MGM is a Hollywood film company with a glorious history of 86 years, which has released a large number of classic films, including "Gone with the Wind", and has won 200 Academy Awards. In his previous life, due to the fact that he had not released a successful film and accumulated a debt of $4 billion, he declared bankruptcy on the morning of November 3, 2010.

It was based on the understanding of these anecdotes that Chen Xuanting decided to operate on MGM, a sick lion.

When the news came out that Chen Xuanting's Thunder Group was about to acquire MGM Pictures in the United States, it came out. The entertainment scene of the whole world is boiling.

Many years ago, the Sony Company successfully acquired Columbia Pictures in the United States, and that setback made Americans see how powerful he was, and also made many Americans afraid of him. Their strong economic power has always been a thorn in the hearts of Americans.

Now it seems that a new history is about to be staged, only this time the acquisition of American film companies has been replaced by Chinese! And the acquisition is still MGM Pictures, which has the longest history!

This time the battle will be more intense and unpredictable.

September 15, 1995.

Half a month after Chen Xuanting announced that he was about to acquire MGM Pictures in the United States, Chen Xuanting appointed the senior management of the Thunder Group and the king of comedy in Hong Kong films, Stephen Chow, to go to the United States to negotiate with MGM.

Why did Chen Xuanting appoint Stephen Chow to negotiate? The reason is that Chen Xuanting knows Stephen Chow's surname very well, this gentleman is more stubborn, and now for the first time in negotiation, he must tighten the pass, and he can't let those ghosts get an inch, and only Stephen Chow's slightly "lonely cold" characteristics can achieve the posture of defending the city. If it were someone else, I was afraid that they would not be able to keep their mouths in front of these ghosts, and they would pay a lot of money at the beginning, and the Thunder Group would suffer.

Not to mention, this time Chen Xuanting definitely used the right person. In his previous life, Stephen Chow was known for "slamming the door", and many stars who had worked with him, such as Wu Mengda, Luo Jiaying, and director Wang Jing, all testified together - the star slammed the door, no one can match!

As soon as Stephen Chow arrived in the United States by plane, he met a large number of reporters, who also came from all over the world, including those from Hong Kong who wanted to witness this historical moment, and those who came from the United States to dig for materials.

MGM takes the acquisition very seriously, and the president of the film company. Also a famous American gambling tycoon Kirk? Kelcorion personally came to the airport to greet Stephen Chow.

As a guest, Stephen Chow was interviewed by many reporters, but according to his habit of not liking to talk too much, those reporters almost didn't ask anything, and many reporters immediately lost interest in this tight-lipped Hong Kong man and began to shift their focus to MGM President Kirk.

This gambling king Kirk obviously likes to face the media very much, and in Stephen Chow's cold eyes, this old guy's sleek methods in the face of the media are still worth learning.

After dealing with the reporter very beautifully, Kirk looked even more imposing, and said directly: "If you still have any questions to ask, I absolutely know everything and say everything!" ”

"May I ask Mr. Kirk, it is rumored that the Thunder Group is trying to buy Columbia from MGM, does Mr. Stephen Chow come to the United States this time to discuss this business?" The reporter of the Washington newspaper tried to reach out the microphone and asked.

Kirk smiled, and then told reporters: "Actually, you can ask Mr. Zhou, who is one of the protagonists of the rumors, and you can get a more detailed answer by asking him!" ”

Facing the microphone stretched out, Stephen Chow secretly scolded the old fox, and said calmly on the surface: "Thunder did consider buying MGM, but there are many companies that Thunder wants to acquire, obviously, the facts tell us that many things can be done without thinking, Mr. Kirk, what do you think?" ”

Gambling King Kirk was slightly surprised, he saw that Stephen Chow was young and still from filming, and he thought that this kid could be stumped. Unexpectedly, Stephen Chow skillfully pushed the past, and then faintly pointed the arrow at him. A reporter from the Washington newspaper asked: "May I ask Mr. Zhou, will Thunder Company make so many large acquisitions in recent years, will it cause a shortage of funds, or expand too fast?" ”

Stephen Chow shook his finger lightly to indicate that it was incorrect, and then smiled: "If you have enough spare money in your hand, what will you do with it?" I don't think you would choose to put it in the bank. The problem of expanding too fast is no longer the case, and we have enough strength to integrate our own structure. ”

"So, Mr. Zhou, you didn't come to the United States this time for MGM, so for what?"

Stephen Chow said with a rare smile: "If I say that I am here to travel, do you believe it?" ”

Seeing that Stephen Chow had become tight-lipped again, those reporters had to turn their attention to the gambling king Kirk again. This time, however, it was a Hong Kong journalist who asked the question.

"May I ask Mr. Kirk, I heard that the reason why MGM was chosen to be acquired by the Thunder Group this time is because MGM has been losing money in the past few years-"

Gambling King Kirk smiled and said: "Doing business is the same as gambling, losses are inevitable, aren't you?"

The Hong Kong reporter asked again: "Since there is a loss, hasn't Mr. Kirk considered rectification?" ”

"Rectifying such a thing can't be done overnight......" was stabbed in the wound, Kirk's face immediately sank, if it wasn't for the good enough calm, I was afraid that it would have an attack immediately.

In this way, on the first day Stephen Chow arrived in the United States, he began difficult negotiations with MGM's top management.

The gambling king Kirk is notoriously difficult in the industry, especially from a gambling background, and for things like negotiations, it is like gambling at the gambling table, which seems to be at ease. If it were someone else, I am afraid that those who had been tortured by him would not be able to stand it, but fortunately, Chen Xuanting sent a star master "from Mars". Stephen Chow's stinginess can be regarded as letting the gambling king Kirk see what is a baht. Talking and talking, Stephen Chow, who didn't talk much, actually made Kirk a little impatient.

"This damn Chinese, three sticks can't hit a fart! How do you want me to talk to him? Kirk, the thunderous gambling king, said.

Three days of negotiations have passed, and there has been no progress on either side. Stephen Chow's team and MGM's negotiating team respectively reprimanded the other party for being insincere, and the negotiations reached an impasse.

At this time, Stephen Chow received a call from Chen Xuanting, with a sentence: "You can come back!" ”

Although no progress was made in the negotiations, Stephen Chow was warmly welcomed by Chen Xuanting after returning to Hong Kong. This made Stephen Chow a little embarrassed. He didn't know that such a phenomenon was exactly what Chen Xuanting wanted.

Since the gambling king Kirk started from the gambling industry, the surname Nai is definitely very powerful, and now Stephen Chow is grinding him, which is enough to make him mess up.

Sure enough, less than a week after Stephen Chow returned to Hong Kong, the gambling king Kirk, who had no news here, couldn't sit still. Could it be that those Chinese really didn't plan to buy only MGM, they had other targets? So the gambling king asked people to ask around, and heard that the Thunder was in contact with other film companies in the United States - this is not a problem! Kirk, the gambling king, belongs to the kind of person who is good at speculation, MGM has been rotten in his hands for a long time, and he can't wait to throw it out after scraping a big piece of hot taro.

Therefore, he couldn't sit still, since Hong Kong didn't look for it, then Lao Tzu would look for it.

So the very dramatic side of the surname appeared. The gambling king Kirk flew to Hong Kong on a private charter plane, and his purpose was only to find Chen Xuanting and work hard to get the matter done at MGM!

As the host, Chen Xuanting was very happy to welcome this "friend" from the United States. However, in the welcome, Chen Xuanting did not mention the acquisition of MGM at all.

If he didn't mention it, then Kirk wouldn't take the initiative to say it. So on the first day, Chen Xuanting took Kirk to visit the famous scenic spots in Hong Kong, on the second day, he took the gambling king to visit the Lisboa Casino in Macau, on the third day, he led Kirk to eat Hong Kong's special shrimp dumplings, on the fourth day, he took the gambling king Kirk to the top of the Taiping Peak to see it, and on the fifth day, he took him to Lantau Island to see the fall...... On the sixth day, the gambling king Kirk couldn't stand it anymore and said: "Dear Chen, I'm not here to travel, I'm here to negotiate!" ”

Chen Xuanting smiled, "Very good, then we will officially start tomorrow, okay?" ”

Looking at Chen Xuanting's calm and relaxed appearance, the gambling king Kirk rolled his eyes.

The next day, Chen Xuanting started difficult negotiations with this old guy, and Stephen Chow basically did not participate in the negotiations. Don't think they're stupid, Kirk just arrived, and Stephen Chow quietly flew to the United States to talk to Paramount about the acquisition of the company, in order to create pressure on both sides.

On the spacious balcony of the Thunder Company, the gambling king Kirk praised as soon as he stepped on the carpet: "Dear Chen, this place is really open-minded, and it may be a pleasure to be able to negotiate here!" ”

"It's just maybe, isn't it?" Chen Xuanting said to the old guy with a meaningful side face, when he came to the negotiation table, the gambling king Kirk was stunned. Because there was only a table and two chairs in front of him, it meant that there was no place for anyone else to sit.

"I'm really sorry, you know that Thunder spent a lot of money because of the acquisition, and we had to cut administrative expenses, please take a seat!" Chen Xuanting smiled and stretched out his hand to gesture, and sat down first.

It's just talking nonsense with your eyes open, and Thunder can be poor enough to cut administrative expenses! Gambling King Kirk glanced at the four awkward negotiation assistants on the left and right, and then glanced behind Chen Xuanting, who only brought a smiling female secretary. In desperation, I had to secretly suffer this loss.

"Without further ado, we can start negotiating!" Kirk was slightly annoyed by Chen Xuanting's deliberate behavior, and simply spoke neatly: "First of all, I want to tell Chairman Chen that the price of MGM is ......."

"Wait......" Chen Xuanting took the phone from the hand of the new female secretary.

Ke Zhaofu felt even more annoyed, Chen Xuanting did it on purpose, thinking of this, he thought it was Chen Xuanting's plan, and wanted to provoke him, so he immediately calmed down. But Chen Xuanting had thought about it like this, just now it was just a dismount, and now this call is from Stephen Chow, saying that he has arrived in the United States, and the people from Paramount have been in contact with Yunyun.

briefly explained a few words about Stephen Chow's matters that should be paid attention to, and then hung up the phone in the eyes of the gambling king Kirk, Chen Xuanting smiled and said: "I'm really sorry, it was Mr. Stephen Chow who called, you know, Paramount also seems to have the intention of selling, as a businessman, of course we have to shop around, are you right?" ”

Kirk's eyes widened.

Seeing that the old guy couldn't bear it anymore, Chen Xuanting waved his hand and motioned for his female secretary to start.

The "female secretary" is Li Jiaxin, the woman next to Chen Xuanting, at this moment, her smile is very strong woman, and she took out a document and read it: "During the nearly 30 years that Mr. Kirk was in charge of MGM, because you yourself were keen on the casino and hotel industry, MGM and the film industry became more and more distant. After that, you resold MGM twice and bought it back twice, leaving MGM with a lot of suffering. As far as we know, in the last three years, MGM has lost a total of $2.3 billion, and the losses are still continuing! The price you offered us was $6.5 billion, and the top American accountants calculated that MGM was currently worth $4.5 billion. ”

The gambling king Kirk did not show any surprise, if the Thunder dared to negotiate without even getting this information, he would have gone bankrupt a long time ago, and he was qualified to talk about any negotiations here. Chen Xuanting's fingers tapped lightly on the table, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Kirk, do you think it is necessary to talk to me about the value of MGM again?" ”

"No, that's an incorrect number!" The gambling king Kirk is very angry, and Chen Xuanting is very malicious in his imagination, if he takes this old guy to the balcony and looks down, will he scare this guy to death: "The loss of 2.3 billion US dollars is a rumor spread by someone, although we MGM have not made a profit in the past few years, we are still very conservative in terms of losses." As for the quotation of the top accounting firm in the United States, it is even more nonsense, and they are not MGM people, how can they understand the value that our MGM has? ”

Sure enough, there is a set, Chen Xuanting secretly praised, this old guy is very smart not to completely deny these figures, but to start with the subtleties, trying to argue that MGM is definitely more than that price. Giggle: "Since Mr. Kirk said so, then I think about it, MGM's biggest value seems to be the library of more than 4,000 films, but unfortunately, after you get MGM, you will sell the rights to some old movies every year, and now it is estimated that the massive film library is not in stock - what about the remaining value?" I don't think it's more than a billion! ”

The gambling king Kirk was about to speak, Chen Xuanting waved his hand and continued: "I know what else you want to say, you want to say that the biggest value of MGM is its gold signboard, yes, this is the sign that I want from beginning to end, so I will sit down and talk to you so much!" As for your lion's big mouth, you dare to offer more than 6 billion yuan after MGM has been losing money for several years in a row, just because this is an old company. Established companies will always have some advantages over new players, especially when it comes to films. Just think about MGM being on the verge of bankruptcy in the 80s, but still holding on.

Kirk was taken aback, and immediately sneered: "Chairman Chen, please don't forget that you took the initiative to propose the acquisition to us. It's you, not me, who need MGM, and I think you know that better than I do! ”

Kirk's name for Chen Xuanting also has a great history, Chen Xuanting is currently the first chairman of the Hong Kong Film Alliance Association, and people who are familiar with him naturally call him Brother Ting or Mr. Chen regardless of age, and on a formal occasion like this, it is naturally called Chairman Chen!

"Really?" Chen Xuanting's smile suddenly retracted, and then there was a look of indifference: "I heard that Mr. Kirk's casino business in Las Vegas has not been very good recently, Las Vegas has opened three new large casinos in a row, and there are more luxurious hotels, your old company seems to be a little old, and it needs to be renovated and rectified, which also requires a lot of money, doesn't it?" I'm not very good at the casino business, but I know that if I seize the opportunity, I can turn over, otherwise I will be ridden on the head for the rest of my life! If you need funds, you will immediately look for funds, and if the funds are in place, you will be able to show your strength, I think if you don't make some decisions now, I'm afraid ......"

As soon as he mentioned this, Kirk was annoyed, he was originally the director of the largest casino in Las Vegas, but I don't know why three large casinos and hotels suddenly rose in Las Vegas, and the most hateful thing is that these three casino hotels are luxuriously decorated, and a glass lamp is even inlaid with diamonds! God, I really don't know who the boss behind this is, how can he be so rich?

Suddenly, the gambling king Kirk's eyes rolled, he seemed to grasp something, and a pair of eyes looked at Chen Xuanting like a fox: "Chairman Chen, you seem to know the situation in Las Vegas very well, and even my biggest difficulties are clear, what a caring person!" ”

Of course, Chen Xuanting understood what the old fox was thinking, and he stopped playing with him, and cocked his legs leisurely: "Mr. Kirk, you are a smart person, and I will no longer hide anything, yes, those three casinos and hotels are all run by me - oh no, to be precise, I invested, I just said, I am not good at these trades, but I have a good friend who does this business, he is Macau's gambling king Stanley Ho, he has always wanted to develop overseas casino business, this time it happened to be Las Vegas over there, My old friend, in line with the purpose of prospering the American economy and helping economic growth, fearlessly threw himself into the wave of opening casinos. As for me, I can't just ignore my old friend's lack of funds, so I made a small investment-"

"A small investment? Oh my God, that's an investment of over $10 billion! Not to mention opening a casino, even opening a bank is more than enough! Kirk, the gambling king, screamed.

Chen Xuanting shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently: "Since it is a business, of course we have to make it bigger, otherwise how can we get back to our roots?" ”

Kirk rolled his eyes, this is an absolutely philistine Chinese, how come there is not the slightest bit of Chinese traditional modesty and generosity?!

(To be continued)