Chapter 1 The Formidable Market Makers

The four market makers in Yanwenzi Group’s latest venture were all formidable.

Especially Goldman Sachs, with its incredibly rich experience in helping companies finance and go public.

Now that the internet sector was so hot, a high-growth, high-potential quality company like Yanwenzi Group had no trouble finding investors willing to open their wallets. Some large sovereign wealth funds even hoped to directly take all the shares released by Su Yehao.

A mere billion U.S. dollars or so in financing was insignificant compared to the trillions of dollars they managed.

The procedures were basically complete, and the upcoming global roadshow seemed more like a formality with little impact on the IPO.

Given Yanwenzi Group's situation, the roadshow was mainly intended to impress retail investors, letting them understand the group's development prospects and specific plans for the future. It was an opportunity to paint a grand picture, which would help stimulate the stock price after the listing.

In the listing process, due to the lock-up period for original shares, the company’s original shareholders valued the funds raised through the IPO.

For market makers, a rise in the stock price after the listing often signified a successful offering.

So, when Su Yehao arrived at the hotel and chatted with the representatives, both parties finally agreed that the issue price would not exceed ten dollars.

The initial price was around eight dollars, but due to the excessive enthusiasm of investors, it was raised by 25% in one go, which was very beneficial for both Su Yehao and the four market makers.

The four brokerages would sell Yanwenzi Group’s shares on commission, taking a cut of the proceeds. The higher the transaction price, the more profit they would earn.

In addition to selling on commission, there was also underwriting.

Underwriting meant that the brokerages would buy the listed shares at a preferential price. If the number of subscriptions wasn't high enough, the brokerages would take over the remaining shares.

Choosing underwriting would mean higher commissions and fees compared to selling on commission.

The NASDAQ market was so good that Su Yehao certainly wouldn't choose underwriting. If he had agreed to underwrite at eight dollars earlier, these brokerages would have already made a fortune by buying low and selling high.

The meeting with the four market makers was nothing special.

It was simply a matter of communicating the roadshow process. Su Yehao's speech was already written, and he just needed to read it on stage tomorrow.

In addition, the listing date was tentatively set for April 2nd in New York, avoiding April Fool's Day on the first. Foreigners also had their superstitions, such as the 13th of each month, which many companies were reluctant to choose as a listing date.

Through Goldman Sachs' introduction, Su Yehao also met with several potential Asian investors, including a Malaysian transportation and oil merchant, a Singaporean banker, and a Japanese private equity firm founder.

On the other hand, no one from Hong Kong came to see him today.

Those Hong Kong tycoons were similar to mainland businessmen, preferring to invest their money in real estate rather than gamble in the NASDAQ market. At most, they would throw in a little money to take a chance. No wonder Li's second son, who messed around with telecommunications and venture capital, could carry the banner of "Hong Kong's leading high-tech company figure" for the past two years and run to ask for land to develop a Cyberport.

…

After working for more than two hours, he finally had some free time to go to the rooftop for a cup of coffee.

Su Yehao remembered the person his father had instructed him about, so he called Linda Yun and asked, "Did you pick up the person at the airport? Bring him straight to the hotel. I'm still waiting for him here at the Garden Hotel."

Linda Yun was with a guest and replied vaguely, "Yes, Young Master Wu hasn't been to Hong Kong for a long time. I'm taking him to eat some bowl puddings. I'll come see you later, in about half an hour."

"…Bowl puddings?"

Su Yehao felt that something was strange, and he belatedly realized that Linda Yun was actually calling someone else "Young Master Wu."

Even in front of Su Yehao, her boss, Linda Yun usually called him "Ah Hao" or sometimes "Boss," since she had been his English teacher.

"Yes, they're in small bowls, almost like jelly, and the mango flavor is delicious!" Linda Yun explained with a smile.

Su Yehao was speechless and said lazily, "Forget it, come over quickly after you finish eating. I know what bowl puddings are… Since you know where to buy them, bring me two servings. I haven't seen them in a while."

"No problem…"

While waiting for her.

Su Yehao called Yin Liuli and Nong Qingying to avoid being stared to death by the little girl when he got home, making it difficult to contact them.

Nong Qingying's SK-II was developing steadily. She had just acquired several production lines for skincare and beauty products, including lipsticks, face creams, eye creams, and so on, in an attempt to enrich the product range.

Other brands' counters were packed full, while SK-II was only famous for its skincare water.

According to Nong Qingying, the flagship store on the Bund in Shanghai looked empty, and you could hear echoes when you spoke. The store was too big.

As for Yin Liuli, Su Yehao had just had the family charitable trust foundation allocate ten million Hong Kong dollars for her to visit orphanages in the mainland and help some orphaned children without relatives, because he had heard that in recent years, abandoned babies often suffered from certain diseases, which he felt was more urgent than investing in building schools.

These girls now all had their own things to do, and if he didn't consider the disasters during the holidays, he was a little more relaxed than before.

He rested after drinking his coffee.

Occasionally, hotel guests came over to greet Su Yehao.

As the boss of the Garden Hotel, he couldn't show them a bad face, so Su Yehao was polite and smiled at everyone.

More than half an hour passed, and Linda Yun and that Young Master Wu still hadn't arrived.

With nothing to do, Su Yehao actively contacted Vice President Zheng Yongwen to inquire about any news regarding the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing.

Vice President Zheng Yongwen had gone to India for tourism and had been there for more than half a month. He only said that the efficiency wasn't that fast and that it was still being discussed.

Putting aside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange financing for now.

Learning that Zheng Yongwen had actually chosen to go to India for tourism made Su Yehao exclaim, "Good heavens!" It was indeed difficult to understand the thinking of these elites, who actually liked to seek excitement so much.

This made Su Yehao start to worry, fearing that Zheng Yongwen would drink a bowl of Ganges water and have to wait until the next life to continue seeking a Hong Kong Stock Exchange shareholder seat for him. He hurriedly reminded the other party to pay attention to his diet and not to wander into alleys unnecessarily.

After a while.

Linda Yun led a young man in his twenties to the top of the Garden Hotel to meet Su Yehao.

Su Yehao stared at this young man, surprised to see that he was a mixed-race, with a high nose bridge, tall stature, sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, fair skin, and a very approachable smile.

He had just mentioned to the little girl a few days ago that beauties were mutually exclusive, and now that such a handsome guy had popped up, Su Yehao was also a little wary.

He finally understood why Linda Yun called him Young Master Wu and even took him to eat bowl puddings. He had never seen her so enthusiastic before.

Giving Linda Yun a look, Su Yehao feigned enthusiasm and said with a smile, "Hello, I had some things to discuss just now, otherwise I should have picked you up at the airport. My dad kept telling me to treat you well and asked someone to book a room for you at the hotel. Stay here comfortably and leave when you've enjoyed your time in Hong Kong."

The young man smiled and said, "My name is Wu Weixiong. You look a few years younger than me, Uncle Hai doesn't need to be so polite, you don't need to specially entertain me."

Su Yehao didn't have the habit of being someone's younger brother for no reason, and glanced at Linda Yun.

Nearby.

Linda Yun immediately understood and said, "This Young Master Wu is sick. He came back this time to receive treatment at your family's hospital. The medical care in Italy is very time-consuming. He's been waiting for surgery for more than half a year, but it hasn't been scheduled yet."

Hearing this, Su Yehao suddenly understood and asked, "May I ask what illness you have?"

"Dilated cardiomyopathy causing heart failure. I may need a heart transplant. My dad said your family's hospital is very good, so he asked me to come back to Hong Kong to think of a way. I should have visited Uncle Hai first. It's been more than ten years since I've seen him. Is he still in good health?"

"…He's doing well, he can eat and sleep, at least much better than you."

Su Yehao was telling the truth.

He suddenly understood why his old man was unwilling to show his face.

Being sick was certainly pitiful, but the worst thing was to make an excessive request, such as… helping to find a heart.

Everyone was on the transplant list, and if someone jumped the queue, it would obviously be unfair to others.

Once this favor was done, if the news leaked out, the credibility of the entire Earl Medical Group, managed by his mother, would explode, ruining the reputation that the Tang family had accumulated for many years.

Suddenly realizing that he had taken on a hot potato, Su Yehao's head immediately felt as big as a bucket, thinking that his dear father was indeed not stingy when it came to passing the buck.

However.

He didn't know or have any relationship with this Young Master Wu, so he was indeed more suitable to handle this tricky favor.

Suppressing the urge to pat his pants and leave, not letting the other party continue to speak, Su Yehao said awkwardly:

"How did you get sick at such a young age? A heart transplant is a major operation, I don't know if my family's hospital has that level of expertise. I'll introduce you to a few doctors tomorrow and send you over to let them take a look. Don't worry about the treatment costs, my dad is so righteous, he will definitely arrange everything for you..."