Chapter 497： Copyright freeze

In Universal Studios, Ronan and Robert Iger entered an independent office building, and under the guidance of a staff member, walked towards a conference room.

Before getting close to the door of the meeting room, the door of the meeting room opened, and a man with a big nose and bald head sent out three middle-aged men in formal attire.

The two sides shook hands and said goodbye, unable to hear what was being said.

Ronan and Robert Iger slowed down very tacitly. Robert Iger said softly: "The man in gray formal wear is NBC CEO Bernat. I don’t know the person on his left, and the former American music player on the right. The company’s executive David Allison."

Ronan asked in a low voice: "The American music company formerly owned by Universal Pictures."

Robert Iger replied: "Yes."

As the two whispered conversations, the three middle-aged men in formal suits came to face each other and brushed past them. Ronan could notice that the eyes of these three were on him and Robert Iger for a long time.

Ronan and Robert Iger were prepared before they came, and looked at them as if they were competitors.

When he came to the elevator entrance, Bernat couldn't help but glanced back. The two people just walked into the meeting room.

That's the place Vivendi Group used exclusively in Universal Pictures to receive potential buyers.

The so-called potential buyers are competitors of NBC.

"David, you are more familiar with Hollywood." Bernat stood in the elevator room waiting for the elevator, and asked the person next to him: "Do you know the two people just now?"

The news of Vivendi’s sale of Universal Pictures was a bit sudden. NBC got the information before the news was made public, and then approached the Vivendi Group, originally thinking about taking advantage of Vivendi’s financial crisis and catching the sick cat. Take a bite hard and put Universal Pictures Group into the bag.

However, NBC will seize the opportunity, and Vivendi is not simple. They are indeed overwhelmed by the debt of more than 10 billion US dollars that are about to expire. They must repay the debts for the excessively aggressive expansion in the past few years. Did not surrender obediently.

The two sides contacted several times, and NBC pressed for a little bit, and Vivendi simply disclosed the news directly to attract more buyers to compete.

Fortunately, a lot of NBC's work sits at the front, and with the support of its parent company General Electric to a certain extent, there are currently no buyers outside of the Conscate Group.

This is a transaction worth more than 10 billion U.S. dollars, and because of its own special reasons, Vivendi must cash out, and does not accept conditions such as redemption at all.

There are actually very few companies that are really interested in entertainment companies like Universal Pictures, capable of operating, and having the strength to eat.

More than 10 billion U.S. dollars in cash cannot be raised casually.

Someone has already communicated with Conscart, and Conscart himself has a lot of problems, but he has intentions but is temporarily unable to withdraw funds.

There is also cooperation between the two parties, and it is estimated that if some conditions are set, Conscutt's side will temporarily calm down.

But I didn't expect to encounter two new faces here today.

This kind of wait-and-sell transaction is most afraid of the appearance of powerful spoilers and competitors. Once the acquisition becomes a bidding, the additional funds may be hundreds of millions.

David Allison had watched these two people specifically, and then whispered: "The younger is the famous Hollywood producer and the boss of Relativity Entertainment Group Ronan Anderson. The older person is Robert Iger. , Formerly worked at Walt Disney, and later moved to Relativity Entertainment as the chief operating officer."

Bernat knew who the Relativity Entertainment Group and Ronan Anderson were, and frowned: "Is Relativity Entertainment interested in Universal Pictures?"

David Allison said: "No, Relativity Entertainment has indeed been developing like flying in an airplane in the past two years, but it doesn't have this kind of strength yet."

Bernat did not dare to take it lightly, and said to the assistant on the other side: "Call people to pay close attention to the news of Relativity Entertainment."

The assistant moved from Hollywood to NBC. He had a general understanding of some of the Hollywood situation. He said: "Ronan Anderson has established a Pacific Foundation to absorb overseas funds for investment. It is said that he has worked in Arabia, India, island countries, Countries such as South Korea and Germany have successfully raised funds with a total amount of more than one billion US dollars or more."

Bernat was shocked: "He has financing channels?"

This makes people worry.

In the conference room, Ronan did not speak. Robert Iger looked at Jean Pierce and said: "After receiving the news that you want to sell Universal Pictures, Relativity Entertainment is preparing for it, hoping to get a fair competition opportunity. "

Jean Pierce touched his big nose and said with a smile: "These are all easy to say."

As long as the price is right, they don't care too much about whom to sell to. Vivendi needs cash.

The two parties have already made a simple understanding, and Robert Iger simply asked the key: "Mr. Pierce, Relativity Entertainment is very sincere in launching this acquisition. We are raising funds and are cooperating with the Pacific Foundation to raise funds. Consortiums such as Milad International Holdings Group have agreed to raise funds from the foundation, and the first investment will be in place soon..."

This is to show that Relativity Entertainment has the strength to participate in this acquisition. Jean-Pierce can naturally hear that one more buyer is also a good thing for Vivendi. Otherwise, there are only NBC and General Electric buyers, and the situation is not very good. .

Jean-Pierce is very calm, as if Vivendi Group has not encountered any problems at all, and said lightly: "I have heard of your Relativity Entertainment, it is indeed a very powerful company."

In the past two years, Relativity Entertainment has produced and distributed many big-selling movies, and he has also watched movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Bourne Shadow".

Robert Iger's words continue: "What is your reserve price for transfer? Please also ask Mr. Pixar to make it clear so that we can raise funds."

Of course, Jean-Pierce will not tell the truth completely. He quoted a price: "13 billion U.S. dollars." He smiled: "If we can enter the actual negotiation and transaction stage, your company will naturally be able to carry out asset evaluation and other procedures, Vivendi Will cooperate fully."

Having said that, Jean-Pixar added: "We only accept cash transactions."

This type of transaction will undoubtedly cause many potential buyers to lose out directly, but Vivendi needs money, not other assets.

Ronan and Robert Iger quickly left after their first contact.

The goal is basically achieved, I understand the needs of Vivendi, and show his face in front of the people of NBC, how to develop in the future is not completely under their control.

Therefore, Ronan has to prepare with both hands.

Robert Iger returned to the company and led a specially established acquisition team to actually simulate the acquisition of Universal Pictures in order to accumulate practical experience and continue to release relevant news to the outside world.

Ronan turned around, came to Universal Pictures' office, and visited Ron Meyer.

"Ron, we are old friends too." Ronan deliberately complained: "The last time I called you, you were unwilling to reveal anything."

Ron Meyer was not embarrassed, and said: "This is the request of the head office, and I can't help it. You can't let me make a principled mistake, right?"

Ronan didn't have much to say, and instead asked, "Will Universal Pictures undergo major changes after this acquisition?"

"It depends on how the future head office thinks about it." Ron Meyer was not leaking.

Ronan seemed to be very casual and said: "What if someone wants to buy Universal's films or other copyrights?"

Ron Meyer was also an old fox, and asked, "Ronan, don't you think you have a movie project from Universal Pictures?"

Ronan knew that his intention could not be hidden, and neither admitted nor denied it.

Ron Meyer shook his head and said: "This is impossible. In order to sell Universal Pictures, Vivendi has temporarily frozen all assets, including copyrights. During this period, let alone copyright transactions, Universal Pictures except for existing Apart from film projects, there will be no new film projects."

He turned to ask: "What movie projects does Universal Pictures have that you can enjoy?"

Ronan said half-truth: "Universal Monsters' film remake copyright. I think Vivendi sells Universal Pictures, and maybe I don't care about these copyright transfers."

Ron Meyer smiled: "Copyright is the most important asset of a film company. Not to mention that the assets are temporarily frozen. Even if it is not, I will stop this transaction." He knew that this was a very uncomplicated young man. People, in order to make the other party give up, simply said: "I am a professional manager, this is related to my reputation and professional ethics."

Ronan also knew that it was impossible to open the gap from Ron Meyer.

Reputation is very important for a professional manager, and Ron Meyer is far from retirement age.

Ron Meyer knew that he could not sit in this position for long, and said casually, "Ronan, you have found the wrong person. We are old friends. I will tell you something if you want What, I should go to Vivendi, not me."

Ronan certainly understands what this means. It should be Vivendi’s full involvement in Universal. Vivendi holds the absolute controlling rights in Universal Pictures. They don’t want to sell. Universal has nothing to do. Vivendi wants to sell. Universal Can't stop it.

Afterwards, Ronan notified Robert Iger and let him handle the negotiations with Vivendi.

At the same time, prepare for the other hand.

After the business upgrade, the Pacific Investment Foundation held two press conferences in succession, and successively cooperated with Millard International Holdings Group and the Koch Foundation in Germany to accept investment from these two foreign companies.

The specific amount has not been announced, but the formation is very large.

Anyone with a little bit of information knows the relationship between Pacific Investment Fund and Relativity Entertainment.

In addition, compared to the entertainment commissioners who began to frequent major banks or financial institutions, the news in this regard is not hidden from others. Many people know that Relativity Entertainment is preparing to apply for large loans.

Ronan took the time to participate in the opening ceremony of "A Wonderful Night in the Museum", and the filming of this fantasy adventure children's film officially started.

But not every crew went smoothly. Bad news came to Ronan. The internal conflicts in the crew of "The Wedding Proud" in preparation suddenly intensified, which seriously affected the normal work of the crew.