Chapter 149: Valuation of a 20-Billion Acquisition Deal (Requesting Monthly Votes)

An hour later, Chen Yansen walked into the conference room and announced directly:

"About the salary increase, I'll keep it simple: Xu Dan will send out the adjustment notices before clock-out today, effective this month—everyone gets a 20% raise, including part-time customer service staff."

"Boss, does the business development position count too?" Xu Dan asked.

"Base salaries for business development are included in the adjustment."

Chen Yansen said calmly.

Yuan Wei, Zhang Yifeng, Li Hui, and others exchanged glances, all smiling with delight; though the base salary bump was trivial to them, who could ever turn down more money?

Song Yuncheng stared at Chen Yansen, feeling this raise came too suddenly—not part of any original plan.

"Alright, back to work," Chen Yansen said briefly, waving his hand.

Once everyone had left, Song Yuncheng returned, closed the conference room door, and fixed Chen Yansen with a gaze: "I think your sudden salary hike is unusual."

Song Yuncheng spoke with certainty.

"You're this smart—wasting a year retaking exams to get into a 985 university is a shame," Chen Yansen said with a shrug and a teasing smile.

"So the rumors are true?" Song Yuncheng pulled out a chair and sat beside Chen Yansen, pressing curiously.

"What rumors? Why are you asking?" Chen Yansen chuckled, dismissive.

The negotiations with the investment firm hadn't even reached pricing or discussion stage; Chen Yansen wouldn't leak any information—not even to Song Yuncheng.

"If you sell FoxTao, I'll follow you to Orange Tech," Song Yuncheng said, staring straight at Chen Yansen, her gaze soft yet resolute.

"What, you wanna stick to me now?" Chen Yansen teased.

In truth, even if she stayed at FoxTao, he wouldn't mind—but the words still warmed him.

She was only twenty, and though she'd proven her work ability, her innocence was far greater than any girl he'd dated in his past life.

"Don't worry—you're my number one employee. I won't leave you behind."

Chen Yansen replied vaguely.

Song Yuncheng's heart sank; she vaguely guessed Chen Yansen's intentions.

She'd heard him explain the e-commerce ecosystem model, and she understood: even if he didn't sell FoxTao, in two or three years, competitors would gradually eat away its market share.

Chen Yansen stood and walked out.

He reached the faculty apartment building, opened the BMW 750's door, and got in.

Passing the female dormitory, he waited a few minutes until Meng Jie came running over, clutching her laptop.

"Get in—I'll take you for a tour of Orange Tech."

Chen Yansen opened the door, helped Meng Jie fasten her seatbelt, and smiled.

Parents and students along the road cast glances; someone asked a student volunteer: "Is that guy one of your teachers? He looks so young, yet his car's so nice."

The BMW 750 would be forgotten in a decade, but in 2011, it was a genuine luxury car worth over two million yuan.

"Him? He's Chen Yansen from the School of Literature and Communication—the business genius of Virtual College! Uncle, have you heard of FoxTao?"

The sophomore turned his head, smiling.

"Never heard of it. What's it do?" the parent shook his head.

"What about Orange Phone? He's the founder of both FoxTao and Orange Phone—worth over ten billion."

The sophomore watched the BMW recede, full of envy.

"That's Chen Yansen!" the parent and his son exchanged glances, suddenly understanding.

Before arriving, the son had been babbling about a sophomore at Virtual College who was an incredible businessman.

He hadn't believed it—how could someone that talented end up at Virtual City College?

But after a quick online search, he was speechless.

Chen Yansen really wasn't ordinary—he'd founded two successful companies before turning twenty.

Orange Tech's valuation hadn't been made public, but its phone sales lagged far behind Xiaomi's; its current valuation was roughly $1. billion.

Add FoxTao to that, and Chen Yansen's net worth was far more than ten billion.

"You're in e-commerce—FoxTao loves hiring students from your major. If you get a chance to join FoxTao, I suggest you go for a business role."

The sophomore, seeing them stunned, added with a smile.

"Why? I looked online—e-commerce's best future roles are operations and management," the freshman asked, puzzled.

"How much do you make in operations a month? Our business school's Zhang Yifeng joined FoxTao last year—he now earns this much!"

The sophomore grinned proudly, as if the monthly six-figure salary were his own.

"One hundred thousand?" the parent looked incredulous.

"Exactly! I'm a sophomore now—next year, when I'm a junior, I'll definitely interview at FoxTao."

The sophomore said with a smile.

Meanwhile,

Chen Yansen drove toward Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park.

Along the way, apart from endless winter wheat, he saw almost no other cars.

"So desolate," Meng Jie remarked.

"Everything has two sides—this area's amenities are lacking, but the rent is cheap."

Chen Yansen explained with a smile.

"Heh, that's true," Meng Jie licked her lips and nodded in agreement.

"There's mineral water on the right."

Chen Yansen reminded her.

Early September was still hot, and Meng Jie had just run a few steps—fine sweat glistened on her forehead.

The car's air conditioning blew steadily, making lips dry easily.

Meng Jie responded, pulled out the mineral water, and sipped slowly.

Minutes later, a hundred-acre tech park appeared ahead, with dozens of office buildings scattered across the landscape.

Meng Jie instantly recognized Orange Tech's building—the giant orange logo on the sixth floor's front face.

"Song Xuejie's logo is so beautiful—the colors and lines are striking, unforgettable."

Meng Jie praised Song Yuncheng to Chen Yansen's face.

Chen Yansen smiled but said nothing, parked on the first floor, and took Meng Jie up the elevator to the fifth.

"That's my office," Chen Yansen said.

"Tap-tap-tap—"

At that moment, Ye Qiuping hurried over with a document.

Chen Yansen's arrival times at the tech park were irregular; Ye Qiuping had specifically instructed the front desk to notify her immediately whenever the boss arrived.

"Boss, there's a contract needing your signature," Ye Qiuping said at the door, glancing at Meng Jie.

"Just leave it here," Chen Yansen said softly, pointing to the desk.

"Understood, Boss," Ye Qiuping placed the document down and turned to leave.

Though curious about Meng Jie's identity, she wouldn't pry if Chen Yansen didn't volunteer information.

"That sister is so beautiful, and her figure is amazing," Meng Jie whispered, full of envy.

Chen Yansen burst out laughing.

Meng Jie was a B-cup; Ye Qiuping was a D-cup—there was no comparison.

"Gao, come to my office."

Chen Yansen picked up the phone and called Gao Wei.

Since he needed to find Meng Jie a seasoned finance mentor, Gao Wei was clearly the best choice.

"Boss, you called me?" Gao Wei knocked and entered.

"Let me introduce you—Meng Jie from Virtual College's Accounting Department, sophomore. Take her under your wing for a while."

Chen Yansen gave a brief instruction.

"Hello, I'm Gao Wei, CFO of Orange Tech—you can call me Dylan."

Gao Wei glanced between Chen Yansen and Meng Jie, greeted them warmly, but didn't even extend his hand—his cautious nature held firm.

"Hello, Director Gao," Meng Jie replied politely.

"Boss, I'll take Meng Jie to the Finance Department to get her familiar with the environment."

Gao Wei asked for permission.

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod, signaling Meng Jie to follow Gao Wei.

About half an hour later, Gao Wei returned, carrying a laptop, striding back in.

"Boss, Meng Jie's settled—I've had Xiao Lin show her around for two days."

Gao Wei sat down to report.

"Thanks," Chen Yansen said without elaboration.

From Gao Wei's demeanor, Chen Yansen could tell he'd guessed Meng Jie's identity—he saw no need to clarify.

Gao Wei wasn't surprised; his boss was young, rich, and handsome—how could he have only one girlfriend?

In Hong Kong, men with two wives weren't rare; even the first wife caring for the second during postpartum recovery wasn't unusual.

"Boss, SoftBank and Ali have accepted Rakuten and Augusta's proposal: Rakuten and Augusta will jointly launch an acquisition of FoxTao, with Ali exchanging ZhiFuBao and AliBaba equity for FoxTao shares."

Gao Wei shifted to the main topic.

"That's their business—as long as Rakuten and Augusta pay, I'm fine. What's their offer?" Chen Yansen asked.

"18 billion! I told Rakuten and Augusta our bottom line is 20 billion—no deal below that. They said they need fifteen days to evaluate before deciding."

Gao Wei replied.

"After conversion, it's just three billion U. . dollars—Old Ma really went all-in to plug his third-party traffic entry."

Chen Yansen couldn't help but sigh.

According to what he knew, in his previous life, Ali had indeed planned in the second half of 2013 to acquire a leading guide e-commerce company and merge it with Taobao, but the price never got settled.

Chen Yansen knew clearly that without Lotte and Augusta as these two big fools, there would have been no chance of negotiation at all—Old Ma simply didn't have spare funds at the time.

Otherwise, when he met Ma Liyun, the man wouldn't have proposed paying with equity to acquire FoxTao.

During his chat with Zhou Shouzhi in Yancheng last time, he learned that Ma Liyun was negotiating with Yahoo to repurchase Yahoo's 40% equity before going public.

To do so, Ma Liyun not only borrowed money from banks but also brought in a group of deep-pocketed venture capital firms for financial support.

"Boss, internet money is so easy to make. With your talent, you'll surpass Li Ka-shing in less than ten years."

Gao Wei smiled and flattered.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and said he had no interest in money.

But inside, he thought: Li Ka-shing will die, but I won't!

What could Li Ka-shing possibly match against him? Did he even deserve to?

Gao Wei burst out laughing, thinking his boss was joking.

Who in this world doesn't love money?

In the following period, group-buying websites entered their death countdown.

Before the first week of September ended, over two hundred group-buying websites announced bankruptcy one after another.

Lashou, WoWoTuan, Nuomi, and Meituan entered battle mode, relying on venture capital infusions—the fighting was even fiercer than in the first half of the year.

But users were the happiest: platforms were flooded with heavily subsidized products—9. yuan karaoke packages, one yuan KFC family buckets, nineteen yuan hotel stays—everywhere.

To Chen Yansen's surprise, Nuomi suddenly surged ahead.

Though its parent company Renren lacked sufficient funds, it used its outstanding marketing ability to crush WoWoTuan and became the second-place player in the group-buying race.

Soon after, Meituan's market share also surpassed WoWoTuan, breaking into the industry's top three.

In Shanghai's Dazhong Dianping, relying on its restaurant review model, it had accumulated massive merchant and user resources; after securing its Series C funding, it no longer limited itself to its home base.

It immediately shifted to group-buying operations and expanded wildly across the six eastern provinces.

Originally ranked outside the top ten, its market share began climbing in September, kicking Gao Peng out of the top ten.

Seeing this, Chen Yansen couldn't help but sigh—Gao Peng was pure 24k trash. Backed by the group-buying pioneer Groupon and Tencent, with FoxTao secretly feeding it traffic, its business was a complete mess.

This made Chen Yansen even more convinced: even the most brilliant idea needs powerful execution to be realized.

Whether a plan succeeds: 1% depends on planning, 99% on execution.

Only on the third day after the Mid-Autumn Festival did Lotte and Augusta Capital's headquarters finally approve the FoxTao acquisition, making a massive bet on China's e-commerce sector.

This acquisition involving multiple companies officially entered the negotiation phase.

(End of Chapter)