The richest man in Huizhou, a miraculous return of 20 billion.

Surprises never follow the script.

Let's rewind to 2014. Chen Zhiping, a top graduate from Tongji University, made a deal with EVE Energy, a listed company. He sold more than 400 million yuan worth of half of the equity in SMOORE, the company he founded. Unfortunately, in the year of the sale, SMOORE suddenly suffered a performance slump. So, EVE Energy wanted to transfer all the equity.

An unexpected turn occurred - since the voting on this asset sale triggered the principle of major shareholder abstention, the small shareholders with a total shareholding of about 4% took on the decision - making power on whether to sell or not.

Unexpectedly, the small shareholders unanimously voted 99% against the sale, thus retaining this valuable asset for EVE Energy. In 2020, with the gong sounding, SMOORE successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and its market value once exceeded 480 billion yuan. The shares held by EVE Energy also swelled to over 140 billion yuan at one point. Even today, the book value of EVE Energy's shareholding is still 20 billion yuan. The couple, Liu Jincheng and his wife, behind this company, successfully secured the top spot as the richest in Huizhou on the Hurun Rich List in 2024 with a fortune of 33 billion yuan.

They can be regarded as the wisest group of small shareholders.

Generous investment in the early years

Now worth 20 billion yuan

At the beginning of the story, one meets a benefactor on a narrow path.

Around 2010, the Chinese e - cigarette market was just starting, and a number of factories that saw the opportunity sprang up in Shenzhen. Chen Zhiping, a young man from Hunan, also founded an e - cigarette ODM company called MC Well in Shenzhen, which is the predecessor of SMOORE.

The industry was in its infancy, but Chen Zhiping, a top graduate majoring in marketing from Tongji University, was not content with just running a small business. He had the ambition to grow the company, and naturally, he needed capital.

It was at this time that EVE Energy, which had cooperated with MC Well, came forward. As the leading lithium - battery company in China, EVE Energy invested 439 million yuan at once and directly acquired half of MC Well's equity at that time.

At the signing ceremony that year, Liu Jincheng, the chairman of EVE Energy, and Chen Zhiping showed joy on their faces. They described this cooperation as "favorable timing, geographical advantages, and good human relations".

However, this was actually a very bold decision. The acquisition took place in early 2014. At that time, MC Well had just experienced its best - performing year. Its total revenue in 2013 was 167 million yuan, while its revenue in 2012 was only 5.16 million yuan, and in 2011, it was even in single - digit figures. That is to say, the acquisition consideration offered by EVE Energy was equivalent to the total revenue of MC Well in several years if it maintained its best state.

Fortunately, in the end, EVE Energy won the bet.

In 2020, MC Well transformed into SMOORE through a red - chip structure and successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, firmly establishing itself as the number one e - cigarette stock in China. On the first day of listing, SMOORE's stock price soared by 150%, and its market value quickly exceeded 100 billion yuan. Later, in 2021, it even once exceeded 480 billion yuan.

EVE Energy undoubtedly became the biggest external winner. Its nearly 1.902 billion shares were once worth up to 140 billion yuan. Even though SMOORE's stock price declined later, the market value of EVE Energy's shareholding is still a full 20 billion yuan.

An investment that almost failed

Actually, this investment almost didn't make it.

When EVE Energy acquired SMOORE back then, there was a performance commitment agreement: in 2014, 2015, and 2016, SMOORE's net profits were required to reach 100 million yuan, 115 million yuan, and 132 million yuan respectively.

Unfortunately, soon after the acquisition, the Chinese e - cigarette market faced challenges such as product structure adjustment and a slowdown in market growth. SMOORE failed to meet the commitment in the first year of 2014 and was far from the target.

As a listed company, worried about investment failure, EVE Energy quickly made a choice: in December 2014, EVE Energy announced that it planned to sell all of its shares in SMOORE to its major shareholder, EVE Industries, at a price slightly higher than the investment cost of that year, which was 445 million yuan. That is to say, the major shareholder of EVE Energy would take the responsibility for this investment, and from then on, whether it was a loss or a profit would have nothing to do with the listed company, EVE Energy.

Then the most ingenious and miraculous scene occurred.

According to regulations, this asset - sale plan needed to be approved by the general meeting of shareholders. Since the voting for the approval triggered the principle of major shareholder abstention, the small and medium - sized shareholders who only held 4.06% of the shares at that time shouldered the voting power to decide whether to sell or not.

In January 2015, the meeting was held, and the small shareholders directly voted down the asset - sale resolution with a nearly 99% majority.

SMOORE didn't let these small shareholders down. From then on, like a company striving for self - improvement, it pursued both OEM and brand development, independently developed ceramic atomizer core technology, and outperformed competitors in the chaotic e - cigarette market battle. From 2017 to 2019, SMOORE's revenue began to double year after year until it was listed on the New Third Board and later on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

As we all know later, the shares of SMOORE that EVE Energy failed to transfer are now worth more than 20 billion yuan on the book. And if we calculate carefully, from the time of SMOORE's listing in 2021 to 2025, the total dividends that EVE Energy received from SMOORE reached 2 billion yuan, which is more than enough to cover the investment cost of that year.

Beyond luck

The blueprint of a billion - dollar company

The outside world may not know that with a market value of 130 billion yuan, EVE Energy is also an active CVC player.

Looking at EVE Energy's external investment enterprises, there are many well - known companies such as SMOORE, Capchem, SK New Energy, and Hubei Enjie New Materials. Without exception, these are all investments around EVE Energy's upstream and downstream industrial chains.

Just like SMOORE, its main business, e - cigarettes, is equivalent to a nicotine sprayer powered by a battery, and the battery is the most important component. EVE Energy can precisely provide batteries for SMOORE. Even today, EVE Energy is still both a major shareholder and a supplier of SMOORE. Just last November, the two parties also signed a three - year battery cell procurement framework agreement.

A set of data shows that as of the first half of 2025, the scale of EVE Energy's long - term external equity investment was close to 15 billion yuan. And in the nearly 10 years from 2015 to 2025, long - term external equity investment has contributed a total of 6 billion yuan in investment income to EVE Energy.

It reminds people of the saying that the long - term growth of industrial giants never relies solely on internal R & D but on mergers and acquisitions for industrial depth and CVC layout for market positioning.

Looking around, hard - tech manufacturing giants such as CATL and BYD have long taken the stage of CVC. Especially CATL, on the basis of its dominant position in the field of power and energy - storage batteries, its investment map almost covers lithium mines, cathode and anode materials in the upstream of the battery industry, new car - making forces and battery - swapping services in the downstream, and even has forward - looking layouts in the financial field. A huge business empire is clearly visible.

It is a consensus in the investment circle that the investment of industry leaders helps to form industrial synergy effects and accelerates the development of invested enterprises, which is a natural advantage that traditional VCs do not have.

Looking back now, even if EVE Energy had cleared its shares in SMOORE early or had not made money from investing in SMOORE, the industrial synergy value that this investment brought to both parties cannot be erased.

After all, the ambition of the industry leader is never just about financial returns.

And somehow, behind every dreamy return, there is more than just luck.

This article is from the WeChat official account "The Investment World" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Feng Yuchen, published by 36Kr with authorization.