Chapter 1303 – Joint Venture
“Feng Yu, do you know about a company called Busch? I heard they own the world’s biggest brewery.”
Feng Yu was about to sleep when he received Zhang Ruiqiang’s phone call. He looks at the clock. It’s almost midnight, and Old Zhang is still so energetic.
“Busch? Are you talking about the company that produces Budweiser?” Feng Yu thought for a while and replied. The world’s biggest beer brand now is Budweiser.
“That’s right. It is this company.”
“I have heard about it. What’s wrong? Aren’t they one of the overseas brands participating in our beer festival?” Feng Yu is puzzled. Why is Old Zhang asking him about this company?
“Their representative had just look for our Bing City Beer’s Chairman, saying they want to invest in Bing City Beer.”
What? Does Budweiser want to invest in Bing City Beer?
Feng Yu suddenly remembers Budweiser had acquired Bing City Beer in his previous life. Besides the person-in-charge of Bing City Beer, who owns less than 1% shares, Budweiser owns more than 99% of Bing City Beer. A state-owned enterprise had become a private company.
“What did they say? How much are they going to invest?”
“Huh? You also think we should let them invest?” Zhang Ruiqiang is anxious.
Bing City Beer’s Chairman and the City felt it’s alright to accept their investment. Beidacang and Bing City are still the controlling shareholders.
Currently, Beidacang is the biggest shareholder of Bing City Beer, and Bing City is a shareholder. If Bing City wants to sell its shares to Budweiser, the Provincial Government and Beidacang cannot stop them. Bing City can choose not to follow the Provincial Government as it is a Municipality with Independent Planning Status.
“I am only asking how much they are offering, and I still don’t know what is going on. Furthermore, do you know what time is it now? Can’t you call me tomorrow?” Feng Yu yawned.
Zhang Ruiqiang noticed it is quite late now. After Beidacang’s boss reported to him, he had thought about this for a while and forgotten the time when he called Feng Yu.
The next day, Feng Yu went to Zhang Ruiqiang after breakfast. This is also his first time going to Old Zhang’s new office.
“Eh? You changed your secretary?” It was not Xiao Liu who prepared tea for Feng Yu, and the person brewing tea doesn’t know about his taste. Why are there so few tea leaves?!
“No. Xiao Liu had gone out to do some work for me.”
Feng Yu shook his head. “You all are so much better than me. You have a group of secretaries working for you.”
Zhang Ruiqiang is speechless. “You are the one who brings a group of bodyguards with you! Also, who tells you that I have a group of secretaries working for me? That is the secretariat division!”
“I know about secretariat division. Why must you be so loud?” Feng Yu rolled his eyes and crossed his legs. “Alright. What is going on with Bing City Beer?”
Zhang Ruiqiang told Feng Yu what happened and looks at him, hoping for a reply.
“It’s normal for the City to have this thought. Also, Budweiser had made a good offer, and they are the biggest brewery and distributor in the world. They have the best technologies. Of course, the pure draft beer we developed is quite good and has received raving reviews. But everyone’s taste is different, and we can increase the variety. It will be beneficial to Bing City Beer.”
“Are you saying that we can agree? Are you agreeing to Bing City selling their shares or letting Budweiser invest?” Zhang Ruiqiang frowned. If Feng Yu says they can agree, that means it will be commercially viable. But how should they do this?
“It’s not worth to sell the shares. Bing City Beer’s profits are quite good and will get better in the future. How can we sell the shares? We can discuss letting them invest, but Bing City Beer must own Budweiser’s shares. We must exchange shares.”
“Exchange shares? Err… will Budweiser agree?”
“See… you got the wrong attitude. They are the ones who want to invest in our Bing City Beer, and we are not the ones who needed the investment. So what if they are the biggest brewery in the world? Their market share in China is behind Bing City Beer, right? We are the market leaders in the three northeastern provinces, right? Also, beer sales are much higher in the three northeast provinces compared to the coastal regions.”
“Another thing to note. Budweiser wants the Chinese market, and they need an old beer company as their partner. Our Bing City Beer is China’s oldest brewery and first Chinese beer brand. Even Qingdao and Beijing Beer are our juniors.”
“Budweiser only has a factory in Jiang City (Olden name for Wuhan). Among all the beer brands in China, Budweiser is not selling well. Carlsberg and Heineken are more popular than Budweiser in pubs and clubs. There are also many foreign brands with breweries in China. Some of them are shareholders of more than a dozen breweries in China. Budweiser is nothing in China now.”
Feng Yu shook his head. How come when people get scared when they hear the best in the world? It still boils down to the market. In China, Budweiser is not even at the top!
Feng Yu had asked his men to prepare all this information last night. They understood the market after reading his email in the morning.
“But Budweiser is much bigger than us. It will be disadvantageous to us if we exchange shares.” Zhang Ruiqiang replied.
“That’s right. Their brand value is much higher than Bing City Beer’s total assets, and our brand is not fully developed. But we can use cash. Each party will take out 10%, and we will top up with cash.”
“But where can we get the cash? Wait! Are you thinking of getting involved?” Zhang Ruiqiang finally understood why Feng Yu had come to his office so early today.
“What’s right? If the Provincial Government or the City can continue to invest with cash, I can stay out of it.”
Feng Yu had only asked his men to look into the Beer market. Still, Kameda Masao thought Feng Yu wants to invest in Budweiser and felt it is worth investing in.
Feng Yu thought for a while and felt it’s alright to invest too. He remembered Budweiser would merge with InBev to become a giant MNC brewer. The returns will be high regardless of him holding on to the shares or selling them then.
“How about I help you all with the negotiations? I believe the other party will give up on the idea of acquiring Bing City Beer. Also, it will be beneficial to Budweiser with my investment, and they will be more ready to accept it. After all, my name is worth a lot. If I invest in Budweiser, their shares will shoot up, and their shareholders will profit from that!”
