Chapter 89

Entering December, London was already a scene of white snow, and although Thatcher's reforms had begun, most state-owned enterprises had yet to be sold. Thus, even as snowflakes drifted down, the sky remained hazy.

Therefore, despite the lively streets outside, with people coming and going and a few troublemakers throwing snowballs in the snow, more people stayed indoors, leaning by the warm fireplace, waiting for the smog to clear, and chatting about work.

"I've reviewed the detailed report. The only year with decent performance is this year, which is the first point; they haven't updated their equipment for several years, meaning this year's performance improvement is entirely due to their efforts, which is the second point; the headquarters takes almost all the profits, and many of them haven't had a raise, making it hard to retain people, which is the third point. In summary, I think 20 million pounds is the maximum." Li Xu sat by the classical fireplace, poking the charcoal with a fire poker as he spoke to the middle-aged man in front of him.

"I admit these three issues exist, but you must also admit, Mr. Li, that the talent and market are what we have cultivated. Human resources, market share, and social connections, when converted, are worth far more than 20 million pounds," the man immediately objected.

"Moreover," the man continued, "even if Mr. Li has already acquired ATV, we still need to negotiate as usual, Mr. Li."

"Alright, alright," Li Xu laughed, "I'll add 4 million pounds, making it 24 million pounds, or 120 million Hong Kong dollars, which should be enough to buy ATV Hong Kong, Mr. Lynn?"

The man opened his mouth as if to say something more but finally just shrugged, "Personally, I have no objections."

Li Xu immediately stood up from the sofa, extended his hand, and shook the man's hand, "Then it's settled, Mr. Lynn."

The next step would be for the negotiation teams to finalize the details. The teams had already been working on it, but the price was the sticking point, leading to the face-to-face meeting between Lynn and Li Xu.

Now that the terms were agreed upon, it was time for the teams to wrap things up. If everything went as planned, ATV Hong Kong would be his after the new year.

As mentioned earlier, it wasn't difficult for Li Xu to visit Hong Kong, given his connections in Hollywood, which would be enough to attract the major film companies. However, he preferred to use the TV station as a stepping stone and expand his network in Taiwan before entering Hong Kong.

Even if Hong Kong was just a stepping stone, he planned to stay for a decade before moving on. With the capital in place, the first step was to secure a foothold—Taiwan has always been the largest box office market for Hong Kong films, and Hollywood is still too far away.

After seeing Lynn off, Li Xu quickly went to his father's study. The villa was in Kensington, not in the suburbs, so it was relatively small and didn't require much navigating.

"Hi, Dad." He walked in, signed the documents, and handed them to his secretary, Mary, before sitting down.

"Did you reach an agreement?" Old Edward put his pen down and asked casually.

"Yes, 120 million Hong Kong dollars for ATV," Li Xu scratched his head, "just above the price you set."

"So, you still couldn't bring the price down, right?" his father smiled.

"I have to respect the price my father set," Li Xu raised an eyebrow.

To be honest, when he asked his father to help contact the ATV management, he didn't expect his father to use this opportunity to acquire the entire ATV group.

This should have been a good thing, at least he wouldn't have to compete with Australian conglomerates or local Hong Kong capital. However, his father directly set the bottom line at 24 million pounds and told him to negotiate if he thought it was too high.

Although he knew his father wouldn't set an unrealistic price, Li Xu still wanted to try, but the result was... quite discouraging.

"Then, are you interested in taking over the ATV stations in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand?" his father asked.

"No, not at all," Li Xu shook his head immediately.

Although there were a few notable actresses in Singapore, it wasn't like Hong Kong, which had a large pool of experienced talent and was closer to the mainland. Due to certain policies, the Chinese film industry didn't develop well, and those with some fame would want to come to Hong Kong, so there was no need to worry.

"I just want the one in Hong Kong," he emphasized again.

"Alright, then I'll split and sell the others, keeping only the stations in the UK and some of the direct colonies," his father didn't mind.

Without planning to invest more, maintaining and slightly developing the local ATV stations before selling them to Murdoch was the plan—there was no doubt Murdoch would want them, as long as he wasn't lured away by satellite TV in the late 1980s.

Moreover, with a TV station as a foundation, developing satellite TV in the future would be easier.

In short, to maintain ATV without additional investment, the other stations had to be sold off.

This was the main theme of the 1980s—acquiring a company with loans, breaking it down, and selling the valuable parts, often for more than the acquisition price, like junk bonds. The protagonist of "Pretty Woman" made his fortune this way.

Who could blame ATV for their own mismanagement, investing in a Canadian chain of laundromats and losing everything?

However, in this era, companies were expanding, and those that didn't expand either died or fell behind. It was a tough time.

"So, do you plan to intern at the Hong Kong office of Stanly after graduation?" his father asked, knowing about his interest in the "Oriental Hollywood."

"Of course, and perhaps you could set up an office in another place as well. It would be more convenient for me to visit in the future," Li Xu suggested.

"You mean... the north?" Old Edward frowned.

"Yes, they are reforming, and I heard Goldman Sachs is planning to set up an office in Beijing," Li Xu chuckled.

"How did you hear that? I didn't hear anything," Old Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Because I have my own sources," Li Xu said matter-of-factly.

Old Edward narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him, "I don't think now is a good time."

"Baldwin is gone, and Gilbert is in power as you wished. What are you still worried about?" Li Xu spread his hands, puzzled.

"Isn't it better to let Goldman Sachs pave the way?" Old Edward said casually, then laughed when Li Xu made a face, "Alright, I'll push for it. If Goldman Sachs really sets up an office in Beijing, we'll follow."

"Nothing else, I'll leave," Li Xu stood up, shaking his head, and then challenged, "By the way, you have an office in the City, so why do you always read files at home?"

"I like it," Old Edward said matter-of-factly.

"Oh? Not because it's close to certain places?" Li Xu hinted.

By "close to certain places," he meant the mistress his father kept in a mansion in northern Kensington.

His father was known for his "golden house" lifestyle, with mistresses in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Greece, but not in Japan.

These women were not just pretty faces; they had their own careers and were not kept.

Li Xu was somewhat influenced by his father's style.

"When are you going to bring my granddaughter to see me, Second Generation?" his father asked instead of answering directly.

Li Xu rolled his eyes and stood up, "I'm going out. I have a date with Diana to see the Royal Ballet."

Although the UK and France were close, Diana had agreed to be his official girlfriend, making it inappropriate to bring Isabel along.

Even though the sweet and innocent Isabel had agreed to try, bringing his mistress and child to her right after she agreed...

Let's not talk about that. Now, he could start thinking about how to play in the "Oriental Hollywood." Directly investing like in "An Officer and a Gentleman" wouldn't work.

Oh, right, "An Officer and a Gentleman" would be greenlit soon. After consulting with the company, the cost was estimated to be between 5 and 10 million dollars, depending on the director and actors.

Since that was the case, he should invest. It was a small amount to lose, especially with Paramount involved.

Moreover, CAA had offered a full suite of services, as Li Xu was a limited partner—no voting rights, but a stake in the company's founding, earning a bit of profit and maintaining a relationship.

Although CAA's later practices were seen as domineering, with the package system causing many small film companies to complain, in the early 1980s, it was a necessary reform.

The agent system, though long established, was scattered. To produce a film, a company had to negotiate with the agents of the actors, director, lighting technicians, and prop masters.

This was inefficient and made it difficult to coordinate. When Michael Ovitz promoted the package system, it was widely praised.

Of course, this led to directors and familiar crew members forming groups, and CAA's growth.

This was inevitable. Any system has its pros and cons. To gain efficiency, one must face the grouping of the other side. To break them down, one must sacrifice efficiency.

You can't have both benefits and no costs.

Moreover, even with the package system, CAA still had to negotiate with the major studios, while small film companies were heavily squeezed.

This was normal. Without power and unwilling to compromise, one is a fool.

In the end, agents are just a mid-level network in the Hollywood ecosystem, not irreplaceable. Those who believe agents can control Hollywood are either megalomaniacs or paranoid.

Didn't the major founders of CAA jump to the major studios in the early 1990s?

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End of the page.