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As for funds, this matter is not a problem for Simon at all.

With the admiration of the golden brand of Simon in the capital market, he can easily raise the capital that Lawrence Fink is currently managing, which is more than twice the size of the fund, and hand it over to the other party.

After introducing a few words to each other, everyone quickly found the topic of the recent takeover of the Colombian Savings Credit Bank by the federal government.

In fact, both parties are well aware that this is an interview.

Simon participated in the topic for a while, and heard Janet and Lawrence talking about the topic of vulture investment in the still-collapsing North American bond market with great interest. Janet.

After getting along for several years, Simon also realized Janet's talent in knowing people more and more.

It is said to have been inherited from Raymond Johnston.

Under the introduction of James, he greeted some other guests, and soon, a figure that surprised Simon appeared in front of him.

Or, two people.

Linda Carter, who was wearing a black low-cut dress, was holding a middle-aged man, who should be his husband.

Before James could introduce him, the middle-aged man extended his hand to Simon enthusiastically and said, "Hello, Mr. Westeros, I'm Robert Altman."

This Robert Altman is obviously not the Robert Altman of Hollywood.

Simon is used to the phenomenon of Westerners having the same name, so he didn't find it strange, and smiled and stretched out his hand towards the other party.

Linda Carter had an unnatural expression when she saw Simon. After greeting him with her husband, she reached out and said, "Hello, Mr. Westeros."

The woman obviously pretended not to know herself, and Simon didn't poke it out, saying hello, "Hello, Mrs. Altman."

Linda Carter knew that Simon was obviously doing it on purpose, and some resentment flashed in her eyes, and she explained: "Mr. Westeros, I didn't follow my husband's surname."

Simon said, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Simon, I heard that Daenerys Entertainment is already preparing a live-action movie of "Wonder Woman", maybe Linda can play a cameo role," Robert Altman said with a smile at this time: "You know , Linda is the most popular Wonder Woman."

Simon glanced at the woman and said, "Of course, if there is a chance."

After a few chats, Robert Altman introduced his work. He is also a lawyer, mainly engaged in the tax avoidance business of assisting overseas capital to return to the United States for investment.

After listening to Robert Altman's explanation, Simon probably understood why he was so eager for himself.

Cersei Capital has hoarded a large amount of funds overseas, and Simon is obviously a client with great potential.

Everyone chatted for a while, and Robert Altman left his business card and invited Simon to have a meal together at noon tomorrow.

After the two left, James shook his head slightly at Simon and said, "Simon, it's better not to have too much involvement with Altman, the tax avoidance method used by this person has many side elements, to put it bluntly, it has the nature of money laundering. Rumor has it that the IRS is after him."

Simon nodded and said, "I don't have such an idea."

Having accumulated such a huge amount of wealth in just a few years, Simon knew that there must be a lot of people staring at him.Once he has a flaw, there will definitely be a large group of opponents rushing forward.Simon has enough confidence to accumulate a lot of wealth by completely adopting formal business methods, and now he will not consider using those unpopular heresies at all.

After continuing to walk around in the crowd, Janet walked back and said to Simon: "It's been negotiated, but Fink doesn't plan to take the team to change jobs. He hopes that we can invest in buying the shares held by the Blackstone Group." , so that the business in his hands can continue.”

"Where is the Blackstone Group?"

"Fink wants autonomy and wants to share more shares with other partners, and Steve Schwarzman insists on maintaining absolute control of the subsidiary, and the differences between the two have grown. If Fink leads the team to switch jobs, what will be left to Blackstone Group will only be a mess. In comparison, if the asset management department is sold to us, Blackstone Group can still get a certain amount of income, and they should not refuse."

Simon nodded and asked again, "Have you discussed the offer with Fink?"

Janet said: "The Blackstone Group now holds 50% of the shares of Blackstone Financial Management Company. According to the performance estimates of the Fink team in the past year, the quotation can be kept within 1 million US dollars. After taking over this company, I believe it will not Too many investors redeemed their original funds, and Fink’s team is also very stable. Therefore, this investment is very worthwhile.”

Chapter 329 Blockbuster Is Listed (Revised)

On the second day of the reception at Raybould's house, Janet started negotiating with Blackstone Group to acquire the equity of Blackstone Financial Management Company.

Be busy, Thursday is coming soon.

Blockbuster chose to list on the NASDAQ exchange, and Simon and Janet rushed to Midtown directly after getting up at seven o'clock. Blockbuster chairman and CEO Wayne Huizenga and Daenerys Entertainment Amy and others on the side have arrived.

After a hasty breakfast, everyone came to the Nasdaq Exchange Hall on 42nd Street, which was already overcrowded.

In addition to the management of Daenerys and Blockbuster, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton and other big-name filmmakers were invited to help out today.

If other companies want to do this, an expensive appearance fee must be indispensable, and they may not be able to get it. For Daenerys Entertainment, it is only a matter of a few phone calls.

Because the invitees are all filmmakers who live here in New York, they don't even need to pay travel expenses.

Simon's attendance is also of a supporting nature.

After eight o'clock, they took Janet to show their faces in front of the media, and the two temporarily hid in the lounge upstairs of the exchange to wait for the bell-ringing ceremony.

Robert De Niro and others also arrived one after another.

Simon also meets Catherine Bigelow, whom he hasn't seen in a while.

After "Blue Angel", Catherine lived in New York most of the time.

Simon could feel that the woman was clearly alienating her relationship with him on purpose, and he didn't force it.

Catherine has always been a very independent personality, and it is impossible to become someone's vassal, and Simon does not want Catherine to become his vassal.

“It was a remake of an old 1962 film called Cape Fear about a sentenced criminal who exacts revenge on the judge and lawyer who sent him to jail. Spielberg started early on He started to adapt the screenplay of this project, but it has never been shot, he recently asked Martin and me if they were interested in taking over, Martin had read the script written by Steven and thought it was bad, so he was still hesitating.”

in the lounge.

Simon, De Niro and others sat on the sofa and chatted about recent events.

Martin Scorsese is already looking for his next new film while taking care of the later stage of "Goodfellas". Deni Rome will soon join the team to start filming a biographical film "Silence Asks the Heaven", which is expected to be released at the end of the year, which makes him This year, they still maintain relatively high-yielding two big-screen works.

The "Cape Fear" we are talking about now can only be counted as a project for next year.

The box office of "Cape Fear" in my memory is very good, but since this is a project led by Spielberg, Simon does not intend to intervene.

Of course, if "Cape Fear" is cast by Universal as it was in the original time and space, and Simon can successfully win the MCA this year, the film will still belong to him in the end.

Amy and James have been paying close attention to the trend of MCA recently. Simon’s plan is to wait for the establishment of Cersei Capital’s M&A business team before finding the right time to formally initiate an acquisition offer to MCA. Such a business can just help Cersei Capital’s M&A Business team turn on the situation.

After chatting with De Niro and others for a while, Simon got up and came to Janet and Catherine, who were talking small things.

January is the coldest time of the year in New York. Everyone took off their thick coats when they entered the room. Catherine was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, and Janet, who was wearing a white sweater, leaned against her Around, it is natural to feel a little more CP.

It was a three-seater sofa, with Catherine on one arm and Janet originally sitting in the middle.

Seeing Simon approaching, Janet, who was originally wrapped around Catherine, immediately moved to the other side, giving Simon the middle position.

Simon sat down unceremoniously, seeing Catherine moved slightly to the side, so he leaned closer to the woman on purpose, and naturally, he was cast a blank stare.

Janet approached with a smile, leaned on Simon's shoulder and said to Catherine through the man: "Look, you are still such a bastard."

Simon pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "Shouldn't you avoid the person involved when you say that?"

Janet pouted: "Just to let you hear."

Catherine smiled and watched the two quarreling, and said, "I saw you punching someone in Melbourne, don't behave like this again, you will get hurt."

Simon nodded and asked, "How is your new film preparation going, do you need my help?"

Catherine's new film is titled "Point Delight," and it's roughly a cop movie.

Simon has some impressions of this movie, one of Keanu Reeves's early works, and Patrick Swayze, the leading actor of "Ghost Love", participated in the movie. The surfing and skydiving action scenes of the film are very classic. Although the anarchist views expressed were not liked by mainstream film critics, it was very successful commercially and had a loyal fan base.

Until many years later, Hollywood actress Megan Fox, who became famous with "Transformers", named her son Bodhi after the character played by Patrick Swayze in "Point of Fright". , the corresponding word in Chinese is 'Bodhi'.

When Catherine heard Simon's nonchalant question, she looked at the man beside her with a smile and said, "Warner has officially approved the project, and Keanu and Patrick have also agreed to participate. The filming will probably start in the second half of the year."

The cost of "Scary Point" is expected to exceed 2000 million US dollars, which is already a big production for Catherine.

Hollywood's prejudice against female directors is deep-rooted. Without Simon's help, Warner would not have agreed to invest so readily, and the original Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze would not necessarily agree to participate.

Catherine was well aware of all this.

Everyone was chatting, and the time soon came to a quarter past nine. The staff came in to inform that the bell-ringing ceremony was about to begin, and everyone got up and left the lounge.

The exchange is already overcrowded.

Simon and others appeared on the stage, and the flashing lights in the hall immediately lit up crazily again.

After Wayne Huizenga gave a speech, everyone gathered at the operating table and pressed the transaction button together, and the bell-ringing ceremony was completed.

The next step is the inquiry stage before the opening.

Because the subscription demand during the road show was very strong, compared with the underwriter's initial suggested price of 13 to 15 US dollars, Blockbuster's issue price was finally determined at 17 US dollars, 1500 million new shares were issued, and 2.55 million US dollars was raised.

2.55 million US dollars, which is enough for Blockbuster's expansion in the coming year.As a result, shareholders and management unanimously rejected the underwriters' proposal to increase the offering.

In the first round of inquiry, the quotation jumped directly to the range of 17.5 to 18.5 US dollars.

After completing their platform tasks, Simon and his party left for the time being. There will be a celebration reception at noon. Today's guests can decide whether to attend according to their own arrangements.

Simon is definitely going to attend the noon reception, but before that, there are still some things that need to be returned to the apartment on Fifth Avenue.

Catherine was about to leave, but was dragged home by Janet.

There are already some people waiting here, staff from a genetic research institute in the UK.

Things are simple.

After collecting blood samples from both Simon and Janet, several staff members confirmed some things to Simon again, and then hurriedly left and flew back to the UK.

Catherine watched all this, but felt confused.

Janet came to her ear and whispered a few words of explanation, and the woman understood.

Then, thinking of Simon and Janet's upcoming marriage, I still felt a little sour in my heart.

Inside the lobby of the Nasdaq exchange.

After an hour of three consecutive rounds of inquiries, Blockbuster's opening price was finally confirmed at $19.5.

Subsequently, the official trading began, and the stock price immediately broke through the $20 mark.

The celebratory reception at noon began, and Blockbuster's share price had already exceeded 23 US dollars, and the trading in the afternoon was still very active.

As of the end of Thursday's trading day, Blockbuster's stock price was finally fixed at US$26.5, compared with the issue price of US$17, a surge of 56% in one day, with a total market value of US$21.99 billion.

Daenerys Entertainment's stake in Blockbuster remains at 35% because of its participation in the subscription of the IPO.

The total expenditure of the company was about 2.1 million U.S. dollars in two rounds of investment.

As of the close of the day, Daenerys Entertainment’s $2.1 million investment has increased to $7.7 million, with a return of more than 300% in just one year.

In fact, the reason why Blockbuster's stock price soared on the first day of listing was mainly because of Daenerys Entertainment's great success in this investment.

Daenerys Entertainment's huge book profits have stimulated investors' buying enthusiasm, and the market's pursuit has in turn made Daenerys Entertainment's investment more successful.

After the listing of new shares, the major shareholders and management of the listed company will enter a quiet period according to the usual practice.

However, this will not hinder the normal operation of Blockbuster.

On the second day of listing, Blockbuster announced that it would acquire the Errol video chain company headquartered in Baltimore on the east coast. Several states such as New York State and Washington State on the coast have 1200 chain stores.

The two parties finally reached a purchase price of 4000 million US dollars in the form of cash and stock transactions, and Blockbuster will also assume Errol's debts.

The deal has been under negotiation during Blockbuster's IPO, and the official announcement on the second day of listing is considered a positive.

After the completion of this transaction, the number of chain stores owned by Blockbuster will exceed 1500. Although the market share is still less than 20%, it is also the largest video rental and sales chain store in North America.

News of the acquisition of Errol was announced, and Blockbuster's stock price also rose slightly on Friday, as expected, breaking through $28 at Friday's close.

With the successful completion of the IPO, Blockbuster will also open the expansion of overseas markets.

On the other hand, Blackstone Group received an offer from Cersei Capital for the acquisition of Blackstone Financial Management Company led by Lawrence Fink, and initially directly rejected it.

Although Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman and Lawrence Fink have disagreements, Blackstone Financial Management has performed very well since its establishment. Blackstone Group is not willing to let go of this fast-growing subsidiary. company.

It wasn't until Lawrence Fink threatened to lead the entire team out collectively that Schwarzman reluctantly compromised, but the Lions still quoted a price of 2 million U.S. dollars.

Blackstone Financial Management reported revenue of $3300 million last year, and pre-tax net income attributable to shareholders of about $700 million.

Because of the debt crisis in the second half of last year, even most listed financial companies on Wall Street have a recent price-earnings ratio of only a dozen times.Blackstone Group's offer of US$2 million for Blackstone Financial Management Company is equivalent to a price-earnings ratio close to 30 times, and Cersei Capital naturally cannot accept it.

After ending Blockbuster, Janet stayed in New York to continue negotiating with Blackstone Group on the acquisition and preparations for other departments of Cersei Capital, while Simon returned to Los Angeles with Amy and others on weekends.

For Daenerys Entertainment, from January 1 to January 12, the box office of "Batman: Beginning of War" still fell by 1%, and it received another US$18 million.However, within four weeks of its release, the cumulative box office of the film quickly reached $31 million.

At the same time, on January 1, Daenerys Entertainment's first new film released in 19 was also officially released, called "I want to go home".

This is a film that Ella Deutschman bought from the Venice Film Festival last year. At that time, a total of three films were selected, and only this one was finally negotiated.

"I'm Going Home" is starring the famous French actor Gerard Depardieu, who has more than 10 nominations and awards for the Cesar Awards. Like the "A Fish Named Wanda" that made fun of the cultural differences between Britain and the United States, "I Want to Go Home" ridicules the cultural differences between Britain and France.

However, since it was placed in January, Gaomen Pictures obviously did not have too much expectation for the box office of this movie, and the number of screens opened was only 1 yuan, which can be regarded as a work to fill the release schedule.

The focus of Daenerys Entertainment's recent announcements is still February's "Pretty Woman".