"I just received the news this morning…"
Seeing Murphy sitting on the couch, Bill Rossis succinctly conveyed, "During Sony Entertainment's high-level meeting, many executives once again brought up the plan to spin off and sell Sony Columbia Pictures."
Murphy nodded. Ever since the first rumors of Columbia Pictures being spun off and sold, he had someone keeping an eye on Sony Entertainment. He had already received this information and, considering the situation of Sony Columbia Pictures and the entire Sony Group, he was preparing to make an attempt to acquire Columbia Pictures.
So, Murphy directly told Bill Rossis, "I plan to acquire Sony Columbia Pictures."
Bill Rossis had long been aware of Murphy's plan and wasn't surprised.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" he asked.
Nowadays, Murphy and the Stanton Party were his most important clients. Without their support, his position as a partner at CAA would be precarious.
"Of course," Murphy didn't stand on ceremony with Bill Rossis. "Bill, I need you to persuade the partners at CAA to fully support me in completing this acquisition."
Although Murphy had amassed considerable wealth through his career as a director and film investor, with various assets totaling several billion dollars, acquiring Columbia Pictures, a traditional Hollywood studio and one of the Big Six, was still an immensely challenging task.
Such a transaction, involving billions of dollars, was not something that could be settled simply with a handshake agreement.
Not to mention, even securing the necessary financing would be extremely complicated.
Murphy didn't plan to fund the acquisition entirely on his own. Only a fool would pour all their resources into a single project. Having reached his current status, it was crucial to diversify investments, just as with any major acquisition in this country, using financing or loans was the most reasonable approach.
He could even follow the example of Shanghai Disneyland, using future ticket revenue as collateral to secure loans, or use the film rights in Columbia Pictures' library as collateral for financing.
Additionally, he could bring in promising partners.
Though this might bring complications, deception and scheming were commonplace in the business world, and he was not afraid of these.
As for choosing CAA, one reason was that he was now their top client with over a decade of collaboration. With aligned interests, CAA would undoubtedly mobilize its resources to help him complete the acquisition. Another reason was CAA's experience in this field. When Sony Entertainment acquired Columbia Pictures, it was Michael Ovitz's CAA that brokered the deal.
Though Michael Ovitz was no longer around, CAA's strength was only greater than it was in the late '80s and early '90s.
Murphy's thoughts were clear to Bill Rossis, who quickly considered and then nodded, saying, "No problem, I can bring your proposal to the CAA partners' meeting."
"Good." Murphy knew one thing: the purpose of business cooperation was profit. He added, "If CAA can assist Stanton Studios in acquiring Sony Columbia Pictures at a reasonable price, I will offer 3% of the transaction value as CAA's fee."
"Three percent?" Bill Rossis's eyes widened. Even in its current state, Columbia Pictures would not sell for less than $5 billion.
Three percent of that could rival CAA's annual profits.
"With that offer…" Bill Rossis confidently told Murphy, "I am ninety percent sure I can persuade the company to join this acquisition."
Murphy nodded slightly. Commercial companies weren't charities; if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it.
The two discussed further. After all, an acquisition was no small matter. This was just the initial intention. If Stanton Studios and CAA were to collaborate, many more details would need to be negotiated.
After a while, Bill Rossis reminded Murphy, "Although Sony Columbia Pictures is not in the best shape, its foundation remains strong. You need to be prepared for the possibility of failure."
"I understand." Murphy knew very well that just because he wanted to buy didn't mean they wanted to sell.
Even if Sony Columbia Pictures was struggling and there were voices within Sony Entertainment calling for its sale, this had not actually happened in his previous life.
However, Murphy also understood that now was the best time to attempt to acquire Sony Columbia Pictures.
In the past two years, except for "The Amazing Spider-Man" which had decent revenue, most of Sony Columbia Pictures' big-budget productions faced losses, with only a small portion breaking even.
If not for the financing of several of these films from multiple sources, and the periodic success of the Spider-Man franchise as a lifeline, Sony Columbia Pictures might have already collapsed.
But, a lifeline cannot last forever. The Spider-Man franchise can save Sony Columbia Pictures once, twice, even three times, but not indefinitely.
This summer, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was released in North America. With a production cost of $230 million, Sony Columbia Pictures had high hopes for this film, expecting it to replicate the success of "Spider-Man 2."
However, things don't always go as planned. A large investment in a film doesn't necessarily guarantee a good outcome.
To date, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" had already left North American theaters, grossing just over $200 million, far from Sony Columbia Pictures' $350 million North American target.
This result was undoubtedly disappointing for Sony Columbia Pictures.
Although the film performed well internationally, with global box office nearing $700 million, this was little consolation to Sony Columbia Pictures' executives.
The massive production cost of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," coupled with substantial marketing and distribution expenses, meant that even a global box office of $700 million might not break even.
What drove them to despair was the fans' outrage over Gwen Stacy's death in the film, combined with negative reviews and other unfavorable factors, leading to poor sales of related merchandise, generating limited revenue. Moreover, a significant portion of this limited revenue had to be shared with Marvel Comics, the creator of Spider-Man.
According to the information Murphy had received, the performance of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was far from successful. While it wouldn't bankrupt Sony Columbia Pictures, it had left their finances extremely tight, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Hence, the renewed calls within Sony to spin off and sell Sony Columbia Pictures.
In Murphy's previous life, similar situations had occurred at Sony Columbia Pictures, but the studio's deep roots as one of the Big Six ultimately helped it survive.
Murphy's attention wasn't solely on Sony Columbia Pictures but also on Sony Electronics and Sony Entertainment.
Sony Electronics, the core business of Sony, had been struggling in recent years, with several poorly performing departments being spun off and sold. Sony Entertainment wasn't faring much better, with several subsidiaries underperforming except for Sony Music, which provided relatively stable profits, while others, including Sony Columbia Pictures, faced continuous losses.
Of course, from a certain perspective, the Sony Group was powerful, backed by even stronger conglomerates. But anyone with a basic understanding of business knew that companies like Sony Entertainment or Sony Columbia Pictures had separate financial accounts. They were acquired to generate profits; if they failed to do so and instead dragged down the parent company, the best option was to spin them off and sell them.
This was why there were calls within Sony Entertainment to spin off and sell Sony Columbia Pictures.
Many Sony executives likely saw Columbia Pictures, perpetually ranking last among the Big Six, as a burden rather than a profit generator.
However, as Bill Rossis mentioned, even if Sony Entertainment wanted to sell, acquiring Columbia Pictures would be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.
There were also those within Sony who did not want to sell Columbia Pictures. After all, the studio held a vast film library. As long as this library remained, Columbia Pictures retained significant value.
These were the challenges Murphy and Stanton Studios had to face, problems that had to be acknowledged. Such an acquisition wasn't simply a matter of wanting to buy and having the funds; Sony Entertainment wouldn't just hand over Columbia Pictures.
Sony Columbia Pictures had not yet reached a point of no return.
Murphy understood this well. As long as one major blockbuster achieved phenomenal success, Sony Columbia Pictures could temporarily reverse its decline and restore confidence in the film market.
Was there such an opportunity? According to Murphy's investigations, there was indeed such an opportunity, and Sony Columbia Pictures was actively pursuing it.
Not only did Murphy think so, but Bill Rossis did as well.
"There's one more thing I need to remind you of," Bill Rossis said seriously in the office, "Sony Columbia Pictures is in talks with Marvel Studios to bring Peter Parker back to the Avengers."
"I know," Murphy was aware of these developments, "I'm already working on it."
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