The 2016 season has ended. From the 10th place when Zaccheroni dismissed get out of class to the final 5th place, Guoan , who took the initiative to seek changes and planned to make a difference, was not satisfactory. From coaching to personnel to equity, Guoan suddenly accelerated the pace like a faltering old man, but the steps were too big... Next year, Guoan will still seek changes, many of which are new. How they will play is worth looking forward to. Reported by
reporter Liu Xiangyu As an old state-owned club, Guoan is looking forward to rebirth in 2016, increasing capital and shares, and restructuring the club, so as to truly keep up with market changes and maintain the team's competitiveness. But things went wrong, and Guoan's first attempt to test the waters ended in failure. They and LeTV eventually broke up on bad terms, and the club was greatly affected by this. After bidding farewell to LeTV, Guoan's plan to increase capital and shareholdings will continue. This time it involves a larger scope and is correspondingly more complex. In the face of the influx of new capital and the barriers of industry rules, can Guoan be able to maintain stability? We have finally passed this hurdle, and we are still looking at flowers in the mist.
Guoan LeTV ended in embarrassment
As early as July this year, this newspaper exclusively reported that the marriage between Guoan and LeTV had broken down. This love affair, which originally seemed like a mirror image, only lasted a pitiful four months.
At the beginning of this year, Guoan increased its capital and shares, and sold 50% of its shares to LeTV Sports at a price of 2 billion. At the same time, Guoan changed its name to "Guoan LeTV" in the new season and appeared in the Chinese Super League. At that time, due to time issues, the two parties did not finally complete the transfer of equity, but they signed an agreement and established a strategic committee. Among the committee, there are three representatives from LeTV Sports and three representatives from CITIC Group. The ratio of three to three also corresponds to their respective 50% shares. The six members of the board of directors work together to make decisions on major national security matters.
According to the agreement, LeTV’s 2 billion payment should be paid to Guoan in two years, with one billion each year. The agreement clearly stipulated that the first payment of RMB 500 million should be received one week before the start of this year's Chinese Super League. However, Guoan did not receive the corresponding payment, and subsequently postponed the week before Guoan's participation (due to schedule adjustments, Guoan had a bye in the first two rounds), but After the time was up, Guoan still didn't see the money.
Subsequently, the relationship between the two parties gradually weakened. Guoan sent reminder letters to LeTV several times, but nothing happened. In June this year, Guoan sent a letter of termination of cooperation to LeTV Sports, and the two parties broke up. Before
broke up, Guoan only received 50 million in naming fees from LeTV. This figure is also far from the "100 million yuan" naming fee announced by both parties at the press conference. LeTV explained that the naming fee in the agreement was 50 million, not 100 million. But in fact, the naming fee of 50 million is the first earnest money paid by LeTV Sports to invest in Guoan. If it were not a shareholder, based on the market valuation, Guoan’s naming fee would not be less than 100 million. This may be the reason. The origin of why "100 million" was mentioned in the press conference.
Due to the lack of funds from LeTV, Guoan Club's operations throughout the year were greatly affected. The club's original budget included LeTV's funds. After the cooperation broke down, Guoan could only change the plan. The most direct The impact is on mid-term signings.
From the partner to the breakdown of the cooperation, so far, Guoan has not received any explanation on the matter from LeTV. The statement about LeTV is only known from online news.
LeTV Sports CEOLei Zhenjian said on this matter, "LeTV Sports has paid in accordance with the contract, but the two parties did not reach an agreement on the core terms, resulting in no further cooperation in equity." Luo Ning, honorary chairman of Guoan Club, said: "Actually, The situation is that they (LeTV) are really in difficulty and can’t give them money, so there’s nothing we can do.”
Two handshakes become three pillars?
When Guoan decided to increase capital and expand its shares and open its arms to the market, the market also developed a strong interest in Guoan.In fact, before Guoan joined hands with LeTV at the beginning of this year, several other capital parties also expressed strong interest in Guoan. Guoan actually had two or three options, but finally chose LeTV Sports. One of the main reasons is that LeTV can be regarded as a local company in Beijing, with attributes of sports and media. But looking back now, the choice made at that time seems unwise.
The progress of things was far from as good as imagined. The marriage between Guoan and LeTV broke up soon after. Although Guoan was the frustrated party, this did not affect the beginning of a new relationship. In June this year, after Guoan sent a letter of termination of cooperation to LeTV Sports, it began to contact other capital. It is not difficult for Guoan to find a partner for
. Their test at the beginning of this year also made them feel the enthusiasm of the market. However, after experiencing an unhappy period of cooperation with LeTV, CITIC executives were very dissatisfied, so Guoan became more cautious when looking for new partners.
New partners soon surfaced. This time, it was not just one, but working with many companies. Among them, Ant Financial and IDG Capital are the two closest to Guoan. It is very likely that they will be the two companies that finally join hands with Guoan. At present, Guoan, Ant Financial and IDG Capital have not made official statements on the matter.
Last year’s cooperation between Guoan and LeTV Sports did not reach a substantial equity transfer due to time issues. In order to avoid the problems of the last time, Guoan's capital increase and share expansion have also been fully accelerated this time, striving to complete all aspects as soon as possible. In late September this year, the two companies had entrusted professional institutions to officially start the investigation of the Guoan Club. When
reached an agreement with LeTV, Guoan increased its capital and shares, each holding 50% of the shares with LeTV. LeTV paid 2 billion, which means that the overall valuation of the Guoan Club reached 4 billion yuan. Although the cooperation with LeTV was ultimately unsuccessful, after one season, Guoan's valuation will still not be lower than this figure. This value-added share expansion is still based on the overall valuation of 4 billion. The two latest shareholders shall be accounted for according to their respective shares. The next question for
is how to distribute the equity of to among these three shareholders. What is certain at present is that Guoan will sell 60% this time, and parent company CITIC will continue to hold 40% of the shares. As for how the 60 percent will be distributed, it has yet to be determined.
has a theory that Guoan, Ant and IDG will be distributed according to the equity of 433. Of course, there is another plan, that is, Guoan and Ant will each occupy 40%, and the formation will be changed to 442 - but these two These formations are completely different.
If it is a 433 allocation, then CITIC will still be the holding company of Guoan Club and the single major shareholder. Although it is relatively state-owned, this means that Guoan Club will still be a state-owned enterprise; if it is a 442 allocation, CITIC It is no longer a single major shareholder, and the nature of the club has also undergone a fundamental change. It will no longer be a state-owned enterprise.
Retreating from the state and advancing the people is a general trend, and mixed ownership is also the mainstream of today's market. CITIC also maintains a very open attitude towards Guoan Club. After all, state-owned clubs have many weaknesses that are difficult to abandon in today's market-oriented football environment. , if Guoan wants to change its lifestyle, it must change the nature of the club. Privately owned clubs are more flexible in all aspects. Therefore, when Guoan cooperated with LeTV, although the equity distribution of 150% to 50% was unreasonable, the purpose was not to cross the 51% line and to remove the hat of a state-owned enterprise. From this point of view, it is more likely that Guoan will ultimately choose the 442 method for this capital increase and share expansion. The pending equity distribution of
means that nothing has been finalized yet. Of course, there is also a time limit. According to the regulations of the Football Association, registration materials must be submitted on January 15th. Before that, Guoan’s capital increase and share expansion must be publicly announced for 40 days. In this way, by the end of November at the latest, Guoan There must be a conclusion regarding capital increase, share expansion and equity distribution.
The era of one-man decision-making may be a thing of the past
Guoan’s capital increase and share expansion, if it can be done, will fundamentally change the club. In the past, Guoan Club was a subsidiary of CITIC. Although the club also had a board of directors, it was just a formality. In fact, most things were decided by the club's senior management alone. If new shareholders come in, Guoan Club will become a real joint-stock company, and everything will be reviewed and decided by the board of directors. After the board of directors is established, the board of directors' charter will be formulated. The specific charter will determine the direction of Guoan Club in the future. No longer one person. The days of one person making decisions are about to pass. This approach is more reasonable, but also involves more uncertainty.
At present, since the equity change has not been completed, a new board of directors has not been established. The three companies each occupy several seats on the board of directors, and they still need to be discussed and decided. In addition, the nature of the three companies is a state-owned enterprise, a private enterprise and a fund platform respectively. Their respective positions, ways of thinking and behaviors are bound to be different. How to find a compromise point will be a big test.
involves the specific club operation level, and there will also be a transition process. First of all, existing employees, from grassroots employees to club general managers, must be reviewed by the new board of directors before personnel arrangements can be determined. In addition, Guoan has been accustomed to the days of being rich and contented in the past. When large sums of money are injected into the club, it needs a supporting talent system. Staff at all levels of the club should improve their work efficiency and efficiency while increasing their income. Only with the ability can the club run better, otherwise many problems will still occur. The changes to
have begun subtly, and various departments of Guoan have begun preparations to report their annual work to the new board of directors that will be formed soon. In addition, the Guoan infield and club hardware will also be renovated, including bench seats, offices, etc., which will be renovated. It is still unknown whether Guoan's team logo will be adjusted after the new shareholders come in. But what is certain is that the name "Guoan LeTV" has become history after the last game of this year. The team name for the new season will still retain the word "Guoan", but it will add elements of new shareholders.
The current Guoan is somewhat similar to that at the beginning of this year. It is full of ambitions to do something big, to be reborn, and to be reborn, but at the same time, there are uncertainties in many aspects. Whether Guoan's second capital increase and share expansion can be successful is still a big question mark. What happened with LeTV is a lesson from the past. Even if the press conference has been held and the agreement has been signed, the partners may give up temporarily, not to mention that the agreement has not been signed yet. If you think on the bright side, Guoan has survived this year's chaos, and there will be no worse situation than this.
