Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 902 Twists and turns

The next morning, Fang Minghua received a list of names sent by the two. Lei Dawen's law firm sent three lawyers, and Zhang Qing's accounting firm sent five accountants, led by Da Vinci and Christian.

In the afternoon, they will fly to Los Angeles to meet up with Song Tangtang's team and join the negotiations with DreamWorks.

Fang Minghua also went there with the others. His wife was fighting in the front, and he couldn't just hide in San Francisco and live a leisurely life.

My son Fang Le flew back to China alone to go to school.

After arriving in Los Angeles, Da Vinci and others rushed to Glendale, but Fang Minghua did not go there, but returned to Amber Hill Manor.

He will not participate in the specific matters of the negotiation, so there is no need for him to follow behind and make decisions. He can just stay in Amber Mountain Manor and take charge.

The joining of Da Vinci and others accelerated the pace of negotiations. With strong financial and legal support, Song Tangtang became more confident.

Relatively speaking, DreamWorks was also quite sincere. Both parties were willing to fight and to be beaten. After only one week, the two sides reached an agreement on some important issues:
Xijing Fund acquired DreamWorks for US$15 billion: US$6.75 million was paid in cash, and the remaining US$8.25 million was paid in the form of Xijing Fund accepting DreamWorks' US$8.25 million debt.

Just when Fang Minghua thought everything was done, something went wrong.

That afternoon, Fang Minghua was leisurely fishing by the lake in the manor when he suddenly received a call from Song Tangtang, who said that he would return to the manor immediately to discuss important matters with Fang Minghua.

"Negotiations?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Yes, it's hard to explain in a few words. I'll tell you when I get back to the manor."

"Okay, I'll wait for you to come back and have dinner together." Fang Minghua said.

"No, you eat alone. I'll just eat something outside." Song Tangtang said on the phone.

"How can that be? You're so tired after a day, so don't just make do with it. I'll wait for you."

Song Tangtang agreed.

Fang Minghua told the housekeeper Nick at the villa that Song Tangtang would also come back for dinner, and asked him to prepare more.

It was not until seven o'clock in the evening, when it was already dark, that Fang Minghua saw Song Tangtang's Mercedes-Benz slowly drive into the manor and stop at the door of the villa.

Song Tangtang came out, looking tired.

She saw Fang Minghua standing at the door of the villa waiting for her and was about to talk about the negotiation, but Fang Minghua smiled and said, "Don't worry, go back and change your clothes first, and we can talk while we eat."

"Yeah," Song Tangtang agreed.

After returning to the bedroom, taking off her OL outfit and changing into home clothes, Song Tangtang came to the restaurant where Fang Minghua was already waiting.

"I asked the chef to make you your favorite steak with red wine sauce." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

Song Tangtang nodded and sat at the dining table. She had steak in red wine sauce, vegetable salad, and vegetarian macaroni soup, all of which were her favorite dishes.

Fang Minghua’s dish was much simpler, just a bowl of Qishan臊子面, which he made himself.

Song Tangtang was probably hungry, so she didn't rush to speak. Instead, she focused on the steak in front of her. After she finished eating, she smiled and said to Fang Minghua, "Home-cooked food is still delicious."

"Then come back tomorrow for dinner and go there again in the morning," said Fang Minghua.

"Forget it, it takes two hours to drive there." Song Tangtang replied and then said, "Minghua, I want to discuss this with you today. Our acquisition of DreamWorks does not include DreamWorks Animation."

"Not including the animation company?!" Fang Minghua was a little surprised when he heard that.

"Yes, in January of this year, the animation department of DreamWorks Studios was spun off to form DreamWorks Animation, an independent company. Spielberg and his team's negotiations with Universal Pictures do not include the animation company." "No, the animation company must be acquired as well. It's the goose that lays golden eggs!" Fang Minghua said.

"That's what I meant." Song Tangtang leaned back elegantly. "I expressed this to Spielberg, and he said the animation company could also be sold, but the price was $8 million."

"8 million US dollars? That's really a big mouth." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Yes, after a preliminary evaluation, our team believes that a valuation of 3.6 million is the most appropriate, and we will acquire it at a premium price. It should not exceed 4.5 million."

"You gave 4.5 million?" Fang Minghua frowned and asked.

"Am I that stupid?"

Song Tangtang rolled his eyes at him and continued, "I only offered 3.5 million, but they refused. Old man Spielberg was very stubborn and said that they could sell DreamWorks freely, but not the animation company."

"It's just that they made a fortune by filming "Shrek the Monsters" a few years ago." Fang Minghua smiled faintly.

"Shrek the Monsters" was produced by DreamWorks Animation in 2001. It grossed $4.9 million and won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 74th Academy Awards, as well as the Saturn Award and other awards, gaining both fame and fortune.

"They are now filming the sequel, 'Shrek 2'," Song Tangtang added.

"Oh? How is the shooting progress?" Fang Minghua asked.

"I heard that it is temporarily on hold due to funding issues."

oh.
Fang Minghua fell into deep thought, tapping his fingers slowly on the table. After a moment, he suddenly said: Tangtang, let's do this. Tell Spielberg that we plan to buy DreamWorks and the animation company together.

"You mean that if the negotiations to acquire the animation company fail, DreamWorks will no longer be interested?" Song Tangtang immediately understood what Fang Minghua meant.

"Yes, I guess. DreamWorks is now in a hurry to sell itself to raise funds for the animation company to continue filming "Shrek the Monsters 2," Fang Minghua analyzed.

"DreamWorks has made several movies in the past two years, such as "Escape from the Island", "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Memento", which have basically all suffered losses, so it had to rely on the animation company to make "Shrek the Monsters 2" to make a comeback." Song Tangtang also added.

"In that case, we won't grant his wish." Fang Minghua smiled and said, "Stop the acquisition of DreamWorks."

"Then, what if Universal Studios takes advantage of the situation and acquires DreamWorks?" Song Tangtang expressed his concerns.

"It doesn't matter. I acquired DreamWorks on a whim anyway." Fang Minghua looked nonchalant.

"As for the co-production of Harry Potter, we will look for 20th Century Fox. Didn't Wu Tianmin say they are interested in this? In other words, we are not in a hurry."

"Okay then. I'll go express our intentions to Spielberg tomorrow. If the other party still doesn't make it easy, we'll temporarily stop the negotiations." Song Tangtang said with a sigh.

"Well, you've been tired during this period, so you should have a good rest. How about I accompany you to the manor in Miami to relax?" Fang Ming asked with concern.

Song Tangtang shook her head.

"Forget it. I'm going back to San Francisco. I've been busy with the movie recently and haven't had a good chat with Lili yet."

How come you two sisters have so much to talk about? We've been talking about it for decades!
But Fang Minghua didn't object.

The next day, Song Tangtang rushed to Glendale to express his latest opinions to DreamWorks, and proposed to bundle the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation and pay an additional $3.8 million.

The other party refused.

Song Tangtang declared that the negotiations were temporarily suspended and his team evacuated Glendale.

(End of this chapter)