Chapter 1899 1901 [Taking Universal]

  In May, when Xiang Nan led a team to shoot "Mission: Impossible" in Europe, the once-prominent Carolco Films was already in his pocket.

   This former giant is now in a business crisis, so it only sold for 80 million US dollars, which can be said to be very good and cheap.

   Especially "Terminator 2", this is a big treasure. While it may have cost more than $100 million, it grossed $200 million in North America and over $500 million worldwide.

   What's even more rare is that this movie is often screened and re-screened every year for decades after its release. Its loyal fans flock to it every time.

   Not to mention its video sales, and the benefits of peripheral product development. According to Xiang Nan's knowledge, just such a movie created a commercial value of nearly three billion US dollars.

  The Terminator prototype alone has sold hundreds of thousands of sets and has become a favorite of movie fans.

   Therefore, the senior executives of Karoco Films really lost everything, lost their wife and lost their soldiers.

   After taking down Caroco Films, Xiang Nan directly injected 50 million US dollars into James Cameron, and said that if it was not enough, he could continue to invest.

   For Lao Zhan, Xiang Nan will not hesitate to invest. Because he believes that every penny he invests in James Cameron will eventually bring rich returns.

  …

   Entering May, Xiang Nan's acquisition of Universal Pictures also had a new turning point.

  The reason was just as Xiang Nan expected, the economic bubble in Japan was burst, and the stock market, property market, and financial industry all collapsed, causing Panasonic to lose financial support and had to withdraw from the acquisition.

  In this case, Universal Pictures naturally didn't have the guts to demand a high price, so they agreed to Xiang Nan's previous purchase price of US$6.2 billion.

  However, Xiang Nan also let the third-party company withdraw at this time.

  Because of Universal Pictures, it is not worth 6.2 billion US dollars at all.

  In 1982, Coca-Cola acquired Columbia Pictures for only US$750 million; in 1985, Turner Broadcasting acquired MGM for US$1.5 billion.

  Although the currency has depreciated after seven or eight years, it is impossible for Universal Pictures to be four or five times more expensive than Columbia Pictures and MGM Pictures.

  According to the most optimistic valuation, its value is only about 3 billion U.S. dollars, and any extra point is considered a loss.

  Both acquirers have withdrawn, the news spread, and the stock price of Universal Pictures began to plummet.

  The rapid drop from the previous $30 per share to less than fifteen dollars per share made Universal's shareholders very depressed for a while.

  They have all made up their minds, after selling their shares, they will enjoy the world with several times the income.

  Who would have thought that the Japanese economy would collapse and all the buyers would run away, making them really want to cry and regret that they were too greedy. You should have known earlier that it would be appropriate to sell it for 6 billion US dollars.

   What made them even more depressed was that as the stock price plummeted, creditors of Universal Pictures came to their door one after another, demanding that they repay their debts as soon as possible.

   Just in response to that sentence, the leak in the house happens to rain all night, and the boat is late and hits the headwind.

  …

  Under such internal and external troubles, Xiang Nan switched to a second third-party company and asked them to negotiate with Universal about the acquisition, and directly lowered the price to two billion US dollars.

  The shareholders of Universal Pictures naturally disagreed with this price.

   But they have been tempted to sell the stock. It is no longer easy to gather the centripetal force so that everyone can run the company in a down-to-earth manner and make money from dividends.

   After responding to that sentence, people's hearts were scattered, and it was difficult to lead the team.

  In addition, Xiang Nan has deliberately not cooperated with Universal Pictures in the past few years, and none of the blockbuster movies has any part in it.

   Even if it was originally produced by it, it has no part in it, such as the "Back to the Future" series, "Lethal Weapon" series, "RoboCop" series, "Ghostbusters" series, etc.

  As a result, Universal Pictures lost nearly two billion dollars in revenue, and because of this, its current operating conditions are far worse than the real world, with heavy debts.

  Just like Columbia Pictures, with a market value of more than two billion U.S. dollars, but debts of more than one billion U.S. dollars, the monthly interest repayment alone costs tens of millions of dollars, which is a huge burden for Universal Pictures.

  So in the end, the shareholders of Universal Pictures still bowed their heads to money, and finally sold the company to a third-party company at a price of 3.5 billion US dollars.

   This transaction was completed in June. After the completion, Xiang Nan officially announced that he will join Universal Pictures. As soon as the news came out, there was an immediate sensation.

   On the one hand, $3.5 billion is not a small amount. Where Xiang Nan's funds come from is naturally a question; on the one hand, Columbia Pictures has been acquired before, and now even Universal Pictures has been sold, which made it difficult for the American people to accept for a while.

   Fortunately, Xiang Nan has managed a lot of contacts in Hollywood over the years, and has also made friends with some big figures such as congressmen, governors, and mayors in the political circle. The media industry has also hired a public relations company early, and made public relations with some media in advance.

   What's more, Sony's previous acquisition of Colombia has already attracted all the hatred. In the past two years, the grievances of the people have almost been vented.

   One bang, then another decline. So although it is facing some criticism now, the voice of protest is much smaller than that of Sony's acquisition of Columbia.

  …

  However, public opinion still did not let Xiang Nan go easily. A large number of reporters flocked to the filming locations of "Mission: Impossible" in Europe, hoping that Xiang Nan would explain the acquisition of Universal.

   Many of these reporters flew over from the United States overnight, which shows their urgency.

  However, Xiang Nan did not accept their interview. He hired a security company to protect the safety of the film crew. Except for the staff of the film crew, no one else was allowed to enter the filming location, so these reporters could only come back disappointed.

   But he could stop the reporters, but he couldn't stop the crew.

   Regarding his successful acquisition of Universal Pictures, Jennifer Connelly, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jon Voight and others felt incredible.

   "Charles, is this true? You really bought Universal Pictures?" Jennifer asked in shock.

  She didn't expect Xiang Nan to take down one of the six giants of Hollywood if he didn't make a move. It's really unbelievable.

   "Really." Xiang Nan nodded.

   "But...how did you do it? Three and a half billion dollars, did you make that much money?" Jennifer asked curiously again.

  Xiang Nan has made a lot of money in the past few years, but the outside world speculates that his funds are only about one billion. After all, taxes in the United States are very heavy. The more you earn, the more taxes you pay.

  Although Xiang Nan made a profit of one or two billion dollars, after the taxes are paid, there will be only one billion left.

  (end of this chapter)