Hollywood Hunter

The female assistant is the second person who knows about Simon's plan to acquire Bell Atlantic, and the first is naturally Janet.

Simon intends to finish his trip in San Francisco and rush to New York to formally discuss with the senior executives of Westeros and Cersei Capital at the same time the feasibility of launching the MCA acquisition and the Bell Atlantic acquisition.

This trip to San Francisco was mainly for Igreat and AOL.

Eaglet’s problem is simple. The company has no money again.

After Carol Bartz and Jeff Bezos jointly took charge of Igreat, Simon's recent work results are quite satisfactory.

Eaglet continues to consolidate the company’s patent barriers in the field of World Wide Web technology through continuous investment in technology research and development. The software sales business quickly opened up with Carol Bartz’s years of work experience in the industry, and the number of portal users continued to increase. Also successfully launched the Internet advertising business, and so on.

These all mean a large amount of capital consumption.

Simon knows very well what Hundreds of World Wide Web technology core patents that Eagle Technology has mastered mean. Eagle Technology has developed a complete set of graphical interface browser software, server software, web design software, etc. based on World Wide Web technology. Application tools are software products with very solid business prospects.

Therefore, Simon plans to invest an additional 50 million US dollars this time to continue the development and promotion of World Wide Web technology.

At the beginning of the establishment of Eaglet, the total share capital was 10 million shares, of which Westeros invested 10 million U.S. dollars for 9 million shares, and Tim Berners Lee held another 1 million shares. . With the last capital injection of 20 million U.S. dollars, Eaglet’s total share capital has doubled, and Tim Berners Lee’s shareholding remains unchanged at 1 million shares, but the shareholding ratio has been reduced to 5%.

This time, Simon did not let the professional asset appraisal team intervene, personally finalizing the valuation of Eaglet at 50 million US dollars. For a start-up technology company that has not yet formed a stable revenue, this number is a bit high, but Simon believes in the valuation of Igreat.

On the other hand, Simon still has no intention of deliberately squeezing Tim Berners Lee’s shareholding ratio. He has always been very fond of the founder of the World Wide Web. Therefore, as last time, he provided Li with a plan to maintain his shareholding ratio through loans.

However, Tim Berners Lee also did not accept this time, he is very satisfied with his holdings and current work.

Although Simon plans to give out part of Igreat's equity to the company's executives and employees at the right time, he will not just give the equity to someone.

As a result, Eaglet’s total share capital doubled again to 40 million shares, Westeros’ shareholding in Eaglet increased to 97.5%, and Tim Berners Lee’s The share ratio is reduced to 2.5%, and the number of shares held is still 1 million shares.

As for AOL, it was mainly Steve Case's exclusive agreement negotiation.

Although Simon plans to acquire a regional telecommunications company in advance, AOL's development pace will not be adjusted in the short term. As long as it can sign exclusive agreements with Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Bell Pacific, the development of AOL in the next few years will be more effective.

Of course, the biggest problem in this matter is funding.

Unlike Tim Berners Lee, AOL shareholders propose that after the agreement is negotiated, they intend to use loans and other forms of self-raised funds to pay for the purchase of the three companies in the first year.

The three companies still insist on paying the exclusive fee based on the number of users, but there is still a lot of room for negotiation on the specific amount. Eventually, the exclusive fee will be reduced to about $1 per household as the female assistant predicted last time. At that time, the money in the early 20 million yuan will be completely within the credit capacity of AOL.

Simon also got an overview of the operating conditions of the 100 Internet cafes under AOL this time.

Within one month of opening, thanks to the excellent promotion in the early stage and the public’s curiosity about this new leisure and entertainment venue, AOL’s 100 Internet cafes had a total revenue of 2.06 million US dollars in the first month. The turnover exceeds 20,000 US dollars.

Regardless of the initial investment, excluding store rents, employee salaries and power grid expenses, in just one month, AOL’s Internet cafe chain generated a gross profit of $530,000.

If this business situation continues, AOL will be able to recover the initial investment in about two years.

Because of the exemplary role of these 100 Internet cafes, some people have begun to contact AOL hoping to open franchise stores.

Moreover, in the previous month, the number of users who received customized access coupons to access the Internet through AOL’s Internet cafes reached more than 2,600, which is equivalent to 5% of AOL’s access to the Internet during the same period. This is what Simon values ​​most. .

The fundamental purpose of Simon's suggestion to open an Internet cafe was to guide people to become familiar with and access the Internet.

It brought more than 2,600 new users in just the first month, and this conversion rate far exceeded the initial expectations of the AOL team. It is conceivable that with the continuous improvement of the functions of the IE browser and the further increase of content services that the Eaglet portal can provide, more people will definitely tend to access the Internet in their own homes.

Now that this goal has been achieved and will continue, AOL does not plan to hold this ‘InternetBar’ subsidiary in its hands.

It's been a long time to pay back after two years.

Palo Alto AOL headquarters.

After the discussion meeting on the negotiation progress of the three telecommunications operators' exclusive agreement, Simon and Steve Case stayed in the conference room alone, and Steve Case talked about the InternetBar.

"We have contacted several private equity funds on Wall Street, and three of them have become interested in InternetBar. With 50% of the shares held by AOL, the highest one offered a $10 million offer. I think we should be able to talk about it in the end. 15 million U.S. dollars. If cashed out in advance, the first year of the exclusive agreement between us and Bell Atlantic would have resolved most of the expenses."

Since he didn't plan to make money from these 100 Internet cafes at the beginning, Simon is actually not opposed to cashing out.

However, it is definitely a bit of a disadvantage to sell in a hurry just one month after opening.

Whether it is US$10 million or US$15 million, they are only quotations for 50% of the existing 100 Internet cafes. If you patiently operate for a year or two and develop InternetBar into a larger chain operation system, the value of this company will definitely increase substantially.

Simon waited for Steve Case to finish and asked, "Where is IBM?"

"IBM intends to continue to hold its own shares, but they are not opposed to us selling their holdings. After we exit, the IBM team can take over the operation of InternetBar instead."

IBM, a behemoth with a recent market value of more than US$50 billion, would not care about a small start-up company such as InternetBar. To be precise, the venture capital department under IBM was only involved in investing last time. Every Big Mac has a similar department under its command.

Compared with AOL, which is in urgent need of funds, IBM's investment team understands that InternetBar still has a lot of room for appreciation, and naturally there is no need to rush to cash out.

Simon understands why Steve Case lacks patience in this matter. The AOL team is very worried that he will continue to spend money to dilute the shareholding ratio of other shareholders. He considered for a moment, but did not insist, saying: "Since you think it is appropriate , Then sell it. However, we must ensure that InternetBar and AOL cooperate in user promotion."

When Steve Case saw Simon loosen his mouth, he nodded and said: "I understand that this incident was actually in the negotiation terms between me and those private equity funds from the beginning. By the way, Simon, if Cersei Capital is interested in InternetBar Interest, $13 million will do."

AOL has only invested 3.5 million U.S. dollars in the Internet cafe project, and even if it is 13 million U.S. dollars, it can get close to 300% of the return.

Simon shook his head. He had already discussed this with Janet.

Cersei Capital is a very important layout for Simon on Wall Street. Unless necessary, he does not intend to allow Cersei Capital to overlap with too many businesses under Westeros. This will easily lead to conflicts of interest and cause criticism. It's a small bargain, and there is no need to take it.

"Cersei Capital will not be involved in this matter," Simon said after refusing, "Tell me about another thing. You should know that I have made a lot of money overseas in the past two years."

Seeing Simon's refusal, Steve Case secretly breathed a sigh of relief. US$2 million is nothing to Simon, but AOL now needs to consider every cent of expenditure.

After Simon changed the subject, Steve Case nodded and waited for him to continue.

Simon continued: "The Kuwaiti war caused the federal stock market to continue to fall recently. Now is a good time to expand. My latest idea is to acquire a regional telecommunications company. The initial target is one of the three that AOL is negotiating."

Steve Case showed a surprised expression on his face. After a moment, he calmed down and smiled: "Simon, I thought you would use that money to buy a major Hollywood studio. Daenerys Entertainment has no basis for seven. The big studios are so entrenched."

Simon knew that this was probably the thinking of many people, and smiled: "A lot of things are still uncertain. This time I just say hello to you first. I will go to New York tomorrow and I will formally discuss this matter with James and others. In addition, Even if it is to acquire a regional telecommunications company, the whole process takes about a year. So, everything is business as usual on AOL, what you have to do is to negotiate the exclusive agreement before the end of September as much as possible. Also, remember Keep it secret."

Steve Case solemnly agreed, but he couldn't help but wonder which company Simon was aiming for.

Although Simon is based on the west coast, Case thinks it should not be Bell Pacific.

The name Bell Pacific sounds more atmospheric than Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, but in fact it is the smallest of the three companies. It should also be the smallest of the seven Bells. Its business scope is limited to California and Nevada.

NYNEX contains the abbreviations of New York State and New England. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and other states in the northeastern United States are very small in area and are called New England for historical reasons.

NYNEX, one of the seven Bells, also operates in these two areas, and shares the Boston-Washington metropolitan area with Bell Atlantic.

Because the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia where Bell Atlantic is located are continents in terms of size and population, they are slightly larger than NYNEX.

Steve Case felt that with Simon’s appetite, the acquisition targets could only be the two companies, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic on the West Coast, and more likely the latter.

However, since Simon did not disclose more to him, Steve Case did not find the bottom line, any of the three potential target companies is a behemoth for AOL. He cannot participate in the multi-billion dollar acquisition.

Of course, if Simon's goal can really be achieved, Steve Case can also imagine how much help this will bring to AOL. During this time, he racked his brains to sign exclusive agreements with the three companies in order to gain access to his telecommunications network.

The huge buyout funds are not just for a mere empty exclusive agreement.

As long as the plan is reached, the three companies will open network access to AOL. AOL does not need to invest huge amounts of time and effort to lay its own network lines. It only needs to complete the construction of backbone cables and servers, connect to the three company networks, and then re Telephone users with network coverage can install modems in their homes, and they can easily access the Internet.

After finishing the AOL business, Simon also went to Cisco headquarters.

Westeros has completed its shareholding increase in Cisco, with its shareholding ratio reaching 57.5% of its absolute holding.

Because the U.S. stock market has continued to fall under the influence of the Kuwait War recently, Cisco's original IPO plan has slowed down. Simon did not ask Cisco’s team to completely stop IPO preparations. After all, no one knows better than him that this economic downturn will probably continue. time.

It was Thursday in a blink of an eye.

Get up early in the morning, run in the Woodside Mountains as usual, and plan to fly to New York after breakfast. Because of Simon's schedule, Janet remained there, planning to spend the weekend together on the East Coast.

Shuttle between the cool mountain roads, passing by a three-way intersection, a middle-aged man who also wears sportswear followed from the other side.

Simon glanced at each other and greeted with a smile: "Morning, Larry."

Larry Ellison knew from Simon’s smile that this young man had already seen that he was here on purpose. Fortunately, his face was thick enough, and there was nothing strange on his unshaven face, but he was very enthusiastic. He grinned heartily and responded: "Morning, Simon."

The bodyguard following Simon saw that the two met and slowed down a little further.

The two jogged side by side for dozens of meters, and Larry Ellison took the initiative to speak: "Simon, Westeros has recently increased its shareholding in Oracle to 15%, do you want to buy it?"

Simon said: "Oracle's recent stock price is so cheap. If you can buy more, you must sell it. I am very optimistic about this company."

Larry Ellison didn't know if Simon was laughing at him.

Oracle’s stock price in recent months is indeed very low. Compared with the highest single share price of $28 in the past 12 months, Oracle’s stock price has recently fallen to about $8, a 70% drop. The market value has also fallen from the highest US$3.6 billion to the current US$1 billion, which is horrible.

Because of the continued decline in stock prices, many shareholders have dumped Oracle shares in the overall situation during this period.

However, Westeros recently submitted a shareholding increase declaration document to the SEC, and its shareholding in Oracle increased to 15% against the trend, and increased its holdings by 4% in just one month.

Larry Ellison holds only 33% of Oracle's shares, and Oracle does not have a multiple ownership structure that allows him to maintain absolute control of the company. If Simon is allowed to buy it this way, his control over Oracle will be in jeopardy.