David Rubinstein, the founder of the Carlyle Fund, arrived at the hotel in the west of Suzhou on time at seven o'clock and met a Chinese girl with a dimple in her smile. This 47-year-old has been involved in Washington officialdom and the fund field for many years. The first reaction of the middle-aged man was emotion.
As one of the two most important lovers of Simon Westeros in China, compared to outsiders, Rubinstein knew very well that Chen Qing was actually the same as Lin Su, who appeared on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the United States this year. Status is still important, so it is inevitable to feel that people are more irritating than others.
The Carlyle Fund was established in 1987. After nearly ten years of hard work, Rubinstein's current net worth is only between 20 and 30 million US dollars.
Fortunately, as George Soros officially joined Carlyle as a partner a few months ago, and even further joined the line of the flourishing Westeros system, it had been relatively small and noisy in the previous ten years. Carlyle Fund finally ushered in a big turning point.
Especially last month, after tireless contacts here, Carlyle Fund received a one-time investment of US$1 billion from Westeros Corporation.
The benefits of Westeros System’s investment in Carlyle Fund are even greater than the joining of George Soros. Therefore, although Westeros Company has clearly limited the funds and basically just borrowed Carlyle's shell, David Rubinstein still attached great importance to it.
In any case, you can’t go wrong investing with the Westeros system.
Speaking of the US$1 billion, I personally talked with Westeros once, and the arrangement there was to invest all of it in China's heavy industry, to be precise, in the construction machinery field related to construction, transportation, and mining.
With the rapid expansion of the Carlyle Fund this year, the previous investment strategy that only focused on the domestic defense field of the United States will definitely need to change, and diversified investment is an inevitable choice. Since Simon Westeros personally pointed out a way, David Rubinstein came to China specially a week ago to inspect the current situation of China's related industries.
Just when he was about to return to the United States, he received instructions from Westeros, requiring Carlyle to invite Chen Qing to serve as a government policy advisor for all projects in China involving Westeros system funds.
Carlyle's early breakthrough was by inviting former senior officials in Washington to serve as executives or consultants, thereby obtaining a large number of defense orders. Even if there is no request from Westeros, since Carlyle has decided to do business in China, Carlyle will have a good relationship with the Chinese authorities. Since the other party has made arrangements, even if David Rubinstein feels that Chen Qing's weight is a bit low, It didn’t even have any weight at all, but I agreed anyway.
This is also the reason for today's meeting.
After greeting each other, David Rubinstein and his assistant sat down at a round table that could accommodate seven or eight people. Chen Qing was the only one who sat down, and there were two confidant waitresses responsible for taking the dishes. , not wanting irrelevant people to hear the conversation here, the hotel waiter could only walk to the door.
Everyone sat down and told the waitress to serve the food. Chen Qing turned to Rubinstein: "David, you have been in China for half a month. How do you feel about Chinese food?"
David Rubinstein is a very talkative person. He smiled and said: "It's amazing. I think I may never be able to live without Chinese food in the future."
"Actually, the boss is like this too. However, Westerners may not be used to some of the tastes. Fortunately, there are many kinds of Chinese food. Anyone who comes to this country can find the food they like."
"Indeed."
The service here is very efficient. After a brief chat, the two waiters have already brought some food to the table. After all, they are foreign guests, and the meal sharing mode is carefully adopted here. Chen Qing actually likes this way of eating more and more, instead of a group of people stirring up a dish together.
After a brief exchange of greetings, both parties quickly got down to business.
"So, David, what do you think of the batch of corporate information we provided here?"
David Rubinstein was obviously jerky but still insisted on eating the food with chopsticks, while saying: "To be honest, Chen, the six companies I personally visited in one week gave me a very consistent feeling, rough, backward, and chaotic. And the scale is very small. Just like XCMG Machinery Group in Jiangsu, its revenue in the past fiscal year was only 260 million U.S. dollars. It is already the top construction machinery giant in China. In comparison, the federal government ranks No. Caterpillar, the largest construction machinery manufacturer, had revenue of US$14.3 billion last year, but its net profit reached US$950 million.”
Chen Qing's smile remained unchanged: "So, David, you are not optimistic about the boss's choice?"
David Rubinstein did not deny it, saying: "If it weren't for the investment strategy that Simon personally finalized, I would never have invested a penny in these areas in China."
Chen Qing was very patient and asked: "What about now?"
"Of course we follow Simon's ideas," said Rubinstein with a smile on his lips: "I just hope that this investment will not become Simon's Waterloo, otherwise, Carlyle will also be unlucky."
Chen Qing was half-joking: "Actually, if you can prove that the boss made a mistake in his judgment, it would be considered a pioneering work. At least so far, of course it does not mean that the boss has not made mistakes, but in the general trend of many industries, the boss has always been Yes."
"Yeah, so Carlyle is going to follow up on the same bet."
"You will definitely not be disappointed. However, David, I also hope you will remember that the interests of the Westeros system must come first."
"Of course, the customer is our god."
Chen Qing nodded and said, "Why don't we talk about it in detail? Do you have a specific goal?"
David Rubinstein raised his free left hand and raised two fingers: "Two companies, one is XCMG, which I just mentioned, and the other is in Hunan. This is a private company called Sany Heavy Industry."
Rubinstein's research and investigation targets during this period were actually materials provided by Cersei Capital China Economic Research Institute.
Since her boss had given her the title of government policy advisor, Chen Qing had dutifully read the information of many companies. When Rubinstein mentioned it, the general situation of these two companies immediately appeared in Chen Qing's mind.
Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group is a large state-owned enterprise. The revenue of US$260 million Rubinstein just mentioned is equivalent to 2.2 billion yuan, which is already a considerable scale in China.
The comparison is with another company, Sany Heavy Industry. Unlike XCMG, which is involved in many aspects such as agricultural machinery, automobile manufacturing, and port machinery, Sany is currently only a company involved in construction machinery, specifically concrete conveying equipment.
The reason why it was selected by the institute was mainly because Sany achieved a technological breakthrough in pump truck equipment for transporting concrete to high-rise buildings. The transport height reached more than 100 meters, breaking the overseas monopoly on related equipment. In addition, it has its own With rapid growth, it suddenly became a star private enterprise in related fields.
In Chen Qing's view, China's private high-growth companies are Wall Street's favorite investment targets.
Thinking about this, Chen Qing asked: "Sany is very understanding. David, why did you choose XCMG? This company's product line is very complex, and it is expected to lose money this year?"
David Rubinstein did not directly answer Chen Qing's question, but said: "I have communicated with the Sany team and seen their factories and products. This is a company with strict management, clear systems and clear development goals. The company and its management are also very good. I hope to develop it into a comprehensive construction machinery and excavating machinery giant through capital injection and technical support. As for XCMG, if we can talk about it, I hope it can be reorganized to transform China's highly competitive agricultural industry into The machinery and other businesses will be divested and we will focus on the development of port machinery and mining machinery and equipment."
"Construction machinery, excavation machinery, port machinery, mining machinery..." Chen Qing grasped the key points skillfully and said: "David, your idea is very good, but have you ever thought about what would happen if things did not develop according to your idea? what to do?"
"What's the meaning?"
"Let's not talk about other things. If we only invest in these two companies, do you think Carlyle can use the US$1 billion?"
"Of course not, but this is just one aspect. In addition to construction machinery, Simon is also interested in shipping, railways and other fields. These are also very expensive industries. Chen, you have to know that I don't plan to do it in a year or two. If all the US$1 billion is spent, it is estimated that it will take about three to five years for all investments to be completed.”
"Well, I mean, I think the boss should have the same idea," Chen Qing said: "That is, invest in multiple companies at the same time, provide corresponding support, let them compete freely, and ultimately eliminate the weak and retain the strong. .According to what we in China say, this is called... Well, I don’t know how to translate it. In order to get the most ferocious insect king, someone put scorpions, spiders, centipedes and other poisonous insects together and let them fight each other, and finally stayed. That’s the strongest one.”
"I understand, it sounds cruel, but..." David Rubinstein thought for a moment and said, "If Simon agrees, I have no problem."
The main reason is that there is indeed too much money in hand.
If we only invest in the two companies selected this time, according to Rubinstein's thinking, even one-tenth of the US$1 billion in funds will not be used. But if you invest in multiple projects at the same time, although David Rubinstein does not know the allusion to cultivating gu, Chen Qing’s idea of natural selection and survival of the fittest is actually worth operating.
Because Rubinstein also discovered that China's current related industries are still in their infancy, so the cost of entry will be very low. In addition, the construction machinery industry in China is quite fragmented, with relevant companies in almost every province, and large-scale investment is quite feasible.
Not only that, the model of casting a wide net can still be subdivided. A certain type of machinery is limited to two or three companies, which can also ensure relatively healthy competition.
Of course, the key point, the premise of all this, must be that Simon Westeros's judgment on the prospects of China's related industries is correct.
China has adopted austerity policies since 1993, which has led to the shrinkage of the domestic infrastructure sector and has greatly affected all types of construction machinery industries. According to the normal economic cycle, this is considered a trough period for the industry, and it is the best time to buy at the bottom. The Westeros system is now beginning to be laid out, so we need to expect China to change its economic policies in the next few years, move towards easing, and start large-scale infrastructure construction.
As long as this transformation comes true, the basic field of construction machinery will also usher in a period of rapid development.
In addition, David Rubinstein also considered various other aspects, all of which were based on Simon's correct judgment. Once a young man made a mistake in his judgment, the Westeros system invested Carlyle's $1 billion, and several Carlyle's follow-up of US$1 billion year-on-year is destined to have an uncertain future.
The day after this dinner, Rubinstein returned to North America and began preparations for subsequent actions.
Chen Qing also received a call early in the morning and hurriedly left Suzhou and returned to Beijing.
The team here in Beijing informed her that the golf course and high-end villa area project that her boss hoped to build at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing was making progress.
After flying to the capital in the morning, Chen Qing was immediately called to a meeting at the city hall.
The initial hope here was to acquire a 2,500-acre plot of land on the southeast side of Xiangshan Park in Haidian District near the foot of the mountain. However, it was rejected by the city government. However, it was not completely rejected, but it was stated that in order for the project to be approved, it would need to be moved eastwards by about 1 kilometer. Simple In other words, it cannot be built at the foot of a mountain.
Chen Qing was a little depressed when he heard it at first, but it wasn't too surprising.
At the foot of the mountain, not to mention Xiangshan Park, the vast area around the foot of the mountain can be regarded as a geomantic treasure to some extent.
After all, being surrounded by mountains and rivers is a high-quality Feng Shui pattern that most ordinary people in China subconsciously recognize. Even in the West, I have seen many luxury homes owned by my boss. Even if there is no Feng Shui theory in the West, the top luxury homes of foreigners basically have this layout. Chen Qing also realized that after careful study, the selected piece of land did not have a courtyard house for some people at the foot of the mountain. Now, she still failed to succeed. Obviously, even if there was not one before, there should be one next.
All in all, this pool of water in the capital is still very deep.
The meeting, which lasted for more than half an hour, was over. After Chen Qing tried hard to get results to no avail, she could only decide to hand over the results to her boss. However, in any case, such a 2,500-acre super-large real estate project was approved, and the city government did not require a joint venture. It was definitely for the sake of the boss.
Near noon, after the meeting, Chen Qing was about to leave with her entourage when she was stopped.
Chen Qing quickly changed her smile and said to the middle-aged man who stopped her: "Secretary Liu, is there anything else you can do?"
"That's it, Xiao Chen," the middle-aged man motioned to go out together. He seemed to glance at Jill Peckett and Zhao Anni who came with Chen Qing casually, and said, "The Rose Garden Villa project in Changping, you guys Are you interested here?"
Chen Qing noticed the middle-aged man's gaze and realized that the actions here were not hidden from those above.
I am planning to find someone to take over!
Since the other party has brought it up and knows that the operator is Gil Peckett who is following him, if he denies it any more, he will treat his superiors as a fool. Chen Qing hesitated for a moment, but nodded and said: "I do pay attention to it, but Secretary Liu , I heard things are very troublesome?"