They had fun for half a month and visited the most famous scenic spots in the world. Then, they returned to the villa in Los Angeles.
At this time, the major companies in Hollywood had passed the most difficult stage. Although the stock market was still falling, it was not as bad as before.
The eight major Hollywood film companies had suffered heavy losses. The stock market had fallen by at least 40%. Among them, 21st Century Fox was the worst. Its stock market had fallen from 130 billion dollars to 53 billion dollars.
Magic Visual Effects was not much better. In just one month, the stock market had fallen by more than 50%. It had fallen from 45 dollars to 22 dollars per share.
Countless small and medium-sized special effects companies and studios in Hollywood had gone bankrupt. This had benefited Xiao Yunhai.
Ever since the economic crisis broke out, the Magic Hallucination Special Effects Company had added more than 600 new employees. Most of them were the technical backbones of the bankrupt special effects company. Furthermore, they were signed for five years. This allowed the Magic Hallucination Special Effects Company to become the world's number one company in terms of technology and talent.
Xiao Yunhai had come this time not only to deal with Magic Visual Effects, but also to buy the cinema shares of the major companies.
Before he left, he had asked Daniel to pay close attention to the cinemas of the major film companies and inform him as soon as the court had announced the verdict.
Xiao Yunhai and Zhao Wanqing had rushed back to Los Angeles because Daniel had called Xiao Yunhai to tell him that the court had announced that the eight major film companies had violated the American anti-monopoly law. They were required to sell the cinema shares within three months. They could only keep 30% at most.
Xiao Yunhai had been drooling over the American cinemas. Naturally, he would not let go of this opportunity.
He had two biggest advantages.
First, he had close to 20 billion dollars in cash. According to the exchange rate of 1: 1.3 between USD and Hua Xia currency, it was enough for Xiao Yunhai to cover all of North America.
Second, he was not interested in controlling the shares. He only wanted to ensure that his and Hanhai's movies could be shown. This was the key to his confidence in buying the cinemas.
Although the court ruled that the eight major movie companies would sell the theaters, it did not say who they would sell them to. If Xiao Yunhai were to use MGM Grand's method on other companies, he believed that it would not be a problem to buy them, and he would not even need to raise the price.
However, what he was most worried about now was that the outside world would definitely swarm over after hearing the news. Therefore, Xiao Yunhai needed to act before they did.
He already owned 21% of MGM Grand's shares, 5% of Paramount's shares, and 10% of Worldwide's shares, which covered 43 states of America.
After some serious consideration, the two of them decided to target Warner Bros. and Disneyland.
This was because these two companies could allow Xiao Yunhai to expand his cinema chain to the remaining states of the United States and most of the North American countries.
In this way, Xiao Yunhai's North American cinema chain layout could be completed.
In order to achieve this goal, Xiao Yunhai and Zhao Wanqing came to New York and met with Michael Eisner, who owned 42% of Warner Bros cinema chain's shares.
Michael received them in his office and said, "Mr. Xiao, Ms. Zhao, do you know how many calls I received to buy Warner Theatres in just two days? Haha, a total of 18 companies, and nine of them sent people over personally. The highest price was even double the market price. Haha, it seems that the cinema chain is indeed very attractive. "
Under the influence of the financial crisis, Warner Bros cinema chain's shares fell from 52 billion to 28 billion. If Michael was not lying, it meant that someone had raised the price to 56 billion, which was much higher than the previous 52 billion.
It could be seen that the other party had indeed invested a lot.
Zhao Wanqing asked calmly, "Why didn't you sell at such a good price?"
Michael chuckled and said, "I waited for the best price. I hoped to wait for a better buyer. Seeing the two of you, I think I've waited for it. "
Zhao Wanqing shook her head and said, "You might be disappointed. We won't pay so much."
Michael said, "What I want is not money, but controlling shares of the cinema chain. There are no secrets in Hollywood. I've already heard about the agreement you signed with MGM Grand. You want to screen your own movies without restrictions, and I need controlling shares. So, just like MGM Grand, we are the perfect partners. However, you need to buy 24% of the shares in one go. "
Zhao Wanqing was puzzled and asked, "I heard that you only have 42%."
Michael said, "After the financial crisis broke out, I bought the shares of the other two shareholders. Now, I have 54%."
Zhao Wanqing said, "How much do you want to sell your shares for?"
Michael said, "A premium of 50%."
Zhao Wanqing shook her head and said, "That's impossible. Mr. Michael, you have to know that although we bought the shares, we can help you continue to control the entire Warner Cinemas without any worries. This is already a great bargain. If you increase the price by 50%, it's too unfair to us. "
Michael said, "Madam Zhao, don't forget that with Warner Cinemas, your movies can be screened as you wish."
Zhao Wanqing smiled and said, "It's not easy for us to make movies suitable for America. It's already very good if we can screen ten movies a year. Mr. Michael, I hope you can show us your sincerity. "
Michael said, "Madam Zhao, this is already the lowest price they've offered me."
Zhao Wanqing said, "But these people will pose a huge threat to your controlling shares, and we won't. That's the most important thing, isn't it? "
Just like that, the two of them went back and forth. After a battle of words, they finally reached an agreement.
Xiao Yunhai used 9 billion US dollars to buy 24% of Warner Cinemas' shares. They could screen a maximum of 20 movies a year. They could choose their schedules, and the first three days of screening would not be less than 40%. At the same time, they would unconditionally support Michael to become the chairman of the board and control the entire Warner Cinemas.
According to the current exchange rate, 9 billion US dollars was 11.7 billion Hua Xia dollars. Just Warner alone had used up most of Xiao Yunhai's funds. Now, he was only left with 6.2 billion US dollars and a Disney Cinemas.
Disney Cinemas was ranked fifth among the eight major cinemas. They mainly focused on other countries in North America and had a market value of 18 billion US dollars.
The negotiations between the two sides were very smooth, and the terms were similar. Xiao Yunhai finally bought 16% of the shares for 5.3 billion Hua Xia dollars.
At that point, Xiao Yunhai's layout in all the major cinemas in North America was complete, and he was left with less than 1 billion US dollars.
However, he still had to give at least 400 million US dollars to The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The remaining 500 million was just enough for him to film Inception.
After all, the male and female leads were Xiao Yunhai and Zhao Wanqing. The special effects of Magic City were also his. These two major projects did not cost him a single cent. With that, he would have about 300 million US dollars.
After settling the matters of the cinemas, the two of them had just returned home in Beijing. Before they even had a sip of water, Xiao Yunhai received a call from his uncle, Chen Zhan.
"Yunhai, let me ask you. Is iPartment 2 completed?"
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "That's right. The film was approved by the Film and Television Bureau half a month ago. However, at that time, the financial crisis was too severe, so I didn't give you the film. "
Chen Zhan nodded and said, "It's done now. A lot of advertisers are already active. I'll send someone over to talk to you. "
Xiao Yunhai said, "Uncle, then tell me first. How much of the advertising share is Anhui TV going to give me? I've watched this show. It's very funny, and it's not worse than the first one. "
Chen Zhan said, "You need to discuss the advertising share with the deputy director, Lu Zejun. After all, we are relatives. I need to avoid suspicion. By the way, quickly come up with a variety show that can make Anhui TV famous. "
Xiao Yunhai smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle, do you think variety shows are so easy to come up with?"
Chen Zhan said shamelessly, "I don't care. I'll give you a week to settle it. Yunhai, I'm begging you. Anhui TV's ratings are too low. No matter what, you have to help your uncle. "
Xiao Yunhai asked, "Then why don't you directly move 'Run, Brother' and 'The Voice of Hua Xia' to Anhui TV? You know, their copyrights are still in my hands. "
Chen Zhan said, "I'm embarrassed. After all, Mango TV is where I've worked for 20 years. I really can't bring myself to steal from them."
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "What's wrong with that? The reason why I was willing to ask for 65% of the advertising share from Mango TV was because Director Ouyang promised to push you to the director position. Now that things have gone south, our agreement has been canceled. If Mango TV doesn't give me more than 75% of the advertising share, I definitely won't sell it. "
Chen Zhan said, "I'm afraid Mango TV won't agree to 75% of the advertising share."
Xiao Yunhai shrugged and said, "Then I can only say that I'm sorry."
Chen Zhan said, "No matter what, come up with a show for me first."
Xiao Yunhai said, "Okay, I'll write it now."
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