In the past, Costco was unable to expand rapidly. In addition to not having a lot of funds at the time, the most important factor was that there was no one and there was a lack of relevant talents. But it is different now. We have enough funds in hand and can also borrow banks to develop. In terms of people, Costco itself also has a large number of talents. Although daily necessities retailing is a bit different from home appliance retailing, training will be much easier.
Moreover, Best Buy's operating model is actually more similar to the department store model. Many of the shops in the middle are rented to various brands. Only some small items are directly operated by Best Buy itself. This greatly reduces the demand for manpower, and the brand side Just solve it yourself.
This provides Best Buy with the basis for rapid expansion.
"Eric, you are really resolute. In this way, I will go to Hong Kong at about the same time to talk to you face to face. In addition, Citibank is also preparing to enter the mainland. I heard that you are investing in the mainland. We have completed several large-scale projects, and there may be room for cooperation,” Ron said with a smile.
"That's okay. We'll look at it when the time comes. If Citigroup is interested in investing in the mainland, you can participate as long as the price is right." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
In the past few years, his relationship with HSBC has not been good. However, when the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway with a total investment of more than 1 billion US dollars was finalized, HSBC still expressed its intention to participate in the project through Hu Yingxiang, and Chen Zhiwen did not refuse.
Conflicts are contradictions, but money still has to be earned. Besides, there are really not many people in Hong Kong who can provide such a large amount of funds. But if they are all done by HSBC, they are afraid of being cheated. Therefore, Chen Zhiwen has always thought Some banks from Japan and Southeast Asia have been introduced. However, due to the oil crisis and global foreign exchange fluctuations these days, there has been no agreement on which country's exchange rate to use. However, the highways in the mainland are not in a hurry and cannot be built every few years. good.
If Citi takes the initiative and is interested, we can still talk about it. After all, being proactive and being passive are two different things.
"Then I will report this matter to the headquarters together. I also hope that we can cooperate in multiple fields." Ron said.
"Yes. In the future, my company Hutchison Whampoa intends to make large-scale infrastructure investments in China, port investments overseas, and mining exploration. All of these require funds." Chen Zhiwen released another big fish. As long as the fish is big enough, he will take the bait. are naturally more willing to cooperate.
Of course, Citigroup will not be the only one. In the future, domestic infrastructure construction alone may require tens of billions of dollars, and it is impossible for a bank to provide so much. After all, most infrastructure investment must use loans, and a billion-dollar investment path For the expressway, he only needs to provide $50 million with a loan and joint venture requirements.
"Eric, you are giving me more and more surprises." Ron said with a smile. He knew how popular Chen Zhiwen's industries are now. Although investing in infrastructure has certain risks, there are so many industries. Even if you lose money on infrastructure investment, you will not default unless you have to. For banks, this is the best quality financing.
"I hope we can reach strategic cooperation as soon as possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
After staying in Los Angeles for a few days, Chen Zhiwen went to a new Home Depot that had just opened. He learned that although there were only 5 stores opened on the West Coast, due to the extremely cheap cost, there were so many customers here that it had already formed a However, future expansion still requires funds, so Home Depot is already preparing for the next round of financing.
Because of the previous agreement, Chen Zhiwen will participate in this financing, but not a lot. After all, after already owning 30% of the shares, if he invests more heavily, he may exceed the founder, which will in turn hurt the founder. Enthusiasm has adverse effects. Although investors in Silicon Valley are very greedy, they still understand this truth and generally will not go too far unless the company they invest in has little value.
After staying in Los Angeles for a few days, Chen Zhiwen and Pierce discussed the development of Costco. Currently, Costco has more than 70 retail stores in the United States, and more than a dozen are under construction. It has become One of the most promising giants in the United States.
"Eric, two companies have recently made full acquisition requests for us, offering US$3 billion and US$3.3 billion respectively. I didn't agree, but I didn't refuse either," Pierce said.
"Which two?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"One is Celtic, who bid 3 billion U.S. dollars, and the other is a joint venture fund composed of three investment companies, bidding 3.3 billion U.S. dollars." Pierce answered.
"How come they suddenly issued an acquisition to us?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
“As far as I know, it’s because many retail giants are beginning to enter warehouse supermarkets, and the market thinks it’s putting some pressure on us,” Pierce said.
"But it's also possible that they found that warehouse supermarkets are not that easy to do." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"It's possible, but now so much money has entered this industry and they want to acquire us, which has led to the current situation, which is completely different from before." Pierce said.
"What do other people in the company think?" Chen Zhiwen asked. One of the reasons why Costco developed so smoothly before was that it was a new market and a new way of playing. Others didn't react very well, so it developed very quickly. , quickly occupied many big cities, and now other brands have joined in. Although Chen Zhiwen is not afraid of them, it is true that it no longer meets the needs to continue to work alone.
“Our internal opinion is that there is no need to sell, but other capital needs to be appropriately introduced, otherwise these capitals interested in the retail industry will only invest in other competitors, and the investment of these capitals is not just money, but also Providing certain resources is also very beneficial to our development, and considering that if we go public in the future, we will also need to introduce other capital." Pierce said.
"Okay, let's break the news. Costco is about to prepare for financing. What do you think the first amount will be?" Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed.
If you want to make a company that is completely dependent on the United States bigger in the United States, it is courting death to go it alone. When it was small before, you could still have fun like this. After all, no one cared. But when Costco reaches its current scale, it must raise funds. Besides, in order to acquire Pierce's team and let them work for Costco, they were given some shares. If they wanted to cash out, they naturally needed to wait for the company to go public.
"I think 10% is enough for the first time. Let's attract the first batch of people to come in and see how they can help us." Pierce said.
"Okay, that's it for now. Since you're ready to raise funds, you're welcome. Then go to the bank for a loan, add the financing money, and expand as quickly as possible. With so many retail giants entering the market, we really need to suppress them quickly. That’s it.” Chen Zhiwen said.
Nowadays, many of its industries have grown and attracted the attention of other international giants. For example, in terms of beverages, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Nestle, and Danone have successively launched their own energy drinks. Retail giants have entered warehouse supermarkets, and many IT giants have entered. Game development field.
Fortunately, the safer field is the gaming field. Many of the current giants cannot beat them. However, with the improvement of chip technology and more people entering the field, there may be games that have never appeared in previous lives, but the probability is not high. Besides, even if it does, in this rapidly expanding incremental market, multiple games may be compatible. After all, as players become more and more picky, one game can no longer satisfy them.
However, the retail and beverage industries are under a bit of pressure, and the introduction of international capital is also a normal operation.
"Okay, then I'm going to spread the news." Pierce nodded and said.
(End of chapter)
