Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Li Aohua
A month ago, Golden Voice: "Goodbye everyone, I'm leaving!" ”
A month later, Golden Voice: "Hello everyone, I'm back again!" ”
Image source: Visual China
If it goes well, Golden Throat will be officially delisted at 9 a.m. on December 15, and its privatization once made many netizens feel very emotional.
Unexpectedly, about a month after the privatization plan was announced, everything came to an abrupt end. On the evening of November 30, the national brand Golden Throat issued an announcement that the privatization proposal had not been passed by the court meeting and the shareholders' meeting, the privatization plan would not be implemented and had lapsed, and the company would continue to maintain its listing status on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Under the Takeovers Code rules, the Offeror and its concerted action awareness shall not announce another offer for shares for a period of 12 months unless agreed by the Executors.
As of the afternoon close, Golden Throat's stock price had fallen from yesterday's closing price of HK$2.57 to HK$1.6, a drop of 37.74%.
Privatization is no less difficult than the original IPO. IPG China Chief Economist Bo Wenxi said: "The failure of the privatization of Golden Throat shows that the offeror's proposal did not meet the expectations of public investors, that is, the actual controller's bid for privatization was too low and he was unwilling to repurchase the issued shares at a price and condition that met the expectations of public investors. ”
According to Golden Throat's original privatization plan, the share repurchase price was HK$2.80 per share of the planned shares, which was only slightly higher than the closing price of HK$2.69 on October 29 and well below the issue price of HK$4.6, which was obviously difficult to satisfy shareholders.
The voting results of the shareholders' meeting showed that the number of non-interested shares held by the shareholders who voted against it accounted for 63.87%, and the privatization plan of the golden throat was not approved. The total market capitalization of Golden Throat is currently about HK$1.2 billion, which is only about one-fifth of what it was at its peak. Even if it has already "fallen to the bottom", the golden voice cannot withdraw from the market, and can only continue to "survive" in the secondary market.
If you want to recall the history of the golden voice and the process of decline, Jiang Peizhen is a name that cannot be avoided.
Jiang Peizhen, the actual controller and chairman of Golden Throat, is known as the "Iron Lady of Guangxi", and she built Liuzhou Candy No. 2 Factory into the first brand of throat lozenges, Golden Throat, and then sent golden throat group to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Jiang Peizhen herself was once a strong chinese businesswoman with the same name as Gree Dong Mingzhu and Lao Gan Ma Tao Huabi.
At the age of 13, Jiang Peizhen went to Liuzhou City As an apprentice in the Second Candy Factory. Although Jiang Peizhen was only a minor girl at that time, she showed a strong learning ability and a high enthusiasm for work. Even under the "776" work system, she can maintain full motivation every day. When she was promoted to deputy director, Jiang Peizhen was only 18 years old. At the age of 33, Jiang Peizhen officially became the leader of the second candy factory in Liuzhou City.
In the hands of Jiang Peizhen, Liuzhou Candy No. 2 Factory became the first jam candy, the first peanut chocolate, and the first wine heart chocolate production place in China.
In 1988, Dong Mingzhu had not yet joined Gree, and Tao Huabi had not yet set up her "affordable hotel" on the street side of Longdongbao in Nanming District, Guiyang City, but at this time, Jiang Peizhen was already a "sister" in the domestic confectionery industry - the second candy factory had an annual output of nearly 20,000 tons, an output value of 97 million yuan, and a tax profit of more than 10 million yuan, which was the largest candy factory in China at that time.
However, the good times did not last long, under the "inner volume" of the confectionery industry, the domestic candy factory fell into vicious competition, and the operation of the second liuzhou candy factory deteriorated and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In order to save the candy factory, Jiang Peizhen came to East China Normal University. Here, she met professor Wang Yaofa, a "nobleman". Wang Yaofa gave Jiang Peizhen a formula he was developing to treat chronic pharyngitis. Jiang Peizhen immediately decided to shift the factory's main products from candy to "golden throat treasure", and raised 7.8 million yuan of project start-up funds within a month.
Subsequently, Jiang Peizhen spent 5 million yuan to advertise on CCTV, and the brainwashed advertising slogan "Protect the throat, please use the golden throat throat tablet" began to become a household name, and the sales of the golden throat soared all the way. In 1996, the revenue of Golden Throat exceeded 100 million.
In 2015, Golden Throat was listed in Hong Kong. Because of the exaggerated bell ringing action, Jiang Peizhen and Jin Zi have once again become hot topics. In this year, Jiang Peizhen, who was full of pride, replaced the head of Professor Wang Yaofa on the golden throat packaging with his own.
However, Jiang Peizhen did not expect that her domineering knock standing in front of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would become the last highlight of Her Golden Voice.
After the listing, the golden voice seems to have come to a standstill overnight.
According to the financial report, in 2015, the operating income of Golden Throat was 707 million yuan and the net profit was 155 million yuan, and in 2020, the operating income of Golden Throat was 647 million yuan and the net profit was 154 million yuan. Since its listing for 6 years, the operating income of Golden Throat has always hovered between 600 million and 800 million yuan, and the net profit has never exceeded 200 million yuan.
Stagnant performance is not unrelated to the single golden throat product. After the launch of the Golden Throat Throat Tablet, Golden Throat has not had a blockbuster product for more than 20 years. The sales revenue of Golden Throat Throat Tablets and Golden Throat Throat Treasure series products has long accounted for about 90% of the total revenue of Golden Throat.
There has been a delay in the absence of new products, and for investors, the story of the golden voice has also lost its appeal. At one point in 2018, Golden Throat's share price fell to HK$0.75.
The best-selling of golden throat throat tablets is inseparable from Jiang Peizhen's "divine skills" marketing ability. In 2003, Jiang Peizhen spent hundreds of thousands of euros to invite the famous star Ronaldo to an internal banquet. At the banquet, Ronaldo wore a jersey printed with a "golden throat slice" and recorded a video. The video later became one of Golden Voice's most classic ads and aired on CCTV, unaware of it.
In early 2005, Ronaldo sued Golden Throat, claiming that he had not signed an endorsement contract with Golden Voice and demanding compensation of 10 million euros. However, Golden Voice denied it, saying that he had signed a licensing agreement with Ronaldo as a spokesperson for the product image.
The dispute between Ronaldo and Golden Throat was finally resolved, but it is undeniable that this advertisement by Ronaldo brought great success to Golden Throat, and Golden Throat became a well-known brand in the country. Therefore, when the performance of Golden Throat was in trouble, Jiang Peizhen once again used her brain in marketing. However, this time, Jiang Peizhen's marketing dafa failed to save Jin's throat again, but instead sent herself to the list of untrustworthy executors.
In order to promote the new herbal drink, in 2016 Golden Throat reached a partnership with Star Media to place 80 million yuan worth of advertisements on "Gai Shi Yin Xiong" and "The Masked Singer Season 2". However, after paying 13 million yuan, Jin Throat delayed in paying the remaining amount, and Star Media sued him in court.
The court ruled that Golden Throat Food should pay 51.67 million yuan to Starry Sky Chinese, but Golden Throat refused to enforce it.
On September 19, 2019, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court listed Golden Throat Food as the executor, and Jiang Peizhen was also listed as a restricted consumer, who could not travel by high-speed rail or plane, could not stay in star-rated hotels, could not buy houses and office buildings, could not buy private cars, travel, and children attended high-level aristocratic schools, and could not purchase high-value insurance wealth management products.
Jiang Peizhen is not unaware of the problem that golden throat products are too single.
In an interview with the media, Jiang Peizhen once said bluntly: "Many competitors are also moving forward, so the pace and competitiveness of competition are constantly improving, and they are also constantly crowding." I want to think of going further, constantly expanding the variety, different products are developed according to different groups of people, our patented formula for this work is specific, and the next step is to do a lot of work. ”
Although it is said to develop new products, in fact, for many years, Golden Throat has invested very little in research and development. According to the financial report released since the listing of Golden Throat, the company's research and development expenses have never exceeded 3 million yuan over the years, while sales expenses have been higher than 250 million yuan.
However, as of now, the sales of golden throat larynx tablets are still at the forefront of domestic over-the-counter drugs. According to the "2021 China Over-the-Counter Drug Enterprises and Products List" released by the China Over-the-Counter Drug Association in October this year, Golden Throat ranked 43rd in the country in the comprehensive statistics of China's over-the-counter drug manufacturers, and Golden Throat Tablets ranked first among similar products in China. This shows that to this day, the value contained in the golden sign of the golden voice can not be underestimated.
The share price of Golden Throat has been depressed for a long time, and it is not difficult to understand that Jiang Peizhen hopes to complete the privatization while the brand is still valuable.
After the dream of privatization is shattered, what should the golden voice do? On December 1, Times Finance called Jin Throat several times, but did not get a reply.
Bai Wenxi said that the failure of privatization for enterprises to continue to maintain the status of listed companies, if at this time the company has lost the ability to finance, but also need to implement open and transparent standardized operations in accordance with the requirements of listed companies, and even need to maintain immediate performance, on the one hand, it will increase the company's operational pressure, on the other hand, it is not conducive to the company's subsequent long-term strategic business.
Privatization failed, but The Transformation of Golden Throat continues.
In November 2021, the new base of Guangxi Golden Throat was officially opened. Golden Throat said that in the future, it will focus on the big health market, focus on building a golden throat health industrial park, and strive to become a leading enterprise in the subdivision industry in the next 10 years. Covering an area of more than 120 acres, the new base of Golden Throat is built in two phases, and will introduce high-tech R&D teams to develop more big health products.
Jiang Peizhen, who is already 75 years old, can she once again save jin's throat from water and fire?