v2 Chapter 563： Murdoch's M&A case

Now is not the time to talk in detail. Duke and James Cameron did not talk for long before the party officially kicked off. This kind of thing does not require two people to talk in detail. As long as they can reach a preliminary intention, there will naturally be Professionals conduct more in-depth cooperation negotiations.

Probably the cooperation in "Titanic" left James Cameron with a good impression, or perhaps the king of the world expected too much investment. James Cameron revealed a bit about Duke's investment. The appearance of interest.

After the party started, Duke also went to a secluded place and directly called his accompanying bodyguards, asked them to record the incident, and notified Tina Fey and Nancy Josephson in time.

Although the party is not held in the form of a formal dinner, there are many tables, and there are circles where there are people. In this commercial party, fame and wealth are the criteria for delimiting the circle.

There is no doubt that with Duke's current status, he is naturally a member of the party's top circle.

After enjoying the hotel’s carefully prepared dinner, Duke did not intend to stay longer. After all, there is still preparation work for "Iron Man" tomorrow, but Rupert Murdoch took the initiative to find it, and it seems that there is something to talk about.

Leading the way in front of the Mrs. Murdoch, Duke and Rube ∨, Te Murdoch walked into a reception room on the top floor, and after the waitress served coffee, they sat separately On the sofas on both sides of the room.

"Duke, speaking of it, I have some opinions on you, the majority shareholder of Marvel Comics."

Sitting on the sofa, Murdoch said in a half-serious and half-joking tone, "It's fine if Marvel doesn't cooperate with the announcement of "Fantastic Four", and it has done so many things."

Having roughly understood the meaning of Murdoch’s words, Duke showed a helpless smile, “You should know. Rupert, I don’t have any permission to participate in the specific work of Marvel Comics.”

This is the truth. Except for the general direction and the necessary financial issues that allow people to supervise, Duke, the shareholder of Marvel Comics, will not participate in operations at all, and he is not good at this aspect.

But Rupert Murdoch mentioned the "Fantastic Four." Duke also knew it well.

"Fantastic Four", like "Spider-Man", "Iron Man", "Hulk" and "Captain America", are the signature characters of Marvel Comics. Because of the financial crisis and bankruptcy issues, Marvel Comics will The film copyright of the Four Heroes was sold to Twentieth Century Fox.

After receiving Duke’s capital injection, Marvel’s financial situation has greatly improved, and as the winter of the comics industry has passed, business conditions have continued to improve, especially the success of the "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" movies. Let Marvel executives thoroughly see the power of their own superheroes on the big screen.

then. Marvel inevitably wanted to take the wandering children back into his own hands, and after the failure of Ang Lee's version of "The Hulk", he took back the movie copyright of "The Hulk" and then set his sights on On the "Fantastic Four".

But Twentieth Century Fox is not a fool. Even though Marvel Comics paid a high enough price to buy back the copyright, they still chose to refuse and elaborately created "Fantastic Four". It was officially released in July.

Because in the film copyright contract signed by Marvel and Twentieth Century Fox, there is a clause that is automatically triggered when the conditions are met-the box office of "Fantastic Four" is too low. Marvel has the right to withdraw the copyright of the film at the original selling price-so when the 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" is about to be released, Marvel used some small tricks.

In the comics of a certain world in the "Fantastic Four" in July, they not only changed the four of them into wicked villains, but also caused them to die in a very miserable way.

Maybe the comics played a role, or maybe the vase of Jessica Alba, who no longer knows where she is, is missing. The box office of "Fantastic Four" did not meet the expectations of 20th Century Fox, but it has also won a box office of 100 million US dollars in North America, and it has not activated the repurchase clause of Marvel Comics.

Duke knew about this, but didn't mean to interfere. This is just a small matter for him.

Rupert Murdoch only briefly mentioned it, and then he threw it aside. After all, compared with the things to be discussed below, "Fantastic Four" is simply insignificant.

"Duke, I heard that the tripartite negotiations between Duke Studio, Pixar Studios, and Time Warner have reached the final stage?"

After the topic left from "Fantastic Four", Rupert Murdoch directly turned to Time Warner, "If this negotiation is completed, Time Warner's strength will become stronger."

Knowing that the other party had something to say, Duke was just looking at Rupert Murdoch.

The media tycoon did not let him wait, and quickly said, "I have an idea about Time Warner."

Duke raised his brows slightly, thought about it, and said, "I'm just a director..."

Murdoch interrupted him just as he said this, "Duke, don’t be so humble, now who doesn’t know how important you are to Warner, you are not only the largest individual shareholder of Warner Bros., movies related to you. The revenue generated by the project is also heavyweight in the entire Time Warner..."

He looked at Duke, his old face looked very serious, "If this tripartite negotiation is completed, you will become one of the major shareholders of Time Warner. Although I don’t know the specific content of the negotiation, I want to come, you and Steve. ? Jobs will inevitably ask for a seat on Time Warner's board of directors."

"Also..." He seems to want to completely expose the other side of Duke hidden under the director's coat, "You have initially rescued dc comics, and you have also introduced Marvel comics into Warner's system. These two systems If you can achieve the expected success, your voice in the entire Warner system will become pivotal."

"Moreover, you can still affect the guy Steve Jobs..."

Hearing this, Duke couldn't help showing a helpless smile that he only understood. He could indeed impress Jobs with profit and other means, but if he could really affect the other party, it was indeed too high for him.

"While holding Time Warner's equity and board seats, you can influence the entire Warner's performance through commercial operations. Duke, you will become a key point for Time Warner."

Rupert Murdoch stared at Duke for a few seconds before sighing, "Originally, you should have become a partner of News Corporation, but Townsend Rothman that idiot..."

After hearing Rupert Murdoch say a few more words, Duke took a sip of coffee, put down the coffee cup, and said, "Rupert, what do you want to do?"

"I want to acquire Time Warner!"

Hearing Murdoch’s words, Duke was not shocked. He glanced at him and said, "Why should I support you? Your chances of success are low."

Since it was a commercial negotiation, he didn't mean to obscure.

Duke was not shocked, but Murdoch was a little surprised. In his eyes, Duke was too calm, but he did not show it and said, "If you don't try, how can you succeed?"

"The current Time Warner is no longer the former Time Warner."

As if to show his determination and confidence, Murdoch said faintly, “Time Warner is not News Corp. Its shares are scattered in the hands of thousands of shareholders. Anyone who holds five percent of the shares can It can be called a major shareholder, as long as it can earn the support of major shareholders, this acquisition may be completed."

There is no doubt that if the tripartite negotiations between Duke Studios, Pixar Studios and Time Warner are completed, Duke and Steve Jobs will also become the majority shareholders of Time Warner as Rupert Murdoch calls them.

"What about the Antitrust Office of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission?"

Why is Duke not shocked, because he once saw the news that Murdoch wanted to acquire Time Warner, "This is the media industry, how could they sit back and watch such a behemoth emerge."

"There is always a way." Murdoch just smiled.

Of course, Duke can hear the meaning of this sentence. After living in North America for so many years, he knows very well that many federal agencies are actually not as clean as they thought.

Rupert Murdoch was quite proud and bewildered, "Duke, don't you think that we can create a new situation in the world media industry together is a great pioneering work that can be remembered in history?"

Duke directly shook his head. He was not interested in such a name that had no real benefits.

This conversation has long involved business negotiations. Rupert Murdoch is not stupid. He knew that words alone would not be able to impress Duke. He added, "If the merger is launched, I will acquire you at a premium. When you arrive at Time Warner and hold the shares of Warner Bros., you can get the power independent of all the film companies of News Corporation, all your project companies will give full support, and you can share 100% of all the proceeds of the movies you make Thirty points!"

Hearing this, Duke suddenly thought of another thing, "Rupert, you want more than this, right? If Marvel's movie is successful, is it also in your plan?"

"Why not?" Murdoch's words were straightforward. "Duke, you know that News Corp. can't generate so much cash flow. The transaction with you will inevitably take the way of stock exchange. You will Not only is the shareholder of the group, I will also leave you an important position on the board of directors."

Duke was silent for half a minute before slowly saying, "I'll consider it seriously."

"I hope we can cooperate." Murdoch laughed.

"We have a chance to cooperate right now." Duke suddenly changed the subject, "Rupert, although the rise of the Internet has brought certain changes, the media market is so big, the rise of new companies will definitely damage the news. The interests of the Group and Time Warner, I think, compared to mergers and acquisitions that do not know when they will be realized in the future, it is urgent to attack the newly emerging media groups, such as Walt Disney!"

(The dispute between Marvel and Fox about the Fantastic Four happened this year. I borrowed it.) (To be continued.)