Although it was expected, Hao Yun didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
Just the second week after he sold his shares in Modern Bicycle to Sea Lion Group, the financial world was once again thrown into turmoil due to a sudden piece of news.
That was the sudden thunderstorm of the UFO bicycle!
To be precise, it was not UFO’s bicycle business that was in trouble, but UFO Bicycle’s credit loan business.
This bicycle-sharing start-up company born in Yanjing was very lucky to catch up with the bicycle-sharing craze. With its background at Yenching University, it received 30 million yuan in the first round of financing.
It almost copied the development trajectory of modern bicycles. With the 30 million yuan in financing, UFO bicycles quickly started a counterattack in life. In just one month, the start-up company occupied 50% of the market share in Yanjing and expanded its business to other second-tier cities such as Tianjin.
If that were the case, there wouldn't be any big problem.
However, if it wants to steal market share from modern cyclists, it must take more radical decisions on the use of deposits.
For example, docking with private lending business.
In fact, UFO bikes are not the only ones doing this.
The vast majority of small and medium-sized shared bicycle companies, such as Youtian Bicycle, are doing everything they can to increase the return on assets of their existing deposits to attract more investors to help them push this snowball forward.
However, with so much money crowding into the high-risk small and micro loan sector, it is only a matter of time before something goes wrong.
Unfortunately, this big thunder exploded on the UFO.
Due to the sudden disappearance of the cooperative lenders that provided "financial services", more than 3 billion in deposits were at risk of bad debts, which directly put the prosperous UFO bicycle business at risk of breaking the capital chain.
If only that was it.
Bite the bullet, increase the data, and introduce more takers to fill the hole. Maybe the 3 billion sinkhole will be filled. After all, catalyzed by the wealth myth of Yunmeng Group, various capitals are now interested in shared bicycles to an almost fanatical level, and they have entered the game at double or even triple the premium rate, not caring about the risks at all.
However, the problem is that a report published in the Financial Times exposed the issue of UFO deposits.
Some people say that it was done by competitors, while others say that an investor who participated in the road show bribed the Financial Times to report negative news about UFOs to suppress the valuation in order to get a better price, and cooperated with the pressure from the partners.
But it doesn't matter who did it now.
The hammer came down and directly capsized the UFO boat.
Panic first spread in the financial world, and then as major media reposted and commented, the news finally reached UFO users.
Users immediately panicked upon hearing this.
Although it’s only a few hundred dollars, it’s still money!
It was originally promised that as long as you pay a high deposit, you can ride for free. Unexpectedly, they did not plan to make money through bicycles at all, but instead focused on the principal paid by the nomads.
How can you bear this
For a time, applications for deposit refunds drifted like snowflakes to the field of shared bicycles.
Not only is UFO facing a stampede from users, but other shared bicycle companies with good operating conditions are also complaining in this round of stampede.
After all, there are only two of these things, and everyone is worried that something similar will happen to them.
Then there are the concerns on the supplier side. Now when the shared bicycle companies go to the factory to place orders, they have not only increased the deposit ratio from 10% to 30%, but no one is willing to compromise on the time to settle the final payment anyway. .
The situation of Modern Bicycle is slightly better. On the one hand, Hiace Group has just injected capital, and on the other hand, the capital migration has resulted in sufficient liquidity on the books.
However, it is undeniable that this incident still has a big impact on the modern bicycle business. In particular, UFO thunderstorms have attracted the attention of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, and it is rumored that relevant regulations will soon be introduced to regulate the use of deposits in the shared bicycle industry.
This bad news directly discounted the valuations of major bike-sharing companies.
After all, everyone knows that the short-term bicycle rental business itself is not valuable. What is valuable is the huge cash flow generated by travel demand. If the China Banking Regulatory Commission promulgates a regulation requiring shared bicycles to deposit deposits into regulatory accounts and strictly restrict their use...
Those tricks of paying an extra deposit to get a free car will be done!
The office building where Modern Bicycle is located.
Zhang Tao has been very busy these days.
Not only because of the company's relocation and business connection with WeChat, but also because the mess caused by UFO has seriously affected Modern Bicycle's operating conditions.
The leader of the China Banking Regulatory Commission had a phone call with him yesterday and asked him to submit a detailed financial statement listing the use of each deposit of Modern Bicycle.
This is not bad, after all, the business connection between Modern Bicycle and WeChat has not yet started, and the funds withdrawn from Jiang'an Capital are now lying untouched in the bank account.
The only thing he is glad about now is that the timing of Sea Lion Group's investment was really right. If it had been a few days late, the financing amount would have been reduced and the amount would have been discounted in half.
What makes him even more fortunate is that he sold 5% of his shares to Ma Youtian before and finally cashed out 140 million. If it were now, let alone 140 million, I am afraid that if it were 14 million, others would have to consider whether to take over.
Thinking about what happened in the past few days, Ma Youtian couldn't help but feel emotional.
Looking back, the biggest winner in this turmoil is probably Yunmeng Group. 700 million accurate sets appeared on the top of the mountain. All the people who laughed at them for selling at a loss may not be able to laugh now.
Especially the Sea Lion Group.
Although it's a bit uncomfortable to say this, every time Zhang Tao receives a call from the other party in the past few days, he feels as if the other party's tone is about to cry.
Zhang Tao had just finished processing the materials required by the China Banking Regulatory Commission and was about to take a break when his cell phone on the table rang again.
Seeing the name of the caller, he hesitated for a moment, but finally picked up the phone and pressed the connect button.
Before he could say hello, an urgent voice came from the other end of the phone.
“How long until you can go public?”
Zhang Tao: "..."
It's not even listed on the market yet, and you're already planning to reduce your holdings
"What happened to you?"
"Eager for money..."
The voice on the other end of the phone was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against the wall. Zhang Tao could probably imagine the expression on Mr. Ma's face at this moment.
If he remembered correctly, Youtian Bicycle's main profits come from the small and micro loan business under Youtian Network. Now that UFO bicycles suddenly hit the market, all major shared bicycle platforms have experienced stampedes and crowds.
Just by listening to this voice, he could imagine how desperate Ma Youtian was feeling at the moment.
But understanding is understanding, asking him to help is impossible. Not to mention that they are competitors, even if there is no competitor relationship, this hole cannot be filled by him.
"... I advise you to think of other ways. Not to mention that the IPO of the entire shared bicycle industry is now stuck. Even if Hiace Group has a way to help us overtake and go public, you will have to reduce your holdings in the secondary market. The lockdown period is over.”
In Xia Guo, this lock-in period generally starts at 24 months. Depending on the industry and sector, the lock-in period may be extended depending on the specific circumstances.
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time, and then there was a soft sigh.
"...Are you interested in the shared bicycle platform with the second largest number of users in central Xiaxia?"
Zhang Tao's eyebrows twitched fiercely, but he still said with a smile on his face.
"What do you think?"
Knowing that talking more would be useless, Ma Youtian hung up the phone silently.
Zhang Tao, who was sitting at his desk, shook his head slightly and threw his phone on the table.
He didn't sympathize with his friend's business. He only remembered a saying he heard a long time ago. In this business, the money earned by luck will sooner or later be lost by skill.
There was also no gloating in his heart.
After all, no one knows whether something similar will happen to them one day in the future.
Risk control must be done at all times. Zhang Tao suddenly felt lucky that he had learned this lesson from others...