145: Chapter 145 The Great American Sweep (Free Purchase)

Van Dijk did not make a sound.

The valuation of a company depends on its business strength, but it also depends on the capital strength behind it—perhaps the latter is even more important.

Just like this time, where AfriLink's valuation was at most 2 billion USD, but was forced up to 10 billion by Huaxin.

And they had no choice but to grit their teeth and agree.

"Mr. Van Dijk, believe me, in three years AfriLink will be able to reach a valuation of 50 billion USD, and your 30% will be worth 15 billion," Huang Tianya continued. "And Tencent? How much will it be worth in three years?"

He smiled.

"Tencent will certainly rise as well. But Mr. Van Dijk, they are currently one of the top three internet companies in the world. Although they have many businesses, very few are truly original, and there is a huge bubble... Who knows, one day it might just..."

As he spoke, Huang Tianya made an explosion gesture beside his ear.

Although Tencent was not affected by the financial crisis, that was because it was in China. Once the crisis spreads there, will Tencent...?

Van Dijk fell silent again. He knew that in this negotiation, Naspers had effectively fallen into a disadvantageous position.

He had no way to fight back.

Huang Tianya added: "Moreover, as long as you have the strength, you can completely take on more shares; Huaxin will only retain 35%.

You can become the largest shareholder, decide the company's direction, and we can even support your decisions on the board of directors. Including financing..."

He walked to the window and checked the time again: "Isn't this what you have always wanted?"

Van Dijk was tempted.

The most successful part of Naspers' investment in Tencent was having the most shares—the absolute largest shareholder—but the problem was that they lacked control...

Later, when Tencent grew big, they could only watch; they couldn't get involved, and even when their shares were harvested, they could only agree while seething with anger.

Now, AfriLink had given them a chance to turn things around.

But 35% remained a hidden danger...

"What about the next round of financing?" Van Dijk asked.

"Transsion will not invest any more," Huang Tianya said, understanding his ambition. "You can continue to increase your holdings and achieve absolute control."

The temptation in Van Dijk's heart was magnified infinitely, but he remained puzzled by one question.

20% + 17%—Huaxin was the absolute major shareholder of Tencent and could even interfere with Tencent's decisions to a certain extent. Why would they...?

Compared to the price they paid, they could clearly just start over and kill Tencent directly.

[Shen Fei: Do you know how to write the word 'unity'?]

"Mr. Huang, why do you want Tencent's shares so much?"

Huang Tianya turned around and stared at him: "Mr. Van Dijk, don't overthink it. I can tell you very bluntly: because we are also bullish on Tencent, and it is a Chinese company with all its business in China."

"Mr. Van Dijk, you surely understand risk management, right?"

This time, Huang Tianya was not just trying to take the Tencent shares held by Naspers. If it were only for this matter, the location could have easily been set in China.

The main purpose this time was to acquire some (really just a few) other technical patents and companies.

For example, NVIDIA is currently valued at only 900 million USD, but this company is not for sale. The United States government would never agree to a sale, nor would it allow core engineers to work in China.

But now, as long as the interests are aligned, someone will help him get this done.

Just like now, several investment banks have already gone to talk to Old Huang about 'ideological work'...

[Leather Jacket Huang: I f*cking thank you.]

Looking at him, Van Dijk suddenly understood. Shen Fei wasn't unoptimistic about AfriLink; he was trading chips.

Trading the future of Africa for the future of China.

He wanted to bet on both sides, but Africa would always be overseas and not under China's administration. Unless he established his own military base, its future would be far less bright than China's.

Of course, Transsion had already laid the groundwork in this regard; multiple training bases had effectively become military bases?

"This exchange is beyond my authority; I need to consult the board of directors," Van Dijk said.

"I will wait for your news, but please be quick. After all, there are quite a few things we have our eyes on—not just Tencent's shares; others can also provide what we need. If it's too late, the price might not be the same, and there might not be as much available."

"I understand."

...

"Mr. Huang, this proposal... will he agree to it?"

Zhao Wei, who came along, was also a bit worried. After all, this proposal had increased by another 10% compared to before they arrived. It was really impossible for an average person to agree to such a rapid increase.

"Don't worry about it. If Van Dijk doesn't agree, then we'll go look for other good things. Tencent is not a mandatory option. The economic crisis hasn't eased yet, and quality assets are priceless. We can choose from any company in the United States right now; one Tencent doesn't matter.

At worst, we'll just let PopCap return to the country. Anyway, what we promised was only to authorize their overseas games, not..."

"Not making games anymore," he said softly at the end.

Hehe.

A mischievous smile appeared on everyone's faces...

"Have MIPS and Motorola loosened up yet?"

MIPS, the former semiconductor company, a non-sale item of the United States, had a self-developed CPU architecture and design team.

It is now in an absolute trough period, with the entire company valued at roughly 300 to 500 million USD. Its cash flow has broken, and it is seeking a sale or technology licensing.

What Huang Tianya had his eyes on was its CPU architecture and design team.

Loongson in China also wanted to buy the dip, but unfortunately, it involved cutting-edge technology... and was rejected by the United States.

This is the reason for lacking connections. Huang Tianya promised IDG 7% of AfriLink's shares (worth 700 million USD); how they acquired it and how much they spent on the acquisition was not his concern.

Huaxin only handled the handover...

As for Motorola Mobility, due to the economic crisis, its mobile business suffered huge losses and is currently also seeking a sale. But in the entire market, everyone is like a clay bodhisattva crossing the river—barely able to save themselves—so no one is interested at all.

Shen Fei had his eyes on their CDMA/3G patents + baseband team.

Of course, the Motorola brand and some production lines could also be taken.

After all, this was an admission ticket to global communication patents, which could enrich Transsion's patents.

Of course, he didn't want just any garbage; he only wanted quality assets. Those loss-making businesses had to be kicked out in advance.

As for others, there were companies like Nortel Networks and 3Com, which had been targeted by Huawei but were rejected for acquisition by the United States.

Spansion and Freescale—the United States had previously wanted to supplement mobile basebands, automotive chips, and radio frequency teams and patents.

There were about 30 companies, big and small...

In order to get these people to return to work locally, Shen Fei specifically found Zhang Shiqing to grab a piece of land.

That place was originally prepared for a certain state-owned enterprise to build a new office base, but now it belonged to Transsion.

The price was only 1 yuan.

Of course, this was not collusion between officials and businessmen; there were other additional agreements.

"Boss, don't worry. We've paid enough, and most of it is currently in action. Motorola is the fastest; it is currently handing over to our shell company, and some 'equipment' has already started shipping."

At this moment, at an airport in the United States, several planes were taking off, heading to Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Huang Tianya nodded with satisfaction. Under normal circumstances, talking about acquiring these companies, even if the money was available, would be absolutely impossible. It was only because of the economic crisis, which caused some people to lose too much, that there was an opportunity.

...

On the other side, the progress with Naspers was also very smooth. One day later, Van Dijk appeared at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel again.

This time, he brought the authorization from the board of directors.

"Deal..."