God of Technology: Creating the Internet in Another World-Chapter 469: What’s the Funding Source?

"Lord Roster, this document doesn’t mention where the Rail Transit General Company will get its funding."

As they were finishing reading through the document, someone suddenly asked, "Building a rail transit system like this should cost a fortune, right?"

"I’ll have the Rail Transit General Company go public directly on the stock exchange. We’ll issue one billion shares at 0.5 gold coins each."

Viscount Roster saw no reason to hide this and spoke frankly. "That way, we can raise 500 million gold coins upfront."

"With that money, we can build quite a bit of railway. Then we can issue bonds under the Rail Transit General Company’s name."

"Each main line can independently issue bonds once or even multiple times. We can expand using those bonds."

"If necessary, we can also mortgage some of the railways to Dragon Bank to get substantial loans."

"Pre-leasing station storefronts is also a great way to gather funds..."

Viscount Roster laid out his ideas one by one. Of course, he didn’t share all his plans.

For instance, the main line from Dawn’s northern border to the City of Gold would run north to south, passing through Dawn’s capital, Gray Fort’s capital, and dozens of other major cities. It was easy to foresee that once this railway was completed, it would become the world’s busiest railway.

This railway would definitely generate massive profits.

He could totally spin it off as a subsidiary and list it independently after construction, milking the same cow twice.

There were plenty of moves he could make with the railway.

But he couldn’t let anyone know about this plan right now, or it would definitely affect the Rail Transit General Company’s IPO.

Viscount Roster went on and on, talking about all the various financial tools he’d use to raise funds.

Everyone else’s eyes were practically glowing.

They felt like they were seeing an unprecedented huge market and profit opportunity.

Building railways required massive amounts of steel, labor, machinery, magical materials, wood, and tons of other resources. These things alone could create unlimited value.

Once construction was complete, the commercial activities using the ultra-high-speed rail transit system could generate endless value too.

And now, the methods Viscount Roster described for raising funds would let them perfectly integrate into all of it.

When stocks were issued, they could naturally buy them in bulk.

At 0.5 gold coins per share, the purchasing process would be much easier for them.

Once the rail transit system was established, these routes would naturally start paying dividends. Aside from a small amount for maintenance, it was basically all profit.

Railway bonds would also become a stable income source. They firmly believed that a rail transit system with so many participants couldn’t possibly fail.

So railway bonds were basically a risk-free investment channel.

Even if Viscount Roster planned to use debt to service debt in the future, borrowing new debt to pay off old debt, it didn’t matter.

The bonds and interest would definitely be there anyway, and they didn’t need to worry about the Railway General Company eventually being dragged down by debt.

"I think this is great."

"As expected of Lord Roster, you’ve thought of everything."

"When are you planning to start? After this is over and I get home, I’ll start raising funds to buy shares."

Hearing these big shots’ words, Viscount Roster said with a smile, "This IPO won’t be like previous ones. The rail transit system is a new thing after all, with no track record yet."

"I’m planning to contact all parties first and make sure all the shares can be sold before deciding to go public."

"You mean?" Several people looked surprised.

"Make sure there are enough people willing to buy and that they have the ability to take all the shares, then we’ll go public. Of course, there will definitely be some retail investors joining in, so not everyone will get as many shares as they originally wanted."

Viscount Roster spoke frankly. "But this way is the most stable, and it ensures that after the shares are issued and officially listed on the stock exchange, they start out positive right from the beginning."

Everyone fell silent.

After thinking for a while, they all nodded.

That did make sense. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"I have another question. Beyond those main lines in your plan, there’s still a huge amount of land. Those areas need railways too, and not everyone has enough capital to build those railways."

"We know that. What are you getting at?" When the speaker suddenly paused, Viscount Roster raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"What I mean is, isn’t there a possibility that the Rail Transit General Company could take on this work when it has sufficient funding?"

The person was silent for a while, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before finally speaking. "For example, my territory doesn’t have enough funds or ability to build a railway, but I need one."

"So, I propose this: I could lease my territory’s railway operating rights and stations to the Railway General Company for 99 years, and I’m willing to promise to donate however many acres of land along the route in exchange for the General Company building the railway."

Originally, according to the rules, these railway branch lines belonged to each branch company—both construction and profits. The General Company only had operating rights, meaning the authority to manage train schedules.

What the speaker was now proposing was to hand over all the railway’s products within 99 years directly to the General Company.

Whether the railway made a profit or loss would belong to the General Company.

Management of railway station income would also go to the General Company.

As for the land for building the railway, they’d donate that directly to the General Company too.

The other big shots were obviously surprised.

But after thinking carefully, they understood all the twists and turns involved.

Most nobles were broke right now!

Who knew how long it would take to build railways in their own territories!

The longer it dragged on, the greater the risk, and the easier it would be to get left out.

In the end, it would directly affect future factory construction and industrial development.

If that was the case, they might as well transfer the railway rights directly to the General Company and just enjoy the convenience the railway brought.

Giving up a slice now to own the whole pie later.

That was also a good choice.

"Sure. In fact, if a branch line has good potential, we can also let it go public and issue bonds."

After thinking carefully for a while, Viscount Roster nodded. "Railways have enormous potential. If we use financial tools well, we can do a lot."

The big shots present had plenty of details they wanted to know, and they asked question after question.

Time passed unknowingly in this exchange.

After ending this meeting, Viscount Roster also began the process of establishing the Rail Transit General Company, trying to start construction on the ultra-high-speed rail transit system as soon as possible.