Chapter 594: Don't Look Down on a Poor Youth

The two failing to reach an agreement was inevitable, because Fang Hong had never intended to settle things with money—if he was going to use money, then why had he gone to such great lengths and schemed for so long?

His goal was very simple: he wanted Yu Pangzi to be a dog, and a dog he had to be.

He had to be a dog on a chain!

Whoever he took a disliking to, he'd send Bona to bite them a few times, stir up trouble—just like the United States does to Japan, very vivid.

Only if Yu Pangzi became a dog could Bona be controlled by him; if he refused to be a dog, then Bona would slowly fade away until it ceased to exist.

That was what he truly had in mind.

The negotiations between the two were not leaked to the outside, but the shockwaves remained—everyone in the entertainment circle was buzzing about Bona being acquired.

Ju Jingyi: "I heard Bona was acquired by the Principal?"

Chen Douling: "Huh?! Really?"

Zhao Lusi: "Really. It was acquired by Liu Tianxian's mother, Liu Xiaoli's company. Isn't the Principal dating Liu Tianxian? They're probably already married."

Bai Lu: "How's it going now? Does Bona already belong to the Principal?"

Zhang Ruonan: "Still unclear, no news."

Outsiders didn't pay much attention to this kind of thing, but basically everyone in the entertainment circle was gossiping about it.

Only because this matter was closely tied to their own careers—who would dare say they'd never film a Jade Rabbit movie, never work with Bona in the future?

It affected each and every one of their fates.

But the two sides were still fighting. Yu Pangzi began spreading negative news about Yuanmeng Tiancheng to the media:

"Yuanmeng Tiancheng's hostile acquisition is opportunistic arbitrage, not genuine management of Bona, and has seriously harmed Bona's healthy development."

This move won the support of Bona's executives, among whom General Manager Jiang Defu stated: "If Bona is no longer Bona, then all of us employees will resign."

What this meant was—if Bona changed hands, they'd resign; and if they resigned, they'd have to be paid severance.

Yuanmeng Tiancheng, as the largest Shareholder, would be the one to foot that bill.

An acquisition is not such a simple matter.

This was just Yu Pangzi trying to smear Yuanmeng Tiancheng and win the employees' support—after all, those people were all his trusted followers.

He wanted the outside world to know that Yuanmeng Tiancheng was evil.

But this didn't have much use—it only added a bit more chatter, hoping to make the Principal back down in the face of difficulty.

Bad reputation, executives resigning, Bona's operations grinding to a halt—as the largest Shareholder controlling Bona, if Bona has no money, wouldn't you have to pay out that severance for the departing executives?

But this couldn't threaten Fang Hong. If they wanted to leave, let them leave. At worst, he'd dismantle Bona and sell it off to pay the severance. Getting him to shell out more money—impossible.

"Shock! Jade Rabbit to Acquire Bona Cinema Chain!" This news headline was a warning to Yu Pangzi.

If he dared play dirty tricks, once Fang Hong took control of Bona, he'd tear it apart.

Yu Pangzi was furious, and knew this couldn't touch the Principal, so he once again sought help from Tencent and Alibaba.

The two sides found him a professional legal team, which submitted filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulatory agencies, requesting a review of whether Yuanmeng Tiancheng had engaged in any irregularities during the acquisition.

Such as insufficient information disclosure, stock price manipulation, insider trading—the goal was to make the Yuanmeng Tiancheng acquisition illegal.

If it worked, the transactions during the acquisition would be voided, the equity transfer revoked, and everything restored to its pre-transaction state. But the odds were slim—this was the US Securities and Exchange Commission, not the domestic one.

Bona wasn't some amazing, irreplaceable company; they could only pin their hopes on domestic market regulation to stop it.

Additionally, they launched a shareholder lawsuit—if the acquirer harmed the interests of minority shareholders or founders, demanding the acquisition be revoked or damages be paid.

Reports plus reviews, a two-pronged approach—these big shots really knew how to play the game.

But it wasn't over yet. While Yu Pangzi still had control, Bona announced: "A new share issuance is coming!"

The purpose was to dilute the Principal's equity stake.

Dilution couldn't do that much at once—at most 30% of total shares—but doing it several times could work. For instance, this time diluting it down to 45%.

Then next time to 40%, slowly chipping away at his equity. With Alibaba and Tencent backing Bona, it was only a matter of time before they diluted the Principal out.

And the two companies could also use the opportunity to enter Bona themselves.

But this was a bit of wishful thinking—essentially just trying to scare the Principal, working in tandem with the earlier review to make him back down.

Fang Hong wasn't idle either. He likewise hired professional lawyers and an audit team, demanding a review of whether Bona's founder had engaged in any irregularities during his tenure.

Such as financial fraud, tunneling of interests!

You want to issue new shares? Then you're engaging in tunneling of interests.

Yuanmeng Tiancheng publicly announced it would immediately convene a shareholders' meeting, proposing a resolution to restructure the board of directors, amend the company's articles of association, restrict the founder's powers, and remove the founder.

Even if Yu Pangzi couldn't be directly removed, he could still be removed through amendments to the company's articles of association—as long as Fang Hong held 51% of the shares, he had absolute power in his hands.

Even Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, had been removed; Elon Musk had also removed a founder.

As long as you have the power, you can play however you want!

The Principal was going to remove him. Yu Pangzi was so frightened he couldn't eat or sleep, at a loss for what to do—but fortunately, he still had a little time.

Because the US Securities and Exchange Commission's equity transfer review required 5 to 10 business days, excluding weekends, so they still had a little bit of time.

But this little bit of time didn't seem to help much—domestic review also took time. They could only hope domestic market regulators would reject it.

With no choice, he could only go to the Film Bureau to cry to Zhang Hongsen—this was his direct department and superior.

It was also an industry regulatory body.

The moment Yu Pangzi arrived, he tearfully recounted how the Principal had bullied him, how he was being made a slave for generations.

Wronged, sad, unwilling—the Principal was going too far!

He cried so hard that Zhang Hongsen sighed deeply. What on earth was all this? It never stopped.

But he knew the Principal was clearly retaliating. Back when Bona bullied Jade Rabbit, when Yu Pangzi bullied the young couple, he hadn't shown any mercy.

And those past events were still fresh in memory—only a few years had passed. When Fang Hong first entered this circle, he had endured plenty of their disdain and sneers.

Liu Tianxian had even been blacklisted and cursed by countless people.

Yet they hadn't come crying like this, with snot and tears streaming down.

Thinking it over, he figured Hua Yi would probably face the Principal's retaliation too — he just didn't know what method the Principal would use!

"Sigh, I told you long ago: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west — never look down on a young man who's down on his luck!" Zhang Hongsen sighed.

"I know I was wrong, Director Zhang, you have to help me! The film circle can't do without Bona, China can't do without Bona!" Yu Pangzi was rambling, thinking far too highly of himself.

"The Principal never said he'd do anything to Bona, never said he'd swallow it up or merge it." Zhang Hongsen said.

The film circle can't do without Bona — it needs competition — but it can do without you, Yu Pangzi.

Bona wasn't acquired by Yutu, it has nothing to do with Yutu either; the two sides are still competitors. They're just normally buying shares — market behavior. How can you stop that?

"It's obviously the Principal doing the acquiring — can't you see that?" Yu Pangzi really wanted to say, are you blind?

"I know, but everything they did was legal and compliant. As long as Bona isn't being merged into another large film-and-television company, it's all legal." Zhang Hongsen explained.

This chilled Yu Pangzi to the bone. He cried even louder, even more uncontrollably, drawing curious second glances from people who had come over on business.

"That man is having such a hard time!"

"You got that right — in the entertainment circle he's probably under the most pressure, having offended the biggest one of all."

The two onlookers shook their heads and walked off.

As the two sides went back and forth — reports, lawyers, reviews, audits, tearful complaints — every kind of contest came out one after another.

Industry insiders watched, dazzled, wondering who would emerge the victor.

April 23rd, the closing ceremony of the Beijing Film Festival.

The red carpet glittered with stars; major male and female celebrities vied to outshine one another, each dressed more beautifully than the last, each wearing less than the last.

The temperature had risen now; it wasn't that cold anymore.

Quite a few foreigners and film people from various countries had come — mostly poor brothers, though, with no real superstars; the big stars generally don't show up.

The only somewhat famous one was Luc Besson; he was a judge.

But that didn't stop the red carpet from being a blaze of starlight, with reporters on both sides wielding long lenses and short lenses, freezing the scene frame after frame.

Just as the red carpet was about to end, a sudden "Ahhhh!" split the air, and reporters on both sides immediately swung their cameras toward it.

There was Liu Tianxian in a pink V-neck gown, making her grand finale appearance — elegant, graceful, gentle and lovely.

Her arrival warmed the atmosphere and made the lights shine even brighter; the many foreign celebrities who saw her were struck with a sense of amazement.

People in the domestic entertainment circle who saw her felt a sense of envy!

(End of chapter)