While Li Mu was sitting on the plane waiting to take off, Elon Musk was having a verbal spat with Bill Ford Jr.
Bill Ford Jr. is particularly conflicted now. He neither wants to agree to Li Mu’s $5 billion offer, nor does he want Elon Musk to leave.
Elon Musk finally got a little irritated by him and threw a sentence to Bill Ford Jr.: "If Mr. Ford refuses now, then I will return to Silicon Valley immediately. If you don't refuse now and don't agree, then I will Sit here and wait, when Mr. Ford decides to accept Mr. Li's offer, we will continue the discussion."
After saying that, he added: "It doesn't matter if the results don't come out today, I can continue to wait in the hotel."
Little Bill Ford felt a little unhappy. What he couldn't accept the most was Li Mu's performance, which was determined by his own performance. However, he really didn't have the courage to refuse his offer.
After struggling again and again, until Bill Ford Jr. was completely fed up, he stood up from his seat and blurted out: "Okay! Five billion dollars, I want to pay it all in one lump sum!"
Elon Musk nodded and said, "Then I'll ask the boss for advice and see what his attitude is."
Bill Ford Jr. said calmly: "Okay, I'll wait for your news."
After speaking, he took out a cigar, lit it, and took a slow puff.
Now, he felt indescribably relaxed.
There is a saying that goes well, if you can't resist, just enjoy it.
Now, a huge stone fell from his heart. Although it hurt a lot, in his opinion, it was worth it.
Li Mu's words inspired him a lot. He felt that Ford should think carefully about how to make the Ford brand bigger and stronger.
Why are Santana and Jetta without airbags the best-selling cars in China? Why no one buys Land Rover, Jaguar or Volvo in China? If you think about it carefully, the problem is that your positioning is not clear enough.
What if Ford also launches a real civilian car in China in the future? Is it possible to replace Santana's position in China
When Li Mu's five billion US dollars arrive, he will invest them all in Ford's own brand. As long as the Ford brand becomes bigger and stronger, the Ford family will last for a long time. From now on, there will be no more Like before, what is the so-called multi-brand strategy
Li Mu was waiting for takeoff when he suddenly received a call from Elon Musk. On the phone, Elon Musk's voice trembled and said: "Mr. Li, Ford has agreed, five billion dollars!"
Elon Musk was extremely excited at this time, but had to desperately restrain his emotions.
In Elon Musk’s opinion, buying these three brands for US$5 billion is really a huge profit.
And, most importantly, Tesla finally has a platform it can fully rely on.
Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo can use their platform and chassis technologies for their own use in the future, which will greatly facilitate Tesla's own research and development and mass production.
This also made Elon Musk admire Li Mu even more.
This boss is so amazing that even Ford was stabbed in the scalp by him. This aggregation operation is so outrageous.
Li Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief at this time.
He is not absolutely sure whether the five billion US dollars can be achieved. Now Bill Ford Jr. finally nods, which proves that his alarmism has a very good effect.
While excited, Li Mu said to Elon Musk: "You have to talk to Bill Ford Jr. about the remaining matters. I will complete the acquisition as soon as possible, and at the same time ask him to replace the heads of the three brands and four production lines as soon as possible." Gather them together and have a meeting with them first to stabilize the team."
"OK." Elon Musk said: "By the way, Mr. Li, Bill Ford Jr. has a request. The five billion US dollars must be paid in one lump sum."
Li Mu couldn't help but fall into thinking.
Five billion US dollars is not a small amount of money. Although Makino Technology has a lot of money on its books and its cash flow is very healthy, it is still very difficult to come up with five billion US dollars in one go.
During the Google IPO, I could reduce my holdings of some of the original shares as issued shares, but that would only be about 3%. Based on a market value of 50 billion, it would only be 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. If I proactively reduce my holdings of stocks after the listing, wouldn't that be a success? A fool? After all, Google's future prospects are limitless.
After much deliberation, Li Mu decided to first engage in a wave of equity pledges, pledge a part of Makino Technology's shares to the capital side, and then obtain a loan from the capital side.
The Goldberg family themselves are bankers and venture capitalists, so it would be better to get money from them directly, and the worst they can do is pay some interest.
Thinking of this, Li Mu said to Elon Musk: "Tell Bill Ford Jr. and tell him that it's okay to pay it all in one lump sum."
"Okay." Elon Musk said, "Then I'll tell him and I'll work with him on the implementation plan for the acquisition in the next two days."
"Yeah." Li Mu said, "I'll leave this matter to you. It's best to sign an agreement of intent with him now, and then I'll announce the news."
Li Mu clearly remembers how excited the Chinese people were when Geely announced its acquisition of Volvo.
That news was like a thunder explosion to the Chinese people, unprecedented and unprecedented.
All major media have also reported on this extremely proud acquisition. A Chinese company has acquired a well-known Swedish car brand. This is really big news that can greatly enhance national pride and belonging.
From that moment on, Volvo was equivalent to a free nationwide advertisement, making Volvo known to everyone in the country.
And when Volvo truly returned to Geely, the domestic people immediately responded with practical actions to support it, allowing Volvo's development to advance by leaps and bounds.
Li Mu also wants to seize such a good opportunity and announce the news that he will acquire these three brands. In this way, the popularity of these three brands in China will be greatly improved. Once he reorganizes these three brands in the future After it is introduced to the market, the Chinese people will definitely give great help and promotion.
…
After hanging up the phone, Li Mu immediately called Davidson Goldberg, the head of the Goldberg family.
As soon as the call was connected, Davidson said very enthusiastically: "Mr. Li, why did you remember to call me? Are you coming to the UK?"
"I can't go yet." Li Mu smiled slightly and got straight to the point: "Davidson, I called you to ask you for a loan."
Davidson said without hesitation: "Sir, tell me the number and I will prepare it for you."
For Davidson, Li Mu is his biggest financial backer. Li Mu agreed to let him be the lead underwriter of Makino Technology's IPO, which is a huge opportunity for him right now.
Therefore, if Li Mu needs his help with anything, he will try his best to help Li Mu solve it.
Li Mu said at this time: "I want five billion US dollars. The money will be repaid after the listing. I can pledge 6 points of Makino Technology's shares to you, but you have to give it to me at the lowest interest rate."
"Five billion?!" Davidson did not expect that Li Mu would ask for such a large amount of money. He subconsciously asked: "Mr. Li, have you already reached an acquisition intention with the Ford Group?"
Davidson had helped with the Ford line in the first place, so he knew Li Mu's willingness to acquire it. When he suddenly heard that Li Mu wanted to pledge a loan of US$5 billion, he immediately thought of it.
Li Mu did not hide anything from him, and said calmly: "Yes, I have already communicated with Ford. Makino Technology invested in the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover Volvo, and the three brands were packaged for US$5 billion."
"The price is really cheap!" Davidson sighed sincerely, and then added: "But the future of the automobile industry is not very good now. Although the price of five billion US dollars is cheap, it is probably not available to anyone among automobile manufacturers. If you are willing to spend so much money to acquire it at this time, in the final analysis, Mr. Li, you are more courageous!"
Devinson is not complimenting Li Mu. The automobile industry is currently in a sluggish state, and almost all automobile manufacturers maintain a very conservative attitude towards brand expansion. If you make a rash move at this time, you are likely to fall off a cliff and be doomed.
Although Ford made a bit of a loss on the 5 billion sales, given the current industry background, Devinson can understand it.
Li Mu smiled and said: "It's very difficult for me to come up with five billion US dollars in one breath, so I asked you for help. You have banks and funds, and you have many capital-level connections. You have the funds you can leverage." The amount is relatively large, five billion US dollars shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”
For the Goldberg family, most of their businesses are concentrated in the financial field.
Most of the financial field is a borrowed-and-egg approach. A family's assets may only be a few hundred million dollars, but the funds under its control may be more than a billion or more. These are all entrusted by investors from all walks of life to invest. Generally speaking, a fund is established, all the money is put into the fund, and the person in charge is responsible for the capital operation of the entire fund.
The Goldberg family's own assets are in the tens of billions of dollars, so the amount of funds they control is hundreds of billions of dollars. Some of this money is placed in banks for relatively safe commercial loan operations, and some is placed in funds for high-end investments. It is a high-risk and high-return investment, and it is very easy for Davinson to give 5 billion US dollars to Li Mu, with the equity pledge of Makino Technology and the interest income.
So, he smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, five billion US dollars is not a big problem for us. When will you need it?"
Li Mu said: "It's best to start the process now. After the process is completed, the money will be transferred to Makino Technology's account first."
"No problem." Dai Wensen said immediately: "I will communicate with the person in charge of the loan at HSBC now and ask him to go through the procedures, and then ask Mr. Li to sign the contract. After the contract is signed, the money will arrive soon."
"Then it's settled." Li Mu smiled slightly and said, "I'm waiting for your good news."
(End of chapter)