Heads Up Hollywood
/ Heads Up Hollywood Chapter 510
Published at 24th of July 2023 08:30:05 AM
Vivendi's share price continued to fall. By the end of July, the market value of the media giant with a market value of 100 billion was only 10.1 billion euros!
Of course, such a company with huge assets cannot be measured by market value.
But for Vivendi, the most important thing is the rating of Moody's credit company!
A low rating means that Vivendi's bonds, stocks and loans are all in serious crisis.
It's just a matter of devaluation of stocks. If the bonds look bad again, major investment banks and securities companies have asked Vivendi to repay the debt, which will force Vivendi to go bankrupt.
In order to re-upgrade Moody's rating to baa, Vivendi's current liabilities cannot exceed 10 billion euros.
In other words, Vivendi has to find a way to eliminate the debt of about 20 billion euros!
The invitation of Tang En Pictures was immediately approved by Vivendi's board of directors, and the two parties began to negotiate the assets of Vivendi's entertainment department.
However, the specific rules, Vivendi's board of directors is relatively conservative, they are only responsible for strategic decisions, specific operations, need to wait for the new CEO to take office, and then negotiate.
By the beginning of August, "Pirate League: The Curse of the Black Pearl" has been released for almost a month.
In North America, it received a total of 250 million US dollars at the box office, and overseas regions were released later, and also received a box office of 190 million US dollars.
Comparing "Pirates" to "Spider-Man 2," which has grossed more than $1.1 billion, is clearly unrealistic.
This is, after all, the first piece of an original theme.
But under the helm of director Tim Burton, the series has made a good start.
According to the box office trend, the North American box office of "Pirates: The Curse of the Black Pearl" will exceed 300 million US dollars, and the overseas box office should be around 400 million US dollars.
Without a doubt, this will be the highest-grossing film Tim Burton has ever directed!
On August 2nd, another blockbuster film from Dunn Pictures was released, "Signs of the Sky" directed by Nate Shyamalan and starring Mel Gibson, officially landed in the North American market.
On the same day, the board of directors of Vivendi also announced a piece of heavy news-the 47-year-old Jean Bernard Levi was appointed as the new CEO of Vivendi.
After Jean Levi came to power, the first task was to negotiate with Dunn Pictures to solve the problem of high debt and bring Vivendi back to life!
Dunn dispatched again, flew to Paris in person, congratulated Jean Levi for his appointment as CEO of Vivendi, and made a simple communication with him on the issue of asset acquisition.
The two parties met at the home of Jean-Bernard Lévy, where his wife made a dinner herself.
"Vivendi is in a lot of difficulties now, Mr. Levi, is there any better way?" Dunn tasted the caviar, and the taste was very ordinary.
Jean Levy's English was very standard, and shook his head, "Restarting the accounts, and controlling costs and reducing expenses little by little, there is no good way."
"At least Dunn Pictures can help you through the immediate crisis, right?" Dunn smiled, when Mrs. Levi brought another bowl of soup, "Thank you, Mrs. Levi, today's dinner is too rich It made me deeply feel the passion of France."
Jean Levi paused and said slowly: "The decision of the board of directors is to withdraw from the film and television entertainment industry, especially related assets in the United States. I agree with this point of view."
"Oh?" Tang En vaguely felt that the other party had something to say.
Jean Levidao: "Vivendi now has more than 2,600 branches. The internal structures of these companies are very different. It is almost impossible to integrate them into a development strategy."
Dunn immediately understood what the other party meant.
Vivendi's industries are all over the world, but the three major companies with the most branches: Universal Pictures, Universal Music and Mifflin Press.
These three companies have two or three branches in almost every country, with a total of more than 1,100 branches all over the world, with a total of more than 30,000 employees, accounting for 70% of Vivendi's total employees.
Jean Levi wants to cut expenses, and he will definitely sell this part of the asset.
Dunn said lightly: "I am more interested in Blizzard and Snow Leshan. These two game studios are the memories of our generation of American youth. It's just Universal Music Group and Mifflin Publishing Group. With all due respect, Music and publishing are already dying industries."
Jean Levy laughed: "Mr. Walker, the whole world knows that you desperately need Universal Pictures!"
Tang En's face turned cold and he looked at him, "So you're sure you want me?"
Jean Levi was very indifferent, "This is a normal business transaction."
Dunn shrugged, drank a spoonful of soup, and almost vomited it out, holding back his expression unchanged, "If I fail to acquire Universal Pictures, I will terminate all exchanges and cooperation between Dunn Pictures and Universal Pictures. If You have a certain understanding of Hollywood, and I believe you must know that Dunn Pictures is launching a series of business transactions with Disney."
This is not alarmist.
Dunn has already made two arrangements.
If Vivendi dared to speak out about Universal Pictures, then Dunn would definitely not bow his head and put his hand directly into Disney.
With the potential of Dunn Pictures, Disney's shareholders must be happy with this merger.
Although the merger of Dunn Pictures and Disney will greatly dilute Dunn's shares, at least 25% of the new company's shares can be retained, right?
This is enough for him to take charge of the company.
Jean Levi was surprised by Dunn's words.
Fortunately, before he took office, he knew that his first task after taking office was to deal with Tang En. He had already checked a lot of information about Tang En, and knew that this kid's business methods were violent and manic!
Absolutely cannot be forced.
Jean Levy smiled and said: "Negotiations, we have a lot of room for negotiation with each other. You intend to acquire Universal Pictures, and we do have plans to sell."
Dunn shook his head and said, "It's easy to talk about Universal Pictures, I want to talk about Blizzard."
Jean Levi was very embarrassed, "Blizzard... You know, Blizzard's new game "Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne" will be launched next year, and Blizzard has also started the design and production of an online game. We can't At this stage, sell Blizzard."
Dunn disapproved, "Nothing is impossible! Mr. Levy, don't you just want me to take over the music, publish these bad assets, and then firmly control a high-quality company like Blizzard? This is a transaction, There needs to be a balance on both sides.”
Jean Levi's eyes narrowed to a line.
Dunn continued: "Back then, Sony and Panasonic both wanted to enter Hollywood, but they both suffered serious losses. The Japanese/people couldn't play well in Hollywood, and neither could the French."
Jean Levi laughed and said, "Universal Pictures' performance has been quite impressive in recent years."
Dunn was both funny and angry, "That's because Dunn Pictures is a partner of Universal Pictures! Just the two movies "Spider-Man" and "Unsinkable" made Universal a net profit of 100 million US dollars!"
Jean Levy said: "I have no opinion on selling Universal Pictures to you, and the board of directors readily agrees! The key now is that I want to sell Universal Music and Mifflin Publishing House, but what you fancy is It's Blizzard Studios that I don't want to sell."
Dunn put down his knife and fork and waved his hand, "Let's not talk about Blizzard, let's talk about Mifflin, let's talk about TV networks. Vivendi now has two large TV networks, the French canal+ TV network and the American TV network. usa TV network. I don't know if you have worked in TV stations, but as soon as I say it, you will understand that the best way for TV networks to attract users is to broadcast rich and attractive TV content ."
Jean Levi was silent.
Tang En said: "Canal+ TV network is good to say, you also have the support of Gaumont Films, the largest film company in France. But what about usa TV network? Last year, Vivendi acquired the usa TV network at a premium of nearly 200%. What do you want to do?"
Jean Levi said bluntly: "USA TV network must be sold in a package with Universal Pictures."
Dunn's eyes narrowed, staring at the other party, "Mr. Levi, don't you think your request is too much? I want to buy Universal Pictures, but you are thinking of using Universal Pictures to sell USA TV Network, Universal Pictures, etc. The record and Mifflin are bundled together! It's not a fair negotiation."
"I can compromise on price."
"But I prefer Blizzard!"
Jean Levy smiled bitterly, "Mr. Walker, you must know that my current job is difficult, and I have countless problems to solve. It's okay to tell you, I need to solve at least 20 billion euros in the next two years. Debt, those recreational assets in America, I had to sell."
Dunn smiled and said, "That's right, isn't Blizzard an American company? Isn't Blizzard an entertainment asset?"
Jean Levy froze for a moment.
Tang En pondered slightly and lowered his voice, "Mr. Levi, before I come, you must have investigated my information in detail. You should know me. If it is a pleasant cooperation, I will never let my partners suffer. ."
"Oh?"
"If the cooperation is pleasant..." Tang En took Changyin~www.novelhall.com~ and gave him a deep look, "I will solve most of your debt pressure!"
Jean Levi's eyes suddenly lit up, showing a somewhat incredible expression.
Most debt?
The debt he urgently needs to repay is 20 billion euros. If Dunn wants to help solve most of it, it will cost at least 15 billion euros, right?
However, the current value of Universal Pictures is about 6 billion to 7 billion euros.
Jean Levi was also a wise man.
Instantly understood what Dunn meant.
Can't help taking a breath.
This young man, with great ambition and appetite, is no less than the former CEO of Vivendi, Jean Messier, who has resigned!
Looking at Dunn, who was sitting across from him in a calm, peaceful and calm manner enjoying dinner, Jean Levi felt very complicated.
"Vivendi also has some Internet properties, including the world's largest online music website mp3., including the emusic music website, and the Intel website that sells records in a joint venture with Sony." Jean Levi said suddenly.
Dunn laughed, "It's simple, isn't Sony building the world's largest music group? They are interested in music, so just sell these assets to them. Universal Music, they can't buy it, because it is restricted by anti-monopoly laws, But these music sites, there are no restrictions."
Jean Levi nodded slightly and remained silent.
After a long time, he changed the subject and stopped talking about business cooperation. Instead, he talked about the customs of France.
Dunn's heart was open.
Much easier now!
Jean Levi is not even a shareholder of Vivendi, but a CEO hired by the board of directors. What he cares most about right now is to solve the debt crisis and secure his position as CEO.
With Tang En to help, why not do it?
7
(Sanqi Chinese)
Chapter end
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