Chapter 155: Perfection and Showdown

Midway up the hill in Hong Kong, or in Zou Wenhuai’s villa.

Liu Zhou and Zou Wenhuai sat opposite each other in the villa garden, drinking tea comfortably.

Although Zou Wenhuai looks rather old, he is in very good spirits and you won't be able to tell that he is almost eighty years old.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, then looked at Liu Zhou's young face and said slowly:
"Mr. Liu is really young and promising. Seeing you reminds me of my youth. But time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, I have grown old."

"Mr. Zou, although you are old, the career you created is still there, and it always remembers your past glory."

"Yes, the business is still there, Jiahe is still there."

Liu Zhou looked at Zou Wenhuai with a nostalgic look on his face and stayed silent without disturbing him.

Maybe people like to reminisce about the past when they get old, let alone an old man who has achieved certain achievements.

Among Hong Kong filmmakers, the one Liu Zhou admires most is Zou Wenhuai.

Not only did he produce two international superstars, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but he also had a keen vision and was not limited to the tiny country of Hong Kong.

After Bruce Lee's death, he never forgot to enter Hollywood.

From the 1980s to the end of the last century, Golden Harvest not only relied on Jackie Chan, but also invested in and filmed many Hollywood films.

Among them, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" achieved a box office of 1.3 million US dollars in the United States, breaking the box office record for Hollywood independent films.

Although Golden Harvest eventually failed in Hollywood, it at least made a name for itself in Hollywood.

This is the only film company in Hong Kong that has the courage to go global.

As for the grievances between Zou Wenhuai and those actors, these are all normal business behaviors. It’s just that because Golden Harvest is in a strong position, it is a bit overbearing.

But didn’t those actors who were bullied by Golden Harvest turn around and turn their knives against the weaker ones?
At this moment, Zou Wenhuai seemed to come back to his senses suddenly and said with a smile:

"Mr. Liu, do you know that Shaw Brothers teamed up with five other companies to seize the Golden Harvest studio?"

Liu Zhou nodded and said:
"Heard something!"

The robbery of the Golden Harvest Studios caused quite a stir at the time.

Golden Harvest was able to succeed largely due to the legacy of Dianmao Film Company.

In the 1960s, the Hong Kong film market was dominated by Shaw Brothers and Dianmao.

However, the boss of Dianmao, Luk Yun-to, was killed in a plane crash, leaving Dianmao company leaderless.

Mr. Shao originally thought he could dominate the market, but he did not expect that his generals would leave and establish Golden Harvest.

At that time, Golden Harvest had almost nothing, but fortunately it received support from Dianmao, which not only supported Golden Harvest Cinemas but also their film studios.

This studio is Golden Harvest's Axe Hill Road Studio in Diamond Hill, where many of Golden Harvest's films were filmed.

However, in 1998, the Hong Kong government planned to reclaim the land for redevelopment and re-planned a film and television base in Tseung Kwan O.

At that time, TVB and ATV had already moved from Mount Wutai to Tseung Kwan O, and Shaw Brothers' Clearwater Bay Studio had also moved there early on.

Because Jiahe was a step slow, the land in Tseung Kwan O was already a bit tight when it moved.

So the Hong Kong government sold the land through bidding at that time.

Golden Harvest thought it had a sure win, but unexpectedly it was attacked by five companies led by Shaw Brothers, causing Golden Harvest's bid to fail.

This dealt a heavy blow to Golden Harvest, and Golden Harvest stopped its film production business in recent years, which was actually related to the loss of the studio.

In 2000, Media Asia Group wanted to acquire Golden Harvest, but was strongly counterattacked by Zou Wenhuai because Media Asia was one of the five companies being targeted at that time.

Zou Wenhuai still keeps smiling:

"Many people thought this was the result of years of feuding between Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. But it was not. The real initiator was Wang Jing. Shaw Brothers and several other companies were all brought in by Wang Jing."

"Wang Jing? Director Wang Jing?"

"That's right. Many people may not realize that he is the one who linked these five companies together."

"Does Wang Jing have any big grudge against Jia He? He actually attacked so cruelly."

Zou Wenhuai sighed and said:

"Golden Harvest used to have a satellite company system to motivate its employees. The head office invested, the subsidiaries did the work, and the dividends were distributed according to the work.

However, perhaps because it was used to being domineering at the time, Golden Harvest often defaulted on dividends, and the subsidiaries were even unable to receive dividends. In the end, the subsidiaries that cooperated with Golden Harvest basically ended up breaking up.

In the 4s, Wang Jing collaborated with Golden Harvest to shoot "Once Upon a Time in China ". The film did well at the box office and was also a hit overseas, but in the end the two sides fell out over dividends.

Wang Jing is a man who will never let go of his grudges, so he teamed up with Shaw Brothers to grab the land."

Only then did Liu Zhou know the whole story. He didn't expect that Wang Jing was actually such a powerful character, which he hadn't been able to see before.

It seems that those who can make a name for themselves should not be underestimated!

But he didn’t understand why Zou Wenhuai told him this?
Does he want to vent his anger on the condition that he can deal with Wang Jin himself, or something else?
Zou Wenhuai saw Liu Zhou's doubts and said with a smile:
“I’m telling you all this not because I want you to do anything, but because I hope you can learn from my mistakes, be nicer to your subordinates, and not take all the benefits for yourself.

If Jiahe had taken less and distributed dividends to its subsidiaries, perhaps Jiahe would not have collapsed!"

Although this was the first time Liu Zhou met Zou Wenhuai, he did not feel that Zou Wenhuai was taking advantage of his seniority to lecture him. This might be because of his decades of experience.

"Thank you Mr. Zou for your advice!"

Seeing that Liu Zhou was not impatient at all, Zou Wenhuai said with relief:

"Liu Zhou, Jiahe is now in your hands!"

"Hmm?" Liu Zhou reacted and said excitedly, "Mr. Zou agreed to sell the shares to me?" "That's right. Jiahe shouldn't continue to sink like this. I think it can be revitalized in your hands."

"Thank you, thank you Mr. Zou, I won't let you down, Jiahe will definitely regain its former glory."

The two of them had a tacit understanding about the purpose of Liu Zhou's visit.

Liu Zhou prepared a lot of arguments before coming, hoping to persuade Zou Wenhuai to sell his shares to him.

If you take a hard approach, not only will there be many unexpected changes, but you will also have to spend more money and it will also have a certain impact on your reputation.

It would be best if we could take over Golden Harvest peacefully.

And the key among them is Zou Wenhuai.

If he doesn't agree, it will be difficult to take over Golden Harvest peacefully.

Liu Zhou came with great sincerity and was also prepared for the worst.

If the final result is still a failure to reach an agreement, Liu Zhou will have to confront him head-on even if Li Chaoren is standing behind him.

Golden Harvest is really a perfect match for Liu Zhou. By taking over Golden Harvest, Liu Zhou's studio can be directly promoted to a giant in the industry, rather than a small studio that relies solely on Liu Zhou.

So no matter what difficulties he encountered, Liu Zhou was ready to take over Jiahe.

But what Liu Zhou didn't expect was that things went so smoothly.

After meeting me, Zou Wenhuai simply reminisced about the past, gave me some advice, and decided to hand over Jiahe to me.

This made Liu Zhou feel a little unreal.

"I know your abilities. You are an excellent young man. I believe you can do it."

"Thank you Mr. Zou for your trust."

Zou Wenhuai paused, then continued:

"Mr. Liu, what are you going to do after you accept Jiahe?"

"First, I plan to delist Golden Harvest, and then..."

“You don’t need to tell me what happens next. I don’t want to interfere with your management of the company.

I can probably guess that you are planning to delist Golden Harvest, so I can give you another small gift."

"Oh, what gift?"

“Golden Harvest was founded by five of us, and now almost all of us are gone, and there aren’t many shares passed down.

But together they still have more than 10% of Jiahe shares, and I can ask them to sell the shares to you as well."

"Really? That's great. It will save me a lot of trouble."

During this period, Liu Zhou wanted to acquire 15% of Jiahe shares and was ready to confront Zou Wenhuai.

However, because there were so many people selling their stocks, Zhong Lifang accidentally increased her stake to 19%.

Now we will take over 21.6% of the shares held by Zou Wenhuai and the 12.4% of the shares held by the descendants of these founders.

Then Liu Zhou will hold 53% of Jiahe shares, which is more than half.

Liu Zhou's heart was moved, and he said:

"Mr. Zou, have you contacted Li Chaoren? I'm wondering if I can take over the Jiahe shares he holds."

"This shouldn't be a big problem. He is a typical businessman. As long as there is profit to be made, there is nothing he won't let go of. Besides, Jiahe is nothing to him at this moment."

"Then I'll have to trouble Zou Sheng to act as a middleman and talk to Li Chaoren."

"no problem."

At this time, Liu Zhou was not only grateful for the help given by Zou Wenhuai, but also felt a little moved.

"Mr. Zou, I don't know what to say anymore. Anyway, thank you very much."

"Haha, no need to thank me. As long as you manage Jiahe well, that will be the greatest thanks to me."

"Don't worry, you will see this day."

Finally, Liu Zhou suddenly thought of something and said a little embarrassedly:

"Mr. Zou, can our transaction be kept secret for the time being?"

"I understand, no problem!"

Seeing that Zou Wenhuai agreed, Liu Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This visit to Zou Wenhuai couldn't have been more perfect.

Liu Zhou did not participate in the subsequent share transfer negotiations, and Zou Wenhuai also handed the matter over to his daughter Zou Chongyan.

After nearly a week of negotiations, Zhoushan Capital acquired their shares at a price that was twice the current share price.

Just as the two parties reached a consensus, Liu Zhou received good news from Zou Wenhuai, saying that Li Chaoren also agreed to sell his shares.

Zhong Lifang then went straight to Cheung Kong Holdings to negotiate with the head of Li Chaoren's investment office.

The negotiations this time were a little more difficult, but in the end, Li Chaoren's shares were acquired at a 120% premium.

By now, Liu Zhou already owns 65% of Jiahe shares, and it's time to show his cards.

(End of this chapter)