My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Upon hearing Jackson's words, Cooper naturally guessed who the client was. As a bankruptcy restructuring expert, the Tribune case was one that needed to be studied.

When Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, it had liabilities of 130 billion and assets of only 76 billion, making it severely insolvent. Its situation was far more serious than that of MGM today, and the two are not even comparable.

As the largest creditor following the bankruptcy reorganization, Oaktree Capital wants to immediately divest its high-quality assets and recoup its costs.

However, Forrest Capital intervened, and Li Fu, as the operator, acquired half of the shares from Oaktree Capital. He then halted the split plan, formulated a new development direction, and supported the rise of a new management team.

Now, the Forum Newspaper Group has not only retained its core assets, but has also resumed normal operations.

This is considered one of the most successful bankruptcy reorganization cases.

Most companies that go bankrupt and restructure end up being split up and sold off. If MGM goes to that point, the outcome won't be much different.

At this point, MGM's finance director finally spoke up, "Does your offer represent Li Fu's final position?"

"At this stage, yes," Jackson nodded and said, "as you know, Lee has had too many successful investment cases. Right now he may be interested in MGM, but maybe after a few days, he will have his eye on other projects and lose interest."

After these words were spoken, the conference room fell silent for a while.

He didn't exert direct pressure, but his words were more serious than direct pressure.

Li Fu's entry is an opportunity for MGM, unless they are willing to be acquired by a competitor, and then the shareholders and management take the money and leave, and have nothing to do with MGM afterward.

If the goal is to retain a portion of the shares and at least temporarily retain operational control, the best solution would be for Li Fu to invest in and purchase the debt, and then exchange it for equity after the company turns a profit.

Although the price wasn't exactly reasonable.

Cooper's gaze fell on the document on the table, then he slowly raised his head. "We need to discuss this internally. We'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"OK," Jackson nodded, "We'll wait for your news."

The JPMorgan team stayed overnight in Los Angeles instead of flying back to New York, as Jackson believed MGM had no better option.

He had a brief conversation with Li Fu at the hotel. "MGM is willing to accept your investment proposal, but they have objections to the price. They asked for $7 million, and we offered $5 million. We gave them a day to consider it."

"Five hundred million?" Li Fu was somewhat surprised. "Isn't that too much of a bargaining tactic?"

He's not very suited to this kind of negotiation because he usually knows the outcome in advance, doesn't care about the details, and just wants to quickly close projects that are bound to be very profitable.

Sometimes he is unwilling to push prices to the extreme and prefers to consolidate cooperation through win-win approaches.

"No, this price is reasonable," Jackson said confidently. "I estimate they will agree tomorrow."

His confidence stemmed from JPMorgan Chase's most professional business team, whose research and valuation were arguably the best in the industry.

"OK, you decide!" What else could Li Fu say? This was saving him money!

The following day at noon, Cooper sent a formal reply to Jackson's email address. The letter, signed by him, was concise: "In principle, we accept the sale of 60% of the debt for $5 million, and agree to convert it into equity after the debt is turned around. Specific terms are subject to further confirmation by the legal teams of both parties."

They really didn't have any better options.

Jackson looked at the email in his inbox but didn't reply immediately. Instead, he notified Li Fu, "Li, we've reached an agreement. We'll get 60% of MGM's debt for $5 million, which can be converted into equity once the company turns a profit."

On the day the contract was signed, it rained in Los Angeles, which was a rare occurrence.

The conference room at MGM headquarters was packed with more people than usual, including the CFO, legal counsel, two independent directors, and a representative from the bondholders' committee.

Of course, there are also key members of the management team.

The chairs on both sides of the conference table were full, and some important assistants were standing against the wall in the back row.

Cooper sat at the head of the table, a stack of signed documents spread out in front of him. When he turned to the last page, he paused briefly, then closed the entire document and pushed it in front of Li Fu.

Li Fu didn't look at the terms; the legal department had already confirmed them. He flipped to the signature page, signed his name, and pushed it back to the center of the table.

The meeting room was quiet for a moment, then some people started to applaud. The applause wasn't particularly enthusiastic, but many people breathed a sigh of relief. They pinned their hopes on Li Fu's $500 million investment and hoped that he could revitalize MGM.

Cooper stood up and shook hands with Li Fu. "From this moment on, the agreement is in effect. Welcome to MGM and the board of directors. I hope you can lead us out of this predicament."

Li Fu nodded. "I will do my best."

The board meeting was held immediately after the contract was signed.

Li Fu sat at the MGM board meeting for the first time as a creditor representative, in the middle of the long table. Behind him sat an observer from JPMorgan Chase, who was taking notes on a laptop.

Everyone was waiting for him to speak.

"I currently have two proposals," Li Fu said directly, without beating around the bush. "First, the 007 series should start development immediately, with the script, director, and lead actors all entering the substantive development stage. Second, the production of The Hobbit should resume as soon as possible; we can't wait any longer."

No one expected him to say these things, and the meeting room fell silent instantly.

CFO Ford sat on the other side of the table, looking weary with an expression that said, "I knew this would happen."

"Mr. Li, I know you just invested $5 million in MGM and are eager to see the project move forward as soon as possible, but the production cost of The Hobbit is currently estimated to be over $1.5 million, and the cost of the new 007 film will not be lower than that. With both films in production at the same time, the required funds may be $3 to $4 million, which is too much."

The company currently has limited operating funds available on its books, and the recent debt defaults also need to be addressed as a priority.

In his view, if the two films fail to meet box office expectations, the company's current $5 million in cash could be wiped out, and the company would fall into a deeper debt crisis.

MGM will be truly doomed.

Ford's voice was echoed by most people, who did not recommend doing so.

Li Fu, of course, knew they would object and had a plan in place. "You're right, these two films are indeed very expensive, but we have no other choice. MGM's current state is like a terminally ill person who has been sick for a long time. There's an old Chinese saying, 'In chaotic times, harsh measures are used; for a serious illness, strong medicine is prescribed.' Do you think a small dose of medicine can cure a terminally ill person?"

Of course, his real confidence came from his knowledge that both the 007 series and The Hobbit series could achieve great success.