Chapter 941 Huge Money

In Shuntian Mansion, at 6:30 in the morning, Zhao Sicun had just woken up and finished washing. He only had time to tell his wife that he wanted to drink soy milk today, and before he had time to go out for a run to buy buns, he received a call from Li Qian.

So he answered the phone while changing his shoes at the door.

"Hey, good morning Director Zhao!"

Zhao Sicun smiled, "Stop doing this, it's early in the morning, do you have something to do?"

Zhao Sicun, who was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television last year as the deputy director, has been friends with Li Qian for six or seven years.

So Li Qian said: "If I encounter difficulties in conveying Chinese culture to the outside world, can our government provide some support?"

Zhao Sicun was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, and after several seconds, he spoke in a cautious tone, and said, "I know you are in the United States, tell me, what do you want to do?"

At the dinner table across the ocean, Li Qian smiled, looked up at Qi Jie, and said, "I want to buy Columbia Pictures."

Zhao Sicun was stunned when he heard the words.

Columbia Pictures... buy it...

After being silent for several seconds, even forgetting to open the door to go out, Zhao Sicun stood at the door of his house, took a deep breath, and asked, "What do you need from our Film Bureau?"

Li Qian said on the other end of the phone: "Minghu Culture needs a low-interest loan, preferably an interest-free loan! Of course, the longer the loan period, the better! It will make my pressure less."

Zhao Sicun took a deep breath again, he didn't go out for a run now, and he forgot to change his shoes back, so he walked back to the sofa and sat down in his sneakers, and used this period of time to calm himself down.

Then, he said slowly: "Qian'er, are you playing too big? That pit is a sinkhole, and billions of dollars have been poured into it. It's not easy to jump out if you regret it in the future!"

On the other side of the ocean, Li Qian smiled when he heard the words.

This is what a real buddy would say, not what an official should say.

And just from this sentence, people in the relevant government departments of the country are really not free. Zhao Sicun had been in the Ministry of Culture for more than ten years before, and recently went to the Film Bureau. He has always been engaged in culture and art. policy and management. Although his work is internal, it is obvious that he has always been concerned about the relevant trends in the United States, so when Li Qian mentioned Colombia, he immediately cleared the door.

But Li Qian still said after hearing the words: "I want to play, and I can afford it."

Zhao Sicun sighed when he heard the words, "You, your heart is too big!"

Seeing that he didn't go out, his wife saw the running shoes as soon as she lowered her head. Zhao Sicun waved his hands impatiently. , The national level will definitely not stand idly by. Whether it is the financial level or the US government, if you need any help, just ask. I will lead you to run the policy!"

After a pause, he continued: "Come back and make a plan, arrange for someone who can trust you to send it to me, and I will take him to the Yamen personally! As long as you can guarantee to take down Columbia Pictures, you will be fine with the loan." Don’t worry! The U.S. government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can also handle it for you! But... brother, think about it, this is not a joke, billions of dollars, once you fall into it..."

On the other end of the phone, Li Qian said confidently: "Don't worry, I've made up my mind, even if I lose money, I'll take it! Otherwise, if someone gets ahead of me, I'll definitely regret it!"

Hearing this, Zhao Sicun took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "Success, then you can make a proposal and make it more persuasive. I will take you away from the government!"

…………

When the phone was hung up, Zhao Sicun's wife flashed out again, with a look of surprise and gossiping excitement, and asked, "Li Qian? What did I hear you talking about? He wants to buy Columbia? Is that the big American film company?"

Zhao Sicun looked up at her, nodded slowly, but reminded: "Don't tell the outside world, many things still need to be moved slowly, once the news is leaked, it will affect his pace."

His wife nodded, first said: "Don't worry!" She approached and sat down again, her face was full of excitement, "Can you tell him to let our company participate in this acquisition?"

As she spoke, she was a little excited and couldn't control herself, "Does a domestic cultural and entertainment company acquire a major Hollywood company, and it is estimated that billions of dollars will be involved? I remember seven or eight years ago or when, probably Around 1990? Sony seemed to be close to buying Colombia, but then it seemed that the economic crisis happened and Sony ran out of money, so it didn’t happen! If this can happen, it will definitely be a sensation!”

She waved her arms, as if she was the one who was planning to acquire Columbia, and said excitedly: "Think about it, Hollywood movies are popular all over the world! As a result, without saying a word, all of a sudden, the seven major Hollywood movies Columbia, one of the companies, was actually acquired by a Chinese film company! My God, I’m so excited just thinking about it! You said, if this matter comes out, it won’t be touted by the country! As long as we can participate If you go in, the whole company will be worth a hundred times immediately! Hey... Let me ask you, can you help me talk to Li Qian? You two have such a good relationship!"

Zhao Sicun glanced at her helplessly when he heard the words, and said, "Don't even think about it!"

"Why! Don't even think about it, you..."

Zhao Sicun sat up straight before she finished speaking, and said seriously: "If the matter is not completed, there is nothing to say. If the matter is completed, the government will definitely give Li Qian the greatest support! Although it is impossible to get it to the public, But for this kind of thing, the government will definitely spare no effort to support! So, let me ask you, do you think it is you who participated in it, and when the thing is done, promotion and salary increase are important, or your husband and I participate on behalf of the government, the Film Bureau and the Ministry of Culture It's more important to go in?"

Zhao Sicun's wife was taken aback when she heard the words, and then slowly recovered.

Her eyes gradually lit up, "So..."

Zhao Sicun laughed when he heard the words, "If this matter can be finally facilitated in my hands, within three years, the position of **** leader must be mine!"

…………

Three days later, Qi Jie took her team, signed a proposal with Li Qian, and flew back to China. On the Los Angeles side, John Days officially launched cooperation negotiations with Columbia.

On November 27, 2003, that is, half a month after Li Qian lived in the United States, Minghu Culture and Columbia Pictures officially reached an agreement on the next two-way distribution cooperation between the two parties.

On the same day, Li Qian signed the cooperation agreement with Glenn Shire, the executive president of Columbia Film Corporation. In the next two years, the two parties will use completely reciprocal conditions to cooperate with each other as permitted by the relevant regulations of their respective countries. Within the scope, each other will provide each other with a split distribution of five movies.

"Gourd Baby" will be the first film released by Columbia Pictures for Minghu Culture. This animated film from China will officially land in North America on December 23 this year.

At that time, Columbia Pictures, which is in charge of film distribution, will secure an opening scale of no less than 1,500 for this animated film in North America.

The next day, Li Qian flew back to China with Liao Liao.

It was late at night when the plane landed, and Li Qian got up after only three hours of sleep. Two hours later, he and Qi Jie sat in the office of Zhao Sicun, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

Zhao Sicun sent the secretary away, made two cups of tea for the two of them with his own hands, and then sat down and said with a smile: "Our yamen is like this, everything is simple, let's leave!"

After a pause, he continued, "I'll take you to Mr. Lai's side later."

Both Li Qian and Qi Jie nodded. To pass the matter, it is essential to obtain the support and signature of the leader of the Communist Party.

After exchanging pleasantries with each other, Zhao Sicun said, "It's definitely okay on the **** side, and the Ministry of Culture has also agreed in principle. This matter even held a small office meeting. Now the meaning of the higher-ups, It is basically confirmed that in this matter, the government can arrange for a state-owned bank to provide Minghu Culture with an interest-free loan of one billion yuan for a period of five years. In addition, if you need it, you can also give another one billion yuan in low-interest loans , this time can be slightly relaxed, and the time limit is given to eight years."

"At the same time, as long as you need, you can contact the foreign affairs department at any time. Our embassy in the United States will be responsible for arranging someone to help you lobby within the US government to solve government-level problems."

After a pause, he said, "Actually, it's not a big problem. The last time Sony wanted to buy Columbia, the US government collected some money and shut up. There were almost no voices of opposition. This time, it's about ten to twenty million dollars. Lobbying money is enough to shut up the U.S. government!"

Speaking of this, he smiled and said, "Besides, this money can be paid by the government!"

Hearing this, Li Qian let out a long breath.

His right hand clenched his fist and smashed his left hand, "It's done!"

Zhao Sicun smiled. At the government level, he was responsible for running this matter from the beginning to the end. Of course, he has contributed a lot to this achievement, and he is naturally honored.

But he never expressed his merits. At this time, he even deliberately said: "I told you at the time, as long as the government thinks that this kind of thing will help the whole country's foreign cultural promotion, it will definitely not sit idly by!"

After a pause, he said: "To put it bluntly, I will provide you with some low-interest and interest-free loans, and help you lobby, the total is only a few dollars! You know that our country holds various cultural promotions and events in European and American countries every year. Exchange activities, as well as donations to opposition parties and social organizations in some Western countries, how much is that! However, the money spent so much, combined, may not be as big as your impact. !"

"This kind of thing, this kind of money, the government is willing!"

Li Qian smiled and nodded, "That's right! So... so many taxes in the past are not in vain!"

Zhao Sicun shook his head and laughed when he heard the words, "Your cultural companies still make original works, and you pay much less tax!"

After taking a sip of tea and putting down the cup, he asked, "Can you make up enough money this time?"

Li Qian turned his head and looked at Qi Jie, and then they both nodded at the same time.

To acquire Columbia, Minghu Culture and Li Qian need to prepare 3 billion US dollars in cash for the acquisition itself, which can basically be won, but it is necessary to ensure that the entire acquisition is quickly implemented and concluded, and 3.2 billion to 3.5 billion US dollars should be prepared for it cash is necessary.

When the acquisition is over, the remaining unused funds can be used to inject part of the capital into Columbia Films to ease their current tight financial situation, and at the same time provide sufficient financial support for the next step of development-Columbia is poor For too many years, the poorer you are, the more timid you are, and the poorer you are, the less you can get loans and capital injections. To put it bluntly, this problem is a vicious circle.

In Li Qian's view, among the many reasons that lead to Colombia's deteriorating situation and gradually sinking into the quagmire, this one is even second only to the panic caused by successive acquisitions and high-level personnel changes, and ranks second.

Therefore, once the acquisition is completed, first inject capital, then adjust the personnel structure to find a suitable helm for Colombia, and then stabilize the entire board. As long as there are no major problems, no personnel changes will be made for at least five years , this is Li Qian's future plan for Columbia Pictures.

Of course, even if the acquisition is initiated now, by the time the acquisition is completed, 2004 will definitely be obtained. Within three years, Li Qian did not expect to see Columbia turning a profit immediately.

In the next three years, before 3D starts to take off, he hopes to see Columbia Pictures enter a virtuous circle, and he will be very satisfied. The accumulated troubles are not caused overnight, and if they want to embark on rapid development Naturally, it is not a day's work.

Besides, it would be great if it could lay out a few series of movies that will be successful in the future like other big production companies!

And this is the only area where Li Qian will intervene in the company's operation and management after the acquisition is completed.

Besides, Li Qian decided not to interfere with the normal operation of the company.

But those gentle winds and drizzles are all things after success. During the acquisition process, what Li Qian needs is thunder!

Simply put, throw money at it!

Directly throw money quickly and simply, drop the company, and then talk about other things!

Grinding slowly, talking bit by bit, of course, it is possible to reach a more favorable transaction condition for Minghu Culture and Li Qian, but the seven major Hollywood production companies are currently able to make a deal, and the only ones who can make a deal are Columbia. One family, Li Qian believed that he must not be the only one staring at it silently behind the scenes.

Late makes a difference!

And the cash of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars is enough to ensure that this matter will be implemented quickly.

The government provides a total of 2 billion in loans, and Minghu Culture itself can apply for a commercial loan of about 1.5 billion yuan, plus Minghu Culture's own working capital of 800 million yuan, the total is already as high as 4.3 billion yuan. Li Qian himself If you put together one billion, you can get a loan of one billion, which is already 6.3 billion.

Cao Zhan and Yu Bojun have already stated that they will contribute a little money to participate.

Both of them are rich and young, even if they just use their own savings and family assets, it is not a problem for each of them to take out three to five billion yuan. And even if it was a little bit worse, as long as Li Qian needed a loan, he could use his stocks as collateral at any time. For those who hold a large number of Xunfei Group stocks, this is hardly a problem.

Therefore, seven billion Chinese yuan, or three and a half billion U.S. dollars, has no problem at all.

…………

Sit in Zhao Sicun's office for a while, and then follow him to Mr. Lai's office in **** to sit and chat, and then go to the Ministry of Culture, which belongs to Li Qian's task, even if it is over.

The next day, Qi Jie had already received a call from the bank. The interest-free loan of 500 million U.S. dollars, the low-interest loan of 500 million U.S. dollars that Minghu Culture needed, and the 800 million U.S. dollar asset-backed commercial loan that the company applied for were ready at any time. Loaned.

On the first day of December, Li Qian and Qi Jie left everything behind and set off for the United States again.

This time, it's just the two of them.

However, they brought a huge sum of up to 3.6 billion U.S. dollars.