403: Chapter 403 T-play Launch Plan

"President Koh."

The voice on the other end sounded calm enough, but Lee Kun-hee had uncharacteristically addressed him as President Koh.

Koh Dong-jin panicked immediately; he really didn't want to end up like the other department heads...

"The results of the Under-display Fingerprint lawsuit are out, right?"

"They... they are out?"

As Koh Dong-jin spoke, his voice involuntarily began to tremble.

"Hmm, what are the results? Did they meet your expectations?"

Silence! Dead silence!

"Everything was dismissed, and on the United States side... we were also fined 5 million USD."

This time, it was the other end of the line that fell silent; Koh Dong-jin could hear his own heartbeat.

"How much more advanced is Transsion's fingerprint technology than ours?"

"At least two years, maybe longer."

"Two years! You idiot, you know it's two years."

"Do you know how many things can be developed in that amount of time? Screens are the lifeblood of Samsung, and chips are the future."

"But fingerprints, batteries... these small products are also important cornerstones. Now that we can't beat them in any aspect, tell me, what future does Samsung have?"

Koh Dong-jin didn't dare to answer; after all, one wrong word and he might really have to be reborn, but he didn't have any resurrection scrolls.

Once it's gone, it's truly gone.

"Tell the R&D department to accelerate the development progress of the Under-display Fingerprint."

Lee Kun-hee's voice was full of threats, but this also allowed Koh Dong-jin to breathe a sigh of relief; after all, he only mentioned the R&D department and didn't say how he would deal with him!

"A relevant solution must be developed before the end of next year!"

"If they can't do it, they can pack their bags and leave."

Koh Dong-jin wasn't afraid at all; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the boss still hadn't mentioned him, so he should be able to keep his life, right?

But just as he was preparing to reprimand his employees, Lee Kun-hee's voice sounded again:

"As for you, go to Africa!"

"They are still missing an Africa regional manager. Within two years, increase the market share by 10 percentage points, otherwise, don't bother coming back."

"Yes!"

The Africa market was Transsion's private territory; whether it was Smartphones or feature phones, it was all their market...

Now, being asked to develop the Africa market was no different from being exiled, but he couldn't refuse; after all, once he refused...

He might end up drifting from one place to another.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Huang Tianya had already been in Lagos for two full weeks.

It wasn't because he didn't want to go back, but because the work on his hands was simply endless.

T-play, the Africa payment software incubated in the early years, had entered the final sprint stage before its IPO.

Lawyers, investment bankers, and accounting firm personnel were taking turns, and there were meetings from morning till night every day.

The good news was that the valuation had been negotiated from the initial 9 billion USD to 11 billion USD.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Stanley were fighting over the underwriter share during the negotiations.

In the end, the two firms agreed to joint underwriting, each taking half.

It was just 11 billion; the valuation looked high, but strictly speaking, it was still a bit low.

But Huang Tianya still chose to accept it; the main reason was that the internet bubble in the Africa market had burst a little over the past two years, and valuations were dropping significantly.

For example, AfriLink, which went public the earliest, reached 15 billion USD less than a month after its listing, but it had slipped to 12 billion USD this year.

However, as the mastermind behind the scenes, Huang Tianya had already cleared their shares down to only 5%.

But T-play was different; this was the company with the most shares left from the batch of enterprises incubated by Huaxin Investment back then, with 27% still remaining to this day.

This was not a coincidence; it was something Shen Fei had arranged long ago.

Payment software was more valuable than communication or e-commerce platforms.

Because payment was infrastructure, the entry point, and the foundation of all internet businesses.

Controlling payments meant controlling the flow of funds and controlling the economic lifeline.

And what Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Stanley were fighting for wasn't just pure consumption, but a springboard.

They could control 300 million T-play users.

"Mr. Huang, the people from Goldman Sachs are here."

The assistant knocked on the door and then walked in.

Huang Tianya put down the coffee cup in his hand and straightened his tie slightly; the next part would be another fierce battle, so he still needed to look the part.

Entering the conference room, the conference table was already covered with a pile of thick documents, all of which were materials regarding the IPO.

The person sent by Goldman Sachs this time was a white manager in his 40s named James Carter, who actually had a condescending air about him.

In front of Huang Tianya, he didn't show any arrogance; after all, he had already lost to Huang Tianya many times... the two could be considered master and apprentice.

But the tuition fee charged by this teacher, Huang Tianya, was a bit expensive...

The person sent by JPMorgan Stanley was a Chinese man named Wang Jianping, who spoke very quickly, as if his mouth was rented.

"Mr. Huang, we have already agreed on the valuation, 11 billion USD. The issue price is set at 15 USD per share."

This time, he opened the file and tapped lightly on the number, but quickly moved his fingertip to another number that hadn't been agreed upon.

The total share capital was approximately 733 million shares, and this IPO would issue 10% of the shares, which was 73.33 million shares.

Both Goldman Sachs and other institutions hoped that Huaxin would contribute half.

Adding in the share dividends reserved for employees, the goal was to push Huaxin's shares down to below 20%.

However, he didn't want to respond, so he started tactically reading the documents again.

Although he already remembered the numbers above very clearly, he still pretended to be serious.

After all, during negotiations, you can't let the other party know that you have already made a decision, letting them think that you might still say no at any time.

Although the other party knew that he wouldn't agree, they were still trying hard to persuade him.

"When AfriLink went public, it rose to 15 billion in the first month, but now, despite a significant increase in business volume, the valuation has fallen back to 12 billion."

Huang Tianya found an excuse, pushed the document back, and then his gaze kept shifting between the two of them.

"How do you view the long-term valuation of T-play? Will it follow the old path of its predecessors?"

Wang Jianping sighed silently; he understood that today's negotiation would probably end up fruitless again, but he could only smile and say.

"Mr. Huang, you are also a veteran investor; there is no need for us to play these roundabout topics."

"Valuation correction is a normal market behavior. It was hyped too high in the early stages of the listing, and many retail investors rushed in to chase the rise, so our profits naturally came down."

"But T-play's valuation is more conservative. The 11 billion valuation is far less than its true value, but for an IPO, you must let others get a piece of the pie to reap the harvest better."

"We expect it to stabilize above 20 billion USD after the listing; by then, Mr. Huang, you can better cash out..."

After finishing, a smile appeared on his face, the look of everyone harvesting leeks together.