The people present initially believed that it would be difficult for Huang He, a world-class billionaire, to directly answer such a question, even with his connections. They thought that even if he agreed to answer, it would take at least ten days to half a month.
However, to their surprise, after the representative from Hongshan Capital conveyed their intention to the higher-ups, it took only 10 minutes for Hongshan Capital to receive a phone number from them. Upon dialing, it was Huang He's secretary. After explaining their purpose and a brief wait, Huang He's somewhat lazy voice came through the line.
"What do you want to ask me?" Huang He's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't slept well the previous night.
Everyone present perked up their ears, and Chen Hu's breathing became particularly rapid. He wished he could snatch the phone from the representative and speak to Huang He himself. Huang He was Chen Hu's biggest idol in life, and his goal was naturally to become as wealthy as Huang He. Therefore, his excitement upon hearing his idol's voice was immense.
"Mr. Huang, I am Ye He from Hongshan Capital. We have a major investment project, which is Dida Food Delivery!" the Hongshan Capital representative explained their situation in detail.
At the same time, this representative spoke and acted very cautiously. He directly admitted to Huang He that many other investment institution representatives were present beside him and that he could end the call immediately if anything was inconvenient to say.
"Yes, alright!" Huang He on the other end seemed to say something, and then the Hongshan Capital representative directly switched on the speakerphone, allowing Huang He's voice to reach everyone present.
"Zhao Yao is my student," Huang He began. "I have always believed in his abilities and have always respected him personally. After my first investment in him, he has never asked me for a single cent or any help, so I have not given him any assistance."
"This is definitely not what is circulating in your circles now, that I have an issue with Zhao Yao, or that I don't believe in the food delivery industry. It's simply because Zhao Yao has a proud personality and hasn't asked me, so naturally, I wouldn't proactively offer him help!"
"Therefore, if he still doesn't ask me in the future, I will never offer him any help. Even if E Bu Pa goes bankrupt, it won't have any impact. The food delivery industry is not the main focus of our Jiangnan Group, and having or not having this company doesn't have much impact on us!"
Huang He's statement immediately resolved a significant doubt within the circles, and it left everyone's hearts chilled. Previously, they could still hope that Jiangnan Group lacked the willingness to help E Bu Pa. Now, it turned out that E Bu Pa had never even asked for help.
Although Huang He said that as long as Zhao Yao didn't ask, he would still not provide any help, which seemed like a positive response. The underlying implication of this statement was that if Zhao Yao were to ask for money, he would likely receive as much as he asked for, and the outcome would be predictable.
Upon hearing this, many investment institutions decided to concede, preferring to abandon their previous investments rather than continue to be trapped in this predicament. While there were huge sunk costs, the major investment institutions were also keenly aware of the immense harm that sunk costs could cause and how they could affect a person's rationality and decision-making. Therefore, each investment institution had a complete strategy for dealing with sunk costs. Once they determined that sunk costs could not be recovered and could potentially jeopardize more funds, these investment institutions would unhesitatingly abandon the sunk costs rather than foolishly continue to invest money, thereby incurring smaller losses!
Of course, if it were absolutely necessary, no one would choose to cut off a limb to survive but would try to find a new way to solve all the problems.
So, a representative from one of the investment institutions interjected, "Mr. Huang, I am a representative from Xinli Capital. It is an honor to speak with you, and I would like to express my ten thousand percent admiration for you on behalf of myself."
"However, I also want to express the attitude and determination of Xinli Capital. Xinli Capital entered the market in the second round of financing, and our total investment has now exceeded 6.5 billion yuan. We will absolutely not give up on the Dida Food Delivery platform. We will persist no matter how much effort it takes!"
"This is also the attitude of everyone present here. Therefore, if the subsidy war continues in the future, it will be a painful experience for all of us. We will not gain any benefits, and both sides will suffer significant financial losses!"
"So, why don't we turn our conflict into cooperation? What do you think?" the Xinli Capital representative asked.
"How to cooperate?" Huang He asked calmly. Even speaking through the phone, a powerful aura of a boss emanated from him.
"It's very simple. E Bu Pa and Dida Food Delivery should merge!" the representative exclaimed, a startling proposal. "Competition will only deplete ourselves. It would be better to merge together. If E Bu Pa and Dida Food Delivery merge into one company, the new food delivery company will immediately become the largest food delivery platform in all of China. Other food delivery platforms will no longer be able to compete with this newly formed company, and we will all become winners, reaping substantial profits after the company goes public!"
"That's right!" The Xinli Capital representative's words instantly lit up the eyes of all the capital representatives present, and smiles quickly appeared on their faces. To be honest, they were extremely satisfied with this plan.
If the two companies could merge, their position as market number one would be undisputed. Furthermore, with Jiangnan Group standing behind the company, it would be like an adrenaline shot to the company's stock price. The stock price of the new company would likely be several times higher than originally expected. Therefore, although they would have to give up some shares, the overall returns would be far better than expected.
Although Chen Hu was initially reluctant, he thought that if he could merge with E Bu Pa, it would be equivalent to a triumphant return and revenge. Thus, he did not object.
"Merge? It's not impossible!" Huang He said casually. "But I know Zhao Yao, and he will never accept his company belonging to someone else. So, if we are to merge, the share ratio can be discussed, but the name of the new company must be E Bu Pa, and the chairman and actual controller of the company must also be Zhao Yao. Otherwise, there is no point in discussing this plan further!"
"This is absolutely not..." Chen Hu exploded on the spot. Just as he was about to unleash his anger, several people simultaneously grabbed his shoulders, and someone even stuffed something into his mouth. Clearly, they were well aware of Chen Hu's personality and did not want to give him an opportunity to disrupt the proceedings. Chen Hu could only struggle like a tiger trapped in a cage, but it was in vain.
"No problem! We have always trusted Mr. Zhao Yao's abilities. If Mr. Zhao Yao had not rejected our investment back then, we would not have invested in Dida Food Delivery. As long as the specific share ratio meets everyone's basic interests, this condition is not a problem!" The collective response of the numerous investors essentially sold Chen Hu out.
At this moment, a few tears glistened in Chen Hu's eyes. He could never have imagined such a turn of events. He had come here today to raise more funds, but after a few hours, it had turned into selling out Dida Food Delivery, handing his child over to his enemy, while he, the biological father, was to be completely excluded. How could he have foreseen such an outcome?
Yet, Chen Hu was helpless. After all, his shareholding in the company was less than 10%. The combined shares of the other shareholders exceeded 90%. With a single word from them, he would be immediately ousted, just like countless founders of previous internet companies. And all of this was simply because of a single statement from this man named Huang He. With one sentence, he could change the destiny of a super internet company valued at tens of billions.
However, facing the nearly fawning overtures from these investors, Huang He did not immediately agree. He stated that he still needed to consult Zhao Yao's opinion, and if Zhao Yao disagreed, then it would be off. This statement made Chen Hu even more heartbroken. Huang He, like the investors, treated Zhao Yao like his own child. Compared to him, Chen Hu felt like he was dealing with a group of stepfathers.
Fortunately, about ten minutes later, something happened that gave Chen Hu a glimmer of hope. Huang He's call came through proactively, and he stated outright that Zhao Yao had rejected the merger, so there was nothing more to discuss.
"..." The investors' hearts sank. They wondered if they should start considering how to die quickly.
"However," Huang He continued, "Zhao Yao is a good child. He said he doesn't want to waste my money on meaningless subsidy competition! So, he proposed an idea. I wonder if everyone is interested in hearing it."
"Please tell us!" the investors quickly replied.
"It's very simple. He still has 5 billion yuan in funds. He doesn't know how much money Dida Food Delivery has, but you can invest another 5 billion yuan in Dida Food Delivery. After that, neither side is allowed to receive external funding support and must survive on their own!"
"At the same time, to maintain fairness, both sides can send a representative into the other party's finance department for supervision. This representative will have the right to supervise the other party's financial data to prevent them from obtaining funding support through hidden channels!"
"What do you think of this suggestion? If you're interested, let's play around. This could be quite amusing!" Huang He said with a chuckle.