Chapter 361: Wave of Mergers and Acquisitions
Everything has its limits, and the king will not stop there.

——Xie Jingxing leaned his arm on the desk with a suspicious expression. Was he saying that Ali was unpopular, or was he being sarcastic to me?

Matrix China is a leading player in the venture capital circle, having invested in companies ranging from Eleme to Didi and Kuaidi. What's wrong with Zhang Ying for no apparent reason?

Xie Jingxing curled his lips and refreshed his Moments again. Another comment appeared. It was from Shen Boyang, President of LinkedIn China: Starting a business is difficult. Let’s dream together for a more fair and just business environment.

Wang Xing is usually quite talkative on WeChat Moments, often sharing articles from public accounts to share his business insights, or passionately giving advice to others on the business front.

But this is the first time that Alibaba has started a group discussion in such a violent way. As he and Pony Ma made comments one after another, people both familiar and unfamiliar came out to like and say a few words. It was as lively as a team-building criticism meeting.

The founder said that Alibaba agreed to lead the investment in his Series B round of financing, but changed its mind and tried to lower the price after signing the investment agreement. It delayed paying the money for half a year and almost killed him.

The business media person cursed a P10 in Alibaba's e-commerce business line with a lot of swear words, saying that he didn't understand his job and could only hold a PPT and show off some golden quotes.

Wang Xing's post on WeChat Moments probably meant that he could no longer bear the pressure and surrendered. Now that the dust had settled, Xie Jingxing was in a relaxed mood as he waited for the surrender letter.

I was enjoying eating melon when there was a knock on the door outside the office. Without even raising my head, someone called out, "Come in."

"Master, I have finished getting my work badge."

Zhang Zetian stood in front of her desk, dressed in a formal business suit, with her long hair tied into a bun. She looked capable yet youthful, as if she had never experienced the tough times of the workplace.

Xie Jingxing looked at her briefly and nodded indifferently, then continued playing with his phone. She waited quietly without being impatient.

It is true that they just got their marriage certificate the day before yesterday. It is also true that Brother Qiangdong announced before getting the certificate that Ling would receive an annual salary of 1 yuan for the next ten years. He gave exactly the amount of property he was supposed to give, but he would never give more than that.

So after getting the certificate, Zhang Zetian went to Xiyou for a serious internship. She didn't take the master-apprentice relationship as a formality at all, and called "Master" sincerely every time.

She knew very well that the Tianan Investment Company under preparation was her real starting point. If she did well, Brother Qiangdong would support her. If she did not do well, she could go home and work as a canary steadily. If her master was happy, she would give her some pocket money.

"You have two things to do next. First, understand the basic operating logic of the venture capital industry. Second, make yourself familiar with the venture capital circle in Shanghai."

Wang Xing's WeChat Moments comments temporarily subsided. Xie Jingxing put down his phone and emphasized: "Don't think that it's enough to just know a handful of people at the top of the industry. Business frontline mid-level managers like He Chuan are crucial."

"They handle the most projects, and many mid- to early-stage projects have a limited share of financing. If you invest with them or not, it doesn't matter much. It's definitely easier to get in if you have a good relationship with them."

He tried his best to break down the truth and almost feed it to him with his own hands. This disciple was a talented student who entered Tsinghua University as an exchange student and went to Barnard College. He just graduated from college this year at the age of 23.

He looks smart and has a good resume, but in fact he is not even as good as a normal intern.

Zhang Zetian nodded her head earnestly as she listened with some difficulty. Xie Jingxing optimized her planned investment strategy, making it even more extreme - only investing in early-stage projects.

The entire investment company is positioned as a "professional follow-up investment", which breaks up risks and returns, follows the top peers to get a share of the profits, and pursues smooth investment decisions.

“With the same 200 million yuan of funds, if you lead a project with 50 million yuan, you can only invest in four projects, but if you follow up with a project with 10 million yuan, you can invest in 20 projects.”

Xie Jingxing patiently educated him, "But next year, a large amount of US dollar capital will withdraw from China and will not come back. In the future, state-owned capital guidance funds will dominate the market. They prefer conservative investment and like to follow the investment, so the competition between follow-investment funds will be fierce."

"On the one hand, we stick together to build relationships, and on the other hand, we need to cooperate with the lead investment fund. To sum it up in a cliché, it's 'sensible'. Do you understand?" he asked lightly.

Zhang Zetian seemed to be thinking: "We form a small circle among our peers, and listen to the lead investor when it comes to the invested companies."

"It's more or less like this. Xiyou and Taihe are both high-quality lead investors. If circumstances allow, we would prefer to invest independently. But in many cases, we have to give up some shares and introduce some follow-up investment institutions with resources in specific industry fields to follow up."

Xie Jingxing shrugged his shoulders with extreme confidence: "So at this time, we have to consider comprehensively when deciding who to let in."

“For example, if a certain follow-up investment institution has been working with Sequoia Capital for many years, and Sequoia has invested in the company of our project, even if it provides the most resources, I cannot let it in.”

Alibaba and Boyu Capital are still jumping up and down in Meituan's board of directors, which is the best example of "coming and going together as a pair". There are countless such small circles in the venture capital industry.

Unfortunately, Xie Jingxing has been able to invest in good projects in the past two years but has also offended people. He is too strong. The fact that investment institutions are scrambling to cling to him does not mean they are willing to play with him.

Zhu Xiaohu from Jinshajiang is the most typical example. He may flatter others, but when it is time to cry out, he will never hesitate and will always be stubborn and stubborn. He is not sensible at all.

"Master, I understand. Next I will make more friends."

After recognizing which of her peers were friends of Taihe Xiyou, Zhang Zetian silently corrected herself in her heart, and from then on she was labeled as Xie Jingxing.

The good thing is that Jingxing Investment Group has formed its own faction. No matter what project the big brother invests in, the younger brothers follow side by side. They can be full just by drinking the soup.

The downside is that many good projects will naturally be rejected by other factions and cannot be invested in, and taking sides is everywhere.

"You go and do your work first, ask Tang Man to come over... Also, don't call me master once you leave this room, work is work." Xie Jingxing reminded seriously.

Zhang Zetian pursed her lips: "Okay, Mr. Xie."

"Come on, new recruit."

Xie Jingxing smiled, and the foundation of Jiaotong University Entrepreneur Training Camp-Follow-up Investment Fund was gradually built.

It takes a bit of patience. When Xiaotian is on the Tsinghua Alumni Wealth List ten years later, it is impossible to predict what position his investment group will occupy in the industry ecosystem due to limited imagination.

At least from today, those fly-like investors can stand aside, and the so-called Xie capital has truly begun to take shape.

Of course, the master will not favor any one of his disciples. Zhang Zetian is not a special member of Xie's capital. The master leads the way, but it is up to the individual to practice.

The only thing Xie Jingxing could do was to feed her a few more mouthfuls while there was more porridge than monks.

Recently, the stock market has entered a slow decline channel step by step. The market differentiation is obvious. High-quality stocks have rebounded in large numbers, while small and medium-sized junk stocks have been pressed at the limit down and cannot move.

And I don't know which genius spread the rumor that the stock market will introduce a circuit breaker mechanism for falling prices, making power outages a normal practice...

The market decline was further aggravated. The securities investments worth 2400 billion yuan held by Xiyou suffered an overall loss, and these assets had to be replaced with part of the cash flow as soon as possible.

As for the equity pledge loan, since the holdings themselves come with a 1:2 leverage allocation from the central bank, after some customary "sick operations", it should be possible to borrow a total of 200-300 billion in cash flow from CCB and ICBC.

The money will arrive within about two months. It will be used to prepare for the funding gap that may arise from the acquisition of Meituan by New Da'e and to transfer it to Taihe Capital.

Apart from Mobike and Pinduoduo, there are no other particularly eye-catching unicorns in the market this year. However, boutique startups in niche sectors such as Keep and Dewu are being brewed in large quantities this year.

Su He, Shen Xin and others have been flying all over the country. So far, they have made 41 investments and 60 projects have been invested in throughout the year, which is very safe. If Zhang Zetian has the ability, she can follow behind and eat more. If she doesn't have the ability, she can eat less. Since the goal is clear and she doesn't want to be a canary, she must always strive for self-improvement.

"Please take the trouble to communicate more with CCB. Big projects like the merger of New Dang E and Meituan have to be handled by Xiyou. There are many arrangements in the second half of the year and you will definitely have to play a solo role."

Xie Jingxing was familiar with painting a big cake and personally sent Tang Man out of the office. At a time when the market was short of money, big projects could be had with money in hand.

【From the perspective of WeChat Pay, Mobike is more than twice as high. In addition, the future value and potential of smartphones and non-smartphones are still very different.】

After closing the door and returning to his desk, Xie Jingxing picked up his phone and it confirmed that what he had painted was true. The big project had come.

Zhu Xiaohu may have been inspired by Wang Xing's criticism of Alibaba on WeChat Moments. After commenting below, he posted his own message on WeChat Moments to show off.

He also started by forwarding an article from a public account titled "ofo breaks out of the campus, with active users and user growth rate far surpassing Mobike and firmly ranking first." He added that the feeling was basically the same as counting offline on the streets.

Translation: Ofo beats Mobike so badly that there is no need for professional data statistics, the latter is obviously losing with the naked eye.

So Pony Ma appeared in the comment section again, hit back with WeChat payment data, and mentioned the issue they argued about at the dinner party at the Internet Conference last year.

He said that ofo's one-way smart lock has low technology and is just a PHS, but Zhu Xiaohu retorted that cost-effectiveness is the king.

Xiao Ma Ge directly criticized that there was no need to lie with open eyes just because of investment. Zhu Xiaohu immediately walked away with a death smile on his face. The agreed data spoke for itself. See you in a year.

[The data is available now, no need to wait 3 months or 1 year. ]

The two exchanged more than ten comments, and a Tencent strategic investment manager jumped out to help his boss, which was very social.

Zhang Ying from Matrix Partners: [WeChat data is only one aspect, you can go to the actual streets to see]

The comments refreshed, and Xie Jingxing raised his eyebrows. It turned out that he was being sarcastic.

Zhu Xiaohu commented on Wang Xing's words in WeChat Moments: "Life is like a chess move, never regret it." It is said that Alibaba signed an investment legal contract with Lashou.com, the leader in the group buying market.

As a result, the Lashou founder's sentimentality took over and he was determined not to launch the Juhuasuan business on Taobao. Alibaba's switch to Meituan became the strategic winner, and the battle between thousands of groups thus decided the final winner.

Now Zhu Xiaohu invested in ofo's angel round by circling Taihe Xiyou, and teamed up with Matrix China to jointly invest in Didi and other projects. Naturally, he was also bullied by Xie Jingxing and happily invested in ofo with his good friend.

There is no need to say more about Ali.

So Zhu Xiaohu's comment on Wang Xing after Pony Ma was actually a hint to Pony Ma that the bike-sharing war was similar to the group-buying war.

The old partners of Xie faction + Tencent + Didi + Sequoia gathered at Mobike, while Jinshajiang + Matrix China + Alibaba formed ofo small yellow bike. Everyone's grudges and grievances and their camps are predetermined by heaven, and it is still unknown who will oppose whom.

After sorting out their thoughts, it is not surprising that the two of them posted an argument on their Moments, and it is natural for Zhang Ying to jump out.

Xie Jingxing immediately typed a comment to reply to Zhang Ying of Jingwei China: [I have seen it. The ofo return point is not on the street but in a river. The deposit cannot be refunded.]

[I agree. Who can't build a bunch of dumb terminals? ] Xiao Ma Ge replied immediately.

Zhang Ying from Matrix Partners China responded to Xie Jingxing: [It can be understood as smearing. Investors always like to aggressively stand up for the companies they invest in. It really hurts their reputation! ]

[ofo is doing a great thing. We believe in the moral character of users and can completely cancel the deposit in the future. 'Credit' is the axiom of the sharing economy. The 300 yuan deposit from a friendly company is a week's living expenses for college students. ] Dai Wei, the founder of ofo, responded to Xie Jingxing.

Taihe Capital's Su He responded to Matrix China's Zhang Ying: [Just talking about the matter at hand, you are allergic to it. ]

Xie Jingxing did not reply, but took a screenshot of the comment area and posted it on his Moments: [The so-called great thing is nothing more than pulling a group of poor small investors to wave the flag and shout, rushing into the battlefield of mobile payment ports without thinking. So everyone is saying that the market is short of funds and projects are in a hurry. I don’t think so. The shared bicycle industry has at least 200 billion yuan of room to burn money. Let’s wait and see. ]

[Be gentle, you are too cruel and will scare others. ]

[Register a Mobike account and wait for Mr. Xie to spend money to subsidize free rides! ]

[The Internet industry makes money too easily, easily making 200 billion. If you keep doing this, the market will be ruined.]

Liu Qing took sides, Lei Jun watched the fun without a care in the world, Wang Jianlin felt jealous, the comment section was refreshed quickly, and Dong Mingzhu liked it...

Before Xie Jingxing could reply to his comment, the head of Xiyou's investor relations department called and angrily criticized his boss for being a big mouth.

After finally admitting his mistake and appeasing his subordinates, the phone rang again and it was from Hu Weiwei.

Mobike and ofo have already started a fight, but the intensity is not high enough to burn subsidies. For the time being, they are mainly competing in city coverage by making bicycles.

After a brief discussion on the recent operational status, Xie Jingxing had just put down his phone when another person in his circle of friends started to attack him: Qunar.com founder Zhuang Chenchao.

[Recently, some negative articles against us have reached an outrageous level. Let me clarify here: Qunar.com will never sell itself to Ctrip. I respect the interests of the capital shareholders, but I am not Yao Jinbo. I hope some idiots will stop asking me stupid questions and block me. That's it.]

Xie Jing Xing exhaled deeply, picked up his phone and dialed a number: "What's going on with Qunar and Ctrip?"

"Both investors don't want to continue burning money. Their common major shareholder Baidu is in charge, and Tiger Global Management is helping to put pressure on Zhuang Chenchao to force him to acquire out."

Song Anli on the other end of the phone responded concisely that Taihe holds shares in Qunar.com and the details are very clear.

Yao Jinbo is the founder of 58.com. In April, he was forced by shareholders to merge with Ganji.com. He was unable to accept the merger conditions and was so angry that he threw cups, which was of no use.

So how effective will Zhuang Chenchao’s resistance be?
[I received many greeting calls today, and the one from Wang Jianlin was the warmest. He asked me, "Zhang, have you been acquired by Alibaba?" I said no, it was a strategic cooperation with cross-shareholding. He said, "Then I am relieved. You still have to work for another 20 years!"]

Zhang Jindong, founder of Suning, updated his WeChat Moments and forwarded an announcement: "Ali intends to invest RMB 283 billion in Suning and become the second largest shareholder, holding 19.9% ​​of the shares."

Xie Jingxing was speechless. His circle of friends had never been as lively as it was today. Mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, platforms, bombardments... all the investors and founders were shirtless, and everyone was restless like ants sensing a tsunami.

"Hey, tell me."

"Wang Xing compromised and left, Meituan agreed to merge with New DAE, let's officially start the negotiations!"

"it is good."

Xie Jingxing only replied with one word, his heart was calm and peaceful, the wave of mergers and acquisitions came as expected, it was just knowing the right time and place, nothing to be told to outsiders.

(End of this chapter)