On February 25, 2007, Woaw Technology announced that it had reached an acquisition agreement with YouTube. They will complete the acquisition of this video sharing website for $1.75 billion.
It can be said that with the financial support of IC Capital, YouTube has developed very rapidly. At the same time, after several rounds of financing from IC Capital, they already hold 70% of YouTube's shares.
By last year, that is, the second half of 2006, YouTube already had 50 million videos, with more than 7 million people watching every day...
YouTube also became the number one in the American video field, with a market share of 45% - this is nearly twice the second place MySpace's 23.5%, and it exceeds the total video share of the four major American portals Yahoo, Microsoft MSN, Google Video and American Online AOL!
It can be said that the rise of YouTube has made many people see the prospects of the video industry. Since the second half of last year, Softbank, Yahoo, American News Corporation and Google have extended olive branches to prepare to acquire YouTube.
However, under the matchmaking of IC Capital - although IC Capital holds 70% of YouTube's shares, they have been able to maintain their investment in YouTube. One of the major reasons is that Ivanta respects the way YouTube's entrepreneurial team runs the company and rarely interferes with their management - YouTube finally chose Woaw Technology and reached an agreement with them.
The acquisition price of $1.75 billion can be said to be amazing. This is also the second largest acquisition since Woaw Technology was founded - second only to the price of $3.15 billion when they acquired DoubleClick.
This acquisition will be carried out in the form of cash and stock. Woaw Technology will pay $500 million in cash and issue 217.4 million Class B common shares to YouTube shareholders to complete the acquisition.
Among them, IC Capital will receive $350 million in cash and 152 million shares of Woaw stock; the YouTube founding team will receive $150 million in cash and 65.22 million shares of Woaw Technology.
Woaw itself has the function of providing users with video sharing and uploading, but those are just an auxiliary function.
After the acquisition, YouTube will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woaw Technology, and its videos will be able to communicate with Woaw.com. Users can directly share their own YouTube videos to their Woaw personal pages, and can also easily watch videos posted by their Woaw friends.
The founding team of YouTube will continue to be responsible for the operation of the company and obtain more resource support from Woaw Technology.
So far, the total share capital of Woaw Technology has increased to nearly 4.8 billion shares, of which DS Holdings (Cavendish Trust Fund) holds approximately 2 billion Woaw shares (originally 2.2 billion shares, which have been reduced successively), accounting for 41.67%, and its voting rights have a proportion of 57.6%.
IC Capital holds approximately 812 million Woaw shares (660 million shares obtained from the sale of DoubleClick were mortgaged), accounting for 16.92%, and the voting rights have a proportion of 12.3%.
At this time, Barron still holds nearly 70% of the voting rights of Woaw.
After announcing the completion of the acquisition of YouTube, Woaw's stock price rose slightly by 2.5% to $5.89, and its market value exceeded $28 billion.
After acquiring YouTube, Woaw Technology announced that they will gradually launch multilingual versions of YouTube services, and will launch a "creator incentive plan" of up to $1 billion. YouTubers' original content can obtain a generous advertising revenue share according to the number of views, user likes, and coin data. The release of this
"creator incentive plan" has made many YouTubers excited, and more young people have begun to try to make video content on YouTube.
In addition, YouTube will also cooperate with Woaw Technology's R&D center to continue to optimize their streaming technology.
In fact, the reason why IC Capital chose to sell YouTube to Woaw Technology instead of developing it on its own is because YouTube can develop in synergy with Woaw.
In Barron's previous life, even nearly ten years after Google acquired YouTube, although YouTube had become a cultural phenomenon at that time, with more than one billion users watching YouTube videos every month, YouTube still could not make a profit.
For example, in 2014, YouTube's revenue was about $4 billion, up from $3 billion in 2013. But even though YouTube contributed about 6% of Google's revenue at the time, YouTube had no success in terms of profitability.
YouTube paid content creators and purchased network equipment, and after deducting these expenses, YouTube could only break even. With IC Capital's financial strength, it is not impossible to "support" YouTube all the time, but this will not bring any obvious benefits except that YouTube's valuation will be higher and higher - unless they eventually sell YouTube.
Woaw is different. They are combined with YouTube and have a synergistic effect. Not only can social + video improve its business format and increase the width of the moat, but YouTube can also use Woaw's powerful advertising to increase its revenue.
In addition, IC Capital can also convert its investment in YouTube into Woaw's shares. After gradually reducing its holdings, the cash obtained can be used to buy at the bottom after the subprime mortgage crisis.
...
"It's an honor to see you again, Your Highness the Duke."
"I really didn't expect to see you here, Miss Borromeo. By the way, it's vacation now, right."
In Italy, Barron met Beatrice Borromeo, the youngest daughter of the Borromeo family.
This was after the Gucci-Hermès Group had just acquired the famous Italian luxury shoe brand Bruno Magli. When Barron came here, he met Beatrice in Bologna, a northern city in Italy.
Speaking of Bruno Magli, this is a long-standing brand founded in 1936. Bruno Magli has always believed that shoes are a kind of walking art. In terms of design, it is also based on natural art, emphasizing the coexistence of comfort and elegance. Each pair of shoes is made of high-end materials and is handmade by professional craftsmen.
With its outstanding design, elegant style, superb shoemaking craftsmanship, and luxurious and comfortable texture, Bruno Magli quickly became one of the main competitors in the Italian shoemaking industry and was deeply loved by European and American celebrities and aristocrats.
By 1968, the second generation of the Magli family successfully promoted the brand to a leading Italian luxury brand.
After a long period of development, the Bruno Magli brand is now all over the world. It is unique among the shoe brands of international high-end department stores such as Takashimaya, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and is respected by the world as "the best shoes in the world."
Brumani has always been a typical Italian family business until December 2001, when Opera, a fund company specializing in investing in Italian lifestyles, signed a contract with the Magli family to officially take over the company.
Currently in Asia, Brumani also has a branch in Tokyo, Japan.
After the Gucci-Hermès Group acquired all of Brumani's shares from the Opera Fund and the Magli family, some members of the Magli family will still stay in the company to continue the classic Italian handmade shoemaking standards in Brumani.
"Yes, I came here to play. In fact, the University of Bologna here was also the school I wanted to attend..."
"You... came here to play by yourself?"
Barron asked curiously after hearing Beatrice's answer.
"Well, in fact, I came here with a few friends. I just saw a good snack bar and saw you when I came out..."