Jennifer listened to Simon's idea and said, "According to the results of Dad's recent negotiations with Nokia, we only need about $200 million to take over Nokia's mobile communication equipment department completely. Including subsequent operating expenses, the total expenditure within a year will not exceed $250 million. Since there are currently no other large-scale investment projects overseas, we can only withdraw the funds back to America".
Simon had originally planned to acquire most of Nokia's shares through capital injection, but due to the political instability in Eastern Europe and Nokia's own eagerness to streamline its business, the other party proactively requested that if Westeros Company wanted Nokia's mobile communication equipment department, it must take over the entire department.
Although Nokia's mobile communication equipment department cannot yet be compared with Motorola, Simon discovered a large number of second-generation digital communication technology patents related to GSM during his review of its asset list. This company also has a deep accumulation of other technologies in mobile communication.
Therefore, since the other party proposed it and Simon had a large amount of funds, he naturally would not object to the plan of a complete takeover.
Apart from Nokia, Simon had not yet found any other large investment projects that could satisfy Westeros Company's appetite.
In comparison, withdrawing funds back to the United States, due to Simon's foresight advantage, not only MCA but also many other investment targets could bring him ten or even a hundred times the return in the future. The US domestic market could fully absorb billions of dollars in funds.
However, the capital gains tax of up to 28% was truly painful.
According to Cersei Capital's current scale, if all the funds belonging to Simon after settlement were transferred back to the country, the taxes to be paid would exceed $1 billion.
Simon even had the thought of changing his nationality, but this idea was just a thought. Compared to other Western countries, the US tax system, though complex, is not actually that high. Moreover, if Simon were to change his nationality, the expansion of his business empire in the United States would definitely be subject to various strict restrictions.
Jennifer waited for Simon to ponder for a moment, then spoke again: "There's one more thing. News from Los Angeles says that Australia's Qintex Group and MGM announced a statement at 2 PM, stating that they have finalized a rough merger and acquisition plan. Christopher Skase, Chairman of Qintex Group, said that as long as the funds are in place, both parties can complete the transaction".
The female assistant said, pulling out a page of information from a folder and handing it over.
Simon was a little surprised.
In his memory, Qintex Group did not successfully acquire MGM. What was going on now?
After reading the statement Jennifer handed over, it turned out that Qintex Group had recently successfully sold a resort in Brisbane for $430 million, and the $500 million corporate bonds issued by Qintex Group for the purpose of acquiring MGM had also received support from many Australian investment institutions.
Putting down that page of the statement, Simon said, "Qintex is clearly insolvent, yet so many people are still foolish enough to join the fun".
Jennifer looked at Simon's profile and said, "After last month's Forbes rich list was released, Hollywood's appeal to capital has clearly increased a lot. Orion Pictures has also recently been discussing financing issues with a Canadian company. If they get the money, this company might be able to survive the crisis".
Simon tapped the document on his knee with his finger and said, "Well we can't let Orion Pictures survive the crisis. I'm still waiting to buy this company's film library".
He had always kept in mind Nancy Brill's suggestion to him, and Orion Pictures indeed owned a batch of very high-quality film copyrights.
Jennifer smiled and said, "Is that why you didn't give Orion Pictures a slot for these 10 projects?"
Simon nodded and said, "Yes, and of course, there's also the matter of Orion Pictures defaulting on the split for 'Pulp Fiction'. The company's situation is getting worse and worse. Cooperating with them again would certainly lead to further defaults, or even a complete loss of funds".
Among the 10 external collaboration film projects of Daenerys Entertainment, the 5 confirmed ones, besides being high-quality projects themselves, also had various targeted choices in terms of collaborating companies.
Fox was due to the Murdoch family, Disney and Warner Bros. were because their previous collaborations had been very pleasant, Columbia was due to Matthew Broderick's sidelining, and as for Universal, 'Misery', which they collaborated on, would very likely end up being their own.
As for the remaining Paramount, MGM, and second-tier Orion Pictures, Simon did not intend to collaborate with them again unless absolutely necessary.
Perhaps, after Qintex completes its acquisition of MGM, this company will also be unblocked.
After all, it will be an Australian company.
Speaking of which, compared to Orion Pictures, MGM's film library is actually richer. This company was very powerful during Hollywood's Golden Age.
Simon had also specifically inquired, in the capital game played by Ted Turner and Kirk Kerkorian a few years ago, Turner Broadcasting System ultimately only retained the television broadcast rights for MGM's film library before 1986, and it was not a permanent license, expiring in 2003.
Therefore, although dilapidated, MGM was still the largest film company in Hollywood in terms of film library size.
Based on the information previously provided by Janette, Simon was certain that even if Qintex could acquire MGM this time, the company would not last long.
If they could take over MGM at that time, and the plan to merge with Universal could also be successfully implemented, Daenerys Entertainment would definitely become the media company with the richest content resources in Hollywood, and at the same time, it would be able to maximize the commercial potential of the Blockbuster retail chain channel.
The Gulfstream IV landed at Santa Monica Airport about forty minutes later.
The time was only six in the evening.
Simon sent the female assistant home to rest and returned to the Daenerys Entertainment headquarters.
Amy hadn't left work yet, and the two discussed some company matters again.
'Scream 2' will be released this Friday.
Earlier, on October 13th, Daenerys Entertainment's comic adaptation fantasy comedy 'Brenda Starr', starring Daryl Hannah, officially premiered in North American theatres with 1,638 screens. Simon hadn't paid much attention to this film because he was focused on the junk bond market.
From October 13th to October 19th, its opening week, 'Brenda Starr' grossed $7.16 million. Based on the projected decline curve for the second weekend, the film's total North American box office is expected to be around $20 million. Compared to its production cost of $15 million, it wasn't a success, but it wasn't a complete failure either, and its costs could easily be recovered through subsequent operations.
Compared to 'Brenda Starr' and 'Scream 2' and other films at the end of the year, 'Batman Begins' was naturally still the top priority.
The marketing and distribution budget for 'Batman Begins' was as high as $25 million. Although Warner Bros. Pictures was responsible for distribution, Daenerys Entertainment's marketing and distribution team also participated, and both companies' combined efforts showed the importance they placed on this film.
The official release date for 'Batman Begins' is December 22nd. The first 15-second trailer had already premiered on major North American TV stations earlier this month. Starting next month, the film will also release several other trailers, 30 seconds and 1 minute 30 seconds in length.
Adam Baldwin, Valeria Golino, and other main creators have recently begun their promotional work for the film.
Although closely monitoring all aspects of 'Batman Begins'' marketing and distribution, Simon did not intend to participate too much in the film's promotional activities, only planning to make an appearance on some TV talk shows in December when the film was nearing release.
Working non-stop, Simon was increasingly feeling a distinct sense of frustration, and therefore eagerly hoped to pause and carefully plan the future of his personal business empire.
In the following days, Simon remained busy with the company's year-end film marketing and distribution, as well as the preparation of a series of projects. Stanford University's campus network upgrade project, based on Ygritte Company's 'www' technology, also quickly launched after Westeros Company's donation was in place.
Westeros Company's public relations department naturally would not forget to conduct appropriate media publicity for this donation.
This continued until October 26th. Simon was presiding over the casting audition for 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle' when Jennifer suddenly delivered a handwritten note from Janette from Melbourne. The content was very simple: the hedge funds tracking Cersei Capital had started to flee.
Many people were monitoring Cersei Capital's operations, and similarly, Cersei Capital was closely watching the movements of its peers.
Since some people had already started to react, Simon completely let go of the matter, quietly instructed the female assistant to destroy the letter, and his attention shifted back to the audition at hand.
Because it was an audition for the female lead and also the main antagonist in 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle', the casting scope was not large, with fewer than ten candidates shortlisted based on recommendations from various talent agencies. Simon also preferred the original Rebecca De Mornay to continue playing the female lead, so he directly asked her to come for a screen test today.
Rebecca De Mornay was one of the famous sex symbols of the 1980s, having starred in Tom Cruise's breakthrough film 'Risky Business'. The two were even rumoured to be engaged shortly before the film's release. Of course, everyone in the industry probably knew what was going on, and the so-called engagement naturally fell through later.
Simon had met Rebecca De Mornay at a party a few days ago, and the woman had left him a very interesting 'business card'.
Rebecca De Mornay was an artist under CAA. If it were earlier, Simon would certainly not have hired her. With Michael Ovitz pushing Barry Levinson among others to terminate their contracts, Daenerys Entertainment also lifted its ban on CAA, so this matter was naturally no longer an obstacle.
After discussing character performance segments for over half an hour, Simon temporarily let Rebecca De Mornay leave the audition room to wait.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was in charge of Disney's production business, couldn't help but say, after Rebecca De Mornay left the room, "Simon, isn't De Mornay too beautiful, and her acting skills are still a bit lacking".
Simon flipped through the audition records in front of him and said, "Jeffrey, for actresses around thirty in Hollywood, who are famous enough and have the right image, the choices are not very wide. De Mornay has starred in Coppola's 'One From The Heart' and Cruise's 'Risky Business', so she's famous enough. As for acting skills, I'd like to choose Oscar-level actresses, but Holly Hunter and Melanie Griffith aren't suitable. Jessica Lange is quite suitable for playing a bad woman, but she can't be 10 years younger".