Chapter 130 Successive Acquisitions and Integrations

Singularity Chinese Network was founded in May last year, and its predecessor was called the Fantasy Literature Association.

This association was founded by several young people who love online literature out of love for it.

Later, seeing that the business was developing better and better, they officially established the company website last year and named it Singularity to start commercial operations.

Although it has only been a year, Singularity Chinese has developed very rapidly among online literature websites, quickly catching up with the then-old-established website Huanjian Book Alliance, and even showing a tendency to overtake it.

Of course, the leading online literature website is still Rongshuxia. However, the novels published on Rongshuxia are somewhat similar to traditional novels and have a certain literary and artistic quality.

The goal of Singularity was very clear when it was first established, which was to mainly collect long-form fantasy or Western fantasy novels.

However, due to funding constraints, the five founders of the Singularity website were unable to expand the scale even though the website had very good traffic and could only develop step by step.

In early July, the founding team led by Wu Wenhui suddenly received an acquisition offer from a company called Zhoushan Capital.

This made them both surprised and helpless.

I was pleasantly surprised that my website was doing well and that others appreciated it, but I was helpless due to my lack of funds, which delayed the development of the website.

After receiving the acquisition invitation, several people went to learn more about Zhoushan Capital.

I thought this was a small, unknown company, but I didn't expect that I was just ignorant of it.

When the Internet bubble was at its worst two years ago, Zhoushan Capital invested in the three major domestic portals in succession and is also a major shareholder of Penguin.

By now, the three major portals have long gotten rid of their previous decline, and their market capitalizations have exceeded those when they were first listed, either by relying on wireless value-added services or online games.

Penguin Company is no longer the same as it used to be. It has not only become the largest instant messaging website in the mainland, but has also gotten rid of the profit problem. Relying on its huge user data, it has begun to enter the portal field and has become a leader in the Internet industry.

Zhoushan Capital, which had previously invested in these four companies at a bargain price, became famous in the industry overnight.

Many people admire Zhoushan Capital’s vision and envy their good luck.

Although Zhoushan Capital has not made any investments in the past two years, it is undoubtedly still a star company in the investment industry.

Now Zhoushan Capital is actually going to acquire their own small website, which makes them happy and puzzled.

Singularity has developed well in the field of online novels, but compared with the three major portals or Penguin, it is just a small Karami and there is no comparison at all.

I don’t know why this company would take a fancy to my small company.

However, after seeing the people from Zhoushan Capital, Wu Wenhui and his companions seemed to understand the reason.

I didn’t expect that the boss of Zhoushan Capital, a well-known company in the Internet industry, is actually Liu Zhou, a famous writer and director in the literary and art circles!
In fact, the fact that Liu Zhou is the boss of Zhoushan Capital is not a secret at all in the eyes of some people. It’s just that Wu Wenhui and others have not reached that level, so they can’t find out.

Although they were a little shocked, they quickly regained their composure and went straight to the point with Liu Zhou. Wu Wenhui asked:

"Mr. Liu, the price you offer is very sincere, but online literature is a hobby of several of us, and we don't want to sell our website for the time being."

“I know that maybe we didn’t make it clear before. Even if we acquire your website, we will not let you leave. Instead, you will continue to manage and operate the website.”

"Boss Liu, are you kidding me?"

“Of course, I am very optimistic about online literature. I have checked out all the domestic literature websites and found that only yours has been established the shortest time, but is the fastest growing.

So I have confidence in your management abilities, and I can see that Singularity's traffic is very good, but the scale is still small. I think you lack funds for expansion.

If you agree to let me purchase your website, not only will you not have to give up your hobbies, but it will also allow Singularity to develop faster and better.”

After hearing Liu Zhou's words, several people couldn't help but fall silent.

Liu Zhou didn't say anything else and asked them to think about it carefully.

After a while, Liu Zhou saw that Wu Wenhui and the others seemed to be a little hesitant, so he added directly:
"Mr. Wu, to be honest, we at Zhoushan Capital have already acquired Huanjian Book Alliance. If you agree to be acquired, I can merge the two websites, keep the name of Singularity, and let you operate them as well."

Liu Zhou did not deceive them, Zhoushan Capital had indeed acquired Huanjian Book Alliance.

The boss of Huanjian Book Alliance did not have the same sentiments as the people in front of him. He was satisfied with the price and sold the website without hesitation.

Liu Zhou spent two million to take over the Fantasy Sword Book Alliance.

Liu Zhou said this to Wu Wenhui and others. If they agreed to the acquisition, he would fulfill his promise. He had planned to do so.

If they don't agree, Liu Zhou is implicitly reminding them that he doesn't necessarily need them, and that they need to be prepared to compete with him in all aspects.

But I don't know if they didn't understand the second meaning. After listening to Liu Zhou's words, Wu Wenhui said with a little excitement:

"Does Mr. Liu really mean what he said?"

"Of course! I, Liu Zhou, never tell lies. Xiao Ma Ge, Ding Lei, and Zhang Chaoyang all know that."

Wu Wenhui ignored Liu Zhou's pretense and said directly:

"Boss Liu, if that's the case, then we agree. We hope we can have a pleasant cooperation in the future!"

In fact, they had already discussed it and decided that for the development of Singularity, they were inclined to sell the company.

However, there is a prerequisite, which is that they must be retained, otherwise they would rather not sell the company. After all, this company is the dream of several of them.

But unexpectedly, the result was better than they imagined, so what was there to hesitate about?

Liu Zhou couldn't help but smile at this time and said:

"Don't worry, I rarely interfere with the company's operations, and you will have a lot of autonomy."

Next it was Zhong Lifang's turn to step in and negotiate the specific contract with them.

With sincerity from both parties, the contract was signed quickly.

The acquisition price was also two million, and Wu Wenhui and others continued to be responsible for the management of the merged website.

However, because the Fantasy Sword Book Alliance is in the capital, Liu Zhou's focus is also in the capital, so after some discussion, Wu Wenhui and others agreed to go to the capital to work.

In order to show his trust in them, Liu Zhou also handed over the subsequent merger matters to them.

Of course, Wu Wenhui and the others readily agreed to this and felt relieved, as it seemed that Liu Zhou did not deceive them.

After acquiring Singularity Chinese Network, Liu Zhou and Zhong Lifang were the first to return to Beijing.

Liu Zhou’s acquisition journey is not over yet. His next target is the current leader in literary websites, Under the Banyan Tree.

Under the Banyan Tree is the earliest literary website, founded in 1997 by Chinese American William Zhu.

It is a cultural and fashionable website that focuses on the Chinese youth to confide and express their thoughts and emotions. It insists that "literature is the literature of the masses" and advocates "life, feelings, and thoughts". This has enabled Under the Banyan Tree to truly become the literature of the masses through the Internet, a fast carrier, in just a few years, making the dreams of many literature lovers come true.

At the same time, a large number of very talented writers gathered under the banyan tree.

People like Ning Caishen, Annie Baby, Li Xunhuan, Xing Yusen and others all became famous through this website and worked as editors at Under the Banyan Tree.

Although Rongshuxia is on the decline now, its brand value and traffic are not comparable to that of Xiaoxiaoqidian.

Last year, Zhu William, who had no interest in running the website, sold Under the Banyan Tree to global media giant Bertelsmann for $10 million.

Now look at the fact that Singularity is only sold for two million RMB, you can imagine the gap between the two sides.

But things change over time. Don’t look down on the young and poor. Who can predict the future?
After being sold to Bertelsmann, Under the Banyan Tree did not see further development.

On the contrary, because Bertelsmann did not understand the national conditions and mechanically introduced foreign management systems, the management of Under the Banyan Tree became quite chaotic.

Although it seems that there are frequent actions, most of them are just a lot of noise but little action, and the number of visits has continued to decline in this short year.

In the past, Bertelsmann acquired Rongshuxia for less than two years, but due to poor management, it sold the website to Huanxi Media at a cut-price price, and later it was acquired by Shanda Literature.

So Bertelsmann did not reject Liu Zhou's acquisition offer, but it did not show much enthusiasm either. Liu Zhou knew that the key factor was price.

After a few rounds of arguing, the two sides began to negotiate seriously.

Bertelsmann offered $12 million, obviously wanting to make a profit and leave, but Liu Zhou was not a sucker and would pay for their mistakes.

Liu Zhou directly responded with five million US dollars, but was flatly rejected by the other party.

How could the head of Bertelsmann agree to a loss of five million US dollars in just one year?

The two parties have been negotiating on the acquisition price for nearly half a month. Although they have not reached an agreement yet, they are very close to reaching a consensus.

On this day, Zhong Lifang and Bertelsmann were still arguing over the $300,000, when Liu Zhou suddenly said:

"Mr. Terry, we can accept the price of nine million dollars, but we have one condition."

"Mr. Liu, what are the conditions?"

"We need to pay in installments. The first payment is three million US dollars, and the remaining funds will be paid in full within six months."

"That's impossible. This isn't a big deal. It's only $9 million. We can't possibly agree to pay in installments."

"Nothing is impossible. Get rid of this burden under the banyan tree, and you no longer need to invest money in it. Besides, it's not like we won't give you the money."

"But half a year is too long. Even if I agree, the headquarters will not approve it."

"That'll be three months. I also need time to raise funds."

Liu Zhou had never thought that they would agree to a payment period of half a year, he just wanted to lower the other party's psychological expectations first.

"Three months is still too long. One month, at most one month."

"Mr. Terry, please don't treat me as an ignorant rookie. Normal company acquisition transactions have a payment period of one month. Why are you telling me one month now?"

Seeing that the other party wanted to say more, Liu Zhou interrupted him and said:

"It's only been three months. Right now, we are the only one interested in Under the Banyan Tree."

Terry was silent for a while and then said:
“Three months is fine, but a specific repayment schedule must be stated.”

"no problem!"

The most significant disagreement between the two parties was successfully resolved, and other minor issues were also quickly advanced. In less than three days, Zhoushan Capital and Bertelsmann signed a formal acquisition agreement.

Within three days, Liu Zhou also transferred three million US dollars to Bertelsmann's account.

But at this time, Zhong Lifang said to Liu Zhou with a bitter face:
"Mr. Liu, we have no money left in our account. Do we need to cash out some of the remaining funds in stocks?"

Zhou Shan's studio had 30 million yuan in spare funds, and after Liu Zhou advanced some royalties to "Mengya", he also raised 20 million yuan.

However, the studio needs to add an additional 5 million yuan in publicity funds for "The Swordsman", and also set aside 10 million yuan for the filming of the TV series "The Sky of History".

Finally, a portion of the funds will be left to maintain the company's operations and for emergency situations. The studio can only withdraw 12 million yuan.

In order to avoid unnecessary taxes, the studio loaned the 12 million to Zhoushan Capital. At the same time, Liu Zhou also injected his own 20 million into Zhoushan Capital.

Therefore, the funds Liu Zhou could mobilize were only 32 million.

It cost four million to acquire Huanjian Book Alliance and Singularity, leaving only twenty-eight million, which is just over three million US dollars.

Therefore, after paying the first batch of RMB 3 million to Bertelsmann, Zhoushan Capital had only more than 2 million RMB left in its account.

“No, the stocks we hold have been appreciating in value, and it would be a big loss to cash them out now.

You can first use part of our stocks as collateral for a loan. I think the bank will be very happy to lend us money and use the loan money to pay it back."

"Okay, Mr. Liu, do you want to go meet the management of Under the Banyan Tree now? They heard that the company was sold again, and they are a little panicked."

"Then let's go and meet him."

The office location under the banyan tree is much better, it is right in Zhongguancun in Beijing.

Liu Zhou called a meeting for all the employees of the company to meet him as their new boss.

When they saw Liu Zhou, the employees under the banyan tree were very surprised, and then delighted.

Liu Zhou and the others are very familiar with him. He is simply the idol and role model of most people in the company.

They didn't expect that their new boss would be the great writer Liu Zhou.

The several measures announced by Liu Zhou later did not disappoint them. Not only did he abolish the unreasonable systems previously formulated by Bertelsmann, but he also increased everyone's salary by 10%.

This caused cheers from people in the company, and everyone couldn't help but relax.

Finally, Liu Zhou held a small meeting with the management of Under the Banyan Tree and specifically instructed the company's editor-in-chief, Li Xunhuan, to stabilize the editors in the editorial department and prevent further loss of editors.

These talents are the most precious wealth under the banyan tree.

After comforting the employees at Under the Banyan Tree, Liu Zhou went on to take on the last piece of the puzzle and acquired the female fiction website Hong Xiu Tian Xiang, which was founded in 99, for million yuan.

Liu Zhou plans to integrate these companies together.

(End of this chapter)