East Midland, Delaware, where Digital Realm is registered.
At Newark Airport, a passenger plane from the far east landed slowly at the airport.
The cabin door opened, and Li Qian, who was dressed more formally, stepped off the plane, followed by Zhong Lifang and an acquisition team of nearly 20 people.
Thomas, Vice President of Worldwide Distribution of Warner Bros., who had been waiting at the airport for a while, came over with a smile on his face.
"Oh, dear Li, welcome to Milijian!"
Li Qian shook hands with him and said with a smile, "Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Thomas."
"Get in the car, I've already booked a hotel, it's not far from the bankruptcy court."
Thomas asked Li Qian to get into a commercial car, and after the car started and drove away from the airport, he introduced the situation of tomorrow's auction.
"There are many funds and companies that have signed up to bid, including large investment banks with a scale of over 10 billion. Disney, Fox, Industrial Light and Magic and other companies are also here. Tomorrow's auction is not expected to go well."
Li Qian naturally knows that this is not an ordinary acquisition in the digital field, it is an auction after bankruptcy.
The biggest advantage is that you don’t have to take on any debt.
However, what was auctioned was not the entire digital field, but the core special effects business and the Canadian special effects studio.
Other animation studios and commercial advertising businesses will not be sold.
Not everyone can participate in this auction. The Digital Domain has previously designated Searchlight Fund to make the first bid. Searchlight Fund quoted US$15 million, which is the reserve price for tomorrow's auction.
This is called a "horse bid", which means that a buyer selected by the bankrupt company makes an initial bid for its assets. From among many bidders, the bankrupt company selects the "horse bid" to make the first bid.
In other words, the companies and fund giants participating in the shooting tomorrow, apart from those who are full and full to watch the excitement, are basically interested in winning the core special effects business in the digital field at a price of more than 15 million US dollars.
Otherwise, although Digital Field is the world's top special effects company, it is nothing to those investment giants who easily make billions or tens of billions of dollars.
Since the 2008 economic crisis, Mi Lijian has made countless acquisitions and mergers that are larger than those in the digital field. In the capital market, the digital field is nothing.
With so many people participating, the digital field still has a certain value. After all, it is one of the best in the world in terms of technology, even stronger than Weta Digital and Industrial Light and Magic in some aspects. Otherwise, Industrial Light and Magic would not come here.
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Major Hollywood giants have also signed up, including Warner. Li Qian smiled and asked, "Mr. Thomas, is your company also interested in the digital field?"
"Of course." Thomas said without hesitation, "But this does not affect our cooperation."
Li Qian nodded and expressed his understanding. As one of the Hollywood giants, Warner participates in investment every year and releases countless movies and many blockbusters every year. It would be great if it could win the core special effects business in the digital field at a low price.
However, Thomas still added, "It's just that we just want to expand new business, and there is little hope. Those blood-sucking capitalists are the main buyers in the auction."
Haha, it sounds like Warner is not a capitalist. Time Warner, the company behind Warner Brothers, is a big capitalist with a market value of nearly 100 billion US dollars.
Along the way, he learned about various companies and funds participating in the auction from Thomas. When the car arrived at the hotel, Li Qian went up to rest first. After all, after taking such a long flight, there was still a time difference of more than ten hours.
After resting for a while, Li Qian called everyone to the room and held a small meeting.
Li Qian smiled and said, "It seems that the digital field is still very valuable. Major Hollywood giants and many capitals have come to participate, including Industrial Light and Magic."
"Industrial Light and Magic is also interested in digital field technology. After all, the special effects business is the core business in the digital field. Particle effects and real-time rendering are all high-quality assets." Zhong Lifang said.
Real-time rendering, as the name suggests, literally means that the digital field is already planning to use holographic images to resurrect the late rap god 2PAC and Gou Ye performing on the same stage.
This bankruptcy auction is actually a way for the digital field to sell high-quality assets in order to raise funds. If the assets are worthless, they will not be sold for money, and they will be of no use to the digital field.
Through the acquisition team's information, Li Qian also knew that in fact, the special effects business in the digital field had been quite profitable before, otherwise it would not have been successfully listed, with a market value of up to 400 million US dollars.
However, the previous management team blindly expanded its business, not only doing movie special effects and commercial advertisements, but also getting involved in the animation field. Not only doing special effects, but also investing in animated films and movies.
What's even more outrageous is that they actually engage in education and set up a free special effects training school.
Originally, movie special effects and commercial advertisements were enough to guarantee the digital field, but the battle line was stretched too long and investments were made in blockbusters, and the funds were suddenly cut off.
The ambition is too great. You must know that film investment, especially large-scale productions, often takes two to three years to start.
In the first half of the year, assets in the digital field were US$200 million and liabilities were as high as US$215 million.
But last year, the IPO raised more than 40 million U.S. dollars, and the Florida government seemed to have provided more than 100 million U.S. dollars in subsidies. Under this background, the asset-liability ratio was actually able to reach this level in a short period of time. The company's management is really weird.
It's not the special effects company's problem, it's essentially the management's fault.
As long as we return to the original traditional special effects business, there will be no loss in the acquisition, otherwise Li Qian would not have made a special trip.
We held a small meeting to determine the strategy for tomorrow's auction. After having dinner, we continued to rest.
.......
The next day, Li Qian led the acquisition team to the bankruptcy auction court in Delaware on time.
Thomas also arrived with Warner's team, but he mainly came to contact Li Qian. Naturally, there are people specifically responsible for the auction.
Auction teams from various companies and funds arrived one after another, carrying briefcases and computers. 80% of them were wearing black suits and looked quite formal.
Thomas was standing by and introducing the bidding teams of Disney, Fox, and various funds to Li Qian one by one.
When I encounter a special company, I will highlight it.
Sony is coming to Japan with a short stature. Different from other giants, Sony has a special effects company called Sony Graphics, which was founded in 1992. It is also known as Digital Field, Weta Digital, and Industrial Light and Magic.
One of the four largest special effects companies in the world.
It goes without saying what kind of company Sony is, even if you don’t understand it, it is a super giant.
With money and a special effects company under his banner, it goes without saying that Li Qian knew that the other party would be his main rival.
Perhaps because Li Qian was the only Asian group in the hall, the vice president of Sony looked at Li Qian twice and then sat down in his seat.
Stupid little boy!
Li Qian secretly gave a middle finger gesture.
"Ichiro Takagi, the newly appointed vice president of Sony Entertainment." Thomas introduced from the side.
Takagi, I thought it was Murakami, Yamashita, or Tanaka, but Takagi looks much more normal, like a personal name.
People came in one after another, and after a while, I finally saw a familiar face.
Li Ming, chairman of Pony Films, came with his team, but there were a lot of people, and there was also a team of Indo people with him.
Li Qian and his gang were mixed in among a group of whites and blacks. It was difficult not to notice. Li Ming saw him and Zhong Lifang at a glance.
But there was no response, he just nodded to Li Qian.
More than a dozen companies have also arrived, each sitting in their own area. The court bankruptcy auction is different from other auction houses.
At the very least, it's not like using a sign to quote, you're 10 billion, I'm 20 billion, and then suddenly a wealthy man who's not short of money comes and asks arrogantly for 100 billion.
What is involved is the company. In addition to the price, there are also acquisition plans and subsequent operations. The creditors must be satisfied. Otherwise, it will be useless if the creditors do not agree.
However, if a certain company's price is much higher than that of other companies, then there will be no other problems. After all, the offer is too much to refuse.
After waiting for a while, the judge presiding over the auction came, and the bankruptcy auction began.
First, the fake horse with an asking price of US$15 million, Searchlight Fund, presented its auction plan to the judge.
There is nothing new. In fact, everyone sitting here has similar acquisition plans. After all, this time it only involves special effects business and special effects studios.
Each company took turns to submit their own plans and prices, and the price slowly climbed to 24.9 million, exceeding the initial price of 10 million.
The current market value of the digital field is only US$21 million.
Zhong Lifang also represented Future Pictures and presented her acquisition plan, with the price increased by 200,000.
In fact, it is similar to holding a sign, but there is an extra procedure.
Industrial Light and Magic also made a bid, as did Disney and Warner. In comparison, Industrial Light and Magic, which is a special effects company, has an advantage, but they are short of money.
The advantage of major film and television giants is that they can provide stable business to the digital field every year, which is what the digital field needs most now.
The one that has both of these is undoubtedly Sony. Sony's vice president confidently stated his own plan, which basically combines the advantages of Industrial Light & Magic, Disney, and Warner.
The bidding team formed by Li Ming and an Indu company also submitted its own plan and raised the offer to 27 million yuan.
Coming from a military background, Li Ming's handling style has always been so direct.
All companies have submitted plans and quotations, the auction has lasted for six hours, and the day has almost passed.
Sony's Takagi added another 500,000.
Li Qian looked at the time. The auction was originally expected to last two or three days, but he didn't have time to sit here for two days for this little money. It would be uncomfortable to sit there for a whole day.
"28 million US dollars!" Li Qian said.
"28.5 million!" Takagi glanced at Li Qian and continued to increase the price. He has his own special effects company and has entered the film and television industry in a big way. Sony is determined to win this trip.
"30 million US dollars!" Li Qian spoke again.
At the beginning, everyone was in the 20s or 30s, and the maximum was up to 500,000 US dollars. Li Qian directly increased the amount to 30 million US dollars, which immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
Of course, major entertainment companies know about Li Qian. Columbia transferred a large sum of money three years ago, and this year Warner made a huge profit with "Jaws 3", which grossed more than 60 million US dollars at the overseas box office.
There are only a few Chinese directors and actors who can make money, how could they not know them?
But this time, Sony's Takagi was angered. He glanced at Li Qian with a cold expression and a trace of disdain on his lips.