In mid-March, Barron and his party boarded the Devonshire and departed from New York, heading for Yanjing.
This time, the Hearst sisters also went to China with him. When they learned that Barron was going to take them to China and would accompany them on tour after official duties, the two sisters were so excited that they could not express it in words.
This will also be the Hearst sisters' first trip to China. Prior to this, the only things they remembered about China were attractions such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, as well as Chinese cuisine.
They are very much looking forward to this trip to China, especially to spending more time with Barron.
The first stop was Yanjing, but Barron did not stay in the courtyard house he had purchased before. Instead, he booked the presidential suite on the top floor of the Grand Hyatt.
He bought the three courtyard houses at the end of September last year, and half a year has passed since then.
However, these courtyard houses have not been renovated yet...
In particular, the courtyard house located near the east gate of the Forbidden City, which was purchased by Murdoch in his previous life and eventually belonged to Deng Wendi after their divorce, needs to undergo structural renovation and maintain an overall Chinese style on the outside. The work is not small and it will have to wait until the second half of this year before people can move in.
At present, there are no strict regulations on the renovation of siheyuan houses. Although the siheyuan house near the east gate of the Forbidden City has an excellent location, it only covers an area of about 250 square meters.
According to the design plan, this courtyard house will add two underground floors, and some bungalows will be increased to two floors after reinforcement, so that the second-floor rooftop can have a better view.
After the renovation is completed, this courtyard house, which Barron nicknamed "Little Duke's Palace", will have an underground garage that can accommodate 5 cars, as well as an underground swimming pool and SPA room.
In addition, the ground part will have 15 rooms, including 5 bedroom suites, and all modern facilities such as gym, study, and entertainment room.
In addition, this "Little Duke's Mansion" will also have a viewing terrace for barbecue parties, and its courtyard will also be redesigned, with half of it being able to be turned into a closed area with a constant temperature through remote control...
Since there is a "Small Duke's Palace", there must naturally be a "Grand Duke's Palace".
That was the 1,200-square-meter four-courtyard house he had bought before...
The "Little Duke's Mansion" mentioned earlier, located near the east gate of the Forbidden City, still maintains the traditional Chinese style from the outside, but its interior design can be regarded as a combination of Chinese and Western styles.
Many rooms in the Little Duke's Mansion are decorated in a modern Western style, which blends perfectly with the overall "New Chinese style" of the interior.
The other "Grand Duke's Palace" will be restored completely in accordance with the traditional Chinese style.
In addition to modernizing living facilities, the overall layout, decoration style and courtyard construction of the Grand Duke's Palace will be completely Chinese style.
Therefore, the renovation and reconstruction of the Grand Duke's Palace will take a longer time, and it may have to wait until 2006 before it can be ready for occupancy.
Another reason why it took so long was that Barron needed Yan Hegui, a man from Yanjing whom he had known before, to help him collect and purchase some mahogany furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties to match the style of his Grand Duke's Palace.
…
After arriving at Yanjing, Barron met with Liu Chiping, vice president of Rich23 Capital.
In Rich23 Capital, Liu Chiping is responsible for investment matters, while President Chen Fuyang, in addition to controlling the overall work, is currently focusing his energy on the operation of Avago High-Tech.
"Currently, Baidu has started the process of going public in the United States, with Goldman Sachs Asia and Credit Suisse First Boston as their lead underwriters..."
Liu Chiping himself came from Goldman Sachs Asia. As a representative of Rich23 Capital, which participated in Baidu's last financing, he also helped in the IPO process of Baidu.
Currently, DS Holdings holds 5 million convertible preferred shares of Baidu, corresponding to a share price of US$3 per share; Rich23 Capital holds 745,000 convertible preferred shares of Baidu, corresponding to a share price of US$6.67.
After Baidu goes public, all the convertible preferred shares issued by Baidu during its previous financing will be converted into Baidu's Class A common shares at a 1:1 ratio.
Yes, Baidu's listing this time will use the form of AB shares. The Class B shares held by Baidu's founding team will have higher voting rights to ensure their control over the company.
Rich23 Capital will also participate in Baidu's IPO and subscribe to some of the newly issued shares.
According to Baidu's prospectus, they plan to issue 4.04 million American Depositary Receipts (NASDAQ new shares) in this IPO, and Rich23 Capital is prepared to subscribe for at least a quarter of them...
According to Liu Chiping, at present, Baidu's lead underwriters Goldman Sachs Asia and Credit Suisse First Boston have given a recommended pricing range of US$17-19 in their internal pricing of their stocks.
However, Robin Lee thinks that the price is a little low and is trying to persuade the other party to raise the issue price.
For underwriters preparing to list a company, they certainly hope to set the stock issue price lower, because based on their own interests, if the price is set too high, there is a possibility that the number of subscriptions will be insufficient - after all, as underwriters, they need to underwrite the stock.
In addition, underwriters often receive a portion of new shares as compensation, and if the price is lower, they will also benefit more from the subsequent stock price appreciation.
But in the final analysis, the main purpose of a company's IPO is to raise funds. The higher the issue price, the more money they can raise.
Therefore, the stock pricing process will also be a process of bargaining between listed companies, underwriters and investors.
Baron knew that in the original time and space, after many discussions, the final issue price of Baidu's IPO was set at US$27.
Compared with the price range of $17-19 proposed by the underwriter at the beginning, the issue price of $27 can be said to be a significant increase...
But it turns out that the issue price of $27 was still a bit low, even very low.
After all, on the first day of Baidu's stock listing, it opened at $66, and the stock price once reached as high as $150!
It finally closed at $122.54, a full 353.85% increase compared to its issue price of $27!
Not to mention the Baidu shares previously held by DS Holdings and Rich23 Capital, even if they participate in the subscription of Baidu shares now, they can also get good returns after it goes public...
Of course, they will not sell their shares at the beginning of the listing, but will continue to hold them.
After all, Baidu's stock price still has a lot of room for growth in the future.
"By the way, Your Highness, there is another matter, which is about Ali Company..."
"how?"
"Boss Ma is interested in acquiring Yahoo China, and Yahoo also wants to invest in Alibaba..."
Hearing Liu Chiping talking about this, Barron couldn't help but think of his past life. It was around this time that Yahoo acquired 40% of Alibaba's shares with 1 billion in cash and Yahoo China, becoming Alibaba's largest shareholder...
However, the current situation is very different from that of Alibaba in the previous life. Why does this still happen?