Years: Salted fish life since going to the countryside.

Chapter 1627 Theatrical Release?

Han Li gestured for Anita Koch to sit down and speak slowly, while handing the waiter over to her to take her order.

After Anita Koch waited for the coffee to be served, she stirred it slightly. Seeing that Han Li showed no intention of asking any questions, she couldn't wait to speak up.

"Han, you're really patient. Aren't you even a little curious about what good news I've brought today?"

Han Li: "I really want to know! But we should entertain our guests first."

After listening, Anita Koch didn't keep him in suspense. She first took out a map and a document with unknown contents from her bag, placed them in front of Han Li, and then spoke.

"The first piece of good news is that the boss of Jia Ning Group contacted me and agreed to sell his taxi company, several undeveloped plots of land, and film production company."

However, Jia Ning Group said they wanted to stabilize the share price and proposed to sell it secretly through a "grey market" method.

Both parties must sign a one-year confidentiality agreement, and within that year, if necessary, we must agree to allow them to buy back these assets at a price 20 percent above the market value.

Throughout the entire transaction, only relevant departments and each other's lawyers were informed; neither party was allowed to notify any media outlet or announce the matter to the public for any reason.

[Dark market transactions: This behavior is recognized and protected in Hong Kong, and many wealthy tycoons, celebrities and dignitaries sometimes use this method to trade.]

The most famous case involves a certain department in the United States, which sold properties in Hong Kong several times through back-market transactions.

Therefore, while things in Hong Kong may seem very transparent, and many people can see property information, those are merely superficial phenomena that you are allowed to see.

Han Li was stunned after hearing Anita Koch's words. He thought to himself: Attorney Jin hasn't even entered the stock market yet, and Jia Ning Group has already agreed to sell its assets. So their internal situation is more serious than I estimated.

Han Li calmly asked, swirling his coffee cup in his hand, after organizing his thoughts.

"What about the prices of these properties? And why aren't the hotels, restaurants, and other developed properties under the Jia Ning Group being sold?"

Anita Koch: "The taxi company, including the premises with a ten-year lease remaining, all office supplies, existing employee contracts, and hundreds of taxi licenses, is to be sold by Jia Ning Group for 80% of the market price."

The undeveloped plots of land were also sold at 80% of the market price, and the film production company sold them at 70% of the market price.

As for the hotels and restaurants that are in operation, they are mostly used by the middle and senior management of Jia Ning Group to entertain guests. Many of the properties that have been developed were purchased by employees of Jia Ning Group.

Under normal circumstances, Jia Ning Group will not touch these industries, as even the slightest movement could have many negative consequences.

After listening to this, Han Li pondered for a while before looking at Anita Koch and speaking.

“I can accept the sale through an underground auction, and I can also sign a confidentiality agreement. I do not agree with Jia Ning Group’s desire to buy back these assets at a 20% premium.”

Also, with the taxi company, I can give up the office space and supplies with the remaining ten-year lease, and only accept the existing employees and all the taxi licenses. I can offer up to 65% of the price.

The situation in Hong Kong this year is unstable; the prices of fixed assets, such as properties and land, have been falling.

In particular, with the news that England's Iron Lady Prime Minister was about to visit Beijing, the prices of these fixed assets fell faster and faster.

In some places, property prices have even been halved, so I'll only offer a maximum of 60% of the market price for those plots of land that are still under development.

As for the film production company under the Jia Ning Group, it seems to only have some equipment that could be obsolete at any time. It has no decent works, no famous movie stars, and not even a movie theater. What right does an empty shell company have to ask for 70% of the market price? I can only offer 30% of the market price at most, and they still want to bring their entire film library along.”

Shortly after Han Li finished speaking, Anita Koch wrote down the conditions he had just mentioned and then asked him a question.

"Han, why do you need a film library? Those things are the least valuable!"

Han Li certainly wouldn't tell anyone that the future film library might be the most valuable, so he casually addressed Anita Koch's question.

"I'm a sentimental person, and I like to watch old movies to reminisce when I'm bored."

Han Li had only said it casually, but to his surprise, Anita Koch's eyes lit up considerably after hearing it, and she immediately followed up with more questions.

"Han, since you're interested in those film libraries, I wonder if you're interested in theatrical releases?"

Han Li: "Theatrical distribution? Which theatrical distribution?"

Anita Koch: "Of course, it's the Hong Kong cinemas. I'm not at the level to meet the standards of the American cinemas."

Han Li: "Hong Kong cinema chains? Aren't these cinemas making money right now?"

After Anita Koch's explanation, Han Li finally understood what was going on.

It turns out that in 65, the Hong Kong government's Land Use Plan explicitly included cinemas as cultural and entertainment facilities.

At the time, it was stipulated that for every 1,000 people in each area, there must be 38 movie theater seats, regardless of whether the person had money, time, or was willing to come to the movies. This ratio was a hard requirement.

After this regulation was introduced, the defining characteristic of Hong Kong cinemas became their size—they were exceptionally large.

Moreover, with this ordinance in place, the Hong Kong government would refer to it when developing new residential areas or buying land, using the pretext of considering the interests of local residents to aggressively acquire and buy land for essential cultural and entertainment facilities such as cinemas to make money.

The cinemas at the time occupied a lot of space, but only had one screen. So they converted the prime locations into other profitable properties, making the land even more valuable.

It was precisely because of this situation that Shaw Brothers sold a theater in Kowloon for nearly 100 million HKD in the early 1970s.
However, the "Land Use Plan" was changed to the "Hong Kong Development Outline, First Edition".

The prohibition of restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, etc., on land designated for entertainment facilities has somewhat improved the situation.

If you want to engage in other industries on it, you can, but you will need to pay a huge change fee.

This situation has changed recently, with the Hong Kong government releasing the "Hong Kong Development Outline, Second Edition" last year.

Cinemas have been removed from the category of cultural and entertainment facilities by relevant regulations and have been classified as commercial retail facilities. The number of entrances in each area is no longer limited to the number of cinema seats.

At first glance, this situation seems like a good thing, as the owners of those cinemas can operate more businesses within their existing cinemas to offset the industry impact caused by television.

However, the reality is not so simple. The introduction of these regulations signifies a decline in the status of cinemas in the eyes of the British Hong Kong government and even the general public.

In addition, the recent unpredictable changes in the international situation have led many people to have other ideas.
(End of this chapter)