Chapter 427 Poison Pill

When the news that Cutthroat Island caused a huge loss of 120 million US dollars was revealed, although the loss belonged to Disney was only more than 70 million, the impact was more than Disney's loss of 100 million through multiple movies last summer. The dollar is even stronger. … In just three days, Disney’s stock price fell by 11%, and its market value quickly shrank from $3.8 billion before the release of “Cut Throat Island” to $3.45 billion.

As a result, there have been a lot of discussions and reflections on the pros and cons of big-budget movies in the newspapers and media, and a detailed comparative analysis of "Cutthroat Island" and "Terminator 2" has been made. Success, the contrast is stark.

As the discussion progressed, it gradually involved films with a large investment of more than 50 million US dollars in the past two years. Of course, there is also no need for Eric's "Tornado" and Spielberg's "Captain Hawk" directed. Analysis, because both of them are the most successful commercial film directors in Hollywood in recent years, and the investment of these two films has exceeded 70 million US dollars.

When the box office of "Terminator 2" was released in the first weekend, Eric had already completed all the filming of "Tornado". Seeing that the box office of "Cutthroat Island" exceeded 20 million, Eric was very disappointed,' Miracle' in the end still did not happen.

However, he is not too surprised. The status of the original independent production company Carlock is far from that of Disney, which is one of the seven majors. In addition, Carlock was suppressed by the seven major alliances, resulting in "Cutthroat Island" "The tragic situation that the 90 million investment only got more than 9 million box office. What Eric regrets is that the loss of more than 120 million US dollars in this version of "Cutthroat Island" is not all borne by Disney, otherwise, the next acquisition of Disney will be smoother.

After "Tornado" was closed. Eric continued to spend a few days in Oklahoma dealing with some clutter. Only returned to Los Angeles with a few main creators.

In the faraway punk town. Eric has already felt the public opinion turmoil in the media because of several summer movies. When the flight arrived in Los Angeles, Eric, Jeffrey, Joanna and others just walked out of the airport, when dozens of people waited for a long time. Reporters were blocked at the door of the pick-up hall.

Looking at the frantically flashing camera flashes and the tape recorder trying to get past the bodyguard, Eric was worried that the situation would get out of control, so he quickly squeezed his hands and made a quiet gesture.

Originally worried that Eric would leave immediately and asked aloud, the group of reporters who were expecting a response quickly quieted down. Since Eric had promised to answer their questions, there was no need for it.

"Everyone, I can stay and answer some questions, but after a few hours on the plane, my companions are tired, can they leave first?"

Unexpectedly, Eric suddenly mentioned this, everyone looked at each other, and Eric did not want to get a positive answer.

He made a few gestures to Jeffrey and the others, and then signaled his bodyguard to clear the crowd. The reporters saw that Eric didn't move, and made a way out of the way.

Watch as Jeffrey and Joanna and the others board the roadside car. Eric clapped his hands: "Then..."

The group of reporters immediately remembered the messy voice again.

"Stop, come one by one," Eric said, pointing to a bespectacled female reporter in a small black suit: "This lady, come first."

The female reporter was a little excited and wanted to take a step forward, but was blocked by the bodyguard, so she had to say loudly through the human wall: "Mr. Williams, it is rumored that the script of "Cutthroat Island" was the first thing you liked. What do you think of the dismal box office of a movie with an investment of over 100 million yuan?"

Before Eric came back, he had already thought about the response to this problem. Of course, he could not admit that this was a pit. Therefore, when he heard the female reporter's question, Eric showed a heavy look: ""Cutthroat Island" was originally a very good idea, I also thought about making this film into a trilogy. Unfortunately, Disney is producing I can only say sorry to have gone astray in thinking and ruined this promising story."

Before Eric's voice completely fell, the female reporter immediately seized the opportunity and asked, "Can you talk about your production ideas?"

"Sorry, it's not convenient for me to disclose this question. Next, this gentleman."

The reporter who was named immediately said: "Mr. Williams, since you have already conceived of Cutthroat Island, is it possible for you to remake this series?"

"The failure of this film has already made the audience have preconceived notions, not to mention the remake of this film, maybe within ten years, I estimate that within ten years, no one will dare to make a pirate film again."

"Don't you even dare?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, I don't dare either. The failure of "Cutthroat Island" was too complete, and it was a big blow to the island type movie. Although I am not afraid of failure, I don't want to experience failure so quickly. Next, you."

A black-haired reporter stretched out the tape recorder on tiptoe and said, "Mr. Williams, it seems that you have already experienced failure. It is said that the "Fighting Condor" series is a script that you personally selected and participated in the investment. ."

A smile appeared on the corner of Eric's mouth, and he explained: "The first script of "Fighting Condor" was indeed selected by me, and I also participated in part of the investment. But the second one has nothing to do with me, I don't even have a script. See, you can investigate this matter."

"Didn't Miss Connery show you the script?" A thin reporter hurriedly interjected, and everyone's eyes suddenly lit up, looking forward to Eric's answer.

Of course Eric knew that this question was actually testing his relationship with Connery. The smile on his face didn't change, but he didn't have any extra words, and replied directly: "No, next one, come on. , this is the last question, I'm in a hurry."

Just as the reporter was about to speak, he swallowed the original question after hearing what Eric added, and then asked after thinking about it: "Mr. Williams, Toy Story and Terminator 2 have once again made the With such dazzling results, will you make Firefly go public?"

"No, Firefly's cash flow is very abundant. So there is no need for listing financing. And after listing. In order to maintain the stock price. In order to maintain investor confidence, Firefly may have to make some radical decisions that are contrary to the company's development strategy. It is very detrimental to the development of the company, so I still hope that Firefly can develop more freely in an environment that is not disturbed by external investors."

After answering this question, Eric nodded to the crowd, and then walked away from the crowd under the protection of a group of bodyguards. Although Eric did not answer many questions, it was enough for these reporters to produce a good report, so no one was desperately blocking it. Eric quickly left the Los Angeles airport.

"Trilogy, hehe, at this point you haven't missed the opportunity to block Michael Eisner," Chris Hansen, who came from New York the next day, said when he saw Eric , he has apparently seen the interviews with Eric by the reporters yesterday.

Eric shook hands with Chris, walked side by side with him towards the Pointy Manor Villa, and said, "'Cutthroat Island' won $20 million at the box office, which is a lot more than I thought, and of course I have to take the opportunity to vent. a bit."

"140 million investment. I feel a chill when I see the final box office of 20 million US dollars. You are too much."

"It's a pity that the loss was partly borne by Robert Shea." The two said as they entered the villa.

The glass curtain wall of the City of Liberty facing the sea, Chris sat on the sofa and looked not far away and said, "You are still alone, don't you feel that this villa is too spacey?"

Eric came over with a coffee pot, poured coffee for the two, and said, "It's different, I like this feeling better."

Chris took the coffee cup, looked at Eric and said, "I don't know if it's my illusion. Although I don't spend much time with you, I feel like you are always separated from the world around you. You are very good at The ability to get along with people and interact with people is far beyond the level of your age group, but you are always like a little oil in the water, although the contact with the water is very close, but you are not willing to melt into it.”

Eric was stunned for a while, without refuting, he smiled: "Your intuition is really sharp."

Hearing Eric admitting so lightly, Chris was a little surprised, but then said: "Eric, this is not a good phenomenon, and it may even lead to schizophrenia in the long run."

"Uh, are you studying finance?"

"I have taken psychology as an elective, and many students studying finance will take psychology as an elective, so that they can analyze the opponents or customers they encounter more thoroughly."

"Forget it, Chris, let's get down to business. Don't worry, I won't have any schizophrenia, but I don't know how to explain it to you."

Chris was stunned for a while, and said, "Okay, but Eric, you must know that everyone cares about you. My father, me, and Drew, and... your women, if you have something in your heart. If there is anything you want to talk about, I believe that any of us are very good listeners."

How could it be possible to tell his secrets to others, even the little girl Drew, Eric could not imagine how the girl would react if she learned of his secret.

After Chris said this, he turned directly to the topic: "Okay, let's talk about the acquisition of Disney."

Having said that, Chris took out the information he brought with him and shared it with Eric, saying: "Disney's latest stock market value today is $3.43 billion, and its debt is $2.07 billion. So far, I have passed several companies. Together with the agents, they got 11% of Disney stock, with a total expenditure of $376 million, while Disney’s share of the stock market in the circulation market is only about 24%, so it can absorb part of it. Disney’s board of directors, including Michael Eisner, has a total of 16 Personally, Disney replaces its board members through elections every year, and if the takeover bid is rejected, through this year's transition and the subsequent absorption of Disney stock, we can get two board seats, so that we can step in Disney's management. "

Eric said: "Let's talk about the main obstacles to this acquisition, except for the money issue."

Chris smiled: "This is also what I want to say the most. Some of the information I collected surprised me. After Disney experienced the hostile takeover in 1984 and lost more than 300 million US dollars, it has no long memory at all. Even None of the most common anti-takeover poison pill agreements.”

"Poison pill?" Eric showed a puzzled expression.

Chris thought for a while, then tried to explain in simple words: "The so-called poison pill is a share expansion agreement drafted by the target company in advance to prevent a hostile takeover. Once the company encounters a hostile takeover, the poison pill will be triggered. When the company's outstanding shares are acquired by a large number of opponents, the shareholders of the target company can issue new shares to dilute the share of the shares acquired by the competitors. Through this method, the acquisition cost can be raised to a sky-high price, like a poison pill Same, deterring acquirers who want to gobble up their targets. There are at least 2,000 publicly traded companies in North America that have poison pill agreements, and I'm surprised Disney doesn't."

Eric listened to Chris' explanation and smiled: "All in all, it's good for us, isn't it?"

"Of course," Chris then let go of another page of information in his hand and said, "However, although Disney's performance in the past two years has been relatively bleak, and "Cutthroat Island" has brought such a big loss, Disney is after all Michael. Eisner was brought out from the quagmire of decline. In the past seven years, Disney's market value in the hands of Michael Eisner has doubled. At least half of the shareholders still maintain confidence in Michael Eisner. So the biggest problem with our acquisition is still Disney's existing management."

Of course Eric knew this. According to fragmented memory, the huge differences between Disney shareholders and Michael Eisner should have been after 1996, when Michael Eisner wilfully annexed the TV station, resulting in Disney's subsequent years. High debt ratio and huge losses. Before that, although Michael Eisner was stubborn, even treated the board of directors as his own, and obtained a lot of self-interest for himself through the compensation committee, Disney has always been thriving and developing rapidly, so these problems have been ignored by shareholders They tolerated it.

However, Eric couldn't wait until 1996, when Disney's market value was estimated to have doubled several times, and it would be even more difficult to acquire it.

Chris didn't know Eric's inner workings, and continued: "Once Disney agrees to a goodwill acquisition, many things will be much easier, but I think Michael Eisner will definitely not agree. So the possibility of going the second way Sex is more than 70%, so the most important thing for us now is to consider the problems that may be encountered by the second way." (To be continued.) u