Both the mainland and Chen Zhiwen hope that the International Trade Center matter can be settled as soon as possible. On the third day of the meeting with President Liang, Hutchison Whampoa set up a relevant project working group and went to Yanjing for on-site investigation. It will also discuss with Yanjing Communicate with the city's departments and do preliminary research in order to sort out detailed information and submit it to the boss. After all, the boss only looks at the key points. Chen Zhiwen will not care about a lot of small things.
What Chen Zhiwen is currently concerned about is naturally Disney's acquisition.
Just as Jim Hughes predicted, when the Department of Commerce agreed in principle to the Disney acquisition and submitted the information to Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House, three congressmen jumped out, claiming to protect American culture. There were many congressmen who blocked the acquisition. Although they did not come forward, they seemed to be convinced by these three.
Morgan Stanley was naturally well prepared for this, and had repeatedly called out in newspapers that this acquisition was purely a capital-level acquisition. Disney is still an American company, and all internal recruits are Americans, and the place of registration is also the same. In the United States, there is just a new boss behind the scenes. If the U.S. government denies this acquisition in the name of protecting American culture, then according to the principle of reciprocity, from now on, American cultural companies that want to acquire entertainment companies from other countries will encounter the same reasons. And his side doesn’t even have a chance to refute? After all, is this U.S. government policy?
This propaganda is indeed very instructive, because if it works, it will stop the entire plan of American entertainment capital to enter other countries. Even if it is extended a little bit, entertainment companies will not be able to do it, and then various media channels will not be able to do it. ? Even some related industries may be affected.
This is not in line with the current globalization strategy of the United States. After all, in the context of globalization, except for acquisitions that threaten national security or a large number of jobs, in theory, there should be no interference. The most fundamental reason why the United States flaunts this kind of freedom is to control the core industries of other countries. If there are too many double standards, it will not be conducive to the international policies of the United States.
Subsequently, after the Morgan consortium visited the White House and Congress several times, Disney's acquisition was finalized. On May 6, 1983, the White House officially approved the acquisition of Disney by a foreign-funded group.
Chen Zhiwen, who had received the news a few days earlier, had also come to the United States. In fact, the relevant personnel had already known about this matter before it was announced.
Barry Michael, who is in charge of U.S. financial investments, signed an acquisition contract with Disney’s existing board representatives under the witness of the Ministry of Commerce. The transaction price was US$1.59 billion. The buyer assumed the seller’s existing liabilities, and the seller also promised that there would be no higher than If a million-dollar liability is not disclosed, if it is discovered in the next three years, you will need to bear corresponding debt responsibilities, etc.
Many media were also present to record this moment. One of the largest entertainment companies in the United States was acquired by foreign capital today. This is also the top five acquisitions of local companies by foreign capital in the history of the United States. In the entertainment industry, it ranks among the top five. It is the first, and the others are basically oil, large steel companies, etc.
In front of reporters and media, Barry Michael also announced that he will soon inject another US$200 million into Disney to help with the partial renovation of two Disney parks and the construction of new amusement parks. It will also invest in existing Disney movies. The department should carry out appropriate reforms, but the specific methods of reform were not mentioned.
In short, with the injection of new capital, it is still uncertain whether Disney can regain its former glory, but at least there should be no problems in the past few years. This is also the focus of media attention.
Disney Headquarters, Burbank, California:
"Eric, congratulations on acquiring Disney. This is the first time in American history that such an entertainment company has been acquired by foreign capital." Jim Hughes also came here and said with a smile after seeing Chen Zhiwen.
"Congratulations, Morgan Stanley has completed this acquisition, and I'm afraid it will leave a mark in the history of American business." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
The cost of entrusting this kind of investment bank to conduct cross-border acquisitions is very high. Even if you have obtained a considerable discount through some cooperative relationships, you still need to pay US$80 million for this acquisition, while if it is other investment banks, US$100 million They are all unstoppable.
No way, it requires a lot of resources, especially with the White House, the Department of Commerce, the Foreign Acquisitions Committee, labor unions, parliament and even the courts, etc. It requires a lot of contact. Arrangement and management of favors are definitely not something that can be done with money. Yes, you can only entrust large local investment banks to operate it. Although large investment banks charge expensive fees, they will do their best to do things. After all, they are not just serving you. Every big acquisition has countless people watching. , if you cheat a client or make a big mistake, other investment banks will not miss the opportunity to add insult to injury.
"I would also like to thank Eric for choosing us, Morgan Stanley." Jim Hughes smiled. Although this acquisition was a business found by a big boss, he was responsible for it from beginning to end, and his credit is not small. He will receive it at the end of the year. A 7-digit bonus should be no problem, but naturally the more the better, so he asked: "Eric, you said before that you will have other acquisitions in the United States. I don't know which ones you are interested in." company?"
"It will happen in the future, but not now. What I need to do is to save the current Disney from this mess." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said.
"Yes, let's solve the immediate problem first." Jim Hughes nodded and said: "If Disney's situation improves and you have other ideas, you can contact us at any time, or if your company wants to go public, you can do the same. Find us."
"Currently, among my companies, the first one to be listed will be Costco, but it won't be this year. It may take another two or three years." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, first drawing a pie for the Morgan consortium. .
But it’s not false. Costco and several other companies have their headquarters and market entirely in the United States. When they were small, no one cared about it. The U.S. market also allows people from other countries to make a little money here. Yes, but when the scale becomes larger, it is necessary to introduce some shareholders with resources and connections. Costco has already done this, but shareholders’ investment also needs to be realized. In addition, as the scale becomes larger , you still need to attract more people to invest, so going public is the best choice. Give up some shares appropriately to ensure that the company can operate normally. In the end, your income will be higher. Besides, after going public, you can also provide yourself with a lot of benefits. Convenient opportunity to cash out.
"Then I'll wait for the good news from you, Eric." Jim Hughes said with a smile. This kind of large-scale cooperation cannot be settled quickly. Being able to know in advance that a certain company of the other party is ready to go public, plus this If this cooperation goes smoothly, it will be a great advantage. Considering that the other party has many high-quality companies, plus the huge capital requirements for other acquisitions, Morgan Stanley has designated Chen Zhiwen as a VIP customer.
"Do you have anything else to do here?" Chen Zhiwen asked again. The acquisition has been completed. He has also paid half of Morgan Stanley's fees, and the rest will be paid according to the contract time.
"Eric, for a large acquisition like Disney, our investment bank does not just ignore it once the acquisition is completed. We will also provide certain after-sales services, so we will stay here for a while. If you find any problems, or if there are any If there is something wrong, we can solve it together, even if there are many things that you are not sure about but have doubts about. We have coordinated and acquired many companies and are very experienced in this area. To be honest, every time after-sales service like this is actually It allows us to learn a lot and avoid encountering the same problems in the next acquisition." Jim Hughes said with a smile.
"Okay, you can stay here as you like. I will arrange for someone to prepare a big office for you later." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, although the Disney family members have left, the company still has temporary management, some The most basic commands can still be executed.
As for the real management, Chen Zhiwen would naturally have to receive them in person.
In a coffee shop in Los Angeles, Chen Zhiwen looked at his surroundings and fell into deep thought, because the place he was in was actually a Starbucks.
He had forgotten about this potential stock, but that was normal. This company was founded ten years ago, but its initial development was very slow. It was not until the 1980s that it began to slowly rise. However, he did not have much resources for this kind of company. Help it grow rapidly or have its own advantages to expand its market. Unless the other party is currently short of funds, it will be difficult to invest when the other party has not yet been listed.
"Hello Eric." While Chen Zhiwen was thinking about Starbucks, a tall white man about 40 years old came over and said with a smile.
"Hello, Michael, sit down." Chen Zhiwen came back to his senses and greeted.
The person coming was naturally Michael Eisner, the most successful CEO in the history of Disney in his previous life. In the original history, Michael Eisner took over Disney in September 1984, starting his life as a legendary CEO and allowing Disney to develop rapidly. 20 It rose from the brink of bankruptcy to a market capitalization of US$40 billion in 2016. Before abdicating, it laid the foundation for Disney's future, such as Marvel World, etc., which eventually allowed Disney to ascend to the throne of the world's largest entertainment company, with a market value exceeding 200 billion US dollars.
This is also the reason why Chen Zhiwen needed to acquire Disney in 1983. If it were later, if a new CEO came on board, and coupled with its past historical results, shareholders might not be willing to take action, and then he would have no chance.
(End of chapter)
