Chapter 503: Winning "The Three-Body Problem"
As Meng Bai finished speaking, the entire conference room fell silent for a few seconds.
Obviously, no one present expected him to suddenly appear here.
The same was true for Xu Fang. She only knew that Arc Light would send someone to help her, but she didn't expect that it would be President Meng himself.
Taking a deep breath without leaving a trace, she calmed down the shock in her heart, put on an expression of being in control, and said with a smile: "Mr. Meng, this is too formal. Lao Lin often told me before that the cooperation with Arc Light is the most important thing for Youzu. What's so abrupt about it?"
After that, she turned her head to look at Chen Feng, whose eyes were a little dull, and said meaningfully: "Director Chen, I am not wrong, am I?"
After all, he has been in the business world for 20 to 30 years. Chen Feng put on a warm expression without hesitation: "Hahaha, of course, Mr. Meng is visiting in person, we can't wait to welcome him, how can it be abrupt." He
laughed to ease the atmosphere, and then he continued: "Well, let Zhao Ji and others sit with Mr. Meng for a while, and we will deal with this private matter of the company as soon as possible."
This was said politely, but it actually had a deep meaning. The purpose was to tell the other party that you, Mr. Meng, are indeed awesome, but we are now dealing with internal affairs of the company. If you insist on intervening, it will be a bit unruly.
Xu Fang naturally understood the meaning of these words, but surprisingly, she did not refute anything. Instead, she said nonchalantly: "Indeed, what Director Chen said is right. Then please wait for a moment, President Meng. We will sign the contract after I finish here."
"Wait a minute!"
Chen Feng stopped her and asked in surprise: "Sign a contract? What contract?"
Regarding the film and television adaptation cooperation of "The Three-Body Problem", an agreement had already been signed with Arclight. They all knew about it, so what kind of "contract" is this now?
"Why, Director Chen doesn't know?"
Xu Fang had an innocent expression on her face, and then suddenly slapped her head: "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. I have decided to transfer all the equity of "Three-Body Universe" and subsequent copyright development matters to Arclight Films."
"What?!"
As soon as the words came out, everyone was shocked!
"Director Xu, you are going too far." Chen Feng stared at Xu Fang, his face as dark as water, and said, "'Three-Body Universe' is the core asset of our Youzu. You are selling it to others without a vote of the board of directors. This seems inappropriate."
Not only him, but also the other directors at the scene were talking about it.
Everyone knows that for Youzu today, more than half of its value lies in the "Three-Body" IP. If it is sold, the remaining Youzu will be just an ordinary third-rate web game company, and it is still going downhill.
Chen Feng looked at Meng Bai: "President Meng, there may be some misunderstandings here. Regarding the transfer of 'Three-Body Universe', it is purely Director Xu's own idea. We have not received any news from within our company. I am afraid that your contract cannot be completed."
But what surprised him was that after hearing the "truth", the other party's expression did not change at all.
"Oh, is that so?"
Meng Bai said with a smile: "But how come according to the information I know, the equity of 'Three-Body Universe' should belong to Mr. Lin, oh no, to Mr. Xu personally?"
Boom -
it was as if an invisible hurricane rose and swept through everyone's heart. Chen Feng and others' originally gloomy expressions suddenly froze, and then their faces turned pale.
Yes, all of them forgot that "Three-Body Universe" does belong to Youzu, but it is more accurate to say that it belongs to Youzu's boss Lin Qi himself.
In short, in order to better operate the huge IP of "Three-Body", Lin Qi put all the recovered copyrights into a company called "Three-Body Universe Cultural Development". 95% of the company's equity belongs to an investment company called Qi Xin Yongyan, which is wholly owned by "Shanghu Youzu Technology".
As for this "Youzu Technology", it is a wholly-owned company under Lin Qi's personal name. Of course, it is now equally inherited by his three children, and the equity is also in the hands of Xu Fang, the guardian.
In other words, the entire "Three-Body Universe" has basically no relationship between the two sides in terms of equity, except for the development of games and IPs, which are handed over to Youzu for cooperation.
It is difficult to say whether this is due to Lin Qi's personal possessiveness, but it has to be said that after his death, this has become a key step in helping his ex-wife turn the tables.
It was with the ownership of the development of the "Three-Body Universe" that Xu Fang impressed Meng Bai and won the support of Arclight for her.
For a company, there is actually no difference between 95% of the equity and wholly owned, because it is a one-man show anyway. Therefore, Xu Fang can sell the "Three-Body Universe" to anyone she wants.
The reason for choosing Arclight is that Lin Qi's admiration for Meng Bai during his lifetime made her subconsciously biased; secondly, although the outside world has exaggerated the IP value of "Three-Body", it is actually not really that hot at the capital level.
First of all, it must be admitted that the market for science fiction in China is actually not very large.
Even though "The Wandering Earth" has become so popular, apart from Meng Bai, Guo Fan and others, there are still few science fiction works in the entire entertainment market - "The Fortress" does not count, which is essentially a "romance film" in a shell, and it also failed.
Secondly, although "The Three-Body Problem" is very famous, there have been basically no successful adaptation projects in all these years except for a movie version that no one has ever seen.
As early as 2018, Youzu claimed to create a "Three-Body Game". However, until now, even people inside Youzu have not seen it.
Capital is very cunning, and their enthusiasm is generally more inclined to projects with successful precedents. And projects like "The Three-Body Problem" seem a bit tasteless.
If Xu Fang wants to sell it, there will definitely be many people who want it. But it is hard to say how high the value can be offered.
In comparison, Mr. Meng of Arclight is obviously more enthusiastic about "The Three-Body Problem" and can negotiate a higher price. In this case, she naturally chose this cooperation that is most beneficial to both parties.
She did not offer a very high price. After all, her main purpose is to solve the debts caused by the pledge of her ex-husband's shares.
The two sides had roughly discussed it a few days ago and were willing to accept each other's cooperation conditions, so there was today's scene.
Obviously, this attack hit the soft spot of Chen Feng and others. Although Youzu also has some copyright cooperation, if it really leaves the "Three-Body Universe" itself, the value of the company will be greatly reduced.
Xu Fang herself doesn't care. As long as the brand can still hold up, she will be worthy of her ex-husband.
But for other directors who want to seek greater benefits, this matter is a bit fucked up!
"I think what Director Xu said is right. President Lin always said before his death that Arclight is the partner who can best demonstrate the value of the "Three-Body" IP. Now that our two companies are jointly developing, it is naturally more appropriate, right?"
The speaker is a neutral director. From his tone, it is obvious that he has leaned towards Xu Fang. But he
has to fall. In the board of directors, he represents not only his own interests, but also the interests of the capital behind him.
Previously, Chen Feng wanted to temporarily freeze Xu Fang's equity through the "illegitimate child" incident to delay time, and then force the other party to use the equity in his hand as an exchange through the debt problem.
But now with the end of the behemoth Arclight, all means are meaningless in front of the other party's capital and power. Naturally, he knows what to choose.
It's not just him. Several other directors who had previously had an ambiguous relationship with Chen Feng have now switched sides and joined Xu Fang's camp.
Watching the changes in the situation on the field, Xu Fang suppressed his joy and looked at Chen Feng: "How about it, Director Chen, do you have any opinions?"
"It's the best for the company to cooperate with Arc Light. What else can I say."
Chen Feng didn't do the "trapped beast still fighting" act, but just smiled bitterly. Everyone is not a newcomer in the capital circle. The ending of this whole thing has been doomed since the moment Mr. Meng from Arc Light appeared.
He stood up, tidied his clothes, and then looked at Meng Bai with a complicated look: "I hope that Arc Light and our Youzu will cooperate smoothly. We are all looking forward to the day when we can see the work of "The Three-Body Problem."
Meng Bai heard this and smiled lightly: "Don't worry, it won't be long."
...
After resolving the internal struggle of Youzu, the next thing is very simple.
The conditions for cooperation between the two parties have long been reached, and the rest is nothing more than some detailed discussions and the procedures for equity transfer.
Arclight paid for the full purchase of "Qixin Yongyan Investment", which is equivalent to obtaining the ownership of "Three-Body Universe".
In other words, after the signing of the contract, the "Three-Body", a domestic science fiction masterpiece, will be completely owned by Arclight's copyright library and become a new core IP.
As for Youzu itself, Meng Bai is not very interested. Although it is a game company, it does not have any works that are particularly worthy of attention. After so many years of development, it is still basically playing the "Legendary Skin Change" game.
The Youzu Building is a good asset, and its location is also in the core area, but it is a pity that it is in Shanghu. If it is in Beijing North, it can be used by Arclight after the group reform.
The process of equity transfer is relatively complicated and cannot be completed in a short time. Neither side has leaked the news for the time being.
However, Meng Bai does not need to be personally responsible for the following matters, and he can finally be free.
He did not rush back, and he planned to rest in Shanghu for a few days. Just as he was thinking about how to relax, he unexpectedly received a WeChat message from Yang Chaoyue.
Yang Chaoyue: [Boss, I'm in Shanghu, are you back? ]
(End of this chapter)
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