On Janet's birthday, the couple flew to Miami to spend it together.
Taking advantage of the trough of the U.S. real estate industry, Janet purchased a 6-hectare seaside land in North Palm Beach, Miami last year. The land is located in a high-end wealthy area, with a golf course to the north, a private beach to the east, and a beach to the south. Forest Park is a prime location.
If the cold winter in the real estate industry had not forced developers to cut back on development plans, and the buyer was Simon Westeros, who can bring great fame to the wealthy area, this land that is enough to build seven or eight luxury houses would definitely not be available. Will be sold in packages.
Even so, the transaction price of just these 6 hectares of land reached US$10 million.
Janet plans to invest another 20 million US dollars to build a seaside manor. Construction of the main villa started last year, and the entire manor will be completed and occupied in the second half of next year.
As a transition, Janet also purchased a 1.5-acre mansion next to the manor. It is planned that after the manor is completed, the half-acre mansion will be directly integrated into the manor.
Because news spread that Simon had purchased a property in this wealthy area, the surrounding housing prices have increased by 20% in just the past year.
Several properties around Simon Manor have become the snap-up targets of many people. The quoted price even exceeds double the average house price in wealthy areas. Smart developers also use the properties around Simon Manor as signboards and hold on to them, hoping to sell them. Give more rich and famous people to further enhance the popularity of this wealthy area.
Shopping, fishing, attending parties... Janet arranged a colorful vacation schedule for three days from Friday to Sunday.
The couple returned to New York on Monday, March 16th.
Sofia Faisy isn't gone yet.
A detailed investigation of CK has been done in advance. Sophia's offer to CK on Saturday was US$50 million, of which US$40 million was used to purchase 55% of the shares from CK shareholders, and US$10 million was injected into CK as a loan to alleviate this problem. cash flow pressure on the company.
In addition, Sophia also promised that after completing the acquisition of CK, Melisandre Company and even the entire Westeros system will provide the company with channel, legal, marketing and other resource support to help CK quickly reverse the current situation it is facing. difficulties and further develop and grow.
In addition to family infighting, many of the problems CK faced at this time were similar to those of Gucci. Gucci’s rapid rise was visible to everyone.
Although the price offered by Sophia was low, it was not too harsh. It also reserved 45% of the stock for other CK shareholders to appreciate in the future.
Therefore, although only 24 hours of consideration time were given, after several trial discussions and counter-offers to no avail, CK's founder Calvin Klein and the company's board of directors finally accepted Melisandre Company at the last moment. quotation.
The news of the acquisition agreement was featured in the New York Times on Monday.
After Gucci, Chateau Latour and Van Cleef & Arpels, Melisandre Company has once again acquired a well-known luxury brand and continues to take another step towards the goal of a comprehensive luxury goods group.
CK is not a listed company.
However, with the announcement of the news, the bankruptcy haze that has been surrounding CK has been swept away. With various media reports, even the sales of CK products have increased significantly. The attitude of the brand licensors who have been entangled with CK has also softened. Although they are more reluctant to let go of the licensing rights in their hands, they are also willing to make corresponding concessions in terms of licensing fees and other aspects.
Simon did not return to the West Coast this week, but worked with Janet to participate in the next phase of Cersei Capital's development planning.
The first is Cersei Fund Management, a hedge fund.
After the completion of the oil market operation last year, Cersei Fund Management Company faced a 'transformation' problem.
In order to avoid possible targeting of the entire Westeros system, Cersei Fund Management will try to reduce macro hedging that may affect a country's economy.
In fact, when the Berlin Wall fell, analysts at Cersei Fund Management predicted that the European monetary system would undergo a reshuffle.
In 1979, the eight countries of the European Community, led by Germany and France, established the European Monetary System to counter the US dollar. This system determined a relatively fixed exchange rate exchange mechanism based on the strength of each country at the time. The United Kingdom, which had always been 'maverick', until It was only announced in 1990 that it would join.
However, after the merger of East and West Germany, Germany's economic strength increased significantly, and it was very unfair to Germany to continue to maintain the original exchange rate system. In order to attract the UK to join the European Monetary System two years ago, the exchange rate of the pound was significantly overvalued, thus creating a strong imbalance that required a reshuffle.
Of course, the UK, which has taken advantage, definitely does not want to reshuffle the cards, which requires some external force to promote it.
In the original time and space, Soros's Quantum Fund launched an attack on the British pound in September 1992, which ultimately ended with the significant depreciation of the British pound, Italian lira, Spanish peseta and other European currencies.
Soros personally made a net profit of US$1 billion in this currency sniper and became famous in one battle. Quantum Fund and other hedge funds involved in sniping the pound also made a lot of money.
On the other hand, the result was that the United Kingdom withdrew from the European monetary system again after the pound crisis, the European Community suffered a heavy blow, and the status of the US dollar was further consolidated.
Not to mention the deep-level great power game involved, if you wish, relying on Simon's prophetic advantage, Cersei Capital can now plan for European currencies in advance and slowly establish short positions in currencies such as the pound and the lira that are bound to plummet.
However, the Westeros system is not as pure as the Quantum Fund. Once this is done, Cersei Capital may be able to make a fortune, but the entire Westeros system will definitely encounter hostility and targeting from European countries in the future. Don’t even think about doing business well in all aspects of business.
Therefore, after reading the relevant reports from Cersei Capital analysts, Simon personally issued a message prohibiting Cersei Capital from participating in this operation, and would not allow a penny.
With big names like Quantum Fund in front, Cersei Capital seems to not attract too much attention even if it makes a small fortune, but there is no need to get involved in oil just for some leftovers.
Of course, the most important thing is that Cersei Fund Management Company has more suitable goals.
Technology stocks!
The new technology wave with the Internet as its core has emerged in advance. New technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Cisco, and AOL have seen their stock prices rise rapidly recently. However, based on the information in his memory, Simon is very clear that the current stock price It’s far from the craziest moment yet.
Therefore, now is definitely the best time to be long U.S. technology stocks.
In the original time and space, Tiger Fund, which followed the Quantum Fund in Southeast Asia in 1997, went into liquidation in the following two years because of its bets on shorting technology stocks. Tens of billions of dollars in funds lost more than 80% in just two years. , Hedge funds are a zero-sum game, and the case of the liquidation of Tiger Fund actually proved in the opposite direction how profitable hedge funds that were long in the technology stock market were at that time.
The craziest period for technology stocks may still be a few years away, but based on the overall trend of the Nasdaq market, if you start going long now, the profits will still be very generous.
More importantly, being long in technology stocks does not involve the strong political risks involved in macro hedging such as speculating on a country's currency. The overall market value of the Nasdaq technology stock market is one trillion US dollars, which is enough for Cersei Fund Management Company to run freely in it.
Inside an apartment on Fifth Avenue.
The time is already Wednesday, March 18th.
Simon and Janet came home from get off work together at the Cersei Capital headquarters in Midtown. Sofia also came to visit and stayed to have dinner together and talked about some matters about CK.
Although the two parties have reached a basic agreement, formally signing the acquisition contract still requires Melisandre Company to conduct a more detailed operational and financial audit of CK to ensure that there will be no unexpected debts and legal disputes. If all goes well, the acquisition will be completed early next month at the latest.
"After the acquisition is completed, CK's main energy will be focused on the three product lines of men's and women's high fashion, jeans and underwear. Although high fashion will compete with Gucci to a certain extent, it can still enrich the diversity of Melisandre's fashion business. Sex. The two major businesses of jeans and underwear are more important, which is also my original intention of acquiring CK, because these two product lines are areas that Gucci has not entered."
In the restaurant, Simon listened to Sofia's introduction and said, "At the last party, Klein said that CK's perfume products are also selling well?"
Sophia shook her head and said: "The perfume business only accounts for about 5% of CK's total sales, and it is difficult to compete with brands such as Dior and Chanel. This product line will not be canceled, but we will not invest more. We have recently The focus for a few years will be on growing Gucci’s fragrance business.”
Janet, who habitually sits next to Simon, asked: "What about the brand licensing situation?"
Sophia said: "This aspect is a bit complicated. In the 1980s, CK granted many product categories such as pajamas, swimwear, glasses, socks, shoes, homewares, etc. It is very difficult to take them all back, especially Melisandre's company After joining CK. However, these authorizations will expire within five years at the latest. My goal is to cancel some authorizations through negotiation as much as possible. It is really impossible to take them back. I also want to ensure the quality of the authorized products to the greatest extent so as not to affect CK. brand image.”
Simon added: "If it is confirmed that there are no major problems with this company, we can arrange for the exposure of some CK brands at the Oscars at the end of the month."
"I'm already in contact," Sofia nodded, looked at Janet again, and asked, "How is the LTD acquisition deal going?"
LTD is the commonly used abbreviation code for Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret.
Janet said: "KKR and Blackstone have recently become interested in LTD. There may be a bidding war. If the final offer is too high, we will have no choice but to withdraw."
KKR is the private equity firm that created the record-setting Reynolds-Nabisco merger a few years ago, not to mention Blackstone, the old employer of Blackrock Asset Management, which Lawrence Fink now heads.
Both companies are top private equity firms whose strength on Wall Street cannot be underestimated.
Acquisition negotiations quietly started in February, but the two parties contacted each other several times but failed to reach an agreement. Then, the news inevitably leaked.
Although LTD firmly denied that it leaked the news, the facts are obvious.
Affected by the leakage of the acquisition news, LTD's stock price has also risen significantly recently, and its market value has recently exceeded US$1.5 billion.
Neither KKR nor Black Rock has made a formal offer yet, but it is clear that once the two companies make a move, a bidding war will be inevitable, and the planned goodwill acquisition will be out of the question.
On Cersei Capital's side, Apollo Management's acquisition team has re-adjusted its acquisition plan and raised the upper limit of the offer for LTD to US$2.5 billion, which is a substantial increase compared to the US$1.7 billion expected in the initial good-faith acquisition stage. $800 million.
With the two competitors eyeing each other, even this is not a sure win.
However, the acquisition team has secretly absorbed 4.9% of LTD Group's shares. Even if the acquisition fails, Cersei Capital's efforts will not be in vain after cashing out the shares.
In Simon's memory, the peak market value of LTD Group once exceeded 20 billion US dollars.
Even if the company is bought for US$2.5 billion now, according to the usual holding cycle of about five years by private equity companies, based on the upward trend of the U.S. economy in the next five years and the development potential of LTD itself, Simon also believes that in five years, LTD Group will The stock price can at least ensure a 100% doubling growth.
In five years, the average annual return is 20%. This return on investment is not low for private equity.
Simon returned to Los Angeles the next day, and it was late March, and the 64th Academy Awards ceremony to be held on March 30 was approaching.
According to the voting process, the judges of various Oscar awards have recently sent in their votes, and the award results are basically settled.
Daenerys Entertainment's two key nominated films this year, "The Piano" and "Thelma and Louise," are destined to be just runners-up. Others such as "Snow World" won the best documentary feature and "Raise the Red Lantern" won the best. Even though it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and so on, it didn’t put much effort into public relations.
This promises to be a rather quiet year for Daenerys Entertainment in terms of awards.
After calculation, among the total 22 nominations under Daenerys Entertainment, the only one who is relatively guaranteed is the heroine of "The Piano" Holly Hunter.
Thanks to her outstanding performance in "The Piano", the actress's nomination for Best Actress was well deserved. Moreover, compared to several other candidates, Holly Hunter also has a deep accumulation of connections in Hollywood. You know, this actress was once Spielberg's girlfriend.
Holly Hunter's agency ICM also invested a lot of resources and contacts in public relations in order for Hunter to win the statuette.
Easter in 1992 was April 19. One month in advance, Daenerys Entertainment's key project for Easter this year, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2", entered the sprint promotion stage.
Simon is quite satisfied with the final result of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2". However, the box office of several "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sequels released by New Line in the 1990s has continued to plummet, which also makes him doubt the box office of this sequel. Showing some concern.
If it weren't for the fact that the final cost of the sequel was only $30 million, and it also needed to cooperate with Blizzard Studio's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series of games, Simon would have considered canceling the production of the sequel like "One Flew Over the Wild".
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" did not immediately strike while the iron was hot and launch a sequel last year after the first film was released in 1990. This was also due to Simon's concerns.
In the final analysis, although "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is very well-known, the IP image tends to be younger, and adult audiences can easily lose interest in the sequel after the initial novelty wears off. For young audiences, even if the film itself has achieved a PG rating, the real-life Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will not be as popular with children as the cartoons.