I’m in Hollywood

? The atmosphere of a rainy day can always evoke the deepest laziness in people's hearts. Just after Eric was going to give himself a day off, just after 9:00 in the morning, the phone rang rapidly.

The helicopter landed on the roof apron of the Firefly headquarters building, Eric got off the helicopter, Alan greeted him with an umbrella, and the two trotted into the elevator before Alan said, Nine o'clock, Summer. Redstone held a press conference at the Sunset Tower Hotel, saying that Viacom would participate in the bid for Disney. Almost at the same time, Michael Eisner also issued a statement, saying that Disney was more willing to work with Viacom than Firefly. Disney's share price jumped 6% within half an hour after the market opened today, spurred by the news.

Everyone, sit down, Eric waved his hand and walked to his seat in three or two steps. Bernie Sanders, the head of the Morgan Stanley team sitting on his left, skillfully handed a document to him. Come over: Eric, look at the information first, and we'll talk about it later.

Eric nodded and opened the blue folder with the words 'No. 1 White Knight' printed on the cover.

Regarding the possible problems of this acquisition, Eric returned to Los Angeles after completing the shooting of Tornado. A very careful preparation was done. So I didn't feel confused when I saw the word 'white knight'.

'White knight' is a technical term for anti-takeover tactics between companies. A company that initiates a hostile takeover of a target company is often referred to as a 'black knight', and other acquirers who pop up during a hostile takeover are referred to as a 'white knight', and the 'white knight' usually acquires the target company's shareholders or management 's approval.

It can be seen from Michael Eisner's response after Redstone's statement that Viacom's acquisition has won the support of Disney's management, at least the Disney forces represented by Michael Eisner, so Viacom Mu can be called a white knight.

Disney's two consecutive years of sluggish performance have made many people see a great opportunity to acquire Disney. Before the announcement of the acquisition, Firefly realized that the acquisition could not be without competitors. And there won't be just one.

Looking at the information in his hand, Eric also secretly praised the value for money of the Morgan Stanley team. Less than an hour after Redstone issued the bidding announcement, the Morgan Stanley team had already compiled a long-term report. Thirty pages of details.

Viacom Group's current market value is about 20 billion US dollars, mainly engaged in TV program production, cable television networks, wireless radio stations and other businesses, the most famous of which is the famous MTV music television network, including Madonna, and many other businesses. Famous singers are all made famous by the platform of MTV.

In addition to controlling the Viacom Group, Redstone, the helm of Viacom, also runs a national entertainment company with a large chain of theaters.

Personal worth is $4 billion.

Redstone's management of Viacom Media Group has always adhered to the concept of content is king, and the idea of ​​acquiring film companies has a long history. In the mid-1980s, Redstone competed with John Kruger of Metropolitan Media for the then booming Orion Films. Because of financial disadvantage, it finally failed to exit. In addition, Redstone also invested in the stocks of several major film companies such as Warner and Columbia.

From this, it can be seen that Redstone's sudden announcement of the acquisition of Disney Studios today is definitely not a whim.

After reading the information in their hands, everyone quickly discussed relevant countermeasures. Compared with Viacom Group, which has a market value of 20 billion US dollars, Firefly may be very weak, but Eric's biggest advantage is that he holds up to 8 billion US dollars. of cash.

When he took over this acquisition, because he didn't know the chips in Eric's hands, Bernie Sanders brought a promise from Morgan Stanley's executives that Morgan Stanley could provide Firefly with $2 billion in financing. If Firefly is willing to accept Wall Street funds as a stake, this financing number can be increased. So in total, Eric has more than $10 billion in total funds at his disposal.

But even if it is a hostile takeover, of course, the less money you spend, the better. Otherwise, Eric would not have to pay such a high price to hire Morgan Stanley's acquisition team and directly quote a price that Disney shareholders would not refuse anyway. Done.

For Eric, the bottom line of buying Disney is around $6 billion, and the remaining $2 billion is used to pay off Disney's debt, so that Disney can be completely in his hands.

Viacom only announced the acquisition intention today, indicating that the other party is not ready, which is a big advantage for us. Viacom's cash flow is not abundant, and in the absence of preparation , it will take at least three months to complete the financing, and this time is the best time for us.”

Although Redstone of Viacom is very good at financing, he is not without weaknesses. It is said that Redstone has a very bad relationship with his wife and may divorce at any time. If Redstone's wife suddenly asks for divorce during the acquisition process , Redstone could lose control of Viacom because of the loss of half of his property, undermining investor confidence.”

We can't pin our hopes on this kind of thing. The key is to seize these three months, but if Mr. Williams does not give up his wholly-owned acquisition strategy, Disney shareholders will certainly not mind waiting for a while.

I also think that if we only get a 51% controlling stake, we can easily complete this acquisition with no more than $2.5 billion, and Disney shareholders will be very cooperative.

Seeing that everyone turned the topic to changing the acquisition strategy, Eric said helplessly: Sorry, everyone. I reiterate one last time. The strategy of wholly acquiring Disney will never change. I don't want to temporarily save $1 billion in expenses. , which will result in paying dividends far exceeding this figure to other shareholders every year in the future.”

Everyone looked at Eric strangely. Although the Hollywood film and television industry is developing very rapidly, so far, when the performance of several major film companies is the best, the annual profit will not exceed 1 billion US dollars.

Listening to Eric's tone, it seems confident that Disney can operate as a behemoth with an annual profit of more than 2 billion US dollars.

The development of the entertainment industry is very elusive, just like the forties and fifties. While the big studios were booming, a single Paramount act sent Hollywood into a decade-long winter. After finally recovering, I found a suitable way of operating, but it ushered in the impact of the TV industry. Immediately after that, the introduction of home video recorders made Hollywood, which is facing piracy concerns, facing a formidable enemy. For this reason, it also fought a lawsuit with Japan's Sony for more than ten years.

Although Hollywood has begun to recover again in the past ten years, no one knows what it will face next. If it encounters drastic industry changes again, Hollywood is likely to fall into a cold winter again.

Looking at the eyes of everyone, Eric can roughly guess what these people are thinking. Everyone has their own inherent thinking concept. What's more, the people here are all elites from various industries, and these people are not the ones who can be swayed by a few words. So Eric didn't mean to explain, but said in an unquestionable tone: So, let's discuss the strategy of wholly-owned acquisitions, and don't mention the topic of holding, OK?

Although he didn't understand why this young man insisted so much, Bernie Sanders was the first to nod his head in agreement, and the people on Firefly's side maintained absolute support for Eric.

The meeting continued.

Although some corresponding countermeasures were discussed, but then, because Viacom announced its entry into the competition, the negotiations between the Firefly acquisition team and Disney fell into a stalemate, and there was no progress for the following month.

Time is slowly entering September. The two films of Firefly's summer program, Toy Story and Terminator 2, both have box office close to 200 million US dollars, and the two films have also begun to land in overseas markets, and both have achieved very eye-catching results. score.

Although it is not like the Seventh National Congress, movies will be released one after another in the off-season after September, but the third season of Friends in the fall, the second season of The Archives and the variety show Who Will Become a Millionaire have been logged in again one after another. Fox Television,

Friends has become Fox's absolute trump card, and its ratings have remained steadily above 20 million, while The X-Files and Who Will Be a Millionaire are not as dazzling as Friends. The ratings of the three programs are only the advertising share of Fox TV, and the total sum of each season is more than 150 million US dollars. The subsequent sales of broadcast rights to hundreds of second- and third-tier small TV stations across the United States are even more profitable.

However, after several programs were launched on Fox TV in September, it stimulated the stock price of Disney Studios to rise, making Eric a little dumbfounded, but helpless.

Because of the stalemate between the acquisition team and Disney, Eric also began to shift most of his energy to the film and television production of Firefly during this period.

On the set of the X-Files filming north of the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, Eric had lunch with the crew and was about to leave. It was an afternoon in late autumn and September, and Famke Jansen was wearing a gray suit for acting, and walked to the parking lot with Eric in his pocket.

I just listened to you guys chatting, do you really plan to let us go to Canada to shoot next season? The tall slender girl couldn't help but ask when she was approaching the parking lot.

They said that the cost of filming in Canada can be reduced by more than 30%, Eric said, looking at Mick Jensen: If you don't want to, then I will reject this proposal and stay in Los Angeles. .

I don't want to be so hateful. The cost of 30% is almost 10 million.

Eric stopped and put his arms around the girl: For you, it doesn't matter if you spend an extra 100 million.

Famke Jensen stretched out his hand to support Eric's chest, and joked: Have you told many women this?

Eric smiled and didn't speak, but he used force on his hand. Famke Jansen quickly begged for mercy: No, this is a costume. It's wrinkled and has to be cleaned up later.

Eric didn't let go, he leaned into Famke Jensen's ear and said, Come to my place tonight, I just asked the director, you guys rest tomorrow.

Famke Jensen hummed softly before Eric released her. The two walked to the parking lot side by side. Eric got into his car and waved to the girl before instructing the driver to drive.

The car drove for more than an hour before reaching its destination again, the filming site of Dumb and Dumber near Culver City.

Because before Dumb and Dumber, the three women's TG film company also produced a Crazy Flower, so the progress of this film is slower than that of Nicole's Hot Hand Police Flower. It is estimated that nine Moonlight can only be closed, and the filming of Hot Hand Police Flower was completed in August, and post-production has now begun.

In addition to the final chapter of Monster Street released on Halloween, Firefly's main comedies are Dumb and Dumber and Hot Police Flower. In addition to these two films, Eric has something to do with Home Alone 3, which was handed over to Fox, and Dancing With Wolves, which was cut from Orion last year.

Fox is focusing on Home Alone 3 in the new year, while Dancing With Wolves will be screened according to the standard release mode of the film. Eric is not too concerned about the box office potential of this four-hour art film. Seriously, he hopes Dances with Wolves can squeeze out the best picture nomination for Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

But there seems to be some other problems. The original time and space Silence of the Lambs was released this year, but now it is equivalent to a reverse with Dances with Wolves.

Eric was leaning on the back of his seat and thinking about these things, when he saw Drew jumping over, knocking on the glass window of his car, and opening the car door: Eric, why are you here? ?

I just have time today, just come and have a look, Eric said with a smile after glancing at Drew.

Perhaps because she was on the set, the little girl was dressed very neatly, with a pink baseball cap on her head, a white T-shirt and jeans, and a pair of small sneakers on her feet.

Drew pulled Eric out of the car and said, There's a scene that happened to be filmed several times, maybe you can help me see it. (To be continued...)