章節 494: Chapter 494: Don't Touch What Can't Be Moved
"Thieves Catching Thieves! The Bridge Group—A Model of Shamelessness!" This was the report from *Jiuding Daily*.
"Stock Prices Plummet! The Bridge Group Pays a Heavy Price for Its Actions!" This was from Japan's *Asahi Shimbun*.
"The Bridge Group Loses the Lawsuit; Only Innovation is the Way Out!" This was from Japan's *Yomiuri Shimbun*.
...
In no time, major newspapers reported the latest information and interpreted it from various angles.
Previously, the Bridge Group had held a press conference, raising public opinion and positioning themselves as victims, garnering much sympathy and support.
However, the result was a complete reversal, which slapped the faces of many Japanese people.
Those who had supported the Bridge Group most ardently were now the most enraged, and the reputation of the Bridge Group had plummeted.
Many people even called for the Bridge Group to pay the price!
In the end, failure was always brutal.
After the Tokyo court ruling, the Bridge Group had to remove all the plagiarized comics serialized in the three magazines and compensate Ma Tengdong and Jiuding Comics for mental anguish, reputation damage, and actual social impact economic losses, totaling 2 billion yen.
The huge compensation was a separate issue, and the Bridge Group couldn't evade it; they had to pay!
Due to reputation issues, sales of the three manga magazines—Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha—plummeted.
Some of this was due to readers deliberately boycotting the magazines, and some was due to the competition impact and customer loss after *Zhiyin Comic* became well-known across Japan.
Originally, *Zhiyin Comic*'s overall comic quality was better than magazines like *Weekly Shonen Jump*, but it lacked promotion and reputation. This incident rapidly catalyzed the previously slow process, making *Zhiyin Comic* widely known.
Furthermore, the comparison in reputation made the sales of the Bridge Group's magazines drop.
Apart from this, the most notable was the Bridge Group's stock price, which had plummeted to 73 billion yen, and the downward trend continued rapidly.
Moreover, Jiuding Securities had not yet intervened in the stock market; if Jiuding Securities further manipulated the market, the stock price would only fall more sharply.
While the Bridge Group and the Sakagami family were overwhelmed, Ma Tengdong, while continuing to kick the dog when it was down, happily reaped the fruits of victory.
This time, *Zhiyin Comic* had truly become known across Japan with a completely positive reputation.
With the Bridge Group serving as a negative backdrop, even the top-selling magazine *Weekly Shonen SUNDAY*, the second place *Weekly Shonen JUMP*, and the fifth place *Hana to Yume* were caught in the plagiarism scandal of *Zhiyin Comic*. No reader was indifferent to what kind of comics were featured in *Zhiyin Comic*.
Especially since the Bridge Group had provided *Zhiyin Comic* with a boost.
Originally, the Bridge Group had plagiarized four major comics. Although they were repackaged, the extensive manga magazine platform under the Bridge Group had already sparked the interest of many readers.
Now that the plagiarized comics had to be removed, these readers could only seek out the original, leading a large batch of fans to *Zhiyin Comic*, with many becoming loyal fans.
Because the Tokyo court ruling occurred in the last three days of *Zhiyin Comic*'s weekly sales, despite the surge in sales, it did not increase significantly. The weekly circulation only rose to 2.24 million copies, ranking third.
After the release of the latest issue of *Zhiyin Comic*, sales were extremely hot, and it was believed that by the end of the week, sales would definitely exceed 2.24 million copies.
Sure enough, in the second week, *Zhiyin Comic*'s weekly circulation surged again, reaching 2.55 million copies, surpassing *Weekly Shonen JUMP* which had dropped to 2.43 million copies, and ranking second, closing in on the first place *Weekly Shonen SUNDAY*. Ma Tengdong was thrilled with how well the battle was going!
Of course, compared to the serialized *Zhiyin Comic*, the sales of the four manga's standalone volumes surged, making Ma Tengdong very pleased.
In addition to high manga sales, the originally planned opening of forty new Comic House stores was divided into four stages. Ten new stores had already opened.
Another ten stores opened this time, and Ma Tengdong took the opportunity to visit the new store in the neighboring Shinjuku District. The store was directly across from a Bridge Group bookstore, setting up a direct competition.
On the opening day, sales were very hot. Many customers who originally intended to enter or exit the Bridge bookstore were attracted to the new store, causing the manager of the Bridge bookstore to be furious.
Two flowers bloom, each on its own branch!
While Jiuding Comics Co., Ltd. was advancing rapidly, Gavin Peter's progress was not lagging behind.
Gavin Peter had already coordinated with Wang Qi. He knew that his acquisition plan was crucial to Jiuding Securities' profit plan. With Chairman Xia Yu's full support, he didn't want to let Jiuding Securities down. He spared no effort and was on the acquisition path every day.
Three days into the acquisition plan, they successfully acquired the smallest publisher, Heiseisha.
On the fifth day of the acquisition plan, they acquired 51% of Daiwa Publishing. Despite many shareholders' objections, Gavin Peter forcibly took over Daiwa Publishing.
On the seventh day of the acquisition plan, exactly one week later, the entrusted bank completed the acquisition of 100% of the shares of the second target, Treasure Island Publishing.
On the tenth day...
On the fifteenth day, exactly half a month later, the toughest nut to crack and the most powerful target among them, Shakyo Publishing, was finally acquired with 86% of the shares.
Having acquired five major publishers, the most important task was to integrate resources and strengths to enhance competitiveness.
Moreover, with the acquisition of five publishers at once, internal management was bound to be chaotic. Despite Jiuding Publishing's controlling stake, there would still be management issues such as disobedience or corruption.
Gavin Peter certainly had ways to address these problems. With Chairman Xia Yu's agreement, he began integrating the five major publishers and converting the shares of various subsidiaries into shares of the group company.
The original structure was that the Hong Kong Jiuding Publishing Company held 100% of the shares in the Japan Jiuding Publishing Company.
Then, the Japan Jiuding Publishing Company held the controlling shares of the five major publishers.
This formed a structure where the Hong Kong parent company controlled the Japanese Jiuding Publishing Company, which in turn controlled the smaller companies.
With the absolute controlling shares of the five major publishers, Gavin Peter took full control and began the integration.
After the integration, the structure became Hong Kong Jiuding Publishing Company holding 87% of the shares in Japan Jiuding Publishing Group, with the remaining 13% held by the original shareholders of the five major publishers.
Japan Jiuding Publishing Group then had five wholly-owned subsidiary publishers.
Through this integration, the major shareholders of the five major publishers became minor shareholders. Although they collectively held 13% of the shares, their influence could be controlled by Gavin Peter.
For stability, Gavin Peter temporarily appeased them, but in his plan, once things were stable, these shareholders would be diluted or eliminated.
The entire acquisition cost 25.2 billion yen, equivalent to nearly 500 million Hong Kong dollars.
Of course, due to leveraged buyouts, the Japan Jiuding Publishing Company's debt ratio reached 69%.
However, Gavin Peter was not worried about such a high debt ratio. He was confident that after the company's integration, they would achieve at least a 50% annual compound growth rate.
With asset and profit growth rates far exceeding interest, the Japanese company would not start another acquisition in the short term, and the funds would not be diverted to the parent company, so repaying the loans would not be difficult!
As the Bridge Group's stock price fell to 57 billion yen, and the rate of decline slowed, Wang Qi knew it was time to strike again.
Soon, news about Japan Jiuding Publishing Group was finally exposed!
Not long after the Bridge Group incident, another earthquake occurred in the Japanese publishing industry!
Everyone had originally thought that the third position in the Japanese publishing industry would be taken by *Zhiyin Comic*'s owner—Jiuding Comics Co., Ltd.
Unexpectedly, out of nowhere, Japan Jiuding Publishing Group emerged, forcefully acquiring five major publishers and swiftly rising to the third position in the Japanese publishing industry, with its sights set on the Bridge Group and the Otowa Group.
Just by the name, it was clear that Japan Jiuding Publishing and Jiuding Comics were related, and outsiders saw the two companies as a single entity.
This significantly increased the threat!
Capital confidence in the Japanese publishing industry decreased. The stock price of the Bridge Group, which had already slowed its decline, fell rapidly again.
Not only that, but the Otowa Group was also affected overall, and its stock price began to fall.
Not only was the Bridge Group in a crisis again, but the Otowa Group also experienced turmoil internally.
...
At the Japan Jiuding Securities Company's Japan branch, Wang Qi arrived at the operation room to oversee the operation.
Seeing that the Otowa Group's stock price had indeed fallen as expected, Wang Qi showed a satisfied smile.
Then, with a single command, the already-prepared employees began
to act.
Within an hour, Otowa Group's stock price plummeted by 13%, and with the backing of Jiuding Securities, it was easier to suppress it.
Wang Qi was still waiting.
Finally, after a week of waiting, he received an internal message from Gavin Peter:
"Sir, we have successfully completed the full acquisition of Otowa Publishing. The integration is proceeding smoothly."
"Great! Continue to expand the influence of Jiuding Publishing Group," Wang Qi instructed.
"Yes, sir!" Gavin Peter replied.
The business expansion of Jiuding Publishing Group was proceeding smoothly.
To maximize profits, Jiuding Securities Company and Jiuding Publishing Company cooperated, optimizing the merger and integration process, including maximizing profits from existing projects.
The final structure was that Jiuding Publishing Group had acquired 67% of Otowa Publishing's shares and 61% of Sakyo Publishing's shares, as well as 50% of Heiseisha Publishing's shares.
This was the result of extensive internal adjustments.
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榜單 
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