Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 449 Acquiring MGM?
In the fall season, Guess What Film Studios will be releasing two movies: Ice Storm and Guess What.

"The Ice Storm" opened in three theaters, grossing $75,000, or $25,000 per theater, a mediocre performance.

In its second week, the film grossed $378 million in 483 theaters, and in its third week, it grossed $466 million in 591 theaters, showing relatively slow box office growth.

The film cost $1500 million to produce, and judging from the current box office figures, it won't make much money even if it turns a profit.

"Guessing Love" is a film project recommended by Ben Affleck last year. Directed by Kevin Smith and starring Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and others, it is a romantic film about cartoonist Holden falling in love with a lesbian and having conflicts with his friends.

The film had a production cost of only $250,000 and grossed $52,400 in its first week of screenings in three theaters, which was a decent result.

The number of theaters showing the film increased to 671 in the second cycle, and it earned $824 million in box office revenue for two consecutive weeks, with a box office return of 30 times, making it a dark horse at the fall box office.
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"Link, phone! Huh? Why are you sleeping here? I told you not to stay up too late with Monica and Sandra tonight, but you always like to fool around with them."

In the nursery, Liu Xiaoli carefully walked in with the phone in her hand. She saw that Lin Ke was asleep by the cradle, with several newspapers already on the floor. She couldn't help but find it a little funny.

Link sat up and stretched. "I wasn't sleepy. I was just watching the little ones sleep, and somehow I felt drowsy, so I dozed off here for a bit. Whose call was that?"

"I didn't answer it, see for yourself."

Liu Xiaoli handed him the phone, tiptoed to the cradle, looked down at the sleeping babies, and a gentle smile appeared on her round face.

Link opened his phone and saw it was Greg Davis, the chief investment officer of Vanguard Capital Management.

After Pixar Animation Studios went public, Greg rarely called to bother him anymore.

Link didn't understand why the man was calling. He kissed Liu Xiaoli on the cheek, went outside to return the call, and asked Greg Davis what was wrong.

Greg first talked about Guess the Movies' performance during the summer season, saying it was number one in the industry and had achieved excellent results. Then Greg mentioned MGM, which had the worst box office performance during the summer season.

MGM released eight films before September, with the best-performing one being "Thugs," which grossed only $2349 million in North America, while its production cost was $38 million.

The second-highest grossing action film, "No Way Out," was released in January and only grossed $1153 million in North America, while the film's production cost was as high as $5500 million.

MGM's films this year have been box office flops, and its financial deficit has continued to grow to $38 billion.

Because the company was short of money and the movies often lost money, MGM had to reduce the number of movies produced, from nearly 20 movies a year to about ten.

Judging from the current situation, MGM is only one step away from bankruptcy.

“Link, I remember you said a couple of years ago that you wanted to acquire MGM. I think now is the time to acquire it. Would you like to consider it?”

"Greg Davis asked."

"Acquire MGM? MGM's current situation isn't too bad; it's not on the verge of collapse. If it's lucky enough to land a blockbuster film project, it might be able to reverse the decline and recover. Acquiring it now would be very difficult. It would be better to wait until MGM goes completely bankrupt before acquiring it, as the price would be lower."

“Link, many people are eyeing MGM right now, waiting for it to go bankrupt so they can take it over. If we take it over earlier, our chances of success will be higher.”

Greg Davis said.

Link, sensing the underlying meaning in the other party's words, laughed and said, "It's alright. MGM is not an essential part of Guess Movies' business empire. Whether the acquisition is successful or not will not have a significant impact on the company. Therefore, the company will continue to maintain a wait-and-see attitude regarding the acquisition of MGM. If the price is right, we will take it; if the price is not right, we will give up. There is no need to force it."

Greg Davis paused for a moment, then changed his tone and said, "Link, I know Kirk Koccorian, the major shareholder of MGM. If you want to acquire MGM, I can act as an intermediary to help you make the connection."

Link laughed and said, "Acquiring MGM would be good for Guess the Movies, but MGM is currently too expensive and has $38 billion in debt. It would be a huge burden for any company that takes it over."

"Price is negotiable. As long as you have the idea of ​​acquisition, you can leave the rest to me. I guarantee you a suitable price."

"That's something we can consider," Greg Davis said confidently.

Link smiled. He had heard that Vanguard Capital was also a shareholder of MGM. Now that MGM was in a mess, their investment would become a mess. Greg Davis had asked him to take over, probably to get back the investment through him.

"Haha, that's great. Link, what's your bottom line for acquiring MGM? Knowing your bottom line will help me negotiate better with Kirk Koccorian."

"Greg Davis asked."

Link thought for a moment, “I heard that MGM’s debt has reached $38 billion, which means that the majority of MGM’s shares are held by banks. You can tell the banks during the negotiations that if they hand over MGM to me, I can guarantee that I can pay off the debt and interest within 10 years.”

“Uh, Link, I’m asking about your offer, how much you’re willing to pay to acquire MGM, not about dealing with the loan.”

Greg Davis reminded him.

“Paying off the $38 billion debt is my offer. I think no one in Hollywood but me can guarantee that they can pay off the $38 billion loan within 10 years. I think this figure is very sincere.”

“This Link, MGM's market value exceeds $50 billion, and if you include the value of other industries, it's at least $55 billion. You only agreed to repay $38 billion in loans, which is probably not acceptable.”

"This number is appropriate. If MGM goes bankrupt, the value of its assets will be greatly reduced. Not to mention $38 billion, no one will want it for $30 billion. All the shares held by shareholders will become worthless."

"If I take over MGM and revitalize it, turning it into a profitable company, MGM's shares will become more valuable, and it will also be a chance for those shareholders who haven't exited to turn a profit. Greg, I don't think you'll doubt my abilities."

Link said calmly.

Greg paused for a few seconds, then said he could give it a try and call him back if he had any news.

After hanging up the phone, Link chuckled softly. He had originally planned to consider acquiring MGM Studios in a few years, but Greg jumped out early to offer to help him with the acquisition. If the acquisition was successful, guess what? The studio's strength and influence in the film industry would increase significantly.

After making the call, Link returned to the nursery.

The nursery was quiet. Liu Xiaoli had just been teasing him for dozing off while putting the baby to sleep, but after sitting by the cradle for a while, she also put her arm around the cradle, covered her mouth, and kept yawning. She looked rather cute.

Link smiled gently and picked her up from behind.

"What are you doing? You scared me."

Liu Xiaoli patted his chest, then quickly glanced at the crib, "Put me down quickly, don't wake the little ones."

"Then let's go out and have some fun."

Link carried the limp woman out, telling the nannies to keep an eye on the children.

"Stop fooling around, Monica and the others will be back soon."

Liu Xiaoli knew what he wanted to do, and her cheeks flushed as she punched his chest.

"They're not back yet, so let's make love before they get back. Don't you want to?"

Link kissed her lips.

Liu Xiaoli rolled her eyes at him, her beautiful, peach-blossom-like eyes instantly filled with spring water, her round cheeks blushed with shyness and enthusiasm, and the milky scent emanating from her body became even more intense and alluring.

Without further ado, Link picked up Liu Xiaoli and strode quickly into the bedroom.

(End of this chapter)