The news that Makino Technology wants to control Paypal was released by Li Mu and Elon Musk in Yanjing together. Although the Chinese people don’t know much about Elon Musk, the media, especially the online media, still treat Elon Musk. As we are familiar with, one of the founders and CEO of Paypal came to China to visit Li Mu. This is a big news in itself, not to mention that it is also something that can enhance national self-esteem, so the Chinese media are all about it. Showed a lot of enthusiasm.
Elon Musk originally didn't want to express his intention to visit the dock so directly. Before he came, he just wanted to put on a show for eBay and pretended to talk to Makino Technology about Paypal. Unexpectedly, he was dragged away by Li Mu when he arrived. Got the car.
There is no way, Elon Musk really can't refuse the offer made by Li Mu. If he and other Paypal teams alone want to negotiate a mutual shareholding with eBay, the possibility is not very high, and they have to rope in a company like Makino Technology. Only large companies with strength and resources can get eBay on board.
Therefore, after Elon Musk accepted Li Mu's offer, he decided to fully cooperate with Li Mu and work together to bring eBay in. As long as eBay holds a controlling stake, everyone will benefit.
As soon as the news that Chinese companies were interested in controlling American companies came out, it set off a wave of public opinion in the country. Recently, Li Mu has almost become a headliner in domestic news. Every once in a while, he will do something that will impress the people of the country. Come out, this time it is even more so. Most Chinese people don’t know what Paypal is, let alone who Elon Musk is. But when they heard that it is an American company with a market value of more than one billion US dollars, they even made a special trip to come here. When Huaxia asked Li Mu to pay homage to the dock, everyone immediately began to take the initiative to learn about Paypal to see what kind of company it was that was eager to embrace Li Mu's thigh.
eBay is originally a multinational enterprise with very sensitive information acquisition channels. In addition, eBay itself has a branch in China, so it has a better understanding of China's industry trends. Meg Whitman is working overtime with the core team for meetings. At that time, the person in charge of eBay in China had already sent the email to Meg Whitman’s assistant.
Paypal is eBay's largest strategic layout at the moment, with a business of more than one billion US dollars, accounting for almost one-tenth of the entire eBay market value. If Paypal is acquired at a reasonable price, it will have many benefits for eBay.
The biggest business benefit is that we have our own payment channel, and this payment channel has a considerable foundation in developed countries around the world;
Needless to say, there are benefits at the capital level. eBay is a listed company with a current market value of 16 billion. Spending more than one billion dollars to buy Paypal can create big news in the stock market and capital market, and it will also be a big news for eBay. A big piece of good news is that the stock price will at least surge by then. As long as the market recognition is high, it is easy to increase the market value by 20%, and it is not impossible to increase by 30-50%. The final cost of the acquisition will basically be passed through The stock price growth made up for it.
The capital market is extremely sensitive, whether in the United States or in China. In the Chinese stock market, if a listed company seizes the opportunity to tell a story to the people of the country, it is very easy for a good news to change several daily limit boards. If Makino Technology is a company listed on the China Main Board. Just the news that Elon Musk is going to the dock can bring a round of daily limit for Makino Technology's stock without waiting for Makino Technology to actually invest in Paypal.
However, the sensitivity of the capital market is also a double-edged sword. Positive news will increase the stock price and market value, while negative news will cause the stock price and market value to decrease.
Because of this, Meg Whitman is absolutely unwilling to see eBay miss Paypal.
In her opinion, eBay must win over Paypal. If the Paypal team does not agree with the price of 1.5 billion US dollars, then the price will be increased. In short, Paypal must not be allowed to fall into the arms of a Chinese company.
The capital market is now aware of eBay's acquisition of Paypal, and also knows that it has reached the most critical stage of the acquisition. For all eBay shareholders and investors, everyone is almost waiting to open champagne to celebrate eBay's successful acquisition of Paypal. If in the end it is Once the capital market is disappointed, eBay's own stock price and market value will also be affected by this negative sentiment.
Out of this consideration, Meg Whitman said to the entire core team with a cold face: "Now is not the time to debate whether to acquire Paypal for 1.6 billion or 1.7 billion. The most important thing right now is to figure out what the Paypal team is like." Thought."
After that, Meg Whitman said to a white male in his forties: "Tom, you have been responsible for the acquisition of Paypal. The Paypal team has made such a big move. Do you have anything to explain?"
The white male named Tom was eBay's vice president in charge of acquisitions. Seeing Meg Whitman holding him accountable, he had no choice but to stand up and say: "In my opinion, the possibility of the Paypal team bluffing this time is very high." Big, after all, Makino Technology has only announced this plan, not that it has reached a real intention to cooperate.”
Meg Whitman said: “If it was just Elon Musk who went to China to meet Li Mu, I would be willing to believe that they were bluffing and wanted to raise the price. But now that he and Li Mu have taken the initiative to announce the news to the media, is it still a bluff? Li Mu has no relationship with Elon Musk, so what reason is there for Paypal to bluff?"
Tom said: "The key is that I really can't think of any reason for Makino Technology to acquire or control Paypal at this stage. Their capital is not strong and they are not listed. At this time, the funds should be used to promote core business." Common sense.”
Speaking of which, Tom added: "Before Elon Musk went to China, our negotiations were all following the established route. Although they were a little dissatisfied with our offer, the entire Internet industry can produce 15 We are the only ones who have acquired Paypal for US$100 million. According to our speculation, the Paypal team should sign a contract with us within a month. However, we did not expect that Paypal suddenly had a business connection with YY, and the two actually came into contact with each other. After some interactions, Elon Musk suddenly went to China. It all happened very suddenly and was beyond our expectation."
Meg Whitman looked at him, frowned and asked: "You said so much to tell me that you have no responsibility in this matter, right?"
Tom said hurriedly: "Since I am following up on this project, I will be responsible for any unplanned mistakes in the project. I will never deny this."
Seeing that Meg Whitman's expression softened a little, Tom continued: "I just want to say that we need to have a more in-depth analysis of the motives of Paypal and Makino Technology. If money is simply used to invest in shares or acquisitions, where is the Paypal team? I can't find an offer that can compare to eBay. If Makino Technology really wants to control Paypal, and Paypal is willing to give up the package sale plan and let Makino Technology take control, then they must have reached cooperation on other levels, but what exactly is it? The level and what kind of cooperation has been achieved are something we need to figure out as soon as possible."
Meg Whitman was awakened by Tom's words.
Ever since she received the news, she felt a little anxious. After the news suddenly came that Makino Technology and Elon Musk jointly announced their intention to control the company to the Chinese media, she was a little confused. She didn't think about the problem in this direction for a while. , Tom's proposal is very important. Now eBay must figure out why Paypal prefers to cooperate with Makino Technology? What did Makino Technology give them that eBay couldn't give or didn't put forward
So, Meg Whitman thought for a moment and made a decision: "Get in direct contact with the key people at Paypal as soon as possible. Since Elon Musk has gone to China, then you can contact Peter Thiel. At this time, we There’s no need to be reserved anymore, just go straight to the point and ask them what they want!”
In the conference room, another vice president suddenly said: "The Paypal team is talking to Makino Technology about holding a controlling stake. Is it because they don't want to completely get rid of Paypal and want to continue to participate in Paypal projects on the basis of cashing out?"
Meg Whitman asked him: "Are you saying that the Paypal team mainly wants to keep a stake for itself?"
"Yes." The vice president said: "What we asked for before was to fully acquire eBay. Although Paypal's team is also negotiating with us around the wholly-owned acquisition, for them, if they continue to be optimistic about Paypal, In the future, they definitely hope to continue to participate in Paypal to a certain extent and continue to enjoy the future of Paypal, which will be more imaginative than selling them all in a package."
Meg Whitman's brows immediately knitted together.
This theory is also very reasonable. The big capital behind Paypal must want to cash out and leave, so it doesn’t matter to them whether the proceeds from the cash out are from eBay or Makino Technology, as long as they can get satisfactory returns. Even if Ben Ledeng offers money, they, a group of profit-seeking capitalists, will not refuse.
But for the founders, including Elon Musk, they definitely have deeper feelings for Paypal, which they created with their own hands. If they still want to continue to hold some shares of Paypal and continue to build a longer-term future with Paypal, this This mentality is also understandable.
It is very likely that Elon Musk reached an agreement with Li Mu out of this mentality. Li Mu will pay to acquire the majority of eBay shares, and then the team will hold small shares. In this way, both parties can achieve their goals, but if In cooperation with eBay, the only option is to package and sell all the shares. From this point of view, Makino Technology will indeed be more attractive to Elon Musk than eBay.
Thinking of this, Meg Whitman immediately said to Tom: "Tom, go talk to Peter Thiel. It would be best if you can negotiate a 100% wholly-owned acquisition within $1.8 billion. If they want to continue to retain some Shares, then talk to them about controlling shares. No matter what, we must not miss Paypal. The worst result I can accept is that eBay controls Paypal! If you can't even achieve this goal, prepare to hand over the work!"
(End of chapter)