Hi, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Lenovo Group Zoom meeting today. Before we begin, I would like to announce some housekeeping rules. Participants, please update your names in the webinar to include both your company name and your personal names for our easier identification, please. Thank you. For this call, we will be accepting both verbal and written questions. You may click the Raise Hand button, and you will be placed in a queue. When the host announce your name, please state your name, the institution you belongs to, and then ask your questions. If you also type your questions in the Q&A box, we will read it out to you later on. Please limit your questions relating to the announcement. Now, we will turn it over to the Lenovo IR team, please.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Lenovo's conference call on our strategic collaboration framework with Alat. This is Sandy Niu, IR Director at Lenovo. With me today are Mr. Wong Wai Ming, our Group CFO, and Mr. Hugh Wu, Head of Lenovo Treasury. We will begin with a slide presentation to elaborate details of the strategic collaboration, and after that, we'll open the call for questions. Now let me turn it over to Wai Ming. Wai Ming, please.
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you, Sandy. So let me just, run through a few slides, to give you further details, on top of what we announced today. N ext page, please. So our strategic collaboration framework agreement with Alat, will create a new business growth potential and reduce our financial expense burden with the issuance of a zero-coupon convertible bonds. Alat is the strategic investment arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, or commonly known as PIF, one of the largest sovereign wealth fund globally, with assets under management in excess of $700 billion. Alat is not just another financial investor, but it is a strategic business partner for us. Alat's board of directors is chaired by the Crown Prince and Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It offers unparalleled access to the KSA booming economy and technology market. The board member also consists of ministers, such as the Minister of Investment, His Excellency Al-Falih. In fact, Alat plans to invest over $100 billion by 2030 in key sectors such as AI infrastructure, devices, semiconductors, which are also Lenovo's strategic interest. As the largest investment of Alat, Lenovo is primed to capture the high growth in the Middle East to actively engage in the growth opportunities and enhance the already resilient global supply chain with KSA renowned clean energy. In addition, the proposed three-year warrants issue of...
We announced yesterday, will enable Lenovo to raise additional funds to support our future growth, while at the same time broadening our capital base, and is a further vote of confidence in the company's ongoing transformation, global market leadership and growth momentum. Warrants are also structured whereby Legend Holdings will have the first right of refusal to buy. This represent the confidence of Legend Holdings in Lenovo by committing a higher price to buy shares in Lenovo in three years' time. Next page, please. The group transformation from a device company to a service and solutions company is welcomed by Alat, and along with our global presence and manufacturing footprint, it is fully aligned with Alat's own strategic goals to improve the region's capabilities in technology and create new growth opportunities.
These opportunities are important for Lenovo to further strengthen our growth trajectory, such as in Middle East and Africa region, represent a high-growth market across Lenovo business growth. For example, our business shipment increased by 11% in MEA region, year-on-year, last year. KSA plans to invest over $18 billion to construct sizable data center as well as provide renewable energy to serve the region by 2030. The total addressable market in IT services spending could reach $38 billion by 2027. The region's investment in AI will lead to secular tailwinds and contribute up to over $300 billion to the Middle Eastern economy by 2030. Next page, please. Our collaboration will create a new manufacturing facility to serve the regional market.
This new facility will extend Lenovo's existing global footprint, which already includes more than 30 sites around the world, enhance our global chains, resilience and flexibility, and capitalize the extensive clean energy initiatives from the region. In Saudi Arabia, the capacity to generate renewable electricity is being turbocharged, with the country aiming to produce half of its electricity from renewables by 2030. This alone could provide Lenovo with many ESG opportunities, and is perfectly aligned with our commitment to achieve our own net zero target by 2050. Next page, please. As part of the collaboration, Lenovo will issue a $2 billion zero-coupon convertible bond to Alat. The convertible bonds are due three years after issuance and is convertible to equity immediately prior to maturity.
This is a compelling deal for us and represent a strong vote of confidence in Lenovo's market leadership and future growth potential. Such strategic capital from a significant global investor will help diversify our funding sources and optimize our capital structure. It also provide us with greater financial flexibility to invest in future growth opportunity across our business group and geographies, thus aiding our transformation. Additionally, the zero-coupon rate can help us to save approximately $100 million interest expenses annually. Lastly, please refer to the company announcement on the exchange's website for the due terms for the proposed issuance of the convertible bond and warrants. Thank you. Now, we, we can now take your questions.
Thank you. Thank you, Wai Ming. We will now open the floor for questions. To submit a question, please click the Raise Hand button, and you will be placed in a queue. Or alternatively, you may type your questions in the Q&A box and press Submit. Please limit your questions relating to the announcement. Participant, please update your name in the webinar to include both your company name and personal names for easier identification. Now, let us open our Q&A to the floor. The first question comes to Georgi Dodov. You may now speak.
Hey, guys, can you hear me? Yeah, I think it's working.
Yeah.
Thanks. Thanks for taking my question. This is Georgi Dodov from Walleye Capital. Actually, a couple of questions, if you don't mind. One is actually related to your existing convertible bonds, the public one. Given that the transaction you just announced today is a meaningful, sorry, it's a meaningful dilution, will there be an adjustment to the conversion ratio or conversion price of the existing bonds, the existing convertible bonds? And the second question is, this transaction, the zero-coupon you announced today, is there any security over any assets, or is it unsecured? And my final one is, I know your stock has rallied significantly over the past few days because of very good results, because of very good results and solid product line.
But obviously, you're issuing this at negative, well, below your current, the strike is below your current share price, so I do wonder how you're thinking about this.
Okay. Yeah, I think that I may... I tried to answer the question, but I think that I may miss, I think, your third question. So, let me just sort of go to, I think, maybe more fundamentally, I think, to explain the rationale of this. Now, the discussion with Alat, obviously is not a, I think, a simple financial investment for them.
In fact, this is, I will actually say that, the discussion is more on the business collaboration now, as well as, I think from our perspective is they are, although this is structured in the form of a convertible, but I think starting from the beginning, it was really sort of discussing, I think, as if this is like an equity, because they obviously take a very long-term view of Lenovo, I think, from ourselves, what we can do in Saudi Arabia, as well as in the global market, as well as how they can help us to expand. So the convertible with a zero-coupon, in fact, actually started, I think, our really intensive discussion as to what synergy and what strategic value can come up.
We, at that time, agreed that we should be looking at, I think, determining, I think, the pricing of the transaction as a 30-day VWAP. Obviously, I think when you actually look at it, I think our share price for the last two weeks probably went up, I would say, by about 15%. And therefore, for the last 30 days, it appears to be that, I think the conversion price or the reference price, I think, appeared to be, I think, at a discount to the last closing. But we actually have a look at it.
I think the board have a look at it, and we also look at, I think, the synergy, which obviously we will disclose Alat more, I think, in our shareholder circular, when we actually have the shareholders meeting to approve the transaction. I think you can definitely see that, the benefit of Lenovo, I think, coming out from this transaction. Now, the second one, I think, is whether this issue of convertible will actually result in adjustment of, I think, the existing convertible currently trading in the market. Is that the right? Am I getting the right question?
Yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Uh-
Because the dilution is, as you know, quite significant.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah.
Yep. So I think we are checking with our financial advisor, Citibank, who obviously advise us on the transaction as well as the issuance of the convertible. I think we probably will be making the announcement soon, I think, if that actually result, or informing the investors, I think, soon when, if there is any adjustment. So the third one. Sorry, can you actually sort of repeat the question, because I probably missed some part of it?
No, the third one was the security, whether there are any securities over any assets, within this convertible. I know you said it's more of an equity than a-
That's right.
It is more of an equity than a bond, but I do wonder whether there are any securities or any assets pledged-
No.
Towards this.
No.
Okay, it's fully unsecured.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's basically, yeah, in line with your other bonds and convertible bonds, okay.
Okay, thank you. Maybe I should actually add one final comment, because I know that unless I actually do the call otherwise, when you actually look at the transaction, it looks like another sort of financial transaction. But for us, I think clearly we look at what businesses they can actually... Lenovo can actually secure, I think, in definitely Middle East. But over time, because the PIF or Alat have abundance of capital and therefore will allow us more flexibility, both organic as well as inorganic activities.
So to us, I think the other reason why we actually structure as a zero-coupon. I think as CFO, I think someone actually give me the money unless I actually be able to deploy immediately, otherwise it's going to be immediately dilutive to our equity shareholders. And therefore, we believe that, I think we initially the $2 billion, I think, will probably reduce some of our bonds, which were issued about, I think one or two years ago. Maybe the interest, I think is relatively high, and this is obviously come at a zero-coupon.
But more importantly, when those capital actually deploy in through inorganic activities, I think the economic benefit probably will come up one or two years' time, and that probably matches, I think, when the bond converted into equity. So this is another way of thinking. So again, I just want to, I think, share with you that the thinking of us is, rather than thinking, this is another financial instrument for us to raise the capital, I think this is more than that. One is, I think, how much, business synergy or how much business benefit that Alat can actually bring to us.
In fact, a lot, I think when we actually think about a lot, I think you should really think of, I think the sovereign fund, the PIF, because all the investments in all the companies they invested, we now obviously be able to have access, as well as the relatively rapid growth in that region. I think if you, if you've been sort of following, I think the five-year plan of the KSA, as again, I think really is driven by, I think, the crown prince, who is the prime minister. Okay, maybe I stop there.
Thank you.
Maybe take the next question.
Thank you.
Thank you for the questions. The next question, please. May I invite Cherry Ma to start the Q&A? Please also state the company that you're representing. You may start.
Hi, Wai Ming, this is Cherry Ma from Macquarie. I would like to ask two question. The first question is, compared to what we are doing now in the region in terms of our capital deployment plan, how is Alat able to help us inorganically expand, as you have mentioned before, in the next one to two years?
Mm-hmm.
What kind of new economic activity are we expecting to see? My second question is, just out of curiosity, you know, how long has this deal been brewing in the background? How was it originated? Can you give us some, you know, ideas? Thank you.
All right. So I think I probably can say some, but not be able to say all.
Okay.
On the second question. Now, I think our business in the Middle East, or what we call the MEA region at the moment, is about $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion out of a group revenue of about $60 billion, roughly. So we will expect that, I think, Alat will actually help us to bring us to all the major, I think, corporates, I think, in the Middle East. I think, I name a few of those. For example, one of the largest oil company is Aramco. I think many, and then there is also one of the biggest, I think, infrastructure project. I think if I recall, is NEOM City.
I think basically building out a new city, or you can actually call a smart city with a lot of IT infrastructure. And there are many others. And we, again, I think rather than going through all the projects, I think I would encourage you to look at the KSA plan, the five-year plan, really outlining what Saudi Arabia would want to transform itself, I think from a resources base to a modern economy. So for us, there's actually tons of opportunities, especially, I think they have the resources. When I say they have the resources, they have the oil resources, which they are very, very rich. In turn, they are very, very rich in capital, and therefore, they are looking for partners.
How the partners can help them to achieve that objective? And this is where when we begin to discuss with, I think with, with Alat or PIF. Now, my initial sort of ambition is we obviously want to, I think, significantly grow our Middle Eastern business, our MEA business. I think, as I said, currently about $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion, I think in a very, very high double-digit number. Now, what, how do we achieve it initially? I think we well, based on our business, I think we also have a plan, I think with the help from the Saudi gov, Saudi government, I think to build initially, a GSC site over there.
I think obviously when we actually have the sort of local manufacturing, it also help us to accelerate our penetration, I think, in the local, to the local market. So medium term, we obviously would want to, I think, continue to expand very, very quickly. Initially, I think for the MEA market. And the longer term, we also look at, I think one of the benefit, I think from the region is really the relatively low cost of clean energy. And knowing the market actually moving more and more towards environmental consideration, I think we potentially can actually, I think, leverage on our success over a much longer period, I think be able to be one of our major hubs or GSC hubs, I think servicing our global, our customers globally.
Now, when do we start discussing? I think the very, very first discussion probably start about... Today is May. I think probably, I think end of September or, well, September, October time. And then we have very intensive discussion, probably about two to three months ago. And when we actually discuss, I think we discuss, I think what business I think we can, we can, well, what, what can we do in Saudi Arabia? I think in sort of participating in the, initially, at least in the sort of five-year plan, I think what services so on and so forth, our products. And then really turn into, a more sort of bilateral sort of discussion where they are willing to, I think, invest in us.
And that's the reason why I said, look, the price is not really with reference to, I think, the last trading price or wherever. I think we actually started with, this is a long-term commitment from them, and therefore we said, look, rather than looking at the short-term volatility... Again, if you actually look at our share price, I think other than the last two weeks, it exactly went up to HKD 11, HKD 12. I think if you really go back, I think share price actually started off maybe as low as like HKD 8. So it sort of went up by HKD 10 and then come down by HKD 8 and now going HKD 11.
So rather than, I think, bearing in mind that this is a more long-term partnership, going forward, I think we agree that maybe we should, rather than just looking at the price and then negotiate, this is like a financial instrument. We said, Look, why don't we actually take the last 30 days, VWAP, I think, as a reference, and then take a 10% conversion premium. So that's really, I think at least, I think initially share with you, how long do we discuss with them? This is, I would say, generally about 6 months, but more intensive discussion, probably like sort of three months and going into very, very detailed.
For example, when we actually look at, thinking of, I think establishing one of our global supply chain hubs there, I think which city we should be, is it an economic zone or what? I think we actually spent quite a bit of time trying to make sure that, I think the cooperation indeed will generate significant synergy or benefit to Lenovo.
Thank you, Wai Ming. If I may follow up just quickly, were there any other contenders in this kind of discussions?
I would say that, I think Alat is under PIF. I think they are primary-- they are not a general purpose investment fund. They just invest in smart devices. And when they actually pick us, well, I mean, there is no sort of exclusive per se, but clearly, I think with this type of cooperation, especially involving, I think a very in-depth collaboration, I think... I wouldn't say that they cannot invest in others because it's up to them to invest. But, but at the moment, I believe, I think that we are the only one that have been in the, a large sort of, investment portfolio. We are the only one, of, with activities, with sort of, the, the IT services or IT smart devices.
Are there any contenders? I think that I will let you ask a lot. We obviously will want to, I think, if needed, maybe, after a few weeks time, before we actually have the shareholders meeting, we probably will do another call, I think, really sharing with you what's the progress, although this is, I think, still subject to shareholders vote, but we, we already feel that, it will be, while the value that can generate from this cooperation or collaboration is significant, we just really want to share with you what are the things that we actually start discussing, and you can realize, I think, how valuable this cooperation can be. So you can, maybe you reserve that question and then ask them.
Thank you, Wa i Ming.
Thank you, Cherry and Wai Ming. We now take the next question. It's from Anna Zhang. Anna, would you also state the company name that you're representing before you begin the question? Thank you.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes.
Hi, this is Anna from T. Rowe Price. I have a question on the use of proceeds. I think, I mean, you just mentioned that there might be some liability management because you intend to use part of the proceeds in debt repayment. So I just want to get more clarity, like, can you give a, like, rough split, how much of that will be for debt repayment and how much of that will be in CapEx? And also, are there any restrictions on the use of proceeds, i.e., like, what kind of project or what kind of CapEx you will use the money in? Is it related to the region or any specific business segment?
And the second question is kind of related because your current leverage is actually very low, but this instrument is quite significant versus your cap structure. So are you talking to the rating agencies on that?
Okay, maybe I have the easiest question, the last question will be the easier question. We are actually continuously talking to credit agents because we're actually seeing ourselves making progress. I think you can see that the recovery of our business or definitely even when you compare with the challenges in the markets in the second half of last year. Yes, we are continuously talking to agencies, and then they will actually evaluate our capital, our operating free cash flow. And then for us, obviously, it is also our objectives that we will be able to uplift our credit rating. But at the end of the day, I have my colleagues in treasury who can actually share with you on credit agents.
Going to the other question, are there any restriction on the use of proceeds? No, there is no restriction on the use of proceeds. So how much of those are used for repayment and how much of those are capital investment? Now, I mentioned earlier that, I think this is a collaboration rather than this is a financial, a simple financial investment from Alat. Now, we actually look at, I think building up, a local global supply chain hub, I think probably involving initially, no more than $300 million. And we probably will build, I think our supply chain there, because that will enable us to build up our competitiveness, I think, I think in getting more business, more businesses in the region or in Saudi Arabia.
And then for the remaining, I mean, clearly, I think we, I think we run our treasury management, I think to the extent that we actually have the cash, that we can actually reduce our interest payment, we will use that. But after we use that, we obviously will even have a stronger balance sheet. Now, while I would not be able to share with you that, I think, what exactly the inorganic opportunities we are looking at, clearly, I think with the availability of capital, with the very strong support of a strategic, I think business partner as well as capital provider, they are pretty much deep pocket. As I said in my beginning, I think PIF obviously, I think has very, very significant, I think capital. I think currently they are managing over $700 billion.
So as and when there are business opportunities that actually be able to further improve our business, I think I'm 100% sure that PIF or Alat will be willing to support. So in short, I think the amount of capital that we raise, I think at least we are going to put the best use of capital by, I think, reducing some of our high-interest financial instrument. And then, as and when the opportunity comes, we obviously will have the ability to go to, if needed, either go to the debt market or probably, I think we'll get the support from PIF or from Alat so that we have the financing, we have the finance capability to expand our activities inorganically.
Yeah, but this is-
Thank you.
This is Hugh , C orporate Treasurer of Lenovo. There are several points. I just want to echo what Wai Ming just said. Firstly, I truly believe this $2 billion transaction will be a great opportunity for Lenovo to further optimize our capital structure, more balanced between the debt and equity. Secondly, if you look at the past trend, Lenovo in the past couple of years, we keep reducing our debt. So I think this is a direction, and we will continue to improve our leverage ratio. Certainly, to echo the question you just asked, the rating agency communication.
So in the last three to four years after we got our investment-grade rating, we keep, I think, a very good communication between Lenovo and our three rating agencies. I'm sure some of the analysts from the rating agencies must attend this call as well. So quarterly communication and well also time to time talk about our recent strategy is a communication between Lenovo and our rating agencies. And I'm sure we have or we will explain the rationale and background of this transaction clearly to the rating agencies. I am not rating agency, but I hope with all the clarification of this rationale of this transaction, rating agency will think positive of this transaction.
Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you, Hugh. Thank you, Wai Ming.
Thank you, all. Our next questions go to Jason Jiang. Jason, please also, state the company name that you're representing before you start the question.
... Jason, you may begin.
Okay.
You may unmute yourself, yeah.
Yes. Okay. Hi, hi, guys. This is Jason Jiang. I'm from Hong Kong, EIP. We are a Greater China Fund. I would like to ask a question regarding the warrants issuance. May I know if this issuance of the warrants will be open for public investors like us? Or, is there gonna be like possibly a book building or something regarding that? Thank you.
Yeah. I think the warrants, we actually, upon Citi as our placing agent, we-- I think there are... I just really want to highlight that the warrants, apart from the sort of standard warrant terms, which actually set out, I think the warrants also will give, I think Legend the first right of refusal to buy, I think, if the warrant holders want to sell. I think we will be working with, I think, Citibank as to see, I think, to place out the warrants. I think, I think the purpose of that is really, I think if you really look at the terms, which is very similar to the, a large convertible bond, I think the purpose is, I think, enable, our, one of our largest shareholders, which is Legend Holdings.
I think to show their confidence that they have the ability to actually maintain their shareholding after three years, when Alat actually is going to convert the bonds into equity. I will definitely discuss with Citi. I think Citi is our placing agent, and we'll see how best we will be able to distribute the warrants.
Thank you very much. Yeah, we're very interested, we're very interested in the warrants as well. Unfortunately, we're not able to participate the convert, but we are very interested in the warrants. So I will probably, if possible, I will liaise with the Citi colleagues and to-
Yeah.
to see what the next step is. Yeah. Thank you.
Well, I have to thank you for all the support. I mean, I'm 100% sure that this will not be the last time for us to issue convertible warrants. So maybe I should actually, I think, maybe get Hugh to connect with you so that we will- we can actually have a deeper discussion going forward.
I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, all. Next questions go to Oliver Cox. Oliver, please state your name before you start asking questions. You may now begin.
[audio distortion]
Hello?
Oliver, you may now begin. Unmute yourself, and you may now start asking your questions, and, state your company name before that, please.
Hi there. Can you hear me now?
Yes.
Hello. Hi, thanks very much indeed. This is Oliver, Oliver from JP Morgan. So, I just wanted to take a more negative view of this transaction. I mean-
Mm-hmm.
I think, I just wonder in terms of your credibility with a lot of investors who were looking at, say, the upcoming AI PC cycle and your leverage to that, I think your credibility among a lot of investors and maybe in the broader market is probably gonna go down after this, given the nature of this transaction, the very sudden and sizable dilution that everybody is now facing. So I wonder what your sort of positive message to those investors would be, and why they should continue to carry on holding your shares? And then going back to some of your early answers, I'm still extremely confused about why you chose a CB.
I mean, if you're being offered free money by Saudi Arabia, then I presume you want to take it, but why don't you just choose to do a simple business deal? Why do you need to do it in what I know a number of investors are gonna regard as a somewhat abusive and extremely dilutive transaction? So, those two questions. Thank you.
All right. So maybe, let me just, I think, answer the first question, and I think this is. I think, AI, the AI era obviously enabled to have, I think, the opportunities to grow our business. But for us, it's apart from, I think, the products or the services that we offer, I think we also look at, I think, by geographies, I think as a global company today, I think we have, I think China, Asia Pacific, EMEA, and America. America comprising North and South America, I think. I think the four regions, probably more or less like 20%-25%, depending on the well-being of the geography. Now, clearly, when you actually look at a global business, I think we will continue looking at, I think, which area will probably have the highest growth opportunities.
I think our view is obviously the Middle East, in particular, Saudi Arabia, especially looking at, I think, the country, I think the government been putting in a lot of capital to grow. And therefore, we are going to look at the business opportunities. I don't see that, I think our AI, I think the opportunity in front of us actually have any conflict, for us in picking, I think one of the geography which we actually see the highest growth. I think that's really number one.
Now, number two is, I think clearly when you look at, I accept that, I think if you really look at the closing price, as of, I think yesterday or maybe even last two weeks, because as I said, our share price was up, actually jump up from about $8 something, I think, to about $11 and $12. And therefore, the instrument that we issue, I think based on the 30 days VWAP, I think resulting a dilutive, I think just based on the closing price. But as I said, I think right in the beginning, I think this is not the discussion for Alat, is not really, I think raising capital, or they consider as a financial, only financial investment.
I think it's really to see whether, I think, first of all, the businesses or the opportunities, they can actually show us, I think in what consider as a high growth geography, I think in the next few years. So that synergy, as I said, while we may not be able to actually disclose in detail in the announcement, hopefully that, I think we can provide more details, and then you can actually see that, I think the economic benefit by working with them, I think that is going to be very, very significant. So I think that's- you, I think you have a two-part question. One is the sort of, I think that-
Second question was, so okay, that's how you're gonna deal with some of the disappointment and maybe some of the anger you get from minority shareholders. Thank you for answering that. The second question, why not just do it as a normal business deal? Why do you need to do it as a CB? I still don't really understand that.
Yeah. Clearly, there are capital requirements from us. I think if someone are willing to invest, I think in us, I think we definitely are very open now, whether it is a CB or it is an equity or straight, or a straight debt, I think it is really, I think the mutual negotiation. Because I think the benefit that they bring to us, again, is not a one-time benefit, because we actually see that there are really tons of opportunities, I think, in that region. And therefore, we structure as a CB. As I said, we structure a CB rather than a straight equity. I think reason being that, we probably may not be able to immediately use, I think the capital immediately, in the order of $2 billion.
And therefore, we actually will be able to take benefit of a zero-coupon. And then, as again, I mentioned right in the beginning that, clearly we are sort of beefing up our balance sheet. I think we'll continue to look for, you know, any opportunity, which obviously available to us.
Thank you, Wai Ming. Next questions go to Edward Yen. Edward, you may please state the company name that you're representing, and you may start asking your question.
Yeah. Yeah, this is Edward. I'm Edward Yen from... Can you hear me?
Yeah.
Yeah. So this is Edward Yen from, also from JP Morgan. I just, I'm just curious as to, you know, I understand, you know, what you're trying to say, but, going back to the question, is kind of the size of the deal, right? I mean, is there a, you know, is, is this $2 billion number, you know, a magic number? You know, how did you come up with that, with, with that number?
Yeah. I think the $2 billion number obviously look at, I think our plan. I think in going forward, we obviously have an ambitious plan, continue to grow, I think our earnings. And therefore, apart from our organic growth, we'd obviously need to, have capital, investment. The other one, again, as I said, probably one more time, I think there are definitely inorganic opportunities in front of us, which we are exploring. And therefore, rather than, I think, raise them, especially in today's high interest, environment, so we actually want to lock up the capital so that we can, confidently going forward to execute, our growth plan.
Okay. And then my follow-on question is that, you know, I'm kind of reading through your announcement, and I keep getting this impression that, you know, what Alat is doing, basically is not just a $2 billion investment. You know, I think one of the sentences kind of highlighted, and you mentioned it as well, kind of the building up the supply chain hub.
Mm-hmm.
But, you know, the wording kind of feels as though they're actually going to front the money for that. I mean, can you clarify that a little bit in terms of kind of building up this hub, is that the case, right? It's basically like, for example, the $300 million you kind of highlighted, is that money, is that money gonna be fronted by, let's say, the Saudi government or, in terms of, you know, when do you want to kind of build out the manufacturing? Or is it still kind of part of this $2 billion, where a portion of that will have to be earmarked to kind of building up a manufacturing facility there?
I think it is not a sort of direct correlation that I think the $300 million-$350 million. I think that we plan to I think in sort of build up our supply chain. As I said, the Alat transaction is not, from our perspective, a raising capital or, I think, from their perspective, not just a financial investment. I think we started off with when we were going to when we were in the Kingdom. I think we definitely would want to identify our key partners helping us to grow the business. And we learned that for us really to accelerate our growth is to actually have a local supply chain.
Therefore, we actually been looking at it, and based on our initial assessment, building, I think the start of the global supply chain hub is about $250 million-$300 million. So that is where the number. Now, the $2 billion is a separate thing. The $2 billion is really looking at, I think, what is our capital expenditure? What are the likely use of proceeds if we were to pursue some inorganic activities, and that come up with the two sort of $2 billion. The two-
I got-
Yeah?
Sorry about that. I guess my question is more about like, you know, the supply chain build up, right? The $200 million-$300 million dollar.
Mm-hmm.
Is that money going to be paid by Alat? It kind of feels as though that's-
No, no, no. Sorry, sorry.
It kind of feels like that.
The answer is no. I think it is going to be Lenovo investment, and that this is going to be the supply chain under the Lenovo's global supply chain, which is probably we will call a near supply chain hub, and that is Lenovo asset. That is our money, so to speak.
Okay. That's very clear. Thank you.
... Thank you. Due to the time constraint, we'll now take the last questions from Ms. Irene Yen. Irene, please state your company name, and you may start to ask your question.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes.
Okay. So, this is Irene from Morgan Stanley, asking on behalf of Howard. So a couple of questions here. We are wondering why, what do you think, why the Alat or the PIF choose to work with Lenovo and not another company? And we are curious, what was the edge that Lenovo can offer here? And also the second question is, how much you're spending to-
Sorry, we lost you. How much we are spending?
I think we lost your voice. Can you hear us, or would you please repeat your questions?
Please,
Irene, I guess, your connectivity is not stable. Maybe you start asking again from the beginning. Would you mind?
Okay. So we are wondering why Alat chose to work with Lenovo and not another company, and what was the edge that Lenovo can offer here? This is the first question. And for the second question, we are also curious on when the manufacturing side will in the Middle East be ready for mass production, mass production. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. So maybe I answer the question, I think the last first. I think when will the manufacturing. I think it's probably maybe like 12-18 months away. I think that we are actively looking at what are the suitable sites, also negotiating the terms with the local government, as to what help they can actually, I think, provide for us to either speed up or, I think, provide us the initial, I think some, some incentives to actually sort of build a factory there. So it will be in operation in about, I would say, around 18 months, something like that. Yeah. Now, why, why would they actually show us? I think from our perspective here, because we are the best in class.
Now, again, I think that if you really look at, I think our friendly competitors, I think we obviously offer the whole range of products, I think from device to infrastructure products, as well as, I think we begin to build up IT services. And I think from device build, without saying that we are number one in the world from a PC, we actually have a very strong brand, I think growing very well, I think for the last one or two years after the COVID. And then we actually started our enterprise business, I think with a very strong brand. Currently is still, I think, compared with our device, I think we're relatively small.
As well as we have actually been, I think, really building up our IT services, I think, I think over since two to three years ago. So of that combination, I think with a very strong brand, I think the product brand, which is Think, as well as I think for the smartphone business, which is Motorola. So that is one aspect. I think the other aspect is, I think Alat did actually visit, I think some of our supply chain operations in China. They actually see that, I think how efficient our supply chain, I think using robots, all these IT.
Now they just feel that this is the right partner, where they can actually have both, I think the supply chain as well as the sort of front-end products. So I believe that, we are the best in class. I think that obviously is a Lenovo statement. Again, I would actually sort of urge you to ask the same question, when we actually had a, another call near, nearer the time of the shareholders' meeting, and then you can actually see what, what the answer is.
Thank you. Thank you, Irene. And, thank you once again to Wai Ming and also Hugh . We have covered a lot of, many interesting questions here. So this is the end of our call, and thank you everyone for your joining. If you have further questions, please connect the Lenovo IR team, and we'll be happy to answer your questions, afterwards. So, that's the end of our call and our presentation. You may offline now. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.