Xu Yuande quickly followed his instructions and called a friend who was a senior executive at Douyin. Because the Xu Group had an MCN agency under its umbrella, operating live streamers and influencers naturally required close collaboration with the platform. While routine matters could be handled by subordinates, important matters were naturally communicated between the two parties' senior management.
Xu Yuande immediately asked Si Mingyu about his relationship with Douyin. Si Mingyu initially denied it, but after Xu Yuande offered him favors and generous rewards, he finally said, "It is said that this Mr. Si is a shareholder of the company."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Yuande felt completely disappointed.
There is a huge difference between shareholders, but shareholders whose names are remembered by Douyin executives either have enough shares or are important enough. If Si Mingyu has any of these, it is bad news for him.
Xu Zhirui, who was standing by, also overheard his father's phone call throughout. He still didn't understand how he could be so unlucky to have gotten into such a trouble.
Just as Xu Yuande was about to continue scolding his son to vent his anger, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Xu Yuande said in a bad tone.
"Chairman, there is something I need to report to you." The person who came in was the manager in charge of the cinema chain.
"Speak." Xu Yuande sat in the boss's chair, but he still couldn't show any panic in front of his subordinates.
"Chairman, we have just received notification letters from the distributors of films such as "XXXX" and "XXXX", saying that their films will no longer be released in our theaters." The theater manager handed over a list with the names of all the films that had received the letters.
"Apart from these, are there any other films to be released in the second half of the year?" The long list made Xu Yuande feel that this might not be all that was available for the second half of the year.
"In addition to the ones on the list, there are more than a dozen films in the second half of the year, including "XXXX." Xu Yuande knew all about these theater managers, but he had never heard of the names of these films and thought they were not blockbusters.
Just as he thought, the rest were free movies that might not be watched even by anyone.
A cinema has to schedule films year-round; you can't just take a break this month because it's off-season. Audiences crave blockbusters or films starring famous directors and stars, so they schedule them during popular periods like National Day, Spring Festival, and the winter and summer holidays, filling in the remaining time with extra films.
Films certainly need theaters, and theaters need films, too. Without theaters, films won't be viewed, and naturally, they won't make money at the box office. But without films, how do theaters make money? Sell popcorn and Coke?
"Okay, I understand. Let's handle it however we need to." Xu Yuande waved his hand and let the theater manager leave.
No matter what agreement or contract there is between the distributor and the cinema chain, since the cinema chain manager reported this, Xu Yuande knew that the situation was beyond redemption.
Xu's Cinemas does not have many screens, and if these blockbusters and ordinary films abandon Xu's, it will not cause too much loss to itself, but for Xu's, the loss will be huge.
You have to remember that the Xu Group is a listed company. Why did these films abandon their cooperation with the group's theater chains? This question deserves reflection from shareholders, but if shareholders are slow to sell, it may be too late to reflect.
Good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. Xu Yuande's cell phone also rang.
"Mr. Xu, there are suddenly a large number of short orders for the group and its related stocks." The caller was the person in charge of the group's Hong Kong Stock Exchange, because the group is listed there.
"How many?" Xu Yuande was shocked.
"The total is about 30 million."
"You should first find a way to stabilize the stock price."
"Mr. Xu, please rest assured about this. However, such a sudden big move must be someone targeting us. According to my estimation, the other party has at least 10 billion in funds. Please be prepared in advance in this regard." The person in charge reminded.
"Just go ahead and do it without worrying."
Combining the two things, it goes without saying that the other party has already made a move.
"Go to the East Asia Mingyu Group right now, apologize to their boss, and tell him that we are willing to compensate for the losses." Xu Yuande yelled at his son.
"Dad, why?"
"Just because I'm your father and the other party wants the Xu Group to die! Get out!" Xu Zhirui just opened his mouth and was scolded back by Xu Yuande.
Xu Zhirui fled the chairman's office amid scolding.
Xu Yuande sat back in the chair and gasped for a long time, his chest still heaving. Too many things happened in the past half day, and it was considered healthy that he didn't die of anger.
While I had anticipated a potential counterattack from the other party, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. The group's MCN agencies were shut down yesterday, and today, the film's theatrical cancellations and stock price shorting are already underway. At the very least, the other party's ability to mobilize funds is exceptional.
This is because it is not difficult for the distributor to prevent the film from being released in the Xu Group cinema chain. All they have to do is throw money at it. As long as they promise to make up the difference, it doesn't matter whether the film is released or not. After all, people make movies to make money.
Short selling naturally requires capital. According to the exchange's representative, a billion is no small sum. Unless one is a banker, no matter what industry one is in, such a large sum wouldn't be easily available in a single day. But whether the money is borrowed or loaned, even if it arrives in ten days, it's a significant investment.
Therefore, Xu Yuande was very clear that the premise of giving in was that he had to pay the money that the other party gave to the film distributor, the interest on the other party's loan, and all expenses during the period. Apart from that, they could discuss how much compensation for losses would be paid.
The idea that you can get someone off with just a few soft words is something you only believe in novels. Even if you were to kneel down and kowtow to them right then and there, it wouldn't work. They pulled the film and secured the money within a single day. How many favors must have been involved in that? Even if converted into money, it's not a small sum.
Forget about your knees, even if your legs were made of pure gold they wouldn't be worth that much money.
However, we have to deal with it. On the one hand, we must give in, but on the other hand, we must not let the other party think that the Xu Group is easy to control. Only by making the other party feel that they will suffer great losses if we go to war will they sit down and accept our apology and compensation.
So Xu Yuande called the relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Branch of Pudong Development Bank.
To stabilize the stock price, you need money. Even if you ask the Xu Group to immediately come up with 1 billion, they can't come up with it. So what to do? Find someone with money to borrow money from. Is there anyone richer than a bank?
Of course Xu Yuande wouldn't be stupid enough to tell others why he borrowed money.
The person in charge of the bank on the other end was very happy after answering the phone. He said that since Mr. Xu is a big customer of our bank, it is no problem if you want to apply for a loan. As long as you provide collateral, he will lend you the money as quickly as possible.
“Can you lend money in one day?”
"As long as we verify the collateral, I'll take the risk and lend you the money within a day. We'll handle the formalities later."
"good!"
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