Chapter 1157 Comcast Is the True Friend

"Jason, your rhetoric is useless to me. I'm old, and my feelings for brands are not as deep as they were when I was young. You can completely treat me as an investor, and I only do things that are beneficial to me. "

Murdoch smoked a cigar and said slowly.

Yang Cheng is silent, how could this old fox who has experienced countless ups and downs in his life be deceived by such a simple routine?

"Okay, Rupert, let's talk practically, I want to buy Fox Sports, you make an offer."

Murdoch leaned on the back of the sofa, held up the cigar between his fingers and lit some oranges in the air, "24 billion US dollars, I only accept stock transactions, not cash."

Yang Cheng really wanted to kill him with a mouthful of old blood. This old man is really dark. Not only did he offer a sky-high price, but he also took the opportunity to bite off a big mouthful of his own body, so that he won't get anything at all?

"18 billion, half cash, half stock!" This was Yang Cheng's offer.

Murdoch shook his head without thinking, "If this is the case, I would rather choose to sell it to Disney as a whole. Of course, if Disney sells it to you later, I have no opinion."

Yang Cheng frowned deeply, "Rupert, why did you insist on selling to Disney?"

Lao Mo's words left Yang Cheng speechless, "Because the merger of Disney and Fox will become the absolute overlord of the global entertainment and media industry, unshakable!"

Speaking of this, Yang Cheng knew that his idea of ​​opening a gap from Murdoch had failed.

After parting with Murdoch, Yang Cheng did not give up, and asked someone to contact Comcast to try to cooperate with it.

Comcast is still basically a domestic company at present, and only about 9% of its revenue comes from markets outside the United States.

Fox, on the other hand, can rely on its 39% stake in British Sky Broadcasting Corporation and Star Media (India), to a large extent, to help Comcast achieve the expansion of its international assets, and its foreign market revenue share rise to 25%. %.

So Comcast has a stronger desire for Fox than Disney.

Moreover, Comcast's own business territory is much weaker than that of Disney. As more and more price-sensitive consumers cancel pay TV subscriptions or switch to other video services with lower fees, Comcast Tet has to deal carefully with this structural decline in the business, which is similar to the predicament Disney is facing.

To this end, Comcast has shifted its focus to high-speed Internet and film production businesses since the acquisition of Universal to maintain revenue growth.

And Fox's film and TV assets will allow Comcast's entertainment portfolio to reach an unprecedented scale. After all, the latter already sits on NBC Universal and the largest cable system in the United States.

In addition, like Disney's desire for streaming video service business, like all traditional media peers, Comcast has been eager to find a way to avoid those tech giants that are not bad for money, especially the threatening Facebook, Amazon, Apple, etc. , Netflix and Google, the five giants.

These companies are spending billions of dollars to create high-quality content and grab market share from traditional entertainment industry players. Comcast itself is a big player among traditional players, and a large share of the customers that were robbed originally belonged to Comcast.

And Fox's HULU video is the key to Comcast's reversal of the situation.

Once the acquisition of most of Fox's assets is successful, Comcast will become the controlling shareholder of the current fast-growing streaming service provider Hulu.

At present, Fox, Disney and Comcast each hold 30% of the shares, and Time Warner holds 10%.

It is the shares of Hulu that make Fox an important player with the power of "appointing the king". Whoever can win this 30% of the shares will be able to take control of HULU videos in one fell swoop, which is equivalent to getting 20 million subscriptions out of thin air. subscribers, and a No. 2 streaming video provider behind Netflix.

Therefore, Comcast would rather take on huge debts than compete with Disney.

As for Yang Cheng, after successive defeats from Disney and Fox, Comcast became his last hope.

Needless to say, before going to meet with Brian Roberts, Yang Cheng really heard the good news. The chairman and CEO of Comcast met Apple CEO Tim Ku in advance before agreeing to meet with Yang Cheng. Ke, there is news that the purpose of this meeting is that Brian Roberts is planning to find allies for the acquisition of Fox assets.

On the Jason that flew to Los Angeles, Yang Cheng couldn't hide his excitement. After working around, he finally found a like-minded friend.

The two parties agreed to meet at Universal Studios. Brian Roberts, who had just finished talking with Cook in Silicon Valley, stopped by Universal Studios for inspection and asked Yang Cheng to have lunch together.

Coming to Universal Studios again, Yang Cheng felt that everything was right and wrong. The last time she came here was to meet Donna Lande, but now this strong Hollywood woman has joined her team.

In a restaurant in the studio, Yang Cheng met Brian Roberts, with a bright head and round glasses, he looked a little tired, presumably due to the exhaustion of the journey.

After a brief greeting, the two each ordered a steak set meal and sat opposite each other. Yang Cheng took the lead and asked, "Mr. Roberts, is your negotiation with Apple going well?"

"Brian~" Roberts emphasized.

"It didn't go well, otherwise we wouldn't need to meet." Roberts said bluntly.

Yang Cheng smiled, this is good news, "Since that's the case, I won't talk nonsense, you and I have a natural foundation for cooperation, Comcast is heavily in debt, and the pressure and risk suddenly turned upside down to acquire Fox alone Several times, New Era Media is willing to become your company's partner to help share the pressure."

"Your work style is as straightforward as the rumors, but I like it. Then, tell me about your conditions. What does New Era Media want?" Roberts was not hypocritical, and directly asked Yang Cheng about the assets he wanted.

"Part of shares in 22 local sports channels and British Sky TV." Yang Cheng spread out her hands with a simple expression on her face, "I don't want much, right?"

Even if Roberts was reluctant, he had to nod. Yang Cheng really didn't want much, at least Comcast's most valued hulu video shares, Yang Cheng didn't even mention it.

"I am personally willing to accept this condition, but we still need to go back and confirm it with the board of directors before we can formally sign the agreement."

"Of course, it should be~"

Yang Cheng scolded countless words of MMP in her heart, "I knew it would be so easy to cooperate with Comcast, but it's a waste of time to talk so much with Disney and Fox."

Roberts said again, "Let's talk about the price, how much are you willing to pay for this?"

Yang Cheng briefly estimated, "I am willing to pay 18 billion US dollars for 22 local sports channels. As for Sky TV, it depends on the negotiation results. My bottom line is no less than 10%, the more the better."

Roberts pondered, "I understand that the negotiation must be led by Comcast, and New Era Media can send people to participate and supervise the whole process, but it cannot interfere with our negotiation process."

Yang Cheng frowned slightly. This condition is a bit too much, but it is not unacceptable. After thinking about it, Comcast is not too rich, so it should not lose its mind and make a crazy offer, right?

After thinking for a long time, he nodded hesitantly, "I agree in principle, but New Era Media has the right to stop at any time. Of course, the premise is that Comcast's negotiation plan is harmful to our interests."

Yang Cheng nodded in agreement in the general direction. Naturally, Roberts didn't want to be too harsh on small details, and basically didn't waste too much brain cells. He nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it like this."

In a few words, a cooperation agreement involving tens of billions of dollars was reached in this way. The two of them ended the negotiation without breaking a sweat. If outsiders knew about it, their jaws would definitely drop.

In fact, it's not just outsiders, even the two of them are under the influence of the efficiency at this time. From the time of ordering to the end of the negotiation, the negotiations have not even been served. This may be the happiest experience the two of them have ever experienced in their lives. of a negotiation.

Thinking about it carefully, it is not difficult to understand that both parties were forced into a corner. With no conflict of interest and a basis for cooperation, it is only natural that the negotiation went smoothly. No matter what, in Yang Cheng's eyes at this time, Comcast is a true friend!

Brian Roberts exhaled, raised a goblet filled with mineral water, and signaled to Yang Cheng, "I wish us a happy cooperation."

Yang Cheng smiled and clinked glasses with him, "Of course, we will have a happy cooperation."

Taking a symbolic sip of water, she put down her glass and Yang Cheng said, "By the way, I have to remind you that Fox has a very strong desire to merge with Disney, so you have to be prepared that even if you offer a high price, you may not be able to convince Fox." .”

Roberts looked straight, "I understand, I have prepared for the most difficult."

Yang Cheng didn't talk nonsense anymore, these things can be done at the end, and there is no doubt about his ability to be the helm of Comcast.

After the official negotiation was over, Roberts was in the mood to joke, "Jason, speaking of which, I haven't taken revenge on you yet!"

Yang Cheng was startled, "Why do you seek revenge on me?"

"You've poached my right-hand man." Roberts was referring to Donna Round.

Yang Cheng sneered, "The most lacking thing in the 21st century is talent. At that time, New Era Films was first established, and I had to find a qualified CEO for the company. No one forced Donna to be more suitable, and Donna has worked hard in Universal for so many years. , and also had the idea of ​​changing the environment, we hit it off, and there is absolutely no such thing as forced digging."

Roberts waved his hand, "I'm joking, the flow of talents is also beneficial to the management of the company to a certain extent, I'm not angry, but if there is such a thing in the future, you must say hello to me, After all, we are friends from today on, right? You can't do things that are sorry to your friends."

Yang Cheng couldn't help but smile bitterly, and was eager to be friends, "OK, if there is another time, I will definitely say hello to you."

The genius remembers the address of this site in a second: Mobile version reading URL: