Chapter 658 Auction House

Chapter 658

Eric sat in the back row of the auction hall, quietly watching the teams of several major companies participating in the auction take their positions.

The sudden announcement to extend the payment time for the purchase of the animation department is also the result of careful consideration by the senior management of Firefly.

In order to ensure that no Hollywood forces would make trouble in the process of winning Marvel, Eric hung up the 'Shui Ling cabbage' in the animation department for more than a month. In this more than a month, he intends to win the animation department. Buyers must have discussed and evaluated this business many times, and several major film companies should have calmed down from their initial suspicion and excitement about Firefly's decision to sell the animation department, and determined the final decision based on their own financial situation in detail. The upper limit of the quotation cannot even rule out the possibility of forming a series between various companies.

Firefly suddenly announced that it would extend the one-year payment period to three years, leaving a very ample time for the final buyer to raise funds and pay, and could easily break the established bidding strategy of potential buyers. After all, Disney's animation division is too enticing for several major companies to enter the animated film market, especially now that the "Lion King" box office is soaring.

Of course, such an obvious surprise attack will definitely be slandered by buyers, but the "preferential conditions" temporarily given by Firefly also give buyers no reason to refuse.

The people in the hall were about the same. Katzenberg walked to the podium and sat down beside Eric. He asked excitedly and expectantly, "Eric, how much do you think you can get this time?"

Eric said: "It will definitely exceed 2 billion US dollars. A few days ago, the big-name stars uniformly boycotted the studio's remuneration compression, which should give them some inspiration and raise the price higher. After all. Animated movies not only It can bring more revenue than live-action movies. And the characters in it will not ask for high salaries like big-name stars, and it can also make them less dependent on live-action movies.”

Frank Wells, who was sitting on the other side of Eric, also asked: "Eric, in this case, do you think it is possible to reach 3 billion?"

"This is unlikely," Eric shook his head, although in his memory, the market value of Pixar animation in the original time and space immediately rushed to 1 billion US dollars after the success of "Toy Story". However, the technical difference between hand-drawn animation and computer animation ≡↓style_txt; the difference also limits the value of Disney's animation department: "Unless we expand the scope of copyright authorization for several animations such as "The Lion King", or even transfer the copyright completely, Disneyland And the Disney store needs the rights to these animated characters, we can't do that."

Several people chatted casually, and the bidding team that had just left gradually returned to the lobby. After half an hour, Katzenberg returned to the stage.

After a few simple words to liven up the atmosphere, Katzenberg picked up the gavel,

Loud announcement that the auction has officially started.

Then, there was silence in the hall for a moment. It seemed that no one was going to make the first move, and it was deadlocked for a few seconds. A middle-aged man in the third row raised his number plate for the first time: "$1 billion."

Eric looked over, and the man holding the placard was John Carley, the president of MGM. He shook his head and smiled. He knew that MGM was here to join in the fun. Of course, John Culley must have some unrealistic illusions when he raised his placard for the first time. May will definitely happily take the animation department with $1 billion, and even if MGM has not fully recovered, Eric believes that MGM's shareholders and creditors will not be stingy to spend the $1 billion.

Of course, the reality is that this is impossible.

"Number 9, $1 billion..."

Katzenberg gestured in the direction of John Cali, and before he had time to say more, another bidder raised his placard: "1 billion 10 million."

The minimum markup for this auction was $10 million, and although the second bidder only added $10 million discreetly, the competition began to heat up, and the auction price began to skyrocket.

1.3 billion, 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion, 1.9 billion...

The auction went on for less than ten minutes. With Summer Redstone personally shouting out the price of $1.9 billion, more than half of the potential buyers in the auction room had been eliminated, and only Paramount, Fox, Warner and Seagram, which is about to buy Universal.

After a palpable hesitation on the $1.9 billion price tag, Fox president Joe Ross raised the number plate: "$2 billion!"

"No. 4, from Twentieth Century Fox, $2 billion," Katzenberg's voice rose again on the auction stage, full of bewitchment: "I'm going to say that just 'The Lion King' can It brings a net profit of 1 billion US dollars to the film company. Therefore, 2 billion US dollars only represents the net profit of the two "Lion King" films. I believe that the excellent team of Disney's animation department has accumulated over half a century. It's only a matter of time before a second, third, or even more 'The Lion King' comes out, well, $2 billion, for the first time..."

Eric listened to Katzenberg's hysterical flickering while looking in the direction of the Fox team.

At Eric's suggestion, Elizabeth apparently didn't get involved, and Murdoch didn't show up either for whatever reason.

The only person leading Fox to the auction was President Joe Ross. Speaking of which, "Home Alone" in the original time and space was produced by Joe Ross and distributed by Fox, and Joe Ross should have been dug into Disney with a high salary for the outstanding box office of "Home Alone", and Frank Wells in the original time and space Before his unexpected death, Michael Ovitz briefly served as Disney president.

However, because of the appearance of Eric in this space and time, Joe Ross still maintains a cooperative relationship with Fox, and in the personnel changes after Barry Diller left Fox, he got the position of president of 20th Century Fox, as for Fox's by Rupert Murdoch himself.

Since Murdoch didn't show up in person, Fox was all but certain to be out after the Firefly suddenly played the card of extending the payout period. after all. Radical relative to Summer Redstone. Murdoch is far more conservative, with $2 billion likely to be Fox's last bid.

After the price rose to 2 billion US dollars, the frequency of bidding in the audience was much slower. In many cases, almost the moment Katzenberg dropped the hammer, the voice of the bid appeared in the audience.

After a few more bidding rounds, Seagram's Edgar Bronfman also opted out at $2.2 billion after Fox. In the end, there are only two competitors left, Paramount and Warner.

This result is not beyond Eric's expectations. Buying Universal is Seagram's first priority. If he gets Disney's animation department at an exorbitant price before buying Universal, it will mean Seagram's first priority. Tim's leverage to buy Universal has dwindled. If the animation department is won at a high price, but the acquisition of Universal fails due to this, then Edgar Bronfman will cry without tears.

In the lobby, Time Warner Terry Semel once again shouted a price of $2.33 billion, but Eric could hear it. Compared with the still high-spirited Summer Redstone, Terry Semel is not so full of air.

"It seems that the result is obvious." Frank Wells whispered beside Eric.

Eric nodded slightly and listened to Summer Redstone's quick follow-up of the offer, saying: "Terry Semel is too constrained compared to Summer Redstone. Time Warner Only people like Steve Ross can fully control it. Moreover, the current situation in Time Warner is almost caused by Steve Ross. Unless there is another manager who is highly expected, the future will be very long. For a period of time, Time Warner was not very stable internally."

Frank Wells used to work at Time Warner for many years, and he nodded in agreement, but shook his head slightly and said, "The kind of manager you are talking about is not likely to appear at all. Now Warner Communications in the Time Warner system. The leaders of the major factions of the company, Turner Broadcasting Corporation, Time Publishing Group and Warner Bros. Entertainment are all very strong in their respective fields, and they will not identify with a brand-new manager at all, and will not be willing to let the other party occupy Time Warner's. High position. Only a powerful man like Steve Ross who created Time Warner would make them bow down, unfortunately, Ross died too early."

Steve Ross is similar in age to Warren Buffett, Summer Redstone and Rupert Murdoch, all just past their sixties, compared to a group of old men who are still alive and kicking twenty years later, Steve Ross, the media man who created Time Warner, died a bit early.

Eric glanced at Terry Semel, who was hesitant again following Summer Redstone's offer, and said, "If I were a Time Warner shareholder, since everyone can't be tied together, I would rather choose Divide the group. Otherwise, this long-term internal friction will only cause the decline of Time Warner's overall strength."

In the memory of the previous life, Time Warner finally went the road of constantly splitting its business, but the media giant made such a decision obviously too late. In the end, before Eric was reborn, it was originally on par with the Disney Group. The market value of Time Warner's is only about 50 billion, less than one-third of its heyday, while the market value of Disney Group in the same period was close to 200 billion US dollars.

Frank Wells said regretfully: "Everyone now thinks that the bigger the group, the better. It is not easy for Time Warner to coexist peacefully, but it is also not easy for them to part ways. Eric, if the future Firefly is too bloated, would you be willing to split the group?"

Eric smiled and pointed to Katzenberg on the stage: "Am I doing this right now?"

Frank Wells nodded suddenly and said, "I actually ignored this."

The two chatted in a low voice, and the bidding in the venue had also entered the final stage. Eric obviously heard Terry Semel's tone almost trembling and quoted the price of 2.41 billion US dollars, and looked up at Terry Semel's back.

Eric's gaze locked on Terry Semel didn't have time to turn away, but after a brief hesitation, Summer Redstone raised the number plate in his hand and shouted angrily: "2.5 billion Dollar."

Terry Semel's shoulders slumped visibly.

Katzenberg on the stage said a few more words bewilderingly. After three counts, Terry Semel didn't raise the card again, so he dropped the gavel in his hand.

The percussion sounded, and Katzenberg raised his voice: "Congratulations to Mr. Summer Redstone, Paramount Pictures will get the Disney animation department."

In the applause that gradually sounded, everyone in the field stood up, and many people walked towards Summer Redstone and others.

Eric also walked over with Frank Wells and others, and said congratulations enthusiastically.

The follow-up formal signing will be carried out after Paramount confirms the detailed contract and the list of assets of the animation department. Therefore, after a brief press conference, Firefly hosted all the guests participating in the auction in another lobby of the Hilton Hotel.

After a round of entertainment with champagne in their hands, Eric and Katzenberg came to a corner with few people.

"The final price was at least $300 million higher than we expected," Katzenberg said with excitement on his face: "It looks like today's payment extension is really working, from Terry Semel Judging from the reaction at the scene, Time Warner's original bid limit should be around 2.2 billion. After 2.2 billion, Terry Semel's expression is obviously not so calm, although Summer Redstone's reaction is not too much Big change, but I guess his initial reserve price should also be around 2.2 billion."

"Don't mention this," Eric said with a smile at the corner of his mouth, "How is the preparation of the new Disney animation department on your side? I haven't seen the relevant documents in the last few days?"

Katzenberg replied: "I plan to fund a digital animation production program at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco at the same time, divided into a six-month short course and a two-year standard professional class. The short course By poaching people from existing software or advertising companies, we mainly recruit digital animation personnel with computer and painting skills, and have accumulated work experience for professional software training, so that we can set up a new Disney animation department as soon as possible, but this This method requires a lot of investment. For the long-term consideration, we still have to rely on the training two years ago to continuously provide us with more professional digital animation talents. At present, I am asking the strategic planning department to make the relevant budget, and you will be able to do it by the end of the month I saw the relevant report." (To be continued.)

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