Chapter 468: Dutch Agricultural News
Guo Yang didn't want to experience the feeling of popping champagne at halftime and then being defeated in the end.

He has always sought stability and preferred to build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle. Although this is slow, it is very stable. This is what is meant by "a good warrior need not have glorious achievements."

Just like the acquisition of Provimi, he started planning it two years ago with Yu Qin and others, which was ahead of everyone else.

This is how we accumulate enough advantages.

It also made the merger seem easy.

But now that there has been no bid or investment, Kerston and others are already thinking about the follow-up work, which is a bit too relaxed.

Kerston thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Guo, I suggest that in addition to meeting with Provimi's management, you also visit their branch offices."

Provimi’s headquarters is in Rotterdam, where it has a history of 84 years, but the headquarters is not involved in specific business and is more like a management platform.

Its business and R&D are managed by various branches.

Therefore, if you want to look at the business details, you need to go to the branch company. Providing raw materials to the branch company is also Ren Fu’s most important job in recent years.

"Only when you go to the branch office can you know how popular the products of Quanwang are among them. From top to bottom, Provimi prefers Quanwang!"

"So it's not surprising to consider financing now, which will enable us to work more efficiently."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "I really can't do anything about you. I won't consider financing for now, but we can discuss the loan plan."

"This is a bit regrettable. Avic Investment Bank is also looking forward to becoming a shareholder of Quanwang."

Keston is very clear about Quanwang's financial situation. Although it is small in size, there is a big gap between it and New Hope Group, which ranks second in the world in the feed industry, and Tongwei Group, which ranks sixth.

However, Quanwang has great potential and is an upstream enterprise. The feed additives it has are likely to be the products with the highest technological content in the world.

Once such an enterprise completes the acquisition of Provimi, it will be equivalent to perfectly entering the premix field from additives.

Provimi can better develop the Chinese market, and Quanwang can also enter the global market.

Keston thought this would be a great merger and acquisition, and every time he thought about it, he felt his blood boiling.

He still wants to fight for it again.

But Guo Yang would not give him this opportunity. "Golden Harvest has always been very generous in terms of service fees. In fact, it is not difficult for Golden Harvest to raise funds for this acquisition."

Kerston said hurriedly: "No! Avic will provide you with the best loan plan!"

He didn't say the best offer, and Guo Yang didn't mind. In cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investment banks play the most core role.

During the eight-year journey of Geely's acquisition of Volvo, in addition to the hard work of Li Shufu and others, the investment bank and other advisory teams hired by the company also played a key role.

In future strategic mergers and acquisitions, investment banks will also be needed to help find and select acquisition targets.

We only had a brief chat about loans, set the tone, and the meeting ended.

Next, Guo Yang will need to meet with the management of Previmi, visit the mayor of Rotterdam, and even members of the European Commission.

Just as China's National Development and Reform Commission could veto Coca-Cola's acquisition of Huiyuan Juice, the current acquisition also requires approval from the European Commission.

The PR company has already done the job once.

However, since Guo Yang is here, it is necessary for him to show his face.

...

In addition to windmills and tulips, the Netherlands also has a variety of unique buildings, such as houses that can float on the water.

For example, the Maersk Tower is located on the banks of the Maas River.

There is a 45-degree slope outside the building, which was the filming location for the scene where Jackie Chan jumped off the building in the movie "Who Am I".

Not far from this building, there is also a building that looks like boxes placed in a staggered manner.

This is the headquarters of Provimi.

Guo Yang, who thought his height was OK in China, felt "inferior" after entering Provimi and had to always look up at others.

Peter, the CEO of Provimi, is a tall white man, 1.9 meters tall, with slightly graying hair and wearing a well-fitting suit. He looks a bit like Van Basten when he was a coach.

Except for Peter, the other executives are generally tall.

In a relatively simple and bright reception room, Guo Yang, Yu Qin, Peter and others had a friendly conversation.

If the two parties are not very familiar with each other, talking about football, windmills, tulips, and architecture are good entry points.

Of course, the Netherlands also has the plump and gorgeous female bodies in Rubens' paintings, but this is not suitable for discussion.

Oh, and there is also the world-leading lithography machine.

The Three Musketeers era was the most glorious era for Dutch football. Van Basten's goal from a near-zero angle in the European Cup final was also talked about fondly by the Dutch.

Van Basten is also one of Guo Yang's favorite players, which made the communication between the two sides very pleasant.

Only after we got to know each other did we start talking about the merger.

As Kerston said, both management and shareholders would prefer to be acquired by Golden Harvest.

This is related to the situation faced by Provimi.

Sluggish consumption, intensified competition and declining performance in the post-financial crisis era are the decisive reasons why Provimi is seeking to sell.

Peter said: “Both Tega and DSM are strong and are Provimi’s main competitors in Europe.

Taigao has strong competitiveness in animal nutrition and marine aquaculture nutrition, while DSM, like Quanwang Bio, is a professional supplier of raw materials and additives.

The management hopes to achieve technological leadership in product research and development through Quanwang Biotechnology, while better participating in the competition in the Chinese market.”

In a small country, three world-class feed companies were born at the same time. It would be strange if the competition was not fierce. Except for emerging industries, the profit margins of most traditional industries are low.

The same is true in China, where a large number of traditional feed companies such as Charoen Pokphand, New Hope, Tongwei, Haida, Chaoda, Beidahuang, and Twins are competing for the market.

Even premixes are not easy to mix.

These companies also have their own R&D departments and can produce various feed additives.

Provimi established a factory in Guangxi Province at the beginning of the century, but its market share of premixes has always been low.

Quanwang Bio's feed additives have become well-known across the country in the past two or three years, and are gradually becoming a necessity for feed manufacturers in producing high-end premixes.

For Provimi, the OmniKing creature is like a straw that comes in times of storm, and it must be held on to tightly.

For Quanwang, this not only allows it to extend its reach into the premix market, but also opens the door to the European livestock and feed industry market.

The ultimate goal is to gain a share of the global animal nutrition pie.

Drinking tea is also a part of the Dutch people's daily life, but they like to add milk to their tea, which is real milk tea.

Guo Yang took a sip.

"It has a strong milky flavor. Drinking it reminds me of the Netherlands's developed animal husbandry."

Peter shook his head, a little depressed. "But because of nitrogen emissions, the Dutch livestock industry is facing shrinkage, which is also the reason why the feed industry is becoming increasingly difficult."

In the European Union, the Netherlands is the largest emitter of nitrogen, much of which comes from manure from cows and pigs.

Due to nitrogen emission restrictions, farmers have to spend a lot of money every year to deal with manure, resulting in the size of livestock not only not expanding, but actually declining.

The feed industry and the breeding industry are closely related.

With the decrease in livestock numbers, the feed industry is naturally in a downturn.

Guo Yang thought for a moment and said, "What about using feces as organic fertilizer?"

Peter said: "A certain amount of livestock manure can be discharged onto farm land as organic fertilizer every year, but the EU has set emission standards and there is too much manure."

Guo Yang wanted to process it into organic fertilizer and sell it, but the Netherlands is a small country and its farming industry is mainly based on glass greenhouses, so organic fertilizer has no use.

It seems that the surrounding countries are not short of pastures and manure...

It's difficult to handle.

And nitrogen emissions are expected to be tightened in the future, so it seems that the Netherlands has only one way to go: reduce livestock farming.

After thinking for a while, Guo Yang glanced at Yu Qin and said, "Perhaps, how to efficiently process feces is also a good business."

"Of course." Peter smiled and said, "If Jiahe can find a solution, believe me, the farmers will love you to death."

Yu Qin nodded thoughtfully and thought that maybe he could try using black earthworms.

Both parties were quite satisfied with this meeting.

Guo Yang also promised to retain the original management framework.

Afterwards, he went to meet with the mayor of Rotterdam, and after a conversation, several more investments and collaborations were made.

Port warehouses, agricultural technology...

The two also compared which one was better, the Dutch glass greenhouse or the Shouguang vegetable greenhouse in Shandong Province.

Guo Yang stood firmly in Shouguang.

The mayor of Rotterdam, on the contrary, does not think highly of Shouguang's solar greenhouse.

This may be the only unpleasant point between the two.

Yu Qin and Miao Lanchun were quite confident about Shouguang vegetable greenhouse at the beginning, but after they visited greenhouse agriculture in the Netherlands.

But not so confident anymore.

“Can Shouguang really be compared with the Netherlands?”

At this time, they arrived at the city of Westerland, facing the sea to the west and the Port of Rotterdam 20 kilometers to the east.

In Westerland, the first horticultural cluster in the Netherlands was established: Greenhaven.

Green Harbor is one of the regions in the world with the most frequent transfer of agricultural scientific and technological achievements, and it is also the support for Westland's continued prosperity.

Seeds, seedlings, production, trade, processing, logistics... hundreds of agricultural and horticultural related companies are rooted here.

All year round, huge quantities of fruit and vegetable products from Westerland are shipped all over the world via the Port of Rotterdam.

The greenhouse agriculture here is indeed developed, and even Luo Xiu and others can clearly feel the gap.

One is a rustic greenhouse, and the other is a high-end glass greenhouse...

The Netherlands is more powerful when it comes to voting with their feet!
Fortunately, the boss was bragging in front of the mayor of Rotterdam. If it was in Westerland, he would probably have fallen out.

Everyone surrounded him, waiting for him to make an excuse.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Shouguang is naturally inferior to the Netherlands in terms of efficiency and output, but in terms of cost, Shouguang has a huge advantage."

"Greenhouse agriculture in the Netherlands consumes a lot of energy, and currently relies on natural gas. However, after decades of exploitation, the gas fields in the Netherlands are on the verge of running out of gas."

“We can also import it from Russia.”

Guo Yang took a look and saw that it was Ren Fu who said, "Being controlled by others, we might have a falling out someday."

(End of this chapter)