Chapter 658

Eric sat in the back row of the auction hall, quietly watching the teams of the major companies participating in the auction take a stand.

The sudden announcement of an extension of the payment time for the purchase of the animation department is also the result of careful consideration by the firefly executives.

In order to ensure that there will be no Hollywood forces to make trouble in the process of winning Marvel, Eric hung the animation department's 'water cabbage' for more than a month. Calm down in the excitement and other emotions, and determine the final upper limit of the offer in detail according to their own financial situation, and even the possibility of a tandem between each company cannot be ruled out.

Firefly's sudden announcement of an extension of the one-year payment period to three years leaves the final buyer with plenty of time to raise funds and make payments, which can easily break the established bidding strategy of potential buyers. After all, Disney's animation division is too tempting for several major companies that want to enter the animated film market, especially now that the box office of "The Lion King" is rising.

Of course, this kind of sudden attack with a very obvious mind will definitely be slandered by the buyer, but this kind of 'preferential conditions' given by Firefly temporarily also gives the buyer no reason to refuse.

The people in the hall were almost gone, and Katzenberg walked to the podium and sat down next to Eric, asking excitedly and expectantly, "Eric, how much do you think you can shoot this time?"

Eric said: "It will definitely break through $2 billion, and the unified boycott of studio salaries by big-name stars a few days ago should bring them some touch and raise the price higher." After all. Animated films can not only bring in more revenue than live-action films. And the characters in it will not ask for high salaries like big-name stars, and it can also make them less dependent on live-action movies. ”

Frank Wells, who was sitting on the other side of Eric, also asked, "Eric, do you think it's possible to reach 3 billion in this case?"

"It's unlikely," Eric shook his head, though he remembered that Pixar animation in the original plane had a market value of $1 billion immediately after the success of Toy Story. But the technical differences between hand-drawn animation and computer animation also limit the value of Disney's animation division: "We can't do that unless we expand the scope of copyright licensing for several animations like The Lion King, or even transfer the rights to the rights to these animated characters at Disneyland and Disney Stores." ”

A few people chatted casually, and the bidding team that had just left gradually returned to the hall, and half an hour later, Katzenberg returned to the stage.

After a few brief remarks to liven up the atmosphere, Katzenberg picked up the gavel and loudly announced the official start of the auction.

Then there was a moment of silence in the hall. It seemed that no one was going to make the first move, and the stalemate lasted for a few seconds. A middle-aged man sitting in the third row held up the number plate for the first time: "$1 billion." ”

Eric looked over and saw that it was John Cali, the president of MGM, who was holding up the sign, shook his head and smiled, he knew that MGM was here to join in the fun. Of course, John Carley's first sign must have had some unrealistic fantasies, such as when the gavel in Katzenberg's hand suddenly fell while other buyers hesitated, and MGM would definitely happily snatch the animation division away with $1 billion, even if MGM has not fully recovered, Eric believes that MGM's shareholders and creditors will not be stingy with the $1 billion.

The reality, of course, is that this is not possible.

"No. 9, $1 Billion ......"

Katzenberg gestured in the direction of John Cali, and before he could say more, another bidder had already raised his sign: "1.010 billion." ”

The minimum bid for this time was $10 million, and although the second bidder only cautiously added $10 million, the competition began to heat up and the auction price began to break through.

1.3 billion, 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion, 1.9 billion......

Less than 10 minutes into the auction, with Summer-Leston personally bidding $1.9 billion, more than half of the potential buyers in the auction hall had been eliminated, and only Paramount, Fox, Warner, and the soon-to-be-acquired Seagram Group were still active.

After a noticeable hesitation at the $1.9 billion mark, Fox President Joe Ross held up his number plate: "$2 billion!"

"Number Four, from Twentieth Century Fox, $2 billion," Katzenberg's voice on the auction table rose again, full of demagogy: "I would say that just one slice of 'The Lion King' can bring in $1 billion in net profits for the studio." Therefore, $2 billion only represents the net profit of the two "Lion King", and I believe that it is only a matter of time before a brilliant team like Disney's animation department, which has been accumulated over half a century, produces a second, third or even more "The Lion King", then, $2 billion, the first ......."

Eric listened to Katzenberg's flickering flickering as he looked in the direction of Team Fox.

At Eric's suggestion, Elizabeth apparently did not participate in the matter, and, for unknown reasons, Murdoch did not show up.

Fox was the only one who led Fox to the auction, President Joe Ross. Speaking of which, "Home Alone" in the original plane was produced by Joe Ross and distributed by Fox, and Joe Ross should have been poached to Disney with a high salary for the excellent box office of "Home Alone", and briefly served as the president of Disney before Frank Wells died unexpectedly and Michael Ovitz took over in the original plane.

However, because of the appearance of Eric, Joe Ross still maintained a cooperative relationship with Fox, and in the personnel changes after Barry Diller left Fox, he got the position of president of Twentieth Century Fox, and the CEO of Fox was served by Rupert Murdoch himself.

Since Murdoch didn't show up in person, Fox was almost certain to be out after the Firefly suddenly played the extended payout card. After all. Relative to Summer's radicalism. Murdoch is much more conservative, and $2 billion is likely to be Fox's last bid.

After the price rose to $2 billion, the frequency of bids from the audience was much slower, and many times, almost at the moment when Katzenberg dropped the hammer, the sound of quotations appeared from the audience.

After several rounds of bidding, after Fox, Seagram's CEO Edgar Bronfman also chose to go out at the $2.2 billion price point. In the end, there were only two companies left to compete, Paramount and Warner.

This result did not come out of Eric's expectations, and buying Universal was Sigram's first priority, and if he got Disney's animation division at an exorbitant price before buying Universal, it would mean that Seagram had fewer leverage to buy Universal. If the animation division was won at a high price, but the acquisition of Universal failed, then Edgar Bronfman would be in tears.

In the hall, Time Warner CEO Terry Semel once again shouted a price of $2.33 billion, but Eric could hear it. Compared with the still scrappy Summer, Terry Semel is no longer so aggressive.

"It seems that the results are already obvious. Frank Wells whispered beside Eric.

Eric nodded slightly, listening to Summer's quick follow-up, saying, "Compared to Summer's Thunderstone, Terry Semel is too constrained. Time Warner is also only controlled by people like Steve Ross, and the current situation of mountains within Time Warner is almost caused by Steve Ross, unless there is a long-awaited manager again, Time Warner will not be too stable for a long time in the future. ”

Frank Wells has worked in Time Warner for many years, and nodded in agreement when he heard this, but shook his head slightly, and said: "The kind of manager you said is unlikely to appear at all, and the leaders of the current Warner Communications, Turner Broadcasting, Time Publishing Group, and Warner Bros. Entertainment in the Time Warner system are very strong in their respective fields, and they will not agree with a new manager at all, let alone be willing to let the other party occupy the high position of CEO of Time Warner." Only Steve Ross, the man who single-handedly created Time Warner, would make them bow down, but alas, Ross died too soon. ”

Steve Ross is similar in age to Warren Buffett, Sommer Leishidong and Rupert Murdoch, all of whom are just over 60 years old, and Steve Ross, the media tycoon who founded Time Warner, died a little early compared to a group of old men who are still alive and kicking around twenty years later.

Eric glanced at Terry Semele, who was hesitating again with Summer's offer, and said, "If I were a Time Warner shareholder, since everyone couldn't get together, I would rather choose to split the group." Otherwise, this long-term internal friction will only cause the decline of Time Warner's overall strength. ”

In the memory of the previous life, Time Warner finally went to the road of constantly splitting up the business, but the timing of the media giant's decision was obviously too late, and in the end, before Eric's rebirth, the market value of Time Warner, which was originally on par with the Disney Group, was only about 50 billion, less than one-third of its heyday, while the market value of the Disney Group in the same period was once close to $200 billion.

Frank Wells said regretfully: "Everyone now thinks that the bigger the group, the better, and it is not easy for Time Warner to coexist peacefully, but it is also not easy for them to part ways." Eric, if Fireflies are too bloated in the future, will you be willing to break up the group?"

Eric smiled and pointed to Katzenberg on the stage, "Aren't I doing this now?"

Frank Wells nodded abruptly and said, "I actually ignored this. ”

The two chatted in a low voice, and the auction in the arena entered the final stage, and Eric visibly heard Terry Semel's voice almost trembling as he quoted a price of $2.41 billion, looking up at Terry Semel's back.

Before Eric could turn his gaze away from Terry Semel, and after only a brief hesitation, Summer's Ray Stone Dong raised the number plate in his hand and shouted with a full breath: "$2.5 billion." ”

Terry Semele's shoulders visibly collapsed.

Katzenberg on the stage said a few more words in confusion, and after counting three times in a row, Terry Semel did not raise his card again, so he dropped the gavel in his hand.

A tapping sounded, and Katzenberg raised his voice, "Congratulations to Mr. Summer, Paramount Pictures will get the Disney Animation Division." ”

In the gradual applause, everyone in the venue stood up, and many people walked towards Somer Lei Shidong and others.

Eric also walked over with Frank Wells and the others, and warmly said words of congratulations.

The subsequent signing will take place after Paramount confirms the detailed contract and the list of assets in the animation department, so after a short press conference, Firefly hosted all the guests who participated in the auction in another lobby of the Hilton.

After a round of the arena with champagne, Eric and Katzenberg came to a corner with few people.

"The final price is at least $300 million higher than we expected," Katzenberg's expression was still excited: "It seems that the measures adopted today to extend the payment period have really worked, judging from Terry Semel's reaction at the scene, Time Warner's original bid ceiling should be about 2.2 billion, after 2.2 billion, Terry Semele's expression is obviously not so calm, although Summer's reaction has not changed much, but I guess his initial reserve price should also be around 2.2 billion." ”

"Don't mention this," Eric said with a smile on his lips, "On your side, how are the preparations for the new Disney animation department, I haven't seen the relevant documents in the last few days?"

Katzenberg replied, "I plan to sponsor a digital animation production program at both the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, which will be divided into a half-year short training course and a two-year standard professional class. The short-term training course mainly recruits digital animators who have computer and drawing skills and have accumulated work experience to conduct professional software training by poaching people from existing software or advertising companies, so that we can set up a new Disney animation department as soon as possible, but this method requires a lot of investment. In the long run, we're still going to rely on the training we received from two years ago to provide us with more specialized digital animation talent, and I'm currently asking the strategic planning department to budget for it, and you'll be able to see the report at the end of the month. (To be continued.) )