Oulaiya's Proposal

Perhaps it was the good first impression from their previous dealings, coupled with the pleasant cooperation with Pfizer Inc., that gave Wei Kang a trace of goodwill and expectation toward the industry giants.

So, the first person he arranged to meet was Oulaiya's business representative.

Hopefully, we can reach a cooperation agreement like the one for the anticancer drug, he thought.

There were two people who came for the negotiations. One was Sheng Changya, whom he had dealt with before. The other was a senior brand manager from the mass-market cosmetics division, a professional woman in her early forties wearing a black suit and sporting ear-length short hair, with an astute and capable air.

Sheng Changya, the product manager with whom he had enjoyed chatting on WeChat, lived up to her name as well—a refined and elegant professional woman.

She was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She was not exceptionally beautiful, but her delicate features, smooth skin, exquisite makeup, appropriate attire, and warm manner of speaking were all just right, making people feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze.

After the two sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries, Wei Kang went straight to the point.

"I believe you've already reviewed the relevant materials on this Whitening Drug for removing dark spots. What sort of cooperation proposal can your company offer?"

The brand manager, Zhou Yuli, maintained a proper faint smile as she handed over a document.

"President Wei, our company's senior management has reviewed the clinical data for the Whitening Drug. Although they still have some reservations, they are generally very satisfied. If we could acquire this formula, it would undoubtedly bring a tremendous boost to sales across our whitening product lines."

"Acquire it?" Wei Kang frowned and did not take the document.

The smile on Zhou Yuli's face vanished instantly. She quickly forced out another slight smile and said, "Yes. As a global fast-moving consumer goods giant and the number one brand in the beauty industry, Oulaiya has always attached great importance to product research and technological advancement. We are very willing to acquire your company's Whitening Drug formula."

Seeing that Wei Kang had no intention of taking the document, she gently placed it farther forward and said with immense confidence.

"President Wei, please believe that our company is sincere about this Whitening Drug formula. We may not compare to pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer Inc., but I can guarantee that no other company in this industry will offer a better price."

"Heh heh, then let me take a look at this sincere proposal of yours." Wei Kang neither confirmed nor denied it as he picked up the document from in front of him and opened it.

To be honest, he had not held much hope for Oulaiya's acquisition offer. Although the cosmetics industry was also highly profitable, it differed from the pharmaceutical industry. Cosmetics companies invested very little in research and development.

Judging by the financial data of major publicly listed cosmetics companies, cosmetics had extremely high gross margins, but their primary expenditure was sales expenses—in other words, marketing and promotion.

Besides investing heavily in marketing resources across various channels, cosmetics companies also spent enormous sums on celebrity endorsements.

In extreme cases, some publicly listed cosmetics companies had annual sales expenses that even exceeded their operating revenue.

As a listed company, he had read Oulaiya's annual financial report. Oulaiya's global revenue last year had been approximately 30 billion euros, yet its R&D investment accounted for only around 3% of its revenue—about 900 million euros.

Even so, that amount already ranked among the top R&D investments in the cosmetics industry. Not a single domestic company could match such R&D spending. It was enough to equal Shanghai Jahwa's annual revenue, and Shanghai Jahwa was the domestic cosmetics company ranked first in sales.

Therefore, after deducting R&D personnel costs and other related expenses, the funds Oulaiya could use to purchase a new formula were surely very limited.

Sure enough, upon seeing that eight-figure amount, Wei Kang sneered inwardly.

Without changing his expression, he pushed the document back and said coldly, "If this is the price, then I'm afraid I cannot agree to this acquisition proposal."

Zhou Yuli's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly before quickly returning to normal. "President Wei, the value of a Whitening Drug formula simply cannot be compared with that of an anticancer drug formula, and our R&D investment cannot be compared with pharmaceutical companies either. You may not know much about the cosmetics industry..."

Wei Kang cut her off immediately. "I never compared you to pharmaceutical companies. It's just that your price is far too low. There's no sincerity in it at all."

Zhou Yuli smiled, withdrew the document, and asked in return, "Then what price does President Wei have in mind?"

Wei Kang looked at her and fell silent for a moment.

His main business was pharmaceuticals. All his knowledge and connections were in the medical industry, and he did not understand the entirely different fast-moving consumer goods industry of cosmetics.

Originally, he had not intended to enter the cosmetics industry himself. Ideally, he would find a cosmetics company to enter into a licensing partnership with and collect licensing fees every year. If that did not work out, he could only sell the formula outright—though naturally, the price could not be too disappointing.

Yet Oulaiya apparently wanted to acquire the formula at an extremely low price.

That crossed his bottom line.

The other side clearly seemed insincere, so there was no need to keep testing each other.

He would contact Shiseido and Procter & Gamble as well, and see what intentions and proposals the other two had.

Having made up his mind, Wei Kang was about to speak and show them out.

Suddenly, a clear voice came from beside him. "President Wei, if it isn't an acquisition of the formula but a cooperation proposal instead, would you be interested?"

Zhou Yuli and Wei Kang both swiftly turned to look at Sheng Changya, who was sitting to the side.

With two surprised gazes landing on her, she immediately became somewhat nervous.

She had originally been sitting quietly to the side, acting as an observing note-taker.

It was she who had strongly advocated for the company to cooperate over this Whitening Drug formula, and she had always held enormous expectations for it. Especially after the senior executives saw the clinical results and were greatly shocked, agreeing to her proposal, she had been overjoyed at the time—so excited that she had not slept all night.

Who would have thought that after further discussion, the senior management would not adopt her proposal, nor had they asked for any of her opinions before drawing up an acquisition proposal.

When she learned the price, she had felt despair. She had truly been too ashamed to tell Wei Kang.

She was merely an employee and had no way to change the company's decision. She could only do her job and accompany the brand manager to conduct business negotiations.

But now, seeing that her company's offer was far too low and that Wei Kang looked displeased, as though he was about to show them out at any moment—

She finally could not hold herself back.

She could not stand by and watch the effort she had poured her heart and soul into fail completely like this.

Since the acquisition proposal for the Whitening Drug formula was doomed to fail, she might as well try her own cooperation proposal.

If she could persuade President Wei, perhaps the company would agree as well.

After all, the senior management was still very interested in the Whitening Drug formula.

They surely would not want to see such a potent formula fall into the hands of another competitor.

On impulse, she finally spoke up and proposed an alternative cooperation plan.

Zhou Yuli said nothing. She merely looked at her, a trace of coldness in her eyes and surprise on her face, as though she had not expected Sheng Changya to suddenly suggest another proposal.

Wei Kang was equally surprised, though he nodded impassively. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

Sheng Changya composed herself and laid out in detail the cooperation plans she had prepared beforehand.

There were two options. One was for Three Purities to license the Whitening Drug formula to Oulaiya and charge an annual licensing fee.

The other was for Three Purities to supply the active pharmaceutical ingredient and become Oulaiya's supplier. Based on Oulaiya's annual sales volume, Three Purities' revenue would also be considerable.

After she finished, she looked at Wei Kang anxiously, as if awaiting his decision.

Wei Kang looked at her with a hint of appreciation in his eyes and smiled. "If it's the two proposals you just mentioned, then we can continue discussing this. Otherwise, there's no need. What do you think, Manager Zhou?"

Zhou Yuli gave Sheng Changya a thoughtful glance, then smiled in agreement. "Of course. I actually support these two cooperation proposals as well. I'll go back and report them to the company immediately. Once the company reaches a decision, we can meet again to discuss the details and terms."

Seeing that both sides seemed to have reached an agreement, Sheng Changya finally let out the breath she had been holding, her clenched fists relaxing as well.

She exhaled deeply and nodded excitedly. "President Wei, once the company has discussed it and made a decision, I'll inform you immediately."

The rest of the meeting proceeded in a very amicable atmosphere.

After it ended, Wei Kang personally escorted the two women out.

However, once they were seated in the car on the way back, Zhou Yuli sighed and said earnestly to Sheng Changya, "Changya, I suppose you could call me your former superior."

"I've seen how hard you've worked, and I actually agree with your proposal very much."

"Unfortunately," she said, shaking her head, "I already knew the outcome before I came."

"You still don't understand the company. This cooperation is doomed to fail."

"Your efforts are destined to be in vain as well."