Chapter 673 Proposal to operate independently

……

Back home, Guo Shouyun considered Li Zeju's proposal and called John Roberts, the CEO of Ruby Mall.

“Boss！”

"John, how is the company doing?"

"It's okay... As companies invest heavily in logistics, more and more small and medium-sized companies are registered in our marketplace. Up to now, the transaction volume of the mall has exceeded 23 billion US dollars, and the overall transaction volume is expected to exceed 50 billion this year. The Group's revenue from logistics is also growing, and of course the highest income is still in finance. Semi-annual forward agreements for commodities such as oil, iron ore, copper ore and coal have a yield of 12.4% and a one-year yield of 24.84%. More than a year is still impossible to estimate, but in terms of the current level of global economic development, it is certainly higher. ”

Logistics is the foundation for the rapid development of Ruby Mall, and it is necessary to increase the proportion of investment. ”

"Understood!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, and after a slight mutter, " I heard that the Huaxia Island City Port Authority plans to invest 887 million US dollars to build the Qianwan Terminal, and make it one of the world's largest container terminals with 11 dedicated berths for deep-water container ships, a shoreline of 3,400 meters, a total yard area of 2.25 million square meters, a land depth of 1.5 kilometers, and a berth depth of minus 17.5 meters, which can load and unload ultra-large container ships of more than 10,000 TEU around the clock, and an annual container throughput capacity of more than 6.5 million TEU. ”

“… Moreover, the island city is strategically located, one of the largest sea-facing passages in eastern China, and is also the maritime transportation hub of Northeast Asia. It not only meets the business needs of our company, but also has excellent investment value in itself. So... Why don't I see the name of the Ruby Mall on the project's partner list?"

"Boss, I can naturally see the investment value of Qianwan Wharf in Huaxia Island City. And he was also ready to participate in the bidding, but the matter was vetoed by George!"

As the hall came out, John Roberts had a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"Why?" Guo Shouyun raised an eyebrow.

"In recent years, Ruby Mall has invested heavily in the field of logistics, and has acquired berths, warehouses, various types of freighters, and different types of vehicles, which once made the company's debt ratio exceed 70%. Now that Ruby Mall is about to be listed, it is necessary to shrink the scale of logistics investment, reduce the debt ratio, improve the financial statements, and strive to get more investors after listing. ”

“… However, Ruby Mall's liabilities are benign, and our investment in logistics has increased the company's total assets, while also contributing to the rapid development of the company's business, following a similar path as Amazon. If we cut our investment in the company's main business in order to go public, to cater to investors, and to come up with a beautiful balance sheet, then the development of Ruby Mall will inevitably slow down. In the field of the Internet, the catfish effect is obvious, and the first company occupies more than 60% of the market. If we take the initiative to slow down the pace of development, it is equivalent to chronic suicide and take the initiative to give latecomers the opportunity to do it head-on. ”

After stating his opinion, John Roberts took a deep breath and said in a deep tone: "Boss, the main business of Ruby Mall, e-commerce, is completely different from the Internet community business of the rest of Ruby Company's subsidiaries. Moreover, we are not engaged in B2C or C2C, but commodities and logistics that are not related to individuals at all. Therefore, I would suggest that the Ruby Mall should be separated from Ruby and exist as a separate company. ”

"Let the Ruby Mall run independently?"

John Roberts' proposal was not what Guo Shouyun expected.

"Yes! Ruby Mall and the rest of the subsidiaries of Ruby Company have no business intersection at all, and the two sides cannot produce a cluster effect at all. There can even be mistakes in the development of the company's strategy due to wrong decisions. Therefore, independent operation is a choice that must be made for the rapid development of Ruby Mall in the future. ”

John Roberts was resolute. Apparently he had been thinking about this for a long time.

"I'll give you an answer after thinking about it. In addition, you are ready to bid for the Qianwan Pier project of Huaxia Island City, and I will tell him on Tim's side. ”

"Yes!"

After hanging up the phone, Guo Shouyun's face showed a thoughtful look.

The original ruby mall was separated from the Pacific Group and merged into the Ruby Company only because the two had the same Internet attributes. In retrospect, this decision was indeed somewhat hasty. As John Roberts said, Ruby's main business is the Internet community, which is a platform based on LinkedIn and Facebook, covering music, finance, video, voice, news, blogs, email, libraries and many other functions, creating a comprehensive virtual network society, this society is based on individuals, and all business and functions are also closely related to individuals.

But Ruby Mall is different, although it is also e-commerce, but it is different from Amazon and eBay. Ruby Mall trades international bulk commodities, such as grain, coal, oil, natural gas, steel, copper ore, timber, etc., serving small and medium-sized enterprises that lack sales channels and customers, building a bridge between raw material producers and processors, allowing them to find customers around the world, reducing intermediate expenses such as consulting fees, lawyer fees, and exploitation by large companies, and improving their revenue and performance.

Ruby Mall has invested heavily in the field of logistics and opened certain offline stores, which is also for the above purposes.

But whether it is commodity trading or logistics, it has little to do with the Internet community, the main business operated by Ruby, or has nothing to do with it at all.

"Maybe it's a good idea to have the Ruby Mall run independently. Guo Shouyun muttered to himself.

However, this matter involves the structure of Ruby, and even if it is decided to operate independently, it should be considered in the long run. And he's also going to call Tim George and ask about the Island City Front Bay Pier project. With his knowledge of Tim George, he was no stranger to the debt-driven Ruby Mall model, and he had told him that John's proposal was rejected for no reason.

"Is it really just because it's listed?"

Such a question flashed in Guo Shouyun's mind, and after thinking for a moment, he called Tim George directly after getting nothing.

"Boss!"

"Didn't disturb your morning sleep, did you?"

Hong Kong is 15 hours ahead of San Francisco, so it's still 10 p.m. on Guo Shouyun's side, and it's 7 a.m. in San Francisco.

"You know, I have a habit of running in the morning. Now I just came back from outside, and I am about to go to work after breakfast. ”

"Then let's make a long story short. Guo Shouyun nodded and said, "Did Ruby Mall submit a document to the head office to participate in the bidding for the Island City Qianwan Wharf Project?"

Tim George, who was on the other end of the phone, visibly paused after hearing his words.

"Yes! Considering that the ruby mall will start pre-listing preparations before the end of the year. At that time, financial health will be an important indicator to evaluate its listing price, so I did not approve the investment. And I think Ruby Mall should shrink its investment this year and create a beautiful balance sheet to cater to investors. When the company goes public, gets a better rating, and achieves a higher market capitalization, it can raise more money from the market, and then carry out more significant expansion and mergers and acquisitions. In the period leading up to the listing, Ruby Mall can first negotiate with some of its favorite acquisition targets. This will not delay too long due to the contraction of funds. ”

"Tim, you're really well-rounded. But I don't want Ruby to miss out on investment opportunities that shouldn't have been missed because of the listing. As for financial health, that's really important. However, as an Internet company, customers and market share are the most important. Now, in the field of commodity trading, although Ruby Mall is in the lead, there are still companies such as Myron and Atlantic Commerce that are constantly catching up. Therefore, even if Ruby is to be listed, it cannot stop investing in the logistics field. ”

"Boss, it's not the 90s of the 20th century, and since the NASDAQ crisis, Wall Street and investors have seen the financial health of Internet companies as an important criterion for whether a company is worth investing in. I talked to people in the investment bank before, with the financial situation of Ruby Mall, if it is listed, the total share capital of 1 billion will not exceed 30 US dollars. And eBay, which has a turnover similar to ruby and assets even less than ruby, has a price of $43 per share, and their total share capital is 1.34 billion shares after the stock split on May 3 this year, and the company's market value is nearly twice that of us, this is the difference!"

After listening, Guo Shouyun pondered for a moment, "Tim, when the company was still LinkedIn, you followed me." Should know my style. Going public is good, but I don't limit the growth of the company for the sake of going public. ”

"Boss, only by going public can we better raise funds from the capital market and get more abundant capital to promote the future development of Ruby Mall. And, don't you realize that although the ruby mall is still developing, and the harvest of bulk product futures is also very rich, it is gradually unable to cope with the capital-intensive logistics industry. In the absence of new capital, the development of ruby will slow down in two months at most. Of course, if you don't want to delay your company's development because of the listing, we can also seek venture capital. ”

"Is this your idea?" asked Guo Shouyun.

But these are just for your information. ”

Tim George said respectfully.

"The listing time is too long, and I don't want to delay the development of Ruby Mall, so let's raise money! Take out 20% of the original shares, I believe many venture capital institutions will be interested." ”

Now is not the past, as long as he has absolute control, Guo Shouyun does not care about giving up some shares.

"Yes!"

"The investment documents of the Qianwan Port Project in Huaxia Island City were approved and handed over to John. This is something we can't afford to miss. ”

"When I get to the company, I'll do it right away!"

"Hmm... That's all I have to say, do you have anything else?" Guo Shouyun said.

"It's gone!"

"Then let's do it for now, and I'll go back in a week. ”

Guo Shouyun decided to go back to the United States halfway through to discuss with Tim George about letting Ruby Mall operate independently.

"It's been a long time since I've played golf with my boss, and when you come back, we'll have a good match. ”

"It seems that your skills have improved a lot during my absence, and you have become so confident in speaking!" Guo Shouyun said with a smile.

"Compared to business, finance, etc., this is probably the only place where I have a chance to surpass my boss!" Tim George smiled slightly complimentingly.

"I'm not as good as you say. … Okay, that's it. It's going to be 11 o'clock at night, and if I go on again, I won't be able to sleep if I miss my biological clock. ”

"Okay, boss, good night!"

"Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!"

Hanging up the phone, Tim George took the phone and muttered for a while, then took out a piece of paper from the pocket of his suit jacket, looked at the phone on it, he hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, walked to the trash can, and threw the piece of paper in his hand.

After calling Li Zeju the next day, and then informing John Roberts and Tang Wenfang of Global Real Estate of the news, they will naturally complete the rest.

……

The Peninsula on Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, is home to Golden Harvest Film Company.

In addition to Hanhua, among Guo Shouyun's many companies, only Golden Harvest is headquartered in Hong Kong. Originally, according to his plan, Golden Harvest was to merge Golden Harvest into Tencent and become a part of its pan-entertainment strategic film and television business matrix. But now Tencent's pan-entertainment plan has just begun, although Supergirl made a lot of money last year, plus the acquisition of Tangren Film and Television, she has accumulated some foundation. But compared to Golden Harvest, a veteran film company in Hong Kong, it is still much worse.

Especially with the help of Guo Shouyun, Golden Harvest, which swept away the twilight of the past and became the leader of Hong Kong film and television again, is even worse. It will inevitably cause the consequence of snake swallowing elephants and cause indigestion. The merger of the two sides has not moved forward.

Of course, as Guo Shouyun's assets of the same type, the two sides are not without cooperation at all. Especially in terms of artists, Tang Ren, who integrated the film and television production department into Penguin Films, has now taken over artists such as Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, and Zhang Zhen under Golden Harvest. And backed by big trees, especially the global media giant Matrix Company, but all veteran artists who plan to develop in Hollywood, such as Chow Yun-fat, Jet Li and others, have transferred some of their brokerage contracts to Tang Artist Economic Company. In just over two years, the number of celebrities under Tangren's banner has nearly tripled, expanding from the mainland to the entire Greater China region, including Singapore and Malaysia. really made Cai Yinong understand what it means to have his back against a big tree to enjoy the shade.

The name Matrix is so good to use in the entertainment industry!

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