The "king of semiconductor mergers and acquisitions" attacked by the mysterious receiver of Ziguang Group in 60 billion.

On December 13, the details of the restructuring of Ziguang Group were exposed.

The former "largest integrated circuit company in China" and "the third largest mobile phone chip company in the world" suddenly went bankrupt and restructured in July 2021. For a time, 300 billion market capitalization chip giant fell from the height, consumers also began to worry about the fate of well-known products such as purple display, purple memory, SIM card chip and so on.

According to the announcement issued by the manager of Ziguang Group on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, it has formally signed a "restructuring Investment Agreement" with strategic investors, formulated a draft restructuring plan, and submitted it to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate people's Court.

Sources show that the recipient is Zhilu Jianguang consortium, a "consortium" composed of Beijing Zhilu Asset Management Co., Ltd. And Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co., Ltd., with a bid of 60 billion yuan, which is the highest bidder. All the funds will be used to repay the creditors. As of November 19, the total amount of claims recognized at the creditors' meeting of Ziguang Group was as high as 142.6 billion yuan.

In the face of the takeover of Zhilu Jianguang consortium, the market cannot help but wonder: who is behind this institution? Why do you have the strength to swallow 300 billion of the technology giant Ziguang Group?

In fact, in addition to taking over the Ziguang Group, a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily found that Zhilu Capital has been making a lot of moves since the beginning of this year, and not long ago acquired the mainland closed test plant of Sunlight, the world's largest semiconductor closed testing company. Prior to this, he became famous by acquiring Anshi Semiconductor and became famous in the first World War, which can be called the "king of semiconductor mergers and acquisitions".

On December 13th, a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily came to Jianguomenwai Street in Beijing to visit the Zhilu Jianguang complex that took over Ziguang Group. On that day, the weather in Beijing was sunny, and there was even a hint of warmth in the north wind, and the move of this mysterious consortium demonstrated its vigorous "ambition" in the semiconductor field.

Who is "Zhilu Jianguang consortium"?

In the bustling Jianguomen Street-Changan Street extension line, turn north into Xiushui Street, the environment suddenly changes, quiet and leisurely without losing the flavor of life.

This is the famous embassy district in Beijing, and Zhilu Capital is located above the office building of Beijing International Club. The building is connected to the main body of a five-star hotel and has a similar interior decoration style.

According to the index of the building, Zhilu Capital is located on the second floor of Beijing International Club, and Jianguang Investment is located on the eighth floor. The two institutions won the restructuring project of Ziguang Group in this bid.

Since it is a "consortium", Zhilu Capital and Jianguang Investment should be handed over closely. In the elevator, there are staff with hand-held documents going back and forth between the 2nd floor and the 8th floor.

In front of the Jianguang investment door, the other party is all vigilant in the face of the visit of strangers. After explaining the purpose of the visit, a person related to Jianguang Investment told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily on the spot that at present, the media "should have everything". In addition, the company does not accept interviews, and it needs the approval of the "group" before it can make a further response.

Similarly, the staff at the scene of Zhilu Capital also politely declined an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, saying that the relevant issues would be dealt with by the company's special external publicity department, and the company's senior management would not be interviewed by the media for the time being.

The staff member admitted that "a lot of media are looking for us" because of several recent investment events. However, Zhang Yuanjie, the current head of Zhilu Capital, has seldom appeared in front of the media.

A reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noticed that in this office building called "International Club", there are also a number of asset management companies, as well as the Beijing Representative Office of the Ford Foundation, Evelon Semiconductor and other institutions.

There are also investment institutions that used to work here and leave here. On the second floor of the Beijing International Club office building, opposite the corridor of the Zhilu capital office area, the door of the company called Hailin Investment is locked. According to property officials, Hailin Investment has moved out of the office building, and SkyEye survey shows that the company completed its share reform in 2015 and is now in a state of existence.

It has been established for 6 years, and the scale of asset management has reached 60 billion.

It is the style of most mysterious investment institutions to decline media interviews and win projects in a high profile.

However, on the cultural wall, the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily still saw the development outline of Jianguang investment in the consortium, as well as its long-term cooperation with Zhilu Capital on many projects.

It was established in 2014, managed 500 million yuan in 2015, and completed projects such as Ruineng Semiconductor in that year.

A year later, the capital reached 12 billion yuan and completed Amplon semiconductor and other projects; in 2017, the scale increased to 22 billion yuan to complete the first phase of Anshi semiconductor project; in 2018, the funding exceeded 26 billion yuan to complete the second phase of Anshi semiconductor and the first phase of Axa science and technology project.

By 2019, the management capital of Jianguang Investment will climb to 28 billion yuan, completing the second phase of Huangsheng Science and Technology, Huaqin Communications and other investments. As of this time, the above key projects are jointly invested by "Zhilu Jianguang consortium".

That's not all. In 2020, Jianguang investment management funds to another level, more than 30 billion yuan, including Pactera, East Microelectronics, Chuzhou Zhihe Semiconductor and other companies.

From unknown to managing 30 billion yuan of funds, Jianguang Investment took only six years. The rapid rise of time and the rapid development of scale have surprised the market.

But the market is more curious: where does the $30 billion come from? Clues show that the parent company of Jianguang Investment is China Construction Investment.

Equity penetration shows that China Construction Capital Management (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. controls Jianguang Investment with a 51% stake.

On November 19, the Zhilu Jianguang consortium again spread the good news. Relying on the semiconductor enterprises controlled by the alliance, the Zhilu Jianguang consortium and a number of financial investment institutions in Guangdong have jointly established a vast intelligent industry group, with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan in the first phase and 30 billion yuan in the second phase. We will focus on the areas of closed testing, wafer manufacturing and design in the hard-tech semiconductor industry chain.

A reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily learned that the first phase of funding has been put in place at present.

Li Bin and his person

Jianguang Investment is not short of funds, and a number of mergers and acquisitions have been done well, but why should Zhilu Capital be tied up every time it strikes? In particular, the acquisition of Ziguang Group, Zhilu Capital played a "vanguard" role.

Here, we have to mention a key gentleman-Li Bin.

A reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily found that Li Bin, as an individual shareholder, appeared on the list of the ultimate beneficiaries of Jianguang investment.

The equity penetration of Jianguang Investment shows that Li Bin holds a total of 29.83% of shares through the vast Rongxin (Tianjin) Technology Co., Ltd., Jianping (Tianjin) Science and Technology Information Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership), and so on.

In Zhilu Capital, Li Bin also holds a total of 73.15% through Beijing Qiping Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Hengqin Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Zhikexin Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership).

Two different types of equity private equity funds have become highly related through Li Bin.

In this regard, a source told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily: Zhao Weiguo, former chairman of Ziguang, once hinted in his circle of friends that Li Bin is very capable.

"although I don't know if the information is true or false, it echoes the background of Li Bin and two mysterious companies."

Zhilu Capital, which is ahead of Jianguang's investment, was established in 2017 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. In addition to the acquisition of Ziguang Group, the major mergers and acquisitions include the acquisition of ePAK, a world-renowned wafer supplier, on November 19, and an attempt to acquire Magna (Magnachip), a famous South Korean chip maker, at a premium of 75 per cent.

Despite the ferocious mergers and acquisitions of Zhilu Capital, Li Bin, as the ultimate beneficiary, did not appear on the list of the senior management team, but handed over Zhilu Capital to another partner, Zhang Yuanjie.

In terms of architecture, Zhang Yuanjie has become Li Bin's "right hand".

Under the leadership of Li Bin, Zhang Yuanjie also has another identity, that is, the vice chairman of Zhongguancun Rongxin Financial Information Industry Alliance, and Li Bin is the chairman of the alliance.

What kind of alliance is this? The inquiry found that the alliance was founded in 2016 with a registered capital of only 300000, with Zhang Yuanjie as the legal representative. From the point of view of time, Li Bin first established the alliance, and then let the establishment of Zhilu Capital, and let Zhang Yuanjie manage.

Like the Zhilu Jianguang consortium, the alliance, which has been established for only five years, is growing rapidly.

In the list of members listed on the official website, a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily saw that dozens of well-known domestic companies and bank consortia in the field of semiconductors have become members of the alliance, including Changdian Technology, SMIC, Wentai Technology, BOE Technology, Minsheng Bank, etc., but the bankrupt and restructured Ziguang Group is not among them.

Almost every one of these companies is a leader in subdivision fields, such as Changdian Technology specializing in semiconductor closed testing, SMIC doing 12-inch wafer factories, Wentai Technology driving automotive electronics, and BOE Technology for semiconductor display enterprises.

In the investigation, a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily also found that Li Bin, the beneficiary of the takeover party, and Zhao Weiguo, former chairman of Ziguang Group, have a common label, that is, graduation from Tsinghua University.

According to the data, Li Bin was born in August 1970 and graduated from Tsinghua University majoring in management information systems. Zhao Weiguo was born in April 1967 and graduated from Tsinghua University majoring in electronic engineering. Both are alumni of Tsinghua University.

However, also graduated from Tsinghua University, Zhilu Capital seems to be superior to Ziguang Group in operation. One analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed his view that the assets bought by Ziguang Group have no good exit channels, resulting in natural indigestion, leading to a debt crisis.

"in contrast to Zhilu Capital, several acquisitions were eventually sold to A-share listed companies, earning several times, and the exit channel was much stronger than Ziguang."

Of course, the intersection of Li Bin and Zhao Weiguo, both alumni, does not stop there. Zhao Weiguo expressed "dissatisfaction" in moments when Zhilu Capital and Jianguang assets formed a joint venture with Qualcomm and Datang Telecom (JLQ) in 2017.

Qualcomm has set up a domestic joint venture with Ziguang's chips for $50 to $100 phones, while Qualcomm's joint venture Axa Technologies specializes in $100 phones, it said.

The Anshi Semiconductor Project made a huge profit of 15 billion yuan.

The words of the above analysts should be true.

In the acquisition of Anshi Semiconductor, Zhilu Capital became famous in the first World War. In 2017, Jianguang, a highly related party, acquired the standard parts business of NXP for US $2.75 billion and renamed it Anshi Semiconductor.

A year later, Wentai Technology launched the acquisition. After many acquisitions, it finally spent more than 33 billion yuan to take a 98.2% stake in Anshi Semiconductor, making it the largest listed semiconductor company in China.

Note that in the process of acquisition, Wentai Technology is a member of Zhongguancun Rongxin Financial Information Industry Alliance. It first bought a 74.46% stake from Zhilu Capital with 26.854 billion yuan, and then won the remaining shares in Hefei Yuxin and other hands with 6.334 billion yuan. Hefei Yuxin is also a company under Jianguang assets.

In this war, only Anshi Semiconductor Project, Zhilu Capital made a profit of 15 billion yuan.

In addition to taking over Ziguang Group, on December 1st, Zhilu Capital won the world's largest closed semiconductor testing company, Riyueguang, four closed test plants in mainland China, for a price of 1.46 billion US dollars.

It is reported that the four plants are located in Weihai, Shanghai, Kunshan and Suzhou, and Riyueguang is expected to reap an investment income of US $630 million from the sale.

For the deal, some analysts believe that this part of the assets are likely to be injected into Changdian Technology, Tonfu Technology, or United Technology of Zhilu Capital itself, or Huanxu Electronics.

Regardless of the final outcome of the merger, it is worth noting that Changdian Technology happens to be a member of Zhongguancun Rongxin Financial Information Industry Alliance, while Huanxu Electronics' parent company is Sunlight and Moonlight.

With the settlement of the acquisition of Ziguang Group, the domineering "Zhilu Jianguang consortium" has also surfaced. It is worth looking forward to how the "consortium", which is good at splitting and operating the business, will operate on Ziguang Group. after all, Ziguang owns a number of chip enterprises, such as Changjiang Storage and Ziguang Zhanrui.