Chapter 189 Intense Negotiations and Final Box Office

Chen Tianqiao looked at Liu Zhou who was wiping his mouth slowly across from him and sighed slightly in his heart.

The reason why he waited four months before contacting Liu Zhou was because he was unwilling to give up.

I was unwilling to accept that after spending so much effort I still couldn't take over Sina.

So during this period, he and Shanda President Tang Jun have been trying various ways to acquire Sina.

But all in vain.

Sina's shareholders and board of directors do not welcome Shanda's entry.

Although Sina's shares are now dispersed, this situation also gives small shareholders and board members greater power.

If Shanda takes over Sina forcefully, they will have no say.

What's more, Sina is now developing well and its stock price is rising every day.

Whether from the perspective of economic value or Sina's voice, they have no reason to welcome Shanda.

After trying without success, Chen Tianqiao finally decided to give up.

But even if he gave up, Chen Tianqiao was not going to let Sina's shareholders have an easy time.

So he did not reveal any of Liu Zhou's ambitions for Sina.

Although Chen Tianqiao had promised to keep Liu Zhou's secret before, he had no psychological burden to spread the news that Liu Zhou was going to take over Sina if the price was right.

However, since his acquisition of Sina was completely hopeless, Chen Tianqiao did not want to offend Liu Zhou, so he kept the news strictly confidential.

Moreover, Chen Tianqiao also wanted to see how they would react when Liu Zhou took over Sina.

Judging from the fact that Liu Zhou has been planning for so long, he definitely hopes to completely control Sina.

By then, those who have been blocking him will be kicked out or marginalized, and their expressions will be very interesting.

Although he had already decided to sell Sina shares to Liu Zhou, in order to maximize profits, Chen Tianqiao still waited until Sina's 2005 financial report was released before contacting Liu Zhou.

In 2005, Sina's total revenue was US$ million and its net profit was US$ million.

The net profit growth rate was 110%, the operating profit growth rate was 87%, and the total net revenue growth rate was 75%.

It can be said that Sina has delivered a beautiful answer and has completely gotten rid of the impact of the Internet bubble.

The most direct feedback is Sina’s stock price.

After Sina released its 2005 financial report, its stock price rose from US$26 to US$30 in just three days.

The total market value has also increased from US$13.52 billion to the current US$15.6 billion.

Compared to the total market value of US$11.8 billion when Shanda announced the acquisition of Sina at the beginning of last year, Sina's market value has increased by nearly US$ million in less than a year.

Sina did not disappoint Chen Tianqiao. By delaying for a month or two, it could earn tens of millions more dollars.

However, even though he could earn tens of millions more dollars, he was not very happy.

Chen Tianqiao felt unhappy when he thought that Liu Zhou was about to take over Sina.

Even if he felt bad, Chen Tianqiao knew that Sina was no longer a place for him.

"Mr. Liu, I'm a little curious. I haven't given you a reply yet. Are you still preparing to take over Sina?"

Liu Zhou put down the tissue, shook his head and said:
"No, Mr. Chen, your shares have not been finalized yet, so I dare not act rashly!"

"Haha, it seems this is my fault."

"It's not anyone's fault. The shares belong to Mr. Chen. It's your freedom to sell them or not."

"I am now ready to sell my 19.5% stake to Mr. Liu. What price are you prepared to offer?"

Although he was mentally prepared, Liu Zhou still felt delighted when he heard Chen Tianqiao say it himself.

"Mr. Chen, please name a price first."

"Twice the premium!"

Although he was prepared for Chen Tianqiao to ask for a high price, Liu Zhou's eyebrows still jumped when he heard his offer.

The premium is twice, which, based on Sina’s current total market value of 15.6 billion, would be 46.8 billion US dollars.

Chen Tianqiao holds 9.126% of the shares. If Liu Zhou wants to acquire these shares, he needs to pay him US$ million.

This price is really too high.

Even if Liu Zhou sold all his shares, he could only raise this much money.

But doing so is obviously not worth the cost.

Penguin will be a giant company with a value of nearly one trillion US dollars in the future. Now selling all of its shares in order to acquire Sina is undoubtedly a very stupid act.

More than ten years later, when the media counts the stupidest transactions, Liu Zhou's operation may still be at the top of the list, and will often be ridiculed.

So there is no way Liu Zhou would agree to this price.

"Mr. Chen, your price is a bit scary. I don't know how to bargain."

"Mr. Liu thinks this price is too expensive?"

"Of course, although I have high hopes for the Sina shares in your hands, Mr. Chen, please don't treat me like a fat sheep to be slaughtered."

"Haha, who would dare to take Mr. Liu as a fat sheep? I also made this offer based on my prediction of Sina's stock price trend in the next three years."

"Mr. Chen, do you think Sina's stock price will triple again in three years?"

“Yes, the mainland Internet is developing very fast, and I think Sina’s market value will definitely triple in three years.

So I made the offer based on our team’s estimate of Sina’s market value in three years.”

Liu Zhou fell silent after hearing what Chen Tianqiao said. To be honest, it was a seller's market, so the price Chen Tianqiao offered was not very high.

He also underestimated the speed of development of the Internet in the mainland.

Three years later, Sina's market value has more than tripled.

The total market value of the three portals is close to 10 billion yuan, and Sohu's market value even exceeded 10 billion US dollars at one point due to the support of the Olympics.

If you buy it now at twice the premium, it is still a sure profit.

But that's not how business is done.

Liu Zhou knows the future value of Sina, but Chen Tianqiao doesn't.

Even if he made this offer, he definitely gave Liu Zhou room to bargain.

"Mr. Chen, let's be realistic. A two-fold premium is impossible. We don't need to talk about Sina's market value in three years. These are all imaginary."

"So what do you think is appropriate, Mr. Liu?"

"Thirty percent premium!"

"Boss Liu, you are kidding me."

“Mr. Chen, when you first acquired these shares, Sina’s market value was less than 1.2 billion US dollars, and now it has appreciated by more than 25%.

If I add another 30% premium on this basis, Mr. Chen will also be able to make a lot of money."

"Mr. Liu, how much money we made before has nothing to do with you. That's what we should earn. Our current deal should not be linked to the past."

"Fifty percent premium!"

Chen Tianqiao still shook his head and said:

"Mr. Liu, we don't have to haggle like we're in a vegetable market. Just give us a final quote."

If Liu Zhou really believed him and gave the final offer, that would be stupid.

For a transaction of this magnitude, one percentage point represents tens of millions.

In any negotiation for a deal of this size, wouldn’t the tension be more intense than in a vegetable market?
So if Liu Zhou really said the bottom price, he would definitely not be able to keep the final bottom price.

The two argued back and forth for several rounds, but were still a long way from reaching a consensus.

Seeing that they would not be able to reach an agreement today, the two decided to put the matter aside for the time being and discuss it tomorrow.

After returning to the hotel, Liu Zhou called Zhong Lifang over overnight.

Liu Zhou plans to let Zhong Lifang attend tomorrow's negotiations.

He felt that Chen Tianqiao would not participate tomorrow, and it was likely that the working emperor Tang Jun would be arranged to come forward.

It is not easy to reach such a large-scale transaction. The two sides negotiated for half a month but still failed to reach a consensus.

But at least the bids from both sides are much closer than at the beginning.

During the past half month, Liu Zhou inquired about the information of Yan Family Garden, and at the same time, accompanied by Chen Tianqiao, he took a good look around the Magic City.

As for the negotiations, it was completely handed over to the two teams of Zhong Lifang and Tang Jun.

But Liu Zhou could no longer wait for them to reach an agreement, as he needed to return to the capital.

After more than a month of screening, "New World" was officially taken off the screen, with a total box office of 2.35 million yuan.

It's still more than 2.48 million away from the record of million set by "Hero", which is a bit of a pity.

But Liu Zhou didn't think it was a pity. It was unprecedented for a gangster film to achieve such a result.

To be honest, without the double bonus of Liu Zhou and "The Promise", it would be a bit difficult for "New World" to even break the 100 million mark.

Now that he can earn more than 200 million at the box office, Liu Zhou is already very satisfied.

In addition to earning 2.35 million yuan at the mainland box office, the film also achieved very good results in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong box office not only exceeded the HK$5500 million of "Infernal Affairs", but also exceeded the HK$6073 million of "Shaolin Soccer".

But it is a bit regrettable that "Kung Fu" did not break the box office of HK$6128 million to top the Hong Kong movie box office list.

The final box office of "New World" in Hong Kong was 6103 million.

After the film broke 60 million, the growth of the box office almost stagnated. The extra one million in box office revenue was also the result of extending the screening by more than ten days.

Liu Zhou was too lazy to buy box office revenue. Since the performance of "New World" was like this, he would just let it stay where it deserves.

Second place is second place, which can just motivate Liu Zhou to strive for first place.

However, even though it ranked second in the Hong Kong movie box office, when this result came out, countless Hong Kong film practitioners lost sleep over it, and the entire Hong Kong entertainment section headlines were all given to "New World".

Liu Zhou, a mainland director, can be said to have defended the reputation of Hong Kong films very well.

Now, no matter how dissatisfied or unhappy people are with Liu Zhou, they dare not say anything more.

At this point, no one said that Liu Zhou didn't understand Hong Kong movies, and no one said that Liu Zhou would ruin Hong Kong movies.

Even though the Hong Kong media knew that Liu Zhou had moved the headquarters of Golden Harvest Group to Beijing, they turned a blind eye.

Of course, a celebration banquet is necessary for the brilliant achievement of "New World", not to mention that "Crazy Stone" has also been waiting.

So the day after finishing filming "New World", Zhang Zhao prepared a grand celebration banquet.

As the absolute protagonist of the celebration banquet, Liu Zhou certainly could not be absent.

As a result, Liu Zhou had to temporarily leave the Magic City and go to the capital to attend the celebration banquet.

(End of this chapter)