A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 237 Top Performer!

"Hello Lin Sheng!"

"Hello, Mr. Ye!"

In the afternoon, China.com.

The investment agreement had been finalized long ago, but the contract had been revised and refined countless times by all parties involved. In the end, it should have been submitted to higher authorities for review and approval.

So, we can sign the contract now.

Lin Jianlu finally visited China.com for the first time.

I have looked at the website, but well, even from the perspective of simply browsing the news online, it is really not convenient. Of course, websites these days are basically like that. Lin Jianlu doesn't know how the internet industry evaluates them, but in his opinion, they are probably only at version 0.9 of websites now!
He had carefully studied Yahoo! America's website, a portal site, which had an ancient feel to it. Recently, Cai Zhongxin had been focusing on investigating internet companies in mainland China and recommended NetEase's website to him. It was even more shabby. It was said that NetEase was based in Guangzhou and hadn't even started building a portal site yet. On the other hand, Sohu.com, which was launched in February of this year, was somewhat similar to Yahoo! America.

In short, in the early days of the internet, it was just like that. Investment was one thing, but for someone who had traveled through time, the current internet was actually quite dull. It was a classic case of being tasteless to use but a pity to throw away.

The current simplicity, rigidity, and crudeness of China.com's webpage are not much different from NetEase's. Neither of them should laugh at the other—however, they are both pioneers in the Chinese internet world!

The office environment was also quite sloppy.

It's hard to say about other things, but Ye Keyong's perception and imagination of the future internet world are just so-so. However, he is really good at attracting investment, and frankly speaking, he is quite stingy with money!

With its office space of just over 100 square meters and less than 200 square meters, and only about 20 employees, China.com seems rather shabby. However, it must be admitted that although the location is also relatively remote, saving a lot of rent, Ye Keyong is much more generous than Zhou Xingchi. At least the desks and chairs are not so shabby, the office space does not feel too crowded, and everyone's morale is quite good.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries downstairs, Ye Keyong led the way to the company, where they met several shareholder representatives of China.com at the entrance, and exchanged pleasantries for a while longer.

When a big star arrives, the pre-arranged signings seem less important, and everyone stares intently at the star – it's a habit, it happens in many places, and I haven't gone shopping in a long time.

Upon entering the company, the employees all stood up, staring at the big star with curiosity.

Ye Keyong ushered the guests inside, but Lin Jianlu stopped next to the office area and asked, "I'm going to invest in China.com. What do you think about me becoming your boss?"

"it is good!"

"Welcome, Lu Zai!"

Lin Jianlu chuckled again at her rambling reply. "Let's talk later. I'll treat everyone to a big meal, and we can chat together. I need to get some papers signed first!"—and then, as everyone watched her go, she entered the company's simple little conference room. Occasionally glancing back, Guan Zhilin seemed quite curious, but clearly not at all intimidated.

Yes, once the contract is signed, Miss Guan will officially assume the high position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of China.com!
After reading the contract, everyone agreed and signed it.

Lin Jianlu's Longhua Investment officially invested 2000 million US dollars in China.com, holding 40% of the shares and becoming the company's largest shareholder.

Once the contract is signed, the procedures are complete. There's no rush to celebrate with champagne, and Ye Keyong probably didn't prepare any either. The next step is to hold a shareholders' meeting to finalize a few things.

The first step is to formally establish a board of directors.

Rosamund Kwan was appointed as the chairman of the board of directors. Choi Chung-shun, Zhao Fengshou, Yip Ke-yung, and Lam Kin-lu were appointed as directors, with Yip Ke-yung serving as an executive director. They also planned to invite two external directors. One of them, Lam Kin-lu, had already been decided and even invited long ago. He is Li Ka-kit, the vice chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties and the eldest son of Li Zhaoji, Hong Kong's richest man.

He has readily agreed.

As for the second spot, it will likely be reserved for strategic investors from America.

In other words, who will ultimately be the one to take China.com public, and who will become the second external director?

Passed unanimously.

Then, the shareholders' meeting ended, the meeting adjourned, and the guests were seen off.

When I came back, it was time for the board meeting.

The second thing is to adjust the website's development strategy, shifting from simply updating news releases provided by Xinhua News Agency every day to developing a comprehensive portal website.

To achieve this, Lin Jianlu even took a ruler and personally drew a simplified diagram of the website's homepage.

It's roughly the basic design of those portal websites from later generations that he remembered.

Then, the third thing was to start implementing the IPO incentive plan, throwing money at it and poaching talent.

The key focus, of course, is on computer engineers. Regardless of nationality, they should be poached with high salaries, at least to get the technical framework of the website up and running first. The current websites, whether in terms of basic architecture or webpage aesthetics, are really too poor to fool anyone.

But in reality, China.com is not short of money!
With the 2000 million US dollars that Lin Jianlu will soon transfer in, China.com, despite its low profile, actually holds more than 4700 million US dollars in cash!

What's the point of keeping money? Spend it!
We started from scratch with the website's so-called basic architecture, and filled up the staff in various departments, including editing, graphic design, etc. In addition, we added bandwidth because it wasn't enough, bought servers because it wasn't enough, and moved our office space because it was too small. If you don't mind, the Wantong Building in Hong Kong Island is undergoing interior and exterior renovations, and several floors are basically vacated. Until the renovations are completed, they will give our company a 50% discount on rent. We can move there, to Central, Hong Kong Island!

Then, well, Chairwoman Guan, as the head of the company, finally delivered her first speech.

Today, Aunt Thirteen, dressed in a suit and pencil skirt with her hair up, exuded both elegance and a captivating charm. Standing in the main seat, she spread her hands, appearing relaxed and carefree. "Hello everyone, I'm Rosamund Kwan, an actress! My husband told me that I should come here to act in a play. If I don't perform well, I'll be fired next month; if I perform well, I'll keep acting, enjoying great success, becoming the chairperson of a listed company's board of directors! I hope everyone will take good care of me!"

There were no outsiders in the room, and everyone knew what kind of person Rosamund Kwan was as the chairman of the board. After hearing her opening remarks, they all applauded and cheered, and Lin Jianlu even whistled.

…………

That evening, Lin Jianlu hosted a dinner party for the five newly appointed board members, as well as the company's original twenty-three employees, excluding Ye Keyong. They enjoyed a large meal and had a long chat.

Thirteenth Aunt, the newly appointed chairman of the board, had no presence whatsoever. She drank and listened the whole time, and was responsible for serving food to her husband. Lin Jianlu, on the other hand, chatted with this person and that person the whole time.

He talked about his understanding of the internet, his vision for the new website, the importance of building his own technical team, and the future of the internet, especially portal websites. He emphasized the importance of search engines and stressed that simply relying on manual data collection to replace links on the homepage is not something an internet company should do. Therefore, he proposed building the basic framework of the website first, and then forming a new technical team. He encouraged everyone to invest heavily in recruiting talent and developing a web search engine.

As they got into the conversation, he casually put his arm around Aunt Thirteen, pointed to the company's technical supervisor, and said to her, "From now on, you'll have to come to the company every day. You don't have to do anything else. Just follow him, watch what he does, and learn a lot of computer and network terminology from him, both Cantonese and English!"

By 9:30 p.m., he had become quite familiar with Ye Keyong and the rest of the original team from China.com. After the dinner, he put his arm around Zhao Fengshou's arm and said, "Old Zhao, you'll have to go back to the capital later to hear what the leaders think and see if they really approve of this arrangement for me."

Zhao Fengshou accepted the order, but at the same time assured them, "Don't worry! The leader really appreciates you now and will definitely be satisfied!"

Hmm, I think I'll be satisfied.

It's not because the leader thinks you're doing a great job; it's mainly because the leader himself doesn't know what to do. So whatever you do, as long as you make some noise, the leader at least has the patience to wait and see.

Let's do it that way!

Build the infrastructure, launch the new portal website, make some noise and create some momentum, aiming to "subtly represent the Chinese internet world." Then, Ye Keyong can take Guan Zhilin to Wall Street to secure strategic investment. Depending on the situation, they can aim for the end of this year or the beginning of next year. By then, the global financial turmoil triggered by the Southeast Asian financial crisis should be almost over, and Wall Street capital, having profited handsomely, should flow back and drive up internet stocks. At that point, they can go public!

Based on his hazy memories from his previous life and considering the current global economic and financial situation, Lin Jianlu judged that 98 would definitely be fine, 99 would most likely be an unprecedented internet stock frenzy, and then, he felt that something bad would most likely happen between the end of 99 and the first half of 2000!
There's still time!

There are different ways to invest in stocks than just buying stocks. But if you manage your own IPO, there's a whole different set of rules to follow!
Investing in Yahoo and Amazon, no matter how many shares you buy or how high your shareholding, they are still American companies and won't completely obey you. The strategy is to buy low and sell them off quietly by the middle of next year, securing all the money!
However, if you're running a Chinese portal website yourself, then you don't need to consider selling it for profit. You issue stocks, keep issuing new stocks, and take advantage of the fact that internet stocks are being hyped up by Americans. The stock price will definitely soar to an astonishing level. So, while the stock is hot, you keep making up reasons and drawing up plans, and then issue new stocks and raise funds one after another!
By the time the dot-com bubble bursts, China.com will have hundreds of millions, or even billions, of US dollars in cash in its hands—ha, by then, I'll have already swindled all the money, and I won't care about the bubble anymore!
If the stock price is low enough, I will buy back shares of the company, ostensibly to protect the stock price. If the stock price is still not low enough, I will take advantage of the internet stock market crash, when there are cheap stocks everywhere, to carry out acquisitions and mergers.

This company currently holds 40% of the shares, and Xinhua News Agency holds 36%, totaling 76%. Even if the shares are diluted through repeated investments, listings, and new share issuances, the company is unlikely to lose control!
Not to mention, it's in Hong Kong, on Chinese territory!
Here you go, this is the future star of the Chinese internet!

…………

"What the hell? A cinema chain? You want to acquire a Hong Kong cinema chain?"

Back at the villa in the Mid-Levels that evening, Rosamund Kwan clung to her man tightly, probably still somewhat jealous of the so-called "Northern Beauty" from the mainland who had taken over her man as soon as she arrived. So, she thought she would have to put in some effort to deal with Aunt Thirteen's jealousy tonight. However, the strong woman from the mainland threw out a sentence that shocked Lin Jianlu, let alone Aunt Thirteen.

However, Chen Hong spoke eloquently and purposefully, "I chatted with Sister Ge for a long time today, and also visited Media Asia Cinemas. I also chatted with Sister Shi Nansheng for a long time. They told me a lot about the current state of the Hong Kong film industry, especially the cinemas. They are all barely surviving, and many have already closed down. So I think now is a good opportunity to get involved... You said that the decline of Hong Kong's economy is only temporary! Since it's temporary, you encouraged Sister Qingxia and others to buy commercial buildings. What's wrong with me buying cinemas? Is that not allowed?"

Well... it's not impossible.

The problem is, this woman's appetite is getting bigger and bigger!
Rosamund Kwan subconsciously released her arm from Lin Jianlu's neck and stared blankly at Chen Hong, while Chen Hong continued to explain to Lin Jianlu the current state of Hong Kong's cinema industry that she had heard about today.

The peak of Hong Kong cinema was clearly in 1993 and 1994. However, Lin Jianlu had discussed this topic with many people in the Hong Kong film industry before, and they generally believed that it was just the last hurrah. In fact, the decline of Hong Kong cinema was already destined in the late 1980s.

It's inextricably linked to the major cinema chains!
In the 1980s, the Hong Kong film industry was booming. At that time, there were three main cinema chains: Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and Golden Princess. In 1985, Shaw Brothers made an important decision: he stopped film distribution and leased his cinema chains to Dickson Poon.

Thus, Dickson Poon's D&B Films replaced Shaw Brothers, which not only made D&B Films stand out, but also made it one of the "three driving forces" leading the golden age of Hong Kong films, along with Golden Harvest and Golden Princess.

Each of the three cinema chains supported its own film companies, which gathered a considerable number of directors, screenwriters, and star actors. They competed with each other, which led to the increasing prosperity of Hong Kong films.

In September 1991, due to the impending demolition of Hong Kong's famous Jade Cinema and Golden Cinema, D&B Films, lacking sufficient financial strength, decided not to renew its lease, thus ending its cinema chain operations. In November of the same year, Wong Pak-ming and Roger took over the ailing D&B Cinemas and renamed it Wing Ko Cinemas.

By the end of the same year, Cinema City, a film company affiliated with Golden Princess Cinemas, ended its ten-year glorious history and officially declared its dissolution. Then, in 1992, Golden Princess's founder, Lei Juekun, unfortunately passed away, causing various businesses under Golden Princess to stagnate. Under the leadership of Feng Bingzhong, Xinbao Cinemas gradually took over many of Golden Princess's theaters and cinemas, and reorganized them into Golden Sound Cinemas in January of the following year.

Subsequently, in 1993, Wong Pak-ming and Roger left Wing Ko Films due to internal disputes and jointly founded Oriental Cinemas. By this time, if we include the foreign language film cinemas that the Kong Chi-keung family had always operated, the number of local cinema chains in Hong Kong had actually increased to five.

This was the final, brilliant burst of Hong Kong cinema's golden age!
However, this has had a huge impact on the traditional cinema production and sales model. Based on the calculation that each cinema chain needs 30 films per year, even without counting Jiang Zhiqiang's cinema chain, the remaining four cinema chains would need a total of 120 films per year to fill the screening time!
How many people make a living in Hong Kong's film industry? How much funding does it have? The demand from theaters for 120 films a year is absolutely overwhelming for Hong Kong's film industry!
So how did Hong Kong cinema chains operate at this time?
For example, Xinbao Cinemas, compared to other cinema chains, does not have its own supported film companies to provide a stable supply of films. How can you run a cinema without a source of films? In order to stabilize the supply of films, Xinbao Cinemas often started to act as an intermediary, connecting cinema operators and distributors from Taiwan and Southeast Asia who were flocking to the Hong Kong film industry, so that they would invest money and cooperate with independent production companies to make films.

The finished product produced in this way could be screened in the local New Treasure Cinema, while the investors could also take the film back to their own territories for screening, avoiding the trouble of buying films from Golden Harvest and Cinema City and being overcharged at any time. At the time, it seemed like a win-win-win situation for all three parties!

In other words, they're just burning outsiders' money and continuing!

They don't pursue industrial upgrading, they don't consider vicious competition, and they don't care that Hollywood's special effects films have already taken shape and are gradually eroding the global film market, including Hong Kong's. They just want to go all out and speed things up!
From the late 1980s until 1995, Hong Kong movie stars were always carrying three to five film contracts, rushing from one film to another, which was commonplace!
That was also Wang Jing's most triumphant decade!
Throughout the 1990s, Hong Kong films were often poorly made, and selling trailers became a common practice. Some films were even made without being delivered on time, which led to a power struggle among the eight major film companies in Taiwan. However, Wong Jing was known for his fast production speed, ensuring on-time delivery, and also provided a minimum guarantee of quality, ensuring that investors would not lose money.

If you give him a little more time and a little more budget, he can easily churn out a great film that is both a box office and a critical success!
However, how many filmmakers can reach his level?
Or rather, even if there were a few more Wang Jings, and they just kept rushing forward without any ambition, what difference would the outcome be? — Although things have come to this point, Hong Kong films are close to complete collapse, and everyone who made money in them is implicated, it must be said that, fundamentally, at least half the responsibility lies with those who poured money into the film industry to open cinemas!

Of course, now the retribution has come.

In the past two years, news of a certain cinema chain in Hong Kong being forced to close one of its cinemas due to poor management has frequently appeared in the news. The so-called glorious era of Hong Kong, a mere city with a population of six or seven million, boasting more than a hundred cinemas, has long since become a thing of the past!

It was precisely because of the complete collapse of this production model, in which cinema chains supported film companies, forming a production model where one cinema chain corresponded to several satellite film companies, that filmmakers from all walks of life began to register their own companies. It was also because filmmakers like Zhuang Cheng decided to establish Media Asia Films in 1994 to focus on film distribution. Before that, Hong Kong films had no need for you to handle distribution!
Well, in short, the market collapsed, cinemas collapsed, film companies went bankrupt or reduced production, coupled with the impact of the financial crisis, the property market was halved, many companies in Hong Kong went bankrupt and laid off employees, everyone suddenly had no money, consumption was downgraded, and the entire city of Hong Kong has basically reached the extreme of depression.

But Chen Hong was so bold that she decided to take action against Hong Kong's cinema chain after only a preliminary understanding of the situation!
Tsk... Although I will definitely cover for you, you little vixen, you're just taking advantage of that and your appetite is getting bigger and bigger, which doesn't seem quite right!

"Which one have you chosen?"

"Jiahe!"

Helpless, Lin Jianlu subconsciously raised her hand and slapped her forehead.

Huang Baiming's Oriental Cinemas closed down completely last year, so there's no need to consider it.

As Yonggao Cinemas dwindled in size, it began to contact Hollywood film sources on its own. Although it was not as familiar with Hollywood movies as Jiang Zhiqiang and had fewer connections, it could only pick up the scraps that Jiang Zhiqiang had no time for. But now that Hong Kong films were declining and the market was shrinking, Hollywood films still had an audience, so at least it could make a living.

Feng Bingzhong of Golden Sound Cinemas is quite capable. Currently, Golden Sound Cinemas is the best-performing cinema chain in Hong Kong besides Jin Zhiqiang – and it's a major partner of Media Asia Films.

Then there's Golden Harvest.

Jackie Chan's departure to Hollywood, though he promised to return to make Hong Kong films, shows that his heart is no longer in Hong Kong—this is common knowledge. Sammo Hung couldn't support the box office for many years, and has been working as a director and action choreographer. As a result, Golden Harvest has been reducing its production output significantly. While the film company isn't completely empty, its business has shrunk considerably, and it has gradually lost much of its influence in the industry. However, these are minor issues. The most crucial thing is that its key figure, Raymond Chow, is getting old!

It's a foregone conclusion that Golden Harvest Films and Golden Harvest Cinemas will be sold within the next few years, given that his children have no intention of taking over.
The key issue is that, given the current market situation and the fact that Hong Kong films are widely considered to have collapsed, who would be willing to invest so much money to take over a cinema chain that will continue to lose money even after they've acquired it?
"How much money will it cost? Do you have that much money?"

But you do!

Lin Jianlu once again put his hand to his forehead.

As luck would have it, Boss Qiu called at that moment. Lin Jianlu took out his phone, glanced at it, and had no choice but to answer. He immediately said, "Ah Hong said you also have a woman named Ah Hong, ha, what a beauty! She wants to buy Golden Harvest Cinemas, right? Do you want us to buy it together? Let's buy it and let the two women do the work!"

Grass!
It seems that Chen Hong has convinced Ge Fuhong, and Ge Fuhong has in turn convinced the big boss behind her!

However, no matter how bad things get for Golden Harvest Cinemas, even if it loses money, its foundation is still there. It's a listed company, and it's hard to say whether someone as old as Zou Wenhuai would be willing to spin off the cinema chain and sell it to you.
For older people who are still quite experienced, even if they were to sell their family business, they would probably prioritize selling the film production business. Theaters only need to select films and their operations are stable, but film production is a much more complex business that requires more energy and courage.

"Hey bro, Golden Harvest Cinemas isn't cheap. If I remember correctly, they still have over twenty cinemas, and they just had a complete renovation a few years ago... Are you sure you want to buy a cinema chain at this time?"

"It's not expensive! I just looked at the data. Golden Harvest went public in 94, and its peak market value was only HK$26 billion. Now the entire company's market value is only HK$6.8 million! I can afford it!"

"Holy crap? 6.8 million? Is Golden Harvest really that cheap?"

It's Jiahe! That's Jiahe!
The top star of Hong Kong cinema in the last twenty years!
And if I remember correctly, Golden Harvest was listed as a whole. This means that its market capitalization of 6.8 million includes Golden Harvest Cinemas and Golden Harvest Films, which in fact certainly includes the entire film library of Golden Harvest over the past twenty years—and that's not all. Golden Harvest has its own cinemas, so in fact, during its peak years, it also consistently handled distribution. Yes, while distributing its own films, it also distributed works from its various satellite film companies. For example, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung both ran their own companies, investing in films they starred in and also investing in other filmmakers' works, which were then distributed by Golden Harvest and shown in Golden Harvest's cinemas. Therefore, the copyright operation of these films was actually also in Golden Harvest's hands.

So... Golden Harvest's old film library must have more than 6.8 million copies, right?

Over the past six months, Lin Jianlu has studied buildings, land, telecommunications service providers, and even recently started studying finance and banking, but he has not paid any attention to the film industry. Hong Kong films are finished. He can just invest in Media Asia Films and use it as a base to gather the remaining essence of Hong Kong films after the elimination round. Why bother studying film companies!

"Yes, I also think that Golden Harvest has a history of more than 20 years. Even a broken ship has 3,000 nails. With a market value of HK$680 million, even if we pay a premium, it wouldn't be too expensive! Once we buy Golden Harvest, just the hundreds of old movies in their film library alone, which we can bring to our TV station and air on a rotating basis every few years, would be equivalent to hundreds or even thousands of episodes of a TV series! Investing in new dramas, even if we only make a thousand episodes, would also cost a lot of money!"

That's more than that!
Golden Harvest Cinemas owns more than 20 cinemas. Although I haven't seen the detailed information, I think I talked about Golden Harvest Cinemas with Zhuang Cheng and Shi Nansheng sometime in the past. According to them, Lin Jianlu vaguely remembered that Golden Harvest Cinemas had almost no franchisees and all of its cinemas were its own. So even when Hong Kong films were in decline, its cinemas were able to withstand losses better than others. There should be a lot of the space that was owned by its own company, so there was no need for rent. And those were properties that Zou Wenhuai had been accumulating since the 1980s, many of which were located in prime locations and golden districts!
Grass!
All I can say is that the financial crisis was truly brutal!
Hong Kong films were already in a terrible state, and then the financial crisis hit them hard, which has brought the entire film industry to this state. "That makes sense! I also have a TV station! But the problem is, Chow Wen-huai might not sell it! Although he is not young, I have never heard of him retiring!"

"That's because nobody bought it before! Now it's the two of us who want to buy it!"

Lin Jianlu's mind raced as he quickly weighed the pros and cons.

The real big deal is to reserve the majority of funds for the acquisition of Hang Seng Bank, and even for future projects like Wing Lung Bank. But it seems that taking out three to five hundred million Hong Kong dollars won't affect the overall situation.

"How about... we sit down and chat tomorrow?"

Boss Qiu was even more agreeable than him, "Okay!"

After putting down my phone, I was met with the piercing gazes of several women in the room.

Needless to say, although film is not her main profession and she is now more of a businesswoman, she was the one who started this project, so she naturally took it to heart. As for the others, such as Brigitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan, and Leung Wing-ki, they are all heavy participants in Hong Kong films.

They all understand perfectly well what it means to buy their own cinema chain or acquire the long-established Golden Harvest Film Company!
However, Lin Jianlu shrugged and stood up, saying, "We'll talk about it tomorrow! I promised someone tonight, I'm leaving!"

Yes, I'm going to visit Vivian Chow and Hai Mei Chow.

It was agreed upon.

…………

The next morning, Lin Jianlu held two short meetings.

First, he talked with Jiang Zhiqiang and Zhuang Cheng about mainland cinema chains. Wu Minghua and Lin Xilei were present. After an hour or so, they decided that Wu Minghua and Lin Xilei would go to the mainland to buy up land and buildings. They would try to start from the middle of this year and use the Capital Times Square as the first one. Jiang Zhiqiang would be responsible for leading the team to enter the site and do the decoration.

Then, a second small meeting was held immediately afterward. Halfway through the tea, they started having lunch and chatting while eating.

This time, the participants became Chen Hong, Shi Nansheng, Ge Fuhong, and Qiu Dalao.

Chen Hong and Ge Fuhong reached an agreement on a deal regarding their respective agencies—Chen Hong gave up helping Fan Bingbing compete for the role of Xiaolongnu in "The Return of the Condor Heroes," relinquishing it to Zhang Baizhi. That afternoon, the two of them would meet with Yang Peipei to pressure the big producer into submission. Meanwhile, at least ten Hong Kong artists under Ge Fuhong's management, including Zhang Baizhi, would sign contracts with mainland agencies, with their management contracts going to the agency jointly owned by Chen Hong and Ge Fuhong. At least seven or eight mainland actors, including Fan Bingbing, would also sign management contracts with the new agency jointly owned by Chen Hong, Brigitte Lin, and Ge Fuhong.

Brigitte Lin is tasked with focusing on casting for ATV's self-produced dramas, prioritizing actors signed to the new agency.

Oh my god, anyway... three unscrupulous capitalists, with such a simple connection, immediately started manipulating things behind the scenes, and who knows how many actors' future careers were decided.

But those things are minor matters compared to what we're going to talk about today.

Golden Harvest Cinemas is indeed very cheap.

It has been trading sideways at a total market value of 6.7 million to 6.8 million for the past two or three months.

The most crucial positive development is that although Chow Wen-huai is the undisputed leader of Golden Harvest, he and his daughter together only hold 24.78% of Golden Harvest's shares!
They don't even have de facto control, let alone absolute control!

The only thing lacking now is face—Actor Chow is a veteran in the industry, and now he seems quite detached from worldly affairs. His popularity in the industry has only grown stronger with age. It would be very impolite for him to rashly make a move and forcibly acquire Golden Harvest Films on the stock market at this time. Chow would definitely be furious. Although no one in the film industry might actually jump out to support him, it would certainly damage his own reputation behind the scenes.

We need to communicate with him first. If he is willing to retire or even sell his shares, that would be perfect, and we can proceed with the purchase. If he is not willing to retire, then we really need to think about this matter again!

People shouldn't ruin their morals just to make some money!

A good Hong Kong governor is one who does good deeds, supports the industry, and helps the weak and oppressed. Otherwise, if his reputation is ruined, everyone will turn against him, and the Hong Kong governor will gradually lose his luster.

Therefore, we still need to ask Shi Nansheng to step forward and communicate with the old man first.

If he agrees to sell his shares, then we can negotiate a roughly similar price and transfer his portion of the equity to the next company first. Even if he doesn't want to sell, it would be good if he doesn't strongly oppose Lin Jianlu and Boss Qiu's desire to jointly acquire Golden Harvest Films on the stock market. At worst, we can end up with three major shareholders!

If he really strongly resists—to be honest, it's really difficult to handle, and we can only temporarily stop and back down!

Of course, the total amount is less than HK$700 million. Since everyone has decided to take it over, they need to make some plans in advance. As the saying goes, they need to divide up the spheres of influence first.

The prerequisite for Jiahe to be acquired is that it must be managed by Lin Jianlu.

As for money, Chen Hong wanted to contribute 100 million yuan herself; she did have the money. But frankly, it wasn't her place to spend that much. Whether she wanted to invest or Ge Fuhong wanted to join in and get a share, it was fine, but they were destined to play minor roles. The goal was to acquire more than 50% of Golden Harvest Films' shares. Regardless of the final amount received, Lin Jianlu would take half, Boss Qiu would take 30%, and the remaining 20% ​​would be reserved for the two women. However, they had to ask Shi Nansheng to run errands for them. She was also interested, so they agreed that as long as Zou Wenhuai was willing to sell his shares, meaning the acquisition was almost certain to succeed, then Chen Hong would take 7.5%, Ge Fuhong would take 7.5%, and the last 5% would be reserved for Shi Nansheng.

Finally, the two bigwigs hit it off immediately, and the three women were beaming with joy.

If it weren't for this opportunity, Golden Harvest Films, they would never have had the chance to actually get involved!
As I said before, she was the top star of Hong Kong cinema for the past two or three decades!
***
The beginning of January is crucial for planning; I humbly request your guaranteed monthly votes!

(End of this chapter)