2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 803 Now it can't be hidden anymore, right?

The biggest difference between the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges lies in their respective sectors; currently, there is no Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR ​​Market).

The Shanghai Stock Exchange mainly features large-cap blue-chip stocks, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange mainly features small and mid-cap stocks. However, as more and more stocks are listed, this distinction is becoming increasingly blurred.

The difference lies in the two cities.

Given Wei Lai's geographical location, listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange would be better. However, he already has a listed company in Shanghai, so after careful consideration, Tan Jincheng decided to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

"Let's go to the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM). It wouldn't be out of place for a company like ours in Weilai to go to the GEM."

Of course, the main reason is that listing on the ChiNext board is easier than listing on the main board. The conditions offered by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange are better. In addition, becoming the top company on the ChiNext board is also a good temptation.

The main advantage is its decent growth potential. Currently, the new energy vehicle sector and the power battery sector have not yet taken off, making it a growth stock.

After the listing on the ChiNext board was decided, Tan Jincheng no longer needed to handle most of the subsequent preparations. Shen Nanpeng and the investment institutions that shared his interests would handle the arrangements for him.

Compared to Tan Jincheng, they are actually the interest group that most hopes that Weilai Group can successfully go public.

With the influx of large institutions, accountants, and law firms, the topic of Weilai Auto launching its IPO has gradually gained traction. This car company, which is in its seventh year of operation, is about to unveil its mysterious veil.

The China Passenger Car Association and WooLong itself release car sales figures every quarter and year, along with monthly rankings, so it's not hard for observant people to see how WooLong has grown step by step.

Last year, their total sales of over 37 vehicles were quite impressive, but few people know the actual financial situation of the company.

What kind of performance or expectations allowed Weilai Automobile to achieve a valuation of 350 billion yuan last year?

The Two Sessions are a great occasion, not just because attending the meetings can enhance one's personal status and exposure, but also because the capital city gathers a large number of entrepreneurs, media, scholars, and so on at this time.

This makes it very convenient to contact someone or discuss business, as everyone can spare some time, making it a great time for activities.

Looking back over the past two years, Tan Jincheng has actually closed many of his deals in Beijing.

Ningbo is his home base, but in recent years his business has expanded beyond Ningbo, and the network of relationships he needs can no longer be provided by Ningbo. For the development of his company and himself, networking upwards has become essential.

The capital city became the perfect setting.

"If you can accept interviews recently, don't turn them down. We can build momentum during the preparation period, but we can't say anything carelessly during the quiet period. Also, you need to pay attention to the changes in public opinion about your product at that time, which is quite important."

"Haha, I understand. From now on, I'll have the public relations department keep a close eye on things."

This is a legitimate IPO, and on such a large scale. It's hard to guarantee that other competitors won't cause trouble, or even companies that applied for IPOs at the same time might try to sabotage it by collecting damaging information.

This is common during the IPO process; a company may be frequently reported to have product quality issues during its IPO process.

Since 2008, Weilai has sold nearly 150 million vehicles of various models. With such a large customer base and a sales period of six or seven years, it's impossible for Weilai's cars to be without problems.

Don't say that Wei has a powerful background; with such support, no competitor would dare to use public opinion tactics to obstruct the listing.

When faced with absolute self-interest, there is nothing one wouldn't dare to do.

Fortunately, Wei Lai has always attached great importance to the field of public relations. The level of public relations in China is actually quite average. Under such circumstances, whoever attaches more importance to it will have a greater advantage.

In terms of media resources, thanks to the boss's investment, Weilai has a certain advantage in this area. The public relations department keeps a close eye on things, so no major problems have arisen.

As the process progresses, Weilai Auto's listing, as this year's star IPO project, has received much attention, especially after the decision to list on the ChiNext board, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange showed great enthusiasm.

It's become the norm to open back doors for key projects, and Weilai's listing process has been extremely smooth.

As we progressed day by day, time passed by, and before we knew it, the first quarter was over.

"Everything is going as the boss expected. It seems like we have no problem raising 50 billion yuan."

In the first quarter, especially in March, the sales of electric vehicles from the two major ride-hailing apps saw a significant increase due to the subsidy war and the hype surrounding the planned IPO of Weilai Auto.

In the first quarter, Aion S delivered 1157 units and ES6 delivered 960 units. Together, they accounted for 50% of the domestic new energy vehicle market share, demonstrating a particularly strong performance.

In addition, competitors BYD Qin and Maodou S also performed well. Qin delivered 673 units in the first quarter, while Maodou S delivered 6457 units globally and plans to sell more than 400 units in China.

Tesla's stock price has surged this year, and its market value has now exceeded $250 billion, equivalent to 1500 billion yuan.

"The real explosion came in the second half of the year. More than 400 new Tesla users regretted it to some extent in the second half of the year."

The subsidies for new energy vehicles are increasing day by day. The latest news is that, in addition to subsidies, starting from July 9th, new energy vehicles will be exempt from vehicle purchase tax. The scope includes all pure electric vehicles that have been licensed in China, as well as three categories of new energy vehicles: plug-in (including range-extended) hybrid and fuel cell vehicles that meet the conditions.

This also includes imported models, and the Maodou S is also within the scope of exemption from purchase tax.

This is a considerable sum of money. Generally speaking, the vehicle purchase tax is about 10% of the car price. For a million-yuan-level Model S, this would directly reduce the car price by 10 yuan.

This thing is based on legislation, and the second boss personally pushed for it; the tax exemption lasted until the end of 2017.

Even without mentioning the large subsidies, the exemption from purchase tax alone is enough to entice many consumers. Compared to gasoline cars, vehicles in the same price range are several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan cheaper.

Tan Jincheng's previous statement that the expected sales growth rate of electric vehicles could not be calculated using normal growth rates clearly reflects this. He wondered how much the electric vehicle market could grow in three years after the new policy was introduced.

"Based on the two benchmark companies, our post-listing expectations are not small; a market capitalization of at least 2000 billion yuan is a certainty."

BYD's market capitalization is comparable to that of Kweichow Moutai, both around 1200 billion yuan. Tesla, with only one electric vehicle, has a market capitalization of over 1500 billion yuan. Both of these are similar to Weilai. Whether compared to BYD or Tesla, Weilai's market capitalization after its listing is not low.

At the very least, even if we compare it to Great Wall Motors, Weilai Motors' market value would be over 100 billion.

The booming automotive market has made all parties very optimistic about the listing prospects of Weilai Automobile.

Weilai's listing plan was conceived at the end of February this year and was officially launched. After more than three months of coordination efforts from all parties, Weilai Automobile officially submitted its listing application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission on May 9, 2014.

The approval system is different from the registration system. From acceptance to pre-disclosure, then to the pre-disclosure update meeting, until obtaining approval and finally listing, which is commonly known as queuing, it is a very long time.

Taking Weilai Auto's upcoming listing on the ChiNext board as an example, before 2014, the average time for a company to go from submitting its application to its official listing was 10.3 months.

In other words, according to the normal listing schedule, it will take at least until March next year for Weilai Auto to go from application to official listing.

"Currently, the trading volume in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets has shrunk to almost its limit, and the Shanghai Composite Index has been hovering around 2000 points for a long time. It is estimated that a rebound is not far away."

"That's right. Look at the ChiNext market. It has rebounded significantly from 585 points at the end of 2012 to around 1300 points now. If we choose to list on the ChiNext, we need to speed things up, otherwise our reputation won't be good."

On the last working day of the week, after submitting the listing application, the IPO project team had a rare moment of leisure. Tan Jincheng and his team had a big barbecue and beer party, and the huge office was filled with the smell of barbecue.

They've had a huge workload lately, but the boss insists that since they're going public, they should get it done quickly.

Shen Nanpeng has been following the situation closely for the past two months, and he's also here for today's 'victory celebration'.

They were all professionals, and they understood what Tan Jincheng meant. Although the Shanghai Composite Index had not moved yet, the ChiNext Index had already doubled in rebound, and no one knew how far it would go.

However, as the largest IPO project since the establishment of the ChiNext board, the listing of Weilai Automobile has undoubtedly put the ChiNext board's ability to withstand pressure to a great test.

If the stock market fails to withstand the test after listing, Weilai Auto will be suspected of suppressing the index, creating a bad impression among shareholders, which would be detrimental to the company.

Listing quickly when the index is still relatively low can alleviate this sentiment to some extent, and it is understandable that Tan Jincheng is anxious.

For them, going public means making money, but for Tan Jincheng, it's not the same. He also has to pay attention to the company's image in the capital market.

Take Ali as an example. The company is big and powerful, and it can compete with Tencent. However, its shady practices of listing and delisting at different prices have left an extremely bad impression on Hong Kong investors.

"Today marks the end of the preliminary tasks. It's been a very tough time. But we still need to work hard to see if we can shorten the approval time and launch the product before New Year's Day."

As far as I can remember, the stock market crash of 2015 should have happened in June of that year. According to the normal approval process, the listing date would have been in March 2015. Although there was still plenty of time, there was no guarantee that something big might have happened and the stock market crash would have occurred earlier.

After all, in 2015 of the previous life, there was no listing of Weilai Motors, nor was there a fundraising scale of 50 billion yuan.

"It's our duty. We'll do our best in public relations. Also, Mr. Tan, if you have any connections, you can try to pull some strings. Let's work together."

A skewer of grilled meat and a sip of beer—Shen Nanpeng hadn't enjoyed this kind of pleasure in a long time. It was quite unique and down-to-earth, to be honest.

"Okay, I know that we need to start with electronics, as you all know. We were planning to expand this year. I'll go to Shenzhen to talk to them and see if we can speed up the expansion."

Using an investment expansion opportunity to gain the support of the Shenzhen municipal government should be effective.

Speaking of which, Dexian Electronics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weilai Group. In terms of organizational structure, Weilai Group is roughly comparable to BYD.

The automotive business goes without saying; it corresponds to BYD Electronics, which manufactures mobile phone batteries. Horizon Robotics, on the other hand, is comparable to BYD Semiconductor, which conducts research and development on intelligent driving and automotive-grade chips.

The only difference is that Horizon Robotics is independent and also accepts orders from other customers, unlike BYD Semiconductor, which only supplies BYD and is directly under the BYD structure.

There are also some differences in the power battery business. Although they belong to the same group, Weilai's power battery business is more like an independent core supplier.

The funds raised by Weilai through this IPO are also intended to develop their power battery business.

In the words of Tan Jincheng, president of Weilai Automobile, they aim to become the Bosch of the power battery industry, fully developing their power battery business and making Xuanwu Battery a core supplier in the new energy vehicle industry.

A company with an automotive name went public to raise funds for auto parts. Weilai Group, which has always taken an unconventional approach since its inception, received a lot of attention on the second weekend of May.

IPO projects that set fundraising records always attract widespread market attention with their prospectuses.

"Wow, the growth rate is really high, but they're also really good at spending money."

Along with its IPO application, Weilai Group's prospectus was officially exposed to the public, allowing industry peers, investment institutions, and shareholders to see the true financial details of Weilai Auto for the first time.

Like all listed companies applying for listing, the first few pages of Weilai's prospectus also contain commitments from major shareholders to not reduce their holdings for a certain period after the listing. The lock-up periods for shareholders of all sizes range from six months to 36 months.

Shareholders such as Tan Jincheng, executives, and local government financing vehicles have pledged not to reduce their holdings for 36 months. Sequoia Capital is no exception. However, Sequoia will cash out before the IPO, selling 5% of its shares before the listing.

If we're talking about who's most interested in the listing of Weilai Auto, Boatman is definitely one of them.

This year, in addition to maintaining its advantages in the gasoline vehicle market and the SUV segment, WYD Auto has also gained a significant advantage in the booming new energy vehicle market, capturing 50% of the domestic market share in the first quarter and putting immense pressure on BYD.

He didn't bother to look at the previous commitments to reduce holdings, repurchase policies, and dividend policies, etc., because they all followed a basic formula and were more or less the same for listed companies.

He was concerned about the shareholders, large and small, listed in Weilai's prospectus, as well as Weilai's revenue in the previous three years.

According to the prospectus, Weilai plans to issue 1.72 million shares on top of its existing share capital, aiming to raise 50 billion yuan. These shares will be held by companies in the auto parts supply chain, as well as car companies of all sizes, including BYD.

In addition, the most eye-catching feature is the row of certain departments. It can be said that Weilai Auto has almost covered the entire industry chain from top to bottom, as well as government departments.

By raising funds through an IPO, the interests of all parties are brought together.

Their capital operation capabilities were something even Boatman Brother envied. When they went public, the domestic capital market was not mature enough, and there were no international venture capital institutions like Sequoia Capital to oversee the process.

"This kid is worried that the listing will be too slow. Look at your list of shareholders, who would dare to stop you?"

BYD is part of the IPO fundraising plan of Weilai Auto, but this is the first time he has fully understood the prospectus. During the IPO process, it is impossible for him to know which institutions are subscribing, or at least not to have a complete understanding of the process.

Wei Lai's financial growth rate also surprised him. In the three major fiscal years of 2011, 2012, and 2013, Wei Lai's total assets grew by 327.85% and 173.72% respectively.

净利润方面的增长速度同样惊人，分别高达324.9%以及138.84%，而最让他震惊的是截止2013年12月31日，尉来汽车账面上居然还有47.89亿元的现金流！

The debt-to-equity ratio also dropped very quickly, from 82.7% in 2011 to 46.8% in 2013, which is really impressive.

Total assets of 496.63 billion yuan and total liabilities of 231.92 billion yuan—these are the most straightforward figures in Weilai Automobile's prospectus, which are easy to understand whether you are a professional financial expert or an ordinary stock investor.

Based on the simplest, non-professional calculations, the issue price of Weilai Auto should be above 22.9 yuan.

The specific offering price will depend on the results of the inquiry. In addition, it can be seen from the prospectus that the actual controller, Tan Jincheng, holds 62.56% of the shares of Weilai Group through himself, his family, and a series of companies.

The IPO will dilute some of the assets, but based on the assets listed in the prospectus, the total assets of Weilai Group, which is personally controlled by Tan Jincheng, amount to as much as 310 billion yuan!

The boatman, who was studying the prospectus of Weilai Automobile, couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, you little rascal, you couldn't hide anymore, could you?"

Every year on the Forbes Rich List, the wealthy try various methods to conceal some of their assets in order to keep a low profile. However, among the entrepreneurs who have made the list in recent years, Tan Jincheng is undoubtedly the most ruthless in this regard.

Despite his consistently strong investments and ever-increasing assets, Tesla, a company currently enjoying immense popularity, has seen its total share capital reduced to 12319.19 million shares through market financing and share expansion. Tan Jincheng's stake has been diluted to 7.5%.

But even a 7.5% share has a market value of nearly 10 billion yuan. If divided among Tan Jincheng and his family, it would be worth at least 8 billion yuan.

In addition, there are Apple shares. As of April 30, Apple's stock closed at $590.09, and Tan Jincheng still holds 2.6 million Apple shares, which is a return of more than 9 billion yuan.

In addition, Tan Jincheng's holdings in Nvidia are worth around 60 billion yuan, bringing his total wealth to 230 billion yuan.

The combined market capitalization of Orange Technology and Flash Technology is considerable, and it's conservatively estimated that Tan Jincheng has a net worth of at least 600 billion yuan! Moreover, a large portion of this is readily convertible, and he also has substantial overseas assets.

This year, there's no way he can hide it anymore.

"Fortunately, not many people know about Apple's stock. Ugh, it's annoying."

At this moment, Tan Jincheng also had a headache. Once the prospectus was released, he knew that he couldn't hide it anymore. He was bound to become a prominent figure on the rich list this year.

It seems that every large company faces this situation when it first goes public.

"It's alright. You definitely have a strong background now, so there's nothing wrong with showing up on the rich list. Besides, everyone's growing this year, so it's not a big problem."

"Besides, there's still Lei Jun, right? He's seen significant growth this year too, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Shen Nanpeng couldn't help but find it amusing to see Tan Jincheng frowning. How afraid of death was this kid? With his status this year, who would dare to touch him?

At most, he could get a little something from them, but that's nothing to him.

Zhang Xupeng, who was standing to the side, also found it quite amusing. The three of them had come today to sign an equity transfer agreement. Sequoia had an exit mechanism plan before its listing, which required them to lock up their 9.2% stake for three years before they could reduce their holdings.

Who knows what the situation will be like three years from now? Transferring 5% of the shares before the IPO has become an essential option for Sequoia to cash out.

Zhang Xupeng plans to buy 1.48% of the shares, aiming to raise 2% and become a minority shareholder.

The valuation was 50 billion yuan, which is 740 million yuan. However, Shen Nanpeng was very easy to talk to and gave him a 10% discount. Zhang Xupeng needs to pay 6.66 million yuan in cash to the account designated by Sequoia within one month.

They're here today to sign a contract.

In just a few years, Sequoia Capital not only recouped its investment in Weilai Auto with several times the return, but also retained a portion of the shares. These shares will be diluted to 3.78% after the listing, with a value of 18.9 billion yuan.

The subscription for Weilai is very popular. Judging from the data published in the prospectus, the roadshow, and the sentiment of the capital market, Weilai Auto's fundraising scale is very likely to exceed the original target of 50 billion yuan.

In the words of some institutions, Weilai Auto, valued at 500 billion, is simply too cheap, and Mr. Tan is a kind-hearted person!
The reason for giving Zhang Xupeng a discount was mainly out of consideration for Tan Jincheng. The two are childhood friends and business partners. Zhang Xupeng's 2% stake definitely belongs to him, but the voting rights are absolutely still with Tan Jincheng.

In addition, he also managed to build a good relationship with Zhang Xupeng, since Flash Group has many assets that are not yet listed.

Whether or not these companies will go public in the future is entirely up to Zhang Xupeng.

"Yes, you don't need to worry so much. It's almost 2015, and we've been running our business for ten years. So what if we have some money? Besides, which company's boss doesn't see their assets skyrocket when they go public? It's not like you're the only one."

"You're right. Oh well, I'll just keep it as a conspicuous bag. Anyway, I'll have someone with me."

After being comforted by his old friend, Tan Jincheng became more open-minded. Among the BAT companies fighting tooth and nail, they will definitely be the most prominent this year. In addition, there is Xiaomi, whose current valuation has exceeded 200 billion US dollars.

Lei Jun's net worth also skyrocketed.

Damn, when it comes to Xiaomi's soaring valuation, it seems like he's not out of the running either?
Forget it, the bull market is coming soon, everyone will get rich, so it won't make a difference if I'm one of them.

(End of this chapter)