Chapter 597

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Bonar's equity transfer, and the Depository Trust Company (DTC) has updated its records.

Fifty-one percent of Bonar's equity belongs to Yuanmeng Tiancheng!

DTC is the world's largest securities custodian, and all stock trading and transfers are processed through it.

All procedures are complete, legal, and compliant—no market manipulation or insider trading occurred; everything was publicly disclosed.

Whether or not the founder was notified is a minor issue—Bonar isn't some powerhouse company that demands such scrutiny.

If you nitpick, you can find problems in any acquisition.

That's why public reaction has been so strong—we're now waiting for the authorities' response to see if they approve the review; if approved, Bonar changes hands!

Zhang Hongsen called because we also need to follow up on the local process—whether to reject or approve, we need a clear stance.

He asked Fang Hong what he wanted Bonar for.

"We need you to explain: what exactly do you intend to do with Bonar? Clarify this fully, or we can't approve you," Zhang Hongsen said bluntly.

"Director Zhang, I think you're mistaken—I didn't want Bonar, and I didn't acquire it," Fang Hong denied.

"Don't play dumb with me—everyone in the world knows you acquired it; could those two women have pulled this off?" Zhang Hongsen was unyielding.

He thought Fang Hong was a fool, believing he knew nothing.

"But it really wasn't me—my name isn't even on it," Fang Hong explained.

"Yes, legally it's not you, but we all know it's you—so stop pretending. Just answer my question honestly. If you can't, we won't be able to approve you," Zhang Hongsen said plainly.

"Then you're showing favoritism," Fang Hong said.

"I'm not favoring either side—I'm maintaining impartiality. All you need to do is explain why you acquired Bonar."

Zhang Hongsen grew annoyed and added: "I don't understand why you're so guarded with me—do you think I'd harm you?"

It was truly frustrating—he told his wife everything but kept everything from everyone else, always on guard.

Was this really necessary?

"No, no, how could that be? I deeply respect you," Fang Hong smiled—he was just waiting for the authorities' stance before admitting anything.

"Alright, I'll be straight with you: Yutu's merger with Bonar is impossible—it won't be allowed," Zhang Hongsen showed genuine sincerity.

He mainly wanted to ease Fang Hong's suspicion and stop him from thinking everyone wanted to harm him.

Between Yu Pangzi and the Principal, he still favored the Principal—the film industry doesn't need monopolies, but it does need healthy competition and vitality.

Yutu is already the sole leader, topping box office charts every year and consistently producing high-quality films; add Bonar to the mix, and they'd control half of Hong Kong's film market.

"I never planned to absorb Bonar. Bonar will remain independent and autonomous—what it was before, it will remain," Fang Hong said.

Bonar is one of the top players—he never believed Yutu could swallow it.

"Is that true? Really?" Zhang Hongsen sounded skeptical—it didn't sound like the Principal's style; he was a man with strong control instincts.

"If I say it, you won't believe me—but you keep asking me to speak. You say I don't trust you, but do you trust me?" Fang Hong was annoyed.

Zhang Hongsen chuckled awkwardly: "If you truly won't absorb Bonar, we won't interfere."

"Let me tell you, Yutu gains nothing by absorbing Bonar—we match their production capabilities, we have Tu Piaopiao for distribution, and we have our own promotion system; all you'd gain are some more copyrights, more theaters, and a few more buildings."

The "few more buildings" referred to film bases, office towers, and regional branches.

There's also brand value—Bonar has a branch in the United States and has co-invested in films like X-Men and Independence Day 2.

In his past life, it even invested in Interstellar!

But those were minor investments—only responsible for China distribution—so Bonar's distribution network is extensive.

It's not something Yutu could replicate in just a few years.

Yutu simply focused entirely on the domestic market, expanding too fast, making it seem overwhelmingly powerful.

Because Fang Hong knew which domestic films would make money.

Those who didn't know—like Alibaba, Wanda, Tencent—all invested overseas, and nearly all future Hollywood blockbusters ended up in their hands.

Warcraft, Mission Impossible 5, Wonder Woman, Kong: Skull Island—dozens of films, but they got burned often too, which is why everyone became cautious later.

Investing in Hollywood productions was solely to secure distribution rights.

Because they had no production system, no directors of their own, and no idea what kind of films would make money—so they took the shortcut: securing Hollywood distribution rights.

The most direct way? Just throw money at it.

This was the trend of the era—Hollywood was a global phenomenon with a huge market in China.

For example, Fast and Furious 7, released this April, broke 2 billion in box office—why bother making Chinese films to compete with the Principal or other films when you could invest in Hollywood and profit passively?

Because Hollywood films had already been market-tested.

Don't judge this era by later standards—in this era, Hollywood films were guaranteed box office hits.

"Fine, I believe you—if you keep your word, we won't block you from holding Bonar," Zhang Hongsen had nothing more to say—as long as Bonar remained independent!

Legally, they couldn't block it anyway—the acquisition was legal, and they hadn't yet reached the point of absorption.

Of course, they were just being cautious—what if the Principal bought Bonar and immediately moved to absorb it?

"But I'll be clear: I can only guarantee Bonar will remain unchanged in the near term. What happens in the future? I can't guarantee anything—even if it vanishes, that's market behavior, an investment failure," Fang Hong said, covering his own back.

He wanted the authorities to stop asking him about Bonar if it disappeared.

"What are you planning to do with Yu Pangzi?" Zhang Hongsen caught his implication.

Logically, with the Principal's resources and power, it would be hard to destroy Bonar—but if Yu Pangzi refused to cooperate, the Principal would make Bonar vanish.

Yu Pangzi held over thirty percent of Bonar's equity and still had significant influence.

"You shouldn't ask me—you should ask him. If he keeps resisting me, refuses peaceful coexistence, and won't sit at the negotiation table—"

"Then I can only let this struggle continue until Bonar disappears."

Fang Hong had revealed his bottom line.

He meant this wasn't his fight—if the other side kept resisting, he'd use force.

This acquisition should end now—he'd already gotten what he needed; the next goal was making Yu Pangzi into a dog.

"You're really something—when you started, you didn't even notify anyone, and now that you want to end it, you're accusing others of stirring trouble."

Zhang Hongsen shook his head and chuckled, not knowing what to say, as if he were a politician; he added again, "Alright, I understand your position."

After chatting for a while, they hung up the phone.

What Zhang Hongsen said to Yu Pangzi next was unknown, but Fang Hong now knew the upper management's bottom line.

Bonar cannot be absorbed—what happens later is for later; right now, it cannot be absorbed, and the film market must remain vibrant.

As soon as Fang Hong hung up the phone and hadn't yet caught his breath, he saw Chen Zhixi burst through the door with a bang.

"The scheduling and promotional marketing for our two recent films, Wolf Warrior and Let's Get Married, have all been blocked."

"What's going on?" Fang Hong asked casually.

"Alibaba, Tencent, and Wanda have joined forces to sanction us—Alibaba and Tencent have throttled Let's Get Married, and Wanda has cut its screening slots."

Wolf Warrior has military backing, so its release date wasn't much affected."

Let's Get Married, just released, has gotten zero traction—online, except on Chang'e Video, we can't push our promotion anywhere else," Chen Zhixi reported.

Wolf Warrior was released in early April, when Fang Hong hadn't yet launched the "acquisition of Bonar" incident, so everything was normal; now it's late April, nearly a month since release, with box office over 500 million.

And this film has military involvement; the other side won't go too far.

Wolf Warrior was a project Chen Zhixi brought in.

Let's Get Married is Yutu's own copyright, originally scheduled for the May Day holiday, but after the "Bonar acquisition" incident erupted, the three giants couldn't stand it and jointly blacklisted this film.

That's why the film's promotion has gotten no traction.

"How many screening slots does Let's Get Married have?" Fang Hong asked.

"Eight percent. Box office: 7.33 million—extremely low. Our films have never been this low," Chen Zhixi said.

"It's fine. Not every film can succeed; there will always be failures. Focus on Bonar first—put everything else on hold," Fang Hong said casually.

Not every film can succeed, not every film can be a blockbuster—there will always be failed investments, but no one can stop him from acquiring Bonar.

Chen Zhixi had no objections; handling things one at a time was right, and one must not be disturbed by external forces.

Being too concerned with external forces only makes you led by the nose.

Besides, the first half of the year is naturally the off-season for the film market; the peak season won't come until summer vacation, meaning the second half of the year is when competition in the film industry is fiercest.

Right now, they can't hurt Yutu at all—best they can do is annoy us.

And Yutu isn't just films—TV dramas, web dramas, Variety—all are in explosive growth, and we have our own platform.

Recently, Keep Running has reached its second season, still wildly popular, still an iconic Variety show, with Weibo topic reads exceeding 10 billion.

Average views per episode exceed 300 million; the highest single-episode views approach 500 million; total views exceed 5 billion.

Let me put it this way: on Chang'e Video, even a 15-second ad earns over 500,000 yuan; a 30-second ad doubles that—1 to 1.2 million.

Just ad revenue alone is around 700 million yuan, roughly 100 million dollars.

Add in sponsorship at 250 million and one major sponsor at around 100 million, total revenue exceeds 1 billion.

But this Variety is expensive to produce—costs are 600 million, the team is too large, star fees are too high—not just the regular cast, but every guest star invited each episode, all cost money.

Either way, we're making money.

But these are just numerical gains; the hidden gain is that this Variety has helped promote TikTok.

In the lower-left corner of Chang'e Video, the "TikTok" logo occasionally flashes, drawing massive traffic and rapidly pushing daily active users past 30 million.

But since the quality of content is still incomplete, user churn is severe—this urgently needs fixing.

Fang Hong told Zhang Nan to study a U. S. app, film your own videos, add trending music, and quickly fill content.

In his past life, TikTok copied it, then later bought it back.

In fact, China's internet development has mostly copied the U. S. —Taobao copied eBay, Alipay copied PayPal.

PayPal was founded by Elon Musk, who later sold it and earned 180 million U. S. dollars as his first fortune.

That's a legendary life—even novels wouldn't dare write it.

Baidu copied Google; Weibo copied Twitter; Youku and Tudou copied YouTube; Renren copied Facebook; Meituan copied Groupon; Didi copied Uber.

Many things were first developed abroad; Chinese students studying overseas saw them, thought, "Hmm, this has potential," then returned home to start businesses.

Do you think they had original ideas? Creative genius? No—they saw more abroad, saw things ordinary people couldn't, and thus discovered business opportunities.

That's why wealthy people send their children overseas—to truly broaden their horizons.

Even investors watch trends, then invest in domestic industries.

For example, the founders of Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng all bought first-generation Teslas, then started their own companies in China.

Unexpectedly, these people were so incompetent—despite massive state support and subsidies, they made a mess, and eventually had no choice but to let Tesla in.

Then suddenly, these people felt they could do anything, felt they'd risen up—that's exactly why.

But this is the state conceding—Tesla is the only foreign car brand not a joint venture; even BBA didn't get such treatment.

The state has worn itself out trying to deal with these fools!

So it's not that the state doesn't want to innovate—it's that these people are too lazy, only want to grab ready-made things; no wonder the state controls everything—it simply can't afford not to.

If we don't control them, they'll just consume resources, wasting countless subsidies.

Of course, Fang Hong had no interest in cars—that was far outside his expertise.

Fighting for films and internet platforms was already exhausting, always on edge—he didn't want to later scream passionately on short video: "Leading by a mile!"

"Tesla has it, I have it too."

He couldn't bring himself to say it—he couldn't perform in front of the camera, too shy; Liu Tianxian could say it: "Leading by a mile!"

Right now it's the May Day holiday, and there are no big films, nothing worth watching—Wolf Warrior's box office has peaked, and with the vague targeting, it's time to pull it from theaters.

Can't openly interfere, but subtle manipulation is fine—the box office just passed 500 million, about 40 million less than in his past life.

Also, The Left Ear from Guangxian, The Equator from Wanda, and other major films are all being crushed by Fast and Furious 7.

Even though this film has been out nearly a month, it's still strong.

Just as the May Day box office was relatively quiet, a bombshell piece of news exploded across the entertainment and financial circles.

The market regulatory department issued a "Written Notice of Decision on Concentration of Undertakings Review," approving Yuanmeng Tiancheng's recent acquisition of Bona!

This written notice was published as an announcement in designated media such as the China Securities Journal and the Shanghai Securities News, disclosing that the acquisition transaction had obtained approval from domestic regulatory authorities.

At the same time, lawyers issued a legal opinion confirming that the acquisition transaction complied with laws and regulations and had obtained approval from the relevant regulatory authorities.

These documents were simultaneously sent by mail and electronic means to Bona Chairman Yu Pangzi and Shareholder Sequoia.

Seeing this news, everyone in the entertainment circle sighed, feeling a sense of loss in their hearts — in the end, Bona had still lost, had still been acquired.

The existence of Yutu made them look up in awe even more!

Huayi, Enlight, Tencent, Ali, Tencent and others all stayed silent, quietly watching to see how the Principal would deal with Bona.

Of course, if Yu Pangzi fought to the end, they would support him too — although it wouldn't amount to much, it could still cause the Principal some trouble.

At this moment, Yu Pangzi sat at his desk, propping his forehead with one hand, motionless, utterly dejected — his superiors still hadn't helped him.

Actually, after Zhang Hongsen finished his phone call with Fang Hong that day, he had another talk with Yu Pangzi.

As long as he cooperated properly, the Principal wouldn't merge Bona into Yutu — Bona would still be his. Wasn't this just making him a little brother?

He was thinking too shallowly — Fang Hong was making him a dog.

"General Manager Yu, Yutu's General Manager Fang says he wants you and your executives to go to the Yutu Oval Office for a meeting before May 15," a tall, slender secretary reported as she walked into the office.

"F*** him! I, Yu Dong, a man of indomitable spirit my whole life, will absolutely never live under another!" Yu Pangzi suddenly erupted, sweeping everything off his desk in one motion.

Immediately, a "crack-crack-bang-bang" of sounds rang on without end!

The secretary was so startled she hunched her neck and couldn't help but retreat several steps.

"He also said that if you don't come, then you should resign." This time the secretary's voice was much softer, afraid Yu Pangzi would lose his temper again.

Hearing these words, Yu Pangzi slumped into his chair all at once, as if his life had drained away. His fat body made the chair seem barely able to bear his weight.

This was a blatant threat — if he didn't go, he'd be removed and replaced with another leader.

Seeing him in this state, the secretary silently retreated out.

Now Fang Hong had every right to remove him, leaving him as an "idle shareholder." As time went on, the shares he held would only grow fewer and fewer, until they vanished entirely.

Just as he had originally used capital tactics to break away from Poly Group, gain independence from Poly, and then completely dilute the other party's equity.

The Principal was not Poly Group — he wouldn't have the chance to become independent again.

"General Manager Yu!"

"General Manager Yu!"

In a short while, several people entered the office — all Bona senior executives: Chief Executive Officer Jiang Defu; Chief Financial Officer Qi Zhi; Propaganda Department Director and Distribution Manager Sun Chen; HR and Administration Director Tu Shan, and others.

These were all Bona's core senior executives.

"You're here, sit!"

Yu Pangzi rubbed his face and pulled himself together. "The Principal wants us at the Oval Office on the 15th to negotiate with him."

The several people each sat in the leather chairs opposite. After exchanging a glance, Jiang Defu asked: "What does he want to do?"

"What we can confirm now is that the Principal won't merge Bona, but he wants us to cooperate with him. What exactly he wants to do, we don't know yet — we'll only find out when we go."

Yu Pangzi said this, looking somewhat dispirited: "We still have to go. If we don't, we can't afford the consequences."

Now the other side was in the driver's seat, able to convene a shareholders' meeting to remove him at any time. Even if they didn't remove him, he couldn't do anything — they had veto power.

So he had to go, otherwise things would get even more serious!

"Don't worry, General Manager Yu. All of us here were brought up by you, we've followed you for so many years. If he goes too far, we'll resign collectively," Sun Chen said firmly.

"Mm!" Tu Shan echoed in agreement.

They had been at Bona for over a decade and had deep feelings for the company.

Of course, these two only spoke for themselves. The others all appeared silent, making no statement. Such words were fine to say before, but saying them now would be inappropriate.

What other company could give them such high positions?

Moreover, the Principal said he wouldn't merge Bona, meaning the company would be kept. So they probably wouldn't be moved either.

Although these executives would receive severance pay upon leaving, stable jobs and status were more important — how could they possibly be so impulsive?

The severance pay for these executives comes from the Golden Parachute clause, which refers to the high compensation a company must pay when an executive leaves due to a change in control of the company.

Usually one to three times the executive's annual salary.

If an executive's annual salary is one million yuan, two million, or even three million must be paid.

Basically every listed company has such a clause — it's for defense, especially for A-share listed companies, where it's basically standard.

This is also for one's own benefit — for example, when a founder like Yu Pangzi leaves, he can get a large sum of money.

The founder also holds a position such as Chairman of the company!

"Don't be so impulsive. Let's go meet him first and see what he has to say!" Yu Pangzi calmed down a bit.

He still had a chance to remain in charge of Bona. If he incited all these executives into resigning, then he'd have no chance — the Principal might deal with him.

Bona couldn't be in chaos — it had to remain stable!

Just as everyone outside was watching for Bona's follow-up developments, time quickly arrived at May 15.

The weather was clear that day. The entrance to the Yutu Film and Television Base in HR District had been cleared, surrounded by reporters with long and short lenses.

They had all come to livestream and report on this: the Oval Office meeting.

This would be a meeting that changed the landscape of the film and television circle, with profound influence on other film and television companies and on the industry as a whole.

Celebrities and stars in the entertainment circle were watching this meeting, including some Hong Kong celebrities and stars, most of whom had cooperated with Bona.

The fate of Hong Kong films such as SPL 2: A Time for Consequences, The Sorcerer and the White Snake, From Vegas to Macau 3, and Chasing the Dragon all hung on this meeting.

It was closely connected to many Hong Kong film people.

The capital markets were also watching — how Bona would proceed in the future, whether it would still go private and relist on A-shares, and this also affected capital investment in film and television.

Theater chains including Wanda, Dadi, and Xingmei were also watching this meeting. Whether Bona's films would all have to be distributed through Tuticket and scheduled through Tuticket in the future also affected them.

As for how films will be supplied in the future, and whether the agreement will change, all of that remains unknown.

Every film and television company has a different supply agreement—Bona is different, and Yutu is different too.

The reason they're paying such close attention is that they don't know how the Principal will handle Bona. If it's a merger, that's easy to deal with—just go by Yutu's standards.

If Bona is allowed to develop independently, does that mean two sets of standards?

Huayi, Enlight, Alibaba, and Tencent are naturally all watching. The first two will see their market share squeezed, while the latter two are watching to see what impact the Principal's expansion will have on them.

Several black commercial sedans pulled up one after another at the main gate of Yutu Film and Television Base.

(End of chapter)