Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

The moment the low price was announced, the meeting room became tense.

The four of them looked at each other, but none of them offered a price.

Williams frowned and subtly gave Henry a wink.

Henry immediately replied, "Forty-one million."

Once one party made the offer, the remaining three parties couldn't sit still any longer and all started to offer their prices.

First came Brown, who slowly adjusted his glasses and said, "Forty-one million."

Howard, standing to the side, remained calm and did not make an offer.

Li Jiangbo tugged at Brian's arm.

Brian cleared his throat. "Forty-three million."

Henry smirked. "Forty-five million."

Brown continued to raise the price, bringing it up to forty-eight million.

Henry seemed to be deliberately trying to outdo everyone else, raising the price directly to fifty million.

After some mental calculation, Li Jiangbo realized that a 30% stake, worth 50 million Hong Kong dollars, would value the entire RTV (Rediffusion Television) at 160 million Hong Kong dollars, which was more expensive than what it would sell for in later years.

He tugged at Brian's sleeve twice, signaling him not to make an offer.

Howard finally spoke up, "Fifty-two million."

Henry paused for a moment after hearing Howard's offer, and then hesitated to make a bid.

He knew all too well that the CRA had no shortage of money; after all, how could a mining company be short of money?

Besides, he was just there to promote the stock, not to cause trouble, so he kept quiet.

Brown, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and said, "Fifty-four million."

Now it's just Brown and Howard making offers.

"Fifty-six million."

"Fifty-eight million."

"Sixty million!!!"

Howard didn't make any more bids, but simply shook his head, picked up his coffee, and took a sip.

Williams glanced at Henry twice, signaling him to raise the price again.

But Henry, who had already shut up, ignored Williams's gaze.

Williams waited for about a minute, and when no one made a bid, he spoke up:

"30% was acquired by Mr. Brown of Melbourne Newspapers, with a final transaction price of HK$60 million."

"Next up, 20% of the shares, starting bid - HK$26 million."

Howard was the first to make an offer this time, "twenty-seven million."

Li Jiangbo tugged at Brian's sleeve, signaling him to make an offer.

"Twenty-eight million."

Before the words were even finished, Henry shouted, "Thirty million!"

All three parties present have realized that Henry, the representative of Zhong Li's side, is simply a troublemaker.

However, they couldn't be sure how much capital Henry had. Helpless, they could only watch Henry's export quotes.

After a moment of silence, Brown slowly said, "Thirty-six million."

Henry, looking completely confident, said, "Thirty-eight million."

Howard couldn't sit still any longer, and he immediately spoke up, "Forty million."

Henry's expression changed several times, but he ultimately gave up on making an offer.

Just when Howard thought he had secured the shares, Brian unexpectedly asked for 42 million.

Actually, it wasn't that he didn't want to shout, but rather that he had realized something was wrong with this auction.

He glanced at Li Jiangbo subconsciously and saw Li Jiangbo nod slightly at him.

That's why Brian hardened his heart and called out this price.

A series of gasps filled the conference room.

Williams turned his gaze to Henry, who hesitated for a few seconds but still did not make another offer.

He then turned his gaze to Howard and Brown, and Howard shook his head slightly.

Brown's gesture of serving coffee clearly indicated that he no longer intended to make an offer.

"The 20% stake was acquired by Friendly Trading Company for a final price of 42 million."

"The last one, 11.8% of the shares, starting bid of fourteen million."

Now it was just Howard and Henry left. Henry seemed determined to redeem himself this time, and immediately shouted, "Sixteen million!"

"Eighteen million."

Li Jiangbo tugged at Brian's sleeve again, and Brian immediately offered, "Twenty million!"

Henry: "Twenty million!"

Howard: "Twenty-two million!"

"Twenty-four million!"

"Twenty-six million!"

Henry shut his mouth completely and then slumped into his chair.

Williams looked at the crowd. "Anyone else bidding?"

After waiting for one minute, "11.8% of the shares were won by the CRA representative at a final price of HK$26 million."

Before Williams could finish speaking, Henry stood up and left the conference room with his men.

After some mental calculation, Li Jiangbo concluded that the total cost for the three companies was 128 million. This was roughly the same price that the parent company of the later-stage Li was sold to these three parties.

Although there was a slight premium, it wasn't particularly outrageous.

After Williams, representing Redeemer's parent company, signed the letter of intent to purchase shares with the three parties, he smiled and said:

"Congratulations to the three of you! Someone will be assigned to handle the subsequent equity transfer procedures."

After leaving the conference room, Zhao Dong asked in a low voice, "Brother Bo, we really wasted money on this!"

Li Jiangbo smiled without saying a word, and simply walked forward.

Just as he reached the elevator, Brown's assistant caught up with him.

"Mr. Brian, Mr. Howard, Mr. Brown would like to invite you both to lunch to discuss the follow-up matters."

Brian glanced at Li Jiangbo instinctively, and Li Jiangbo nodded.

Afterwards, the three parties left the office building together and took a car to the restaurant.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Jiangbo whispered to Brian:

"Brian, agree to whatever they discuss later. The only condition is that the shares cannot be sold!"

Brian nodded. "Understood, boss!"

After discussing the details of their conversation, the car arrived in front of a high-end Western restaurant.

Each of the three parties brought a trusted aide, and the group of six entered the private room chatting and laughing.

After a hearty meal and drinks.

Brown spoke first: "I suggested this meal today, so I have an idea and would like to hear both sides' opinions."

"We all come from the same place, so we need to stick together to establish ourselves at the TV station."

Howard nodded and agreed, "I agree."

I agree.

Brown seemed satisfied with both sides' attitudes, and then threw out a big one.

"To be honest, I'm a bit hesitant to take on 30% of the shares. I wonder if either of you is interested in buying them?"

Brian was stunned. He hadn't expected this at all. Li Jiangbo had only told him not to sell the shares, not whether he should buy them or not!

Howard, standing to the side, seemed to have known all along that Brown wouldn't be able to acquire the shares, and showed no surprise at the comment.

He immediately said, "I can take up to 7% more of the shares, but no more."

Brown immediately started chatting enthusiastically with Howard, while Li Jiangbo and Brian were left out in the cold.

Ten minutes later, the shareholding of the three parties changed again. Davidson owned 23.2% of the shares, CRA owned 18% of the shares, and Li Jiangbo's share remained unchanged.

After discussing the shareholding, Brown proposed, "I suggest that each of the three companies send a delegation to RTV. Board seats will be allocated according to shareholding, but daily operations will be jointly supervised by all three parties."

Howard thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "No problem, I'll send two people over."

Brian nodded in agreement, too lazy to say anything more.

An hour later, the three parties dispersed.

Since Li Jiangbo doesn't understand English, he could only return to the hotel and wait for a translator to translate for him.

Later, after learning that Brown had sold 6.8% of his shares to Howard, he slapped his thigh in frustration, regretting that he hadn't studied foreign languages ​​properly!

When Zhao Dong heard that a representative would be sent to Lijiang, he instinctively asked, "Brother Bo, are you really sending someone?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "Send, send a loyal foreigner. He only needs to do one thing: agree on how the two sides should act."

"But......"

"But what? We can just sit back and wait for things to change. If things get chaotic, we can buy shares. If things don't get chaotic..."

Li Jiangbo didn't say the rest, because he understood that every profession is like a mountain to climb!

It's a pipe dream to think that Davidson Media and CRA Group can manage television stations effectively!