Dangdang.com, a veteran e-commerce company once called "China Amazon", is also about to change hands. Tianhai Investment, a subsidiary of HNA Group, disclosed the progress of the restructuring on the evening of March 9, and the first disclosed target assets are related equity of Beijing Dangdang Kewen E-Commerce Co., Ltd. and Beijing Dangdang.com Information Technology Co., Ltd.
Beijing Dangdang Information Technology Co., Ltd. is Dangdang.com's parent company, which means that if this major asset restructuring is completed, Dangdang.com will change hands and be taken over by Tianhai Investment.
The announcement shows that this major asset restructuring plans to purchase assets from the counterparty. The transaction method will involve issuing shares to purchase assets, and provide supporting financing depending on the situation. The specific plan is under communication, negotiation and demonstration. After the completion of this transaction, there will be no change in the company's actual control.
Regarding the progress of the restructuring, the announcement shows that the company and relevant parties are conducting further communication and consultation on matters such as this major asset restructuring plan. As of now, the company has not signed a formal restructuring agreement with the counterparty. The restructuring plan, transaction structure, and target assets have not been finalized. In the future, corresponding adjustments may be made based on due diligence and negotiations with potential counterparty.
Tianhai Investment has been suspended since January 12 and has officially launched major asset restructuring matters on January 15. The announcement shows that Tianhai Investment will continue to be suspended for no more than one month, and there is still great uncertainty in the above major asset restructuring matters.
A twists and turns of "selling one's body" story
Dangdang.com was listed on the US stock market in 2010, completed privatization and delisting in 2016, with a market value of only US$536 million when it was delisted. At that time, the outside world speculated that Dangdang.com might return to the A-share market.
At the end of last year, some media reported that HNA Group was negotiating to acquire the controlling stake in Dangdang.com, which may value the latter by more than US$1 billion, between 8-10 billion yuan.
In response, Li Guoqing posted on Weibo to deny it, saying that "the news is not true." He said that the privatization completed last year (2016) was an MBO, "We made major adjustments, and open source and interception are effective. As an e-commerce company with outstanding advantageous categories, good growth and good profits, it is normal for funds to find investment opportunities and contact Dangdang, but Dangdang has not signed any agreement."
Dangdang.com also responded to the media, saying, "The company has contacted some investors, but has not accepted any acquisition offers at present, and other relevant details in the rumors are inaccurate."
In fact, the story of Dangdang.com's "selling oneself" has also been full of twists and turns. In addition to HNA, before that, Amazon, Baidu, and Tencent also intended to accept Dangdang.com.
In 2004, Amazon wanted to acquire Dangdang for US$150 million. However, according to public information at the time, the negotiations were deadlocked from the beginning, with Amazon demanding to account for 70% or even 100% of the company's shares, but the bottom line between Li Guoqing and Yu Yu is 20-25%. In the end, the couple turned down Amazon's acquisition.
In 2013, Baidu proposed to invest in Dangdang.com. At that time, Dangdang.com had already been listed, and the stock price was hit by a roller coaster. In the end, it gave up because of the shareholding ratio and transaction price that did not reach an agreement.
In 2014, Dangdang.com was favored by Tencent, and Tencent asked to hold 33% of the shares, but Li Guoqing was only willing to give 25%. Finally, after the negotiations, Tencent switched to JD.com.
Until the news of HNA's acquisition of Dangdang.com was once again reported at the end of last year. Now it seems that the rumors at that time were considered true, but the specific details of the restructuring need to be further disclosed.
Behind selling oneself: the bitter fruit of a couple starting a business together?
Dangdang.com was founded by Li Guoqing and his wife Yu Yu. Li Guoqing is the CEO and Yu Yu is the chairman. "Mother-in-law Store" is another label for Dangdang.com outside of "book city". But the two have many differences in their work.
According to public reports, at the 2013 Chinese Business Mulan Annual Conference, Yu Yu once made an intriguing remark, saying, "If I had a choice, I would never start a business with my husband.
Because "Generally speaking, it is true that men and women are not tired of working together, but doing business with your own spouse is the most painful thing in the world. Building a business is different from living a life. When running a business, any two thoughtful people will have different ideas and there will be many conflicts. But when you come home with these conflicts, will I continue to conflict or not? If I don't continue to conflict, I will feel that I am hypocritical. If I want to continue to conflict, I will not be able to live my life."
On the afternoon of March 6, Li Guoqing also published a meaningful circle of friends: "The so-called marriage is... Sometimes I love him very much... Sometimes I want to kill him with one shot... Most of the time I meet his favorite food on the way to buy a gun... I bought the vegetables but forgot to buy a gun... I think about it after a few days of going home and thinking about it... "
On the evening of March 9, Tianhai Investment, a subsidiary of HNA Group, issued an announcement to disclose the news of the restructuring. According to AI Finance and Economics, the acquisition of HNA and Dangdang has been negotiated for more than a year. During this period, due to the disagreement of Li Guoqing and his wife, Li Guoqing wanted to go public independently, and Yu Yu wanted to sell it.
After Dangdang's privatization, Li Guoqing once reflected that it was difficult for couples to start a business. First of all, it was difficult to convince each other in management, resulting in low decision-making and execution efficiency, and more importantly, it would cause damage to life.
Dangdang.com and Alibaba were founded in the same year and were much more popular than JD.com. Now it has reached the point of "selling oneself" and is not unrelated to the differences in decision-making and missed opportunities in management.
Early this morning, Li Guoqing spoke for the first time after the news of HNA's acquisition of Dangdang.com was announced, "The world is lonely and can do it, and the world is vast and vast! I wish the cultural e-commerce unicorn Dangdang.com dare to do it!"
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