Chapter 885 Blockbuster Financing Completed, Proposal (Two-in-One)

Blockbuster.

In the conference room.

In addition to Lin Baicheng, there are also Errol Kilman, the company manager, Shirley Lansing, the president of the parent company Morningstar Pictures, as well as Buffett, Wade Thomas, the representative of Goldman Sachs, and Deren Lawrence, the representative of Citi.

Everyone is an old acquaintance, and in addition to them, there is another group of people, that is, a group headed by Brown Ottolla, the vice president of MGM.

The reason why Brown Ottolla and his group appeared here is of course because MGM participated in the second financing of Blockbuster, and today is the day to sign the financing contract.

This financing involves all the previous shareholders, so each shareholder either came in person or sent a representative.

Of course, Lin Baicheng transferred the subscribed shares to Phil Smith and others. Although they did not come in person, they also sent someone to come today.

"Everyone, take a look at the contract and sign it after confirming that there is no problem."

Errol Kilman, the company manager, said aloud. His secretary had delivered the contract to the representatives, and Lin Baicheng also had a copy in front of him.

Lin Baicheng took it and took a rough look. Morningstar Pictures, the parent company of Blockbuster, is the largest shareholder of Blockbuster. This financing can be said to be led by Morningstar Pictures. The contract was also agreed upon with his permission. Therefore, he was very clear about the content of the contract. He did not think that his subordinates would dare to unite to deceive him, so he just took a quick look.

Buffett and others were different. They read it very carefully and even asked lawyers to check if there were any problems with the terms in the contract. They were very cautious.

The representatives sent by Phil Smith and others also read it very carefully. After all, they were workers. If they did not find any problems with the contract, they would be in trouble.

This was Blockbuster's second financing. Before this financing, Morningstar Pictures held 55.5% of Blockbuster's shares, Lin Baicheng held 19.5% of Blockbuster's shares, Buffett held 10% of Blockbuster's shares, Citi and Goldman Sachs each held 5% of Blockbuster's shares, and the last 5% of the shares were placed in the option pool as option incentives for corporate executives and outstanding talents.

After this round of financing, except for the 5% of shares in the option pool, all shareholders' shares have changed.

First, Morningstar Pictures, which has the most shares, has only 47.175% of shares after being diluted by 15%, but it is still the company's largest shareholder.

Lin Baicheng's 19.5% of shares held privately can still be left with 16.575% after being diluted by 15%, and he is still the company's second largest shareholder.

The company's third largest shareholder is naturally MGM, a new member of the company's board of directors. MGM obtained 10% of Blockbuster's shares and directly became Blockbuster's third largest shareholder.

Buffett's company originally held 10% of Blockbuster's shares, and after being diluted by 15%, it was left with 8.5% of the shares, but Buffett could subscribe back to one-third of the diluted shares, that is, 0.5%, and Buffett subscribed this time, so after the second round of financing, there are still 9% of the shares left.

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are the same. They originally held 5% of the shares, and after dilution, they were left with 4.25% of the shares. However, they both subscribed back one-third of the shares this time, so after the financing, the two companies each had 4.5% of the shares.

The rest belonged to Morningstar Pictures and Lin Baicheng who could subscribe privately. Lin Baicheng transferred the subscription qualification to Phil Smith and others, and the subscribed shares were divided equally among the four of them, with each person getting less than 1% of the shares.

However, although it is less than 1%, the more than one million US dollars invested this time will at least double after Blockbuster goes public, and they can earn millions of US dollars, and millions of US dollars are not a small amount that can be ignored for them.

For Blockbuster itself, the most important thing is the valuation of this financing and how much money the company can get.

After many negotiations among all parties, this financing finally valued Blockbuster at US$180 million, financing 15% of the shares, and Blockbuster received US$27 million in development funds.

With this $27 million, Blockbuster will not only continue to expand in physical stores, but also in copyright, especially after cooperating with MGM.

It can be predicted that Blockbuster will expand rapidly in the future.

After all parties confirmed that there were no problems with the contract, they signed the contract, which means that Blockbuster's financing this time has been successful.

Blockbuster's financing was successful, and the previous shareholders were of course very happy. Not to mention Lin Baicheng, the biggest beneficiary, Buffett, Citi and Goldman Sachs were all very happy.

The last time Blockbuster raised funds was in July last year, and only one year had passed. In the last financing, Buffett obtained 10% of the shares for $6.2 million. This time, he only spent $900,000 to repurchase 0.5% of the shares, which means that he invested $7.1 million in Blockbuster. Now Blockbuster is valued at $180 million, and 9% of the shares is equivalent to $16.2 million, and the income has more than doubled.

Citi and Goldman Sachs' investment is half of Buffett's, and the income is also half of Buffett's, but the rate of return is the same, more than doubled.

Although it is only book profit now, Blockbuster is not a listed company. If Blockbuster's shares are taken to the bank for loan, the bank will not be very supportive and will at most give a 50% mortgage rate. However, Blockbuster still has great development prospects. As long as the development goes smoothly, when Blockbuster goes public, the company's market value will be at least over 500 million US dollars, and it is not impossible to even exceed 1 billion US dollars.

Once Blockbuster's market value exceeds one billion U.S. dollars, the return on investment by Buffett and others will be more than ten times higher. This is definitely a high-return investment.

After signing the financing contract and chatting with Buffett and others, Lin Baicheng was ready to leave.

However, Shirley Lansing reported one thing to Lin Baicheng, that is, MGM Vice President Brown Ottola wanted to talk to her and Lin Baicheng, the chairman of Morningstar Pictures.

After all, he is the vice president of MGM, and Mr. MGM is the major shareholder of Blockbuster. We are in a cooperative relationship, so Lin Baicheng still gave face to meet Brown Ottola, just before Errol Kilman in the office.

"Hello, Mr. Allen!"

Brown Ottola is very respectful to Lin Baicheng, because he knows that Lin Baicheng is a big boss with strong capital, which is not comparable to him as a professional manager.

"President Ottola."

Lin Baicheng shook hands with Brown Ottola, glanced at Shirley Lansing and said, "I heard from President Lansing that you have something to talk to us about?"

"Yes."

Brown Ottola nodded and said: "About the acquisition of United Artists Pictures."

"Is President Ottola trying to persuade us to give up the acquisition of United Artists Pictures? If so, you will be disappointed."

Hearing this, Lin Baicheng put the ugly words first. It is true that Blockbuster needs to cooperate with MGM, but this does not mean that Morningstar Pictures has to make concessions to MGM and give up the acquisition of United Artists Pictures.

Compared with the importance of United Artists to Morningstar Pictures, the importance of MGM to Blockbuster is relatively low. If Lin Baicheng had to choose between the two, he would choose to let Morningstar Pictures compete with MGM. Acquired United Artists Pictures.

"If Morningstar Pictures is willing to give up, of course it would be best, but if Mr. Allen and President Lansing insist on acquiring United Artists Pictures, then there is nothing we can do to stop it, right?"

Brown-Otola smiled, not arrogant enough to think that MGM could interfere with Morningstar Pictures' major decisions.

Hearing this, Shirley Lansing asked aloud: "I wonder what President Ottola is going to say?"

Brown Ottola said: "Both of us are acquiring United Artists Pictures and constantly raising prices. This is actually not a good thing for both of us. The price continues to rise. In the end, no matter who acquires United Artists Pictures, they will The bank suffered a huge loss and benefited.”

"so what?"

Lin Baicheng motioned to Brown Ottola to continue speaking.

Upon seeing this, Brown Ottola said: "After discussion within our company, we feel that our two companies can jointly acquire United Artists Pictures, so that we can acquire United Artists Pictures at the minimum cost. As for United Artists Pictures, How to distribute the acquisition of American Pictures will depend on the needs of our two companies, and then we will divide United Artists Pictures according to the needs, and each will get what it needs. "

"Everyone gets what he needs? I don't object to that, that's all."

Lin Baicheng said calmly: "What Morningstar Pictures needs is the film library copyright of United Artists. Doesn't MGM need it? If MGM also needs it, how will we distribute it between the two families?"

"MGM also wants the rights to United Artists' film library."

Brown Ottola said: "As far as we know, Morningstar Pictures was a merger of several small companies that you acquired, Mr. Allen. The company does not have its own studio, but United Artists does have a studio. Gao Mei also has its own studio, so we don’t need it and can give it to Morningstar Pictures.”

"Morning Star Pictures does not need a studio for the time being. For Morning Star Pictures, United Artists' film library is more important."

Lin Baicheng immediately shook his head. The studio can be built later. However, if the film library copyright of United Artists misses this opportunity, after United Artists is acquired by MGM, unless Morningstar Pictures can acquire MGM. , otherwise those film library copyrights have nothing to do with Morningstar Pictures.

"this"

Seeing that Lin Baicheng refused without thinking, Brown Ottola couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Upon seeing this, Lin Baicheng said: "President Ottola, if MGM is not willing to give in, I think we will not be able to cooperate on the acquisition of United Artists Pictures."

"Mr. Allen, do you think this is okay?"

Brown Ottola thought for a while and said: "The two of us will jointly acquire United Artists Pictures, and then divide the copyright of United Artists Pictures' film library, and each of us will share a part. What do you think?"

"President Lansing, what do you think?"

Lin Baicheng pondered for a moment after hearing this, and looked at Shirley Lansing, wanting to hear her opinion.

Shirley Lansing thought for a while and said, "Chairman, I think it can be considered."

"President Ottola, can you make the decision at MGM?"

Lin Baicheng asked Brown Ottola, if Brown Ottola can't make the decision, then there is no need to consider his proposal.

Brown Ottola immediately said: "Of course, I am also responsible for the acquisition of United Artists Pictures."

"President Ottola, your proposal is a bit sudden, so we need to think about it. After a decision is made, I will let President Lansing give you an answer."

Lin Baicheng nodded. He couldn't give an answer right away, but he had to think about it carefully.

Brown Otola expressed his understanding: "This is as it should be. Then I will wait for the good news from President Lansing."

"We will get back to you as soon as possible."

Later, Lin Baicheng and Shirley Lansing sent Brown Ottola away.

Lin Baicheng and Shirley Lansing also left Blockbuster. Lin Baicheng signaled Shirley Lansing to sit in his extended Lincoln, and he sent Shirley Lansing to Morningstar Pictures.

"As for President Ottola's proposal, do you think we should agree?"

"I think if we can get enough film library rights, we can agree."

Shirley Lansing already had a general idea. She said: "After the collapse of United Artists Pictures, there are still seven major Hollywood companies left. MGM is one of the seven majors, and its strength and ranking are relatively high. If we Morningstar If the film industry offends MGM too much by acquiring United Artists, it will not be conducive to the company's development in Hollywood. On the contrary, if we reach a cooperation with MGM this time, plus the two companies' relationship with Blockbuster. Cooperation can deepen the cooperative relationship between the two companies, and the company can continue to cooperate with MGM in the future, which is beneficial to the company’s development.”

"MGM is, after all, one of the top seven companies in Hollywood. Films produced with MGM can invite more well-known directors, stars, and behind-the-scenes teams to produce better films and increase the success rate of the film."

In Shirley Lansing's view, Morningstar Pictures is currently only the second tier of Hollywood. It is best not to offend the Seven Hollywood Companies. It would be best to reach cooperation with the Seven Hollywood Companies.

"You have a point."

After thinking about it, Lin Baicheng felt that Shirley Lansing's words were reasonable, and said: "I will let the Secretariat also discuss it. If everyone thinks this is better, let Morningstar Pictures and MGM jointly acquire it. United Artists."

"Yes, Chairman."

Although Lin Baicheng did not directly do what she said, Shirley Lansing was not disappointed. After all, her idea was confirmed.

"Whether we want to cooperate with MGM or not, the acquisition of United Artists Pictures will be led by you."

"Also, if nothing else happens, I may go back to Xiangjiang in a few days. I hope I can see a better-developed Morningstar Pictures next time I come here."

Lin Baicheng has already taken care of all the affairs in the United States, so he has decided to leave and return to Xiangjiang.

"Chairman, please rest assured, I will not let you down." Shirley Lansing immediately expressed her stance.

Lin Baicheng nodded and said nothing more.

After Extended Lincoln arrived at Morning Star Pictures, Shirley Lansing got off the bus, but Lin Baicheng asked Extended Lincoln to leave without entering Morning Star Pictures.

Since he was planning to leave in a few days, before leaving, Lin Baicheng naturally wanted to spend more time with his women in the United States, especially Isabella, who had a more important status. It was necessary to spend more time with her.