America: My Time

Chapter 939: Casting stones to ask for directions
Chapter 909 Testing the Waters
John's development in Europe has indeed faced some setbacks, so he has a legitimate reason to shift his investment focus to Asia and China. Moreover, the alliance of the three major groups could not have gone unnoticed, and it is only natural that people would find out about it. Furthermore, John did not do anything to keep this a secret.

John's plan was to forge his own path and leave others with no way to go. He aimed to preemptively eliminate Disney's opportunities before they even entered China, gaining a decisive advantage. After all, he couldn't let those short Japanese kids reap the benefits of such a good deal.

John remained unfazed by the staff's astonishment; this was perfectly normal. If they showed no surprise whatsoever, then something was amiss, and he would have to consider whether someone within the decision-making bodies of the three major groups was leaking company secrets. After all, very few people knew about such an investment.

"We have no problem!" As investment promotion personnel, they quickly realized that they were well-prepared for this matter and knew that John was a person who disliked trouble and did things cleanly and efficiently. They would not have taken the initiative to talk to John about investment if they were not well prepared. It was precisely because they were well-prepared that they were able to take this action!
"Alright, it's settled then! However, this involves a series of investments. The Mandarin Oriental Group intends to build a massive commercial center here. I wonder if the city can accept it! Of course, you can go back and consider it. This isn't a small project; it involves the comprehensive investment of three major groups in China, as well as other collaborations." Now that they've started discussing investment, John also wants to take this opportunity to arrange the Mandarin Oriental Group's investment in Beijing. It's a trial balloon, as there will be even more investments to come, and the scale will be astonishing. After all, it would be foolish not to act now.

What investment plan? It's a series of commercial real estate projects and entertainment collaborations. Although Phoenix Group had its own cinemas in China before, the scale wasn't very large. They were all developed in conjunction with the commercial investments of Mandarin Oriental Group. But now that we're going to fully launch our investment in China, this is no small matter and requires more arrangements and preparations.

Expansion, expansion, and more expansion—this is John's investment plan in China, a full-scale launch. Phoenix Group, Legendary Entertainment, and Mandarin Oriental Group are just the beginning; soon, Bentley Motors, Quantum Mining, and other companies will also expand aggressively. Originally, John was supposed to deal with matters in South Korea and Japan first before making arrangements, as this is no small matter requiring immense effort and even his presence in China. However, now that this opportunity has presented itself, John has decided to change plans and begin ahead of schedule. As for matters in South Korea and Japan, he can postpone them for now—no rush!
John didn't care what those Japanese guys thought. After all, they were on the decline, and their talent development plan had already begun. Right now, it was just some real estate investment plans, which could wait. After all, Japanese real estate was constantly falling, and he had plenty of time to wait. John was happy to take advantage of these short guys as much as possible!

After the cooperation with the city of Kyoto began, John no longer rushed to arrange matters with South Korea and Japan. He focused on waiting here, and in the meantime, he had the two elderly people undergo a medical check-up. He also had a check-up himself, as John preferred traditional Chinese medicine to Western medicine.

However, his body was fine, but he was too hot-tempered! This made John smile wryly. It was natural for him to be hot-tempered. He had a direct confrontation with those guys, so it would be strange if he wasn't angry. Don't be fooled by the fact that everything seemed to be over. That was just on the surface. There were still many battles going on behind the scenes.

Even though John has left the United States, the contest continues in secret and will not end with his departure. John is very careful with those oil giants, because those guys are too cunning, and you could be tricked by them if you're not careful. John has not forgotten about Paramount Pictures.

"You wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it, our little one has acquired so many properties!"

"There are quite a few, but this one is much better than the other investors. He has absolutely no arrogant or aggressive attitude, and he's very cooperative with our work. However, he basically doesn't stay in hotels, not even the hotels under his own ownership!"

"Alright, this investor's attitude is much better than other investors, and he has basically never caused us any trouble since he started investing. He always operates on a win-win principle. However, this time his investment is quite large and involves many industries. Whether we accept it or not is something we need to consider and discuss!"

"In principle, we should accept, after all, this involves billions of dollars in investment, or even more. We've all seen the investment plans of the three major groups. But this is just the beginning. They have expansion plans in other areas such as automobiles and wafer chips. Judging from this investment plan alone, they're testing the waters!" "Then let's talk to them. However, in some investments, we need to take a stake; we can't let them control everything. We need to consider the media issue, as it's not a small matter. Their previous expansion wasn't too large, and the impact wasn't significant, but this time is different. We need to consider it carefully!"

Once the decision was made, John quickly began negotiations with the China Merchants Group. No, "negotiations" isn't quite accurate; it should be called consultation. In principle, there were no obstacles from China, but there were some points where both sides needed to reach a consensus! John's initial foray involved several issues requiring negotiation, including Universal Studios, other investments such as major tourist destinations, and the collaboration between Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media.

“Mr. John, we need to discuss the investment in Universal Studios and the cooperation in tourism. What we need is cooperation, not complete control by Universal Studios, and the same applies to tourism!”

John wasn't surprised to hear this, because that's how Disney works. After all, this isn't an ordinary business investment, and John was prepared for this situation. He nodded and said, "Okay, I wonder how many shares we need to give up, and how much capital each party will invest in the joint venture?"

"Fifty percent of the shares include both the land and the scenic area, and the funding is equal!"

"It seems like I'll be at a disadvantage here. You see, this investment requires a lot of publicity, and we'll even be making a documentary to promote the scenic area. Not to mention the filming costs, the investment from the television station alone is considerable. I have no objection to a 50% stake, but since this is a win-win cooperation, I can't be at a disadvantage. It has to be fair and just! Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Group have powerful publicity capabilities, and Mandarin Oriental Group will also do its best to promote it. We already have successful examples like this in Japan, so I think that's something we need to take into account!"

The power of the two major media groups is undeniable. Investing in such a campaign naturally comes at a considerable cost, so John also needs to consider this expenditure. If the investment from the two major media groups is not needed, then the investment will be affected. After all, without strong promotion, how can tourists be attracted?

"Mr. John, what do you think constitutes fairness? How should we evaluate the investments of the two media groups?" They were somewhat surprised to see that John didn't mind a joint venture or even an equal share, because many investors would argue endlessly about the shareholding issue and want to demand more benefits, but John agreed to this without hesitation!
“We need to assess the value of the project we want to invest in, including the land and scenic area, and then evaluate our advertising investment. This way, everyone can agree on the value. However, if it's a joint venture, we can expand our cooperation. As you know, Phoenix Group needs a filming base, and Hong Kong is too small to meet our needs. So why don't we jointly build a complete film and television base?”

Although it was only the first negotiation, the atmosphere was very friendly. John didn't make any excessive demands and didn't rule out a joint venture, which surprised many people. This kind of cooperation was really worry-free; there was no need for repeated back-and-forth negotiations. As long as it was fair and just, there wouldn't be any problems. Moreover, John didn't even argue about the shareholding.

In just a few days, the intention to cooperate was reached, and all that was left was for the heads of the three major groups to sign the agreement. The fact that such a huge investment was negotiated so quickly made many people feel that it was unbelievable, or even unbelievable. But it was all true, and the heads of the three major groups had already set off!

John was so quick to agree, and China was naturally not stingy with its friends. Other minor issues were not a problem in these collaborations, and the signing was completed in just over ten days from start to finish. Although both parties still needed to confirm some investment directions, the main aspects were already determined, so these were all minor matters!
John was very satisfied with this initial foray into cooperation, which was mutually beneficial. To show his sincerity, NBC and CCTV collaborated on a documentary about the Forbidden City. Although it wasn't a formal project, it was done to facilitate a quick integration. John's actions demonstrated his sincerity and showed that he wasn't petty. This collaboration reassured everyone.
(End of this chapter)