Chapter 533 - 290: The Joy of a Cheater

After returning to Chengdu, countless people came to visit Qi Sheng.

There were venture capitalists and bankers. Many were people Lü Wei couldn’t turn down, so he had to pass them on to Qi Sheng.

Qi Sheng selectively met with a few of them, scheduling the meetings over a meal at Zifei, located by Luhu Lake.

"Chairman Qi, I’ve spent a pretty penny at Zifei and Yu Tu, both under Zhuangyu Catering. Any chance you’d let me invest and get a piece of the action?"

He Yu had a blind fervor for any company under Qi Sheng’s name.

From the Spicy King project alone, they had made a killing.

By the time they exited, they were looking at a return on investment of at least tenfold.

Spicy King was, by all accounts, Black Ant Capital’s most successful investment.

It was precisely because of a star project like Spicy King that Black Ant Capital’s next two fundraising rounds went so smoothly.

But Spicy King alone wasn’t enough to sustain Black Ant Capital forever.

And so, He Yu had now set his sights on Qi Sheng’s other companies.

"President He, let’s forget about Zhuangyu Catering for now. I’m wondering, are you interested in Pop Mart?"

Qi Sheng had other plans for Zhuangyu Catering and wasn’t in a hurry to seek external financing.

"Pop Mart?"

He Yu’s eyes lit up. "Of course I’m interested!"

"To be frank, President He, I’m planning another financing round for Pop Mart before its IPO. Let’s tentatively set the valuation at three billion US dollars."

"If you’re interested, President He, you can discuss it further with President Si."

Qi Sheng had just casually doubled Pop Mart’s valuation, startling several people at the table.

However, some remained unfazed, instead thoughtfully considering the valuation.

"Three billion US dollars..."

He Yu was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected Qi Sheng’s appetite to be so huge.

When they had exited Pop Mart, its valuation was less than 300 million US dollars.

In less than a year, the valuation had increased tenfold!

This was practically daylight robbery.

But looking at Pop Mart’s performance, it was indeed stellar.

They were making money hand over fist from the blind box business alone.

Furthermore, the newly developed Ultraman cards had caused its net profit to double.

"Chairman Qi, we at Huaxing Capital are willing to accept this valuation!"

A plain-looking, bald, middle-aged man at the table gave Qi Sheng a slight nod.

’Bao Fan?’

Qi Sheng was, of course, familiar with this titan of the investment world who had once caused a major uproar.

He had single-handedly founded Huaxing Capital and had deep connections with many internet tycoons.

He had been the driving force behind the mergers of Meituan and Dianping, and Didi and Kuaidi.

In the investment world, his reputation was nothing short of legendary.

"Thank you for your confidence in Pop Mart, President Bao. We can discuss the details after dinner."

Qi Sheng raised his glass to Bao Fan, not intending to discuss it much further at the dinner table.

Shen Nanping of Sequoia would certainly be making a follow-on investment in this round for Pop Mart.

’Then there’s Huaxing as a minority co-investor.’

’This financing round was basically a done deal.’

’Whether anyone else joined was irrelevant.’

"Chairman Qi, we at Black Ant Capital accept this valuation as well!"

He Yu instantly grew anxious and shot a wary glance at Bao Fan.

’Sure, his relationship with Qi Sheng was pretty good.’

’But to maintain that relationship, he had to be more in sync with him on certain things.’

’For instance, when one of Qi Sheng’s companies needed financing, it was his job to help drum up support.’

’But that son of a bitch Bao Fan had beaten him to the punch, currying favor with Qi Sheng.’

He Yu was afraid any further hesitation would damage his relationship with Qi Sheng.

When the dinner ended, the other investors tactfully took their leave.

Qi Sheng brought He Yu and Bao Fan back to Shengxuan Financial Center.

He also called over Scones, the CEO of Pop Mart, to brief the two investors.

"President Si, please give President He and President Bao a brief overview of the company’s current revenue and profit situation."

Qi Sheng snapped his fingers, signaling to Liu Shiwen to prepare some tea.

"Certainly."

Scones gave a very detailed presentation, covering everything from the number of stores and the construction of their brand IP matrix, to the number of signed collectible toy designers and the latest production and sales data for the new Ultraman cards.

As investors, He Yu and Bao Fan could tell that there was no fluff in Scones’ presentation.

These were solid results, all of which would be verified during their subsequent due diligence anyway.

"President Si, if I’m hearing you correctly, Pop Mart’s net profit for this year could exceed one billion?"

Bao Fan asked in surprise, "In that case, wouldn’t Pop Mart’s revenue this year reach five billion?"

"That’s correct. And that’s before we’ve even fully tapped the profit potential of the Ultraman cards. Otherwise, our net profit would be even higher."

"We’re considering creating some offline ’Hero Showdown’ events to boost the profile of the Ultraman cards and drive sales."

Scones added with a friendly reminder, "President He, President Bao, we plan to submit our prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June. If all goes well, we’ll be listed by the end of the year."

"An IPO so soon?"

He Yu was also surprised. He hadn’t expected Pop Mart to be the first of Qi Sheng’s companies to go public.

Spicy King, on the other hand, showed no signs of moving toward an IPO.

Or perhaps, they were waiting for even more explosive news to drive its valuation even higher.

"I was the one who requested this financing round from Chairman Qi," Scones explained. "President Shen from Sequoia has already accepted Pop Mart’s valuation for this round. The decision now rests with the two of you."

’Scones wasn’t in a hurry at all. Worst case, he could just ask the boss and get a few hundred million.’

’Qi Sheng’s financial resources were in no way inferior to those of a top-tier venture capital firm like Sequoia.’

It was this confidence that made Scones indifferent to whether Black Ant and Huaxing invested or not.

But it was precisely this confidence that was most reassuring to investors.

Besides, Pop Mart’s performance was indeed impressive.

The net profit margins for the blind box and Ultraman card businesses were extremely high on their own—at least 20%.