"Haha, that's the end of business, Rich, you didn't have any plans for the evening, did you? David and Megan have a party tonight, they just invested in a film directed by the Coen brothers, and I think their investment should be good this time...... They've always adored you, why don't you come with me to the party tonight?"

Larry Ellison took Lin Feng's advice.

After talking about the matter, he revealed his usual uninhibited side again.

To be honest, if he hadn't been there to meet Lin Feng, he would have rarely appeared at Oracle's headquarters - his business life was too rich.

Ellison refers to David and Megan as his eldest son and second daughter.

What's more interesting is that the rich second-generation sons and daughters of the world's fifth-richest super-rich man all don't like technology companies, but coincidentally chose the entertainment industry and opened their own film companies.

Since 2006, the two have been investing in films:

Brother David: The first production was [Air Combat Heroes] in 2006, which was a dud, with 60 million voted and 16 million received;

Now it is preparing to jointly invest in the production of [Spy in Spy 4] and [World War Z] with Paramount, and it is said that 350 million yuan has been invested.

Sister Megan: Several small-budget movies have been made one after another, and the box office is also unsatisfactory, such as "Love in Love", "Small Town Street" and "Passion".

However, Meghan, who is loved by her father, has a large amount of pocket money, so next, she will invest in "Assassination of bin Laden", "American Hustle" and "Fox Hunter" after 2011, which have been nominated for the Oscar in a row, these movies have made her a lot of money, and at the same time helped her earn a place in the film circle, and slowly become the new Hollywood magnate, so she is better than her brother, and she still holds the copyright of the [Terminator] series......

This year, the siblings invested in "Earth Thunder" directed by the Coen brothers, which will be a turning point, and being nominated for the Oscar made them their initial success.

The rich second generation plays in the entertainment industry, and the starting point is different from ordinary people......

The Coen brothers are the golden signs of independent films in the United States and even around the world, and in 2008, the two directed "No Country for Old Men" stunning Oscar.

Lin Feng thought about it, there was really no arrangement today, so he spread his hands and smiled: "OK, it seems that she is only 24 years old, she must make you very proud." ”

Ellison laughed, "Yes, she's my angel!"

…………

If you want to talk about a top rich man like Ellison, luxury is really reflected in every move.

It's not far from Redwood City to Los Angeles, and it's only a two- or three-hour drive, but his transportation is a helicopter parked on the roof of Oracle's headquarters.

And there's more than one!

Lin Feng finally declined his invitation to take a helicopter with him, after all, his entourage was still in a large group, and his private jet was still parked at Moffett Airport, anyway, he was going to Los Angeles, why not take his comfortable Gulfstream, and go to Ellison's helicopter?

However, Lin Feng was even more glad that Ellison did not invite him to ride the MiG-29 fighter with him......

On the way to Los Angeles, Lin Feng remembered his investment in Legendary Pictures, according to Thomas Turre (President of Legendary Pictures), the company will produce this year is "Inception" with Nolan, which is one of Lin Feng's favorite movies in his previous life!

He asked Xie Jiaren to call Tour, hoping that he would also come to the Ellison siblings' party in the evening, and the two would meet and talk.

After hanging up the phone, Xie Jiaren hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a whisper with a slightly flushed face: "Boss, if you go to a party at night,...... Don't you have a female companion?"

"Huh?" Lin Feng paused.

glanced at her, found that her eyes were full of expectation, thought about it, nodded with a smile, and said, "Then you can go with me." ”

It is estimated that women envy the brilliance of those Hollywood movie stars.

Xie Jiaren has been following him for so many years, and he should be rewarded appropriately.

He smiled: "When you get off the plane, let Li Zhao accompany you to Rhodeo Drive in Beverly to buy some party clothes." ”

Xie Jiaren cheered excitedly, and her face was like a flower: "Thank you, boss!"

Lin Feng waved his hand, unimpressed.

His mind has shifted from Hollywood movies to theaters.

Perhaps it was influenced by Wanda in his previous life, and in Lin Feng's heart, the film production company that creates content is of course very important, but from a business point of view, the most drought and flood income is obviously the theater chain.

The film company may still have a situation where the last movie is a big hit, and the next step will be to lose money on the street, but the theater chain will definitely not, as long as the film market is good, the theater chain will not lose money.

It was only after Wanda acquired the American AMC cinema chain that it used AMC as the carrier to continuously acquire cinema companies around the world, and finally sat on the throne of the world's largest cinema chain in one fell swoop.

Lin Feng is still more interested in this model.

Now he has three cinema lines in China, namely Dadi Cinema, Xingmei Cinema and Dongheng Cinema, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to acquire a suitable cinema line in the short term.

Maybe it's time to lay out the overseas cinema market.

AMC is a very good target.

…………

Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kansas, AMC is a well-known cinema company in the United States.

At the end of the 90s of the 20th century, film technology continued to innovate, and Hollywood blockbusters continued to refresh historical records. But at this time, American cinema companies are caught in very fierce industry competition. Almost every cinema company is scaling up. Box office revenues have increased for every cinema chain, but expenses have been rising.

In the early 00s of the 21st century, there was a "wave of bankruptcy" in the American cinema industry. Many poorly managed cinema companies have gone out of business. The wave of bankruptcies has further intensified competition in the industry, as cinema companies that have entered the bankruptcy protection stage have reduced their debt burdens.

AMCE, the predecessor of today's AMC, was the second-largest cinema chain in the U.S. at the time, with approximately 3,500 screens, and was listed on the American Stock Exchange (symbol: AEN). Due to the industry crisis, AMCE has a sense of crisis even if its performance is acceptable.

AMCE introduced a strategic investor in a very timely manner, Apollo, a veteran PE investment institution in the United States. Apollo subscribed to the preferred shares issued by AMCE, which provided AMCE with funds.

The bottom of the industry is often a good time to invest. During the low tide period of the industry, companies with financial advantages can become industry giants through mergers and acquisitions of companies in the same industry.

With Apollo's capital and ammunition, AMCE expanded by making three mergers and acquisitions in the same industry between 2002 and 2003, spending more than $169 million.

In 2004, Morgan Partners (JPMP) began approaching AMCE and Apollo to explore the opportunity to acquire AMCE. JPMP offered a purchase price of $19 to $20 per share, representing a 100% stake in AMCE of between $700 million and $750 million. This price represents a premium of more than 20% to AMCE's secondary market share price at the time.

That's a heart-warming price, and Goldman Sachs, AMCE's financial advisor, believes that the share prices of listed companies in the cinema industry are at all-time highs at the time. Assuming that this acquisition opportunity is missed, it may be difficult for AMCE's shareholders to obtain such favorable terms in the future.

After the privatization, AMCE has a good opportunity to grow.

In 2005, AMCE successfully acquired Loes Cineplex, which it failed to win that year.

Loes Cineplex was acquired in 2004 by LCE Holdings, an M&A fund established by three well-known U.S. private equity firms (Bain, Carlyle, and Spectrum).

In AMCE's acquisition of Loes Cineplex, buyout fund Marquee Holdings absorbed and merged buyout fund LCE Holdings. After the completion of the transaction, JPMP, Apollo, Bain, Carlyle, and Spectrum are five PE companies, jointly holding shares in the buyout fund Marquee Holdings, and indirectly holding shares in AMCE through Marquee Holdings.

In other words, AMCE is a theatrical company operated by five fund companies.

With this deal, AMCE acquired 1,308 screens in Loes Cineplex, expanding once again and cementing its position as the second-largest cinema chain in the United States.

Private equity firms buy AMC in order to sell it.

But who has the ability to receive?

In the eyes of this group of Wall Street financiers, it seems that they can only IPO on the open market of the stock exchange.

In 2010, AMC formally filed a prospectus with the SEC for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The AMC here refers to the AMC Enterteinment Holidings. It is a newly established entity that holds 100% of the buyout fund Marquee Holdings and indirectly holds 100% of AMCE through the buyout fund.

AMC's shareholding structure is as follows: JPMP holds 20.839%, Apollo holds 20.839%, Bain holds 15.13%, Carlyle holds 15.13%, and Spectrum holds 9.79%; and PC Entrepreneur Fund II, .3.91% of the shares, and the remaining 8 investors hold a total of 14.362%. In addition to the five major PEs, the rest of the investors should be the shareholding platform of the company's management.

As of April 1, 2010, AMC had 4,513 screens, maintaining its position as the second-largest cinema chain in the United States.

In fiscal 2010, AMC reported operating income of $2.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $388 million. However, due to large financial expenses and other reasons, AMC's historical performance is loss-making.

At this time, the pace of AMC expansion has not stopped. Just after the prospectus was filed, AMC bought Kerasotes, another cinema chain, for $275 million, and acquired 927 screens from Kerasotes.

If nothing else, AMC's IPO was postponed for two years and was acquired by Wanda Group before it went public in 2012.

And if Lin Feng wants to make a move now, the timing is just right.

Because the shareholders of AMC are five fund companies, the fund company must have an exit time, and if the listing is not successful in 2010, the fund company must consider how to exit......

What Lin Feng needs to do now is to contact AMC's shareholders in advance, and when AMC's IPO is postponed and there is no hope of listing temporarily, it is the right time to acquire!

…………

The route from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles is really short, and Lin Feng just thought about the AMC Cinema Line for a while in his mind, and the special plane had already landed.

Lin Feng's management company at Monica Beach Villas in Los Angeles has arranged for a vehicle to wait at the airport.

Legendary Pictures' Turr actually came to the airport in person.

For Lin Feng, the major shareholder, Tours is very satisfied, the name of the world's top richest man is not covered!

Because of Lin Feng's shareholder status, Legendary Pictures has been very prosperous in Hollywood in the past two years, and this major shareholder basically does not interfere in the specific affairs of Legendary Pictures. All he needed to do was send regular financial reports and project reports to his beautiful assistant by email.

Now that Lin Feng's identity is not what it used to be, he came to Los Angeles, and Tours certainly wanted to get closer to this big guy.

Lin Feng and Tours sat in the back seat of the extended Lincoln together, and Xie Jiaren opened a bottle of champagne for the two of them, and then they began to talk in detail.

"Tom, I'm very happy with how Legendary Pictures is going, the collaboration with Nolan has been fantastic, and I really love the upcoming Inception. Lin Feng praised without hesitation.

Although he invested in Legendary Pictures just to expand his influence, Legend's performance in the past two years has been very good, "Batman: The Dark Knight" has a global box office of $1 billion, and the low-budget comedy "The Hangover" has a box office of $238 million.

And the upcoming "Inception" will also generate a staggering $825 million at the box office.

"Yes, Nolan is a genius, Richard, I have a new plan......" Tur nodded yes, and then he said excitedly.

"DON'T WORRY, TOM, HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT AMC CINEMAS?" Lin Feng interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

Thomas Toure and Legendary Pictures, he does not plan to continue investing.

After all, Legendary Pictures is not essentially an independent film company, but a film investment company, mainly relying on platters and Warners to invest in some films. Thomas Toole is also a Wall Street fund manager at heart.

Lin Feng was not optimistic about his so-called new plan.

In due course, it would be the right way to buy a good independent film company in Hollywood, then merge with Legendary Pictures, and redevelop the IP that Legendary Pictures holds.

Turr was stunned: "AMC Cinemas? That's the second largest cinema chain in the United States, with 350 theaters and 5,050 screens, and AMC's theaters are concentrated in the heart of large cities in North America, with 23 of the top 50 theaters with the highest box office in North America." I have a good relationship with AMC's CEO, Gerry Lopez. ”

Lin Feng nodded and said, "I should stay in Los Angeles for 2 days, you can help me make an appointment with Lopez, of course, it would be better if I could meet with AMC's shareholders directly." ”

Thomas Toure suddenly said, "Richard, you're trying to buy AMC!?

He also became excited, if Lin Feng acquired AMC, the films of Legendary Pictures, which are also owned by Lin Feng, would obviously be more advantageous in the theater schedule when they were released in the future.

Lin Feng nodded: "Let's talk about it first." ”