Chapter 9 Politics and business rivalry: do not sell to entrepreneurs

In 1997, the 38-storey Guangzhou Jianlibao Building was completed, and Li Jingwei moved the company headquarters to Guangzhou as planned.At this time, Jianlibao reached the peak of development in history: in 1996, the group's sales exceeded 5 billion yuan; in April, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce appraised the first batch of "China's well-known trademarks", and Jianlibao was on the list; in August According to industry data released by the China Beverage Association, Jianlibao ranks first in terms of output, total output value, sales revenue and tax profit;

However, what is unknown is that the relationship between Li Jingwei and the Sanshui City Government has deteriorated seriously. Li Jingwei's wishful thinking on property rights is largely wishful thinking.In the eyes of Sanshui city government officials, all his actions are tantamount to betrayal.As the largest source of local fiscal revenue, Jianlibao's centrifugal actions have increasingly made them restless.It is said that the construction of Jianlibao Building has not been approved by the Sanshui Municipal Government, and its high cost is even suspected of transferring assets; when the headquarters is moved to Guangzhou, does it mean that this cash cow will eventually be transferred from its own land? "Move away"?These suspicions propagated and spread like a virus among Sanshui government officials. Some even questioned that Jianlibao's overseas strategy was a "trap".Because, "tens of millions of dollars have been invested in the US market, but Jianlibao products are not seen in the supermarkets there."These doubts eventually turned into a firm consensus, that is, Li Jingwei is no longer of one mind with the people of Sanshui.Since then, all his actions have been marked as suspicious.

In the autumn of 1997, under Li Jingwei's careful planning, Jianlibao's plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was about to be passed. In this plan, the equity distribution of the management layer was included.However, the Sanshui City Government refused to approve this plan on the grounds that Li Jingwei's team "does not have a Hong Kong temporary residence permit, so they are not allowed to purchase the original H shares."In a rage, Li Jingwei gave up listing.Since then, the conflict has become open. Since 1998, the Sanshui Municipal Government has increased its control over Jianlibao funds.Every time the group develops a new product, it must be approved by the municipal government, go through the municipal government's financial budget, and then allocate funds.The insider explained that this is because “Sanshui is very wary of Li Jingwei’s transfer of assets in the name of developing new products, so almost every new investment promotion project has to be personally approved by the government. Find a partner."

Any rational or well-intentioned judgment can be distorted and misunderstood when suspicion looms over partners like a devil.This may be the most embarrassing part of the Jianlibao case.For nearly 6 years, Li Jingwei, who has a bold and straightforward personality, has never put down his airs and actively communicated with government departments to ease relations. This may be his biggest mistake. In 1999, the Sanshui City government underwent a major change. Some old officials who had friendship with Li Jingwei retired or changed their guards. A layer of warm and tender tulle formed by historical origins was finally lifted, and his situation became more difficult and dangerous.At this moment, Jianlibao Group proposed a plan to implement the reform of the employee shareholding cooperative system within the company, and the management would buy the shares held by the Sanshui Municipal Government with self-raised funds. Li Jingwei offered a price of 450 million yuan. And pay in installments over 3 years.The Sanshui City Government categorically refused, and the reason was said to be "the risk is very high, and it is suspected that Jianlibao funds were used to buy Jianlibao."Later, a consulting company in Shenzhen devised a new plan. Li Jingwei's team held 75% of the shares, and the Sanshui Municipal Government gave Li Jingwei a 5% equity reward.This plan was also rejected by the Sanshui City Government, and the reason was still "worried that the source of money from the management layer is unknown."

During this period, the sale of Jianlibao has become the consensus of many people.On the one hand, 80% of the state-owned enterprise restructuring in Sanshui has been completed since 1998. Jianlibao has become the last large state-owned enterprise to be restructured, and the local financial situation is not very good.During some months of those years, as the new mayor later admitted, "public servants were underpaid and it was very difficult".On the other hand, Jianlibao's operating performance has also declined sharply.Since the impressive performance record of 5.4 billion yuan was created in 1997, sales have dropped significantly year by year, falling to 3.1 billion yuan in 2001, which is equivalent to the level in 1994, and the profits and taxes paid to the government have also dropped from 100 million yuan to 2000 yuan. About ten thousand yuan.Therefore, it has become an obvious reality to sell Jianlibao as soon as possible. The question that needs to be studied is only who to sell this company that is changing from a "sweet potato" to a "hot potato".

A pivotal meeting was held in July 2001.The Sanshui Municipal Government held a joint meeting on the transformation of Jianlibao. The leaders of the municipal party committee and the municipal government were all present.As a result, 90% of the people advocated selling Jianlibao, but it must not be sold to Li Jingwei's team. The fate of Jianlibao and Li Jingwei was strongly decided at this moment. When the news of Jianlibao's imminent sale was released, a group of "sharks" from all directions moved upon smelling the smell and quietly surrounded Sanshui.None of them are swimming in the sun, and their sharp teeth have been exposed fiercely.