Facing the collective passive attitude of other shareholders, what else could Liu Quan say?
There really wasn’t much to say.
As the founder of Tudou, he was reluctant to give up the fruit of his labor, but unfortunately, with the spirit inside the company disintegrating and formidable external adversaries, if it were a matter of evenly matched competition or a slight advantage on the enemy’s side, he could have rolled up his sleeves and fought to the death.
But facing such a ’monstrously cunning’ company, that blow had left them all dazed.
It didn’t stop with just a single blow.
A black hood was thrown over them as well.
One could foresee, if they did not cooperate, another beating was imminent. "Well, Mr. Liu, it still depends on your decision, they said the management team of Tudou can join Comet Video entirely, and we shareholders are ousted, I think, maybe for you, Mr. Liu, this may well usher in new opportunities for development," a shareholder advised.
Liu Quan was the largest shareholder of the company.
Though he didn’t have a controlling stake, if he didn’t agree, the acquisition couldn’t be completed at all. Just delaying for a few days would exhaust Comet Films’ patience, so, it was better to pass this hot potato back to Liu Quan.
The remark was made with great nobility, casting a ’moral hijack’ over the company’s employees as well.
And Liu Quan?
He was looking down.
Fingers tapping lightly on the desk.
Producing a thudding sound.
The conference room fell silent for a moment, everyone waiting for Liu Quan’s final decision.
A full ten minutes passed.
Liu Quan raised his head. "I will contact Comet Films shortly, I agree to sell Tudou."
Ultimately,
Liu Quan compromised.
His tone was filled with helplessness, outmatched by the circumstances; he simply did not possess the die-hard spirit of the real business tycoons. ...
Comet Films.
Just as the afternoon shift began,
Pu Chaodong received a call from Liu Quan. "Mr. Liu, have you made up your mind?" Pu Chaodong asked with a laugh.
Liu Quan sighed. "Mr. Pu, we agree to sell all shares of Tudou, it’s 40 million RMB, right?" Liu Quan really wanted to raise the price, but this negotiation was special; even a hike of ten million would be offset by Comet Films just by delaying for five days.
Don’t ask why he harbored such silly worries.
Because he had played and been played by similar tactics before.
Sincerity.
It’s all for show.
Pu Chaodong laughed out loud. "Good, straightforward, efficient, I agree, then, 40 million RMB. Can we start the acquisition process tomorrow? I want to finalize this acquisition as soon as possible." "Yes, awaiting your company’s arrival," Liu Quan responded with a stifled laugh. "Sky Eye, a company, will contact you shortly; they will be in charge of the whole acquisition process, their intentions are my intentions, you can consult them if there are any issues," Pu Chaodong said.
All mergers and restructuring under Tang Qing’s subsidiaries are handled by Sky Eye.
Because of professionalism and efficiency, Tang Qing is even considering centralizing all legal work of the various companies into Sky Eye, creating a dedicated legal department to maintain the legal rights of all managed companies, which could also reduce waste of personnel.
Why Sky Eye goes there, and not Liu Quan coming here to sign the Contract.
That’s because it involved the liquidation of assets, figure out what’s in your hands first, identify what’s yours, then only start the acquisition process, otherwise, what’s there to sell if even the transaction goods are unclear? "Okay, I understand. And about our staff arrangements on this side..." Liu Quan doesn’t care who comes for the acquisition, mainly concerned about arrangements for his subordinates.
Pu Chaodong explained: "This will also be handled by Sky Eye initially. They will conduct assessments and employee evaluations, and before officially joining, Sky Eye will conduct company training and assessments; we will arrange the positions according to the results from Sky Eye’s evaluation."
Liu Quan was startled: "Ah? Isn’t it usually your company’s people who do these evaluations?" "Recruiting regular employees is done by our company, but for an entire company’s department merging like this, our HR department can’t handle it all, so we let Sky Eye take it up. Don’t worry, we will also properly place everyone from Tudou, and Mr. Liu, I would like to ask whether you would like to join Comet Video, and take up a position," Pu Chaodong asked. "I am willing," Liu Quan declared immediately.
He was ready for this. He also wanted to know which company had outplayed him. "I understand, I’ll go and make the arrangements right now." "Good." ...
Three days later.
Tudou officially announced that it had been acquired by Comet Video, effective immediately, transferring all Tudou’s users and advertising contracts to Comet Video. The news also detailed the specifics of the acquisition and the key personnel arrangements.
The former Chairman and CEO of Tudou, Liu Quan, now serves as the Deputy General Manager of Comet Video, while the other vice presidents were merged into various departments at Comet Video. As the acquired company, their status certainly couldn’t be too high.
Fortunately, Comet Video had set up its framework too quickly.
It was entirely the result of Tang Qing’s extraordinary strategy; only after Tudou’s staff were integrated did the staff truly match the scale of Comet Video. Due to the multitude of new sections and departments, there was even a bit of a strain on personnel.
However, it was not appropriate to hire more people at the moment, better to allow some time for adjustment first.
As soon as the technical staff from Tudou arrived at the company, they immediately took an interest in the video format algorithm.
However, such things were not something Tang Qing would casually let people access, as they were part of the company’s core secrets.
Comet Film and Television.
Technology Department.
The technicians listened blankly as the ’head of the Technology Department’ lectured them. "Don’t look at me like that. I don’t even have the qualification to access this secret. All of the video uploading and encrypted transmission are handled by the company’s specialized uploading software, which has been in place since the company’s inception. We don’t even know who the R&D personnel are.
So, your task will still be to maintain the normal operation of the company’s website, as well as work on internet security, adding new features, etc. The work of video transmission and processing is none of our business."
Just like that, the employees from Tudou, full of hope, were very disappointed.
All of them were technical professionals, and their curiosity about such an algorithm was immense. But this cold water dampened their spirits considerably, seeing the downcast faces, the head of Comet Video’s Technology Department merely smiled briefly.
Even he wasn’t qualified to access such an algorithm.
These employees could forget about it even more.
He even hoped that the company would keep it a secret always, to maintain its core competitive edge.
You see, business is like a battlefield; such valuable technology would interest any company, regardless if they were a video service company or not. If these current employees couldn’t keep it under wraps, leaking this technology would be utterly frustrating.
He’d rather not know than have such a nasty situation arise.
Things are good as they are now.
The fewer people who know, the farther Comet Video can go, and this aligns with his initial intents. ...
When this financial news was released, it immediately dominated half of the headlines.
A video service company that had only been established for two weeks had spent a huge amount to acquire Tudou, an industry giant, becoming the leading domestic online video service provider. It was indeed too intriguing.
It truly was a case of a snake swallowing an elephant.
It came too suddenly.
After deeply understanding the ins and outs of this acquisition, financial journalists were a bit excited, because this was yet another technology-led revolution and victory.
In any industry, a change in the leadership position within the industry garners the same level of attention from journalists as the scent of blood.
Especially in the emerging internet industry.
Because it has given birth to many legendary figures, and because these individuals’ companies are closely related to people’s daily lives, they possess higher visibility and recognition than traditional industries.
After all, in today’s society, you might not know the leading domestic milk powder manufacturer, the leading car manufacturer, or the leading automotive glass company, but you cannot be unaware of Penguin and Baidu, as well as their founders.
Therefore, they suddenly developed a keen interest in the owner of Comet Film and Television.