Chapter 113 The Psychological Price

Manager Li was a bit dazed. "President Pei, did I miss something in the process? Didn't we agree to discuss this in detail today? We haven't even expressed our respective interests and demands yet. Shouldn't we have a thorough communication before making a decision?"

Pei Qian was a little surprised. "Huh? Hasn't everyone considered it clearly yet? I thought the news about all the online clubs jointly resisting the GPL league was true!"

Manager Li was a bit dizzy.

It's true, but we didn't say we would sell the GOG division!

We were just trying to put some public pressure on you, you know?

But President Pei is just assuming that all the clubs are selling their GOG divisions?

This question left Manager Li speechless.

The clubs had joined forces to create public opinion to increase their bargaining chips, making President Pei see that no one intended to take over, thus dispelling his idea of buying all the clubs' GOG divisions himself.

But President Pei was unmoved and pushed the topic to the extreme.

There was no room for negotiation!

So the ball was back in the clubs' court.

To say that they didn't plan to sell the GOG division, but just wanted equal consultation and concessions on cooperation terms?

No, that would be admitting defeat, and President Pei would have them even more under his thumb!

But if they didn't say that, would they have to immediately sell the GOG division?

The managers of several clubs looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

They hadn't expected things to develop this way when they wrote the script. President Pei wasn't acting according to the script, so what about them?

Pei Qian looked at the club managers, none of whom were speaking, and felt a little anxious.

What's going on?

Weren't they supposed to sell me their GOG divisions?

Why is no one saying anything?

Hurry up and sell them to me so I can lose money!

The meeting room fell into an awkward silence. Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Manager Li, you seem to have the biggest reaction. Why don't you take the lead and state your position? Sell or not sell, give me a straight answer."

The corner of Manager Li's mouth twitched slightly.

President Pei was putting him on the spot!

He had organized this matter. If he said he wouldn't sell, the other clubs wouldn't be stupid and definitely wouldn't sell either. Wouldn't that end with President Pei's complete victory? What was there to talk about?

But it wasn't realistic for Manager Li to sell the GOG division directly, because he didn't have the authority. Ultimately, the decision to sell or not was up to the boss.

What should he do?

Manager Li's brain was spinning rapidly, and he quickly came up with a solution.

He immediately put on a smiling expression, looked around at the other club managers, and then at President Pei, showing an indifferent and in-control demeanor.

"President Pei, first of all, let me state that we are still seeking continued cooperation with an attitude of equal consultation. A lose-lose situation has never been our goal."

"Moreover, even if we were to sell, it shouldn't be a direct transaction with the official, right? Our interests wouldn't be guaranteed."

"For example, if a third party offered a higher price than Tengda, and Tengda bought our GOG divisions at a low price, that wouldn't be reasonable, right? Our interests would be damaged."

"So I think we should seek a third-party transaction first, with the highest bidder winning, and it must exceed our psychological bottom line before we decide to sell."

Pei Qian's eyes lit up.

Exceed your psychological bottom line?

So you want to raise the price?

Great!

Pei Qian immediately nodded. "No problem. In that case, everyone can state their psychological bottom line, and we'll hold an auction, selling the entire GOG division and GPL spot as a package deal."

"Tell me your psychological bottom lines freely. Zhang Yuan, take some notes."

Zhang Yuan nodded, took out a pen and paper, and started taking simple notes.

The other club managers looked at Manager Li and immediately understood his plan.

The plan remained the same, but they were just entering the next stage ahead of schedule.

The initial idea was to create public pressure and make President Pei back down. If President Pei didn't back down, they would pretend to sell the GOG divisions, making President Pei see the fact that "no one would take over," and then President Pei would naturally make concessions.

They had already agreed to uniformly raise the price by 20%. For example, if their GOG division was worth 5 million, they would quote 6 million; if it was worth 10 million, they would quote 12 million.

Moreover, the original valuation was already inflated, including a comprehensive consideration of player value, brand effect, and other aspects.

Manager Li had already discussed it with the other clubs in the past few days, and those clubs wouldn't get involved.

Therefore, no one should take over at this price.

Then, President Pei would either have to bite the bullet and buy all these GOG divisions at a high price, or he would have to take a step back and negotiate cooperation with the clubs.

Moreover, President Pei wasn't using a blind auction this time, but an open auction.

These clubs didn't really want to sell their GOG divisions, so as long as one club raised the price, the other clubs would follow suit, making the price even more inflated.

Manager Li smiled slightly. "SUG club's GOG division, our psychological bottom line price is 11 million."

The other club managers also stated their respective quotations.

The highest, of course, were H4 club and EK club, who had just won the championship and runner-up in the Global Invitational Tournament, asking for 13 million and 12.5 million respectively.

The quotations from the various clubs were generally average.

This was normal, because when President Pei sold the DGE club's players, he distributed them evenly among the various clubs.

The strength of the clubs was similar, and the operating costs were about the same, so there would naturally not be much difference in price.

Soon, all the clubs had reported their expected prices, and each of them had increased the premium.

After all, the GOG division training bases of these clubs were rented, and there weren't many fixed assets. The most valuable thing was the players, and the transfer fees of the players were public knowledge, not a secret to President Pei.

The e-sports industry had just started, it wasn't that hot, and the clubs naturally couldn't sell at too high a price.

In the opinion of the club managers, the current price was already very high.

Pei Qian frowned, and he pondered for a moment and said, "Everyone, are you really not going to add more?"

"Is it a bit of a loss to sell the GOG division for only ten million?"

Pei Qian wished that these people would raise the price even higher.

If you raise the price more, I can spend more money!

None of the club managers responded.

Because they didn't quite understand whether President Pei's words were meant literally...

Was he complaining that they were selling it too expensive?

Was he deliberately being sarcastic?

But looking at President Pei's sincere expression, it didn't seem like he was being sarcastic?

Everyone was confused by "President Pei's acting skills" and didn't know how to respond.

Manager Li couldn't help but feel a little proud when he saw President Pei frown and say this.

He couldn't accept the specific quotations, could he?

President Pei's words were actually sarcastic. On the surface, he was asking if they wanted to sell it at a higher price, but in reality, he was dissatisfied with their exorbitant prices.

This must be sarcasm, angry words!

Manager Li's mouth turned up, and he cleared his throat twice. "President Pei, this is our psychological price. It is indeed a little higher than our investment cost, but I think this is also reasonable. After all, we have been working on the GOG division for so long, and we can't work for nothing, right?"

As soon as he heard Manager Li's words, Pei Qian immediately understood that his words had been misinterpreted again.

Forget it, don't explain it, the more he explained, the bigger the problem would be.

The quotations from these clubs added up to nearly one hundred million.

Pei Qian thought about it. If these clubs wanted to sell, it was impossible for no one to buy them. Not to mention anything else, President Li might join forces with other investors to buy one to play with.

So relying on no one to take over was not realistic. He could only say that it was definitely impossible to take over all of them.

If six or seven were left and no one wanted them, President Pei would buy them with his own money. Tengda's money could be squeezed out, which would not affect the ongoing research and development of those departments.

So be it, cheaper is cheaper.

Pei Qian nodded. "Okay, we'll negotiate with third parties according to this price and let everyone bid freely!"

"But let me make one thing clear first. Since we've agreed to sell and given the psychological price, you can't go back on your word."

"Let's sign an intermediary agency contract first. Tengda guarantees to sell your GOG divisions at your expected price, only higher, not lower. If we can't sell them, Tengda will cover the bottom line. Conversely, if the price reaches the expected price, you can't say you won't sell."

"If you breach the contract, we will each bear the responsibility for the breach and pay compensation for the breach."

This was like doing business. The seller had already offered a price, but when the buyer wanted to buy it, the seller went back on his word, which was definitely not allowed.

Pei Qian was afraid that these clubs would go back on their word, so wouldn't his money be wasted?

Therefore, signing the agency contract was mainly to ensure that when Tengda covered the bottom line and bought these clubs, they wouldn't go back on their word.

For Pei Qian, as long as this contract was signed, Tengda would have to spend money to buy the clubs, or it would have to pay the clubs damages for breach of contract. Either way, it would cost money, which was wonderful!

As soon as they heard about signing the contract, the club managers were afraid again.

Manager Li coughed twice. "President Pei, can I call the boss now and ask for instructions?"

Pei Qian nodded. "Of course."

The club managers immediately scattered and went to the corners to call their bosses.

Manager Li came to the garden outside the villa and dialed the club owner's phone.

"Hello? Boss, I'm reporting on the GOG division. President Pei wants us to sign a contract now..."

"Yes, my quotation is 11 million. Even if it's really sold, after deducting the player's worth, the GPL spot, and operating expenses, we can still earn a lot, and we definitely won't lose money."

"GPL spot? We can buy it again if we want. The spot itself is not worth much. How many clubs are playing in the country now?"

"Yes, boss, the GPL spot shouldn't be very valuable, because Tengda is now developing the e-sports ecosystem and allows players to build their own teams and start from the Internet cafe competition of Moyu Internet Cafe. In that case, we only need to buy an Internet cafe team that has the strength to reach the GPL."

"Yes, at worst, we'll sell it for 11 million and spend a little money to buy a new team back. It's definitely not a loss."

"Okay, boss, I'll sign it first."

Manager Li hung up the phone, feeling much more confident.

After thinking about it, signing this contract would at most earn a little less, but it shouldn't be a loss.

The player's worth and the club's costs were fixed, and the premium was already high enough.

He had been running a GOG division like a hobby, had sponsorship, and some endorsements, and had already earned back some of it. Now he was selling it at a premium, and he would easily earn a lot.

And even if he sold it, he could come back anytime in the future.

At present, the qualification for most e-sports leagues in the world is very loose. The reason is simple: there are few participants.

There are only a few clubs, and no one will grab the league spot.

If an Internet cafe team played in the GPL league, how could they operate it themselves? Wouldn't they have to find a club to rely on? If they took a little money, they could buy this kind of Internet cafe team if they wanted.

At that time, it would be natural for SUG to buy an Internet cafe team that had obtained the GPL spot. Maybe President Pei would be a sucker and have to warmly welcome the SUG club!