Although Li Mu is an Internet person through and through, he has thoroughly implemented the settlement principles between supply and demand in the real economy.
When buying something, Li Mu pursues settlement later; when selling something, Li Mu pursues payment first. In short, because he is in an absolutely strong position, he instinctively strives for more advantages and conveniences for himself.
Apple executives are also very aware of this. They did the same thing when the iPod was at its peak. They let the foundry produce first and then settle the bill, and let the dealers pay first and then receive the goods, which not only reduced risks for themselves, but also reduced financial pressure.
Now, the same goes for Li Mu asking Apple executives to sign an agreement to delay payment.
Apple executives can easily figure out Li Mu's operating procedures. Apple's stock price will inevitably collapse tomorrow. Li Mu first temporarily obtains equity from Apple shareholders, and then can pass the company's privatization resolution with a voting rate of more than 66.6%, and then Filed an application with Nasdaq to take Apple private at a price of $3.50.
There is a high probability that Nasdaq will agree to Li Mu's Grande-style privatization plan. As long as Nasdaq nods, all circulating shares will immediately initiate compulsory buybacks, and the privatization matter will be completely completed.
However, for the greatest safety, Li Mu will wait until the payment for the acquisition of Apple shareholders' shares is successful before making the payment.
Apple's shareholders came to a unanimous conclusion almost quickly. In their view, Li Mu was merciful by not taking the opportunity to kill them. Although there may be a certain delay in the collection time, at least Li Mu did not make any mistakes before. Make any changes to the negotiated price.
So, Tim Cook led the team and rushed to Makino Technology in the dusk.
In this group, there were more than 20 representatives of Apple's major shareholders, attorneys for shareholders who were not present, and core team members with options. They hurriedly set off for Makino Technology. The two companies were not too far apart, less than an hour , Tim Cook and his team were sitting in the conference room of Makino Technology.
Apple people have two completely different situations. The core team members headed by Tim Cook came to Makino Technology not only to sign the sale of their shares, but also to prepare themselves for joining Makino Technology in the future. , and as for those shareholders who do not usually participate in the actual operations of the company, they just want to sign and confirm quickly, wait to get their money back, and then completely cut off all ties with Apple.
Li Mu started working with the team early in the morning and was already a little exhausted. When Tim Cook and his party arrived at the company, he was taking advantage of the break to rest on the sofa in his office.
After letting the Apple team wait for twenty minutes, Li Mu, who was slightly relieved from fatigue, came to the conference room to meet with the team.
As soon as Li Mu entered the door, more than 20 members of the Apple team in the conference room stood up and said in unison: "Hello, Mr. Li."
Each of the more than 20 people in the Apple team is older than Li Mu, but everyone's expression can't help but be a little awe-inspiring.
The capital market never looks at age and qualifications. It looks at the absolute value of assets and resources. With Li Mu’s current capital and resource volume, even though Li Jiacheng is several decades older than him, he is still a head shorter than him, let alone Apple. These "men were defeated".
However, Li Mu didn't put on any airs. He nodded and smiled at everyone very politely, and then said, "I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. I'm really overloaded today, so I took a rest in the office for a while."
Tim Cook hurriedly said: "Mr. Li, your counterattack today was so perfect and impeccable."
Li Mu smiled slightly: "It's just a little simpler and rougher, not perfect."
After speaking, Li Mu added: "It's really late today, so let's get straight to the point now."
Tim Cook nodded hurriedly: "Please say."
Li Mu said: "I have asked the legal department to prepare a new contract template. Compared with the framework agreement we made before, only a series of terms such as payment time have been modified. You can take a look at it first. If there are no problems, we will now That way we can take care of the entire contract process.”
The two parties have already communicated and reached consensus on the details of the previous contract, and the modifications are only independent projects. In addition, with lawyers present, such changes can be confirmed very quickly.
Li Mu asked to sign the contract now, and the Apple team naturally had no objections. The law firm that Makino Technology cooperated with in the United States sent a team of lawyers to stay at Makino Technology. They quickly came to the conference room with the revised contract and presented the contract one by one. Correspondingly sent to every Apple team member.
Apple has a very large group of shareholders. In addition to a large number of large and small shareholders, there are more than a hundred team members who hold Apple options. It is naturally impossible to sign contracts one by one, so most of the small shareholders and team members who hold options are present. Certain shareholders have signed a concerted action agreement. As a result, these people present today have covered all of Apple's non-tradable equity, accounting for 80.11% of the total, and correspondingly, the voting rights are also 80.11%.
If Apple had adopted a dual-class share structure and used the strategy of different rights for the same shares, the proportion of voting rights could reach 100%. However, for Li Mu, there is no difference between 80.11% and 100% of voting rights.
After the contract came out, the other party's lawyers began a routine review. Since there were very few changes, the review was very fast. After more than ten minutes, Apple's legal representatives recognized the entire content of the agreement.
Tim Cook breathed a sigh of relief and said to Li Mu: "Mr. Li, we have no objection to the contract. We can sign it now."
Li Mu nodded, made a gesture of invitation, and said: "Then please sign as soon as possible, and we will quickly enter the next round."
Tim Cook and other team members looked at each other, and everyone picked up the pen on the table and signed their names on the contract.
As the representative of Makino Technology, Li Mu also signed every contract and then exchanged it with each signatory. All contracts were exchanged. Makino Technology has temporarily owned 80.11% of the shares, and the statute of limitations is two months.
Strictly speaking, Apple has now changed hands and has become Li Mu's Apple. The only prerequisite is that Li Mu himself does not regret it. Therefore, in Li Mu's view, there will be no further changes in this matter.
After the signing was completed, Li Mu shook hands with Apple shareholders one by one and politely thanked them. Thanking them basically means that they no longer have anything to do with Apple. This kind of handshake is equivalent to routine work after the handover of power.
Later, Li Mu shook hands with members of the Apple team one by one. A considerable number of them will become employees of Li Mu in the future, so Li Mu's attitude was particularly enthusiastic.
Li Mu ranked Tim Cook at the end of the handshake list. When shaking hands with Tim Cook, Li Mu said to him: "Tim, I hope you can officially join Makino Technology as soon as possible!"
After speaking, Li Mu added very solemnly: "As-soon-as-possible!"
as soon as possible! The sooner the better!
Tim Cook was particularly touched by Li Mu's words. He never thought that Li Mu would value him very much, but Li Mu's attitude at this moment showed without reservation that he indeed valued Tim Cook and couldn't wait to see him. He joined Makino Technology.
Therefore, Tim Cook also said very seriously: "Mr. Li, I and the members of the Apple team also very much hope to join the great company Makino Technology as soon as possible!"
Li Mu nodded: "I will complete the entire privatization of Apple as soon as possible. At that time, you can help me with the post-privatization integration."
When acquiring a company like Apple, the workload of complete integration is huge. The easiest thing about the acquisition between enterprises is that the businesses are complementary and there is no conflict. The most troublesome thing is that the businesses penetrate each other. Once they penetrate each other, the two sides must be independent. Measure and formulate a comprehensive integration plan, including the teams, resources, products, directions and even future strategies of both parties.
This is like if Alibaba acquires OFO, the former only needs to bring in the latter, and then give it a hosting platform and a user entrance. The overall situation will not be very troublesome. However, if Alibaba acquires JD.com, then the acquisition The final integration will be a huge project.
Makino Technology acquired Apple. It is not difficult for Li Mu to integrate the Mac business. Makino Technology does not have this business. After acquiring it, it can directly provide blood for it. However, the iPod business must be completely penetrated into the Mango business. This involves integrating all iPod resources into the Mango team, and at the same time taking the essence and discarding the dross. Only in this way can Mango develop better.
In addition, Apple has a lot of resource accumulation in the field of hardware and software. These accumulations need to be classified and then transferred to Makino Technology's different products and departments, and even to Makino Technology's industrial layout outside itself, such as Shenzhou, whether Shenzhou will integrate resources with Apple's Mac to a certain extent in the future, these are all issues that need to be considered in depth.
Tim Cook naturally knew the complicated work behind this, and immediately nodded and said to Li Mu: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, my team and I will do our best!"
Li Mu nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Lin Qingya: "Qingya, tomorrow we will hold a discussion meeting on whether Apple will privatize, and arrange for a lawyer to be present."
Louis Martin knew that Li Mu wanted to make an internal decision first, so he smiled and said: "Mr. Li, all shareholders of Makino Technology have signed a concerted action agreement with you a long time ago. You actually own 100% of the voting rights of Makino Technology. Now Makino Technology owns 80.11% of Apple's shares, and at the same time, you own 80.11% of Apple's voting rights. You can make your own decision to privatize Apple, and it is fully in compliance with legal requirements."
Li Mu suddenly realized that he was now the controlling shareholder, and his equity and voting rights exceeded 66.6%. He could make decisions on behalf of Apple.
So, Li Mu said to Louis Martin: "Louis, instruct my legal department to draft a resolution and then draft a privatization plan to Nasdaq. The sooner the better!"
(End of chapter)