"This negotiation, you need to hold on to two key conditions!" Just as Jiangnan Group's acquisition negotiation with HBO was about to begin, the chairman of Time Warner pulled aside the negotiation representative, Ruhr, and admonished him, "The first condition is that the price must not be lower than 35 billion US dollars, and it must be paid in cash, without any other collateral!"
"The second condition is that the HBO television station must be successfully transferred, and it absolutely cannot remain in our hands!"
Upon hearing the chairman's two conditions, Ruhr's expression became extremely peculiar. Were there such negotiation bottom lines in the world?
The price of 35 billion US dollars could not be called outrageous; only a blind man would buy it. After all, HBO had been losing money for four consecutive years. Currently, all HBO had to offer besides a few American dramas were large amounts of equity in local television stations and a television network formed by these local stations.
But could this thing really sell for 35 billion?
According to Ruhr's own estimation, selling it for 30 billion would be considered a miracle.
Therefore, the price of 35 billion US dollars was essentially impossible to negotiate. And even if it wasn't negotiated, now there was an order that only allowed success and not failure. How could they even negotiate?
Seeing Ruhr's expression, the chairman also had no choice. Did he not know that this requirement was a bit outrageous? But this was the request of the big shot behind them. What could he do?
Meanwhile, in the vehicle carrying the Jiangnan Group delegation, Boss Huang was giving Xiao John his final instructions, "You don't need to achieve any results, you just need to negotiate. Drag it out for a week, and everything will be fine!"
Compared to Ruhr's difficult conditions, Xiao John's condition was as lenient as an angel.
"Boss, if we are going to negotiate, you need to give me a price so I can talk," Xiao John said.
"Oh, then let's say 10 billion US dollars!" Huang He said with a grin.
"Boss, this price is too outrageous, there's no sincerity at all. This will arouse suspicion from those people. You must quote a reasonable price!" Xiao John quickly said. xxs壹贰
"In that case, you can quote whatever price you like, as it's a transaction that can never be reached!" Huang He pondered for a moment, then said with a smile, "Just stick to this price and talk slowly!"
"Yes!" Although Xiao John also felt that the price was too outrageous, since the main objective was to delay, it was very simple.
Thus, the first negotiation between Time Warner and Jiangnan Group commenced.
"In summary, we believe that the price of 45 billion US dollars for HBO television station is a very reasonable matter! This is a good price!" After the negotiation began, Ruhr, Time Warner's representative, first praised HBO extravagantly before finally quoting a price of 45 billion US dollars.
Although the lower price was 35 billion US dollars, in negotiations, one always had to leave room for counter-offers, so Ruhr directly added 10 billion US dollars to leave ample room for negotiation.
"We believe 45 billion is too exaggerated, and 25 billion is a relatively reasonable price!" Xiao John said. Ruhr was not surprised by the opponent's bid, as everyone needed to leave room.
Thus, for the next period of time, rounds of verbal jousting ensued. The process will not be described in detail as it was not very interesting. In any case, three days passed without significant progress from either side.
Although they had lowered the offer from 45 billion US dollars to 37 billion US dollars, which was infinitely close to the bottom line set by the superiors, Jiangnan Group's price had only increased by 1 billion US dollars. Xiao John insisted on 26 billion US dollars and refused to budge.
The only thing Ruhr felt fortunate about was that Jiangnan Group's desire to negotiate was still relatively strong. The two sides continued to talk until three days later, when Ruhr threatened at the negotiation table, "Without our HBO television station, you will never be able to get your television station to appear smoothly in front of all audiences in your lifetime! No other television station will agree to your access to the cable television network! We are your only chance!"
"You can't say that..." Xiao John was about to retort when his phone suddenly rang. His expression changed slightly, and then he smiled at Ruhr and said, "Sir, I was wrong to say that. Because even without your HBO television station, our Los Gatos Television Station's programs can appear in front of all audiences in the United States and connect to all cable network interfaces!"
"You're dreaming!" Ruhr scoffed unceremoniously.
"If that's the case, then I suggest you take a look at Weibo, our Los Gatos Television Station's official account!" Xiao John then left the meeting room, leaving Ruhr alone at the negotiation site, dumbfounded.
"Bring me the computer to see!" Ruhr immediately ordered. Soon, a laptop was brought to Ruhr. Ruhr quickly opened Weibo... He originally wanted to find the official account of Los Gatos Television Station to see what they had posted.
But to his surprise, the very prominent trending topic on the Weibo homepage read: "The TV series version of 'The Misty Journey' will be launched online on May 4th, and nationwide users can watch it for free simultaneously."
Ruhr's facial muscles twitched slightly, then he clicked on the details to check. He discovered that Los Gatos Television Station had opened an online television station, and all online users could directly log in to the official website of Los Gatos Television Station to watch the live broadcast.
"Hahaha, I thought they had some tricks up their sleeves today. Turns out it's just an online television station!" Ruhr couldn't help but laugh heartily upon seeing the detailed news.
His expression was one of utter disdain.
Meanwhile, Xiao John, sitting in the car, was also talking to someone behind the scenes through a secure phone, "Yes, sir. Huang He never trusted me. I had no idea he actually had an online television station opportunity! All of this was done behind my back... As you know, I've been communicating with various television stations and leading the negotiation work all these days. I've rarely reported to the headquarters of Los Gatos Television Station, so I had no idea they had such a plan hidden away!"
"However, I believe this move is just to scare HBO. Online television stations have been around for seven or eight years, and the longest-operating online television station has been around for over five years."
"But the fact is that online television stations simply lack development potential. The videos on these online television stations are very laggy and there are few programs. Most of them directly rebroadcast programs from television stations. But if that's the case, it's better to watch on television. Therefore, I believe these are just tactics to tell HBO that Los Gatos Television Station is not solely reliant on the cable television network, and this is a tactic to lower the price!"
"Yes, this is just a tactic of Jiangnan Group!" After Xiao John finished saying this, he breathed a long sigh of relief. His task and work were basically finished. Now it was up to the company's vigorously promoted online television station opportunity whether it could break through the restrictions of traditional television and open up a new television market!
To be honest, the first time Xiao John learned about Jiangnan Group's plan, his attitude was pessimistic because he didn't believe Jiangnan Group could turn things around with this plan. But this plan was better than spending billions of dollars to acquire a perennially loss-making HBO television station!
Moreover, Xiao John had no other choice. He could only go all the way and try his best to eliminate the obstacles that Goldman Sachs had created for Jiangnan Group. In these days, under the illusion created by Xiao John's efforts, Goldman Sachs Group had not caused any obstacles to this plan, allowing it to be executed very smoothly. Now, it was finally time for it to bear fruit.
On the other hand, Goldman Sachs Group also immediately convened its think tank to analyze whether Los Gatos Television Station's online television station plan could break through the current blockade of cable television networks. As a result, all the think tanks, after analyzing various data, unanimously agreed that Jiangnan Group was throwing money away to create an online television station and broadcast directly on the internet, which was the most foolish thing in the world. No one would watch large-scale TV dramas online. The network issues and data processing issues alone were enough to kill all viewers' interest!
Furthermore, did Huang He really think that every family in the United States had a computer?
Thus, after the analysis of the think tank, Goldman Sachs Group also felt that they could wait and see for the time being. When the online television station plan of Los Gatos Television Station failed miserably, the acquisition of HBO television station would become even more urgent.
At that time, Huang He would have to invest a huge amount of capital to acquire HBO. However, Jiangnan Group might not have such massive funds. The only way was to list its subsidiary companies. Once Goldman Sachs took over the listing work of Jiangnan Group, it could smoothly extend its reach into Jiangnan Group and ultimately control this company full of possibilities.
Everything seemed perfect. As May 4th gradually approached, many users suddenly found a package in their email. This package was sent by Netflix disc rental company, stating that it was a special small gift sent to their member users to thank them for their long-term support of Netflix!
These member users immediately opened the email and found an electronic device about half the size of a VCD. According to the device's instruction manual, it was the world's most advanced "Digital Network TV Box!"