The day after the dinner at Raybould's house, Janet began to negotiate with Blackstone Group about acquiring the equity of Blackstone Financial Management Company.
Busy, Thursday is coming soon.
Blockbuster chose to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Simon and Janet got up at seven o'clock and rushed directly to Midtown. Blockbuster Chairman and CEO Wayne Huizenga and Daenerys Entertainment Amy and others on the other side have already arrived.
Everyone ate breakfast in a hurry and came to the Nasdaq exchange hall on 42nd Street. It was already overcrowded.
In addition to the management of Daenerys and Blockbuster, big-name filmmakers such as Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Diane Keaton were also invited to help out today.
If other companies want to do this, an expensive appearance fee will definitely be indispensable, and they may not be able to get it. For Daenerys Entertainment, it can be solved with just a few phone calls. Because the invitees are all filmmakers who live in New York, you don’t even need to pay for travel expenses.
Simon's attendance is also of a supportive nature.
At around eight o'clock, after taking Janet to show her face in front of the media, the two temporarily hid in the lounge upstairs of the exchange to wait for the bell-ringing ceremony.
Robert De Niro and others also arrived one after another.
Simon also meets Kathryn Bigelow, whom he hasn't seen for a while.
After "Blue Angel," Katherine spent most of her time living in New York.
Simon could feel that the woman was obviously deliberately alienating her relationship with him, and he did not force it. Catherine has always had a very independent personality and cannot become someone's vassal, and Simon does not want Catherine to become his vassal.
"It's a remake of a 1962 film called Cape Fear, about a convicted criminal seeking revenge on the judge and lawyers who sent him to prison. Spielberg started early. He started working on the script adaptation of this project, but it has never been put into production. He recently asked Martin and me if we were interested in taking over. Martin had read the script Steve had asked to write and thought it was terrible, so he is still hesitant."
In the lounge.
Simon, De Niro and others were sitting on the sofa chatting about recent events.
While Martin Scorsese is taking care of the post-production period of "Goodfellas", he is already looking for his next new film. De Niro will soon join the team to start filming a biographical film "Speechless", which is expected to be released by the end of the year. This makes him This year, there are still two big screen works that have maintained a relatively high production rate.
The "Cape Fear" currently being talked about can only be counted as a project for next year.
In my memory, "Cape Fear" did very well at the box office. However, since this is a project led by Spielberg, Simon has no intention of getting involved.
Of course, if "Cape Fear" is produced by Universal as it was in the original time and space, and Simon can successfully win Universal this year, the film will still be in his own hands.
Amy and James have been paying close attention to MCA's recent developments. Simon's plan is to wait until Cersei Capital's mergers and acquisitions team is established before finding the right time to formally launch an acquisition offer to MCA. Such a business can just help Cersei Capital's mergers and acquisitions. The business team opens the situation.
After chatting with De Niro and others for a while, Simon got up and came to Janet and Catherine, who were hiding nearby and chatting.
January in New York is the coldest time of the year. Everyone took off their thick coats when they entered the room. Catherine was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and was leaned against by Janet who was wearing a white sweater. People around me naturally feel a little more CP.
It was a three-seat sofa, with Catherine on one armrest and Janet originally sitting in the middle.
Seeing Simon coming, Janet, who was originally wrapped around Catherine, immediately moved to the other side and gave up the middle position to Simon.
Simon sat down unceremoniously and saw Catherine moving to the side a little, so he deliberately leaned closer to the woman. Naturally, he was given a blank look.
Janet came over with a smile, lay on Simon's shoulder and said to Catherine through the man: "Look, you are still such a bastard."
Simon pretended to be dissatisfied and said: "When you say that, shouldn't you avoid the person involved?"
Janet curled her lips: "I just want you to hear it."
Catherine smiled as she watched the two bickering and said, "I saw you boxing with someone in Melbourne. Don't be like this again, you will get hurt."
Simon nodded and asked, "How are the preparations for your new film going? Do you need my help?"
Catherine's new film is called "Point of Horror," and it's roughly a police movie.
Simon had some impressions of this movie. It was one of Keanu Reeves' early works and also starred Patrick Swayze, the actor of "The Last Days". The surfing and skydiving action scenes in the movie are very classic. Although the anarchist views it expressed did not please mainstream film critics, it was very successful commercially and had a group of very loyal fans.
Until many years later, Megan Fox, the Hollywood actress who became famous with "Transformers", named her son Bodhi after the character played by Patrick Swayze in "Point of View". , the corresponding word in Chinese is 'Bodhi'.
When Catherine heard Simon's nonchalant inquiry, she looked at the little man beside her with a smile and said, "Warner has officially approved the project, and Keanu and Patrick have also agreed to participate. Filming will probably start in the second half of the year."
The cost of "Point Break" is expected to exceed $20 million, which is already a big production for Catherine.
Hollywood's prejudice against female directors is deep-rooted. Without Simon's help, Warner would not have agreed to invest so readily, and the original Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze might not have agreed to participate.
Catherine knew all of this.
As everyone chatted, the time soon came to a quarter past nine. The staff came in and informed that the bell ringing ceremony was about to begin. Everyone got up and left the lounge.
The exchange was already overcrowded.
Simon and others appeared on the stage, and the flashlights in the hall immediately lit up crazily again.
After Wayne Huizenga made a speech, everyone gathered around the operating table and pressed the trading button together, and the bell-ringing ceremony was completed.
Next is the inquiry stage before the opening.
Because the subscription demand during the road show was very strong, compared with the underwriter's initial recommended price of $13 to $15, Blockbuster's issue price was finally determined at $17, issuing 15 million new shares and raising $255 million.
255 million US dollars, which is enough for Blockbuster’s expansion needs in the next year.
As a result, shareholders and management unanimously rejected the underwriters' proposal to increase the issuance.
In the first round of inquiry, the quotation jumped directly to the range of 17.5 to 18.5 US dollars.
After completing their platform tasks, Simon and his team left temporarily. There will be a celebration reception at noon. Today's guests can decide whether to attend according to their own arrangements.
Simon was definitely going to attend the noon drinking party, but before that, he still had some things to do and needed to return to his apartment on Fifth Avenue.
Catherine was about to leave, but was forced to take her home by Janet.
There are already some people waiting here, staff from a genetic research institute in the UK.
Things are simple.
After collecting blood samples from Simon and Janet, several staff members confirmed some things with Simon again, then hurriedly said goodbye and left to fly back to the UK.
Catherine watched all this, feeling confused.
Janet leaned into her ear and whispered a few words, and the woman finally understood.
Then, thinking that Simon and Janet were about to get married, I still felt a little sour in my heart.
Inside the Nasdaq exchange floor.
After three consecutive rounds of bidding that lasted for an hour, Blockbuster's opening price was finally confirmed at $19.50.
Subsequently, official trading began, and the stock price immediately exceeded the $20 mark.
The celebration reception at noon began. Blockbuster's stock price had exceeded $23, and trading in the afternoon was still very active.
As of the end of the trading day on Thursday, Blockbuster's share price was finally fixed at US$26.5. Compared with the issue price of US$17, it rose 56% in one day, and its total market value reached US$2.199 billion.
Because of its participation in the subscription of this new stock issuance, Daenerys Entertainment's shareholding in Blockbuster remains at 35%.
After two investments, the company's total expenditure was approximately US$210 million.
As of the close of the day, Daenerys Entertainment's US$210 million investment had increased to US$770 million, with a return rate of more than 300% in just one year. In fact, the reason why Blockbuster's stock price rose sharply on the first day of its listing was mainly because Daenerys Entertainment achieved great success in this investment.
Daenerys Entertainment's huge book profits stimulated investors' enthusiasm for buying, and the market's popularity, in turn, made Daenerys Entertainment's investment more successful.
After the listing of new shares, the major shareholders and management of the listed company enter a silent period as a rule.
However, this will not hinder Blockbuster's normal operations.
On the second day of its listing, Blockbuster announced that it would acquire the Errol video chain company headquartered in Baltimore on the East Coast. Compared with Blockbuster, which already had more than 1,200 chain stores across North America, Errol was only in the East Coast. There are 250 chain stores in several coastal states such as New York and Washington.
The final purchase price reached by the two parties was US$40 million, a cash and stock deal, and Blockbuster would also assume Errol's debt.
This deal has been under negotiation during Blockbuster's IPO, and the official announcement on the second day of listing is also a good thing.
After completing this transaction, Blockbuster will have more than 1,500 chain stores. Although its market share is still less than 20%, it is also the largest video rental and sales chain store in North America.
After the news of the acquisition of Errol was announced, Blockbuster's stock price rose slightly again on Friday as expected, breaking through $28 at the close of trading on Friday.
With the successful completion of the IPO, Blockbuster will also begin its expansion in overseas markets.
On the other hand, Blackstone Group received an acquisition offer from Cersei Capital for Blackstone Financial Management Company led by Lawrence Fink, and initially rejected it directly.
Although there is discord between Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and Lawrence Fink, Blackstone Financial Management's performance since its establishment has been very good, and Blackstone is reluctant to let go of this subsidiary that is in the rapid growth stage. company.
It wasn't until Lawrence Fink threatened to lead the entire team to leave collectively that Schwarzman reluctantly compromised, but the Lion still quoted a price of US$200 million.
Blackstone Financial Management's revenue last year was US$33 million, and net income before tax attributable to shareholders was approximately US$7 million.
Because of the debt crisis in the second half of last year, even most listed financial companies on Wall Street have a recent price-to-earnings ratio of only more than ten times. Blackstone Group's offer of US$200 million to Blackstone Financial Management Company is equivalent to a price-to-earnings ratio of nearly 30 times, and Cersei Capital is naturally unable to accept it.
After finishing the Blockbuster matter, Janet stayed in New York to continue negotiating acquisitions with Blackstone Group and preparations for other departments of Cersei Capital, while Simon returned to Los Angeles with Amy and others over the weekend.
On the Daenerys Entertainment side, from January 12 to January 18, the box office of "Batman Begins" still dropped 31%, collecting another US$41.06 million. However, within four weeks of its release, the film's cumulative box office has quickly reached US$271.75 million.
At the same time, on January 19, Daenerys Entertainment's first new film of 1990 was officially released, called "I Want to Go Home."
This is a film that Ira Deutschman bought from the Venice Film Festival last year. At that time, a total of three films were selected, and this was the only one that was finally negotiated.
"I Want to Go Home" stars the famous French actor Gerard Depardieu, who has more than 10 César Award nominations and awards. It tells the story of an eccentric American cartoonist who took his wife to travel to Paris and all kinds of interesting things that happened. Just like "A Fish Named Wanda", which poked fun at the cultural differences between Britain and the United States, "I Want to Go Home" pokes fun at the cultural differences between Britain and France.
However, since it is placed in January, Gaomen Pictures obviously does not have high expectations for the film's box office. The number of opening screens is only 523, which can be regarded as a work to fill the release schedule.
Daenerys Entertainment’s recent announcement focus is on February’s “Pretty Woman.”
The film's confirmed release date is February 9, the week of Valentine's Day.
The management was initially not very optimistic about this project, which was adapted from a dark drama about the love story of a call girl and a financier, but the final result of the film was very good. If Daenerys Entertainment had not already confirmed its film release plans for the entire year, it would even consider changing the schedule to a more popular schedule.
Speaking of which, Daenerys Entertainment has confirmed 12 movie releases for the whole year of 1990. According to the release time, they are "I Want to Go Home", "Pretty Woman", "Crazy Fat Baby Variety Show", "Children in the Cornfield 2", "The Love Between Ghosts", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Ghostbusters", "Family Journey", "Angels at My Table", "Dances with Wolves", " "Intersections of Life" and "Home Alone."
In addition to the films released by the company itself, there are also four works in the 10-film plan last year, namely "Sleeping with the Enemy" in cooperation with Fox, "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" in cooperation with Disney, and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" in cooperation with Universal Pictures. ’s “Dangerous Days” and “Pink” in partnership with Columbia Pictures.
A total of 16 films were released, which is similar to last year’s release scale.
When Simon returned to Los Angeles this time, his main job was to sort out these sixteen films in various stages of production and distribution, and to confirm some projects for 1991 in advance.
According to the plan, Pixar will launch its first 3D animated film "Toy Story" at the end of 1991, and the last part of the "Scream" series "Scream 3" is also scheduled for next year. In addition, there will be Madonna Music documentaries and external cooperation films such as "The Fugitive" and "Terminator 2".
But these are obviously not enough.
Fortunately, with the continuous expansion of Daenerys Entertainment, the company, like other Hollywood studios, has a number of projects in development that can be launched at any time. A large number of independent producers in Hollywood are also very much looking forward to working with Daenerys. Entertainment cooperation, the projects in the hands of these people are richer.