2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 548 Good things happen one after another
The cost of an IPO on the US stock market is generally between $100 million and $150 million, which translates to between 700 million and 1100 million RMB after discounts.

Compared to the issuance costs of over 8000 million yuan for A-shares, listing on the US stock market is less expensive and more advantageous for emerging companies.

There's a popular saying on Nasdaq: "There's no company that can't go public on Nasdaq."

The lack of profitability requirements is one of the reasons why many internet companies, especially startups, prefer to list on NASDAQ—to find a financing platform with low costs.

An IPO cost of 80 million yuan can wipe out almost 8000% of internet companies. As a startup, who the hell can afford that?

Even for companies like Orange Technology, which have the support of large investment institutions, Tan Jincheng is still somewhat reluctant to spend 8000 million yuan on an IPO at this stage. 8000 million yuan could produce many small games.

"Let the publicity department release the news."

Shen Nanpeng also sent over a lot of documents, which Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing need to take a look at. The SEC is responsible for securities review and issuance registration, while the stock exchange is responsible for listing review. The two have independent division of labor.

Orange Technology is going public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, which has the highest standards. It has entered the listing review process of the stock exchange, and the time before the initial public offering is not long away.

Generally, a company can be officially listed on the secondary market within seven days after its initial public offering (IPO).

"Haha, our offering price can reach $10."

Gu Qingqing ignored Tan Jincheng for the time being and instead focused on the documents that Shen Nanpeng had sent back. Both of them were quite good at English and had a lot of technical terms, but with her recent studies and some translation software, she could barely understand even the all-English instruction manual.

Mr. Tan was also very happy: "Yes, the $1.5 million fundraising target has been fully achieved, not bad, not bad."

There is no fixed issue price or amount of funds raised. If the issuer is favored by the capital market, it can be issued normally; otherwise, it can only be discounted, which is commonly known as a "bleeding IPO".

Nasdaq has a minimum offering price of $5. Before preparing for the IPO, Tan Jincheng was really worried that he wouldn't be able to raise all the funds, which would have meant lowering the offering price.

Many domestic companies have experienced the pain of going public at a loss.

Unfortunately, the exchange rate has fallen below 7. If it were in the 8 era, how much more money would 1.5 million US dollars have generated? I was just happy that the issuance costs were lower after the exchange rate fell below 7, but now I'm a little unhappy about this.

Back in 2005, when Mr. Tan first started his clothing export business, the exchange rate between RMB and USD was around 8.2, and even in 2006 it remained around 8.

That was really awesome.

Back then, money was still very valuable. Eight yuan could almost buy a meal. You could eat a boxed lunch or a bowl of ramen and be full. You earned US dollars and spent RMB. It was incredibly satisfying.

Gu Qingqing had obviously thought of this as well: "It's a pity that the exchange rate has changed. If we had approved it a month earlier, we could have received a lot of money."

"This is not something we can control. The exchange rate has been changing over the years. When I first started in foreign trade, it was around 8.2, but now it has broken 7. If nothing unexpected happens, it will only go lower and lower."

Tan Jincheng remembers the exchange rate quite clearly. As far as he can recall, the exchange rate had been declining since 2008, and the lowest point was around 2014, when the midpoint was about 6.14 yuan.

It didn't climb above 7 until 2023, which is 15 years.

You think the current rate is too low, but little do you know that this is already the best exchange rate you can get right now.

However, this thing has its pros and cons. For foreign trade, the exchange rate is not as high, so the profit is less. But for foreign investment, it is a good thing. For example, Boss Tan still wants to buy some foreign mines, so he can spend less money.

In fact, Orange Technology didn't need much publicity. Domestic and foreign media had been paying close attention to the progress of Orange Technology's prospectus update, and the news of the SEC's approval started spreading from across the Pacific as soon as possible.

When something is favored by capital, the media will inevitably follow suit; Wall Street also needs media hype.

As the fastest company to go public in China, and also the fastest company to go public on Nasdaq this year, Orange Technology's technology content is not the most advanced, and its $1.5 million fundraising is not even a ripple in a mature capital market.

But the fact that such a company is the fastest to go public in an emerging market is already quite a sensational event.

"With 25 months of operation, Orange Technology has completed its listing registration, making it the fastest listed company in China."

This was the first headline published by Wall Street financial media, and it was quickly reprinted in China by domestic portal websites. It didn't need much publicity; the buzz just started.

With an offering price of $10 and a fundraising target of $1.5 million, Orange Technology, with the stock code OOTL, has finally reached the final step before its IPO. The market generally predicts that Orange Technology will officially list on the Nasdaq market around the end of April or the beginning of May.

The company should be listed by the end of May at the latest. It only took 26 months from registration to listing. Zhang Physics's fastest listing has been completely overshadowed.

Kaixin.com immediately ran the headline: "Celebrating the upcoming IPO of its parent company, Orange Technology!"

In addition, Orange Products quickly launched its pre-prepared launch promotion activities, which was quite fast, and the whole company was in a state of celebration.

The employees were understandably excited. With an offering price of $10, the generous boss, Mr. Tan, gave each employee at least 200 shares, which was a bonus of 14,000 yuan, equivalent to two to three months' basic salary for a junior programmer.

In 2007, programmers' income was definitely higher than that of other industries, but the basic salary wasn't ridiculously high, generally around 5000 to 8000 yuan, with performance playing a much larger role. Of course, this only applies to ordinary programmers; some exceptional talents are not included, such as Sun Tongyu, Cheng Hao, and even Gu Yanning, who all earned high salaries at Orange Technology.

CEO Gu Qingqing's annual salary is 100 million yuan, which is mostly from investors' money. She feels she should take the salary. Tan Jincheng, who was reappointed, also receives an annual salary of 100 million yuan.

This was just a symbolic gesture; they didn't ask for much more.

These days, salaries are actually quite inflated. Some people make a fortune while ordinary people receive very meager wages. Tang, who recently left Shengda, was invited by Xinhuadu to become its CEO this month, with an annual salary of 10 billion yuan, including stock options.

Actually, this guy's annual salary was 4 million yuan when he was CEO of Shengda. Do you think he was worth it?

Tan Jincheng believes it's not worth it. At least, it's not worth it for Xinhuadu to spend 10 billion to hire him. Xinhuadu's business has nothing to do with the Internet or games. Spending 10 billion to hire him is more like a publicity stunt.

However, the cost of this hype is too high. Even at a 90% discount, Tan Jincheng feels it's not worth it. It's not that he lacks the ability, but rather that there's no need for it.

On the contrary, Orange Products felt that poaching Sun Tongyu and Tan Jincheng was quite worthwhile. Even without Pinduoduo, his reputation as the father of Taobao and the leader of the absolute top e-commerce company in China were enough to make him a worthwhile investment.

Not to mention that Boss Tan is also very shrewd. Sun Tongyu took over Orange Technology as an investor, which can be considered a form of paid employment.

Once the news of Orange Technology's approval spread, Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing's phone kept ringing. The first person to call was Zhao Jinsheng. The election was over, and Boss Gu had taken over. He had also been promoted.

These are all connections that Tan Jincheng cultivated.

"Congratulations, Mr. Tan! You two have achieved the titles of the fastest company to go public in China, the youngest founder of a listed company in China, and the youngest CEO."

Zhao Jinsheng's hearty laughter came from the other end of the phone. During the listing process of Orange Technology, when public shares were issued, the district also received some benefits, including himself.

It was purchased with money, so it's not considered a violation of regulations.

But the biggest benefit is that Beicang District has escaped the awkward situation of having only one listed company.

One Hong Kong stock, one US stock, and then one A-share stock would be perfect. It seems that the A-share stock issue will eventually fall to this young CEO.

FlashTech is undergoing shareholding reform, clearly aiming for a listing. Furthermore, Beicang City Investment's recent actions have been somewhat strange, appearing as if they are up to something.

"Haha, thank you, Brother Zhao. After working so hard for so long, I can finally relax."

Zhao Jinsheng was speechless: "You're telling me you've worked so hard for so long? I've never seen a company go public so easily."

Taking the company public in just two years, and claiming to have worked so hard for so long, is a bit too much like Versailles.

This guy also came up with the word Versailles.

"I didn't say it was just my effort; I meant the effort of all the employees in our company. I couldn't do it alone."

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. The district is planning to hold a celebration party for Orange Technology. Also, let's talk about that thing we discussed before. When are you free?"

Tan Jincheng was taken aback. He had almost forgotten that Orange Technology still needed to build its headquarters. He had looked at it for a while, but then he got busy with the IPO and stopped paying attention to it.

This is good news delivered right to our doorstep!

As for holding a celebration party, that is certainly something worth celebrating. Some companies in later generations even held internal celebration parties after they were delisted.

This is not only a matter of the district's reputation, but also of Orange Technology and Tan Jincheng's reputation.
-
Yiwu.

Qingqing Farmhouse Inn.

"Old Gu, Old Gu, your son-in-law's company has gone public."

An old customer rushed in excitedly with a newspaper in his hand. It wasn't mealtime yet, and the shop was very quiet.

During Orange Technology's IPO process, after having a few drinks, Gu Hongshun often boasted to his old customers and friends that he was the one who invested the 300 million yuan his daughter invested when the company was founded, to show how great his foresight was.

Gu Hongshun, who was preparing food in the kitchen, heard the commotion and quickly put down what he was doing and rushed to the front.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Haha, I, Old Gu, will pay for everything today! Quickly call all my old friends over."

(End of this chapter)