America: My Time

Chapter 721 The deal is concluded
Chapter 711 The Deal is Made

When Rockefeller convinced everyone to agree to sell the game world, Toshio Yamashita had already taken action and rushed to Lanai Island as quickly as possible, fearing that if he was late, Hitachi would take the benefits. After all, what John was selling was the game world, which was of great value, at least to them.

"Mr. Yamashita, take a look. This is the license for Game World. Although it's not 100% ownership, it's still 67%. After all, Game World is a publicly listed company, and this is the limit. If you have no objections, let's discuss the selling price. To be honest, if Panasonic wants to completely dominate the North American game market, Game World is indispensable. Only by acquiring Game World can Panasonic avoid any impact. Moreover, by acquiring Game World, you can get more resources. At least the game companies that originally belonged to Game World will be on your side. As long as you do a good job, Game World can still return to its peak, after all, its foundation is there."

Yamashita Toshio didn't see anything wrong with John's words. It was the truth. It would be foolish to try to suppress the price of the game world in front of John, since John was the ceiling in the game industry.

“That’s right. We have no objection to this acquisition, and there’s no problem with the licensing. We will offer the best price, and we believe it will satisfy you. This is our offer!” With that, Toshio Yamashita directly presented the offer after Panasonic’s research. They wouldn’t do anything underhanded in this matter, nor would they offer a low price, because John didn’t necessarily have to sell the game world to Panasonic. Hitachi was also a good option, or even other Japanese companies. Moreover, Toshio Yamashita was very clear about the value of the game world.

“Okay, Mr. Yamashita, you are very thoughtful. I have no problem with that either, and I believe Morgan will have no problem either. To be honest, I am very happy that we were able to reach a cooperation agreement so easily. Time is money. The sooner we master the game world, the more significant it will be for Panasonic. With the game world and Disney, Panasonic can definitely gain a foothold in the United States and increase its publicity. To be honest, this little bit of investment is nothing. We will earn it back in no time!”

Panasonic paid a premium of 5% to acquire this portion of Game World's shares, which John hadn't expected. However, judging from Toshio Yamashita's reaction, Panasonic was going all out this time to compete with Sony for the gaming supremacy in North America and even globally. If they could acquire Game World, their plan would be more than half successful.

“Mr. Yamashita, I will first submit the offer to Morgan. I believe they will not refuse. After all, I do not control these shares, so even if I agree, it is only the beginning. I still need Morgan's approval! I am just a middleman, and a middleman who does not make any profit. If Morgan had not intervened, I would not have gotten involved in this matter.”

As they were talking, John picked up the phone and called Morgan, telling him about Panasonic's offer. Now all they had to do was wait for Morgan's approval. Once Morgan agreed, the deal would be done, and John would have nothing to do with it anymore. Panasonic could then proceed with the transaction with Morgan.

Upon hearing John's offer, Morgan was astonished. It was even more than John had previously mentioned, and he had no reason to disagree, so he immediately accepted the offer. To refuse or have any other ideas would be foolish.

After ending the call with Morgan, John smiled calmly and said, "The deal is now complete. All Panasonic needs to do is send someone to negotiate with Morgan. We need to be quick, because who knows when someone else might cause trouble. Besides, it's not like there aren't people in Japan who have designs on the gaming world. If this news leaks out, things could easily go wrong."

“Mr. John, I understand. Our people have already gone to the United States and I believe they will arrive soon. With just one phone call from me, they will go to Morgan to sign the contract and will not give anyone else a chance to interfere!”

Upon hearing Yamashita Toshio's words, John couldn't help but sigh. He had underestimated Yamashita Toshio and Matsushita's determination. He feared that while this guy was on Lanai Island, another group of them had already gone to the United States.

"That's good. I don't need to worry about it anymore. After all, I was the one who handled this transaction, so it would be bad if something went wrong."

“Mr. John, there’s something I don’t understand. You’ve clearly given up on the game world and don’t own any shares. Why are you helping Morgan? Morgan is just acting as an intermediary in the sale. You’re perfectly capable of handling this deal yourself.” “If I wanted to, I could indeed take on this deal myself without Morgan’s involvement. But that wouldn’t benefit me. The transaction fee is nothing. What I value more is my reputation. Since Morgan trusts me and is willing to entrust me with such an important matter, I can’t betray their trust. Besides, I built the game world from scratch, and I want to find it a good home so it can continue to grow, not be destroyed. I believe in Matsushita’s strength and Mr. Yamashita’s abilities, which is why I contacted you immediately!”

Actually, there was one more thing John didn't say. Once the deal was done, John's promise to Rockefeller and the others would be over. Although it was a bit late to start planning during the summer, it wouldn't affect John's promotion of ASUS gaming consoles. Most importantly, without that promise, there would be no need to worry about many things. The gaming world was in the hands of those old guys, and he still had to be careful, but with Panasonic in charge, he didn't need to care about their reactions.

"Mr. John, don't you ever want to return to the gaming market? With your abilities, you could easily acquire game companies yourself, and even go further, regain your position as the market leader?"

"I have considered the game market, but my thoughts are different from yours now. You have seen the emergence of internet cafe alliances and online games. I am more inclined to choose this path and focus on personal computer games. As for home games, I have considered them, but everything has to be coordinated with personal computer games. Under these circumstances, it is destined that I can no longer follow the previous direction of games and can only take another path. Do you understand my explanation?"

"I understand. Your future goal is to focus on computer games, or rather, online games, and you'll have to give up your original home games. But is it worth it? Although online games seem great now, they require a lot of investment and are heavily dependent on computer performance, and you also need servers!"

"It's not a question of whether it's worth it or not, but rather about choosing a different approach. In fact, ASUS also has its own home game console, and it has already completed development, but it's not based on cartridges, but on optical discs. That's the shift. If Panasonic is interested, we can also cooperate."

Cooperation? No, Toshio Yamashita would not choose to cooperate with John. Although Panasonic made a lot of money from the previous cooperation, it was precisely because of that cooperation that Panasonic was restricted in the development of game consoles. If it continued to cooperate with John, it would only be subject to others again. Moreover, as long as it controls the game world, Panasonic has no need to care about the impact of ASUS.

Yamashita Toshio said, "No, let's focus on mastering the game world first. After all, we'll need time to integrate after the acquisition, and I'm afraid we'll be willing but unable to do so!"

John wasn't surprised by Toshio Yamashita's refusal. It would be a miracle if Yamashita had agreed. Once Panasonic acquired Game World, its strength would leap forward, so why would it need to cooperate with ASUS? Besides, ASUS's approach was different from theirs, different from the mainstream game consoles, which made them even more wary.

"That's good. In that case, I wish Panasonic all the best. Summer has just begun. If the acquisition can be completed sooner, Panasonic will still have time to make adjustments. I believe that with Panasonic's strength, it can quickly turn around the current unfavorable situation in the gaming world."

John's words pleased Yamashita Toshio greatly. He also felt that as long as the acquisition was completed, Panasonic would quickly turn around the game world. Moreover, Panasonic already had the Dance Dance Revolution, and as for home game consoles, they would soon see a qualitative leap. Panasonic had not stopped developing game consoles. Combining the R&D capabilities of the two companies, it would not be difficult to create a game console with the best performance. Therefore, Yamashita Toshio was full of confidence.

On this trip, Toshio Yamashita was not only concerned with the acquisition of the game world, but also wanted to understand John's intentions. When he found that John had no ill intentions towards Panasonic, he breathed a sigh of relief. In his opinion, if John had any ill intentions, he would not have revealed ASUS's R&D plans, let alone told him what ASUS's future development direction in the game industry would be.

Toshio Yamashita's idea was exactly what John wanted. If he couldn't lower this guy's guard, how could he get more benefits from Japan? If he could get even more benefits after the bubble burst, Panasonic had already moved beyond Japan itself. After all, Japan's production costs were too high, so the manufacturing plants for the game world were very tempting to them. Building a factory from scratch would take time and effort, but now, by acquiring the game world, all of that would be solved. Therefore, Toshio Yamashita didn't think there was anything wrong with Panasonic's offer. If they didn't pay a premium, how could they quickly complete their layout in North America, and how could they compete with Sony in the North American market? So, in his view, such an investment was worthwhile. Only in this way could Panasonic buy valuable time!
(End of this chapter)