Costco used to be unable to expand rapidly, in addition to the fact that there was not a lot of funds at that time, the most important factor was that there was no one, lack of relevant talents, but now it is different, their own funds are sufficient, and they can also borrow banks to develop, and in terms of people, Costco itself also has a large number of talents, although the retail of daily necessities and home appliances will be a little different, but the training will be much more convenient.

Moreover, Best Buy's operation model is actually more similar to the department store model, many of the intermediate shops are rented to various brands, and only some small pieces are directly operated by Best Buy itself, which greatly reduces the demand for manpower and can be solved by the brand itself.

This gives Best Buy the basis for rapid expansion.

"Eric, you are really resolute, in this way, when the time is about right, I will go to Hong Kong to talk to you face-to-face, in addition, Citibank is also ready to enter the mainland appropriately, I heard that you have invested in several large-scale projects in the mainland, maybe there will be room for cooperation." Ron said with a smile.

"That's okay, we'll look at it then, if you're interested in Citi's investment, as long as the price is right, you can participate." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In the past few years, his relationship with HSBC has not been good, but when the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangzhou Expressway with a total investment of more than $1 billion was settled, HSBC still expressed through Hu Yingxiang that he wanted to participate in the project, and Chen Zhiwen did not refuse.

Contradiction is contradiction, but money still has to be earned, besides, the whole Hong Kong, can provide such a large amount of money, there are really not many, but all to HSBC to do, and I am afraid of when to be pitted, therefore, Chen Zhiwen has also been trying to introduce some banks in Japan and Southeast Asia, but in recent years, the oil crisis and global foreign exchange fluctuations, on which country's exchange rate to use, has not been negotiated, but the highway in the mainland is actually not in a hurry, and it is not good to build every big few years.

If Citi is interested, it can still be discussed, after all, active and passive are two different things.

"Then I will report this matter to the headquarters together, and I also hope that we can work together in multiple fields." Ron said.

"Yes, in the future, my company, Hutchison, intends to make large-scale infrastructure investment in China, port investment overseas and mining exploration, all of which will require capital." Chen Zhiwen released another big fish, as long as the fish is big enough, then the hook is naturally more willing to cooperate.

Of course, Citi will not be the only one, in the future, the domestic infrastructure alone may need tens of billions of dollars, and a bank cannot come out with so much, after all, most of the infrastructure investment must use loans, a highway with an investment of one billion dollars, as long as the loan, plus the joint venture requirements, he only needs to pay 50 million US dollars.

"Eric, you're giving me more and more surprises." Ron said with a smile, he knows how hot Chen Zhiwen's industry is now, although there is a certain risk in investing in infrastructure, but there are so many industries, even if the infrastructure investment is lost, it will not be a breach of contract until it is a last resort. This is the best quality financing for banks.

"I hope we can reach a strategic cooperation as soon as possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

After staying in Los Angeles for a few days, Chen Zhiwen went to a new Home Depot that had just opened, and learned that although it has only opened 5 stores on the West Coast, because of the extremely cheap cost, there are many customers here, and it has already formed a profit, but the future expansion still needs funds, so Home Depot is ready for the next round of financing.

Because of the previous agreement, Chen Zhiwen will participate in this financing, but he will not participate much, after all, in the case of 30% of the shares, if he invests heavily again, it may exceed the founder, which will instead discourage the enthusiasm of the founder and cause adverse effects, although the investors in Silicon Valley are very greedy, but they still understand this truth, and generally do not go too far, unless the invested company has no value.

After spending a few days in Los Angeles, Chen Zhiwen and Pierce discussed the development of Costco, which now has more than 70 retail stores in the United States and more than a dozen under construction, becoming one of the most promising giants in the United States.

"Eric, there have been two companies that have recently asked us for a full takeover, offering $3 billion and $3.3 billion respectively, and I didn't say yes, but I didn't refuse." Pierce said.

"Which two?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"One is Celtic, where they bid $3 billion, and the other is a joint venture fund of three investment firms, which is $3.3 billion." Pierce replied.

"How could they suddenly send us an offer?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"As far as I know, it's because many retail giants have begun to enter the warehouse supermarket, and the market thinks it's put some pressure on us." Pierce said.

"But it's also possible that they're finding it not that easy to do in a warehouse supermarket." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said.

"It's possible, but now that so much money is coming into the industry, they want to buy us, which has also led to the current situation, which is completely different from before." Pierce said.

"What do the rest of the company think?" Chen Zhiwen asked, one of the reasons why Costco developed smoothly before was that this was a new market and new gameplay, and others didn't react much, so it developed quickly and quickly occupied many big cities, and now, other brands are involved, although Chen Zhiwen is not afraid of them, but it is true that it is not in line with the needs to fight alone like this.

"Our internal opinion is that there is no need to sell, but we need to introduce other capital appropriately, otherwise these capital interested in the retail industry will only be invested in other competitors, and the investment of these capital is not only money, but also provides certain resources, which is also beneficial to our development, and considering that if we go public in the future, we also need to introduce other capital." Pierce said.

"Yes, then release the news, Costco is about to prepare financing, what do you think is the amount for the first time?" Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed.

If you want to make a company that completely dependent on the United States bigger in the United States, you can eat alone and find death, when the scale was small before, you can still play like this, after all, no one cares, but Costco has reached its current scale, and it must be financed, besides, in order to buy Pierce's team and let them fight for Costco, they also gave them a little share, and they want to cash out, so they naturally need to wait for the company to go public.

"I think the first 10 percent is enough, to get the first people in and see how they can help us." Pierce said.

"That's okay, that's it first, since you're ready for financing, then you're welcome, and then go to the bank for a loan, plus the money for financing, and expand at the fastest speed, so many retail giants have entered the market, we really need to suppress them quickly." Chen Zhiwen said.

Nowadays, many of his industries have grown and attracted the attention of other international giants, such as beverages, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and Danone have successively launched their own energy drinks, retail giants have entered warehouse supermarkets, and many IT giants have entered the field of game development.

Fortunately, it is relatively safe in the field of games, and many of the current giant counterparts can't beat it at all, but with the improvement of chip technology, more people will enter the market, and maybe there will be no games in the previous life, but this probability is not high, besides, even if it appears, in this rapidly expanding incremental market, multiple games may also appear compatible, after all, as players become more and more picky, a game can no longer satisfy them.

However, the retail and beverage industries are under a bit of pressure, and the introduction of international capital is also a normal operation.

"Okay, then I'm going to spread the word." Pierce nodded.

(End of chapter)