Chapter 936: Withdrawal From the Huaxia Market

In business, everything is based on profit.

No one will do business without profit.

On April 30, the French Carrefour headquarters finally decided to fully withdraw from the Huaxia region after several meetings and studies.

Over the past year, Carrefour has suffered heavy losses frequently.

In the mountain city stampede in November last year, three people were killed and dozens were injured.

At that time, Carrefour caused dissatisfaction with the local government. Because of the Carrefour stampede, various promotional regulations were issued across the country.

Originally, the headquarters of Carrefour thought that this was just a special case, after all, the turnover in Huaxia District was still growing.

But since entering 2008, more and more things have troubled them.

During the snowstorm in East China, because of the price increase of supermarket goods, the Chinese government named and criticized it, and gained a reputation for hoarding.

Before they calmed down, a wave of nationwide boycotts broke out soon after.

They thought this was the most tragic time, but the result was beyond their expectations, and there were even more miserable ones.

When the problematic milk powder incident broke out, Carrefour completely became a street mouse, and everyone shouted and beat them.

How long is this!

In half a year, people have been trampled to death, and they have been hoarding. Now they even dare to sell poisonous food. What else Carrefour dare not do!

It would be nice if these things happened after a period of time, but they all came together.

It has been 13 years since it entered the mainland market in 1995.

In the past 13 years, Carrefour has invested a lot in China, but the profit has not been high.

In the past few years, it was laying the groundwork for expanding the market. Seeing that it has already started to make profits, and the profits are getting higher and higher. Carrefour headquarters is even preparing to continue to increase investment in China.

problem occurs!

Accidents happened one after another, and Carrefour was targeted one after another. The reputation of Carrefour, which has been established for 50 years, suddenly fell to a trough in China, and it even became infamous.

At this time, Carrefour was exhausted,

In addition, it was also attacked by competitors in the European market.

The local market is sluggish, and Carrefour really has no energy to continue to spend with distant places.

In a confrontation with a distant place, the final result may be that Carrefour wins, is it meaningful?

There is not only Yuanfang in China, but also China Resources, Bailian, and the ever-expanding Wal-Mart and RT-Mart.

When they fight Yuan Fang to the death, they will be the cheapest in the end.

And once the investment in the Chinese market is too large, the European competitors will seize the opportunity and choose to attack them at this time.

In fact, since 2005, Carrefour has been going downhill.

In March 2005, Carrefour was forced to withdraw from the Japanese market and sold all 8 stores in Japan to AEON Group at a price of 80 million euros.

Also in 2005, Carrefour withdrew from the Mexican market and sold its 29 large supermarkets.

In 2005, Carrefour withdrew from the Czech market and transferred 11 stores in the Czech Republic and 4 shopping malls in Slovakia to Tesco.

In March 2006, Carrefour was forced to withdraw from the Korean market and transferred all 32 local stores to local Korean companies.

In 2007, Carrefour withdrew from the Portuguese market.

And withdrew from Xiangjiang in 2000.

This series of blows all show that Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, is really powerless.

In addition to maintaining their advantage in the European market, they have been hit hard elsewhere.

Originally, many executives at Carrefour regarded Huaxia as a life-saving straw and a starting point for overseas expansion. Before 2008, they did see hope.

But after entering 2008, a series of blows made everyone sober.

Like the previous few times, Carrefour really does not have much advantage outside the European market.

Wal-mart, which they have always regarded as a competitor, seems to be inferior to them in China, but in fact Wal-mart is steadily advancing, but has an advantage over them.

In 2005, Carrefour's global sales were US$90 billion, while Wal-Mart's was US$280 billion.

At that time, Wal-Mart surpassed Carrefour by 3 times.

By 2007, Carrefour still had sales of more than 90 billion, less than 100 billion, while Wal-Mart had reached more than 350 billion, a gap of nearly four times.

The company that they regard as the only competitor is now farther and farther away from them.

On the contrary, Tesco, which they dismissed before, had sales of only 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, but now it has reached 80 billion U.S. dollars, and the gap is getting smaller and smaller.

These are only external troubles. In fact, Carrefour is facing more serious internal troubles at this time.

In March 2007, Arnault Group and Colony Capital Group suddenly took a stake in Carrefour, even Carrefour's largest shareholder, the Harley family, did not know in advance.

Over the past year, the two sides have suffered serious infighting.

The major shareholder, the Harley family, has gradually withdrawn, and Duran, the current global president of Carrefour, is about to leave get out of class.

At this time, they really didn't have the energy to fight Yuan Fang in China.

Carrefour's headquarters studied again and again, and finally decided to withdraw from China in an all-round way.

On the afternoon of the 30th, Luo Guowei received a notification from the headquarters that on May 2nd, Carrefour Global President Du Lan went to China to inspect the Huaxia District.

The moment Luo Guowei received the notice, he understood that the headquarters had already made a decision.

in the office.

Luo Guowei wandered around for a few times, and suddenly a faint reluctance rose in his heart.

Although he has always said that he hates Huaxia and Chinese.

But after two years in Huaxia, he was suddenly asked to leave, and still left as a loser. Even Luo Guowei, who was always cheerful, couldn't help but feel melancholy.

Standing by the window, looking at the bustling city scene outside the window, Luo Guowei sighed softly.

Chen Ying, who was about to come in outside the door, stopped when she saw this, lowered her voice, and retreated gently.

She still has a lot of respect for this boss.

Outsiders feel that Luo Guowei is cynical and only pursues romance, and that Chen Ying is in charge of everything in the company.

But they also didn't think about it, if Luo Guowei didn't acquiesce, what could Chen Ying, an assistant, decide?

Ability aside, at least the president of Huaxia District is open-minded enough.

Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now.

Once Carrefour withdraws from China, and still withdraws in such a failed manner, Luo Guowei's prospects are worrying.

...

Just when Carrefour was about to evacuate.

Faraway Building.

Li Dong and Shen Nanpeng signed the last agreement.

So far, Weibo's first round of financing has come to an end.

Sequoia invested 100 million US dollars, accounting for 7% of Weibo's share capital. Yesterday afternoon, IDG represented by Li Dong and Xiong Xiaoge also signed a contract, the same 100 million US dollars, also 7% of the share capital.

In addition, Baidu accounted for 5% of the equity with US$30 million, as well as some technical and talent support.

Horizons Capital invested 10 million US dollars, occupying 1% of the shares.

Li Dong used 20% of Weibo shares in exchange for 400 million US dollars in financial support, as well as Baidu's technology and human resources.

From the current point of view, Li Dong is not at a loss, and Weibo has also received its due value.

The valuation of more than 1.2 billion US dollars has exceeded everyone's expectations in 2008.

In the previous life, Sina Weibo was acquired by Ali in 2013, and its valuation was only 3.3 billion US dollars.

At that time, Sina Weibo had more than 400 million registered users, which was much stronger than Yuanfang Weibo at the moment.

And it is still 5 years later, and the market environment is very different. At this moment, Li Dong is quite satisfied with Weibo's financing this time.

Of course, what is more satisfying is that both IDG and Sequoia agreed to temporarily lend the financing funds to Yuanfang Group for a period of time, limited to one year.

However, Li Dong did not pay nothing, and the two parties also signed a supplementary agreement.

Weibo re-financing, the two have the priority, each holding shares to 15%.

On this point, Li Dong didn't have much opinion.

If Weibo wants to raise funds again, Sequoia and IDG are indeed better choices. Besides, it is hard to say whether Li Dong will start the next round of financing.

If Weibo chooses to go public after only one round of financing, the supplementary agreement will naturally be invalidated, and there is nothing to say.

If the financing continues, it's just the right of priority, and it's not a price concession, so Li Dong doesn't care.

After signing the contract, Shen Nanpeng said with a smile: "President Li, happy cooperation!"

Li Dong shook hands with him. Shen Nanpeng had to say that he was a talent, an absolute talent.

Shen Nanpeng, who just turned 40 this year, has successively established Ctrip and Home Inns, and all of them have been listed on the Nasdaq.

In 2005, he founded Sequoia China and started a venture capital investment.

At this time in 2008, Sequoia under the leadership of Shen Nanpeng was not too good in China, not as good as IDG, but after a few years, Li Dong knew how accurate Shen Nanpeng's investment was.

Ali, Jumei, Vipshop, Dianping, Meituan, AutoNavi...

Sequoia has invested in these enterprises and has achieved rich returns.

Originally, Sequoia entered China late, and it was far inferior to IDG, which has been cultivating in China for 10 years. However, under the leadership of Shen Nanpeng, the last two are evenly divided.

From this point of view alone, Shen Nanpeng is more worthy of Li Dong's attention than Xiong Xiaoge.

After shaking hands, Shen Nanpeng smiled again: "President Li, I hope we will have opportunities to cooperate in the future, whether it is Yuanfang Mall or PP, I am extremely optimistic.

If Mr. Li continues to start financing, Sequoia hopes to be able to accompany Yuanfang to grow. "

Li Dong nodded with a smile: "Yes, if I still need money in the future."

Now Weibo has raised 400 million US dollars, nearly 1.7 billion yuan.

Several companies promised Li Dong to borrow a large part of it, that is, 1 billion yuan. In a short time, Li Dong felt that it was almost the same.

As for the financing of the mall and PP, Li Dong has not yet decided whether to continue.

After all, in the previous round of quotations, these two items were severely underestimated. He was a little reluctant and wanted to wait, at least until the domestic financial crisis was over, then it might be more appropriate.

Of course, Li Dong did not say this clearly for the time being.

Made a joke with Shen Nanpeng, Li Dong walked out with him, and as they walked, Li Dong suddenly said: "Mr. Shen, what do you think of Yuanfang Technology?"

Shen Nanpeng didn't quite understand what he meant, but he still affirmed: "Very good, under the leadership of President Li, I believe it will be even better.

Otherwise, we would not choose the distance. "

"Then Mr. Shen, have you ever thought about whether Yuanfang Technology will do better under your leadership?"

Li Dong seemed to have made a joke, but Shen Nanpeng froze, and couldn't help but glance at Li Dong.

Is this guy joking or serious?

Is this digging yourself?

You know, Shen Nanpeng is not a professional manager, he is also a well-known rich man in China.

When the Hurun List was released in 2007, his personal wealth exceeded 3 billion, ranking more than 200.

Although he is not as rich as Li Dong, a tycoon, he is still very rich.

At this time, when Li Dong said this, was he poaching someone, or joking?

For a while, Shen Nanpeng didn't know whether what he said was true or not. After thinking for a moment, Shen Nanpeng smiled and said, "With Mr. Li here, I don't dare to play tricks."

Hearing this, Li Dong smiled and did not continue.

After chatting casually for a few words, Li Dong sent him to the elevator.

He didn't send them downstairs, and Shen Nanpeng didn't have the right to ask Li Dong to send him downstairs.

It wasn't until the elevator door closed that Sun Tao, who had just stood aside and said nothing, said, "Mr. Li, do you want to poach him?"

Li Dong said with a light smile: "Just talking casually, just try it. But then again, if he really agrees, I don't mind letting him join Yuanfang Technology."

Sun Tao also knew how powerful Shen Nanpeng was, and said with emotion: "Actually, the people in these financial institutions are all elites in the business world, let alone their helmsmen.

Shen Nanpeng is amazing, but Xiong Xiaoge is actually not bad.

But it is too difficult to dig them.

Generally, they are rich themselves, and they are not short of money, so it is difficult to impress them with money.

As for their careers, they also have their own careers. It is even more difficult to impress them with this, and it is too difficult to dig them. "

Li Dong smiled and said: "That's for sure, forget it, I won't say much, others are good, we are not necessarily worse than others.

They are all developed step by step. In the past few years, our people have made obvious progress, and the training of the follow-up echelon will increase in the next step.

In a few years, we don't have to think about digging anyone in the distance, we have enough of our own people. "

The two were talking, Bai Su hurried over with Li Dong's cell phone, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Li, Mr. Chen's phone number."

Li Dong took the phone and chatted with Chen Lang for a while.

After hanging up the phone, Sun Tao next to him excitedly said, "Mr. Li, Carrefour is going to withdraw?"

Li Dong smiled and said: "Almost, the global president of Carrefour will come to China for inspection the day after tomorrow. He said it was an inspection, but I think it's for finishing.

But whether it is true or not is hard to say now.

Wait a few more days and you will know. If you really want to withdraw, Carrefour has invested nearly 10 billion in China over the years, and it is not so easy to withdraw all at once.

And, let's not get too excited.

Even if they really withdraw, it's hard to say who is cheaper.

Mr. Chen said that Dulan may hold a banquet this time, and the specific time will be confirmed when Dulan arrives.

Now China Resources and Bailian should have received the news. Apart from these two companies, Tesco, Wal-Mart, RT-Mart... these companies will not just watch.

In short, if you want to eat peaches, you have to drive away those who want to pick peaches. "

Sun Tao couldn't help nodding when he heard the words. Indeed, even if Carrefour withdraws at this time, it is not so easy for them to take advantage of it.