June 65438+1October 65438+In February this year, Handing Asia Pacific just raised $500 million through private equity funds, which will be used for M&A in China, Japan and South Korea.
Because after the Asian financial crisis, he made outstanding contributions to the recovery of the Asian economy. 1998, Dalin Xu and Zhu Rongji were rated as one of the "fifty outstanding leaders in Asia" by American Business Weekly.
Born in Chongqing, 1943, Ph.D. in electrical engineering, Berkeley, California, USA, he went to Taiwan Province Province with his family at the age of 4. Dalin Xu worked in IBM headquarters for 12 years, ranking the highest position in China at that time. However, due to the economic development in his hometown, he returned to Taiwan as an investor. It is he who introduced the concept and method of "venture capital" into Taiwan Province Province.
Accidentally become an investor
Only a few countries and regions in the world, such as the United States, Israel and Western Europe, have succeeded in venture capital, and Taiwan Province Province is one of them. Dalin Xu's venture capital is indispensable in Taiwan Province Province. The venture capital companies in Taiwan Province Province were either founded by employees who went out from Handing or learned from Handing's successful experience.
Twenty years ago, Dalin Xu was still working in the headquarters of IBM in the United States. At that time, the economy of Taiwan Province Province was still very backward. After visiting Silicon Valley in the United States, Li Guoding, then "Minister of Economy", decided to transform the industry in Taiwan Province Province from manufacturing to high-tech industry. As an overseas expert, Dalin Xu took part in the scientific and technological development of Taiwan Province Province after learning about this plan in his hometown of Taiwan Province Province. Dalin Xu has devoted himself to the development of Taiwan Province's high-tech industry for more than ten years, without taking a penny.
In the mid-1980s, it was difficult for Taiwan Province Province to develop high-tech industries. Because many foreign advanced technologies were developed by venture capital funds, Taiwan Province Province didn't have such funds at that time, and almost knew nothing about venture capital. Knowing this situation, Dalin Xu resigned from IBM Lab and joined Humboldt Venture Capital Company, one of the founders of American science and technology investment and venture capital, and successfully brought the concept and method of venture capital to Taiwan Province Province and the concept of fund management to Taiwan Province Province.
Because of his enthusiasm for Taiwan Province's high-tech development, Dalin Xu completely changed careers. "My starting point was to help Taiwan Province Province develop science and technology, but because the most urgent situation in Taiwan Province Province at that time was not to develop better science and technology products, but to need companies that could invest in science and technology products and change from technology to investment, I chose venture capital."
Dalin Xu's road is tortuous for others, but it is natural for himself. He was admitted to college physics, because at that time, influenced by the success of Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao, the society generally believed that all good students should study physics and win the Nobel Prize in the future. But later, he found that his interest was not in physics, "I have no talent in physics", so when he went to the United States to study for a master's degree, Dalin Xu chose "more practical" electrical engineering.
Because they all majored in technology, through hard work, Dalin Xu went to IBM, and was the research unit of the head office, responsible for the whole magnetic technology, and had reached the top in industrial technology research.
Dalin Xu once held a senior position at IBM, helping to decide which projects should be supported and which should not be done. In fact, he undertook some decision-making and management work, which was of great help to his later venture capital.
"Just entered the H &；; Q, every time I grab an MBA and cooperate with me, I do technical analysis and he does financial evaluation. " Dalin Xu said.
The risks are all mine. How can there be such a good thing?
Twenty years later, Dalin Xu and his H&; Q invested in 150 companies in Taiwan Province province. He proudly said, "We have finished what the government and society have to do."
In the 1970s, Taiwan Province Province was dominated by government investment, and there was no concept of venture capital and fund manager. Dalin Xu started as a fund manager, and he made great efforts to introduce venture capital to people. Fund managers don't have their own money, but they have a professional understanding of the investment industry and use other people's money to invest, and this money needs to be handed over to fund managers for a long time. Therefore, the most critical and difficult first step is to raise funds.
It was inconceivable to the people of Taiwan Province Province at that time that loans to the government and banks needed mortgage, but there was nothing to mortgage to raise venture capital funds. Dalin Xu often goes to explain to others for a long time, and people suddenly realize, "Oh, I see" and then say, "Are you kidding me? You play with my money and want me to pay you? If you lose, count me in. If you make money, I will give you 20% as a bonus. The risks are all mine. How can there be such a good thing? "
The difficulty was extraordinary, so Dalin Xu thanked Li Guoding for his help and called him a mentor and leader. Li Guoding thinks that science and technology in Taiwan Province needs venture capital. Without capital, entrepreneurs are doomed. So he used his fame and connections to help Dalin Xu raise money. Dalin Xu raised US$ 20 million for the first time, of which nearly 30% was invested by Taiwanese government as seed fund to encourage venture capital.
The first money was invested in Acer Computer. At that time, Acer H& had not been listed and was preparing for the listing. H & amp；; in Dalin Xu; Q invested in six companies, including Citibank, and achieved great success.
Because fund managers need to invest in diversified ways through professional analysis and judgment, hoping to bring benefits to investors, Dalin Xu said that IBM's aura has helped him a lot, and others believe that he is very professional and has a good eye for high technology.
The major shareholder behind Starbucks store
In Chinese mainland, you may not have heard of Handing, but you must know HNA, Lufthansa Mall, Starbucks and so on, all of which are related to Handing Asia Pacific.
At present, Handing's Asia-Pacific investment projects involve science and technology, real estate, chemicals, consumer goods and other fields, with a total investment of 250 million US dollars.
As early as 1993, Handing entered Chinese mainland. At that time, Aetna Insurance Company of the United States had just reached a cooperation with Bank of China, and Aetna Insurance Company of the United States invested 20 million yuan to set up Zhongan Fund. The idea of Bank of China is to make venture capital.
Aetna Insurance has never made venture capital investment in the United States, let alone in China? So they found Ding Han to manage the fund together. At that time, Handing had developed to the Philippines, Thailand and other Asian countries, and had a certain popularity. In this way, Handing Asia Pacific entered China with 1993, and held 50% shares with Zhongan Fund Management Company. * * * Manage Zhongan Fund, with Zhongan and Handing holding 50% shares each. Later, Handing gradually achieved 95% of the work and still took 50% of the expenses.
Before 1995, there was no science and technology in China. At first, Handing made some general investments, including Huabao Real Estate Project in Dalian, Dongyu Group Company in Shenyang and Bank of China, and then successively invested in Hainan Airlines and Beijing Lufthansa Mall, and established Kexing Bioengineering Company in cooperation with Peking University.
1998 reached an agreement with American Starbucks to introduce Starbucks into China. In less than four months, the first Starbucks store in Chinese mainland opened in Beijing International Trade Center 1999. Up to now, 58 stores have been opened, with an average of more than a month. As a major shareholder, Handing holds more than 80% of the shares.
Later, due to the development of science and technology in China, Handing's investment also turned to the science and technology industry. Among them, there are two big projects, one is SMIC, which is mainly based on chips, and the other is Hongren Group, which is mainly based on petrochemical.
In the dark period of investment, no one is a complete failure.
Venture capital, high risk and high recovery will inevitably have a high failure rate. When Handing first entered the Chinese mainland market, the joint venture in Chinese mainland implemented the partnership system, with the foreign party accounting for 30% and the Chinese party accounting for 70%. Everything must be agreed by both parties, and listing is not allowed, which brings many problems. That period was called "investment dark period", and many investment companies lost their money. Handing has always been persistent and hardworking. None of them is a complete failure. They recovered all their capital and made some money, which was the best fund at that time.
Although there are many examples of venture capital failure, Dalin Xu never flinched. He said that the key is that in the end, there are more successes than failures on the whole, and only high risks can bring innovative things.
The "dark period of investment" did not scare off Dalin Xu. On the one hand, it is his persistent personality; on the other hand, it is because he was born and raised in China. "China is said to be the factory of the world, because there are cheap labor and hard-working workers here, but the greatest advantage of China people-invention and creativity have not been brought into play, and world powers will develop innovation, and a big tool for innovation is venture capital." Dalin Xu said.
"Science and technology must have three conditions: timeliness, productization and market share. Study the best technology in the world, unless you can raise money, start a company and produce products soon, the products can have a certain share in the world market. Otherwise, even the best technology is useless, and this requires venture capital. "
Coincidentally, in May last year, Handing invested in a battery company in Dongguan to produce batteries for the world's most advanced MP3 devices, iPodnano and iPodshuffle. The core technology of this upgraded iPod was developed by Dalin Xu while working at IBM, and it can store massive music. ;