Back in Los Angeles, Arthur meets Taylor, who can't wait to stop recording the album after receiving a call, dresses up carefully, and misses disaster in his mansion.

In order to thank Taylor for sparing no effort to promote and support during this time, Arthur really went all out and was grateful for his efforts.

After a day of reunion, Taylor, who was full of energy and even more beautiful and moving, was reluctant, but the album she was recording forced her to work, and Arthur also had something to do.

Sending off the reluctant Taylor, soon ushered in the people from the US branch of Barclays.

In the living room, Arthur looked at the team of five people sent by Barclays Bank, and had to sigh that as long as there are interests, the bank's service is really in place.

"Your Excellency, this is all the details we have compiled about AMC Cinemas according to your needs, including the financial statements for the past years... ”

That's the way it is, because his financial investment advisory group is still in the UK, and even if he brings it, this is the United States after all, and some situations still need local forces to help him.

It was too late to form an improvised American advisory group, so Arthur kicked the ball to Barclays, which had been tied to his chariot.

You must know that in the past subprime mortgage crisis, Barclays Bank packaged the North American business of Lehman Brothers, the former Wall Street giant, and suddenly let their Barclays business complete the expansion of North America.

Therefore, Barclays Bank is really the most suitable choice, and just as Arthur thought, after receiving his call, Barclays Bank's London headquarters immediately arranged for the North American department to form a team to serve Arthur's big customer.

Arthur took the folder handed over by the other party, opened it and consulted it carefully, the information was very concise and comprehensive, which was also his request, because he wanted a briefing that could give him a clear understanding of all aspects of the target company, rather than requiring him to use his brain to extract what he needed to know from various data materials.

According to the data, the projection industry in the United States is controlled by several large theater lines, including General Cinema Line, United Arts Theater Line, AMC Theater Line, Carmike Theater Line, Marcus Theater Line, etc., among the more than 30,000 screens in the United States, the theater chain controls about 14,000 screens, and the controlled 45 percent of the screens have accumulated 80 percent of the box office revenue.

AMC Cinemas is the second largest cinema chain in the United States, with a total of 3,500 screens, an average of 15 screens each, in major cities across the United States, and more than 200 million people choose AMC every year...

In 2004, it was privatized, and after the privatization, AMC had a good opportunity to grow. In 2005, AMC successfully acquired another theater chain, and it was precisely because of this acquisition that AMC Cinemas became the second largest theater chain in the United States, and it was precisely because of this acquisition that AMC Cinema Group had a five-strong board of directors.

JPMP, Apollo, Bain, Carlyle, and Spectrum indirectly hold 100% of AMC Cinemas' shares through an M&A fund, and the M&A funds hold 21%, 21%, 15%, 15%, and 10% of the shares respectively. The remaining 18% of the shares are held by the company's management.

Seeing this, Arthur's brows couldn't help but furrow, this group of private equity bastards played a capital game in the acquisition process, making AMC Cinema's liabilities almost double the value of its own assets.

According to the offer that can impress the other party, AMC Cinemas is valued at about $700 million, and its own debt is as high as 1.5 billion, although this debt will be repaid in 2020.

In this way, if Arthur wants to complete the acquisition, he needs to undertake this part of the debt at the same time, and the purchase price of 2.2 billion US dollars is inevitable.

"Your Excellency Bolin, AMC is a company with excellent cash flow and a strong position in the industry. And companies with excellent cash flow are more likely to obtain loans, whether they are mergers or acquisitions, they have a huge advantage... ”

At this time, the team leader of Barclays saw the young earl's frown, and couldn't help but hurriedly speak, smiling and explaining, as if he was very worried that Arthur would give up the acquisition.

Arthur glanced at the other party with a smile, and then continued to look at the information in his hand, lost in thought.

To be honest, in addition to acquiring theaters, in addition to making money, it naturally has the idea of entering Hollywood, but in Hollywood, capital controls blockbusters, and blockbusters also control capital.

Buying or forming a film company, for Arthur, some gains outweigh the losses, and Arthur knows better than anyone that in the future, Hollywood movies will almost be dominated by superheroes, and mortals can only survive...

In the decade of the new century, the theater chain has long been full of sequels, reboots and remakes, and almost only in the field of small-budget art films and horror films, original stories can find room to survive.

Superhero-based adaptations and sequel reboots are devouring every screen in the world, and there are few blockbuster blockbuster protagonists in theaters today who don't have superpowers.

The tide of the times always rushes in the direction pointed by the tide, and the most exciting tide in Hollywood's new century is undoubtedly the comic superhero movie.

If you count from the era when the superhero theme began to be truly regarded as a branch of genre films, then the first to raise the banner should be the X-Men in 2000.

With the popularity of the popular animation of the same name in the past, Twentieth Century Fox, which holds the film adaptation rights of Marvel's most popular comic book character, launched the X-Men in a timely manner, reaping both word-of-mouth and box office success.

Soon, after the successes of Fox's X-Men series and Sony's Spider-Man trilogy, Marvel Studios, which did not make much money due to buyout contracts, began to realize that it was impossible to make a way out in Hollywood by selling rights alone, and the only way to succeed was to truly transform into a production company and make its own movies.

And Warner Bros., which holds the rights to all the characters in DC Comics, another superhero treasure trove, has also begun to realize the potential of this genre, and has made a new reboot of the classic Batman series of movies on the screen of the last century...

Marvel Studios learned from the pain, sold the copyrights of a number of small characters, and borrowed money from all over the world to save the starting funds for making a movie. In the end, in the spirit of breaking the kettle and making a desperate bet, Marvel Studios launched Iron Man in 2008, which almost formed a rivalry with the dark horse Batman Dark Knight in the same year.

The red sun has risen in comic superhero movies.

Hey—

Thinking of Marvel, Arthur couldn't help but sigh helplessly in his heart, if he had come a few years earlier, had money earlier, and bought Marvel, why would he have to take the road of cinema acquisition and get involved in the film industry in a different way like now.

Marvel is the real treasure trove, and Arthur knows this better than everyone at the moment.

With the Iron Man series as the axis, Marvel Studios has launched a new concept of the film series "Cinematic Universe" that references the story structure of the comics. It has created a new pattern and dimension for the comic superhero movie.

Since then, except for the return of the old gold-absorbing monster "Star Wars" IP that carries the feelings of the whole United States, comic superhero movies have almost won every box office crown from then to today.

People no longer question the legitimacy of the film's protagonist's fancy costumes, and the world has entered the era of comic book otaku listening to the gospel.

In the years when the Marvel Cinematic Universe officially began to take over the theatrical box office, the original stories of Hollywood's big productions have gradually become physically exhausted. And in order to adapt to the menacing tide of superheroes, the big labels are fighting each other with all their might.

In this battle, there are those who are proud of their own superhero IP, there are those who purchase superhero copyrights and squeeze the surplus value, there are violent gold absorbers who independently develop IP, and there are also survivors who are unable to resist the danger of acquisition.

The battle has already begun, and if Arthur wants a piece of the pie, the acquisition of the cinema chain is undoubtedly the only and best entry point.

To put it bluntly, in the entertainment industry, as long as you have money and resources, you can become a big player!

As someone said, one of the sad realities of Hollywood is that if someone has money, they will gradually find certain followers who are willing to work with them.

This is the reality, in the most snobbish film and television industry, only famous actors can live in luxury houses and drive luxury cars, and a random scandal dominates the entertainment headlines for several days, and those who run tricks may not be able to work once in three months, and they will not have a meal. Due to the special nature of the industry, directors who hold the power of life and death and producers who play capital games often determine the fate and "money" of these actors.

And the fate of directors and producers is indeed a behind-the-scenes boss like Arthur who has both money and huge resources!

There is always no shortage of good-looking skins in the circle, except for a few clear streams, there is no shortage of ambitious people who want to be on top. As long as there is such an asymmetry of power, there will be people who will be able to sacrifice their souls for fame and fortune. And as long as such a person exists, Arthur can also set up a red sofa in his office.