Reborn Tycoon Rise

January 8, 1987, Hilton Hotel, New York, USA:

In the evening, the whole of New York was covered with a vast expanse of white snow. A cold wave was coming. The streets were bustling with people, but inside the hotel, it was extremely lively.

Today, a cocktail party is being held here to celebrate the upcoming listing of Disney.

When acquiring Disney, Xu Zhi made several agreements with the U.S. Foreign Acquisitions Committee, one of which required the company to be relisted in the United States within five years after the acquisition.

And Xu Zhi himself also had this plan. When the acquisition was made, Disney was heavily in debt and had operational difficulties. U.S. government lawmakers, ordinary people, and Hollywood colleagues seemed indifferent. However, after several years of management by Michael Eisner and Xu Zhi With some suggestions and financial transfusions, Disney has long been transformed. Even without any agreement, listing is a necessary means to ensure the future and seek more strategic alliances for more stable development in the future.

In 1986, the total box office of Disney movies exceeded US$1.5 billion, and The Lion King alone provided US$700 million. The net profit for the entire 1986 year was as high as US$680 million.

At the same time, in early 1985, Disney invested in several companies on the Japanese stock market. Now, with the appreciation of the yen and the surge in the Japanese stock market, the US$300 million invested has turned into a huge amount of 1 billion.

When Disney was acquired in 1983, the company had less than US$100 million in cash and over a billion in debt. Now, in less than four years, the company has more than US$500 million in cash and US$1 billion in the Japanese stock market. of valuable assets, and also owns a large number of high-quality copyrights: "The Lion King", "Growing Pains", "Beauty and the Beast", etc. These are extremely stable long-term incomes.

In addition to the film business, in 1985, Disney spent US$200 million to repair and expand the two major Disney parks in the United States. The number of visitors to the parks increased by 30% compared with before the acquisition.

Others, such as various peripheral businesses, hotel business, etc., have rebounded.

Because the dollar exchange rate has fallen and exports have been strong, the U.S. stock market is now in a boom stage. The highly profitable Disney Company is about to go public, which has naturally attracted the attention of many investment banks.

Goldman Sachs obtained a resale share by virtue of its relationship with Xu Zhi, but Xu Zhi could not allow his listing to be controlled by an investment bank, so Morgan Stanley also appeared.

When they received the detailed financial report of Disney Company, the eyes of the heads of the two companies were red. No one could have imagined that in just a few years, Disney would turn around in the hands of a Chinese.

The news that Disney is about to go public has also attracted the attention of many domestic consortiums in the United States. All of them have used their own channels to purchase some of the original shares early in order to seek high returns.

According to U.S. listing laws, a company needs to have a sufficient number of shareholders before going public. At the same time, the shareholding ratio of a single major shareholder cannot exceed 75%. After listing, the shareholding cannot exceed 66.7%.

Therefore, before going public, it has become inevitable to sell some of the shares in your hands.

The company is about to go public, and internal employees are naturally eligible to purchase original shares at a preferential price. Xu Zhi expanded this scope to other Xiangjiang companies. Any senior executive with qualifications can subscribe for a certain amount of Disney original shares, so that the money does not flow to outsiders. .

All the subordinates took a total of 5% of the share, and the remaining 20% ​​needed to be sold. They needed to find strong partners. In Xiangjiang, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong were eligible to participate in this game. Everyone bought After taking away 1.5% of the original shares, the other 17% needs to be found at this party to find interested buyers.

The banquet started for 20 minutes. People from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were chatting and laughing with everyone in a relaxed manner. They were also negotiating about Disney stocks while relaxing.

Soon, Currie, a representative of Goldman Sachs, brought an acquaintance of Xu Zhi.

"Eric, this is Alan Walker. You met four years ago." Corey reminded Xu Zhi with a smile as he forgot about the other person.

Xu Zhi extended his right hand to shake hands and said with a smile: "Of course I remember that back then, Mr. Walker was the major shareholder who most supported my acquisition of Disney. I am very grateful for my cooperation back then."

It turned out that the person who came was a representative of the United Coal Workers Union Fund. Back then, the fund was the first to sell its Disney shares, but unexpectedly, he also came today.

"Eric, on behalf of our foundation, I am very interested in investing in Disney again, but is the price too expensive?" Alan Walker said with a smile.

"The Disney Company's net profit last year was close to 700 million U.S. dollars. It holds securities and cash reserves of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. It also has a large number of high-quality copyrights and a large number of fixed assets." Xu Zhi shrugged and said, "We have already We have reached an agreement with the German government to build Europe's first Disneyland outside Berlin. I think that with so many factors added up, the price of US$8 billion is not high."

Although Xu Zhi is not very optimistic about Disneyland in Europe, this does not prevent him from using this news to increase the value of the company and strive for a huge IPO.

Xu Zhi has already set the original stock price with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, at US$8 per share, for a total of 1 billion shares, which is also the price at which it is sold now.

Alan Walker sighed slightly, raised his glass, and said with a wry smile: "No one could have imagined that Disney, which was rated as a junk stock back then and was almost delisted, would have such a big change today. If I had known it, we shouldn't have sold us back then. The shares in hand!”

"In this world, it is never too late to reinvest. I think the returns from Disney will be enough to satisfy your company in the future." Xu Zhi took a sip of whiskey and said with a smile. Although the American coal industry has declined, A lean camel is bigger than a horse, and there are many retirees in the coal industry. Currently, its influence in the United States is still very large. Large foundations like this are the strategic partners that Disney needs and will not interfere with the company. operation, but can provide certain political help when problems arise.

Alan Walker did not make any promises, Xu Zhi also said a few polite words, and then started conversations with some other financial elites. Some people also felt that the price was quite high, while others wanted a larger proportion of shares. .

…

On January 23, 1987, after half a month of negotiations, Xu Zhi finally reached a consensus with several investors.

There are four companies buying Disney stock, namely: United Coal Workers Union Fund, General Electric Group, Vanguard Fund Company and Legg Mason Group.

At this point, Disney's share structure has complied with the provisions of U.S. listing laws, and the listing process is about to begin.