"Mr. Qin, let me introduce to you. This is Mr. David Rubinstein, the founder and chairman of Carlyle Investment Group. Carlyle plans to invest at least US$2 billion in China in the next few years, mainly in the field of machinery and heavy industry. "
In a hotel ballroom in midtown Manhattan.
It was the evening of December 19, and a reception was being held here to celebrate China Telecom's successful listing on NASDAQ.
Chen Qing introduced David Rubinstein to a senior executive of Telecom, while helping to translate, and patiently accompanied Rubinstein to chat with Mr. Qin. Chen Qing remembered something and asked: "David, what happened in Ukraine?" , is there any progress on Carlyle’s side?”
David Rubinstein nodded and said: "I just sent a piece of information to Simon this afternoon about this matter."
Chen Qing paused and didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she planned to ask her boss for documents.
After chatting for a few more words, Chen Qing waited for Rubinstein to leave and explained to Mr. Qin next to him: "I just asked Carlyle about helping to import technology from Ukraine to China. Mr. Qin, I hope you don't mind," she said Then he lowered his voice slightly: "You know, Mr. Qin, there is an aircraft carrier in Ukraine's Black Sea Shipyard. The country is interested in purchasing it, but there is great resistance. Carlyle has deep connections in Washington. If they help, our success will be The rate will be much higher.”
Mr. Qin, who was really dissatisfied with Chen Qing's abandonment of her conversation with the American just now, was shocked when he heard this. He shook his head quickly and lowered his voice subconsciously: "Of course I don't mind, this is a big deal."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and gestured not far away: "Mr. Qin, over there is Mr. Helton, the president of Nokia's US branch. Let me introduce him to you."
"Of course, I happened to know something recently. Regarding some of the past events between Mr. Westeros and Motorola, China Telecom is about to begin a major expansion. In order to thank Mr. Westeros for his support of this telecom listing, We will definitely increase cooperation with Nokia and reduce purchases from Motorola in the future."
"This is really good news. I will let Simon know as soon as possible. He will be very happy to know."
They continued socializing in this way until about 11 o'clock in the evening. When the reception ended, Chen Qingcai and Lin Su returned to their residence in the Upper West District together.
After a busy day, Chen Qing's mood was still high.
After taking a shower, I calculated the time difference. It was not yet nine o'clock on the West Coast, so I tried to call my boss. I didn't expect much at first, but I unexpectedly got through. After chatting for a while, I learned that my boss was filming "Charlie's Angels". 's premiere party.
Chen Qing also paid attention to Hollywood, and then she remembered it after her boss mentioned it.
Of course, it’s just knowing.
Chen Qing didn't have the energy to pay too much attention now. After confirming that her boss didn't want to hang up the phone in a hurry, she talked about the general situation of China Telecom's listing today.
Although China Telecom (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., the predecessor of China Mobile, plans to be listed in Hong Kong and New York at the same time, the listing time in New York is one day in advance, and the listing time in Hong Kong is the next day. Of course, if you calculate the time difference, they are actually only 12 hours apart. The market in Hong Kong was about to open when the two people were talking.
Overall, this IPO was very successful.
With the full support of the Westeros system and due to the good feedback from previous global roadshows, the final issuance price of China Telecom’s new shares issued on Nasdaq was determined to be US$5.35. Calculated based on the launch of 500 million new shares in North America, the amount of funds raised reached At US$2.675 billion, the scale of financing in Hong Kong is equivalent to that in North America.
After calculation, the total financing amount of China Telecom’s listing exceeded US$5.3 billion.
Although the actual amount of funds obtained is less due to the existence of several major Hong Kong consortiums and Westeros companies who have subscribed for a large number of shares at a discount in advance, the successful completion of the US$5 billion level financing is definitely a big win. win.
On the first day of listing in North America, because it was labeled as a Westeros concept stock, and the listing of Instagram some time ago has just re-stimulated the technology stock market, even though it is a Chinese concept stock, it will inevitably encounter a lot of negative negative opinions. According to reports, China Telecom's stock rose by 27% on the first day, with a closing market value of US$26.9 billion that day.
Westeros Company and a group of capital investors from Hong Kong initially invested US$500 million in advance to buy a large number of stocks for China Telecom Trust. Based on the discount of these stocks and today's single-day increase, it was only one day. The profit is already close to 50%.
Of course, profit is only secondary.
A 50% increase in the value of US$500 million in a single day is just a small amount of money for Simon. The key is that the success of this IPO paves the way for further cooperation between the two parties.
In any case, China Telecom's IPO this time is much better than the previous situation in history when the IPO almost failed due to the financial crisis and even later barely succeeded and had a tragic first-day stock price break. For the same proportion of stocks, the amount of financing has increased by nearly 10%. $1 billion.
Quite a happy ending.
After chatting for a while, Chen Qing brought up Carlyle and Ukraine again. Simon hadn't had time to read the documents sent by David Rubinstein, but he promised Chen Qing to let Girl A take the time to forward a copy to her.
A party scene at a hotel near the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
Simon stood in the corner of the hall and talked to Chen Qing on the phone. He heard the girl finally say that the team of "Fashion" magazine in China had given a positive reply and said: "Then I will say hello to Semel tomorrow, and you can do the rest by yourself." You can do it... Go to China? You know I won't be free during this time... That's it... Well, bye."
After hanging up the phone, Simon sorted himself out a little and stopped getting interested.
After all, it is just one part of his many plans in China. When China Telecom went to the road show, Simon was not worried about the follow-up.
He handed the phone to Girl A next to him and just received a glass of champagne from the female assistant. Not far away, several girls headed by Elizabeth Jagger gathered around her, annoying Kate who happened to come forward. ·Beckinsale was visibly depressed.
Reaching out to rub the girl's head, which was becoming more and more graceful, Simon pretended to be in pain and said, "You have to come here to watch the premiere like this every time, in a group at a time. It's a bit expensive. What should I do?"
Elizabeth was very dissatisfied with Simon messing up her hair, shook her head and shook his arm off, and said confidently: "I called you daddy, isn't that enough?"
“…”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and reached out to grab Nikki Hilton next to her: "Nikki, come here too, hurry up and call daddy."
Nikki Hilton was looking at the man in front of her with bright eyes, but when she heard this, she subconsciously shook her head: "I don't."
Elizabeth was carefree: "I know you like my dad, but, you know, men actually like to be called daddy, it's very exciting."
Nikki was not a little kid who didn't understand anything. When she heard this, two blushes flew up on her face, and she glanced at Simon shyly.
Simon raised his hand and gave Elizabeth a chestnut. Seeing the girl covering her head in pain, he said, "Okay, if you make trouble again, I will have you kicked out."
Elizabeth immediately calmed down her expression, looked very insincere, and asked: "Dad, do you have any plans for the weekend?"
"Yes, it's work, and it's not your turn if it's not scheduled," Simon said, waving his hand: "Go and play, you can only stay here for half an hour more, and you must return to your residence before ten o'clock."
"Well, it's really heartless and verbose."
Simon turned to the female assistant next to him: "A, help them arrange a car."
Elizabeth immediately covered her ears and pretended not to hear, and left playfully with a group of girls.
When these girls joined the crowd, Barbara Broccoli, the female producer of the 007 series, was the first to come over and raised her glass: "Simon, I have to admit, this movie is really outstanding."
Simon smiled and said: "It seems that you think "Charlie's Angels" is qualified to be linked with 007, right?"
Barbara Broccoli immediately felt resentful again: "Can I say no?"
"Unfortunately, we can't. Moreover, just talking about "Spectre", facts have proven that the plan I gave is a wise choice."
Although Barbara Broccoli did not agree, she already recognized a certain man's statement in her heart.
The summer release of "Spectre" has been released for half a year, and its global box office has now exceeded US$750 million. Even after accounting for inflation, this movie surpasses any other film in the 007 series. You must know that after accounting for inflation, the previous most successful film "007: Thunderball", based on 1996 standards, had a global box office of only $680 million.
Not only that, after watching "Charlie's Angels" today, coupled with the success of the DC Cinematic Universe series and the Conjuring Cinematic Universe series, Barbara Broccoli is also full of expectations for planning an equally ambitious Agents Cinematic Universe series.
Mainly because "Charlie's Angels" is really, really good.
First of all, there are the three heroines, Kate Beckinsale, Marcy Amick and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Not only do they have their own characteristics, but the roles they play are also vivid, completely surpassing the previous TV series version where there were only three characters. The shackles of the vase, whether it is the powerful fighting ability of the character played by Kate Beckinsale, the top female gunfighter played by Merchen Amick, or even the wisdom and role of a thief played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, all make people shine. .
Secondly, although the beginning of this series is still a high-concept story routine, which roughly tells the story of three angels who accidentally got involved in a huge human trafficking network and destroyed it through a hostage rescue incident, there are many plots, such as Kate Beckinsale's restaurant fight scene, Machen Amick's bullet point hitting a wall at the same time, Catherine Zeta-Jones's crossing of an infrared alarm network, etc., are all full of innovation.
Finally, this opening chapter also sets the stage for the integration of the Agents movie universe.
The human trafficking network that the three angels worked together to destroy is one of the huge industries of Spectre. Therefore, in the ending Easter egg, Spectre not only comes to the door, but also many details in the story are not difficult to discover, even if three Charlie, the man behind the angels, may all be inextricably linked to Spectre.
As for whether it is a positive or negative connection, we can only wait for the subsequent announcement.
Thinking about this, Barbara Broccoli couldn't help but ask: "Simon, after "007" and "Charlie's Angels", which project is MGM going to develop next, "The Bourne Supremacy"?"
"It's still a little early for 'The Bourne Supremacy'. At least there will be another sequel for '007' and 'Charlie's Angels' before I will consider other series."
Barbara Broccoli didn't know whether to feel lucky or regretful for a moment: "It seems that I have to speed up the development of the next 007."
Due to some scheduling issues, MGM chose to hold the premiere on Thursday, the day before the large-scale opening. However, the next day, the reputation and popularity of "Charlie's Angels" were still rapidly growing. In addition, the plan for the secret agent movie universe was once again confirmed through the film. For a time, fans of the secret agent film cheered for joy, and other Hollywood studios came again. Enemy.
The two major movie universe series have already occupied a large and fairly fixed market share. Now, how can we not double the pressure when another one comes.
What's more, the final comprehensive media score of 8.2 points for the "Charlie's Angels" series is higher than that of "Game of the Brave" which opened last week.
Along with the opening of "Charlie's Angels" in North America on 3,136 screens on December 20, came the box office data for the first week of the Christmas season, which has just ended and has attracted much attention.
In the first week of the Christmas season from December 13th to December 19th, "Jumanji" reached the top of the list without any suspense, with a box office of US$63.35 million in the first week, an opening scale of 3,539 screens, and an average of US$17,900. Even if it cannot be compared with "Wonder Woman 2", it still perfectly met the expectations of the two producers.
It exceeded 60 million U.S. dollars in its first week. Not surprisingly, "Jumanji" has basically locked in a domestic box office of 200 million U.S. dollars.
The production cost of "Game of the Brave" was US$82 million, with a publicity investment of US$35 million, totaling US$117 million. Therefore, as long as it is local, this project is expected to recover all costs and enter a profit cycle.
The second place on the list is "Wonder Woman 2".
Due to re-entering the popular Christmas season, despite the impact of "Jumanji", "Wonder Woman 2" still only saw a 35% box office drop this week. Of course, if you think about it carefully, this is still a very high drop, because in previous years, many films at the end of the year would even experience a reverse drop when they entered the Christmas season.
In any case, in its fourth week of release, "Wonder Woman 2" continued to earn US$38.81 million, with a cumulative box office of US$353.11 million.
The third place is "Good Will Hunting".
This literary and artistic drama, which was once crushed by "Titanic" and still achieved dazzling box office results, still showed its dark horse status this time.
In the first week of its large-scale release, "Good Will Hunting" earned as much as 23.92 million U.S. dollars with only 1,746 screening screens, and the theater average reached 13,700 U.S. dollars. Compared with the subject matter and size of the film, this is almost a small miracle. Including last week's screenings, the cumulative box office of "Good Will Hunting" has reached 29.35 million US dollars in the two weeks since its release.
The total investment in the production and promotion of this film is only US$20 million. Not surprisingly, it will be able to recover all costs and achieve profitability next week. After a massive first week of success, Gaomen Pictures responded quickly and increased the number of screening screens to 2,125 in the new week.
With three strong films from Daenerys Entertainment dominating the list, the most direct consequence is the dismal opening of two other large-scale films last week.
The fourth place on the list is "Jingle Bells," a family comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The box office in its first week was only US$12.17 million. The production cost of US$30 million was equivalent to three times that of "Good Will Hunting." The box office was only half that of "Good Will Hunting". With such a start, the local box office of the film is expected to be only 30 million to 40 million U.S. dollars. Fox, the producer, can only hope to recover the cost overseas and surrounding areas. The share-sharing contract that came with Schwarzenegger's initiative to cut his salary in half has basically become a piece of waste paper.
The fifth-place black comedy "Bodyguard" produced by Disney had a higher production cost of US$40 million than "Jingle Bells All the Way". The first week's box office did not even exceed 10 million, and the seven-day revenue was only US$9.69 million, which was even more bleak.
Finally, I would like to mention that "The English Patient" was screened on 10 screens in the Los Angeles area last week. Not only did it receive high praise from film critics in terms of word-of-mouth, but its small-scale screenings also averaged 49,000 in a single week. US dollars, basically following the winning route set by Simon and moving forward steadily.
December 20th.
In a new box office week, in addition to the fierce "Charlie's Angels", this week there will also be an animated film "Defface and Butt-head" also released by Paramount and Madonna's "Mrs. Peron".
There is no need to say more about "Charlie's Angels".
"Dirty and Big Head" is a movie version of a popular animated series adapted by Paramount. It has a 2D style and a painting style similar to "The Simpsons". Simply put, it is just a piece of cannon fodder.
"Mrs. Peron" by Queen McQueen, who gave it a go, was screened.
Although it has received a series of Golden Globe nominations and the Queen has received an endorsement from Simon, Paramount still adopts this rather conservative distribution strategy in order to avoid being overwhelmed by strong films at the end of the year, and even plans to The show will continue to be screened during the New Year's Day week until the end of the year.
In addition, this week's "The English Patient" is still showing, but the screening scale has increased from 10 screens last week to 27, and a large-scale opening is planned next week. .