Chapter 1765 Merlin (1)

(Please subscribe)

"Donna, when you mentioned STX, you must be thinking of acquiring it, but according to you, they have only been established for more than two years, and with Adam Ferguson's connections and background, they should not be short of money, right?

Moreover, he also pointed out that this company can realize its ideals and ambitions. How can it be sold so easily? "

Donna laughed and said, "Boss, if they are not short of money, it only means that their lives are fine. It does not mean that the company is not short of money. When working in Hollywood, no matter how much money you have, it will not be enough~"

Yang Cheng laughed at himself, "Yes, I have fallen into a misunderstanding. So there is a possibility of STX being acquired?"

Donna hesitated and said, "It would be best if we could acquire him, but what I value more is Adam Ferguson, so if possible, I think financing is the best way. Only under the leadership of Adam Ferguson can STX go further." Far."

Yang Cheng hummed and asked, "What is STX's current valuation?"

“The valuation is not high, mainly because STX has no tangible assets, and even its employees are only about 70 plus plus or minus.”

Yang Cheng was surprised, "More than 70 people? Producing 10 movies a year? Is it possible?"

Eddie also looked confused, as if he had heard a legend.

In this regard, Donna explained, "STX's structure is very flexible. In other film companies, there will be a special committee to discuss whether to invest in the film. It must take into account the opinions of the marketing department and distribution department, and also consider the development of peripherals. Whether the toy is easy to sell or not, these factors will be gathered into a report. The president of the film company will use this form to judge whether the movie can bring enough profits to the parent company.

Adam Ferguson will of course do some financial analysis, but he usually makes an initial decision very quickly.

He will decide whether the movie is outstanding in its genre, he will wonder whether he knows how to sell the movie, and finally, he will decide whether the chance of success is greater than the risk of failure.

This greatly reduces the tedious review process and improves efficiency, so there is no need to support so many people.

To put it simply, as long as there is sufficient financial guarantee, as well as the experience and channels of production and distribution, STX may launch a revolution in Hollywood. What STX lacks at this time is exactly what we can provide. I can’t think of it. Adam’s reasons for rejecting our investment. "

In other words, Yang Cheng agreed, but when Donna said launching a revolution, it was a bit of an exaggeration.

revolution? Whose life was lost? The big six?

Not to mention just one Disney is enough for STX to look up to for decades.

"Let's go ahead and talk about it first. It's best if we can negotiate. If it doesn't work, we'll talk about it later. But I have something to tell you. Our positioning of STX is just to make up for our gap in medium-cost film investment. Once we accept our The investment must be developed according to our plan. I don’t want to see an ambitious STX~"

Donna nodded without thinking, "Of course~"

"Okay, I agree. You are responsible for it. If you need help, please contact Eddie."

"Thank you boss for your support~"

"You're welcome, it's all for the company~"

Yang Cheng turned to look at Eddie, "How was your chat with Richard Plepler?"

Eddie said seriously, "Richard is very interested, but now he has more choices~"

Yang Cheng frowned, "Is there anyone else offering an olive branch to him?"

"Yes, Apple invited Richard to join Apple TV to participate in the construction of streaming services and, of course, Apple's own dramas."

Yang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, "I believe smart people should know how to choose. No matter how you watch Apple TV, it doesn't have a future as CW TV."

Eddie smiled and said, "I think so too, but Apple made a big effort this time and offered sky-high salaries, and I didn't match it."

"Why?"

"I think Apple is a typical example of people who are stupid and have too much money. They rely on their own cash flow to poach people. They have offended a lot of people in the industry in the past few years, and I believe Richard will make the right choice. If it is for Money, even if he comes to the CW TV station, he will be poached within a few years. I don’t think hiring him is just for transition."

Yang Cheng nodded happily, "It's good that you can be so sensible. It's up to you to handle this matter. Anyway, I haven't said anything about Mark yet."

"I know the boss~"

. . .

After chatting with his right-hand man for a while, Yang Cheng suddenly asked Liu Junyu to come in, "Go and print out a document marked Merlin on my computer desktop, 4 copies~"

Liu Junyu did not dare to delay, and soon came back with four fresh documents, handing them over to everyone one by one. Seeing that Yang Cheng did not give any further instructions, she withdrew.

"Several of you, let's discuss it if we gather today. This is the information I just received recently. Regarding the Merlin Entertainment Group in the UK, read the information first and tell me what you think after reading it."

This information was given to him by William. This guy recently worked on a castle real estate project with Hugh Grosvenor, and they were very successful. Their first real estate project has been launched, and the construction team has been handed over to Yuanshan Capital. The British branch, since Yang Cheng acquired Liverpool, has not only grown a lot, but its business has never been interrupted. Everyone is also enjoying it. Constant business means a steady stream of profits, and no one feels tired.

Closer to home, when William and Hugh Grosvenor were investigating the castle land resources in the UK, they accidentally discovered a castle theme park owned by Merlin Entertainment. They thought it was of great reference value, so they collected the information and sent it to Yang Cheng to ponder. I wonder if we should follow this model to develop entertainment projects. It is much more fun than simply doing real estate.

But Yang Cheng's focus was different from theirs. They only saw a simple castle paradise, but Yang Cheng's eyes included the entire Merlin Entertainment.

Nowadays, New Era Media's layout in the entertainment sector is almost complete. If there is anything missing, it may be that it has not yet completed the peripheral development, and theme parks are definitely the highlight of peripheral development for film and television projects.

When Yang Cheng and Donna chatted before, they also talked about planning to build their own theme park, but this matter was shelved for a simple reason: the number of copyrighted IPs owned by New Era Pictures was not enough, and the theme park lacked content.

But just because it can't be developed at the moment doesn't mean it won't be developed forever. The park will be built sooner or later, but the time is not ripe yet. However, the emergence of Merlin Entertainment has given Yang Cheng a better choice.

People's impression of theme parks has always been that of Disney, or zoos or ocean parks. Yang Cheng also thought so, but after reading the information about Merlin Entertainment, he found that his thinking was too limited. It turned out that theme parks You can still play like this, and there are so many types.

He felt like he had been living like a dog for two lifetimes. He had no choice but to count the number of times he went to the amusement park before and after. The sadness of being single was that he used to have no money and no time, but now he has money and time. But I don’t have much interest in amusement parks. I always feel that they are a place for children and are too childish.

But from the perspective of a businessman, this is exactly the point. What is the best way to make money in the world? Answer - Women and children make the best money!

Merlin Entertainments is the second largest family attraction entertainment industry leader in the world and the largest in Europe after Disney. It was founded at the end of the 20th century. After more than ten years of development, the number of its attractions has reached 124, covering 4 continents around the world. 25 countries.

And unlike Disney, which focuses on the entire industry chain layout around animation IP, Merlin Entertainment focuses on branded family attraction entertainment operations. Through original creation, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing cooperation, it has included a number of the world's most well-known IP brand matrices, such as the well-known Legoland, Madame Tussauds, SEALIFE, London Eye, Alton Towers, etc. are basically entertainment brands that people are familiar with.

Donna read the information the fastest. After a few minutes, she put down the information. The paper was still warm and she smiled at the corner of her mouth. It was obvious that she had fully understood Yang Cheng's intention.

But there was no rush to speak. After Ruiz and Eddie both read and put down the documents, they said, "I think Merlin Entertainment is good and suitable for our acquisition. After reading the documents, I found that Merlin Entertainment's operating model is very interesting." , their potential is completely inconsistent with the current stock price, and there is a lot of room for appreciation in the future.”

Eddie had no objection this time and agreed, "I agree with what Donna said. I think the management structure of Merlin Entertainment is more advanced than Disney. The key is that we cannot imitate Disney's model and we cannot produce a large number of animations in the short term. IP.”

Ruiz was the slowest to read just now, also because he looked at details, especially the management structure that Donna and Eddie pointed out at the same time. He looked at it very seriously, "First of all, Merlin has continued to invest in its existing attractions. New projects will be added to each attraction to expand the passenger flow capacity and tourist visits of existing attractions, and further increase prices. At the same time, the 'price package' method will be used to enhance the synergy between various attractions.

In addition, Merlin Entertainments has also fully tapped the consumer demand for short-distance travel. While expanding its global short-distance travel projects, it has also continued to build new themed guest rooms for its theme parks to stimulate users' demand for short-distance travel accommodation.

The most important thing is that as the trump card of Merlin, Legoland’s global expansion plan is also continuing to advance.

Finally, steady strategic acquisitions are also one of the engines of Merlin Group's expansion. I really appreciate their actions in country Z, which are more down-to-earth than Disney.

As the world's largest emerging market, country Z has become Merlin's primary target for global expansion.

Data shows that Merlin Entertainments has opened 7 attractions in Country Z, including Madame Tussauds, Legoland Discovery Center, and SEALIFE Aquarium.

In the next few years, more of its flagship projects will be introduced, including Peppa Pig Theme Park. I think that in the new millennium, Pink Piggy will be far more attractive to children than Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. "

Ruiz's words aroused strong agreement from the other two, and Donna said happily, "Boss, Merlin's strategy actually coincides with ours. To a certain extent, New Era Media is also moving towards a steady path of mergers and acquisitions. If If the acquisition is successful, the integration between the two parties will not be a problem at all.”

txt download address:

phone-reading: