Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 683 LeEco Can't Hold On Anymore
The fact that two films were released at the same time during the Spring Festival does, to some extent, reflect the "dereliction of duty" of Autumn Pictures.

Simultaneously marketing and distributing two films during the Spring Festival season is indeed a challenge for Autumn Pictures.

But this is absolutely not something to be laughed at.

Zhang Zhao, Chen Zhixi, and other senior executives have been giving outsiders a heads-up, saying that this is a "happy problem" for the company.

However, the company has the capability and wisdom to effectively promote and distribute both films.

The audience doesn't care about your dereliction of duty or not, as long as there are movies to watch during the Spring Festival.

The reaction of this "dereliction of duty" in the capital market is—no reaction.

Autumn Pictures' stock price fluctuated throughout the month, even experiencing a range-bound increase of around 6%.

The capital market did not consider the two films released during the Spring Festival to be any dereliction of duty by Autumn Pictures.

Now the problem is in Mr. Li's hands; he has to appease both film crews.

Inviting Chen Sicheng and Tong Liya to dinner, he said, "I won't say anything about treating everyone equally; you wouldn't believe me anyway. Personally, I'm on your side. You're practically a core member of the company; who else would I help if not you? He's with Berna; we only have a cooperative relationship. We'll have a long road ahead, but his cooperation with them might be over after this one. So, we can't let outsiders laugh at us for being xenophobic. We should give them some leeway and cooperate a bit. After this year, we probably won't have any more contact. Just consider it a favor to me."

He even offered Chen Sicheng a rosy picture: "The company and I personally have high hopes for you and are preparing to allocate another batch of stock to you. If you make a good impression this year, I'll be able to bring it up with the company."

This wasn't just empty talk; Li Qiutang genuinely wanted to tie Chen Sicheng to Qiu Tian's car.

Chen Sicheng's ability to make money and organize events is among the best in the Chinese-speaking world, making him worth the effort Li Qiutang would have to pay to recruit.

Whether Chen Sicheng believed in this opportunity or not, Li Qiutang had come to his door in person, so he had no choice but to accept it and promised to cooperate with the company in the joint promotion and distribution of the two films.

When Lin Chaoxian was invited for tea, his mentor Chen Jiashang was also present. One thing mainland directors could learn from Hong Kong commercial film directors is that they genuinely listen to their bosses.

The money for "Operation Red Sea" came from Qiu Tian, ​​who also gave Lin Chaoxian ample freedom to film, and he truly followed the boss's arrangements.

Promoting both films together? No problem, I agree!

Manage your staff well, and don't badmouth "Detective Chinatown 2" during the promotional period, no problem!
This matter is settled. We'll cooperate again next time, OK!

He also painted a rosy picture for the master and apprentice: "I plan to set up a new film and television company in Hong Kong or somewhere else, specializing in the Southeast Asian streaming market. I'm not very familiar with Southeast Asia, so I'll have to trouble Director Chen to give us some guidance."

How could an old fox like Chen Jiashang not see through Li Qiutang's empty promises? But what harm was there in agreeing to them? He wouldn't lose anything: "Oh, I wouldn't dare to offer guidance. Let's exchange ideas. I have quite a few friends in Southeast Asia. I'll introduce them to you later."

This idea wasn't as practical as Chen Sicheng's. Li Qiutang only had this one idea; he hadn't done any market research or developed any preliminary plan. He just wanted to expand the company into an overseas market.

By simply bluffing and promising promises, they secured contracts with two film crews.

Li Qiutang went back to work.

After holding on for more than half a year, Mr. Jia finally couldn't take it anymore and had to sell assets to pay off his debts.

In fact, LeEco still has a lot of high-quality assets. Many people wanted to take advantage of the situation and make a quick buck, but Jia Yueting managed to hold on until now, which is no easy feat.

Because Jia Yueting failed to escape, Sunac's CEO Sun did not take over LeEco and preside over the restructuring of related businesses, unlike Yuan Shikai.

The first assets sold were the real estate and cultural tourism assets that LeEco had accumulated over the years.

In mid-month, rumors circulated that LeEco intended to sell some of its industrial land reserves in Yizhuang. LeEco has 5000 mu (approximately 333 hectares) of industrial land reserves in Yizhuang, valued at 3-4 billion yuan. These reserves were originally intended by Jia Yueting to build a car factory, but now that his car manufacturing dream has been shattered, he has no choice but to sell them.

There were previous news reports that LeEco was going to sell its TV business to Coolpad and LeSports to Ali, but both rumors were denied by Coolpad and Ali in a very short time. They didn't want to get involved with this troublesome company at all, and LeEco officials also denied it.

At the time, Mr. Jia knew that the television and sports businesses were worth some money and didn't want to sell them just like that.

But now, no one is willing to buy the industrial land reserves he's offering!
It looks like a lot, 5000 mu, worth three or four billion yuan, but there are very few industrial enterprises in China that can afford to take over this land and are willing to set up factories in Yanjing.

Industrial enterprises and local governments are strongly intertwined. Why would several domestic car manufacturers, which are doing well in their local areas, come to Beijing?
In a few years, when Lei Jun announces that he will be making cars, we might consider selling this land to him.

LeEco's major shareholder, Sunac, had even less interest. Sunac is involved in real estate and cultural tourism, so why would it want to acquire industrial land in Yanjing? Sunac was focused on LeEco's cultural tourism and real estate projects, but Jia Yueting was too shrewd and refused to sell them until now.

Jia Yueting knew that a group of sharks were circling around him, waiting for him to die so they could swarm him and devour him.

So he is still struggling.

When he released his industrial land reserves, he anticipated that there would be few buyers, but he didn't expect that there wouldn't be a single one.

That makes sense. You know these reserves aren't important and you're selling them off, but what about other people? Would they even buy them?

If you really want to pay off your debts, bring out some good stuff to sell; it's not like you don't have any.

Sun Hongbing would greet him every few days, subtly hinting that he wanted LeEco's land plots in Shanghai.

Zhang Zhao and Wang Changtian even set their sights on his listed company, LeTV, just waiting for him to give in.

"Who are you trying to fool by showing off a few pieces of shabby land?" Li Qiutang said, envious of LeTV's current state. "If he keeps going like this, LeTV will be forced to delist."

The listed LeTV and the delisted LeTV are two completely different companies.

The only company Jia Yueting could be interested in by Li Qiutang is LeTV.com. LeTV Pictures is also worth some money, but Li Qiutang doesn't care about it and wants someone else to take it over.

But Li Qiutang knew that LeTV was valuable, and others knew that his competitors were all very strong.

However, Li Qiutang had a very positive attitude: it would be great if she could buy one, but it would be fine to maintain the status quo if she couldn't.

Li Qiutang pondered for a moment and said, "Ask him if LeTV's film library is for sale."

The most important asset of a film and television company is its copyright library, and LeTV is one of the companies with the largest copyright library in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Upon hearing this, even his colleague lacked confidence: "He can sell the film library? Jia Yueting is so shrewd, how could he not know that LeTV's most valuable asset is its copyright library?"

"Just ask, the price is negotiable. I'll give you the authority to buy 30 billion." LeTV's market value has now fallen below 100 billion, so 30 billion is a good price to buy its film library. "Of course, if he's willing to sell LeTV, I'll say it again, I'm willing to take over. As long as he pays off his debts to below 100 billion, I'll pay without hesitation."

LeEco, a listed company, has total liabilities of 193.5 billion yuan. If it doesn't reduce its debt, is Li Qiutang crazy to take over this business?

"I'll try my best to negotiate, but the chances are slim."

"I know, we'll just do our best."

(End of this chapter)