Chapter 292: Investing in MGM
"It's not necessary to acquire it!" Liu Hongmin said with a smile: "If MGM's shareholders let me on board, I can still take them out for fun. If they don't want me on board, then we can each have our own fun."
Zou Shifang frowned and said, "MGM's market value should be about 70 to 80 billion US dollars, right?"
"That's about right!" Liu Hongmin didn't care. "I only need about 30% of the shares. As long as MGM operates according to my plan, MGM's market value will exceed billion US dollars in a few years."
"You are so confident!" Zou Shifang joked, "Hollywood is different from Hong Kong. It's a game of capital over there."
Liu Hongmin glanced at him and said, "The company has been established for ten years, but I didn't expect that you still haven't seen through the essence of movies."
"Of course I know that content is king in movies, but no one can control content. Hollywood is a game of capital. As long as you have money, you can market it. Even if the content is not so good, it can still generate high box office."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "Once or twice is fine, but over time, the audience is not stupid and will know what to choose."
Zou Shifang shook his head. He knew he couldn't persuade Liu Hongmin. He just wanted to remind Liu Hongmin that the game of capital was not so fun.
Liu Hongmin naturally knew that Hollywood would not easily accept him. Even if Sony Columbia wanted to gain a foothold in Hollywood, it spent a lot of financial and material resources and was almost bankrupted. After the Japanese learned their lesson, Sony Columbia gradually gained a foothold in Hollywood and became a giant company. Later, it acquired MGM, turning the eight giants into seven giants.
Now Hollywood's number one enemy is Sony Columbia, and a large group of people are thinking about how to drive the Japanese out of Hollywood. This is the best time for Liu Hongmin to enter Hollywood.
Of course, Liu Hongmin doesn't have to enter Hollywood. If he can get in, he will have fun. If not, he can invest in other industries.
Before the US Internet bubble burst, anyone who invested in an Internet stock could sit back and wait for the money to come in. Therefore, he had no shortage of ways to make money, but only a shortage of ways to get the money out of the US. He just wanted to make money, not be slaughtered like a pig.
Investing in the film and television industry would provide an additional excuse to get money out of the United States.
A few days later, Wang Yaowei informed Liu Hongmin, "MGM has agreed, and their CEO will fly to Hong Kong tomorrow."
Liu Hongmin smiled. It seemed that those shareholders were indeed not optimistic about MGM, so they sold their shares in MGM while the market value was still good.
Two days later, in the meeting room of Tomorrow Film Company, Liu Hongmin met the CEO of MGM again.
"Mr. Liu, some shareholders are willing to transfer their shares, which add up to about . However, the shareholders' meeting can accept your additional investment until your shareholding reaches 30%."
Liu Hongmin took over the equity transfer agreement and investment agreement. They valued MGM's market value at $ billion. If they wanted to buy of the shares, they would need to spend $30 billion. If they wanted to increase their holdings to , they would need to spend another $ million. Together, it would be $ billion.
When Zou Shifang saw the price, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, "So much? Can you afford it? Do you want to use the money from the Japanese?"
Liu Hongmin nodded, "No need, Transformers can provide it."
Transformers has made a lot of money over the years, with an annual profit of at least 2 billion US dollars. In addition to the money used for company development, the extra money will be used for dividends. Hasbro and Random House are both large companies with many employees to support, which requires a lot of funds. Liu Hongmin's dividends were basically used for investment. After Feng Kan went to the United States, Liu Hongmin transferred part of the profits to Feng Kan's investment company. However, Feng Kan also needs to be evaluated, and the investment progress is not very fast, so the funds required are not very large.
The remaining money is basically in the Transformers company's account, about 2 billion US dollars. Now it is almost the end of the year, and dividends will be distributed soon. By then, more dividends can be distributed to make up the money.
Liu Hongmin put the share transfer agreement on the table and said to the CEO of MGM: "I need to ensure my rights, so I must put them in the contract. I want to have a veto over any film project."
When the CEO of MGM heard this, he said unnaturally: "Mr. Liu, MGM is a democratic company..."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "The World Congress is also democratic, but don't the five permanent members still have a veto power?"
The CEO was speechless. “Okay! I’ll discuss this with the shareholders.”
Liu Hongmin consoled them, "I know you feel uncomfortable, but I am doing this for your own good. You should know that MGM has been able to get to where it is now because of problems with the projects. Many times, you just blindly shoot movies, which results in serious losses."
MGM's CEO had nothing to say about this issue. If it had not been for years of losses, MGM would also seek cooperation with Liu Hongmin.
Liu Hongmin went on to say: "If I own the rights, I will license Pirates of the Caribbean to MGM and prepare for filming."
The CEO of MGM immediately became interested. "Mr. Liu, how do you plan to run this project?"
Liu Hongmin said: "I will shoot the trilogy together, and it would be best if I could work with Director Cameron. Even if Director Cameron cannot direct, I will still have to reach a cooperation with his special effects company. The special effects of "The Abyss" are very good, so there should be no problem in using them to produce the special effects of "Pirates of the Caribbean"..."
The eyes of the CEO of MGM lit up. Although Liu Hongmin's words were very general, they were very feasible. Cameron's special effects company had very mature technology, and Cameron himself was also a technology fanatic, so they should be able to produce the special effects of "Pirates of the Caribbean".
The three films will be shot together, plus a lot of special effects, so the investment is bound to be huge. Liu Hongmin's increased holdings will bring in more than 7 million US dollars, which is just right for filming "Pirates of the Caribbean". With the number of fans of "Pirates of the Caribbean", each movie can earn at least 4 million US dollars at the box office. Add in other income, even if more than 7 million US dollars are invested, the cost can be recovered.
Even if it doesn't make money, a trilogy production can push up MGM's stock price and easily increase its market value to over 10 billion.
The CEO immediately said, “I’ll contact the company right now.”
Wang Yaowei immediately said: "Please follow me!"
After going out to make the call, the CEO returned to the conference room and extended his right hand to Liu Hongmin.
"Mr. Liu, it's a pleasure to work with you!"
(End of this chapter)
