Chapter 229 – Shares of Aiwa

Norio Ohga returned to China, and he flew straight to Bing city. The Sony board of directors had agreed to sell all their Aiwa’s shares at 7.2 million USD to Feng Yu.

They were pleased with Norio Ohga’s negotiation with Feng Yu. They were able to maintain the alliance to prevent competitors from getting more market share and also offload a burden.

Moreover, the buyer was a Chinese he had shown great interest in this Japanese brand. This made them felt proud, and they think that the Chinese were not good at doing business.

Heitaro Nakajima, President of Aiwa Co., had also come to Bing City with Norio Ohga. Heitaro Nakajima was disappointed and angry when he heard that Sony would be selling their shares. He felt that the Sony’s shareholders had no foresight and could not see their efforts and innovations.

But no matter how he protests, he can’t change their decision. This trip to Bing City was to meet with Aiwa’s new major shareholder, and he was hoping that he could still be the president of Aiwa. He also does not want this new shareholder to affect the company’s strategy. This strategy was Aiwa’s opportunity to turnaround!

……

“Mr. Norio, welcome again to China. Have you brought the contract? Is the contract draft in three languages, English, Chinese, and Japanese, as per my request?”

“Of course. You can let the others check the contract first. Let me introduce you Mr. Heitaro Nakajima, President of Aiwa Co. He is here today to visit you.”

Heitaro Nakajima was a middle-aged man in his 40s. He looks full of drive, but the only shortcoming was his bald spot on the top of his head. The bald spot made him look like someone that would appear in Sola Aoi’s movies!

“Mr. Feng, how do you do? I am Heitaro Nakajima. I hope we can work together to bring Aiwa out of its present situation.”

Heitaro Nakajima had said Ai Hua instead of Aiwa. The was the Chinese pronunciation of Aiwa. At first, Feng Yu was still unhappy that Heitaro Nakajima did not bow to him when they met, but now, Feng Yu was smiling.

Aiwa will change its name in the future. Ai Hua sounds better. The company’s logo also had to be replaced. Aiwa will be changed to small caps, and Feng Yu wants to use the Chinese characters of “Ai Hua” on the logo.

Although this Heitaro Nakajima was a bit arrogant, he was capable. Feng Yu like capable people. His favorite Walkman brand from his previous life belongs to him now. This feels good!

“Mr. Heitaro, did Mr. Norio tell you that I will not interfere with Aiwa’s operation? You can continue with your plans, but I have a request. Before the company starts any mass production of any new product, you must send me a sample. Once I agree, then you can start the production.”

Only this request? Heitaro Nakajima was overjoyed. This meant that Feng Yu would let him remain as the President of Aiwa. The company would also stick to his development plans. If his plans succeed, he can prove to Sony’s directors that they had made a huge mistake of selling Aiwa’s shares!

As for Feng Yu wanting a sample, he felt that it was because this young man wants the latest product. He was confident about the new products developed by the company. Everybody who was into Walkman said their Walkman was the best.

“Mr. Feng, there will be no problems with your request. Later this year, Aiwa will be launching new products, and I had brought two samples with me as presents for you.”

Feng Yu looked at the Walkman. These were Aiwa’s iconic J series models. It comes along with the popular D8 earphones. This was the product that would change Aiwa’s fate?

A familiar melody started, and Feng Yu thought that it was Theresa Teng’s “Walking Down the Road of Life,” but it turned out to be a Japanese song. Feng Yu guessed this was one of the original songs which Theresa Teng sang the Chinese version. The music quality was indeed outstanding.

“Mr. Heitaro, Aiwa had set up a subsidiary company in Hong Kong. Are you going to enter the Chinese market with this company?”

“That’s right. But this Hong Kong company not only target China market. It also targets the whole of Southeast Asia. In the future, we also have the intentions of setting a branch factory in Malaysia. This should happen later this year or early next year. My men are already in Malaysia looking at the location of the factory.”

Feng Yu was touching his chin. He decided that he would get China’s distribution rights for himself after he had signed the contract. Whether if it was the Japanese or Hong Kong’s Fu family, no one could compare with Feng Yu on China’s market.

Since he had bought Aiwa’s shares, then Feng Yu must turn the company around fast and make Aiwa a Chinese brand!

The three of them chatted for a while and Feng Yu’s lawyer, who was checking the contract, walked over and whisper into Feng Yu’s ears.

Feng Yu noticed Norio Ohga understands English the last time they met. So, Feng Yu requested the contract to be in three languages. This way, it would be difficult for the Japanese to change some of the contents of the contract. Regardless of the language, the contract would be bounded by law.

Because of this contract, Feng Yu hired several lawyers to cross-check the contract. They would inform Feng Yu immediately if they find any parts of the contract suspicious. Feng Yu had promised them rewards ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 RMB for finding loopholes in the contract.

With such attractive rewards, the lawyers look through the contract seriously, hoping to get that reward.

There were no problems with the Chinese version contract, but the Japanese and English versions had some issues. The terms were restricting some of Feng Yu’s interests.

Feng Yu immediately pointed out these issues to Norio Ohga and Heitaro Nakajima. He would only sign the contract after these issues had been resolved.

Heitaro Nakajima and Norio Ohga exchanged looks and asked his men to amend the contract. Heitaro Nakajima was Aiwa’s shareholder and one of Aiwa’s founder, but when Sony bought over Aiwa, he was offered a position in Sony. This time, Sony had sold Aiwa’s shares, and they even removed Heitaro Nakajima’s position in Sony. As compensation, Sony tried to strengthen his authority in Aiwa.

They thought that Feng Yu would be easy to fool. After all, the last time they met, they noticed that Feng Yu was not interested in managing Aiwa. But now, it seems that Feng Yu was very smart and careful. At least, regarding contracts.

The contracts were amended, the lawyers vetted it and felt that there were no more problems. Feng Yu signed the three versions of the contracts and even put his thumbprint on it. Norio Ohga signed on the contract on behalf of Sony. The company stamp was also stamped on the contract. After the money was transferred to Sony’s account, the contract will be in effect.

Feng Yu had used the Hong Kong bank account given to him by Fu Guangzheng to transfer 7.2 million USD to Sony’s account. The money was sales proceeds from the Fu family’s humidifier’s sales. If the Fu family had transferred the sales proceeds to Tai Hua Trading’s account in China, the USD would automatically be changed to RMB.

Now, Feng Yu was officially a shareholder of Aiwa Co., and this was the start of his venture into the Japanese electronics industry……