The more Meng Chang listened, the more he felt something suspicious behind this matter.
He didn’t interrupt but continued to listen attentively.
Fan Xiaodong paused slightly and said, “If the news about Dayark Group wanting to sell Finger Company is true, then the executives at Finger Company must each have their own considerations and plans.”
“After hearing the rumors, I began observing the movements of Finger Company’s executives through various channels and finally discovered some clues.”
“There’s an executive at Finger Company named Charles Kortick. Unlike executives like Crétien who have a designer background, he was a co-founder of Finger Company from the beginning. He’s not a designer but was a major financial backer. At his peak, he held nearly 40% of Finger Company’s shares and was the real power figure whose words carried weight.”
“Not only that, after Finger Company was acquired by Dayark Group, he earned their deep trust and won over the other co-founders without any suspense, becoming Finger Company’s CEO.”
“After Dayark Group bled heavily and gave Tenda a large sum of money to force a privatization offer, making Finger Company delist and gaining complete control, they went through a series of twists and turns and relisted. During this process, Dayark Group very generously gave Charles about 10% of the shares!”
“It’s clear that Charles is deeply trusted by Dayark Group, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’s the true controller of Finger Company.”
Meng Chang nodded slightly. This wasn’t hard to understand.
Dayark Group went through great pains to recover shares from Tenda because they considered Tenda an enemy and competitor. Leaving shares and Chinese server operation rights in Tenda’s hands would cause enormous harm to IOI, which is why they spent huge sums to buy them back.
Allocating some shares to Finger Company’s executives was to incentivize them to design IOI well and make more money.
Delisting was to gain complete control, while relisting was to re-enter the capital market and gain more benefits.
Among Finger Company’s executives, Dayark Group valued Charles the most. As for why… perhaps because he fit the shape that capital likes.
In this regard, executives who understand capital operations are much more pleasing than those who only know how to foolishly design games.
Fan Xiaodong continued, “After investigating, I found that Charles seems to be lobbying around. He successfully persuaded four investment institutions to jointly establish an investment company registered in the Cayman Islands.”
“Besides that, he also established a fund management company with his younger brother. Structurally, this fund management company is the sole partner of that investment company, meaning it’s the actual manager of the funds.”
Meng Chang quickly understood: “So… this new investment company established by the four investment companies is actually controlled by this fund management company, which in turn is controlled by Charles and his brother. As for those four investment companies that jointly invested… they’re actually just the financial backers and don’t participate in actual management.”
Fan Xiaodong: “Yes! This matter becomes very interesting. Why did Charles go to such lengths to establish this investment company? Since it’s an investment company, it must invest in something, right? And what kind of reasoning did he use to persuade these four large investment companies to provide money and become financial backers?”
After thinking for a moment, Meng Chang said, “He… wants to stage a coup? He wants to intercept!”
Fan Xiaodong nodded: “Exactly! That’s the only explanation!”
“Obviously, Dayark Group views Finger Company as a negative asset and wants to sell it, but Charles doesn’t think so. After all, he’s a co-founder of Finger Company and a veteran in the gaming industry. No one understands the value of electronic games and Finger Company better than him.”
“Charles sees Dayark Group’s sale as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
“He probably wants to use the time when other potential buyers are watching from the sidelines to find ways to drive down Finger Company’s value, forcing Dayark Group to sell it to him at a relatively low price.”
“Of course, I don’t know exactly how he’ll accomplish this. I guess Charles might be, on one hand, fooling Dayark Group by saying that IOI is already failing and no one will offer better terms, and on the other hand, pressuring Dayark Group through other channels, such as investment companies that have invested in Dayark Group projects.”
“Although there’s an advisory group within Finger Company appointed by Dayark Group responsible for analyzing potential buyers and their offers, Charles is, after all, the CEO of Finger Company and can obstruct in various ways, even using his CEO powers to dissolve this advisory group.”
“Since Charles has made up his mind to do this, he must have considerable confidence.”
Meng Chang pondered for a moment, then smiled: “Indeed, only capital can defeat capital.”
“Pei Qian isn’t the only one who has figured out Dayark Group’s weakness.”
“This Charles, on the surface, is Finger Company’s CEO, diligently working for Dayark Group, but once he encounters such a rare opportunity, he also reveals his fangs, wanting to turn the tables and become the master.”
“The key is… he actually has a great chance of success!”
“Assuming he can use this opportunity well, through various methods to fool Dayark Group, on one hand creating negative news to lower Finger Company’s value, and on the other hand promoting the transaction, then he could really make a fortune.”
“As CEO, he has great power. Just by inadvertently leaking some negative news, Finger Company’s stock price would continue to decline.”
“But there are risks in what he’s doing, so his actions must be quick!”
“Dayark Group has privately approached some buyers, but the talks aren’t going well because their intention to cut and run is too obvious. These buyers feel like they would be left holding the bag, don’t see a promising future for Finger Company, and are still waiting and watching. Their hesitation allows Charles to repurchase shares from Dayark Group at a low price. But if it drags on too long and other companies wake up, they might start competing with Charles.”
“Moreover, although Charles’s operation seems sophisticated and dazzling, the more complex the operation, the bigger the problems. It must violate some detailed regulations and will definitely affect the interests of others, especially minority shareholders. These people won’t let it go and will certainly take Charles to court, hoping to halt this transaction.”
“Of course, Charles will have a powerful team of lawyers and won’t easily lose the case, but he can’t afford delays either. So, the most likely outcome is that they’ll settle out of court, with Charles spending money to avoid disaster. But regardless, once this happens, it will inevitably take a long time.”
“The only variable in all this… is Mr. Pei!”
“Is that why you’re asking me about Mr. Pei’s views on this matter?”
Fan Xiaodong was pleased; talking to smart people was so easy: “Yes, if Mr. Pei doesn’t intervene, the most likely outcome is that Finger Company will successfully ‘redeem’ itself—though strictly speaking, it’s not redemption, but rather Charles becoming the biggest winner.”
“But if Mr. Pei steps in… then it’s hard to say. No one can guess what Mr. Pei will do.”
After considering for a long time, Meng Chang said, “I think… Mr. Pei might buy Finger Company.”
“If Charles thinks this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and wants to drive down Finger Company’s value, then for Mr. Pei, this is also a very good deal.”
“Although GOG is already invincible, IOI is still a very potential competitor and has influence worldwide.”
“If he buys it, it’s equivalent to controlling the entire MOBA game market. Then, if IOI makes money, Mr. Pei doesn’t lose; if IOI fails, that means GOG completely unifies the market, and Mr. Pei still doesn’t lose!”
“I think Mr. Pei should be able to see this.”
“Moreover, the combination of punches that Mr. Pei delivered to IOI through GOG, especially the various activities during the Spring Festival, shows that Mr. Pei has put a lot of effort into this matter. I don’t believe there’s no follow-up plan.”
Fan Xiaodong also became excited: “Right, that’s exactly what I wanted to say!”
“Suppose Mr. Pei steps in, what situation would arise? Just when Charles has meticulously prepared and is about to take over at a low price, Tenda appears! Dayark Group would naturally be overjoyed—they’re going to sell anyway, so it doesn’t matter who they sell to, as long as they get more money!”
“At that point, it would become a bidding war. Although Charles has a lot of money, he obviously can’t compare with Tenda.”
“Then… Finger Company’s stock would first plummet and then soar…”
“If we could buy at the lowest point and sell at the highest point, then even though we’re not actually participating in this transaction, we could still profit from it.”
“But the only question now is, does Mr. Pei intend to step in? If Mr. Pei doesn’t step in, the stock price won’t rise, and buying stocks would be purely giving away money.”
Meng Chang thought for a moment: “Leave this matter to me. I’m going to report to Mr. Pei soon. I’ll find a way to casually bring up this matter and see Mr. Pei’s attitude.”
Fan Xiaodong quickly said, “Be a little careful! Mr. Pei is so smart; if he sees through our intentions, it might backfire.”
Meng Chang patted his chest and answered very confidently: “Don’t worry! I’ve roughly figured out Mr. Pei’s temperament by now. There won’t be any problems.”
Fan Xiaodong was very pleased: “Good. Once we have definite news, we’ll purchase Finger Company’s stock. We may not make as much as before, but it will still be quite substantial!”
Without accurate information from Meng Chang’s side, even if Fan Xiaodong saw this opportunity, he absolutely wouldn’t dare to make a move.
The reason was simple: the risk was too great!
The slightest miscalculation could turn a huge profit into a huge loss.
But if they could get definite news from Mr. Pei, that would be completely different!