June 18th is a new box office week.
After last week's four new films, three more films will be released in North American theaters this week. They are Columbia Pictures' second blockbuster of the summer "Phantom Heroes" and Daenerys Entertainment's "Seattle Nights" in collaboration with Disney. "Sleepless" and New World Pictures' crime thriller "The Thrill".
Arnold Schwarzenegger's $85 million "Phantom Hero" is the most watched movie this week. It opened on 2,306 screens, a full 1,000 less than "Superman". It is not difficult to see that Columbia Pictures actually does not have too much confidence in this film.
"Sleepless in Seattle" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan opened on 2,369 screens. As a romance film that needs to rely on word-of-mouth for a long-term strategy, the opening scale of "Sleepless in Seattle" is of course impossible to exceed 3,000 yuan. It is deliberately reaching a level slightly exceeding that of "Phantom Heroes", which is also the responsibility of the two companies' distribution teams. Do it intentionally.
New World Pictures' "The Thrill" stars Don Johnson and Rebecca De Mornay, following the success of 1990's "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle". Starring in the second femme fatale movie.
Simon and his wife arrived in Melbourne on June 15.
Janet continues her leisurely pregnancy life after returning home, while Simon follows up on the filming of "The Dark Knight Rises" while also taking care of an expansion plan recently launched by the Johnston family.
As Japan's economy fell into a downturn after the real estate and stock market bubbles burst, Australia's economic development, which relies heavily on Japan's import demand, has also fallen into a trough in recent years. Among them, the strongest impact is undoubtedly the mining resources of the Johnston family. field.
Simon knew that Australia's economic downturn would last until about 2000. It would not be until the rise of China after the new millennium that Australia would take off again with China's strong demand for imported resources.
The industry's trough period is actually the best period for expansion and integration.
Without Simon, the big butterfly, the Johnston family, which can only be considered moderate in strength, would have difficulty expanding in such a trough period due to lack of funds and other factors, and would even be more likely to become a target of mergers during the consolidation of large industries.
This time, the Johnston family has not only accumulated a large amount of funds through several financial capital operations with Simon, but also has the entire Westeros system as its backing. It can fully realize the small fish in this inevitable wave of industry consolidation. A move to expand by eating big fish.
When Simon arrived in Melbourne, Johnston Holdings was already quietly preparing to acquire Billiton, Australia's third-largest mining group.
In the original time and space, the name BHP Billiton is familiar to anyone who pays a little attention to the mineral resources industry.
It is still 1993, and many industries around the world are in the early stages of separation. Not only Hollywood media companies, but Australia's mining industry is also in full bloom. It is far from reaching the three mining giants of Australia's BHP Billiton, Britain's Rio Tinto and Brazil's Vale after 2000. It has nearly monopolized the world's iron ore industry.
There are currently three large mining giants in Australia, namely BHP, Billiton and Northern Mining. It is worth mentioning that three companies, or most of Australia’s mining groups, are headquartered in Melbourne.
The market value of the three giants has reached tens of billions of dollars. Among them, Billiton, which has the lowest market value, has a current market value of about US$13 billion.
This is Johnston Holdings Group's first goal.
By acquiring Billiton, Johnston Holdings Group will be able to completely transform from an investment holding group that only focuses on mining into the ranks of mining giants.
Even if the Australian economy is at a trough, if you want to acquire Billiton, which has a market value of US$13 billion, you will have to pay a premium of 25% to 30%. Therefore, the final transaction value of this business is expected to be US$16 billion to US$17 billion. , equivalent to 23 billion to 25 billion Australian dollars.
No company can easily come up with such a huge amount of funds.
Therefore, no matter what industry, the evolution from ordinary enterprises to industry oligarchs is equivalent to a transformation from quantitative change to qualitative change.
Of course, it is impossible for Johnston Holdings Group to acquire Billiton with an all-cash plan. A complete stock exchange acquisition is of course the lowest price. However, in doing so, it is not certain who will be absorbed, because by then Johnston Holdings Group The stake in the new company is bound to be very low.
So a cash and stock approach will be used.
In the preliminary plan, Johnston Holdings Group will divest and integrate its own mining business to establish a subsidiary, and then use this subsidiary with an asset value of approximately US$3 billion as the main body to acquire Billiton in a cash and stock manner. , the merger method is half equity and half cash, of which the cash part requires approximately US$8 billion.
8 billion US dollars in cash, of which Johnston Holdings Group will also bear half. Counting the subsidiaries with assets of 3 billion US dollars, it is expected to achieve approximately 35% of the shares of the new company after the merger. The remaining 4 billion US dollars of funds will be temporarily provided by other related capital Contribution.
For a mining giant that is already a publicly held company, completing a 35% shareholding ratio is basically equivalent to firmly controlling the company.
Moreover, a one-third shareholding is actually the limit that the Australian government can tolerate.
As a pillar industry of the country, it is difficult for the Australian government to allow a single capital oligarch to completely control a mining giant, because it is difficult to explain to the public, and the Johnston family does not intend to do so. If the proportion is too large, the goal will be exceeded. Obviously, once industry turbulence occurs in the future, the risks that need to be borne will also increase significantly.
Holding 35% of the shares can not only guarantee almost absolute control, but also integrate with capital from all walks of life to form a bundled state of common advancement and retreat.
Of the US$4 billion that Johnston Holdings Group needs to bear on its own, the Johnston family can only contribute US$1.5 billion. Other shareholders of Johnston Holdings Group bear US$1 billion. The remaining US$1.5 billion naturally falls on Simon. . Moreover, the additional $4 billion in cash also needs the help of the Westeros system to bring in capital from all parties such as Wall Street to participate.
I spent a week in Melbourne before I knew it.
These days, Simon can basically only spare two or three hours a day to stay on the set of "The Dark Knight Rises." The rest of the time is taken to various meetings by Raymond Johnston or Anthony Johnston. Or socializing.
Raymond Johnston has now gradually transferred control of the company to Anthony Johnston. However, this expansion is a big deal for the Johnston family, and many things require the old man to do it himself.
After crossing this threshold, the Johnston family will be able to step into the ranks of world-class wealthy families from a remote wealthy family limited to a corner of Australia. This is not to say that the Johnston family's wealth will increase too much in a short period of time. The main thing is that the Johnston family's wealth will increase too much in a short period of time. Or the family's influence and voice in the energy and mineral industry have increased significantly.
Speaking of which, this is also a process close to quantitative change to qualitative change.
Moreover, this is actually only the first step in the plan. Next, Johnston Holdings Group will at least merge with BHP, the top three Australian mining giants, to once again form the once hundreds of billions-level BHP Billiton giant. Even if he can go further, Simon would not mind continuing to take over Northern Mining Company and further monopolize Australia's mining field.
Northern Mining Company was acquired by the British company Rio Tinto in the original time and space, and Rio Tinto became one of the three iron ore giants in the world.
Of course, these things cannot happen overnight.
Even the current expansion will take at least a year if everything goes well. After the acquisition is completed, it will take another one to two years to adjust and integrate the new company.
Therefore, if you want to carry out the next expansion, the earliest it will be is 3 years later. After three years, if we can successfully further merge with Bihe Company, mergers and acquisitions and integration will take another three years, and we will almost enter the new millennium by then.
It takes less than ten years to build a 100-billion-dollar giant in the world's mining industry. Such a cycle is not long at all.
In the northern suburbs of Melbourne, inside the Johnston family's mansion on the Yarra River.
The time is already Tuesday, June 22nd.
It was lunch time, and a large family gathered in the restaurant. There were more than 20 people of all sizes, and it was very lively.
Not only Janet, but after getting married at the end of last year, David Johnston's wife Leslie has also recently confirmed that she is one month pregnant, so the women's topics basically focus on issues such as pregnancy care and baby care.
A certain little guy was held in the arms of the old man. The grandfather and grandson seemed to have a very tacit understanding. Melbourne, who already showed some signs of being a playboy, was rarely naughty and even personally grabbed food and put it into his grandfather's mouth.
Simon sat between Anthony and Norman Johnston, and the three brothers continued to discuss the trivial matters of annexing the company.
"If you are interested in your family's ranch in Queensland, you can take it all away this time. Simon, there is no need to continue buying land in Tasmania. The land you currently occupy is vast enough, and that If Bian still produces nothing, it would be a complete waste to continue doing it.”
"You know, Norman, I just want an island."
“…”
Anthony smiled and continued: "Tasmania is so big and there are so many cities and towns. After all, you can't make this island your own."
"It all depends on people. There are only more than 300,000 people there. If necessary, I can fully support them."
Norman shook his head helplessly: "I can see that Simon is probably a southerner from the United States and a descendant of slave owners."
Norman Johnston did not lower his voice, and everyone laughed, but Veronica, who was sitting across from the long dining table, looked up and looked away again as if nothing had happened.
Simon shrugged and smiled: "Maybe."
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon after the lively lunch.
The brothers left the restaurant and planned to go to the study to continue talking about more formal matters. Ken Dixon walked in, nodded to the Anthony brothers, hesitated for a moment and did not get closer, and said directly to Simon: "Over there in New York, Herbert Ste III has called three times.”
Anthony looked at Ken Dixon's expression, looked at Simon and said, "Hearst family, is there any problem?"
"Just some small things," Simon shook his head and said, "I'll leave for a while."
Although they noticed something strange in Ken Dixon's expression, Anthony and Norman didn't ask any more questions. Ken Dixon and Neil Bennett were once the most loyal bodyguards of the Johnston family, before Simon and Janet got married. , the Johnston family will also directly inquire about some things through the two of them. After Simon and Janet got married, the two people completely transferred their ownership. Even the old man no longer interfered with the privacy of Simon and his wife. The same is naturally true for the Anthony brothers.
Arriving at a small living room in the mansion, Simon did not use the satellite phone. He directly picked up the landline microphone in the corner of the living room and dialed a series of numbers at Ken Dixon's prompt.
The phone was connected, and as soon as he spoke, an obviously frustrated voice came from the other side of the phone: "Westeros, what are you going to do?"
Simon took the phone away slightly, sat down on the sofa next to him, and said casually: "William, I should be the one to ask you this question."
"You actually let people break into my bedroom!"
"It's a pity, but you must be wrong about this. A civilized person like me would not do that kind of dishonorable thing. If you don't believe it, I suggest you call the police. By the way, no one is looking after you. Is there a horse head on the bed? This is so Hollywood, haha."
The tone on the other side was even more angry: "You little bastard, you are breaking the rules."
Simon was too lazy to fight with the other party anymore and said coldly: "Rules, William, if I want to break the rules, something should appear in the newspaper."
"Huh, so you admit it?"
"I don't admit it."
"You, Son of... "
"Shut up or I will actually give you a horse head."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I just said that I am a civilized person, and I also hope that everyone is civilized." Simon said coldly: "However, if someone wants to do something uncivilized, I think you should also know my barbaric behavior." What time is it like.”
After Simon finished speaking, he stopped talking nonsense and hung up the phone directly.
It was already late at night in New York on the other side of the world.
The Hearst family mansion in Greenwich was still brightly lit, and a large number of security guards were conducting detailed inspections inside and outside the mansion. Half an hour ago, William Hearst III and his wife, who had gradually gained control of the Hearst family, were planning to take a rest and entered the bedroom. I discovered that the bedroom that had just been tidied up in the afternoon was filled with a lot of things, all of which were secretly photographed or secretly recorded of the Hearst family's privacy. There were also some indescribable videos playing on the TV in the bedroom.
Apparently, the Hearsts had an intruder.
After discovering the situation in the bedroom, watching the video on the TV, and thinking about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, the family's sister-in-law, Hearst III's wife fainted from fright.
William Hester III was also trembling with anger, but he quickly figured out the whole story.
After a lot of trouble, I called Australia and wanted to question a young man, but I was met with disappointment.
It's not over yet.
After noisy until late at night, and finally about to rest, the phone in the bedroom rang again. Hester III answered the phone irritably. A weak cry for help came from the other side. The two unlucky guys woke up after being in a coma for seven days. I found myself in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, more than 10,000 kilometers away, with only a series of phone numbers at hand.