Dr. Kubot hung up the phone, the previously furious expression on his face instantly replaced by a smile.
"This deal isn't a loss!" Dr. Kubot said with a grin. While Kubot's primary interest was Jiangnan Group's Jiangnan Optoelectronics, a division possessing mysterious materials and technologies that could change the world, if there was one entity under Jiangnan Group that could make the most money, it was undoubtedly OO Network.
OO Network encompassed almost all of Jiangnan Group's network-related businesses, including but not limited to OO, the OO software platform, the OO advertising alliance, Facebook, Blizzard, and the various global game companies and studios acquired by OO.
Among these, the OO software platform was a veritable money-printing machine. To date, 80% of all standalone games and about 50% of all software programs globally were launched on the OO software platform. Furthermore, approximately 60% of these relied entirely on the OO software platform for product releases, meaning their entire sales channel was concentrated on this single platform.
This resulted in the OO software platform controlling nearly 30% of the global cash flow related to network programs. According to incomplete statistics, in the gaming sector alone, the OO software platform's annual transaction volume exceeded $100 billion, having ruthlessly dominated the entire game platform landscape.
Given that the OO software platform's commission typically ranged from 10% to 30%, its annual revenue from gaming alone reached around $20 billion. If income from programs was added, it would undoubtedly surpass $30 billion.
Previously, the acquisition of the entire Jiangnan Group had an annual revenue of around $50 billion. In this context, the income from OO software platform alone reached half the level of the entire group.
If the revenue from other OO-related subsidiaries was included, it was likely to exceed $40 billion in revenue, making it truly the most attention-grabbing enterprise of Jiangnan Group.
And now, this company was about to go public with over 40% of its shares, with the condition that all 40% of these shares would be exclusively underwritten and sold by Goldman Sachs. How much money could Goldman Sachs earn from this?
At the very least, Goldman Sachs could, through various means, extract half of these 40% shares, about 20%, and channel them into its own various financial institutions and corporate fronts, becoming an important method for Goldman Sachs to invest in and control OO Network.
Under normal circumstances, Jiangnan Group would never have handed over such immense profits and significant threats to Goldman Sachs. Therefore, this was entirely the result of their own efforts over the years to manipulate and suppress Jiangnan today.
Dr. Kubot thought smugly and immediately dispatched personnel to China to commence negotiations with Jiangnan Group to finalize the plan for OO Network's public listing as soon as possible, to avoid any unforeseen complications.
Goldman Sachs naturally did not dare to delay. First, Goldman Sachs' China branch preemptively sent representatives to engage with Jiangnan Group. The headquarters also dispatched a senior vice president to oversee the process.
Everything proceeded very smoothly. By the afternoon of the next day, the president of Goldman Sachs China was already in a meeting room negotiating with representatives of OO Network.
The entire negotiation process began exceptionally smoothly. Regarding the specific IPO procedures, both parties quickly reached a consensus, both demanding an expedited listing, ideally within three months, and a simplification of various processes. These points were rapidly agreed upon, so smoothly that the Goldman Sachs side found it somewhat unbelievable. They had dealt with Jiangnan Group for many years, but never had a negotiation gone so smoothly.
This made the Goldman Sachs side somewhat apprehensive, believing that the smoothness of the initial stages would inevitably lead to complications later on.
As expected, trouble soon arose.
The next day, the vice president from Goldman Sachs headquarters arrived in China, and the negotiations between the two parties immediately entered a more in-depth phase, focusing on the terms of the IPO subscription, the evaluation of OO Network's various data, financial audits, the preparation of financial statements, and the final valuation.
Ordinarily, financial audits and the preparation of financial statements would be the first steps. Only after obtaining these specific and detailed data could the valuation of the company be further assessed, and then the subscription terms for shares could be finalized. These were all sequential steps.
However, from the outset, Jiangnan Group reversed this process, directly proposing a condition that made it very difficult for the vice president of Goldman Sachs to accept: they demanded that Goldman Sachs first determine the valuation, after which they would be allowed to review OO Network's specific financial data and statements.
"It's not that I'm unwilling to agree to your request, but it simply doesn't make sense procedurally, and it's legally impossible for me to make such a promise to you!" the Goldman Sachs vice president said helplessly. "If I don't see your specific financial data, how can I guarantee you a valuation? Moreover, this valuation isn't decided by us at Goldman Sachs, but by the Federal Securities Management Commission. At best, we can help make your financial statements look better, so that the Federal Securities Management Commission gives a higher price. For you to ask me to guarantee a valuation now, isn't that putting the cart before the horse? There's no such operation in the world!"
Facing the refusal from the Goldman Sachs vice president, the representative from Jiangnan Group maintained a smile and said, "We know this doesn't follow the usual procedure, but if Goldman Sachs truly did everything according to procedure, you would have gone bankrupt decades ago!"
The representative said this without reservation. During the Great Depression in the last century, Goldman Sachs had done many things that violated laws and procedures to survive. Later, these actions were exposed and met with severe penalties.
However, no matter how severe these penalties were, they could not compare to the benefits Goldman Sachs gained. After all, Goldman Sachs, relying on these disreputable deeds, rose from a state of near extinction to become a leader and engine of economic recovery in the United States at that time.
Of course, as Goldman Sachs later worked hard to whitewash its image through various channels and attempted to conceal everything that had happened, ordinary people were unaware of these events. However, such stories could not be hidden from those truly powerful. Thus, the representative did not hesitate to expose Goldman Sachs' mask.
He then continued, "Our OO Network's financial data is extremely confidential and relates to the operational security of our entire OO Network. Our chairman specifically instructed that if we are not given a satisfactory estimated valuation and assurance that this estimated valuation will be finalized, we will not disclose any of OO Network's detailed financial data. In that case, this transaction will not need to proceed further!"
"Alright, I need to consult." The global vice president was unable to persuade Jiangnan Group and had no choice but to consult with Dr. Kubot.
"It seems that OO Network's financial data is problematic!" Dr. Kubot keenly sensed. "Agree to it, give them an estimated valuation. I'm even more interested in their financial data now!"
"Yes!" The global vice president breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected the negotiation the next day to proceed smoothly, but after they provided an estimated valuation, the representative from Jiangnan shook his head and said, "Too low. We absolutely cannot accept this estimated valuation!"
"An estimated valuation of $100 billion, and you still think it's low?" The vice president frowned. "In the United States, there are no more than 10 companies whose valuations exceed $100 billion. This is already the treatment given to the top 10 companies globally. And you are still not satisfied?"
"Is that so? We are also aware of those top 10 companies. Although their valuations have surpassed $100 billion, their price-to-earnings ratios are almost all above 10. If calculated based on a $100 billion valuation, our price-to-earnings ratio would be too low. This is essentially giving money to Americans. Where is the benefit of our listing then?"
"That can't be right. According to our calculations, a price-to-earnings ratio for $100 billion is equivalent to about 6, which is already a very high listing price-to-earnings ratio!" the vice president stated.
"Regardless of whether this figure of 6 is correct, our OO Network's listing price-to-earnings ratio must exceed 10. There is no room for negotiation, otherwise, the interests of our shareholders will not be guaranteed!" the representative from Jiangnan Group stated. "Of the 40% of shares being offered for listing this time, about 20% are employee-held shares. We must be responsible for their interests!"
"If on the day of the listing, the valuation increases from $100 billion to $200 billion, then our employees would have lost double their benefits!" the representative from Jiangnan Group said.
"A price-to-earnings ratio of 10, that means you are expecting an estimated valuation of $300 billion!" The vice president's eyes widened.
"Not enough. To be frank, we hope OO Network's estimated valuation to be above $500 billion!" the representative from Jiangnan Group directly stated his demand.
"This is impossible. We cannot guarantee such a high estimated valuation. The company with the highest market capitalization globally is not even that much. The Federal Securities Management Commission will not approve such an extravagant figure, and when your stock goes on roadshows, it is unlikely anyone will be willing to purchase your shares!" the vice president immediately responded.
"I know this is indeed very difficult, otherwise, we would not be cooperating with Goldman Sachs. In the words of our chairman, since we are cooperating with an excellent enterprise like Goldman Sachs, we should challenge the most difficult tasks!"
"In any case, we have made our offer. Whether your company agrees depends on your decision. If you do not agree, you do not need to come tomorrow, and we can end work early."
Goldman Sachs certainly could not agree to this exorbitant price, but they still brought their entire delegation for negotiations the next day, with Goldman Sachs instinctively believing that the other party's words were merely a negotiation tactic.
However, to their surprise, upon arriving at Jiangnan Group's headquarters, before even entering the meeting room, a junior staff member at the reception directly asked if they agreed to yesterday's terms.
As long as the representatives of Goldman Sachs did not utter the word "agree," they would only be allowed to stay in the lobby of Jiangnan Group's headquarters and could not even access the elevators.
The entire delegation was held there for 8 hours before reluctantly leaving Jiangnan Group.
For the next full week, the process was almost repeated. Jiangnan Group's attitude was unexpectedly firm, while Goldman Sachs continued to threaten using the Tianzhou Terminal. Kubot called Boss Huang three times in a row, each time issuing threats. Finally, Boss Huang directly provided Dr. Kubot with the phone number of the US Supreme Court, suggesting he call them directly. Jiangnan Group was ready to engage in any lawsuit.