directly approaching Xingchen Technology's employee stock ownership platform."
Lingyun's hand froze in mid-air.
"The employee stock ownership platform holds 10.88% of the shares. These shares are scattered among dozens of long-term employees, all of whom were the ones who fought alongside you to build the company. One by one, people from Yixiang approached us, offering terms that were hard to refuse—not a purchase, but a 'cooperation.' Yixiang would provide a sum of money, and the employees would pledge their shares to Yixiang, entrusting their voting rights to Yixiang. In name, the shares still belonged to the employees, but in reality, control went to Yixiang."
"How many people signed?" Ling Yun asked.
Fiona paused for a second, then said, "More than half, and it's still increasing."
Ling Yun hummed in agreement and said, "The number of employee shares is limited. They won't buy shares in Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. It's impossible for them to control the board. Let me ask what's going on!"
After hanging up with Fiona, Ling Yun called Dell. Dell didn't hide anything and told Ling Yun about the generous terms offered by Yixiang. Ling Yun was stunned. Wasn't Yixiang going to acquire Xingchen? These terms were an acquisition? This was practically selling himself!