The study in my suburban Boston home is quiet.
Lin Qi sat on an armchair, a faxed Germany business briefing on the coffee table in front of him. Investment manager David Cohen stood beside the desk, notebook in hand, looking focused.
"We just spoke with Herzogenaurach," David Cohen said, looking at Lin Qi. "Jochen Zeitz's stance is very clear. He's not opposed to capital investment, but he's wary of a full acquisition. He worked at Puma for ten years, turning a near-bankrupt shoe company into a brand with annual revenue of nearly a billion euros. His biggest concern is that Wall Street capital will come in and treat Puma as a short-term cash-out asset, disrupting his brand strategy."
" Zeitz is a smart man, but also a very controlling manager." Lin Qi picked up his coffee cup, his tone calm. "If you only talk to him about premiums and acquisition terms, he'll just see us as simple financial vultures. What he needs is a larger platform to realize his ambitions, not to be stripped of his voice and control."
Lin Qi pushed the Puma financial report on the coffee table aside, gesturing for David Cohen to sit down.
"Tell Zeitz that Lin Qi Capital has no intention of interfering with Puma's established path in its lifestyle product line. Instead, we can give him a core resource that neither Adidas nor Nike can offer: an exclusive main sponsorship contract with the EBA and an official equipment supplier for the entire league."
David Cohen quickly jotted down notes in his notebook.
Lin Qi continued to explain the logic, "Currently, in the Europe professional sports equipment market, Adidas controls the vast majority of football clubs, while Nike relies on its basketball resources in the United States to penetrate Europe. Puma can't compete with Adidas in the football field, and in North America, it's overshadowed by Nike. The Europe Basketball League fills this gap perfectly. If Puma can secure a contract with EBA, it will not only gain exposure in professional sports, but also open up a path that completely avoids Nike's dominance."
Lin Qi looked at David Cohen and gave the final decision. "Give Zeitz a long-term cooperation agreement, promising to retain all his executive powers as the group's global CEO, and additionally binding a share of the revenue from Europe Basketball League (EBA) kits. If he agrees, Puma will be the sole official kit partner of the EBA. If he refuses, this contract can be offered to someone else at any time. The acquisition will continue to move forward, but who will be Puma's CEO then... is uncertain."
David Cohen nodded and made a note of it. He closed his notebook, but instead of leaving the study immediately, he adopted a more serious expression.
"Also, Mr. Lin Qi, people from the Securities and Exchange Commission came to my office yesterday morning. They requested access to several sets of our trading records from the past two quarters, particularly the records of our transactions in several technology stocks, which they felt were too coincidental."
Lin Qi frowned slightly.
Lin Qi Capital's recent asset growth has been too rapid, with extremely high returns on various investments. Although all of Lin Qi's transactions were within the legal framework and the source of funds was traceable, his over-reliance on his precognitive advantage, consistently and accurately timing market movements, has led investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission to believe that this prophetic excess return strongly resembles insider trading.
This regulatory scrutiny served as a wake-up call for Lin Qi. He realized that continuing frequent short-term trading in the open market would only invite more unnecessary trouble. He needed to change his strategy, shifting his focus to business activities that didn't require public disclosure and building an opaque business empire.
For example, he could acquire a controlling stake in a target company at a premium, and then directly push for delisting and privatization. Once the company is privatized, it no longer needs to fulfill cumbersome information disclosure obligations to the public and regulatory agencies, nor does it need to change its long-term strategy to cater to Wall Street's short-term financial expectations. Most importantly, his fund flows will be completely hidden behind the scenes.
We need to find some physical companies with sufficiently low market capitalization that are currently inconspicuous in the market. Ideally, they should be able to form a business loop with the existing sports industry. The Boston Celtics, plus the EBA, are excellent top-tier sports platforms. In the sports equipment sector, Lin Qi already has Converse and will soon have Puma. But in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, it's still a blank slate.
A few days ago, Lin Qi happened to see a few young people on the streets of Boston holding black soda cans with green claw marks on them. He took a closer look and recognized them as Monster. In Lin Qi's memory, this energy drink would one day sweep across America, but he couldn't quite recall the exact year the company had truly taken off. At least in terms of its current street presence, it clearly hadn't yet reached its peak.
" David, your team has done investment research in the FMCG and beverage market before, right?" Lin Qi leaned back on the sofa. "Let's check... They just launched an energy drink called Monster Energy, how's the market feedback so far? And while we're at it, let's assess their company's current valuation."
David Cohen, familiar with the investment data for each sector, didn't bother to look up any information and directly gave his conclusion. " Hansen Natural Beverage Company? They originally sold juice. This brand is currently selling only so-so. In the energy drink sector, Red Bull holds over 70% of the absolute market share, making the competition extremely fierce. Monster has established some distribution channels, but its sales are nowhere near top-tier. As for valuation, their recent stock price is only around 50 cents, with a total outstanding share capital of just over 10 million shares. That means the entire company's market capitalization is only a few tens of millions of dollars."
Lin Qi nodded slightly. This confirmed his guess. Given the current dismal sales and low market value, this was an excellent opportunity to buy at a low price.
"Precisely because they are currently insignificant, their valuation is cheap enough." Lin Qi crossed his arms, his tone certain. "This amount of money doesn't even require using Lin Qi Capital's corporate account. I will buy it directly with my personal funds. This is entirely my personal investment, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has no reason to interfere."
David Cohen accepted the order and quickly jotted down the operational requirements in his notebook.
Lin Qi's acquisition of Monster Energy goes far beyond a financial investment. Once privatization is complete, he can directly leverage his existing sports resources for bundled marketing. The Boston Celtics can not only serve as a promotional foothold in the North America market, but more importantly, Monster can use the upcoming EBA as an exclusive sponsor to aggressively expand into the Europe market. This kind of cross-industry resource integration is something that a purely financial institution cannot achieve.
"Use my personal account to quietly accumulate shares in the secondary market first. Slow down the process and don't attract any regulatory attention," Lin Qi instructed. "Once we have enough shares, we'll launch a full takeover and privatize it, delisting it directly."
David Cohen left the study to arrange follow-up work.
Absolute silence returned to the study. Lin Qi stood up and poured himself a glass of water. As a team owner accustomed to being in control, this feeling of being forcibly isolated by the league was terrible. He couldn't be at the game, couldn't enter the locker room, and even, according to regulations, couldn't call Rick Carlisle during this time. He could only sit in this study thousands of kilometers away from Los Angeles as an observer.
Lin Qi picked up a copy of the Los Angeles Times from the table. The headline in the sports section was very eye-catching. " Ron Artest returns from suspension, Boston has a full roster."
The report provided a detailed analysis of Jordan's playing time in the previous game. Michael Jordan expended a great deal of energy in Game 5, and at 39 years old, his recovery speed under high-intensity competition was far slower than that of younger players—an irreversible physiological disadvantage.
The good news for Boston is that Artest has passed all medical evaluations and is confirmed to be able to return. This defensive player, having been sidelined for an entire game, is in top physical condition. This means that Chris Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett can finally be freed from their heavy perimeter defense duties and focus more on offense. Rick Carlisle will certainly take advantage of this, having Artest guard Jordan the entire game to wear him down.
Lin Qi turned on the TV, and the screen showed the visiting team's locker room tunnel at Staples Center. Ron Artest, wearing headphones, followed the team towards the court with a blank expression. The camera then panned to the Staples Center stands, which were already packed, and the voices of the Lakers ' home fans could be heard through the screen. Phil Jackson sat courtside, still with an inscrutable expression.
The decisive sixth game is about to begin in Los Angeles.