Chapter 203 Acquisition
"Charles, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you saying anything?" Charles' father asked.
"I just thought of something, but I feel like it's unlikely," Charles said honestly.
"You idiot! Fool! What are you still thinking about? Hurry back here, I'm going to jail, you need to take care of a lot of things in the tribe!"
"Alright, I'll buy a plane ticket now," Charles said with a helpless look on his face. No matter what, he had to go back.
...
Quentin had left in the GMC car.
"Noah, thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know how I would have gotten this graduation certificate," Grace said gratefully, looking at Noah.
"I don't need any thanks, it's just a small matter." Noah waved his hand. "What are your plans for the next step?"
"The next step?" Grace's gaze flickered. "I don’t think I’ll buy a house with the five million you gave me. I want to use the money to start a business, open a store or something."
Noah nodded. The five million would allow Grace to live a stable life. It could also serve as her starting capital to earn more money. It all depended on Grace's choice.
"Where do you want to go now?" Noah started the car.
"I want to go to Orchard Breeze Avenue, there are a lot of storefronts there. I'm going to check it out in person to see if there's any project I can do," Grace said.
"Alright."
Noah didn't say much more. The car left the Financial University.
After dropping off Grace at Orchard Breeze Avenue, Noah headed toward Golden Summit Peak.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
"Hello, Owner of the Rolls-Royce, this is Hazel, the live stream administrator," said a female voice.
"Is there something you need?" Noah asked curiously. He didn't have much to do with Facebook Live now.
"Well..." Hazel hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone, then continued, "We just had a board meeting and made a decision. I don't know you’d be interested?"
"Tell me about it," Noah said calmly.
"You bid 10 million at the auction that night and helped us earn 5 million. Our platform has decided that we will take your 5 million as a purchase of 10% of shares in Facebook Live. How about that?" Hazel said.
Noah's eyes flickered and a smile appeared on his lips. This was getting interesting.
They wanted to take 5 million and give Noah 10% of the shares? Something seemed off to him.
He glanced around and had a rough idea of what was going on.
Most likely, the operational conditions of the Facebook Live platform was not that great.
If the operational conditions were good, they wouldn't have to invite those platform tycoons to participate in the annual live event or hold an auction to raise funds.
Now, Noah was definitely a bigshot for Facebook Live, and they needed to hold onto this opportunity.
"What do I have to do for you to give me 10% of the shares?" Noah asked again. There was no way anyone would just give him shares for free, especially since they had already made money off him.
"You’re clever person, and yes, there is one condition, a simple one," Hazel said, smiling.
"It is that in the future, if there are problems with the financial turnover or poor operation in our Facebook Live operations, we hope that you can inject some capital and extend a helping hand.
"Of course, the funds you inject will be converted into shares, and you will get dividends at the end of the year," Hazel added.
Noah remained silent, his face showing contemplation.
"Are you saying no, Owner of the Rolls-Royce?" Hazel became a bit nervous. "If you refuse, the 5 million will go in vain, and you won't get any shares."
"I’m not saying no. I'm just thinking about how much it would cost to acquire Facebook Live," Noah said calmly.
"Hmm..." Hazel was stunned. This man was extravagant. He wanted to acquire them.
"A complete acquisition would probably cost around 100 million," Hazel said after pondering.
"One hundred million is fine." Noah nodded. "We’ll go ahead with the acquisition!"
Hazel inhaled sharply, shocked beyond words. She had told him the price was a hundred million, but there was a lot of room for negotiation. She had intentionally raised the price by more than 10 million, but she hadn't expected Noah to agree to the acquisition so readily.
"Are you sure you're not joking?" Hazel said disbelievingly. This was a billion-dollar deal, but it felt like Noah he was casually buying groceries on the street.
"Do I seem like I'm joking?" Noah retorted. "Where is your company headquarters? I’ll come over now to discuss the acquisition."
"We’re on the 28th floor of the Kyle Building. If you come over, I’ll talk to the senior management right now," Hazel said.
"Alright, I'm coming over now."
After hanging up, Noah opened the GPS on his phone and headed toward Cobblestone Circle.
Noah arrived at the Kyle Building after half an hour.
It was noon, and the weather was hot, the sun scorching.
After parking the car, Noah took the elevator to the 28th floor.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a banner with the words "Facebook Live" written on it, and a red shark logo swimming in the waves at the bottom right corner.
"Owner of the Rolls-Royce!"
As soon as he walked in, a woman greeted him.
She was wearing a short skirt, her deep cleavage was revealed, and she was wearing makeup. It was Hazel, the live stream administrator.
"Oh, what's this? You’re an administrator, but do you also have to be a host?" Noah said as he looked at Hazel.
Her makeup was very heavy, if she was just an administrator, there would be no need to put on such heavy makeup.
"Ah, the company's business has been poor recently. Several administrators have also become hosts." Hazel looked helpless. "Operating a live platform costs a lot. We need to pay for platform construction, technician salaries, traffic costs, server costs, promotion, customer service... In short, we’re burning money and losing money every day. If we don't work hard, we might go out of business tomorrow."
Noah rubbed his chin. He didn't think that there were so many aspects and pressures behind a live platform.
Hazel continued, "In the live streaming industry, it's survival of the fittest. The bigger the platform, the more famous they are. They have more popular hosts, more viewers, and more gifts. The platform will make more money, and this forms a virtuous cycle."
"For example, in China, there are two big live streaming platforms, Douyu and Huya, both of which have gone public, which are examples of a virtuous cycle."
Noah listened quietly. This was an area he hadn't been involved in before, so learning more about them would be beneficial.
"And some platforms might have big bosses behind them, btu they may still go bankrupt due to various reasons such as hosts, viewers, and operations. For example, the Panda Eye live streaming platform.
"The situation is deteriorating and we’re losing money every day. Otherwise, why would we do things like the companion auction and gather college students to become hosts? It’s all for survival."
Hazel looked at Noah and said seriously, "Owner of the Rolls-Royce, I’m trying to tell you that the live streaming industry is highly competitive. It might go well today, but we could go bankrupt the next day.
"Secondly, the operational status of the Facebook Live platform is another matter. If you acquire it for one billion dollars, you may need to invest another five or ten billion dollars in order to achieve profitability.
"I hope you’ll consider it carefully."
Noah's eyes flashed slightly. He hadn't expected the administrator to be so open and honest and tell him the truth.
A poorly managed company would definitely be thrilled when they heard the news of an acquisition and would create false reports to deceive the acquiring party in order to achieve their goals.
