章節 519: Chapter 519: Acquisition of NBC Universal
Early in the morning, on the bed in the bedroom of a beachfront villa in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Blake Lively was tightly hugging Charles Capet, who was on top of her, saying, "Honey, you're amazing!"
Charles felt the softness against his chest, then squeezed it with his hand and smiled, "Let's get some breakfast!"
"Phew," Charles exhaled deeply after breakfast, said, "Honey, I need to attend the negotiation for the Capet acquisition of NBC Universal; it's at the final stage now!"
"Wow, congratulations, Charles! Your dream is about to come true," Blake Lively congratulated him excitedly.
"Hollywood, here I come!" Charles chuckled, knowing he was about to reshape the industry's landscape.
...
At the Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel, teams from Capet and General Electric, along with Pioneer Capital, BlackRock, State Street Group, Fidelity Investments, numerous private equity firms, KKR, and Carlyle Group met.
There were endless issues to discuss: cash, stock swaps, board seats. Throughout September, Charles couldn't focus on his own films!
Finally, on the first day of October, an agreement was reached:
General Electric sold NBC Universal for $30 billion to Capet Group. Capet, having already acquired 20% of NBC Universal from Vivendi with support from BNP Paribas, was ready for more.
This time, investment firms led by Pioneer Capital and BlackRock provided $12 billion in cash to help Capet acquire 80% of NBC Universal from GE.
The remaining shares were converted into the newly formed Capet Group's shares.
The swap ratio was 2:1, where original NBC Universal shares were exchanged for new Capet Group shares.
Capet acquired NBC Universal for $30 billion plus the assumption of $7.5 billion in debt. BNP Paribas contributed $6 billion, receiving 5% of the new group and $3 billion in Capet debt.
GE's shareholders received $12 billion in cash and 20% of Capet Group's shares.
Wall Street institutions, led by Pioneer Capital and BlackRock, also received 20% of Capet Group's shares.
After the acquisition, Charles remained the majority shareholder, though his percentage changed.
"Congratulations, Charles! Hollywood's future is surely yours," said Jeff Immelt at Capet headquarters, as they signed the contract in front of hundreds of media outlets.
"The future of Hollywood doesn't belong to one person," Charles replied with a smile.
"Charles, how do you feel right now?"
The reporters, eager for a response, quickly followed up with questions.
The Capet acquisition of NBC Universal shook the entire Hollywood and media world. With NBC's promotional channels and Universal's legacy, how far could Capet go?
At this moment, top executives from Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, Sony Columbia, News Corporation, Comcast, MGM, and Liberty Media were all watching this largest acquisition case in Hollywood's history.
...
In Philadelphia, Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and Deputy Steve Burke watched the news of the Capet acquisition of NBC Universal from their office.
"Phew, with NBC Universal, Capet's valuation is over $60 billion now. Charles Capet's influence is massive," Steve Burke said, somewhat shaken, as Disney's market value was under $55 billion.
"$60 billion isn't the end. Look at Capet's restructuring strategy - splitting NBC and Universal, merging Capet Pictures into Universal Studios, and integrating Capet Television into Universal Television Group.
NBC's network gets boosted by Capet's content, and ratings are skyrocketing. NBC's Modern Family and Syfy's The Vampire Diaries are hitting high ratings, and even before, Prison Break performed well on USA Network.
With Capet's content, NBC is sure to reclaim its position as ratings king. Network TV, cable TV, and pay TV won't lack high-quality content anymore."
Brian Roberts, experienced in television networks, knew well how profitable cable TV could be.
NBC's cable channels had been lukewarm, and pay channel Bravo was lagging behind Time Warner's HBO, CBS's Showtime, and Liberty Media's Starz.
Now, with Capet's content, NBC's rise was only a matter of time.
"Steve, make an offer to MGM. We need to get into the content field," decided Brian Roberts, fully committed to acquiring MGM.
Steve Burke nodded, "Got it!"
...
In a beachfront villa in Malibu, an unwell Sumner Redstone, accompanied by Viacom Chairman Philippe Dauman and CBS Chairman Les Moonves, also followed the news of Capet's acquisition of NBC Universal.
"He did it. It really is a young person's world now," Sumner Redstone had to admit, even if he didn't like Charles Capet.
In terms of background, Charles Capet grew up in the slums of Los Angeles and built everything from scratch, while Sumner inherited his father's movie theatre company, American Entertainment Group.
In terms of age, he was just working at his father's company before 30, acquired Viacom after 55, and completed the acquisition of Paramount at over 70.
Les Moonves and Philippe Dauman said nothing, as Capet Group's valuation now exceeded that of Viacom and CBS combined.
While CBS Television Group was doing better than Viacom, the movie sector was the powerhouse for media conglomerates, and Paramount's struggles directly affected subsequent business lines.
Sumner Redstone began to doubt if splitting Viacom was a mistake initially.
*****
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