Rebirth in 1998 is also a kind of life

Two days later.

Yang Zhu, who has switched to the chairman of Zhutou International Trade Co., Ltd., is accompanied by a group of people to visit the completely different Quancheng Meat Factory.

To be honest, although the relationship between Zhutou Commercial and Zhutou International Trade and Quancheng Meat Union Factory is very good, every annual meeting of Zhutou Commercial and Trade will invite the other party's high-level executives to attend;

But speaking of it, it was the first time for Yang Zhu, the big boss, to set foot inside the Meat Joint Factory—in the past, it was Lao Li who ran here exclusively, and later became Director Yan.

"Zhushi, Mr. Yang and Mr. Lu; this is the slaughtering and dividing workshop we built at the end of last year." Wu Bian, the general manager of the meat factory with a dust-free cap on his head, stood in the corridor on the second floor. Glass introduced.

"Since July 2001, our Quancheng Meat Joint Factory has been determined to benchmark against the world's first-class standards, and has carried out transformation and upgrading of the production technology, information system, and environmental protection system of slaughtering and segmentation, meat processing, etc., and introduced imported meat from the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, and Spain. The world-class equipment has realized the automation, intelligence and informatization of the whole process of production, which not only reduces labor intensity, improves production efficiency, but also ensures product quality."

"The large-scale slaughtering and dividing workshop we see now covers an area of ​​1.1 square meters. It is equipped with automatic and intelligent equipment such as automatic stunning machine and automatic chest opening machine; after a live pig enters the workshop, it will be divided according to different parts. The raw materials of more than 70 kinds of products are then sent to the processing line of the next-door meat product workshop along with the assembly line, and enter the links of rolling and kneading stuffing, filling, high-temperature sterilization, drying, and packaging.” Looking at the underfoot Wu Bian couldn't help feeling a strong sense of pride in the large-scale slaughtering and dividing workshop that was definitely regarded as the leading one in China, and the hundreds of workers who were busy on the assembly line.

"The currently upgraded Quancheng Meat Factory has a single shift production capacity of 90 pigs per year, 1.5 tons of prepared products per year, and an annual output value of 18 billion yuan for b-end products. The meat processing project can achieve an annual output of meat products 3 tons, the annual output value of c-end products is 8.5 million yuan, and the production efficiency is 2.5 times that before the transformation."

Wu Bian, who reported a series of data in his mouth, when talking about the c-end products, glanced at Yang Zhu with vague eyes, and then continued: "From the current point of view, the fragrant braised pigs exclusively for the b-end market Cooked food such as hooves, pig’s head meat, and crispy ears, and hot pot ingredients such as crispy meat and meatballs are already our main profitable products;”

"But the leader's instructions are right. While opening up the b-end market, our meat joint factory can't give up the c-end market. We can't just sit and eat the old capital of Quancheng luncheon meat and Quancheng ham sausage. We must further reduce costs and increase efficiency, improve Our own market competitiveness allows our Quancheng Meat Joint Factory to truly go global!"

"So, in addition to introducing various advanced equipment, our meat joint factory has now begun intensive research and development of products such as American bacon and sausage..."

Seeing Wu Bian gradually entering the state of swearing-in, Yang Zhu, who had already received the hint, smiled slightly, and understood what the city was planning this time—look at this action, the city is planning to make a big hit with political achievements.

………………

An hour later, in the reception room of the Meat Joint Factory.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Lu, as the leading foreign trade company in China, you have established a leading foreign trade company with channels all over Europe and the United States, and you know the fast-moving consumer goods markets in various countries very well, so... the two of you have some advice on the meat joint factory's plan to enter the international market. Don't you have confidence?" The slightly thinner city leader surnamed Wu looked at Yang Zhu and Lu Sisi with a smile.

Seeing that the leader went straight to the topic as soon as he sat down, Yang Zhu looked sympathetically at Wu Bian, who had an unnatural expression next to him—he even omitted the most basic visit summary process, so he must have seen it. You made a small move of "passing a small note". It seems that you will inevitably be criticized afterwards!

However, Quancheng Meat Joint Factory is a municipal state-owned enterprise, and this person in front of him is the superior leader of his leadership department. Even Yang Zhu can't intervene in this kind of matter, so he can only let this guy ask for luck.

Seeing the leader surnamed Wu staring at him all the time, Yang Zhu showed a contemplative expression on his face, as if he was trying to organize his words; Lu Sisi on the side saw this, and stepped forward consciously: "Zhu Shi, to be honest, although Quancheng After more than two years of accumulation, the meat joint factory has accumulated a certain amount of brand in the European and American markets, and the sales in some cities are also good, but... If you really plan to fully enter the international market, I think it is better to be cautious. "

This is true. Although with the help of the small circle gang, Quancheng brand luncheon meat and ham sausages have sold well in Europe and the United States in the past two years, but you must know that there is a big reason why those food giants have not made a move yet. The two products of Quancheng Meat Factory are low-end products, and the overall sales volume is not very large. Therefore, under the default rule of trade replacement, the other party has not launched any targeted activities.

But once the Quancheng Meat Factory intends to enter the international market in an all-round way, and starts to launch products such as bacon and sausages that are more profitable and more in line with the eating habits of local consumers, it will be a different matter—the energy of foreign food giants is far from It's as simple as you think, if you touch someone's cake, it's strange if they don't fight back.

The leader surnamed Zhu waved his hands disapprovingly: "The country now calls on all enterprises to learn, even if there are many difficulties in entering the international market, but...the minimum determination is to have it!"

Yang Zhu on the side couldn't help but twitched his eyebrows when he heard the words.

With the increasing degree of economic globalization, the business needs of Chinese enterprises to integrate the global industrial chain network are becoming increasingly strong. In addition, the country is really displeased with the fact that domestic enterprises will only be sloppy. Therefore, after joining the WTO, they began to informally We call on everyone to target the international market.

So here comes the question... With the current international environment and the competitiveness of domestic enterprises, if you directly enter the international market, there is a 99% possibility, so how can you "go global"?

The answer is simple - engage in overseas mergers and acquisitions!

Through the acquisition of foreign company brands and overseas sales channels, combined with China's low manufacturing cost advantage, open up the international market-in general terms, it is "capital goes out and resources are bought back".

In order to set an example, in just six months from June to June 2002, domestic investors represented by central enterprises and state-owned enterprises made direct investment in 6 overseas enterprises in 31 countries and regions around the world, accumulatively realizing non-financial direct investment 225 billion US dollars, and has initially formed the expected return results in the future.

Seeing that the road of overseas mergers and acquisitions is feasible, the higher-ups were relieved, but they encountered difficulties-the road of "capital going out and resources buying back" is very good, but its scope of application Narrow, more suitable only for resource-based enterprises and raw material processing enterprises, but not much reference for the larger number of manufacturing enterprises and fast-moving consumer goods enterprises.

Ever since, the higher-ups began to try the road of "capital going out and products going out" - gradually opening up the international market by acquiring foreign company brands and overseas sales channels, combined with China's low manufacturing cost advantages.

Logically speaking, this idea is good, and there is no major problem in logic.

However, Yang Zhu is well aware that the vast majority of domestic companies currently do not have the ability to quickly digest and deal with their foreign counterparts in terms of technology and management—let alone swallow an elephant, even if they swallow a little Larger foods are likely to be choked to death.

In fact, in the next few years, judging from many failed cases including TCL's acquisition of Thomson and SAIC's acquisition of Ssangyong, Huaxia enterprises still have a long way to go.

Although Quancheng Meat Factory seems to be doing well in foreign countries now, Yang Zhu knows that once it officially enters the international market, the problems it faces are not just the two problems of brand and channel - behind the international competition of brands, the essence The above is the competition of the entire industry chain.

Obviously, Yang Zhu doesn't think that China's agricultural products and the industrial chain behind them really have the ability to fight bayonets.

………………

谷蹺

Lu Sisi, who had been observing the expression of her boss from the corner of her eye, saw Yang Zhu raising her eyebrows, and immediately understood, so she said with a smile: "Zhu Shi, it is certainly a good thing to have determination; but, whether it is directly entering the terminal market of other countries , It is not an easy task to engage in overseas mergers and acquisitions, the simplest point... so much money, where does it come from?"

Lu Sisi's doubts are reasonable. Whether it is a premium merger or a large-scale direct entry into the terminal market of other countries, this kind of product company needs a lot of funds to support it, and often needs to make continuous strategic losses within 3-5 years. Therefore, if there is not enough cash flow, it is tantamount to courting death—however, Quancheng Meat Factory is an asset-heavy enterprise, and the capital chain of this kind of enterprise is often extremely fragile, not to mention the redundant capital pool, even the guarantee business chain The funds are smooth, and at most only one or two of a hundred families can reach it.

Seeing Lu Sisi throwing out such a question that could kill a lot of companies, the leader surnamed Zhu smiled confidently: "Mr. Lu, don't worry about this question. In order to explore a feasible way for domestic enterprises to go to sea, the city will do a good job. adequately prepared;”

"Part of the source of funds comes from commercial loans from banks - due to sensitivity considerations, although we cannot directly allocate special support funds, for a high-quality enterprise like Quancheng Meat Joint Factory, a low-interest loan of more than one billion yuan from the bank is a little bit No problem."

"The other part..."

The leader surnamed Zhu couldn't help being a little excited: "We are promoting the preparations for the listing of the Quancheng Meat Factory. Once it is successfully listed, there will be countless private funds that can be deployed. With the reputation and financial status of the Meat Factory, one or two It is not difficult to achieve a market valuation of tens of billions or even tens of billions within the year!"

"In fact, since last year, the city has directed the Quancheng Meat Joint Factory to carry out large-scale upgrades. On the one hand, it is out of consideration for improving production capacity and quality control, and on the other hand, it is also actively preparing for the listing!"

Lu Sisi heard the implication of the leader surnamed Zhu, and fell silent for a while.

In fact, since 1994, state-owned enterprises have been listed. After 96, listing has gradually become one of the most important sources of funds for state-owned enterprises after reorganization. Therefore, the other party said that through the listing and issuance of stocks, they can obtain sufficient cash flow. It's not whimsical -- after all, in the A-share market where the mechanism is still not perfect and the ground is full of leeks, it is not difficult for a large-scale and profitable state-owned enterprise like Quancheng Meat Factory to "crush" into a leading stock.

Looking at Yang Zhu who was still silent, Lu Sisi had no choice but to continue: "Although China is already the world's largest pork consumer, the current annual pork consumption is about 3000 million tons, but limited Factors such as site, food, feed, environment, etc. The domestic pig breeding industry is dominated by individual households and small and medium-sized farms. Not to mention the high cost of feeding, the quality is even more uneven—even if the Quancheng Meat Factory has enough If you don’t do well in cost and quality control, it’s completely useless.”

Hearing this, Wu Bian nodded in agreement: "Although our Quancheng Meat Joint Factory has established more than 50 slaughterhouses across the country and invested in more than ten pig breeding bases, we have a deep relationship with Hope Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. Cooperation, using their high-quality and cheap special feed to feed... But even so, in terms of the cost of raw meat, compared with the beautiful country and those agricultural powerhouses in South America, we are still a lot higher than the boss!"

"It's okay if it's only in the country. Because of our country's protection policy, the pork imported from abroad is mainly used as raw material for the b-end, and those finished products are also circulated in the c-end market as mid-to-high-end food. We are not afraid;"

"But once we take the initiative to enter the international market, after considering the issue of tariffs, most of the real mainstream meat products must control the production cost of raw materials to a level close to the level of Europe and the United States, so that they can pass lower labor costs. To offset part of the tariffs and other fees, to achieve real competition on the same level, otherwise..."

The leader surnamed Zhu looked at Wu Bian with a smile, until he stopped talking a little embarrassingly, then turned his head, passed Lu Sisi and looked directly at Yang Zhu: "Mr. Yang, actually, this is not something that cannot be solved... I I heard that Mr. Yang is starting the acquisition negotiations for Smithfield?"

Seeing the leader surnamed Zhu disregarding the rules and directly crossing Lu Sisi and asking him questions, Yang Zhu frowned, but he had no choice but to answer: "Not bad!"

Ever since the Quancheng Meat Factory uncharacteristically sent a formal letter inviting him to visit and inspect, he guessed that someone was here for Smithfield's affairs.

In fact, this is why he has been procrastinating, insisting on waiting for Lu Sisi to come forward as Zhutou International Trade—you know, Quancheng Meat Joint Factory owns 5% of the shares of Zhutou International Trade. The identity of the chairman of the investment business appears here, so following the clues, some things are really inconvenient to shirk.

Obviously, the leader surnamed Zhu was a little annoyed that Yang Zhu participated in this inspection as the chairman of Zhutou International Trade this time, so he laughed: "Since your company is planning to acquire Smithfield, the world's number one pork manufacturer, then Wouldn’t the cost problem of the meat joint factory be solved?”

Speaking of this, the leader surnamed Zhu looked serious: "Mr. Yang, I have a proposal... As far as I know, your company's acquisition of Smithfield has not yet entered the substantive stage. If there is no accident, if you want to complete the acquisition, at least Still have to wait a year or two;"

"So it's not as good as this—according to the plan, the Quancheng Meat Factory will be officially listed at the end of this year or early next year; after the listing and financing are successful, we might as well let the Meat Factory participate in the acquisition process;"

"In this way, the financial pressure on your company's acquisition will be much less, and the meat joint factory will also be able to obtain a stable and low-cost source of raw material supply. It can be regarded as the best of both worlds!"

"Of course, I know that your company's acquisition of Smithfield must have its own strategic intentions. The so-called gentleman does not take what others like - do you think this is good? Your company can set a capital injection limit to ensure that after the acquisition, your company owns a relative controlling interest in Smithfield;”

"It's really not possible. The meat joint factory should inject capital. After the acquisition is successful, you will still own 100% of the shares. At that time, your two companies and our city will jointly establish a new pig raw material supply enterprise. It’s just that it’s agreed in advance that this new company’s dividend rights can give priority to your company, but for the shareholding structure, you must refer to the plan we gave you!”

"Look...how about my proposal?"

Hearing the leader surnamed Zhu's "thinking about you", Yang Zhu almost wanted to roll his eyes--Brother, everyone is not a novice, do you have any fun playing these word games?

Also guarantee our relative controlling stake after capital injection? , and ppp a new company?Also refer to your plan to design the equity structure?

Do you think I, Yang, are so stupid?

However, in the heart of Yang Zhu, who had made up his mind a long time ago, these things are not what he cares about, what he cares about is...

Yang Zhu smiled, but his eyes were very sharp: "Oh? Zhu Shi... I don't know how you know that our acquisition negotiations with Smithfield Foods have not yet entered the substantive stage?"

Generally speaking, unless one party has no sincerity in negotiating, or puts pressure on the opponent to make trouble, this kind of acquisition is absolutely confidential before the two parties enter the substantive stage.

Obviously, although Smithfield showed a lack of interest, there are signs that he will definitely not be insincere; and even in the beautiful country, only a few people know the progress of this matter. Where did the other party receive the message from?

Seen by Yang Zhu's sharp eyes, the leader surnamed Zhu, who is not very familiar with shopping malls, was shocked. Although he didn't understand why Yang Zhu would care about such a trivial matter for a while, he had rich experience after all, so he immediately laughed: " Mr. Yang, your company plans to acquire the world's number one pork producer, so everyone is naturally concerned about it."

Oh?

Looking at the other party who didn't seem to realize what the problem was, Yang Zhu smiled playfully...