Chapter 457 Benefit exchange (7K chapter, please subscribe~)

   After completing the arrangements for the companies under their own names, Chu Huan and Cao Yunshang hosted a banquet for the three founders of KKR at the Beekman Hotel.

   Jerry Kohlberg, Henry Clivey, George Roberts.

   And their wives.

  Eight people sat at an oval dining table, chatting and laughing.

   As mentioned before, Chu Huan came to New York for three things, and now the third thing is to acquire a North American commercial bank.

   Chu Huan has always been responsible for this matter to KKR, so the banquet tonight can be called a business banquet.

   "Chu, I'm very sorry that I couldn't attend your wedding with Ms. Cao because of the company's affairs here. I hope you and Ms. Cao will not take offense!"

  Jerry Kohlberg, on behalf of the other two, toasted Chu Huan and apologized.

  Chu Huan said with a smile: "Jerry, you are too polite. Although the person hasn't arrived, the gift has arrived, so that's fine."

  Jerry Kohlberg and the three looked at each other, and then laughed. Henry Clive said: "Chu, once again congratulations to you and Ms. Cao on their happy wedding!"

  Chu Huan and Cao Yunshang smiled and said, "Thank you."

  After simple greetings and jokes, the conversation between the few people got on the right track.

   "Chu, you should have read some of the materials we submitted to you in the past two days. Is there anything you need in these banks?"

  Jerry Kohlberg asked Chu Huan.

Chu Huan wiped the corners of his mouth, and then said: "I think Alder Commercial Bank is fine. This bank has multinational banking business, but its own operations are stagnant. I carefully read the information you handed over. , this bank basically has its own branches in several big cities in North America. Although there are not many deposits, they have complete businesses.”

  The banking industry in North America is very developed, and there are thousands of commercial banks. Although most of them are community banks, after screening by Jerry Kohlberg and others, 15 banks were selected that meet Chu Huan's acquisition requirements.

   Chu Huan chose Alder Commercial Bank among the 15 banks.

This is a commercial bank established in 1942. The founder is Wilbert Alder. The bank is headquartered in Los Angeles. In addition to the deposit business, the main core business is to cooperate with several major Hollywood production companies and provide some film loans.

  However, because of Hollywood's overall downturn in the 1970s, this also led to a period of negative growth in the performance of Alder Commercial Bank throughout the 1970s.

   This is also why Wilbert Alder wants to sell the bank.

  In addition, it is precisely because of this that the loan-to-deposit ratio of Alder Commercial Bank is higher than the average level, reaching 65%.

"Alder Commercial Bank's total assets are US$8.9 billion, and it has a large business network in California. Last year, it made a profit of US$13.58 million, and its market value is around US$250 million. If you think this bank can do it, we can contact you directly now. Wilbert, discuss the acquisition of his shares!"

   Jerry Kohlberg preaches to Chu Huan.

  $250 million?

  The price can be purchased, Chu Huan thought for a while, and said: "Contact."

  Jerry Kohlberg and the three showed a hint of joy. This acquisition will be a very important acquisition for KKR this year.

  And if Chu Huan succeeds in acquiring Alder Commercial Bank, KKR will have one more bank to cooperate with, which is also very important to KKR.

   "Okay, we will report the acquisition to Chu at any time."

  Jerry Kohlberg said with a laugh.

  Chu Huan said: "You can contact David Maxwell of North America Bank for this matter. The acquisition of Alder Commercial Bank will be made in the name of North America Bank."

  Before that, Chu Huan's original intention was to use one of the five investment companies of Little Boy, Beihai, Starry Sky, Deep Sea, and Wolf Smoke to acquire a commercial bank in North America.

However, with the establishment of the North American Co., and in North America, Chu Huan did not want too many people to know his relationship with these five investment companies, so in the end, after weighing the pros and cons, Chu Huan decided to let the North American Co. Acquired Alder Commercial Bank.

  After talking about this matter, Jerry Kohlberg talked about another business with Chu Huan.

   "Chu, I received news that Jane Watson is looking to sell one-third of IBM's stock in her hand. I wonder if you are interested in taking over?"

Jane Watson, the daughter of Thomas John Watson, the founder of IBM, the legendary consortium in North America. The family members are gradually withdrawing from IBM's management.

  As the old Watson's daughter, Jane Watson naturally also has some IBM shares in her hands. Now the other party wants to sell one-third of IBM's shares in her own hands, which immediately caused quite a stir on Wall Street.

  Jerry Kohlberg naturally knew the news, so he told Chu Huan about it at this time, and wanted to see if Chu Huan was interested in buying it.

  Chu Huan simply thought about it, then smiled and said, "Forget it, I'm not very interested in IBM."

After Jr. Watson retired, IBM first entered the Lierson era. He served as the president of IBM in 1971 and stepped down in 1975. IBM's revenue increased from nearly 10 billion US dollars, with a net profit of 1.27 billion US dollars to an annual income of 14.4 billion US dollars. $1.99 billion.

   Lierson retired as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

Lierson's successor is also the current president of IBM, Frank Carey. After he retired from IBM for 81 years, IBM's annual revenue was 29.07 billion US dollars, net profit was 3.61 billion US dollars, 350,000 employees, and 74 shareholders. million people.

   Together with Frank Carey's successor, John Opel, these three are known as IBM's LCO Three Musketeers.

  When John Opel retired, IBM occupied a 56% share of the personal computer market. IBM's revenue was $50 billion, and its net profit hit a record high of $6.55 billion.

That is to say, during the 15-year tenure of the LOC Three Musketeers, IBM's revenue increased from US$8.3 billion to US$50 billion, and its net profit increased from US$1.07 billion to US$6.55 billion. Both revenue and net profit increased by more than 6 times, and the average annual compound The growth rate is 13%.

It seems to be a very good data, but in fact due to the overvaluation of IBM's stock price in the early 1970s and the gradual rise of the risk-free interest rate in North America, in 1981 the 10-year treasury bond interest rate reached a high of 14%, although the Three Musketeers period IBM's net profit increased by 6 times, but its stock price rose by only 1 times, and its valuation dropped by 3 times, trading at only 12 times PE.

   Of course, the most important thing is that IBM's current stock price is too high, and it is not the best time to start.

Although Chu Huan brought 1 billion US dollars to North America this time, but including the 250 million US dollars for the acquisition of Alder Commercial Bank, and the 50 million US dollars left for the North American armor library, at the same time, Chu Huan also prepared 150 million US dollars for the North American black and white media. U.S. dollars are used to acquire and expand the North American Shanhai Theater Line, and the second is to acquire HBO.

  So at this time, Chu Huan only has 550 million US dollars left in his hands.

  550 million US dollars is a drop in the bucket for IBM, which has a market value of 40 to 50 billion US dollars, and the profit growth does not meet Chu Huan's requirements.

   In addition, when we arrive in Los Angeles, we need to negotiate with Warner about the acquisition of DC, and we also need to prepare a sum of money.

  So after a brief consideration, Chu Huan rejected this seemingly attractive offer, but to Chu Huan, it was a bit tasteless.

   "I thought you would be interested in IBM?" After returning to the apartment, Cao Yunshang helped Chu Huan take off his coat, and then asked Chu Huan curiously.

Chu Huan smiled, and expressed his previous thoughts: "IBM is too big, even if you get the shares of IBM in Jane Watson's hands, you can only be a shareholder honestly and wait for dividends, and now IBM's The stock price is obviously overvalued, and now is not a good time to buy IBM."

  Cao Yunshang smiled and said: "This situation is really not the style of investment."

  Chu Huan nodded and said, "So, things that look good may not necessarily be really good."

When he said this, Chu Huan thought of an event in later generations. A company with an unknown location bought IBM's PC business. At that time, the news was not yet developed. Many people thought it was a matter of praising our country, but Actually?

IBM successfully got rid of the loss-making computer hardware business and realized a gorgeous turn from hardware to services; it entered the fields of software and services with higher profit margins, and entered fast-growing emerging markets, including developing countries and smart phones. Cities and other fields; he increased IBM's net profit margin from 8.5% to 16%, creating a 300% return for shareholders.

  Look, people simply treat you as a fool, and the acquirer is taking the initiative to do it!

   "Let's go to Los Angeles first, and then go to Las Vegas!"

After dealing with the affairs in New York, Chu Huan will go to Los Angeles to deal with the affairs of Vertex Pictures, and then he and Cao Yunshang can relax in North America for vacation, and the resort they chose is Las Vegas in North America. Gas!

  Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.

  Although Beverly Hills is called a mountain villa, it is actually a satellite city of Los Angeles, with functional departments such as an elected mayor, police station, and fire department.

  The reason why this place is so famous is naturally because it is the place where Hollywood stars and Los Angeles rich people live. Some people say that coming here is like entering a fairyland on earth.

   Wilshire Avenue, the main street of Beverly Hills, is where banks and commercial buildings are located. There are countless top department stores on this street.

The nearby Beverly Shopping Center is also the favorite of many celebrities. There are nearly 180 specialty stores in the center. The appearance is quite special. It is characterized by the transparent escalator and the hard rock restaurant on the outside. The temporary hospital in the movie "Volcano Eruption" right here.

After entering 76 years, Chu Huan basically no longer lacks cash in his hands. Even if there are some huge acquisition plans, it is still enough for Chu Huan to raise such a large sum of money in a short period of time, so at the beginning of this year, Chu Huan began to let people choose some luxury houses for themselves in luxurious cities all over the world.

   It is precisely because of this that Chu Huan naturally will not let Los Angeles go.

  However, the real estate in Los Angeles has not yet been bought, and Chu Huan left this matter to Kelly.

  So after arriving in Los Angeles, after Chu Huan, Cao Yunshang and others checked into the Hilton Hotel, and after Kelly came over, the first thing Chu Huan asked was about real estate.

   "How is it? Did you find the manor you were looking for?"

  Kelly is sitting on the sofa in the living room, because Cao Yunshang is here, so naturally she won't act too much.

   Just said to Chu Huan helplessly: "Boss, shouldn't we talk about the company's affairs first, and then talk about personal affairs?"

  Chu Huan smiled and said, "Apex Pictures has you, so I believe it 100%!"

  Kelly rolled her eyes and laughed, obviously not believing what Chu Huan said.

   "Okay, let's talk about the situation of Vertex Pictures first."

   After laughing, Chu Huan sat on the sofa and preached to Kelly with a smile.

  Kelly nodded and said: "First of all, all the proceeds from the movie "Jaws" have returned to the company's account."

Previously, the North American box office share of "Jaws", TV rights, and peripheral profits brought a total of 158 million US dollars to Vertex Pictures, while Chu Huan took away 100 million US dollars, leaving 58 million US dollars to Vertex Pictures. million dollars of liquidity.

  Now the global box office revenue except North America has also been transferred to the account of Vertex Pictures.

According to statistics, the global box office of "Jaws" excluding North America totaled 250 million U.S. dollars, and Vertex Pictures received 75 million U.S. dollars in share. $68 million was provided to Vertex Pictures, and the videotape of the movie "Jaws" is still the best-selling movie videotape of Brothers Impressions so far.

   At the same time, the peripheral sales of "Jaws" must be added, especially the authorization of an ice cream company to produce ice cream of the same name, coupled with the sales of its toy peripherals, this piece also brought 45 million US dollars to Vertex Pictures.

   That is to say, as of today, Vertex Pictures has made a profit of 346 million US dollars from this movie.

  Excluding the 100 million US dollars that Chu Huan took before, according to common sense calculations, Vertex Pictures should still have 246 million US dollars in its account.

   But it's not really like that.

   "Stalone's "Rocky" has been approved and has entered the shooting stage. The production cost is tentatively set at 1 million US dollars. If the post-stage publicity expenses are included, the overall budget should be 10 million US dollars."

  Chu Huan met Stallone who was looking for investment at Vertex Pictures last time, and then finalized Stallone's "Rocky". After 76 years, the filming of this film has begun.

   It is expected to be released in December of this year.

   "Although the production of the movie "Rocky" used the company's previous funds, the current funds must be used for the promotion."

  Back before the movie "Jaws" was released, Chu Huan had already reserved a sum of money for Vertex Pictures.

"In addition, the script of Steven's new film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" has been completed, and now Steven is casting actors. The production cost of this film alone is as high as 20 million US dollars, including the remuneration of all front and backstage personnel. "

   Speaking of this, Kelly was silent for a while, and then said to Chu Huan: "Should we still fully invest in this movie?"

   With a production cost of 20 million, it is already a super production for Hollywood at this stage.

According to the usual practice of Hollywood production companies, when they deal with this kind of super production with unpredictable box office, in order to reduce the risk, they will only invest a small part of the funds themselves, and most of the remaining funds will be used for financing. way to run the film.

   It doesn’t mean that if the investment is large, the box office will definitely be a hit. In the history of Hollywood, how many film companies have lost money because they blindly believed in big productions and almost lost their pants?

  That's why Kelly asked Chu Huan whether the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" requires the company to fully invest!

  If it was the work of other directors, Chu Huan would definitely not let Kelly fully invest in it. Since he is mixed in Hollywood, he naturally has to abide by the rules of the game here.

  However, that is compared to those conventional operations, such as some movies that Chu Huan has not survived or films made by filmmakers, Chu Huan will definitely let Vertex Pictures do that.

  But to Chu Huan, Spielberg is an unconventional weapon.

  The most successful film director in Hollywood history, there are very few films that lose money in his life.

  Since this is the case, Chu Huan naturally wants Vertex Pictures to fully invest in Spielberg's film!

Kelly thought of the benefits that a "Jaws" would bring to the company, so she didn't say anything. Although she didn't know about Spielberg's achievements in later generations, Spielberg, who is now successful, is worth letting herself go. believe him.

"Okay, I will tell Steven about this." Kelly pondered for a while and said: "The other is the movie "Jaws 2", and Steven has clearly refused to direct this movie." idea!"

Regarding Spielberg's refusal to direct the movie "Jaws 2", there are actually traces to follow. Throughout Spielberg's entire career, except for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Jurassic Park" Apart from this super IP, Spielberg has never made any other movie sequels.

   Last year, Spielberg even publicly stated at the San Francisco Film Festival that all sequels are bad tricks.

   "In addition, other Hollywood production companies have also called, hoping to participate in the production of this movie!"

If Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a super production with unpredictable box office, then the movie "Jaws 2" is a predictable money-selling movie. How much it sells depends on the movie. quality up.

  So when Vertex Pictures announced that it was going to produce the second part of "Jaws", the whole Hollywood was shocked, and they all asked whether they could cooperate.

  Chu Huan thought for a while and said, "Which company do you prefer?"

   Cooperation is definitely necessary.

  Although the movie "Jaws" has made Vertex Pictures a lot of money, in the final analysis, Vertex Pictures is still a newcomer in Hollywood.

  In the business world, if a rising star has no background, if he eats alone, the most likely result is not to make money, but to be squeezed to death by the bigwigs in the same industry.

And when the movie "Jaws" was being produced, Chu Huan had already thought about it, and the purpose was to use this movie in exchange for some friendships from other Hollywood film companies, not to mention that Chu Huan has more ideas now .

  Kelly pondered for a while and then said: "In terms of emotion, I am actually more inclined to 20th Century Fox. After all, in the movie "Star Wars", our cooperation is still good!"

  Chu Huan glanced at Kelly helplessly, and said, "Alan Hirschfeld obviously took us for a fool at the beginning, but now you actually say that their cooperation with us is good?"

Kelly spread her hands and said: "At the beginning, we and 20th Century Fox were just willing to fight and suffer, and we couldn't say that we were cheated or not, and the two sides have maintained relatively well at least on the surface since then, so we I feel that we should continue to maintain a cooperative relationship with them!"

  Chu Huan shook his head and said, "Forget about 20th Century Fox, I have other ideas about the movie "Jaws 2"."

  Kelly glanced at Chu Huan suspiciously, and asked, "What do you think?"

  Chu Huan said with a smile: "You said that if we sell "Jaws 2" and the subsequent box office proceeds, what kind of reaction will it cause in Hollywood?"

  Kelly froze for a moment, and then said seriously: "Then I will definitely become the most popular woman in Hollywood immediately, bar none!"

  Chu Huan smiled easily, and said: "You have released the news in the past two days, and you have reached a consensus with Xiangjiang's black and white influence to jointly invest in the investment of "Jaws 2"."

  Chu Huan's decision caused Kelly to fall into silence, and she spoke after a while: "Boss, I remember that the two of us were talking about these Hollywood production companies, right?"

  Is there any problem with black and white video investment in "Jaws 2"?

no problem!

   But this cannot solve the problems that Vertex Pictures is facing now. Part of the investment share of "Jaws 2" must be taken out, otherwise Vertex Pictures will become the target of Hollywood's public criticism.

  But part of it is going to be distributed to Hollywood production companies, but now Chu Huan wants Vertex Pictures to give half of the investment share to black and white images.

Chu Huan said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will not let Vertex Pictures become the public enemy of Hollywood, what you have to do now is, when other Hollywood studios find you, you push all these people to me Come here."

  Kelly's eyes became more and more suspicious, and she couldn't help asking: "Boss, don't you want to cheat that production company, or the whole of Hollywood, right?

  Although your approach seems to have taken Vertex Pictures out, but this kind of thing is not clean! "

Chu Huan reassured: "Don't worry, I just said that before Vertex Pictures has grown up, it will not make him the public enemy of Hollywood. I just want to exchange with one of the production companies." Their respective interests, of course, he is looking at the immediate interests, and I am looking at the future interests!"

   Seeing what Chu Huan said, Kelly couldn't say anything more, and said, "Okay!"

   Chu Huan continued to talk to Kelly: "I have asked Black and White Media to find theaters in North America to acquire, and I will also build my own theater.

  With sufficient financial support, we will have our own theater chain in North America when "Rocky" is released. In this case, Vertex Pictures will have more bargaining chips in its hands! "

  Actually, if Chu Huan had waited longer, in 1987, the North American Department of Justice had a mild interpretation of the Paramount Act, and since then the production company has been able to buy theater channels again.

  Kelly didn't know about these things, but when she heard that Chu Huan had already started buying theaters in North America, she immediately preached excitedly.

"If this is the case, that would be really great. Compared with those big studios, one of the biggest weaknesses of Vertex Pictures is its own distribution channels. If it has its own theaters, then Vertex Pictures You will have a greater say in Hollywood!"

Chu Huan said with a smile: "This is just the beginning. The problem of theaters in North America can be temporarily relieved, but artist resources, global distribution channels, and studios are the gaps between Vertex Pictures and those big studios in Hollywood. , Only after all these things are prepared, Vertex Pictures has completed a truly magnificent turnaround, and has also become a top Hollywood production company from an independent production company!"

  Kelly smiled easily: "That's all for the future. At least for the company, it has completed the most important second step."

  The first step is to set up your own production company and get off to a good start. "Jaws" has already helped Vertex Pictures complete this step.

   The second step is to have its own distribution channels in North America. After the North American Shanhai Theater Line completes the initial acquisition, it can be considered complete.

third step.

  Kelly told Chu Huan seriously: "I think the company should start preparing to build its own studio now!"

A single "Jaws" made Apex Pictures earn more than 300 million US dollars, and this profit is still continuing. According to the forecast of Apex Pictures, the final profit of this film will exceed 500 million US dollars, which makes Kelly Now I am quite confident!

  Chu Huan thought for a while, and said: "Yes, let the company come up with a budget, and show me when the time comes!"

  Kelly is full of confidence, and Chu Huan is even more confident.

   After all, what Kelly saw was only the revenue of Vertex Pictures, while what Chu Huan saw was the revenue of his entire group company.

  The reason why many companies fall under the development strategy of crazy expansion is because they do not have sufficient funds in their hands, and coping with possible emergencies will directly lead to the breaking of the company's capital chain.

   As far as Chu Huan is concerned at this time, he doesn't need to think about it at all.

  Nowadays, few people dare to say that they can match Chu Huan's cash flow.

   "Okay, I will return to the company tomorrow and ask the people in the company to prepare for it!" After speaking, Kelly asked Chu Huan, "How many days will you and Yunshang stay in Hollywood?"

  Chu Huan said: "Seven days, I still have a few friends here to meet, and by the way, I will finalize the matter of Vertex Pictures building its own studio!"

  When he was in Xiangjiang before, Chu Huan had already made an appointment with Li Xiaolong, and they would meet in Los Angeles.

   Kelly continued to ask: "What about "Jaws 2" with other Hollywood studios?"

  Chu Huan said with a smile: "I will announce it after I leave Los Angeles and arrive in Las Vegas, and make those people anxious!"

"clear!"

  After talking about the business, Chu Huan said to Kelly: "Now should you tell me about the villa I asked you to find?"

   Continue to code words~

  

  

  (end of this chapter)