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Chapter 1116: Chapter 975 Absolute Control
It was also thanks to the collaborative technology company formed with IDG.
After several projects,
ERV obtained the "membership" to the confidential software project of the United States.
Otherwise, for a general company to go through this process, the time faced would be considerably long. Just this software alone costs the US government an authorization fee of $150 million annually.
Moreover, it does not restrict exports to other Western countries.
That is to say,
If other Western countries want to use it, they would still have to pay a fee. It is estimated that by the end of next year, this company’s annual licensing fees could exceed $500 million, or even more.
Although it earned less.
Not as much as companies like IBM, but this equipment’s money, fighters still couldn’t earn it temporarily, just like how Huawei’s equipment was ostracized by Western countries—it wasn’t as if you have something, they would buy it.
What’s more, it still "does not exist".
"Chairman, may I ask if ERV’s funds can support these projects?" a Toshiba director asked.
"Of course, there is no problem. Many of these projects are just starting and do not require a massive investment at once. With ERV’s profitability, even without a loan, these projects can continue."
The fighter then said, "At the same time, I want to emphasize the new ERV’s first acquisition plan."
"Acquisition plan?"
The crowd was stunned.
Having just obtained money, the funding for these distant projects might not even be sufficient, and you’re thinking of acquisitions?
It was probably some not very valuable company.
"This company is called—ARM."
The fighter finally revealed the ultimate goal of this strategic financing.
"WHAT?"
"ARM?"
They thought they heard wrong.
Why acquire this thing? Among the companies present, even the weakest one had a market value more than ten times that of ARM, even dozens of times; they did not highly value this company.
Although almost all of them cooperate with ARM and adopt ARM’s technology architecture.
But.
This was a compromise based on common protocol standards.
If everyone’s equipment adopted the same architecture technology, it would reduce a lot of compatibility issues, not because they could not design chips, but to avoid falling into vicious competition over architectural standards.
"Chairman, I want to know why we want to acquire this company?" an Apple director raised his hand.
"This is based on ERV’s long-term strategic consideration. Almost all the projects I mentioned are involved with chips, so I plan to acquire ARM to save the company’s future expenses.
Initially, I planned to develop a new architectural technology and had also acquired the last company you saw on the list, but due to some reasons, I suddenly felt that acquiring ARM might save a bit of time," the fighter explained.
"The last company, were they researching new chip architectures?"
"It seems, they really mentioned that."
"Right, I also have some impression of that."
"..."
Recalling the previous list.
As the lowest valued company,
Many of them just looked at the name alone.
This company, valued at less than $100 million, wasn’t worth their effort to haggle over, the real big deals were those core businesses worth billions and hundreds of billions of dollars.
The fighter continued.
"ERV has long been involved in the design of large-scale integrated circuit chips, and six months ago, it acquired the American SVC computer company, which has already achieved some results. However, to avoid competition, I decided to acquire ARM."
"This is the assistance I was talking about earlier," the fighter continued.
"What?"
"This is helping?"
"..."
As soon as the fighter finished speaking,
The crowd immediately became animated.
So this was the ’assistance’ they had been guessing about for many days. Reflecting on ERV’s financing process, was it just for raising funds and connections to acquire ARM?
But that doesn’t make sense.
Even without acquiring ARM,
The company would not become an obstacle for ERV; it would rather you use it. This could only be attributed to the chairman’s strong desire for control, which they had already experienced.
To help or not to help?
This is a problem.
On one side, there were long-time partners, and on the other, the rising, ambitious ERV, and most of ARM’s stocks did not lie with them but were still held by the founders.
Even if they were willing to help.
They could hardly force an old friend to sell their company.
Others had different intentions.
Intel’s representative was gleeful.
They had always been competing with ARM in the market, but in the mobile device field, they had been nearly outclassed by ARM. Now that ERV was getting involved with ARM, it was simply fantastic—let’s see you be proud now.
As for whether ERV would take ARM to a higher level.
Intel did not care.
The X86 architecture and ARM architecture served different purposes; it was virtually impossible for either party to break through this "barrier" with existing technological architectures, otherwise, the current competitive landscape wouldn’t exist.
"Chairman, this puts us in a tough spot because we are just minor shareholders of ARM; we can’t force others to sell the company. Please understand." The Apple director took the lead.
Initially, when ARM was established.
Apple held thirty-nine percent of its stocks but had sold most of them over time and was now just a minor shareholder. However, as one of the founders, Apple had always had a good relationship with ARM.
The Apple director thought.
This chairman intended for them to spearhead the effort, so naturally, they had to say something.
"Yes, we don’t call the shots in this company." The Samsung director spoke.
"Chairman, I believe that the success rate of acquiring ARM is very low, and it might even consume all the cash that ERV has raised, which could be detrimental to other projects," the director from Sequoia Capital continued.
"..."
The directors were pessimistic.
However.
The Fighter remained unmoved.
"Please rest assured, you don’t need to come forward. Just by not opposing it in the Board of Directors, you will be helping us. If the acquisition fails, we’ll just switch to the backup plan and develop our own chip architecture."
Hearing that they did not need to persuade personally, the directors felt that the Fighter was overly confident. Was he underestimating them? People are strange creatures; they fear being used and also being seen as useless.
"This meeting is adjourned for now. Please be aware of the board regulations. Our vice-chairman will fly to ARM’s headquarters this afternoon to formally propose the acquisition. Is there anything else?"
Just like that.
The Fighter forcefully passed the board resolution.
This was the benefit of having absolute control; at critical moments, one could act unilaterally.
The directors exchanged glances—what could they say? Since persuasion was futile, they just let the chairman do his thing. Even if he failed, it wouldn’t be their loss.
If successful.
At worst, they would burn the funds raised in this fundraising.
With the continuous profit from "Warfire".
Or by taking a bank loan.
ERV would proceed as planned.
...
The next day.
ERV officially announced the proposal to acquire ARM, causing a media frenzy. They had just completed fundraising and were already spending—on acquiring a company like ARM, no less. Journalists were delighted; they had something new to write about.
Most felt it was implausible.
Or perhaps it was just a publicity stunt ahead of ERV’s going public, so ERV dominated the headlines for another two days.
However.
Two days later.
On the twenty-third of September.
In an assembly filled with incredulous stares.
The founder of ARM held a board meeting.
Agreeing to sell his forty-one percent share of ARM, not accepting cash, but opting instead for a three percent stake in ERV, facilitated by the chairman of ERV.
Essentially, he had secured the deal without spending a dime.
But that was not the end.
Absolute control had not been achieved.
In the following week, ERV bought an additional five percent of the stocks at a premium from several companies, coupled with Tang Qing’s acquisitions in the stock market and those sold by Ayman’s cousin.
Tang Qing had now secured absolute control over ARM.
And this outrageously clever maneuver.
Blinded many eyes.
