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墨書 Inktalez
"That's really unfortunate..." With a clear rejection from Li Hong, Ma Ge's face could not hide his disappointment and regret.
The gaming division had always been a top priority within Penguin Group. If it weren't for that, Ma Ge, as the chairman of Penguin Group, wouldn't have traveled such a long distance for this meeting.
Unfortunately, he ultimately received Li Hong's refusal. Although he had mentally prepared himself before coming, at this moment, Ma Ge felt exceptionally disheartened.
However, being seasoned in the business world, he did not let this disappointment show on his face immediately; instead, he buried it deep within himself in a place unknown to others.
"Since Mr. Li is unwilling to let us acquire your company, I wonder if there is any possibility for collaboration between our two companies?" Ma Ge finally inquired.
Li Hong noticed that Ma Ge's use of "collaboration" clearly did not mean it in the literal sense. Upon reflection, Li Hong understood what Ma Ge was trying to do.
Ma Ge was pivoting from acquisition to investment!
This caught Li Hong off guard; after all, he hadn't considered that Penguin Group would think about investing if the acquisition didn't go through.
Honestly, at that moment, Li Hong was somewhat tempted.
With Penguin's investment, they could gain many benefits. The first would be obtaining a substantial cash flow that could help revitalize their company. The second would be establishing a sustainable collaboration channel, and this channel would be of an extremely powerful nature.
The third benefit was that after Penguin's investment, whether in game production or distribution, they would receive considerable support and protection. This was a significant improvement compared to their previous solitary struggle.
Curiously, Li Hong asked, "Mr. Ma, how do you envision this collaboration?"
His words already revealed a desire for cooperation to Ma Ge; now it depended on how Ma Ge intended to proceed.
Ma Ge held up five fingers and smiled, "Five hundred million dollars for 49% of your company's shares—not dividends but Class A shares with voting rights."
"That's impossible; you can't take that much at once." Li Hong could not accept this outcome. While discussing offers wasn't an issue, this share percentage was too high.
If 49% of the shares were given to Penguin, it would be no different from losing control of the company.
Even if Li Hong still held 51% of the shares, who knew what unexpected events might arise? What if the company went public?
"Zero percent; that's the bottom line for our company. No more than that," Li Hong stated earnestly.
Anything above zero percent posed a risk of him being overthrown as a major shareholder. Forget about any talk of absolute control—if absolute control were truly possible, how had those bosses holding over 50% of their companies been toppled?
As a member of society, Li Hong was no fool. He didn't genuinely believe that holding 51% of the shares would guarantee his safety.
Even a hundred percent shareholder, the Boss, could lose everything overnight, with the company changing hands. He couldn't afford to think in absolutes; the only thing he could do was to be cautious about the actions of investors after bringing them on board.
Zero percent ownership was his bottom line. Anything more was out of the question; he wouldn't be that naive.
Although Penguin's channels and promotions were invaluable, zero percent was definitely the limit. Anything above that meant profits for Penguin, not for them.
Ma Ge pondered for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then it's zero percent. However, Penguin can only invest one hundred million dollars, and this money isn't enough to buy your shares but is meant as an investment in Fist Holdings."
Typically, when investors put money into a company, there are two options for funding.
Take Ma Ge's investment in Fist Holdings as an example. If he used his three hundred million dollars to buy Li Hong's zero percent stake in Fist Holdings, Ma Ge would end up with zero shares while the money would become Li Hong's personal asset.
However, if that three hundred million dollars was invested directly into Fist Holdings, Ma Ge would still hold zero shares but Fist Holdings would have three hundred million dollars in cash flow. This effectively meant he had invested only two hundred million dollars to secure a stake of zero percent. After all, if the company had cash flow post-investment, Ma Ge would still benefit proportionally based on his stake.
This method of investing in companies is standard practice. If investors were to buy shares directly from the founders, there's always a risk that the founders might take the money and run, leaving the company with nothing while enriching themselves.
Companies like Penguin and Alibaba followed this model during their early investments. That's why they could grow rapidly; even with substantial venture capital at startup, founders often had little money left.
Ma Ge's proposal served both to ensure his peace of mind and to save himself some money.
Li Hong had no objections to this arrangement; after all, he had little use for the cash. If it were just about money, why wouldn't he sell Fist Holdings directly to Penguin?
Money was only useful when it was sufficient; having too much or too little could both lead to trouble.
Once they reached an agreement, Ma Ge loosened his tie and smiled. "Pleasure doing business!"
"Pleasure doing business!" Li Hong replied with a smile as they shook hands.
From that moment on, Fist Holdings was aligned with Penguin. They could now enjoy access to Penguin's coveted customer base and promotional channels.
"Ma Ge, can you help promote the S1 World Championship?" Li Hong asked.
The entire team at Fist Holdings had been working tirelessly for this World Championship. Despite their efforts, the promotional results were far from satisfactory. If it weren't for the world-class prize pool backing them up, their promotional campaign would have already been deemed a failure.
But that was in the past; now that they had secured a powerful investor, why not let him assist with promotion?
"This is no problem. I've looked into the Goddess Alliance, and professional competitions can indeed promote the game. How about this? I'll give you an S-level promotion package from Penguin's internal resources," Ma Ge said, patting his chest.
I have to admit, Ma Ge is quite loyal. Since we are all family now, he won't hold back on what he should give.
What exactly is an S-level promotion package from Penguin? Li Hong didn't know, but he could guess it was something extraordinary.
"This kind of package is generally not given to outsiders. Only when we at Penguin launch new software or project groups do we utilize it. In the gaming industry, only one game has ever enjoyed this treatment, and that is Three Hundred Million Students."
As soon as those words were spoken, Li Hong instantly understood what the S-level promotion package from Penguin entailed. Of course, the term "package" was likely something Ma Ge made up; it probably wasn't in any internal documents. However, it certainly fits the definition of a package when you look at its level.
Even among Penguin's own games, only Three Hundred Million Students has received this promotion; none of the others have. One can imagine that Ma Ge is genuinely being loyal this time.
"Ma Ge, your loyalty is admirable! Penguin's strength is fifty-fifty!" Li Hong said with a smile.
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