Chapter 550 Acquisition Target
Zhang Ran has set up an issuance team in China, and through the acquisition of Golden Harvest, he has the ability to distribute in Southeast Asia. But that's not enough www.biquge.info he wants to buy a company in the U.S. that has production and distribution capabilities, so that he can make his own films in North America and distribute them himself.
Having a distribution channel in North America is very important for studios, but it is also extremely difficult.
Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen founded DreamWorks in 1994, which was seen as a hope to break the Big Six, but it turned out to be a joke. DreamWorks is not without blockbuster films, "Saving Private Ryan", "Minority Report" and so on are box office hits, but DreamWorks is small in size and has narrow channels, so it can only be promoted and distributed with the help of large companies, even if it is a blockbuster, they don't make much money. "Saving Private Ryan" cost $70 million and sold $500 million at the box office worldwide, but DreamWorks earned only $30 million.
Why doesn't DreamWorks build its own distribution network? Because it takes money to build a large distribution network, and it needs to produce at least 12 or more movies a year to maintain this network, but DreamWorks produces up to 6 movies a year, and this large theater chain doesn't talk to it at all, and it is very difficult to establish a distribution system.
Of course, in addition to the six major film companies, there are also some small film distribution companies, but these companies have very weak distribution capabilities, and most of the release scale is dozens or hundreds of screens. Lionsgate is the most developed, a blockbuster can spread more than 2,000 screens, but the same movie can be easily spread to more than 3,000 pieces for the release of the Big Six. So DreamWorks would rather give the movie to the Big Six than distribute it itself.
After arriving in the United States, Mr. Zhang called Mr. Wu and asked him to form a team for the acquisition, and Mr. Zhang contacted Goldman Sachs and asked them to serve as advisers in preparation for the acquisition.
The acquisition of a film company is not as simple as the acquisition of Google's acquisition of YouTube, which involves the accounting of various assets such as film copyrights and film libraries, and the acquisition can only be quoted after the assets are accounted for. Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, has a strong ability to collect information, with research institutions and corresponding information providers, which can help acquiring companies complete market research and understand the number, strength, distribution, business scope and other information that can become merger and acquisition targets. After the information collection is completed, they will help the company analyze the relevant intelligence and help the acquirer determine the target company based on the specific situation of the acquiring company.
In addition, Zhang Ran did not have much cash in his hands, only Google shares. Over the next year or so, Google's stock will rise sharply, and trading with shares is not cost-effective, so he hopes to raise money from banks by pledging his shares, which also requires Goldman Sachs' assistance.
In addition to the acquisition team brought by Wu Ruide, there is also Peter Anderson, an adviser to Goldman Sachs.
Zhang Ran looked at Peter Anderson and said, "Mr. Anderson, tell me about the target you chose. ”
Anderson nodded and said: "According to Mr. Zhang's requirements, there must be distribution capabilities, production capabilities, and a certain scale, and there are two main companies that meet the requirements, Summit Entertainment and Magnolia Pictures." As he spoke, Anderson took out a stack of materials and distributed them to Zhang Ran.
Zhang Ran took the information and looked at it slowly, the information was very detailed, including the distribution of the entire North American film, as well as the strength and box office of Magnolia Pictures and Summit Entertainment.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Summit Entertainment was originally a company responsible for selling movies overseas, and also invested in popular films such as "Vanilla Sky" and "Operation Smith".
Magnolia Pictures, on the other hand, is a company that makes a living from the distribution of independent films, and is adept at picking out commercially sound works from a wide variety of bizarre and independent films. In the past two years, Magnolia Pictures has also begun to try to produce its own film reviews, but due to the limited strength of the company, they are all low-cost literary films.
After reading the information of the two companies, Zhang Ran is more inclined to Summit Entertainment, because Summit Entertainment filmed a song and dance film "Dance Out of My Life" last year, which will be released at the end of August this year. Zhang Ran knew that this movie was good at the box office, and later released several sequels. If you win Summit Entertainment, it is equivalent to winning this relatively high-selling series.
After Wu Ruide and the others finished reading the information, Zhang Ran said: "I tend to peak entertainment, they have a distribution network in the United States, and they also have offices in London, England, and it is also very convenient to set up a distribution network in the UK in the future; ”
Wu Ruide and they also nodded slowly, and they also had the same opinion.
Anderson said expressionlessly: "Several bosses of Summit Entertainment are ambitious people who hope to make a difference, and the "Dance My Life" they invested in will be released soon, and many people are optimistic about this movie, and it is difficult to acquire them at this time. ”
Zhang Ran tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Since you have listed Summit Entertainment as a target, it should be able to convince them." ”
Anderson nodded and said: "Summit Entertainment owes the bank 120 million foreign debts, one of which is 30 million debts that are about to expire, Summit Entertainment hopes to delay the repayment time, and you plan to raise more than $1 billion from the bank, you are a big customer of the bank, as long as you put pressure on Summit Entertainment through the bank, and then offer a price that they can accept." ”
Zhang Ran laughed: "Just do it, as long as the purchase price is within 200 million US dollars, you can agree!"
Just when Zhang Ran and the others began to be busy with the acquisition, the video of "Larry Gold Live" recorded by Zhang Ran was moved to the Chinese network, appeared on the homepage of the peak of the century, and also appeared on video websites such as Youku and Tudou.
After "Larry King Live" aired in the United States, the number of viewers reached 3.57 million, which is a relatively good episode recently. After the show aired, Zhang Ran spent $200,000 to buy the right to broadcast the show on the Internet in China, and now the video has finally been uploaded to the Chinese network.
In the past two years, some people have often used Chinese no faith to belittle the Chinese people, and some people have even concocted an article in the name of the RAND Corporation entitled "The Evaluation of Chinese by the RAND Corporation of the United States", saying that because of the lack of faith, Chinese have no sense of guilt, so they are cruel and indifferent.
Zhang Ran's interview must have flaws and inaccuracies, but he responded very well to the question of "Chinese have no faith", and the response was quite powerful, so the video of his conversation with Larry King was quickly forwarded by many netizens and became popular on the Internet in a very short time.
"From now on, I will be a fan of Zhang Ran, and I love him to death!"
"Say my heart, in the future, whoever says that we Chinese have no faith, I will be anxious with him!"
"I don't know why, I want to cry a little after reading it, support Zhang Ran!"
The question of Chinese faith is being discussed everywhere on the Internet, and someone in Tianya Guoguan replied: "The sky is broken, make up for it by refining stones yourself;
When the flood came, he did not ask the prophet and dug the canal himself;
When the disease is epidemic, he does not seek miracles, but tries his own medicine and cures himself;
If you drown in the East China Sea, you will fill it up, and if you are exposed to the sun, you will shoot the sun down;
Let him go to whoever will be the stone of choosing, and let him go to whoever wants to be a prostrate lamb;
Whoever is willing to kneel to the Son of Heaven and kneel to the ministers let him go, and whoever wants to ask the common people to ask the ghosts and gods will let him go;
Between the heavens and the earth split by the axe, there are people everywhere who do not want to be slaves.
This is something that this nation is not to desecrate.
Yes, unremitting self-improvement and never bowing down are the beliefs of the Chinese. ”
This answer has won the praise of many netizens, and they have followed: "Well said, why doesn't China have aristocrats like the West? Because more than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors shouted 'Princes and generals have a kind of Xiangning', we have such awesome ancestors, they cast the spirit and soul of this nation, why should I worship those ethereal gods?"
"You are not accurate, Zhang Ran is not accurate, in fact, the history Zhang Ran said is actually Fazu, in addition to Fazu, Chinese also have a belief is to respect heaven. Together, it is to respect the heavens and the ancestors, and this is the true belief of the Chinese for thousands of years!"
"Over the past three years, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution have been immortalized!
Over the past 30 years, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution have been immortalized!
Dating back to 1,840 years, since then, in order to oppose internal and external enemies, and to fight for national independence and the freedom and happiness of the people, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in all the struggles are immortal!
All those who have fought for this nation, whether they are our ancestors or ordinary people who are still working hard today, they are our faith!"
The remarks on the Internet that Zhang Ran is a traitor, comprador, and Wu Sangui suddenly disappeared, and netizens believe that if it were not for his deep feelings for this nation, Zhang Ran would not have been able to say such things.
In the hotel in Wulong, the people who created the opening ceremony of the Olympics were also talking about "Larry King Live", but they were not talking about the question of faith, but about the opening ceremony in the interview.
Zhang Heping said with a smile: "Zhang Ran, this stinky boy, as the chief director, left us down, and ran to the United States alone, staying for a month, how angry you say." But now it seems that he is not idle, and he made a big commercial for the opening ceremony on American television!"
Shen Wei smiled and said: "Yes, Larry King is the national mouth of the United States, and he has a great influence. I saw that many American viewers on the Internet said that Zhang Ran's interview aroused his interest in the Beiping Olympics, and many said that they would like to come to China to have a look. ”
Chen Weiya didn't see it that way: "Zhang Ran said it too much, he said that the opening ceremony will be an unheard of, unseen wonderful performance, more exciting than all the opening ceremonies in the past." This is also too arrogant, what will foreign audiences think of us, they will say that we Chinese are arrogant!"
Ma Wen smiled and waved her hand, "Americans don't like to be modest, such as inviting dinner, even though we Chinese have a very rich meal, we will also say, there are not a few dishes today, everyone will eat it! If it is an American, they will say that today's meal is very rich! The American audience not only does not feel arrogant, but likes him very much and feels that he is particularly confident." ”
In the villa on the outskirts of Beiping, Liu Yifei looked at Zhang Ran, who was chatting and laughing with Larry King, and thought to himself, Master is really handsome, too powerful! It's just that the graduation ceremony is coming soon, will he forget it?
Liu Yifei thought about it and felt that it was very possible, so he picked up his mobile phone and dialed Zhang Ran's number: "Master, the graduation ceremony is coming soon, when will you come back?"
Zhang Ran replied: "Don't worry, Master will definitely not break his word." Now that Master has something, I won't talk to you more. ”
Liu Yifei pouted: "Okay then!
Zhang Ran, who was on the other side of the ocean, hung up the phone and smiled at the man opposite, "Mr. Paulson, let's continue the topic just now!" (To be continued.) )