2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 888 Old Huang's Fury, the Dust Has Settled!
P.S.: It's the 1st, please give me a guaranteed monthly vote!
"That's why you have to be a real capitalist to play the game of capital."

On November 22, Huang Zhang called at 11 p.m., almost the three days that Tan Jincheng had given him were up. If Huang Zhang didn't call again, he was going to return to Guangzhou.

As Shen Nanpeng, Tan Jincheng, and the acquisition team had predicted, Huang Zhang indicated that they could discuss the matter.

On the 23rd, the two sides quickly formed a "temporary" negotiation team, and Tan Jincheng also announced that he had changed his itinerary and would stay in Zhuhai.

To show that he took it seriously, Tan Jincheng personally participated in the first day of negotiations. Huang Zhang, who originally did not want to show up, was also forced to attend. To Tan Jincheng's surprise, the Zhuhai Municipal Government also sent people.

However, they only stated that they would listen in on the entire process but would not offer any opinions, and that whatever the outcome of the negotiations, they would accept it.

"Damn, what exactly did Uncle Ma say? These guys in Ali's investment department are acting like they're on steroids. Anyone who didn't know better would think I had a grudge against them."

After six hours of negotiations, Ali remained resolute. If it weren't for the private agreement already reached and the initialed memorandum, and even if there was a tacit understanding with Lao Ma, Tan Jincheng really wouldn't have dared to take the risk given the performance of Ali's investment department today.

"Hehe, speaking of which, they really have a grudge against you, and none of the people involved in today's negotiations know about your specific plans with President Ma."

"What do you mean?"

"Hehe, this group is the same team that you snatched away when you were talking about acquiring Gaode. Also, President Wang didn't tell them his true intentions, he just told them that they could transfer some of their shares, and the rest could be negotiated as they see fit."

Mr. Wang is Wang Jian, Alibaba's CTO. He personally led the Meizu project last year, and Jack Ma only gave him some instructions.

Speaking of which, Wang Jian should thank Tan Jincheng for taking over. As Alibaba's CTO, Tan Jincheng wanted to strengthen Alibaba's mobile ecosystem layout by investing in Meizu and combining software and hardware.

According to their agreement, Meizu promised to deeply integrate YunOS into its Flyme system, while Ali would provide services including e-commerce, technology, and payment.

However, over the past year, Huang Zhang has only taken what he wanted without taking anything in return, and he hasn't kept any of his promises. He even brought up the non-interference agreement, leaving Wang Jian speechless.

Wang Jian, a technical expert, could never outmaneuver someone like Huang Zhang who doesn't play by the rules.

"Oh, it's them. No wonder. Old Ma really knows how to settle scores. Goodness, he even got his subordinates to vent their anger."

He had heard Lao Ma mention this before, saying that he had scolded the acquisition team and deducted their performance bonuses, so it seemed that they really had a grudge.

"It's not just this, there are also companies like Wandoujia. We've made a lot of money from them. For a while, Ali's investment department was often criticized internally because of you. They usually don't dare to offend you. How can we not seize an opportunity to vent our anger like today?"

"Haha, that's fine too. Let's give them a chance to vent their frustrations, so that it will be easier to cooperate in the future."

This is for the best. Since they don't know what's going on behind the scenes, their reactions are more genuine. Ahri is influencing the attitudes of both sides, so the first day of negotiations naturally ended in discord.

"Just like we predicted a couple of days ago, Mr. Huang really does have some ulterior motives."

"That's normal. In fact, Mr. Huang's obsession with shares is similar to mine. I can completely understand his behavior."

"However, his petty tricks show a lack of vision. He wants both. Capital money isn't so easy to come by. If you want a good cooperation, you have to show some attitude."

Tan Jincheng also used some underhanded tactics, but at least he made his stance clear at the beginning of the cooperation: he wanted 51% control. If they agreed, they would cooperate; if not, he couldn't force a takeover, since this wasn't a listed company.

However, Huang Zhang's attitude was quite interesting. He didn't want to give up this cooperation opportunity, but he also didn't want to obediently hand over control. After fooling Ah Li, he wanted to continue fooling him.

Do you think he's like Wang Jian, who only knows technical skills and can be bullied at will?

In the investment field, investors like Tan Jincheng don't mind if the founder messes up the project. No project is guaranteed to succeed. What matters most is your work attitude after you take the money.

It's okay if a project fails; you can start over. But if you ruin your character, then you're truly doomed.

If they had an open and honest discussion, Tan Jincheng could have made some concessions, but now, he has no choice.

"After we successfully acquire Meizu, you will temporarily take over the work and clean up all those relatives and cronies there."

Tan Jincheng originally thought that if the handover could proceed smoothly, he could tolerate letting Lao Huang's family suffer from Meizu for another year or two, as a consolation for him and his family.

This is actually a less-than-ideal unspoken rule in many acquisition processes, but now, they can't have such good opportunities anymore.

Zhao Xinyi looked distressed: "You're making me do this kind of work that offends people again? Boss, can't you find someone else? Zeng isn't good enough."

"Haha, Zeng is really no good, only you can do this; don't worry, I won't let you work for nothing. I will issue more shares and leave one for you. Also, you can be the legal representative of the new Meizu, consider it an extra income for you."

Zeng Jixiang was not as skilled at mine clearance as Zhao Xinyi. Zhao Xinyi had always been in charge of the procurement chain. Back then, she managed to keep the Zhongtai group under control at Leichi, which proved her personal ability.

Compared to Zeng Jixiang, Zhao Xinyi has a ruthless streak, which is exactly the kind of temperament Tan Jincheng needs.

Although today's negotiations ended unhappily, they were quite interesting, as the six hours of bickering revealed the hidden agendas of each party.

Apart from Haitong Kaiyuan and Shanghai Haitong, who happily expressed their willingness to sell their shares to Mr. Tan, the other Meizu partners all indicated that they had no intention of selling their shares.

This is understandable. The first two are financial investments, while Mr. Tan directly offered an overall valuation of 250 billion yuan, and the acquisition funds were received in one lump sum. For Meizu, which was in turmoil, this was something that these financial investors found hard to refuse.

Such a good thing may not happen again in the future, so hurry up and get out.

The attitudes of the other partner companies were somewhat unexpected for Tan Jincheng, but also reasonable. Tan Jincheng was also glad that he hadn't contacted them in advance, otherwise things wouldn't be like this today.

Ahri's representatives took a very tough stance, agreeing to sell a maximum of 9.428% of their shares, retaining 19.4% while reducing their total shareholding to below 20%.

In their words, Ahri is not short of money and is more optimistic about the combination of Meizu and Weilai.

Purely is utter nonsense.

As for the attitudes of other partner companies, Tan Jincheng was glad he hadn't contacted them in advance; otherwise, things wouldn't be like this today.

The minority shareholders' attitudes were as expected, but Huang Zhang's behavior was much more interesting. His side wanted to retain 29% of the shares, which was quite intriguing.

Because Ali's investment department can only accept the sale of a maximum of 9.428% of its shares, reducing their total shareholding to 19.4%, or less than 20%.

The attitude of Huang Zhang towards the transfer of shares, which is quite interesting, is that Huang Zhang's side stated that they want to retain 29% of the shares, which means that they will only agree to transfer a maximum of 20.959%.

20.959% + 9.428% + 2.655% = 33.042%.

Good heavens, Huang Zhang automatically replaced Tan Jincheng's control with that of the largest shareholder. If it were a listed company, given the transparent and open nature of listed companies, 33.042% of the shares would indeed be enough to gain control of the company.

Just like Orange Technology before its restructuring, Tan Jincheng's total shareholding was less than 30%.

However, Meizu is a family-run business that is not a publicly listed company, and they don't really follow any rules. Just look at how they ignore the agreement with Ali, and you'll know what I mean by their concert this year.

"It's not following the rules, but it's a very clever approach. Based on the shareholding ratio discussed today, firstly, Huang Zhang has basically met our needs, and secondly, it's also an explanation to the Zhuhai Municipal Government. This can be considered as cooperating with the government to actively attract investment. Based on this point alone, the Zhuhai Municipal Government will have no further objections to him."

"Another point is that if this is the actual shareholding ratio, it will be very difficult for us to control the company. Even if we want to dilute their shareholding ratio through capital increase and share expansion, it will be very difficult."

With one of the three major shareholders holding over 30%, another approaching 30%, and the third approaching 20%, the relationship between them is quite delicate.

Huang Zhang's meaning was clear: you said you would allow me to retain most of the shares, and I did indeed transfer a large number of shares. As for why you didn't agree to the 51% you wanted, that's your problem.

"You go and negotiate for me tomorrow. I won't attend. You just keep an eye on Huang Zhang and see if you can squeeze some more out of him. It doesn't matter if you can't get anything out of him, but you have to show this attitude."

Huang Zhang believes he has regained some of the initiative in negotiations and still maintains absolute authority in Meizu despite barely losing the largest shareholder position. But in reality, Tan Jincheng is not in a hurry at all compared to him.

According to a private agreement with Lao Ma, after completing a series of procedures, his actual shareholding ratio has reached as high as 51.174%!
In other words, Tan Jincheng won over Meizu on the very first day of negotiations.

As for Ali, they also made a profit. Their $5.9 million investment last year turned into $10 billion in cash out after just one year, and they even retained more than one percent of the shares. This is one of the few investment projects that Ali has made a fortune from.

Of course, in Lao Ma's view, what he gained the most was a promise from Tan Jincheng, which was much more worthwhile than the performance of the investment department.

In the next round of negotiations, Tan Jincheng's task was to mislead the Huang Zhang family into accepting Meizu's conditions "reluctantly" and hoping to find opportunities in the future.

It doesn't matter what the outcome of the negotiations is.

"Okay, I'll proceed with this approach. A couple of days should be enough, right?"

"Well, two days should be enough. If it takes too long, it will easily arouse Huang Zhang's suspicion. You should sign the formal equity transfer agreement within these two days."

"Ok, I see."

Tan Jincheng believes the equity change is over, but the real problem lies after the acquisition. Once everything is exposed, Meizu will inevitably experience unprecedented turmoil.

From this round of negotiations, it's clear that both sides have their own agendas and are destined to be at odds. Huang Zhang's departure is just the beginning.

"You need to demonstrate a certain level of control during these two days of negotiations. The turmoil at Meizu will require you to take charge. Remember, you absolutely cannot let some key personnel leave, nor can you let Huang Zhang take them away."

"Take a look at this list. After your contract is signed, I will contact these people directly to discuss their compensation and job responsibilities. The rest will depend on your own abilities, but don't put too much pressure on yourself." Zhao Xinyi took the list from her boss. Everyone on the list was a core member of Meizu, except for those with the surname Huang.

Bai Yongxiang, who is in charge of leading chip procurement and cooperation with contract manufacturers, is currently the president of Meizu.

Senior Vice President Li Nan is in charge of marketing and e-commerce, while Flyme Business Unit President Li Yan leads Meizu's series development and ecosystem layout.

In addition, key technical personnel, such as Guo Wantao, the hardware R&D director, and Zhou Xiang, the acoustics technology manager, are also on the list.

These core technical personnel currently hold no shares in Meizu, which is quite unusual for any internet company. If they don't have equity, shouldn't they at least have stock options?
Besides these core technologies and management functions, almost all of Meizu's core departments are controlled by members with the surname Huang, such as Huang Zhang's younger brother, who is in charge of supply chain and production, and Huang Zhang's cousin, who is in charge of finance and capital operations.

"Okay, I understand. I will do my best to make them feel at ease while they work."

"Yes, just do your best. Leave the professional work to the professionals. Besides, our main goal in acquiring Meizu is to enrich the car's infotainment system. Mobile phones are not our core business. Just remember the priorities."

"Understood, let them handle the phone themselves."

We have no problem letting them handle the phones, but we still need to overturn Huang Zhang's design for next year's new phone. This guy absolutely hates full-screen displays, and we must bring Meizu back to the mainstream in terms of design.

As expected, Tan Jincheng did not participate in the next two days, and did not even leave the hotel, leaving everything to his assistant Zhao Xinyi.

For two days, Tan Jincheng remotely directed operations from his hotel room, while Shen Nanpeng was also contacting Meizu to discuss a settlement with Qualcomm. Tan Jincheng, who already considered himself the boss of Meizu, hoped to resolve the supply issue of high-end chips before New Year's Day.

On November 25, at the press conference following the two-day exhibition match, Tan Jincheng finally made an appearance.

After multiple rounds of negotiations, ByteDance acquired a 33.042% stake in Meizu from founder Huang Zhang, the second-largest shareholder, and minority shareholders for a total valuation of 250 billion yuan, officially becoming Meizu's largest shareholder.

Huang Zhang, the original founder and actual controller of Meizu, holds 29% of the shares, making him the second largest shareholder of Meizu. Ali's shareholding has decreased to 19.4%, making it the third largest shareholder of Meizu.

"Next year, Meizu will restructure its organization, establishing three major business units: Meizu, Meilan, and Flyme. Flyme will establish a strategic cooperation agreement with Weilai, and the two parties will conduct in-depth cooperation on in-vehicle intelligent systems."

"This is an attempt to enrich our automotive ecosystem. We hope that an excellent company like Meizu can help us enrich our automotive ecosystem."

At the press conference, Tan Jincheng made no secret of his purpose in taking over Meizu, and this was also the first time he had mentioned the term "Weilai Automotive Ecosystem" to the outside world.

Several days ago, Tan Jincheng's sudden change of direction from the Guangzhou Auto Show to Zhuhai sparked some speculation, and his subsequent series of public activities also left people puzzled.

No one expected that the takeover of Meizu would be completed in less than a week.

It's important to know that the Guangzhou Auto Show hadn't even ended yet. This acquisition of Meizu was a blitzkrieg within a blitzkrieg, which was undoubtedly related to Tan Jincheng's deep pockets. With Meizu valued at 250 billion yuan, anyone who bought it would be a sucker, according to the general consensus in the mobile phone industry.

"Is Wei Lai going to enter the mobile phone business market?"

Tan Jincheng, who acquired Meizu's largest shareholder through a blitzkrieg, faced the question of whether Wei Lai intended to enter the already fiercely competitive mobile phone market. In 2016, Meizu, which mainly relied on a large number of models, ranked among the top 10 in overall sales.

It was surprising that Huang Zhang was able to relinquish his position as the largest shareholder, but it was even more surprising that Tan Jincheng bought Meizu at this time.

"Wei Lai has no intention of entering the mobile phone market. Meizu's overall operations will be separated from Wei Lai's. Meizu will remain an independent company, and its relationship with Wei Lai is merely a cooperative one."

Tan Jincheng made his stance clear, but when asked who would lead Meizu in the future, he unusually did not answer the question, which was completely different from his previous attitude when acquiring a company.

Huang Zhang also remained silent; some reporters keenly sensed that the acquisition of Meizu by ByteDance's advertising platform was probably not so simple.

Tan Jincheng, who is invincible in the capital market, versus Huang Zhang, who makes Ah Li run wild. Who will win?

This was a hot topic among many attending journalists, as well as among mobile phone industry professionals, investors, and netizens after the press conference. For die-hard Meizu fans, the takeover of Meizu by Tan Jincheng was very exciting.

"They probably won't be happy in a few days."

In the past few days, Tan Jincheng has also been hanging out in the Meizu forum. It has to be said that there are really too many die-hard fans of Huang Zhang in the Meizu forum. This guy ruined a new model, but he said it was just a small test and that people would believe him if he tried again next year.

That, it must be said, is part of its charm.

After completing the signing, Tan Jincheng did not leave Zhushi, nor did he make any adjustments to Meizu. Instead, he first met with the non-Huang core members on his list, promising them a certain number of shares so they could enjoy the benefits of the company's growth.

Huang Zhang was filled with doubts about Tan Jincheng's decision not to leave Zhushi and his lack of discussion about the company's future development, feeling that there was something seriously wrong.

Especially since the company's technical team met with him over the weekend without any attempt to avoid him, Huang Zhang became very suspicious.

"They wouldn't spend so much money to buy shares just to poach these people, would they?"

Even if Boss Tan is rich, he couldn't just throw away more than 80 billion yuan. Although Huang Zhang was immediately alert, he couldn't figure it out.

However, he soon found out the answer.

"Mr. Tan, aren't you going a bit too far?"

On the last day of the tenth lunar month, the third to last day of November, Huang Zhang stormed into the hotel where Tan Jincheng was staying.

Ali, a listed company, announced its participation in Orange Group's IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, upgraded its strategic cooperation with AutoNavi, and established a strategic partnership with Dingding.

As a supplementary agreement to this cooperation, Ali Investment will continue to transfer 18.132% of its Meizu shares, reducing its shareholding from 19.4% to 1.268%!

This single line of text caused a massive uproar in the mobile phone and investment circles! It also rendered Huang Zhang unable to think clearly.

On the 25th, ByteDance's advertising platform acquired a 33.042% stake in Meizu, becoming its largest shareholder.

On the 28th, ByteDance's advertising platform acquired a 51.174% stake in Meizu, achieving absolute control!
Upon receiving Wang Jian's call, Huang Zhang flew into a rage and stormed into Tan Jincheng's room, unable to control his temper.

Tan Jincheng waved his hand to make Li Yaohui, who was blocking his way, move aside, stood up and said calmly, "Is there a problem with what I did? I've said from the beginning that what I want is absolute control."

"Besides, if Ahri is willing to sell, I'm willing to buy; everything is done through proper procedures."

Huang Zhang glanced at the tall and imposing Li Yaohui. Although he was furious, he had to force himself to calm down. Tan Jincheng was right; from the very beginning, he had expressed his need for absolute control of Meizu.

It's true that there's no problem with continuing to seek acquisitions after acquiring 33%. I underestimated him, thinking that after getting rid of Ahri, I could maintain a balance in the short term and then find other ways to regain control.

He was also thinking of acquiring shares in a few more partner companies after some time had passed.

Unexpectedly, this person acted so quickly, taking down Ahri in just one weekend, giving him no time to react at all.

He even went so far as to publicly meet with the company's technical team on weekends without trying to avoid his attention.

"You are cruel!"

"Each each other."

Watching Huang Zhang leave in a huff, Tan Jincheng thought for a moment and said to Li Yaohui, "Send two people to follow Xiao Zhao, and also buy her a nice house here. Arrange for a quick-witted driver."

While it might not be that bad, it's still better to be careful, since this isn't your home turf.

Lai Yiu-fai nodded and smiled. He wasn't afraid of his boss being cautious; he was afraid of his boss being careless, because that would be a painful thing for someone like him who was in charge of security.

Zhao Xinyi, who rushed over after receiving the news, overheard the boss's instructions to Brother Li and exclaimed with wide eyes, "Uh, really? What era are we living in?"

"Haha, it's really not that bad. I'm just telling you to relax and handle the follow-up matters for me. Don't worry, I'll stay in Zhushi for at least another week to keep an eye on things for you."

"That's fine, that's fine."

With absolute control secured, the rest was easy. On the last day of November, Tan Jincheng appeared at Meizu headquarters for the first time, announcing a reorganization of the Meizu board of directors and a 5% reduction in staff.

The first to be affected were Huang Zhang's cousin, who was in charge of finance, and another cousin, who was in charge of human resources, as well as Huang Zhang's older sister, who was in charge of business operations.

Tan Jincheng, who became the largest shareholder and obtained personnel connections, was quite impressed. He would hold a board meeting like a family gathering, and even positions such as the company's receptionist were filled by his relatives or neighbors.

How the hell are we supposed to work like this? Even a receptionist can act all high and mighty and not give any face to outsiders.

Tan Jincheng's forceful purge caused widespread anxiety within Meizu, impacting operations in various aspects, but these were all necessary.

Zhao Xinyi is under immense pressure; cleaning up Meizu is far more difficult than cleaning up Leichi.

"Don't worry, I've called in reinforcements for you, things will be stable soon."

After the storm comes the rainbow. Tan Jincheng believes that Meizu, having gone through the growing pains, is destined to be different from its past.

(End of this chapter)