Chapter 168: Deutsche Bank

Jessica James brought Saul Zaentz to the Galaxy Towers, intending to face Arthur, who aimed to acquire Saul Zaentz Company, which held the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Saul Zaentz was somewhat conflicted. "Galaxy wants to develop The Lord of the Rings films?"

Arthur thought for a moment. "I want to develop them, but the story is too vast. Now is not the right time. Maybe in the future, someone will develop this novel. Galaxy is offering $15 million to acquire the Saul Zaentz Company. How about it?"

Arthur didn't want to waste time. Now was the moment to bid against Hearst for ESPN shares.

"$15 million?" Saul Zaentz was tempted. "I've already authorized a Finnish TV channel to produce The Lord of the Rings series. I think the value of this novel will increase in the future."

Arthur remained expressionless and spoke again, "Twenty million dollars, this is my final offer. If you don't sell, Mr. Zaentz, I'll abandon the deal as well. Compared to the price you initially bought it from the Tolkien Estate Committee, it's more than ten times the amount. You should be satisfied with this!"

Saul Zaentz was delighted. "Twenty million dollars must be paid within three months."

Arthur nodded and then instructed his assistant to prepare the contract. "Pleasure doing business!"

"Pleasure doing business," Saul Zaentz stood up and shook hands with Arthur. "I heard that Galaxy is now competing with the Hearst Corporation for ESPN shares?"

"Don't worry, Galaxy's cash flow is still sufficient," Arthur knew that Zaentz was worried Galaxy might lack funds, underestimating him.

"Ah, that's good then!"

Soon after, under Anne Depp's arrangements, Saul Zaentz quickly signed the contract to sell his company to Galaxy.

Holding the contract, Arthur sighed with relief, knowing there would be no future litigation over the rights among Miramax, New Line, or Warner Bros.

The Lord of the Rings now belonged to Galaxy, although The Hobbit movie distribution rights were still with MGM-United Artists.

A while later, the financial officer, Anne Depp, approached and asked, "Arthur, are you really going to acquire the 20% stake in ESPN?"

Arthur nodded, "Originally, I wanted to cooperate with the Hearst Corporation, but seeing their performance...

Indeed, there's no need for that. Now with Deutsche Bank's support, it doesn't matter. We will take KKR's 20% stake in ESPN!"

Galaxy currently had hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, with 100 million due next year.

Now, Germany's Siemens and Bertelsmann agreed to loan $100 million, and they also planned to take out $100-200 million in loans from Deutsche Bank.

Anne Depp understood, "I talked to Deutsche Bank's North American head. They're willing to support Galaxy's acquisition of ESPN shares, but we need to use Galaxy's equity as collateral."

Arthur looked at Anne Depp, "Okay, also have Jim Colt expedite the acquisition of shares from KKR. I don't want any unexpected delays!"

"Understood."

As Galaxy successfully acquired the Saul Zaentz Company for $20 million, securing the rights to The Lord of the Rings, the next step was to focus on competing with Hearst Corporation for ESPN.

Simultaneously, the fantasy family film The Addams Family, based on the comic series, began its public release on November 22.

With Deutsche Bank's support, Arthur finally successfully acquired the 20% stake in ESPN from KKR for 250 million dollars.

During this period, as the share price exceeded Hearst's bid, William Randolph Hearst III specifically approached Arthur, hoping to cooperate in acquiring the 20% stake and split it equally.

Unfortunately, Arthur directly refused. Initially, they could have cooperated and acquired it for 100 million of dollars, but because of Hearst's unwillingness to cooperate, the price went up. Arthur certainly did not want to cooperate anymore.

In the evening, at The Pierre hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Arthur signed the agreement to purchase ESPN shares from KKR.

Galaxy borrowed $100 million from Siemens and Bertelsmann, and 150 million from Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank, one of West Germany's three major banks, was also the center of West German financial capital and the core of the Deutsche Bank group.

In the face of global economic integration, Deutsche Bank had made it clear that they wanted to establish international business advantages, increasing their scale and business worldwide.

"Arthur, our Deutsche Bank places great importance on the North American market, with Wall Street being the world's financial heart. The connections between Hollywood and Wall Street are intricate. We hope our future cooperation will be closer," said Grindel von Siebert, Deutsche Bank's North American president, shaking hands with Arthur.

Arthur smiled, "Rest assured, our cooperation will definitely deepen. Now that Germany has unified and increased support for the cultural and entertainment industry, Hollywood will surely need German capital involvement."

Arthur actually had this in mind when cooperating with German capital. Germany's film tax rebate and support funds were definitely something Hollywood found appealing.

The five major German conglomerates: Deutsche Bank, Bertelsmann, Siemens, Allianz, and Daimler-Benz.

Now, Arthur's Galaxy had already intersected with three of them. In the future, Galaxy would definitely invite more German capital into their film projects. One side wanted to promote their cultural and entertainment industry, while the other needed to extract profits with minimal investment - it's a win-win.

Grindel von Siebert nodded. "Now that Germany has just unified, many East German enterprises will undergo privatization reforms, including the cultural and entertainment industry. German cinema is also declining. Compared to Hollywood's film industrialization, Germany's domestic cultural industry is becoming weaker!"

In the German film market, domestic films only held a 15% share, with the rest predominantly being Hollywood films.

As the leading figure of the cultural and entertainment industry, every country and nation hopes to promote their own culture. Germany, as a European powerhouse, is no exception.

"I understand. German cinema has a glorious past. I believe it can revive, and the Berlin International Film Festival is one of the three major international film festivals."

"It is as famous as the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. Galaxy will certainly expedite cooperation with German cinema," Arthur, having obtained billions of dollars in loans from German enterprises, certainly had to keep this small matter in mind.

Grindel von Siebert nodded, a rare smile appearing on his usually stern face. "Then let's enjoy the party, Arthur!"

*****

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