Chapter 235: Shame of the Industry

Wufeng Agriculture is now a huge bad debt. On the surface, it has accounts showing that it owes banks and financial institutions 9.5 million yuan in loans, and it also has overdue payments to partners that are difficult to audit. It is even rumored that it has borrowed from private loan sharks, estimated to be around 10 billion yuan.

Both the local officials who took the initiative to help and the investors and shareholders were confused. Compared with pushing Wufeng Agriculture to be acquired by Yunshan Group, they were willing to support the founder Zhu Jinfeng and his wife to cheat again, speed up the financing process and promote the listing.

Local officials do not have to bear policy risks, and investors do not need to admit losses and leave, and everyone is happy, provided that there are willing to take over.

So this is the essence of the deadlock. They hope that Yunshan Group will be the victim, convert the loans into bond financing, and further contribute money and effort to promote the listing process.

"Zhu Jinfeng assured local officials and all investors that Wufeng Agriculture is doing well and she has a way to attract investment and go public, so she doesn't need Yunshan's help."

After several hours of meetings to sort out the real situation, the head of Juntai's M&A team summarized: "It was just that the policy-based grain purchase price increase caused a chain reaction of banks refusing to renew loans, which led to the company's cash flow being unable to turn around in the short term."

"If Yunshan Group extends the repayment period or converts the loan into bonds to give them a break, everything will be fine. She has basically won over all the stakeholders with this argument in recent days."

Xie Jingxing crossed his hands and supported his nose to grasp the key point: "No, no matter how many interested parties she persuaded, this is their goal. Our goal is to acquire them. If they don't pay back the money, we will sue them and apply for a financial audit to freeze the company's accounts."

"The intersection is here. We need to do a financial audit. They don't want our team to come in, but they want us to accept the negotiation terms."

The head of Juntai's M&A team used a marker to draw two long black lines on the whiteboard, one for acquisition and the other for debt financing, and the two intersected in financial auditing.

If his team took advantage of the debt repayment to get into Wufeng Agriculture's financial audit, and counted the debts that might be as high as 20 billion yuan in total, revealing the fact that the company was insolvent, then Yunshan Group would have to buy it out at a low price, divest its non-performing assets and eat up the remaining high-quality assets.

But if you don't cooperate with the financial audit, converting loans into bonds will be a joke. No one in the world would do business this way.

It's like a manure pit covered with wooden boards. Everyone knows that there is feces in the pit, but as long as the pit is not uncovered, the fermented biogas is also considered a high-quality asset, although no one knows exactly how much the biogas weighs.

"Isn't it your fault that we can't conduct an on-site audit? I thought you should have designed a relevant contingency plan in the complete acquisition plan you formulated. Don't tell me this is an unforeseen change." Xie Jingxing frowned.

The head of Juntai's M&A team had a throbbing throat and was aggrieved. He hesitated to speak several times. "It is said that Wufeng Agriculture owed a village of dozens of farmers millions of dollars in goods, and Wufeng Agriculture encouraged them to come out and fight."

"The local government is quite protective, and there will be a big event in Beijing in October this year," Yunshan's M&A manager added softly.

Song Anli found it hard to understand: "This is illogical. If the local officials want to protect it, why not just contact the bank to lend money directly? Why make things difficult for us?"

"It is already late July, and the autumn harvest is just around the corner. The group's grain warehouses and fleets will start work soon. However, the policy-based grain purchase price has increased, and our market competition costs have increased..." Yunshan's M&A department manager had not finished speaking.

Well, here's what happened.

Yunshan Group is not without official public relations resources, but it faces the same dilemma as Uber and Didi.

A large family and a large business cannot fully exert their energy on a single project. With the increase in the cost of competition in the grain purchasing market, the local relevant departments only need to make a small obstacle. It is difficult to calculate the cost paid by the entire Liaoning Province grain purchasing market this year and whether it will lose or gain from the forced acquisition of Wufeng Agriculture.

The same is true for local officials. Compared with forcing banks to lend, it is more cost-effective to deal with Yunshan Group.

In late July, as the stock market continued to rise and the return on private risk-free investments decreased, small and medium-sized local banks had a hard time and it was difficult for them to pay out large sums of money.

"What is their bottom line for the negotiation?" Xie Jingxing asked reluctantly.

The head of Juntai's M&A team erased the whiteboard and continued writing: "Extend our 1.5 million yuan loan, continue to cooperate in projects in Baicheng and Jiansanjiang in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, and pledge the relevant assets and rights to us."

35%. Xie Jingxing looked at the exaggerated annualized interest rate calculated by various calculation formulas and couldn't help but twitch his mouth: "This guy is definitely a liar!"

"Most stakeholders have a tacit understanding that as long as the company goes public and passes the bad debts to shareholders, there will be no problem. Otherwise, Zhu Jinfeng would not have emphasized again and again that she can speed up the listing." The Yunshan department manager said bluntly.

Xie Jingxing shrugged: "The question is whether she really has the ability to promote the listing or is just pretending. We must figure this out."

Yunshan spent a lot of effort to trick Wufeng out of Liaoning Province and build factories and farm in his own hometown. This was precisely for their somewhat promising circular economy model and some core assets. Once they were listed, it would be useless to snatch them away.

After talking for a long time, they got back to the beginning. Old Xie couldn't figure out Zhu Jinfeng's background, so Young Xie went to fight on behalf of his father.

"What is your conclusion?"

He looked at the head of Juntai's M&A team again, who lowered his head awkwardly. Sitting in the Wufeng Agriculture shareholders' meeting were China Everbright Holdings and Professor Li Yining's son's Songhe Capital. It was difficult to judge whether Zhu Jinfeng could trick them into going public.

Juntai used its own resources to investigate within the circle. It was impossible for the relevant stakeholders to say bad things before the ship sank and people died.

Song Anli curled her lips slightly when she saw this. Last year, Juntai colluded with Xie Jingxing to exchange WhatsApp for the Yunshan Group's spin-off and listing project. Later, Su He and Tang Man jumped to Xiyou Taihe, and the two sides naturally became closer.

The Yinshanbudu milk tea project, the acquisition of Wufeng Agriculture, and various projects were given to Juntai.

However, Juntai seems to have reached its peak since its listing, and its performance this year has been gradually overtaken by latecomers. The saying "Three Zhongs and One Hua" has unknowingly spread in the securities industry.

Xie's capital will have to diversify its bets in the future and not rely on just one tree.

She quietly lowered her assessment of Juntai Securities' strength by one level in her notebook. They couldn't even handle such a small matter. In addition, she investigated the telemarketing company that was doing the account opening business for umbrella trust brokers a few days ago. It would be fine to lower it by half a level to cooperate with such an unclear company...

Song Anli thought to herself, and Xie Jingxing had the same thought, but it was not easy to point it out directly.

After all, it was he who endorsed the Yunshan spin-off and listing project, and it hasn’t caused any big trouble so far. At most, he’s just incompetent.

"Let Tang Man and Su He lead their teams to investigate and discuss investment." Xie Jingxing made the decision, opened his laptop and picked up the phone.

The person in charge of Juntai's mergers and acquisitions was immediately anxious. Seeing that the project was about to be sold, he hurriedly spoke up to try to save it.

Song Anli patted him on the shoulder and gestured for him to go out and talk, as Mr. Xie was on the phone and it was not convenient for him to sit in on the conversation.

"Hello, Mr. Cao, I'm Xie Jingxing... Yes, I'll be back in Shanghai in two days, let's get together when we have time..."

"Mr. Zhang, it's me, Xiao Xie. I have a project for you to take a look at..."

"...I don't know how this project is going. We are discussing it now. Why don't you bring your team to see it yourself? I may not show up. I'll consider it if you come." Song Anli finished calling Tang Man and Su He, and took care of the person in charge of Juntai's mergers and acquisitions. When she returned to the meeting room, the manager of Yunshan's mergers and acquisitions department looked at her blankly and asked, "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" she asked with a playful smile on her face.

"He... Mr. Xie called each of the venture capital institutions according to this year's ranking list and invited them to come and research Wufeng Agriculture."

"Since we can't be sure whether Wufeng Agriculture can go public, let's give her a positive answer."

Song Anli explained lightly, then raised her eyebrows and added: "Please cooperate with Juntai's team to advance the project, and don't let anything unexpected happen."

"Sorry for the trouble. Thank you very much for your help." Yunshan's M&A manager still didn't understand the idea and kept thanking him.

Song Anli said in a friendly manner: "You're welcome. We are a family and we don't have to talk about different things. Let's add each other's contact information and keep in touch. Although Taihe Xiyou is a financial institution, the capital operation of Yunshan Group is still mainly based on your M&A department. President Xie values ​​you very much."

Forming cliques and factions to fight for the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, Yunshan's mergers and acquisitions department manager's eyes lit up, he understood office politics in seconds!
Lehehe and Song Anli added each other's contact information and made an appointment to call other colleagues to have a midnight snack together later.

Xie Jingxing watched with a cold eye, feeling quite relieved. He pretended not to see anything and continued to call his friends in the same industry.

…………

On July 7, Tang Man, a junior partner of Grapefruit Capital, which has a brilliant record of investing in Didi and Ele.me and is as famous as Xu Xin, personally led a team to Wufeng Agriculture Headquarters in Liaoning Province to conduct preliminary due diligence and negotiate investment.

They were warmly welcomed. Zhu Jinfeng, the founder and chairman of Wufeng Agriculture, personally came out to receive them. The dinner was extremely grand and the main dish was braised venison.

On July 7, the two parties could not reach an agreement on the pre-investment due diligence agreement, and Mr. Tang left with regret, carrying two boxes of premium venison.

On the same day, Sequoia Capital partner Cao Xi arrived to take over. Wufeng Agriculture quickly tore down the large banner "Welcome Mr. Tang, partner of Grapefruit Capital" hanging at the company headquarters and replaced it with a new version. The main dish of the dinner was stir-fried deer tendons.

On July 7, local small and medium-sized banks in Liaoning Province restarted the assessment of Wufeng agricultural loans.

Unfortunately, that evening, Mr. Cao, a partner of Sequoia Capital, had to leave due to an emergency and took away two taels of deer antlers.

Two junior VPs were left behind to discuss the pre-investment due diligence agreement, but before the deal was finalized, Hillhouse Capital came to visit the next morning.

Zhu Jinfeng took the opportunity to announce her intention to raise funds in the E round to the entire capital market. At one time, countless big-name venture capital institutions, including Pushi Capital, Innovation Works, and DIG, flocked to the fund.

In just ten days, Wufeng Agriculture, which had been silent for a long time with high debts, suddenly revived and returned to the hot state four years ago when it was snapped up by the capital market.

"President Chen, I have to drink less wine at this meal. I have no choice. I have a party tonight and Su He, a partner of Taihe Capital, is coming. Mr. Su doesn't get along with Mr. Tang of Xiyou and he is also a troublemaker. He needs to be taken care of."

The man, who weighed over 200 kilograms and was so fat that he had no neck, put his hands on the back of the seat and boasted like a big shot: "I know a little bit about the venture capital circle. Taihe Capital belongs to the child of the Xie family. His father wanted to seize my property by force but failed, so he asked his son to play tricks on me in a roundabout way."

"I definitely can't take Taihe's investment, and the same goes for Xiyou. There's no point in acting in front of me."

He sneered and said, "But after all, I owe Yunshan some money and we have a partnership, so we can't make things too awkward. I'll just treat it as a joke."

"Old Five, how have you discussed this with your wife? You should at least sign a financial due diligence agreement with the venture capital firm first, otherwise it will be difficult for me to approve the money for you."

President Chen of the Liaoning Branch of Minsheng Bank stared at the steamed deer tail in the middle of the dining table with an embarrassed look on his face.

The fat boss was a little impatient: "President Chen, I came to you just to make the financial accounts look good before signing the financial due diligence agreement with the venture capital, otherwise those who play with capital will want to suppress our valuation. Brother, I won't lie to you, lend me another 50 million, and when I get the venture capital funds, I will pay back the previous 200 million in one lump sum."

President Chen took a sip of wine and said sincerely, "Old Five, I advise you to talk to your wife and win over the two venture capital institutions first. It's not good to drag it out like this."

"President Chen, you still don't understand. In my family, my wife always listens to me. I don't care how powerful the Xie family is, it's impossible for them to steal my property. Since you've said that, I won't waste time. You eat first, and I'll go next door to say hello to President Wang of Jinzhou Bank."

The fat man walked away with steady steps until the door of the box was closed. President Chen drank the wine in his glass, turned around and whispered to the female manager beside him: "Hurry up and call the city leaders. Wufeng is going to be screwed. We have to withdraw the money!"

The female manager blinked in confusion. President Chen was too lazy to explain. He swallowed the bitterness in his mouth and walked away.

Zhu Jinfeng seems to control the majority of Wufeng Agriculture's shares and has various titles such as female entrepreneur and March 8th Red Flag Bearer, but in fact, she listens to her husband Ma Laowu in making all decisions.

However, judging from Ma Laowu's performance just now, the couple still hasn't figured out what Mr. Xie, who is famous in the financial circle, wants to do. It's true that if you want to destroy him, you must first let him run rampant.

They are actually still dreaming of being snapped up by venture capital institutions and taking control of banks and investors.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen top venture capital firms came and went like an assembly line, not a single one stayed. Is there anything good left for this company being surveyed?

Not to mention who in the venture capital circle would dare to invest, even he, an insider who knew that Yunshan wanted to acquire Wufeng and was deliberately setting up a trap, felt weak in the knees. How much money did the bastard Ma Laowu and his wife owe?

Anyway, I owe them 2 million yuan in the bank, which is more than any other bank creditor!
President Chen hurried to the city to seek help from his connections and applied for an investigation into the malicious transfer of assets by Ma Laowu and his wife.

As expected, Taihe Capital partner Su He arrived at Wufeng Agriculture on August 8 to meet with the founder, fled overnight that night, and posted a message on WeChat Moments in the early morning - investment will not go beyond Shanhaiguan.

During this period, fellow venture capital firms that have visited Wufeng Agriculture for research gave silent thumbs up. Mr. Tang of Grapefruit Capital commented under his post: [The personal ethics of entrepreneurs cannot be quantified, so there is no need to use a map gun.]

[Then you vote? ] Mr. Su from Taihe only replied with three words.

The drama of quarreling has spread in the venture capital circle. Su He, who did not lose in a head-on quarrel with Wang Xing of Meituan and defeated Zhang Xuhao of Ele.me, has long been a well-known iron-blooded female warrior in the venture capital circle.

This sentence that goes deep into the soul is engraved in the hearts of every venture capital institution. Who dares to invest in a project that more than a dozen leading institutions have fled overnight? If they invest successfully, they are just a blind cat catching a dead mouse. If they invest badly, they are top-notch idiots, the shame of the industry, and abstract clowns that cannot be described in words.

We are all poor people trying to earn money to support our families, so why would we risk our careers like Xie Jingxing did, risking our lives to become famous in one battle?

In ten days, Wufeng Agriculture went from returning to the peak to falling into the abyss, and the possibility of listing disappeared.

(End of this chapter)