Out of concerns about hindering media freedom, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) restricted the number of media companies in the same region. In the early days, FCC even stipulated that a TV network could not own more than two public TV stations in the same region at the same time, but These restrictions have been relaxed with the development of the times and the promotion of capital forces, otherwise the phenomenon of monopolizing news channels by several major media companies in North America would not have occurred. ●⌒,
However, at this time, the FCC's restrictions are still relatively strict. ABC's TV network covers the entire United States. In order to pass the FCC's review, Firefly had to promise to divest a public youth TV station in Los Angeles that it acquired when it acquired Disney within a certain period of time.
After solving these problems, the merger between Firefly and ABC was quickly reviewed by the FCC.
While accepting the FCC review, Firefly started a large-scale debt financing plan. Firefly has achieved ultra-high profitability in the past two years, but in order to ensure sufficient cash flow for the company, Eric only plans to withdraw $2 billion in cash from the company for this acquisition, and the remaining $8 billion will be raised through bond issuance.
Both Firefly and the abc TV network after the merger have a large amount of good assets, coupled with the same stable operating conditions and profit expectations of the two companies, no one will doubt the solvency of Firefly in the future, credit rating agencies such as Moody's The credit rating of the company is maintained at a very high level of AA.
Therefore, for a whole week, Eric was surrounded by investment bank executives from Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and countries around the world. If they get this business, the basic commission and the interest rate difference earned during the issuance process are enough for them to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. In the 1990s, the annual profits of most investment banks in the United States were only about one billion dollars.
In order to raise this huge amount of funds as soon as possible, Eric followed Chris's suggestion and chose Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank as two lead underwriters to undertake the bond issuance of US$4 billion each, while raising funds in North America and Europe.
It's been a really busy week in New York, as there's a lot of media going on all the time. Eric didn't even get to go to Long Island to visit a pair of children who are about to turn one year old, and he didn't even have the opportunity to fine-tune Catherine, who is also in New York.
On March 21, although affairs in New York were still in turmoil, Eric had to board a plane back to Los Angeles. Went to the 66th Academy Awards.
The small Gulfstream business jet owned by Firefly Corporation landed at Santa Monica Airport. When he felt someone pat him on the shoulder, Eric opened his eyes and saw the tall stewardess in front of him. Eric tapped head. stood up.
During the week in New York, he could not rest until late at night every day, and the only thing Eric wanted now was a good night's sleep.
Carrying a suitcase and stepping off the plane alone, he looked at his watch. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon. Feeling the warm sunshine above his head, Eric realized that the time displayed on the watch was US Eastern Time. At this time, Los Angeles It should still be two o'clock in the afternoon, five hours before the Oscars ceremony.
As one of the most important film award ceremonies in the United States and even in the world, the stars participating in the Oscars are often ready within a few days of the award ceremony. Eric thought that it was rare for him to be in such a situation. He just received an award speech from the Oscar organizing committee three days ago. It was just because he was discussing the details of the bond issue with the acquisition team at that time. Rick just glanced briefly, and now he has basically forgotten all about it.
However, fortunately, what he is going to present is the last best film. As the awards ceremony is nearing the end, there will not be too many restrictions on the lines of the award presenters. Feel free to play it. Eric believes that no one in the academy will settle accounts with him. .
It was Kapoor who came to pick him up. Although Eric's identity has gone far beyond the level of director, matters such as attending events will still be handed over to icm to help arrange.
The two talked and laughed and got into a commercial vehicle, and Kapoor joked to Eric: "Only you are so careless about Oscar. Some stars in the company heard that they would attend. They even couldn't sleep for several days. "
Eric smiled and gestured to Kapoor for his faint dark circles, and said with a smile: "I can't guarantee that I will fall asleep on the Oscars, by the way, the seat they arranged for me will not be in the first place." line up?"
Kapoor said: "What do you think? Who dares to put you in a secondary corner now."
"Okay," Eric shrugged. "If I take a nap at the Oscars, I think it will increase the ratings for the ceremony."
Kapoor laughed. After a while, he said, "By the way, have you followed the latest Hollywood news?"
Eric shook his head and said, "No, what happened?"
"Last week, Michael Ovitz sold his shares in CAA. This morning, Japan's Panasonic Group announced the appointment of Michael Ovitz as the president of Universal Pictures. Michael Eisner is about to undergo heart surgery," Caple paused, and said: "Michael Eisner's heart problem is very serious. I heard that the success rate of the quadruple bypass surgery to be performed this time is only about 75%."
Both Eric and Kapoor have no friendship with Michael Eisner, not to mention that Eric is very aware of the results of Michael Eisner's heart surgery, so he didn't have any thoughts, just asked: "Panasonic didn't let Is Michael Eisner leaving?"
"Universal's business situation has been improving in the past two years. As long as Michael Eisner successfully completes the heart surgery, he can still resume his previous work status. The Japanese are also waiting for the results."
"I think Universal will definitely get into trouble in the future," Eric said with a smile, "Although Michael Ovitz manages CAA very well, the film company is not an agency after all. If Michael Eisner fails to After surviving this operation, it will not be so easy for Michael Ovitz to maintain Universal’s situation. People say that Michael Eisner can successfully complete the operation, so the situation will be even more interesting.”
Kapoor saw a gloating smile on Eric's face and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Although Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz are very good friends, this is only in the case of not involving company power disputes. Both of them are the kind of people with a strong desire to control. Once Michael Ace Na passed the operation successfully, then Universal Pictures is likely to fall into internal power disputes," Eric said, and suddenly asked: "By the way, did Michael Eisner prepare a golden parachute for Michael Ovitz? Such an employment agreement?"
In my memory, Michael Ovitz took away more than 100 million US dollars in severance compensation after working in Disney for more than a year, because Michael Eisner made a tailor-made compensation amount for Michael Ovitz in advance Very high golden parachute agreement.
"It seems that there is such a thing, otherwise Michael Ovitz would not have given up CAA so simply and joined Universal Pictures. Five years ago, when Sony had just acquired Columbia, he had also invited Michael Ovitz to take charge of the company. At that time, Michael .Ovitz said no immediately."
"That's it," Eric nodded with a smile: "Let's just wait and see the good show. Universal will definitely be very lively in the future."
Kapoor also nodded, but his expression was a little strange.
Eric noticed Kapoor's expression and asked with a smile: "You don't want to be a film company executive like Michael Ovitz, do you?"
Kapoor nodded slightly, without denying it.
Eric is very clear that most executives of brokerage companies aspire to become the top executives of film companies, which not only means more generous salaries, but also more extensive power.
However, although there are many cases in the history of Hollywood where agents turned film company executives and producers, there are not many very successful ones. In the memory of Eric's previous life, only Lon Meyer who successfully took charge of Universal Pictures One can be regarded as firmly seated as the head of a major film company.
From the bottom of his heart, Eric did not suggest that Kapoor change careers, but in the face of Kapoor's thoughts, Eric did not know how to persuade him, and it seemed that he could only let the facts prove it.
"Let's talk about the Oscars tonight. I haven't paid much attention to them. Which awards are more promising for "Pulp Fiction"?"
"There is no big-name director competition this year. I think Quentin is very likely to win the best director," Kapoor also put aside what happened just now, and said: "However, the most stable one should be the best original screenplay."
Eric remembered that the best actor this year should be Tom Hanks in his previous life, but because Hanks filmed "Saving Private Ryan" ahead of schedule, "Philadelphia Story" changed the actor. At the Golden Globe Awards, Eric Rick didn't see the nomination for Best Actor in "Philadelphia Story". However, thinking of another person, Eric shook his head and said, "Then John Travolta's Best Actor should also be out of the picture, right?"
Kapoor nodded: "Daniel Day Lewis lost to Al Pacino in the "My Left Foot" Best Actor a few years ago. This year he won the second nomination, and the chance of winning is better than John's. . Travolta is much bigger."
While "Pulp Fiction" wowed critics and fans alike, there's no serious competition this year.
However, Eric finally found that due to the limitation of the subject matter, the possibility of this film winning important awards such as the best picture is still very low, and the subsequent facts also proved this point. (To be continued.)