"Currently, introducing 'Huayi Capital' as an institution should be most beneficial for us," Isaac said. "If we negotiate with 'Huayi Capital' while secretly contacting new investors, or negotiating with multiple investment institutions simultaneously, it might not be good, might it?"
Provided that Su Yi promised to give him the desired benefits after the acquisition was completed.
Isaac naturally hoped that the group's important shareholders would accept the conditions offered by 'Huayi Capital' and continue the negotiations.
After all, only this way could his personal interests be maximized.
If the negotiations failed, and other investment institutions were introduced, or multiple investment institutions were introduced simultaneously, then all his previous efforts would have been in vain.
"That's fine," Stewart said. "Negotiations are, by nature, a fair competition where interests converge. If another investment institution offers a more generous bid than 'Huayi Capital,' and the acquisition and investment conditions are superior to 'Huayi Capital,' then we naturally have no reason to choose 'Huayi Capital'.
Similarly, if we demand 'Huayi Capital' to acquire our shares at a price higher than the market fair value. I believe 'Huayi Capital' would also not agree if they knew their interests would be harmed.
Therefore, before a formal acquisition agreement is signed, I believe there's no problem with how we negotiate or what methods we use to negotiate."
"I'm concerned that doing so will significantly reduce 'Huayi Capital's' active interest in acquiring our 'Forex International'," Isaac said. "If 'Huayi Capital' easily withdraws, it might be difficult for us to find an acquisition institution like 'Huayi Capital' in the short term. This would... lead us, and our group's operational status, to face an even worse situation."
"What Isaac said... also makes sense," Patrick nodded in response. "Judging from the fact that General Manager Su of 'Huayi Capital' personally brought a team to negotiate upon their initial contact, the other party is indeed full of sincerity, and the conditions currently offered are quite respectful of our side and demonstrate sincerity.
According to our previous contacts with several Wall Street capital institutions and 'Gain Capital International'. These potential acquirers. Either they were unwilling to proceed with a direct cash acquisition, or they demanded our group streamline internal functional departments and personnel, reorganize the group's board of directors, or even directly merge into the acquiring company, making it difficult to grant us independent operating and management conditions.
If 'Huayi Capital' withdraws. It would indeed be somewhat difficult for us to find an acquirer superior to 'Huayi Capital' in a short period.
Furthermore, our group's current operating condition also makes it unsuitable to delay any longer. The longer we drag it out, the more dangerous the group becomes, and the value of our shares will also face significant depreciation as the group's operational status continues to deteriorate."
His thoughts were largely consistent with Isaac's.
Patrick was quite satisfied with the long-distance acquirer 'Huayi Capital', judging by the current negotiation progress.
Of course, his and Isaac's ideas in this acquisition negotiation.
Due to their not very high equity stakes, they could not influence the final overall situation.
"I also know that time is not on our side," Noel responded. "But to force 'Huayi Capital' to show maximum sincerity and a more equitable acquisition price, I think we still have to do this; we must put some pressure on 'Huayi Capital'.
At least on the surface, we must claim that other institutions have offered better conditions. At the same time, there must be many interested institutions in the market that show strong interest in acquiring or investing in our company.
This is like a commodity in the market; only with multiple bidders and people rushing to buy it can its scarcity be highlighted and a better price be achieved. We must do this for our own interests and the group's interests."
"I agree with Noel," Stewart said, turning his gaze back to Isaac after long deliberation. "Continue to approach the previous potential acquirers; we don't need them to offer better acquisition or investment conditions, just create an impression for 'Huayi Capital' that many market institutions are interested in 'Forex International', creating a sense of urgency and forcing them to propose better acquisition terms."
"Alright, Chairman," Isaac nodded with a smile.
Although his inclination was towards 'Huayi Capital', if 'Huayi Capital' could offer better conditions, allowing him to gain more benefits from this round of 'Huayi Capital's' acquisition of 'Forex International', he would naturally be very willing to do so.
And just as the meeting was paused, and 'Forex International' shareholders were privately discussing and planning new negotiation strategies.
In the 'Huayi Capital' lounge.
After pondering the previous negotiation clashes between the two parties, Wang Huaijin also said to Su Yi, "General Manager Su, it seems that the core shareholders of 'Forex International' are not very willing for us to have absolute control over 'Forex International'!"
Su Yi smiled and said, "That's understandable. If you were the company founder, having worked hard to operate it for over twenty years, would you easily hand over absolute control of the company? Even if you had to sell the company and introduce new investors for the company to survive, in such a situation, wouldn't you try every means to secure your interests, or retain your internal position after the company is acquired?"
"So... General Manager Su had anticipated this situation long ago?" Wang Huaijin said.
Su Yi nodded slightly and said, "Although a 100% acquisition for control is difficult, I believe they will ultimately agree to 75% absolute control after deliberation. However, to ensure the success of the final acquisition plan, we still need to appropriately adjust our strategy, offer the other party some benefits, and stabilize the worried future interests of these core shareholders."
"We've already stated that after the acquisition, there won't be major adjustments to 'Forex International's' internal business structure or personnel structure. Isn't that already safeguarding their worried future interests?" Wang Huaijin frowned slightly and said, "What else do they want? If we concede too much, and don't have substantial control over 'Forex International' after acquiring it... then I suggest we might as well abandon this acquisition."
"Promise that after the acquisition is complete, the newly formed board of directors will reserve a board seat for them," Su Yi said. "And tell them this is the biggest concession we can make."
"Okay," Wang Huaijin said. "As long as our people can ultimately control the situation in the reorganized board of directors, giving them a seat is fine. Ensuring that their positions within the group do not significantly decrease after the company's acquisition should leave them with nothing to say, right?"
"Of course, there's one more thing," Su Yi paused and added, "We need to make them understand that choosing 'Huayi Capital' is the optimal choice."
"How so?" Wang Huaijin asked.
Su Yi responded, "Expectations, prospects. Currently, the foreign exchange trading market within China is actually still in a closed state. If we tell them that after accepting 'Huayi Capital's' acquisition, we will be able to help 'Forex International' open up the market within China and help them defeat their competitor 'Gain Capital International', then their emotional resistance to our acquisition will be smaller."
"General Manager Su, there's one more thing..."
After hearing their conversation, Li Mingxiu, the deputy leader of this round's negotiation team and the current head of the VC venture capital department at 'Huayi Capital Hong Kong Branch', thought for a moment and added, "I think we still shouldn't appear too proactive in negotiations, nor show that we care too much about the 'Forex International' acquisition project.
Otherwise, 'Forex International's' shareholders might think we absolutely must acquire this project, which would give rise to their ideas of overpricing and raising the selling price, thus hindering our subsequent negotiation progress."
"Mingxiu's point is very valid," Wang Huaijin helped to say, as Li Mingxiu was introduced to the company by him and he always regarded him as one of his own. "General Manager Su, we still have to consider this."
"Alright," Su Yi nodded slightly, "We'll keep that in mind."
As both parties privately discussed and strategized, time flew by...
Soon, the one-hour break in the meeting was over, both parties re-entered, and the negotiation meeting resumed.
"General Manager Su, we have carefully considered..." After both parties were seated, Stewart, on behalf of 'Forex International's' shareholders, spoke first, "Our shareholders believe that General Manager Su leading the 'Huayi Capital' team here, and the conditions you previously proposed, are all very sincere.
Therefore, after careful consideration, we are willing to accept General Manager Su's condition to acquire 75% of the shares, and we also welcome General Manager Su and the 'Huayi Capital' team to join 'Forex International' to create a better future with all of us."
"I am very grateful to Mr. Stewart and all the shareholders for their final decision," Su Yi said with a smile. "I believe that if the acquisition is successful, under the leadership of 'Huayi Capital', 'Forex International' will usher in a brighter future of development."
"However, General Manager Su also knows that our group's current situation is still quite difficult," Stewart paused and added, "In our previous contacts with 'Gain Capital International', Mr. Spillert of Gain Capital International, in addition to directly acquiring our shares in cash, also proposed an interest-free, unlimited-term loan of 600 million US dollars to 'Forex International' to help us overcome our current difficulties. I wonder... what are General Manager Su's considerations regarding this?
Our shareholders chose to introduce new investors, or even sell the company, at this stage. It's not primarily for the benefit of our shareholders. It is to allow the company's business to safely weather this crisis and usher in a better tomorrow."
Su Yi smiled and said, "If our plan to acquire 'Forex International' is completed, then 'Huayi Capital' naturally has the responsibility and obligation to help 'Forex International' overcome its difficulties and create a better future. After all, by then, if the company's operations continue to deteriorate, the biggest losers will be ourselves. So regarding this... Mr. Stewart has no need to worry at all.
At the same time, I have two more points to make. I previously promised everyone that after we complete the acquisition, we would not make excessive adjustments to 'Forex International' group's internal business structure and personnel structure.
Now I can clearly tell everyone. Once our acquisition is complete, any shareholder willing to sell shares in this round of acquisition to help us achieve absolute control. After the new board of directors is reorganized, we can retain his original seat on the board.
Also... as everyone knows. 'Huayi Capital' is a Chinese-funded institution, and our institution does have some influence in China.
If you choose us and allow our institution to successfully gain control of 'Forex International', then I believe that future market expansion in China will certainly be twice as effective with half the effort.
At the same time, the group's user base and transaction volume will surpass 'Gain Capital International'. I believe this is also fully achievable."
As soon as Su Yi made these remarks, a wave of emotion stirred within the 'Forex International' shareholders present at the meeting.
After all, the acquisition conditions and future prospects offered by Su Yi were already quite generous for the interests of the shareholders and the future development of 'Forex International' itself.
At this moment, even Noel, who had been hesitant and thinking of waiting for a better price, couldn't help but be swayed by Su Yi's words.
"General Manager Su previously promised to acquire the shares we intend to sell with full cash," Noel said with a smile, unable to resist asking the most core question that no one had yet asked in this round of negotiations, "I wonder how much cash General Manager Su intends to use and what price will be paid to acquire our shares?"
Facing Noel's sharp question, Su Yi smiled and said, "What I can tell everyone is that 'Huayi Capital' is absolutely sincere in its intention to acquire 'Forex International'. I can also tell everyone that we will definitely purchase your 'Forex International' shares in cash at a fair value.
However, regarding the final acquisition price, I will only be able to answer you after our team has assessed 'Forex International's' financial data, specific internal operational conditions, and conducted asset evaluations."
"General Manager Su's words... might not seem very sincere, perhaps?" Noel, seeing that he hadn't extracted Su Yi's bottom price, couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I can explicitly tell General Manager Su that 'Gain Capital International' offered us a bid of no less than 2.15 billion US dollars."
"Is that so?" Su Yi smiled and continued, "As I just said, after specific asset valuations and financial data calculations, I will give everyone the fairest market price. But before that, if you feel that the sincerity shown by 'Huayi Capital' is insufficient, or you don't trust me, then I will not object to you contacting other investment institutions. If an institution truly offers a full cash acquisition price of 2.15 billion US dollars, then we most likely wouldn't be sitting here today."
(End of chapter)