Chapter 2002

Looking at Ma Xiaotong who was about to cry, Zhou Andong couldn't laugh or cry: "I sold the shares in my hand to you because I want to acquire Sony Music."

Ma Xiaotong shivered, the expression of being aggrieved and tearful disappeared, and she stood up at once.

"You want to acquire Sony Music?"

"Right!" Zhou Andong picked up the teacup and took a sip: "At that time, you will invest in Future Culture, and we will jointly establish Future Records."

Ma Xiaotong sat down slowly. At this time, her brain was blank, and she looked at the cheap brother-in-law in front of her very unrealistically.

"Brother-in-law, are you sure you want to acquire Sony Music?"

Zhou Andong said patiently: "Sure, definitely, and certainly."

Ma Xiaotong took a deep breath, clenched her right hand into a fist, waved it fiercely, and then began to laugh foolishly.

"Sony Music, that is Sony Music with global distribution capabilities. If we acquire it. Not to mention globally, in Asia, our Future Culture will be invincible."

This girl is fantasizing about a beautiful future, and suddenly thinks of a very serious problem.

Although the valuation of Future Culture is not certain, she also has a count in her heart.

The shares in Zhou Andong's hands, she and Jiang Yuyue couldn't buy them even if they smashed the pots and sold the iron.

Ma Xiaotong sighed and said: "Brother-in-law, I know you are thinking of us. Yuyue and I do have some savings, but if we want to buy the shares in your hands, it is simply a drop in the bucket, even if we sell blood and kidneys, it is not enough."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "I will introduce you to a Xiangjiang bank, which has just opened a branch in Shanghai, and will also carry out business in Beijing next month.

After the music festival, find a professional evaluation agency and invite them to evaluate the assets of Future Culture. If the money in your hands is not enough, go for a loan. I will guarantee you, and the interest can also be the lowest for you.

At that time, you must also carefully consider the issue of share distribution. For example, Huang Jiamin, who now controls the brokerage department, with her ability and contacts in Xiangjiang, plays an irreplaceable role in the entry of Future Culture singers into Xiangjiang.

Another is Dou Xian'er. His talent and his achievements in music, I don't need to say, you have a count in your heart. Another is Zhang Guoli, no matter whether he is a director or an actor, his future achievements are limitless.

For such talents, no matter how high a salary you give, it is impossible to keep them. If you want to keep their hearts in the company and let them work for the company for a lifetime, then give them shares and let them become bosses.

In addition, a part of the equity should also be reserved, held by you or Yuyue, for talent incentives. In fact, equity incentives cannot be limited to management or directors.

Singers and actors should also be included. As long as they show their value, they can be given equity incentives."

Don't you see in the previous life, a certain entertainment group was taken away by a broker with a large number of artists, almost killed.

However, there was another batch of artists who did not leave, because these people had company shares in their hands, which also allowed that entertainment group to get a breather.

Ma Xiaotong nodded thoughtfully: "Where can I find a professional evaluation agency in the country?"

"How did you become this general manager?" Zhou Andong looked helpless: "Don't you care about the dynamics of the country at all?"

Ma Xiaotong laughed dryly: "Why do I care about those."

Zhou Andong sighed: "In 1989, under the auspices of the Ministry of Personnel of the country, the original State-owned Assets Administration Bureau established an asset evaluation center, which is specifically responsible for asset evaluation and performs asset evaluation supervision functions.

In recent years, the joint-stock reform of state-owned enterprises has reached a climax, and many evaluation agencies have emerged as the times require. Then last year, the country established a professional asset evaluation association to manage asset evaluation agencies."

Ma Xiaotong asked somewhat unbelievingly: "Are there many evaluation agencies now?"

"There are at least a dozen in the country." Zhou Andong said with a smile: "Just in Beijing, there must be three or four."

In fact, at the beginning of its birth, asset evaluation was based on the important responsibility of protecting state-owned assets, preventing the loss of state-owned assets, and suppressing corruption.

In the joint-stock reform, merger, reorganization, domestic and foreign listing, separation of main and auxiliary, bankruptcy liquidation, Sino-foreign joint venture, cooperation and acquisition of state-owned enterprises, it maintains the rights and interests of state-owned asset owners and adheres to equality and mutual benefit.

At the beginning, when evaluating the winery, Zhou Andong clearly requested the Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to invite the National Asset Evaluation Center to do this evaluation work.

Although private evaluation enterprises may be favorable to him when evaluating because of various factors, this will inevitably cause others to question the fairness of the evaluation results.

And choosing the National Asset Evaluation Center to evaluate will solve all crises. After all, as a national team, who dares to easily question its authority?

Therefore, even if the national team's evaluation may bring a certain degree of premium, it is completely worth it.

Nowadays, the Yugong Group has grown and developed, and it will naturally attract the jealousy and covetousness of many people, plus he doesn't know how many people he has offended.

If the winery was evaluated by a private evaluation enterprise at the beginning, then questions about whether the evaluation is fair, whether state-owned assets are sold cheaply, and whether Zhou Andong stole state-owned assets would have been criticized by others long ago.

These people often only see the current situation, see the Yugong Group in full swing, and can earn hundreds of millions of profits every year, but they will not consider the predicament of the winery facing bankruptcy back then.

However, for the evaluation of Future Culture, whether it is looking for a national team or a private enterprise, it doesn't matter.

"You think about it carefully, wait for Yuyue to come back, and you discuss it." Zhou Andong stood up: "After all, acquiring Sony Music is definitely impossible in two or three months."

According to common sense, Sony is impossible to sell the record company, because this relates to Sony's development strategy.

In 1968, from the moment Sony decided to form a joint venture with CBS (Columbia Records), it positioned software business and hardware business as the core business of Sony Group, believing that hardware and software are the two wheels of Sony Group and must be operated at the same time.

In the 1960s, Japan began to gradually open its market to the world, and the closed capital market finally opened its doors, deciding to open some industries and allowing foreign companies to carry out direct investment activities in Japan.

And these industries are divided into two categories: those that allow foreign investment ratios of 100% and 50%. Among the industries that allow foreign investment ratios of 50%, there is the record industry.

The United States' largest broadcasting company, CBS, has always paid attention to the Japanese record market. As soon as the relevant opening measures were introduced, it decided to establish a record company in Japan and began to look for partners in Japan.

CBS went to several record companies, no matter which company was interested in CBS's plan, but when asked about the decision of these companies, the answer was only one: studying.

Then CBS found Sony, and the two sides hit it off. Only 30 minutes after meeting, the cooperation between the two sides was set. A month later, CBS/SONY Record Joint Stock Company was born, becoming the first joint venture company after Japan implemented capital liberalization.

Although CBS has 50% of the shares, Sony is fully responsible for operation and management. They have not even stationed a director.

Sony did not let them down. Starting from zero, they achieved success one after another in discovering newcomers. In the industry centered on the Enka route, they successfully opened up the idol route and grew rapidly.

In ten years, sales soared to the first and second place in the industry. Immediately after, Sony introduced CD. Only a few years later, CD replaced LP as an excellent music medium.

At this time, CBS/SONY was already able to be independent in CD software development investment such as factory construction. Not only did it not need Sony's financial assistance, but it also rejected Columbia Broadcasting Company's capital increase proposal.

The sales of CBS/SONY in the first year were 700 million yen, and more than ten years later, the annual sales exceeded 110 billion yen, becoming a model for the success of Sony Group's hardware and software two-wheel operation strategy.

Immediately after, a surprise hit Sony. CBS's largest shareholder wanted to sell the record company. For Sony, which has always hoped for an opportunity to develop the record business independently, this is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it proposed an acquisition at that time.

Due to the huge differences in management systems and culture between the two companies, the merger process was destined not to be smooth from the beginning.

For nearly a year, the negotiations between the two sides were twists and turns. First was the 1.25 billion USD price offered by CBS, and second was the group chairman's opposition to giving up the record business, and he persuaded the board of directors to reject this proposal.

Until nine months later, the company's capital increased significantly, and the major shareholder decided to try again, and proposed a new price of 2 billion USD.

Although it soared by 60% in just nine months, Sony still agreed. However, the CBS board meeting still failed to pass the transfer proposal, but postponed the vote and considered transferring the record business equity by publicly selling shares.

Just when Sony was shocked and disappointed, the US stock market collapsed, making CBS seriously shaken about the prospects of the financial market, and decided to sell to Sony, but the price was still 2 billion USD.

At that time, it was the period when the Japanese economy was soaring, and the exchange rate of the yen to the US dollar remained at 80 to 1. But 2 billion USD, for Sony at that time, wanted to take it out was also a bit strenuous.

But Sony didn't consider it at all, agreed immediately, and signed the agreement a week later. It can be said that the speed was very swift, and then Sony Music was established.

Relying on CBS's global distribution capabilities, Sony Music has now developed into a behemoth, and has become an important part of Sony Group, like a solid thigh.

From common sense, no matter what situation it encounters, Sony will not easily abandon its own record company, cut off its own thigh, and make itself a lame man.

However, if Zhou Andong holds more than 10% of Sony's shares and uses it as a condition to trade Sony Music, then Sony will have to think carefully.

After all, holding more than 10% of Sony's shares means that Zhou Andong will become one of Sony's top five shareholders.

More importantly, Zhou Andong is not a friendly partner, but a competitor hostile to Sony.

If such an enemy is allowed to hold a large number of Sony shares and enter the ranks of the top five shareholders of the company, it will definitely disgust Sony to death.

Even if Zhou Andong cannot compete for decision-making power, there are still countless ways to cause damage to Sony, create trouble, and bring Sony unpredictable huge losses.

Under such circumstances, Sony faces not only commercial competition, but also a threat to internal stability.

Therefore, Sony's senior management will definitely weigh the pros and cons carefully and make wise decisions.

And acquiring Sony Music was decided after receiving Liu Qingjun's call and getting the news that the storage chip was successfully developed.

With storage chips, it is not far from the birth of MP3, because Sony Music owns the copyright of more than 300,000 songs.

You can not care about song copyrights in the country, but if you want to sell MP3 abroad, you must buy song copyrights.

And it is not just the songs carried by MP3 itself, he also wants to develop music websites in Xiangjiang or the UK to provide download sources for MP3. Abroad, this is charged.

In addition, after having Sony Music, the globalization of Future Culture will enter the fast lane.

Don't say that Jiang Yuyue enters the Korean music market, and in the future, entering Japan or even Europe and the United States will also be smooth.

And now Sony is at the end of its rope. What he is eyeing is not just Sony Music, but also Sony Pictures.

In 1989, Sony acquired Columbia Pictures for 3.4 billion USD and assumed Columbia's 1.6 billion USD incidental debt.

And Sony paid such a high price to acquire Columbia Pictures because it took a fancy to its huge film library.

Columbia Pictures is the only one among major American film studios that owns the copyright to all 2,700 stock films.

In addition, Columbia Pictures is also a leader in the television industry, owning 260 television series, totaling 23,000 episodes.

Its television program production capability is among the best in the entire European and American regions. Therefore, Columbia Pictures' most profitable business is not the film industry, but television.

The reason why Zhou Andong wants to acquire Sony Pictures together is actually planning for the layout of video websites in the future.

As the saying goes, take your life when you are sick. If you can't seize the opportunity when Sony is seriously ill, once you miss it, it will be difficult to find such a good opportunity again.

Of course, whether Sony will make an overreaction due to anger is not within his consideration. Anyway, Sony Music must be obtained, and Sony Pictures is just raking grass and hitting rabbits, doing it along the way.

Even if it fails to be successfully taken down in the end, it will have little impact on the overall situation, but if Sony is forced to a dead end, leading to a fish dying and the net breaking, then it will not be worth the loss.