Hollywood Hunter

Janet’s birthday, the couple flew to Miami to spend it.

Taking advantage of the downturn in the real estate industry in the United States, Janet purchased a 6-hectare seafront land in North Palm Beach, Miami last year. The plot is located in a high-end affluent area with a golf course to the north, a private beach to the east, and a place to the south. The forest park belongs to the golden area.

If it were not for the cold winter of the real estate industry that the developers had to cut their development plans, and the buyer was Simon Westeros, who could bring a lot of fame to the wealthy areas, this plot of land enough to build seven or eight luxury houses would definitely not Will be packaged for sale.

Even so, the transaction price of the 6 hectares of land reached 10 million US dollars.

Janet plans to invest 20 million US dollars to build a seaside manor. The main villa started last year, and the entire manor will be completed and moved into the second half of next year.

As a transition, Janet also purchased a 1.5-acre mansion next to the manor. After the manor is completed, the half-hectare mansion will be directly incorporated into the manor.

Because news came out that Simon was buying a property in this wealthy area, only in the past year, the surrounding housing prices have risen by 20%.

Several luxury houses around Simon Manor have become the target of many people. The price even exceeds the average house price of the wealthy area. Smart developers also use the properties around Simon Manor as their signatures. They will not let go, hoping to sell. Give more wealthy celebrities to further enhance the popularity of this wealthy area.

Go shopping, go fishing, go to parties... Janet has arranged a colorful holiday schedule for three days from Friday to Sunday.

The couple returned to New York on Monday, March 16th.

Sophia Fessy has not left yet.

A detailed investigation has been conducted on CK in advance. Sophia’s offer to CK on Saturday was US$50 million, of which US$40 million was used to purchase 55% of CK’s shareholders, and US$10 million was injected into CK as a loan to alleviate this. Pressure on the company’s cash flow.

In addition, Sofia also promised that after the completion of the acquisition of CK, Melisandre and the entire Westeros system will provide this company with channel, legal, marketing and other resources to help CK quickly reverse this situation. Facing difficulties and further development and growth.

In addition to family fighting, many of the problems CK faced at this time were similar to the original Gucci. Gucci's rapid rise is something everyone can see.

Although the price offered by Sophia is low, it is not too harsh. It also reserves 45% of CK's other shareholders that can be reserved for future appreciation.

Therefore, although only 24 hours were given for consideration, after several attempts to discuss the counter-offer, Calvin Klein, the founder of CK, and the company’s board of directors accepted Melisandre at the last moment. Offer.

The news of the acquisition agreement appeared on the important page of the New York Times on Monday.

After Gucci, Chateau Latour and Van Cleef & Arpels, Melisandre once again acquired a well-known luxury brand, and continued to take a step towards the goal of a comprehensive luxury group.

CK is not a listed company.

However, with the announcement of the news, the bankruptcy surrounding CK has been wiped out. With various media reports, even the sales of CK products have increased significantly. The attitude of the brand licensors who have been entangled with CK has also eased. Although they are more reluctant to let go of the license in their hands, they also said that they can make corresponding concessions in terms of licensing fees.

Simon did not return to the West Coast this week, but participated in the next phase of Cersei Capital's development plan with Janet.

The first is Cersei Fund Management, a hedge fund.

After the completion of the oil market operation last year, Cersei Fund Management Company faced a problem of ‘transition’.

In order to avoid possible targets for the entire Westeros system, Cersei Fund Management will then try to minimize macro hedging that may affect a country's economy.

In fact, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, analysts at Cersei Fund Management predicted that the European monetary system would undergo a reshuffle.

In 1979, the eight countries of the European Community, led by Germany and France, established a European currency system to counter the US dollar. This system determined a relatively fixed exchange rate exchange mechanism based on the strength of the countries at that time. Only announced to join in 1990.

It was two years ago.

However, after the merger of East and West Germany, Germany's economic strength has greatly increased, and it is very unfair for Germany to continue to maintain the original exchange rate system. In order to attract British participation, the exchange rate of the pound sterling was significantly overvalued when it joined the European Monetary System two years ago, thus creating a strong imbalance that needs to be reshuffled.

Of course, Britain, which has taken advantage, certainly does not want to reshuffle the cards, which requires some external force to promote.

In the original time and space, Soros' Quantum Fund launched an attack on the British pound in September 1992, and eventually ended with a sharp depreciation of European currencies such as the British pound, the Italian lira, and the Spanish peseta.

Soros personally made a net profit of 1 billion U.S. dollars in this currency sniper and became famous in World War I. Quantum Funds and other hedge funds involved in the attack on European currencies also made a lot of money.

On the other hand, the British retreated from the European monetary system after the British pound crisis. The European Community suffered heavy losses and the US dollar's position was further consolidated.

Not to mention the deep-level power game involved, if you want, with Simon’s prophetic advantage, Cersei Capital can now make arrangements for European currencies in advance, slowly establishing short positions in the pound, lira and other currencies that are bound to plummet.

However, the Westeros system is not as pure as the Quantum Fund. Once this is done, Cersei Capital may be able to make a fortune. The entire Westeros system will definitely encounter hostility and targeting from European countries in the future. Don't think about doing business in all aspects.

Therefore, after reading the relevant report of Cersei Capital analysts, Simon personally banned Cersei Capital from participating in this operation, and no money was allowed.

With the big heads of the Quantum Fund in front, even if Cersei Capital makes a small amount of money, it does not seem to attract much attention, but there is no need to get all the oil for some residual water.

Of course, the most important thing is that Cersei Fund Management has more suitable goals.

Technology stocks!

The wave of new technologies centered on the Internet has emerged in advance. New technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Cisco, and AOL have seen their stock prices rise rapidly in the past two years. However, according to the information in his memory, Simon is very clear that now The stock price is far from reaching its craziest moment.

Therefore, it is definitely the best time to enter the market and go long in US technology stocks.

In the original time and space, in 1997, the Tiger Fund, which followed the Quantum Fund to kill the Quartet in Southeast Asia, was liquidated in the following two years because of betting on short technology stocks. Tens of billions of dollars in funds lost more than 80% in just two years. Hedge funds are a zero-sum game. The case of Tiger Fund liquidation actually proved in the opposite direction how lucrative hedge funds were in the technology stock market.

It may be a few years before the craziest period of technology stocks, but with the overall trend of the Nasdaq market, starting to enter the market now and do more, the profits will still be very lucrative.

More importantly, being long in technology stocks does not have the strong political risks that need to be carried by the macro hedging of a country's currency. The overall market value of the Nasdaq technology stock market is trillions of dollars, which is enough for Cersei Fund Management Company to run freely in it.

Inside the apartment on Fifth Avenue.

The time is Wednesday, March 18.

Simon and Janet returned home from get off work at Cersei Capital's headquarters in Midtown. Sophia also rushed to visit and talked about CK while staying for dinner.

Although the two parties have reached a basic agreement, the formal signing of the acquisition contract still requires Melisandre to conduct more detailed operational and financial audits of CK to ensure that there will be no unexpected debt and legal risks. If all goes well, this acquisition will be completed at the beginning of next month at the latest.

"After the completion of the acquisition, CK's main energy will be concentrated on the three product lines of men's and women's high fashion, jeans and underwear. Although high fashion will compete with Gucci, it can still enrich the diversity of Melisandre's fashion business. Sex. The two major businesses of jeans and underwear are more important. This is also the original intention of my acquisition of CK, because these two product lines are areas that Gucci has not set foot in."

In the restaurant, Simon listened to Sophia's introduction and asked: "At the last party, Klein said that CK's perfume products are also selling well?"

Sophia shook his head and said: "The perfume business only accounts for about 5% of CK's total sales, and it is difficult to compete with brands such as Dior and Chanel. This product line will not be cancelled, but we will not invest more. We recently The focus of the past few years is to develop Gucci's perfume business."

Janet, who is habitually sitting next to Simon, asked: "What about brand licensing?"

Sophia said: "This aspect is a bit complicated. In the 1980s, CK granted pajamas, swimwear, glasses, socks, shoes, household goods and many other product categories. Now it is very difficult to take them back, especially Melisandre. After the company enters CK. However, these authorizations will expire within five years at the latest. My goal is to cancel some authorizations through negotiations as much as possible. It is really impossible to recover. I must also ensure the quality of authorized products to the greatest extent, so as not to affect CK’s brand image."

Simon added: "If it is confirmed that this company has no major problems, Oscars at the end of the month can arrange for some CK brand exposure."

"I'm already in contact," Sophia nodded, then looked at Janet, and asked, "How is the LTD acquisition case?"

LTD is the commonly used abbreviation for LimitedBrands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret.

Janet said: "Recently KKR and Blackstone have become interested in LTD. There may be a bidding war. If the final price is too high, we can only withdraw."

KKR is the private equity firm that created the record-setting Reynolds Nabisco merger a few years ago. Not to mention Blackstone, it is the old owner of Black Rock Asset Management, which Lawrence Fink is now in charge of.

Both companies are top private equity firms that cannot be underestimated on Wall Street.

The acquisition negotiations quietly started in February, and the two parties failed to reach an agreement after several contacts, and then the news inevitably leaked out.

Although the LTD firmly denied that they had leaked the news, the facts are obvious.

Affected by the leak of acquisition news, LTD's stock price has also risen significantly recently, and its market value has exceeded $1.5 billion.

Neither KKR nor Black Rock has made an official offer, but it is clear that once the two companies make a move, a bidding war will be inevitable, and the planned good faith acquisition will be out of the question.

On Cersei Capital’s side, the acquisition team of Apollo Management has re-adjusted the acquisition plan and raised the upper limit of the offer for LTD to $2.5 billion, which is a substantial increase compared to the expected transaction price of $1.7 billion during the initial good-faith acquisition phase. 800 million US dollars.

In the context of the two rivals staring at each other, even this is not considered a must.

However, the acquisition team secretly absorbed 4.9% of the shares of the LTD Group. Even if the acquisition really failed, Cersei Capital was not too busy after cashing out the shares.

In Simon's memory, the peak market value of the LTD Group once exceeded 20 billion US dollars.

Even if the company is bought with 2.5 billion US dollars now, according to the private equity company’s usual five-year holding cycle, based on the upward trend of the US economy in the next five years and the development potential of the LTD itself, Simon believes that in five years, the LTD Group The stock price can at least ensure a 100% doubling growth.

In five years, an average annual return of 20%, such an investment return rate is not low for private equity.

Simon returned to Los Angeles the next day, and the time also entered late March. The 64th Oscars ceremony to be held on March 30 is approaching.

According to the voting process, the judges of various Oscar awards have sent their votes recently, and the results of the awards are basically settled.

Daenerys Entertainment’s two key nominations this year, "Farewell Piano" and "The End of the Wild Flower" are destined to be just running. Others such as the best documentary feature film of "Ice and Snow World" and the best of "Rising the Red Lantern" Nominations such as good foreign language films did not put too much effort into public relations.

This is destined to be a rather quiet year for Daenerys Entertainment in awards.

Calculated, among the 22 nominations under Daenerys Entertainment’s total, the only one that is more secure is the heroine Holly Hunter of "Farewell Piano".

Relying on the brilliant performance in "Farewell Piano", the actress's nomination for the best actress is simply beyond expectations. Moreover, compared to several other candidates, Holly Hunter also has a deep accumulation of contacts in Hollywood, you know, this actress was once Spielberg's girlfriend.

Holly Hunter’s brokerage company ICM also invested a lot of resources in public relations in order for Hunter to obtain a small gold man.

Easter in 1992 is April 19th.

One month in advance, Daenerys Entertainment's key project "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" for Easter this year has entered the sprint promotion stage.

Simon is quite satisfied with the filming effect of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2". However, in the original time and space, the box office of several "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" released in the 1990s has been plummeting, and he is also very interested in this sequel. The box office performance is a bit worried.

If it were not for the budget cost of the sequel to be only 30 million US dollars, it would also need to cooperate with Blizzard Studio's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series of games. Simon has considered canceling the production of the sequel as in "Flying Over Childhood."

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" did not immediately launch a sequel last year after the release of its first song in 1990, also because of Simon's concerns.

In the final analysis, although "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is well-known, its IP image tends to be younger, and adult audiences can easily lose interest in the sequel after the initial freshness. For children's audiences, even if the film itself has achieved PG level, the real-life Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, after all, are not as pleasing to children as cartoons.