Chapter 2379 Ringing the Bell

That night, Zhou Buqi held a meeting all night with the directors and executives of Ziweixing Digital Media, as well as the major investment banks hosting the IPO, and was busy until about 4 o'clock in the middle of the night.

Just for one thing, determine the final stock issuance price.

In the prospectus, the expected stock issuance price is 20-25 pounds.

This is somewhat low.

The issuance price plan in the prospectus was only determined in August, but now the global technology industry is recovering very quickly and is in a general upward trend.

In this case, the attractiveness of Ziweixing Digital Media will also increase.

Not only that, in the past month, Ziweixing Digital Media has also done a great job in marketing, successfully signing two famous football players, Maldini and Kahn, to be responsible for the development of the Italian and German markets respectively. , and also had scandals with Maradona, Ronaldo, Van Basten and others.

Technology is changing football at a sweeping rate.

The British side also strongly supports it, and the media is exaggerating it... This is no longer an IPO project in the financial field, but has even become a symbol of British football leading European football.

To capitalists, this is money.

The expected issue price of 20-25 pounds is really too low.

Zhou Buqi felt that 35 pounds was appropriate, and the organizers were so frightened that they could not speak. After some haggling, the issue price of 29.8 pounds was finally determined.

Ok, deal!

It's daylight saving time in the UK now, and the London Stock Exchange opens at 9am.

On this day, all the talented people have arrived.

At least there were hundreds of people.

There are more than 20 stars invited by Ziweixing Digital Media alone. Players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham United, and Fulham are participating.

There are even more media reporters.

It is simply a "football + finance" event.

Nikhil Lacy, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, presided over the bell-ringing ceremony and delivered a brief speech before handing the hammer into Zhou Buqi's hands.

Start a 1-minute countdown.

The bell will ring promptly at 9 o'clock.

Zhou Buqi walked forward with a hammer, and a group of people stood behind him, including staff from the exchange, representatives of the capital, company executives and outstanding employees, invited current stars and football legends...

Everyone was looking forward to the moment when he would swing the hammer and ring the bell.

For Britain, this is definitely an event worth remembering.

The status of the London Stock Exchange has been declining year by year. Almost all large IPOs in the past few years have come from Russian oligarchs. Russia has a special environment. Those oligarchs who want to cash out have gone overseas to list their stocks. The United States has stricter censorship, and the United Kingdom is considered the most open financial market in the world.

However, those are some traditional companies.

Technology companies basically go to Nasdaq, such as the Russian search giant Yandex.

Ziweixing Digital Media is both football and technology. It is the largest technology stock IPO in the UK in recent decades. It is not surprising that it is praised and encouraged.

The bell-ringing ceremony is a stage that attracts everyone's attention. It is not good for Zhou Buqi to be in front alone and let everyone behind... The usual practice is for 2-4 people to ring together.

Sometimes it’s the most important investors, sometimes it’s the entrepreneurial partners, sometimes it’s the most important company executives, sometimes it’s the company’s spokesperson…

At this time, Zhou Buqi looked back.

Everyone present at the meeting knew that Boss Zhou was selecting a partner who would have the opportunity to ring the bell with him. Who would it be?

Is it Douglas Merrill, the president of Ziweixing Digital Media?

Or are they representatives of several important investment institutions such as CVC, French Venture Capital, Allianz Capital, and SoftBank?

At this time, cheers came from the venue.

The crowd behind Zhou Buqi separated, leaving a path in the middle. A guy wearing a dark gray suit, his hair neatly styled with hairspray, diamond earrings and a high-end watch showed a faint smile on his lips. , walked out amidst applause.

Astonishingly, he is the top star in today's football, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently playing for Real Madrid!

Although most of the people present were business people, Ronaldo was so famous that almost everyone knew about it.

Many people present couldn't help but discuss it heatedly.

Zhou Buqi is indeed Zhou Buqi!

Or that they can make a lot of money!

This is marketing taken to the extreme, even ringing the IPO bell. Leveraging Ronaldo's global popularity, Ziweixing Digital Media kicked off the global football market.

…

After ringing the bell, the shares of Ziweixing Digital Media were officially sold on the London Stock Exchange.

Zhou Buqi was in the backcourt, staring at the market.

Then there was cheers!

The issue price was 29.8 pounds, and the opening surged 12.6%, with the stock price reaching 33.5 pounds!

The market value of Ziweixing Digital Media reached 18.45 billion pounds at the opening!

It has become the undisputed technology company with the highest market value in the UK. The second largest company is the semiconductor company ARM, with a market value of 12.4 billion pounds.

It is said that SoftBank is raising money and intends to acquire ARM privately.

Zhou Buqi stared at the market on the wall for a few times and then stopped paying attention. He was smiling, confident and calm, as if everything was under his control.

There were many white-haired old British men at the scene, all well-known figures in the field of finance and economics. They looked up at the changes in stock prices on the big screen, and they all felt a little sad and sighing.

Times have really changed.

It became completely incomprehensible to them.

Ziweixing Digital Media is just a company that has only been established for a few years. It focuses on the football market that has never received attention before... Then, the business started and it became the largest technology giant in the UK.

Looking at that boy Zhou Buqi again, it felt like he was holding a magic wand in his hand that could turn waste into treasure.

At this time, Zhou Buqi found David Dunn, the company's vice president, and said with a smile: "Until this moment, I can safely tell you that the promise I made to you has been fulfilled."

David Dunn was previously the CEO of Arsenal. He left because of differences with the Russian boss and Wenger. Joining Ziweixing Digital Media can be regarded as extending his football life. Watching the constantly beating stock price changes, he is very moved. Said: "To be honest, I never thought there would be such a day. Ziweixing Digital Media is leading the entire football industry."

Zhou Buqi said: "The next step is to further promote cooperation with UEFA and World Football Federation. It doesn't matter whether we make money or not, we must expand our influence in the football field."

"It's hard to talk about other markets, let's just talk about the British market..." David Dunn is a powerful leader in British football. "There is a huge criticism in the British football market. If we can solve it, it will be Supported by all British fans."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"Broadcast of the event."

"Um?"

"Britain's game broadcasting is still too conservative, and it is still the concept of 20 or 30 years ago. At that time, Serie A launched a television broadcasting system. Such changes directly created the 'mini World Cup' structure of Serie A. The UK is very conservative in this regard. , many people are worried that once the game is broadcast on TV, fans will stop going to the stadium to watch the game and will watch TV at home, which will affect the prosperity of the football market."

"Oh! This!"

Zhou Buqi had also heard Manchester United executives say this before.

This is indeed the most fucked up place in British football.

Too conservative.

There has been no reform to this day.

Nowadays, football matches around the world can be watched in real time through television or online broadcasts. This is the vitality that technological advancement has brought to the football industry.

The influence of football is greater, there are more fans, clubs make more money, and the football industry becomes more and more vibrant.

But not the UK.

If you are a fan from other countries, you can watch any football match you like in the UK through TV or the Internet.

If you're British, it's miserable.

The big bosses in British football still hold on to the concept from decades ago that live broadcasts will influence fans to buy tickets and go to the stadium to watch the game. Therefore, British football broadcasters cannot broadcast football matches at will.

Sometimes, strong dialogues like Manchester United VS Liverpool are not broadcast on television.

Fans in the UK can only keep reading the news to pay attention to the score, and they can't buy tickets at all.

However, foreign fans can watch live broadcasts of relevant games.

A very absurd phenomenon occurred.

Foreign fans can watch all Premier League games, but British fans cannot. Of the 10 games in a round of the Premier League, only 5 may have broadcast permission, and the other 5 games... I'm sorry, as long as you live in the UK, you can't see it.

This has caused dissatisfaction among British fans for many years, and they feel that they are being treated differently.

If Ziweixing Digital Media can solve this problem and allow British fans to watch all British football matches online like foreign fans, this will solve a problem that is urgently needed.

Zhou Buqi did not agree, "Sports live streaming must be the general direction of the future, but it is still early, and we must at least wait until the 4G network is fully rolled out before promoting it."

David Dunn reminded: "Ziweixing Digital Media is very special. It is both a technology company and a football company, and it has great influence. It has become a part of the British national strategic system, even the Football Association , the Premier League should pay close attention to it. If anyone can change the dilemma of football match broadcasting in the UK, it can only be us. If necessary, I will run this matter."

Zhou Buqi didn't want to take such a risk.

Sports live streaming is indeed a good direction, but this thing is too risky and requires long-term and continuous investment. It may not be profitable even in the year of the monkey.

This is a matter of mentality.

If Ziweixing Digital Media was a new player in the industry, it would definitely have to bite the bullet in order to survive. It would be barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. But now that Ziweixing Digital Media is the number one in the industry and has led the technological development of the entire football industry, it will naturally tend to be conservative.

Is it necessary to spend so much money on live sports?

This will be an investment direction full of uncertainty.

Zhou Buqi avoided the problem and ignored the issue for the time being. He smiled and said, "Did you invite Ronaldo here?"

David Dunn sighed, then smiled and said: "The main thing is your face. When Ronaldo was at Manchester United, he wanted to transfer to Real Madrid but was rejected many times. It was you who opened the door for him."

Zhou Buqi glanced at him, "Didn't you spend any money?"

David Dunn said: "No, he attended this event for free. His agent is a smart man and knows the impact of the bell ringing ceremony."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "That's okay, it's a bit humane."