Li Ming is the founder and CEO of a VR company called Eimeng. He has been full of vision and enthusiasm for virtual reality since he was a child.
With both good character and academic skills, he successfully completed his studies at domestic universities, and then entered foreign universities for further study. He then worked for a major Silicon Valley company for nearly ten years, serving as the head of the hardware R&D team and participating in VR projects such as Oculus.
In 2018, he resigned from his high-paying job, returned to China to start a business, and led a group of like-minded partners to establish Eimeng, focusing on the development and production of glasses-based VR.
Relying on its experience and connections in the VR field, Eimeng has rapidly grown into one of the leading brands in the domestic VR market.
It not only provides games and audio-visual entertainment services in the consumer market, but also provides VR solutions for the medical, training, exhibition and other industries in the commercial market. It also has 32 VR invention patent technologies, which are used in shooting, compression, transmission and content display. Leading the industry in other fields.
Eimeng has also attracted the favor of many well-known investment institutions and has completed two rounds of financing, with a total amount of 332 million yuan.
However, at the beginning of 2020, Eimeng encountered an unprecedented crisis, and consumer demand for VR products dropped significantly. The newly upgraded Huimeng fourth generation product released in April.
Because it is an urgently released product, although the performance has been improved, it is only in terms of performance. The design is still a bit bulky and complicated, and the consumer experience is not very good. During this time, many competitors have entered the game. , launch competing products.
In an instant, the company was in trouble, with sales falling sharply, inventory overstocking, and capital chains becoming tight.
Li Ming tried to seek a new round of financing to tide over the difficulties, but due to the deterioration of the market environment, he searched all possible channels and failed to find anyone willing to continue investing.
During this time, his hair had turned a lot grayer, and he felt that his dream of the metaverse might be shattered.
He no longer knew whether he could hold on. Every day in the office and at home, he kept reflecting on the past, and even began to doubt his own judgment and abilities. Gradually, he even lost confidence in the future of the VR industry.
At this moment, he suddenly received a call.
"Hello, I am Wu Zhou, the chairman of Aiying Group. I am very interested in Eimeng. If you are willing, I hope to acquire your company directly."
Li Ming was slightly startled when he heard the unfamiliar voice across from him, but then some recent news about the Aiying Group and Wu Zhou's public speeches came to mind.
Li Ming is very concerned about Wu Zhou. After all, it is too difficult to be the leader in the field of traditional consumer goods, and far surpass the leaders of his peers.
He felt deeply. Isn’t his Huimeng product good? Of course it's good. There is a kind of tap water waiting for their new product. At the same time, there are also many 'real' evaluation organizations that have given 'excellent' evaluations. However, if it is easy to use, it cannot fully reach the real consumers, or if the existing consumers are too picky and do not approve of it, then it will not be sold.
Of course, consumers cannot be wrong. They can only be wrong. Their products are not perfect enough, their marketing is not good enough, and their supply chain is not excellent enough. They still have many, many improvements. space. Li Ming saw the direction of future improvement, and he knew where to focus his efforts, but the market and time were not waiting for him.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think, what if his Eimeng could cooperate with Aiying Group? What if Aiying could help sell Eimeng?
But then he recalled what Wu Zhou said just now, about acquisition. Li Ming subconsciously wanted to refute, how could he sell his hard work just as he said? This was his dream, but
"Aiying Group, if I remember correctly, Aiying Group has always been in the field of food and consumer goods. Why are you interested in us?" Li Ming asked. When he said this sentence, only he knew that at this moment he His calves were shaking nervously.
Because Wu Zhou is almost his last life-saving straw. If he misses it, Huimeng may have to close down in a few months.
Wu Zhou was on the phone with a slightly wry smile on his face. The company's food field was indeed developing very well. No matter which company he communicated with, the other party would subconsciously think that Aiying Group only sells food.
However, Wu Zhou was too lazy to explain. He just smiled and said, "Our company has a wide business scope. If you are interested, you can find relevant information on the Internet. I won't go into details. To get back to the subject, our company has always been paying attention to it." In the VR/AR field, we also have long-term strategic plans for this area. We believe that Eimeng is a company with innovative spirit and technical strength, and has excellent products and patents in VR all-in-one machines, VR live broadcasts, VR content, etc. Technology. This call with you is also the result of a detailed evaluation and investigation by the company department. We believe that Eimeng can provide strong support and supplement to Aiying in the VR/AR field."
"In addition, we don't care about the difficulties your company is encountering now. We know that this is only a temporary setback and does not affect the value and potential of your company itself. We are willing to acquire your company at a reasonable and fair price."
Li Ming had mixed feelings in his heart after hearing Wu Zhou's words. He didn't understand why Wu Zhou appeared at this time and proposed an acquisition. He also doesn’t know how Aiying will operate Eimeng after the acquisition, whether it will retain Eimeng’s brand and team, and whether it will respect Eimeng’s culture and philosophy. He is more worried about whether he can still realize his dream of the metaverse in Aiying's system.
"Can you tell me what your company's valuation is for us?" Li Ming asked with a complicated mood.
"5.5 billion. Of course, this price is not the valuation of Huimeng Company, but the stock price that includes the existing company team and you, the person in charge, who continue to serve." Wu Zhou added.
After hearing Wu Zhou's words, Li Ming already had the answer in his heart. But he still said, "Thank you very much to Aiying Group and Mr. Wu for your recognition and trust in our company. I am also very honored to receive your acquisition proposal. But this is a very important and complicated decision for me. I need some time to consider and evaluate. I also need to discuss it with my team and investors and listen to their opinions and suggestions. I hope you can understand my situation and give me some space and time."
Wu Zhou replied, "Of course, I also understand your situation, but this is not an easy decision to make. I will not put any pressure or restrictions on you. You can consider it according to your own ideas."
"However, I also hope that you can give us an answer as soon as possible, because our company attaches great importance to this matter and does not want to miss this opportunity. If you have any questions, confusion or concerns, you can also communicate with me at any time, and I will try my best Help you answer and eliminate.”
"Thank you." Li Ming thanked him.
"Okay, that's it. Looking forward to your good news."
Li Ming hung up the phone and let out a long sigh. He felt that he was facing one of the most important choices in his life. He didn't know what to do or what to choose. At this moment, his brain was very confused.
At the same time, Wu Zhou on the other end of the phone had a smile on his face.
Wu Zhou already knew the answer before Li Ming answered.
There is no problem with this acquisition. The price of 5.5 billion is also the price at which Li Ming will sell Huimeng in the future.
(End of chapter)
