Chapter 330: Baivista Goes Public

The day after the LeBrould family's cocktail party, Janet began negotiations with Blackstone Group for the acquisition of shares in Blackstone Financial Management.

As Thursday approached, the day was filled with activity. Baivista was set to list on the NASDAQ, and by seven o'clock, Simon and Janet were headed to Midtown. Baivista's Chairman and CEO, Wayne Hughson, along with Amy from Daenerys Entertainment and others, had already arrived.

After a quick breakfast, everyone proceeded to the NASDAQ trading floor on 42nd Street, which was already crowded.

In addition to the management teams from Daenerys and Baivista, film celebrities like Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Diane Keaton were present to support the event.

For other companies, arranging such appearances would typically involve significant appearance fees, but for Daenerys Entertainment, a few phone calls were all it took, especially since all invited filmmakers were based in New York, eliminating even the need to cover travel expenses.

Simon's attendance also served to bolster the event.

Around eight o'clock, after making a brief appearance before the media, Simon and Janet retreated to an upstairs lounge to wait for the bell-ringing ceremony.

Celebrities like Robert De Niro arrived in succession.

Simon also ran into Catherine Bigelow, whom he hadn't seen in a while. After their project "Blue Angel," Catherine had mostly been living in New York. Simon sensed her intentional distancing, but he did not insist on maintaining a closer relationship. Catherine's independence was important to her, and Simon respected that.

"This is a remake of a 1962 film called 'Cape Fear,' about a convicted felon who seeks revenge against the judge and lawyer who put him in prison. Spielberg started working on adapting the script a while ago but hasn't begun production. He recently asked Martin and me if we were interested in taking it over. Martin reviewed the script Spielberg had written, found it terrible, and is hesitant."

Inside the lounge, Simon and De Niro discussed recent projects.

While Martin Scorsese was wrapping up post-production on "Goodfellas" and scouting for his next project, De Niro was about to start shooting a biographical film "The Iceman Cometh," expected to release by the end of the year, maintaining his prolific output with two major films.

The discussion about "Cape Fear" was about a project slated for the following year.

Simon remembered that "Cape Fear" had performed well at the box office. However, since it was a Spielberg-led project, Simon didn't plan to get involved.

Of course, if "Cape Fear" was to be produced by Universal, as in the original timeline, and Simon successfully acquired MCA within the year, the movie would ultimately belong to him.

Amy and James had been closely monitoring MCA, and Simon planned to launch a formal acquisition offer once Cersei Capital's mergers and acquisitions team was established. This move would help kickstart the team's operations.

After chatting with De Niro and others, Simon joined Janet and Catherine, who were speaking softly on the side.

It was January in New York, the coldest time of the year. Indoors, everyone had shed their heavy coats. Catherine was in a black turtleneck, complemented by Janet in a white sweater, casually leaning against her, naturally exuding a certain "couple" vibe.

They were on a three-seater sofa with Catherine near one armrest and Janet originally in the middle.

Seeing Simon approach, Janet quickly moved to the other side, giving up the middle seat for him.

Simon sat down unceremoniously, noticed Catherine shifting slightly, and deliberately leaned closer to her, earning an expected eye roll.

Janet leaned over Simon's shoulder, playfully commenting to Catherine, "See, he's still such a jerk."

Simon pretended to be upset, "Shouldn't you avoid saying that in front of the person in question?"

Janet scoffed, "I want you to hear it."

Catherine laughed as they bickered. "I saw the boxing match you had in Melbourne. Don't do that again; you could get hurt."

Simon nodded, then inquired about her upcoming film, asking if she needed any help.

Catherine's new project, "Point Break," was essentially a cop thriller.

Simon recalled the movie starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. The original was famous for its surfing and skydiving scenes and, despite its anarchist themes not being well-received by mainstream critics, it was a commercial success and maintained a cult following.

Years later, Hollywood star Megan Fox, famous for "Transformers," would name her son Bodhi after Swayze's character from "Point Break."

Catherine smiled at Simon's casual offer, "Warner has greenlit it. Keanu and Patrick have agreed to star, and shooting should start in the second half of the year."

"Point Break," with a budget expected to exceed $20 million, was a major production for Catherine. Hollywood's entrenched biases against female directors meant that without Simon's intervention, Warner would not have agreed so readily, and neither might the original stars.

Catherine was well aware of this.

As they chatted, the time for the bell-ringing ceremony neared, and staff informed them it was about to begin. Everyone got up and left the lounge.

The trading floor was packed.

As Simon and others appeared on stage, cameras flashed frenetically.

After Wayne Hughson's speech, everyone gathered around the trading podium to press the button that started the trading day.

With a robust interest during the roadshow, Baivista's shares were priced at $17, above the underwriters' suggested range of $13 to $15, with 15 million shares issued, raising $255 million.

The initial bids in the pre-market were between $17.5 and $18.5.

After completing their ceremonial duties, Simon and the others left, with a celebratory lunch planned for noon. Today's guests could attend based on their schedules.

Simon was set to attend the lunch, but first, he had to return to his Fifth Avenue residence for a few tasks.

Catherine was supposed to leave but was persuaded by Janet to come along to their home.

There, staff from a British genetics research institute awaited. They collected blood samples from Simon and Janet, confirmed a few details, and hurriedly returned to the UK.

Catherine, observing all this, was initially puzzled but understood better after Janet whispered an explanation.

Feeling the tang of impending marriage between Simon and Janet, Catherine couldn't help but feel a bit sour.

Back at NASDAQ, after an hour of continuous bidding, Baivista's opening price was set at $19.5.

Once trading began, the stock price quickly broke the $20 mark.

By the afternoon of the celebratory lunch, Baivista's shares had surpassed $23, and trading remained vigorous.

By the close of Thursday, Baivista's shares ended at $26.5, up 56% from the IPO price of $17, with a total market cap reaching $2.19 billion.

Due to its participation in the IPO, Daenerys Entertainment's stake in Baivista remained at 35%.

The total investment was approximately $210 million.

By the end of the day, Daenerys Entertainment's investment had appreciated to $770 million, a return of over 300% in just

 one year.

Baivista's strong IPO performance was largely driven by Daenerys Entertainment's successful investment, which in turn fueled investor enthusiasm and further validated the investment's success.

Post-IPO, the major shareholders and management entered a mandatory quiet period, but this did not hinder Baivista's normal operations.

The day after listing, Baivista announced it would acquire the Baltimore-based Erol's Videotape Chain, which had 250 stores on the East Coast compared to Baivista's 1,200 nationwide.

The acquisition price was set at $40 million in cash and stock, with Baivista also assuming Erol's debts.

This deal had been negotiated during the IPO phase and was announced the day after listing as positive news.

With this acquisition, Baivista's store count would exceed 1,500, making it North America's largest video rental chain by far.

The news boosted Baivista's stock further, closing above $28 on Friday.

After a successful IPO, Baivista was set to expand into international markets.

Meanwhile, Blackstone Group initially rejected Cersei Capital's offer to buy Lawrence Fink-led Blackstone Financial Management. Despite the internal conflict between CEO Steve Schwarzman and Lawrence Fink, Blackstone was reluctant to let go of this rapidly growing subsidiary.

Only after Fink threatened to leave with his team did Schwarzman relent, but he demanded a steep $200 million, citing the subsidiary's $33 million revenue and approximately $7 million pre-tax profit.

Given the recent financial crises, even most Wall Street firms were trading at moderate P/E ratios. Blackstone's asking price, nearly 30 times earnings, was unacceptable to Cersei Capital.

With Baivista's matters settled, Janet stayed in New York to continue negotiations and prepare other aspects of Cersei Capital, while Simon and Amy returned to Los Angeles for the weekend.

Between January 12th and 18th, "Batman: The Opening Battle" continued its strong performance, albeit with a 31% drop, adding $41.06 million. After four weeks, its cumulative box office reached $271.75 million.

On January 19th, Daenerys Entertainment's first film of 1990, "I Want to Go Home," premiered. This film, a light-hearted story about an eccentric American cartoonist's adventures in Paris, was not expected to be a blockbuster, given its January release and limited screening.

Daenerys Entertainment's primary promotional focus was instead on "Pretty Woman," set for a February 9th release, timed with Valentine's Day.

The management had initially been skeptical about this adaptation of a dark drama into a romantic comedy about a call girl and a financier, but the film turned out exceptionally well. If not for a packed annual schedule, a prime release slot would have been considered.

For 1990, Daenerys Entertainment had a full slate of 12 films, including "I Want to Go Home," "Pretty Woman," and others such as "Cornfield Kids 2," "Ghost," and "Home Alone."

Including co-productions like "Sleeping with the Enemy" with Fox and "Terminator 2" with other studios, Daenerys had 16 films lined up, maintaining its ambitious release schedule.

Simon's trip to Los Angeles was to oversee these projects and plan for 1991, which would include Pixar's "Toy Story" and Madonna's documentary, among others.

With Daenerys Entertainment's continued expansion, Simon was also evaluating numerous other potential projects to keep the studio at the forefront of Hollywood.

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