Chapter 667 Disney’s Counterattack: Disney’s Big Move
Disney felt that its home base had been stolen by Qingyao Group. The cooperation between Sony and Qingyao Group directly caused a huge chain reaction.
The biggest reaction was reflected in Disney's stock. After the U.S. stock market opened that day, Disney's stock plummeted 4.5 percent in one day, and its market value evaporated by $18 billion.
This plunge forced Disney to hold an emergency meeting because they knew they had to take action and give investors greater confidence. Otherwise, Disney's stock decline was just the beginning.
"We must speed up our negotiations. We can be a little more relaxed on the price. But we must reach an agreement as quickly as possible..."
Disney's president, Lyle, spoke seriously. Disney hadn't been idle during this period, secretly preparing a major move in China. But he hadn't expected that before he could even execute his ultimate move, Qingyao Group would actually strike back, nearly stealing his lifeblood.
"Yes, we will finish the negotiations in the next two days..."
The person in charge of the negotiations nodded seriously. "We can't be so stubborn about the price at this point. We should raise the price a little bit and stabilize the stock first."
Inside a building in Huaxia's Magic City, negotiations were underway once again. The previous negotiations had been going on for a long time, but this time, the scale of the negotiations was even greater.
Both parties in the negotiations are very famous, and the acquirer is Disney, the world's largest entertainment giant.
The other side is also quite impressive: Oriental Cinema Line, currently the second-largest cinema chain in China, is comparable in size to the leading Huafang Cinema Line. It holds a 34.3% market share. Most importantly, most of Oriental Cinema Line's theaters are of excellent quality. If you count the giant screen theaters, Oriental Cinema Line even has more.
Oriental Cinema Line is a behemoth, with particularly high profits in recent years. It's a veritable cash cow, but for capitalists, once profits reach a certain level, the cash cow can be sold to others. Especially now, when Oriental Cinema Line's parent company, Oriental Real Estate, is facing a serious financial crisis, Oriental Cinema Line has become a lifeline.
"56 billion US dollars, this shows our sincerity, we must sign the contract as soon as possible..."
Disney, for its part, offered a staggering price: $56 billion, no bargaining. Previously, Disney had offered a maximum of $49.5 billion, not a cent.
Now, with an additional $6.5 billion, this price is incredibly generous. While Oriental Cinemas is a cash cow, it's also a long-term investment. If it were auctioned off by a bank, let alone $5.6 billion, it wouldn't even fetch $46 billion.
Oriental Cinema's people said that there are very few companies in the world that can offer such a high price, and that can come up with so much money at once. Even Qingyao Group can't afford it, but Disney can, because it has a financial sponsor behind it.
Without further hesitation, the agreement was signed, officially changing the ownership of Oriental Cinema Line. China's second-largest cinema chain now fell into the hands of Disney.
Disney dreams of owning a cinema chain, but in the United States, it is impossible for Disney to own a cinema chain because their laws stipulate that they cannot interfere with cinema chains, but they can own streaming media, so Disney has its own streaming media platform.
However, in China, there's no such rule. As the Chinese market rapidly grew, Disney had been eyeing cinema chains for a while. So, they saw an opportunity and decided to take action.
Disney isn't the only company eyeing cinema chains; Qingyao Group and other major companies also want to own their own cinema chains. However, building a cinema chain is simply too expensive.
Building a cinema chain is an industry that takes a long time, costs a lot, and takes a relatively slow time to recover the costs. Only giants can manage the cinema chain.
Oriental Cinema Line, backed by Oriental Real Estate, took nearly two decades to grow to its current size. Now, it has been bought outright by Disney.
Disney acquires Oriental Cinemas for $56 billion, changing hands for China's second-largest cinema chain
"Oriental Group sells Oriental Cinema Line to repay debt..."
"China's second-largest cinema chain changes hands, Disney becomes the new owner for $56 billion..."
"Disney finally has its own cinema chain..."
"The scale of the Chinese film market has increased dramatically year-on-year..."
After the news broke, Disney also took the initiative to pay the media to report on the incident, especially to praise the significance of Disney's spending.
It has acquired the second largest cinema chain in China, which also has the largest number of giant screens. What does this mean? It means that Disney has established a firm foothold in China and has a treasure trove of wealth.
Cinema chains plus Disney, this is a disguised monopoly. When the time comes, Disney can openly increase the screening schedule of its own films in its own cinema chains.
What Disney couldn't do in the United States, it succeeded in China.
Such good news caused Disney's stock to reverse its decline and not only did it recover its previous losses, but its market value also increased again.
This is the biggest good news. Acquiring a cinema chain will not only allow their own films to have higher box office returns in the future, but also suppress Qingyao Group's films. Putting aside the scheduling, Disney can simply refuse to allow them to increase their share of the profits. Even if Qingyao Group is a giant, it will have to accept it.
Along with the news and many people's discussions, Chinese netizens were also in an uproar.
"Why was Disney allowed to acquire Oriental Cinemas..."
"This is a monopoly. Where is our anti-monopoly law..."
"In the United States, Disney is not allowed to own cinemas..."
“I hope the country will take action…”
"Disney, get out of China..."
After reading the analysis, netizens also realized the seriousness of the matter.
This matter is too serious. Disney controls the cinema chains. This gives them absolute control. Not only can they increase the screening schedule for their own films, but they can also suppress Chinese films and increase the share of profits for the cinema chains, especially Qingyao Group. Now, even a fool can see that Disney and Qingyao Group are sworn enemies.
Online, netizens were outraged.
In Su Yang's office at Qingyao Group, Su Yang was frowning, and Tang Qing's expression was also serious.
"This is a blatant conspiracy. Throw money at it, and a giant will always be a giant..."
Su Yang sighed. Disney is not just about himself. The people behind Disney are American chaebol giants who have too much money.
Qingyao Group, on the other hand, is weak and isolated. While it's growing rapidly, its foundation is too thin. It lacks any financial backing, let alone backing from domestic investors. Even so, many domestic investors are eyeing Qingyao Group's pie, eager to seize it if they see the right opportunity. Therefore, facing Disney's conspiracy, Qingyao Group is in a dilemma, unsure how to respond.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
