Chapter 634: Too Generous

I don't know how long it took, there was still an inexplicable ambiguity in the office. Kelly Haines sat demurely across from the desk, holding a pencil in her hand to help Eric add the score based on the memory just now. Occasionally Answer the question asked by the man on the other side.

Regarding Eric's discovery of Ron Perelman's purchase of Firefly Group bonds in the "Los Angeles Times" this morning, both Katzenberg and New York's Chris concluded that there is no need to worry, and hold the same view Buffett also handed Eric a detailed handwritten letter in an attempt to reassure him.

Because there are many precedents, it is not difficult for Ron Perelman to guess that the wolf of Wall Street is likely to take advantage of the turmoil caused by the internal reform of the animation department of Firefly, and take advantage of the situation to join other creditors to settle on the board of directors of Firefly , to obtain the number of directors and participate in the operation and management decision-making of the group.

If you think more long-term, this is only the first step of Ron Perelman's plan.

After successfully entering the Firefly board of directors, what Ron Perelman needs to wait for is the moment when the Firefly business encounters difficulties.

Film and television media has always been a very high-risk industry. Although Hollywood has experienced ups and downs for hundreds of years, it is still the major film companies. But in fact, the owners of these film companies have not known how many times they have been replaced. Every time a film company encounters bankruptcy due to a film failure, the original owner may take the initiative or be forced to transfer it to the next one.

After the current bond issuance is completed, the cumulative debt of Firefly Group will reach 10 billion US dollars. According to various interest calculation formulas for different bonds, the total amount of final repayment is expected to be around 15 billion US dollars. Based on the average ten-year bond maturity. The Firefly Group will then need an average of $1.5 billion in annual debt expenses. certainly. This is just theoretical data. And, although it looks like this figure exceeds even Firefly's annual profits in previous years. But in fact, according to Firefly Group's annual market value and revenue growth expectations, as well as the complex tax relief system, this expense will not become a burden for Firefly Group.

However, all this has a premise, that is, Firefly's operating performance has been in good shape.

However, in the minds of all people in the industry. It is almost impossible for a media group with film and television business as its core to maintain a stable performance level. Perhaps the failure of several major production films or TV series in the next one or two years may cause the firefly group's financial constraints, and, in the case of the lack of power of the 'locomotive', the resulting domino effect will also cause the downturn of other businesses, and therefore form a vicious circle.

What Ron Perelman was waiting for was that moment in the future.

Once Firefly Group encounters difficulties, creditors can file a debt-for-equity swap request with the Federal Exchange Commission and Firefly's board of directors under the pretext of protecting their own funds.

In this way, the creditor has become the owner of the Firefly Group.

In the original time and space, MGM, with huge debts, hovered on the verge of being turned back by creditors more than once.

In a handwritten letter from Buffett. The sharp-eyed investment tycoon analyzed Ron Perelman's attempt to launch this attack. The biggest reliance is likely to be the joint pressure on Firefly shareholders with Disney's hand-drawn animation department. Buffett said that if he hadn't seen the material from that night, because of the huge profits expected to be made by "The Lion King", he would have judged that Eric would do anything to keep Disney's hand-drawn animation division foolproof, and this may also be Give creditors leverage to join the board.

However, since Eric already had good reasons for his determination to reform the Disney animation department, the coercive bargaining chip that Ron Perelman relied on was not established from the beginning. Buffett also earnestly said that even if other situations occur, Berkshire Hathaway will stand firm on Eric's side and can provide maximum help.

After reading several documents, Eric looked up at Kelly and asked, "Have you read Buffett's letter?"

Kelly shook her head and wondered, "What's wrong?"

"You look first," Eric handed Buffett's handwritten letter.

Kelly quickly read the contents of the letter, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't think there is a problem. Buffett is right."

"I'm not referring to this, look at the last paragraph."

Kelly read the last paragraph, her beautiful eyebrows slightly raised, she thought about it, and then said, "Buffy's chartered that Berkshire Hathaway will stand firmly on Firefly's side, it seems that there is no problem, I I think it's a good thing."

"Don't you think this promise is a bit too generous, according to Buffett's personality who has made the pursuit of profit maximization instinctive?"

Kelly smiled and said: "Eric, you are too suspicious, I think Mr. Buffett did this because he was more likely to see your ability and wanted to take you to Berkshire Hathaway. The successor, hehe."

Listening to Kelly's joke, Eric also laughed and stopped worrying about this issue.

After reviewing all the documents quickly, Eric suddenly thought of the pigeons released by Peter Schneider this morning. He raised his head and asked, "Did you see Peter Schneider at the high-level meeting today?"

Kelly said, "No, shouldn't he and Roy Disney be on your side?"

Eric frowned and said quickly, "Kelly, help me find out the whereabouts of the two of them?"

Kelly noticed Eric's sudden serious look and said, "Now?"

"Yes, now, right now."

Kelly nodded, took out her mobile phone and address book, rummaged through and started to make a call.

Eric picked up a pen and quickly wrote the information on Firefly Group, Disney Animation Department, Ron Perelman, Chris, Buffett, David West, etc. on a scratch paper. And connected related words with his usual lines, and soon formed a network.

The blank space in the middle of the net was quickly filled in by Eric with another word.

It didn't take long for Kelly to put down the phone. To Eric: "The two of them can't get through on their personal phone. I only heard that Peter Schneider and Roy Disney went to New York. The specific situation is not clear."

Eric basically understood when he heard New York, and said, "No need to check, they must have gone to see Ron Perelman."

Kelly immediately thought of the intention of these two executives to meet Ron Perelman, and asked, "What should I do now?"

Eric's smile became a little mysterious, and he said, "This is a good time to retaliate."

Kelly was a little puzzled, and Eric continued: "Is it the premiere of "Charlie's Angels" tomorrow?"

Kelly recalled Eric's schedule and asked, "Didn't you say you don't plan to attend?"

"Go. We must go, and let's go together," Eric patted the table lightly and said: "The three old men who are still in Los Angeles, and Chris from New York, let him fly over tomorrow too, um , and Katzenberg and Michael Lynn..."

After thinking about it, Eric did not continue to add people.

The people just mentioned are all stakeholders closely related to the Firefly Group. Not to mention the shareholder status of the three Buffetts, Chris is absolutely trustworthy. Katzenberg is Firefly's next, if even he can't be trusted. There's no need for Eric to continue playing in Hollywood. Although the last Michael Lynn is about to resign, he is also a minority shareholder of Firefly Group.

As for other high-level executives, Eric temporarily dismissed the idea of ​​telling them. After all, the fewer people who know something in his heart, the better.

Oh, there seems to be another insider.

In the original article on the analysis of the 2D animation industry, Eric specifically asked different staff in the assistant office to collect different information. The final summary work was done by Kelly herself, so she was the only one who could see the 'evidence chain' the whole picture. Moreover, whether it is Kelly's identity as Eric's first assistant, or the current close relationship between the two, Eric does not want to exclude her.

Eric glanced at Kelly Haynes in front of him, and said with a smile: "You will come together tomorrow too. After watching the movie, let's chat together."

Kelly also realized at this time that tomorrow is definitely not as simple as watching a movie, there must be something else happening. However, Eric's unhesitating trust also made her heart warm.

"Then I will inform them first?"

Eric shook his head and said, "I'll make these calls in person. You can help prepare a few invitations for the premiere. In addition, don't forget to send a car to pick up Buffett and the others tomorrow. With Buffett here, the three old men are sure Not willing to spend money, if they show up outside the red carpet in a taxi, I can't afford to lose this person."

"Oh Well."

...

After experiencing a record-breaking box office of more than $46 million over three days in the first weekend, "The Lion King" has a total box office of $69 million in the first seven days. Correspondingly, the first-week box office of the western movie "Titan of Law Enforcement", which cost more than $63 million in production alone, only made a pitiful 10 million at the box office. Warner's original film aimed at sniping "The Lion King" not only failed to complete it. His own 'mission', instead of "True Lies", "Star Trek 7" and "Saving Private Ryan" other than "The Lion King", has completely become a cannon fodder for this hot summer.

In the face of direct losses of more than 70 million US dollars, in order to give shareholders an explanation, Warner involved the director, producer and corresponding executives of "Law Enforcement Titans" to become the successor to Paramount's "Beverly Hills Detective 3". , the second batch of hapless Hollywood 'fire season'.

Eric himself did not expect that Kevin Costner had already experienced a silent tragic attack before "Future Water World". The first part of "Mission Impossible" in this time and space has entered post-production. Eric has seen the samples in detail, and he is very satisfied with the shooting results of Kevin Costner's version of Ethan Hunt and Brian De Palma.

Therefore, the only thing Eric worried about after "Law Enforcement Titans" was whether "Future Water World" would become yellow because of this. Spy's sequel has a big mouth on Kevin Costner's lion.

The day before July, the new version of "Charlie's Angels" secretly led by Eric held a grand premiere in Los Angeles.

After experiencing "Rain Man" in 1988, MGM has been silent for six consecutive years. During most of the years, there were no more than ten films released, and none of the films with a box office exceeded 100 million. After many twists and turns, last year MGM's two new helms Frank Makasso and president John Carley intended to complete the company's recovery plan through the release of "Bear Peak" and "The Last Phantom Hero". Failed.

Now, the ten-film production plan of DreamWorks production company and the 007 series restarted by its subsidiary United Artists have become MGM's last-ditch effort. Once it fails again, the only way out for MGM is bankruptcy and liquidation, and the company's assets will be auctioned to repay the huge debt of more than one billion dollars. The 75% stake in MGM in the hands of Credit Lyon Bank will become a pile of waste paper.

Compared with the nervousness, anxiety or expectations of the top executives of MGM, Credit Bank Lyon and the major European shareholders of DreamWorks production company, Eric's mood is relatively relaxed. For this film, Eric has put enough thought into it. From the script to the actors, from the director to the producer, Eric has personally appointed them according to his memory, and his participation in the production progress and final editing of the film is far more than others. Movie.

Judging from the several trial screenings of the new version of "Charlie's Angels", the filmmakers and ordinary audiences who participated in the trial screening have given sufficient praise. If the film still fails, it can only be said that God does not bless MGM.

As for Eric himself, he has experienced so much glory since his rebirth, and although he has not changed so much that he begins to expect failure, he is definitely not afraid of failure.

Although there was no plan to attend the premiere, Eric did his due diligence since he changed his mind and appeared at the scene. He was interviewed by reporters on the red carpet, and specially recruited the three girls to take a series of group photos to satisfy the gossip of the live media.

When the three old Buffetts walked out of a luxury RV at the end of the red carpet, Eric immediately greeted them, greeted them, and ignored the media people who became more excited because of Buffett's appearance, and walked in with the three of them. cinema.

*

ps: today's three shifts and 12,000

*(To be continued.)

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