The day after the dinner at Raybould's house, Janet began to negotiate with Blackstone Group about acquiring the equity of Blackstone Financial Management Company.

I'm busy, Thursday is coming soon.

Blockbuster chose to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Simon and Janet got up at seven o'clock and rushed directly to Midtown. Blockbuster Chairman and CEO Wayne Huizenga and Daenerys Entertainment

Amy and others on the other side have already arrived.

Everyone ate breakfast in a hurry and came to the Nasdaq exchange hall on 42nd Street. It was already overcrowded.

In addition to the management of Daenerys and Blockbuster, today we also invited big-name filmmakers such as Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Diane Keaton to come and help out.

If other companies want to do this, an expensive appearance fee will definitely be indispensable, and it may not be available. For Daenerys Entertainment, it can be solved with just a few phone calls. Because the invitees are all permanent residents.

Filmmakers here in New York don’t even need to pay travel expenses.

Simon's attendance is also of a supportive nature.

At around eight o'clock, after taking Janet to show her face in front of the media, the two temporarily hid in the lounge upstairs of the exchange to wait for the bell-ringing ceremony.

Robert De Niro and others also arrived one after another.

Simon also met Kathryn Bigelow, whom he hadn't seen for a while.

After "Blue Angel", Catherine lived in New York most of the time.

Simon could feel that the woman was obviously deliberately alienating her relationship with him, and he did not force it. Catherine has always been a very independent personality, and it is impossible to become someone's vassal, and Simon does not want Catherine to become his.

vassal.

"This is a remake of an old 1962 film called "Cape Fear," which tells the story of a convicted criminal seeking revenge on the judge and lawyers who sent him to prison. Spielberg started early

He started working on the script adaptation of this project, but it has never been put into production. He recently asked Martin and me if we were interested in taking over. Martin had read the script that Steve had people write and thought it was terrible, so he is still hesitant."

In the lounge.

Simon, De Niro and others were sitting on the sofa chatting about recent events.

While Martin Scorsese is taking care of the post-production period of "Goodfellas", he is already looking for his next new film. De Niro will soon join the team to start filming a biographical film "Speechless", which is expected to be released by the end of the year. This makes him

This year, there are still two big screen works that have maintained a relatively high production rate.

The "Cape Fear" currently being talked about can only be counted as a project for next year.

In my memory, "Cape Fear" did very well at the box office, but since this is a project led by Spielberg, Simon has no intention of getting involved.

Of course, if "Cape Fear" is produced by Universal as it was in the original time and space, and Simon can successfully win Universal this year, the film will still be in his hands.

Amy and James have been paying close attention to the trends of MCA recently. Simon's plan is to wait for Cersei Capital's M&A business team to be established before finding the right time to formally launch an acquisition offer to MCA. Such a business can just help Cersei Capital's mergers and acquisitions.

The business team opens the situation.

After chatting with De Niro and others for a while, Simon got up and came to Janet and Catherine who were hiding next to them and talking small talk.

January in New York is the coldest time of the year. Everyone took off their thick coats when they entered the room. Catherine was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and was leaned against by Janet who was wearing a white sweater.

People around me naturally feel a little more CP.

This was a three-seat sofa, with Catherine on one armrest and Janet originally sitting in the middle.

Seeing Simon coming over, Janet, who was originally wrapped around Catherine, immediately moved to the other side and gave up the middle position to Simon.

Simon sat down unceremoniously. When he saw Catherine moving to the side a little, he deliberately leaned closer to the woman. Naturally, he was given a blank look.

Janet came over with a smile, lay on Simon's shoulder and said to Catherine through the man: "See, you are still such a bastard."

Simon pretended to be dissatisfied and said: "When you say that, shouldn't you avoid the person involved?"

Janet curled her lips: "I just want you to hear it."

Catherine smiled as she watched the two bickering and said, "I saw you boxing with someone in Melbourne. Don't be like this again, you will get hurt."

Simon nodded and asked: "How are the preparations for your new film going? Do you need my help?"

Catherine's new film is called "The Point", which is roughly considered a police film.

Simon had some impressions of this movie. It was one of Keanu Reeves' early works and also starred Patrick Swayze, the actor of "The Last Days". The surfing and skydiving action scenes in the movie are very classic.

Although the anarchist views expressed were not liked by mainstream film critics, it was very successful commercially and had a group of very loyal fans.

Many years later, Megan Fox, the Hollywood actress who became famous with "Transformers", named her son Bodhi after the character played by Patrick Swayze in "Point".

, the corresponding word in Chinese is 'Bodhi'.

Catherine heard Simon's casual inquiry, looked at the little man beside her with a smile and said: "Warner has officially approved the project, and Keanu and Patrick have also agreed to participate. Filming will probably start in the second half of the year."

The cost of "Point Break" is expected to exceed US$20 million, which is already a big production for Catherine.

Hollywood's prejudice against female directors is deep-rooted. Without Simon's help, Warner would not have agreed to invest so readily, and the original Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze might not have agreed to participate.

Catherine knew all this very well.

As everyone chatted, the time soon came to a quarter past nine. The staff came in and informed that the bell ringing ceremony was about to begin. Everyone got up and left the lounge.

The exchange was already overcrowded.

Simon and others appeared on the stage, and the flashlights in the hall immediately lit up crazily again.

After Wayne Huizenga made a speech, everyone gathered around the operating table and pressed the trading button together, and the bell-ringing ceremony was completed.

The next step is the inquiry stage before the market opens.

Because the subscription demand during the road show was very strong, compared with the underwriter's initial recommended price of $13 to $15, Blockbuster's issue price was finally determined at $17, and 15 million new shares were issued, raising $255 million.

255 million U.S. dollars, which is enough to fund Blockbuster’s expansion needs in the next year.

As a result, shareholders and management unanimously rejected the underwriters' proposal to increase the issuance.

In the first round of inquiry, the quotation jumped directly to the range of 17.5 to 18.5 US dollars.

After completing their platform tasks, Simon and his team left temporarily. There will be a celebration reception at noon. Today's guests can decide whether to attend according to their own arrangements.

Simon will definitely attend the noon cocktail party, but before that, he still has some things to do and needs to return to his apartment on Fifth Avenue.

Catherine was about to leave, but was forced to take her home by Janet.

There are already some people waiting here, staff from a genetic research institute in the UK.

The thing is very simple.

After collecting blood samples from Simon and Janet, several staff members confirmed some things with Simon again and hurriedly left and flew back to the UK.

Catherine watched all this, feeling confused.

Janet leaned into her ear and whispered a few words, and then the woman understood.

Then, thinking that Simon and Janet were about to get married, I still felt a little sour in my heart.

Inside the Nasdaq exchange floor.

After three consecutive rounds of bidding that lasted for an hour, Blockbuster's opening price was finally confirmed at $19.50.

Subsequently, official trading began, and the stock price immediately exceeded the $20 mark.

The celebration reception at noon began. Blockbuster's stock price had exceeded $23, and trading in the afternoon was still very active.

As of the end of the trading day on Thursday, Blockbuster's share price was finally fixed at US$26.5. Compared with the issue price of US$17, it surged 56% in one day, and its total market value reached US$2.199 billion.

Because of its participation in the subscription of this new stock issuance, Daenerys Entertainment's shareholding in Blockbuster remains at 35%.

After two investments, the company spent a total of approximately US$210 million.

As of the close of the day, Daenerys Entertainment’s US$210 million investment had increased in value to US$770 million, with a return rate of more than 300% in just one year. In fact, the main reason why Blockbuster’s stock price rose sharply on the first day of listing was

It is also because Daenerys Entertainment has achieved great success in this investment.

Daenerys Entertainment's huge book profits stimulated investors' enthusiasm for buying, and the market's popularity, in turn, made Daenerys Entertainment's investment more successful.

After a new stock is listed, the major shareholders and management of the listed company enter a silent period as a rule.

However, this will not hinder Blockbuster's normal operations.

On the second day after its listing, Blockbuster announced that it would acquire the East Coast video chain Errol, which was headquartered in Baltimore. Compared to Blockbuster, which already had more than 1,200 chain stores across North America, Errol was only in the East Coast.

There are 250 chain stores in several states including New York State and Washington State on the coast.

The final purchase price reached by the two parties was US$40 million, a cash and stock deal, and Blockbuster would also assume Errol's debt.

This deal has been under negotiation during Blockbuster's IPO, and the official announcement on the second day of listing is also a good thing.

After completing this transaction, Blockbuster will have more than 1,500 chain stores. Although its market share is still less than 20%, it is also the largest video rental and sales chain store in North America.

After the news of the acquisition of Errol was announced, Blockbuster's stock price rose slightly again on Friday as expected, breaking through $28 at the close of trading on Friday.

With the successful completion of the IPO, Blockbuster will also begin its expansion in overseas markets.

On the other hand, Blackstone Group received an acquisition offer from Cersei Capital for Blackstone Financial Management, a company led by Lawrence Fink, and initially rejected it outright.

Although there are discords between Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and Lawrence Fink, Blackstone Financial Management's performance since its establishment has been very good, and Blackstone is reluctant to let go of this subsidiary that is in a period of rapid growth.

company.

It wasn't until Lawrence Fink threatened to lead the entire team to leave collectively that Schwarzman reluctantly compromised, but the Lion still offered a price of $200 million.

Blackstone Financial Management's revenue last year was US$33 million, and its pre-tax net income attributable to shareholders was approximately US$7 million.
To be continued...