I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1171: The Two Giants]

In the following days, Eric was primarily busy with the establishment of the Williams Trust and the charitable foundation he was managing for two women.

Though he had already gathered significant information beforehand, the specific implementation required the assistance of Chris and some professional consulting firms based in New York.

Additionally, there were new developments regarding Cindy's mention of the acquisition of IMG. Coincidentally, the US Open was taking place at that time, and IMG's founder and majority shareholder, Mark McCormack, had personally called to invite Eric to watch a match on Saturday and discuss the acquisition.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, Saturday had arrived. Around noon, Eric didn't rush to the National Tennis Center in Queens, but instead met again with John Casablancas, the president of Elite, at a restaurant in Manhattan.

...

Following the last meeting, Eric originally wanted to have Alessandra Ambrosio transfer the contract from Elite to IMG. However, John Casablancas had subsequently not let her go and, through Alessandra, expressed his desire to discuss things face to face with Eric.

"Eric, the four executives mentioned in the last documentary have all left the company," John began after some casual greetings, ordering lunch and waiting for the waiter to leave before getting to the point. "So, I believe Ms. Ambrosio can continue to stay at Elite without any problem."

Eric had already been informed by Alessandra about the situation and could roughly guess John's intentions this time. He smiled, saying, "So, are you just treating me to lunch today?"

John also smiled back, "You probably suspected as much, Eric. Since you're interested in a modeling agency, Elite is clearly a better choice than WM, isn't it?"

John was evidently unaware of Eric's impending acquisition of IMG. He had a stake in WM merely to provide Carmen Kass with a minor platform for development. However, Eric was genuinely interested in Elite. Therefore, he asked directly, "How much of a stake can you transfer to me?"

John replied, "15%, Eric, and the price is quite reasonable. If you become a shareholder in Elite, you can immediately join the board."

Based on Eric's prior research, only 25% of Elite's shares were available for public, while 75% remained in private hands. As the founder, John's shareholding in Elite was now less than 5%, while a Canadian businessman named Nicholas Faure had bought the majority stake in 1990, and still held 37% of the company.

"John, if you want me to invest in Elite, 15% is absolutely unacceptable," Eric shook his head. "To me, Elite is just a very small company, and the issues from last time were clearly just the tip of an internal iceberg. I won't risk getting involved in potential trouble for a mere 15% stake."

John replied, "Eric, I've started restructuring the company during this time, and once you invest, you can join the board and oversee the management directly."

"Even if I were to buy Elite outright, I wouldn't join the board. I'm more comfortable operating from behind the scenes," Eric shook his head again. "Moreover, John, you should be more aware than I am about Elite's issues -- overexpansion, chaotic management, low profit margins, and the content from the BBC documentary is prevalent within other parts of Elite as well. I'm certain that if these problems are not thoroughly resolved, Elite's current facade of prosperity won't last more than five years. I suppose your desire for me to come on board is also to leverage the resources of the Firefly network to solve Elite's issues and facilitate further development, isn't it?"

At this point, John had realized that Eric's interest in Elite was quite serious. Though the board had discussed a stake transfer of more than 15%, he pondered for a moment and directly asked, "Eric, in that case, how much do you think would be appropriate for us to transfer?"

"I just mentioned that Elite is a small company for me, but it comes with substantial risks, so I need absolute control." Eric then revealed his cards, "I've observed Elite's recent stock performance, and you can inform your board that based on the current stock price, I'm willing to pay a 30% premium, offering $1.3 billion to acquire Elite."

Due to the overall market downturn and the disappointing profit situation of Elite in recent years, its total market value was currently around $950 million.

However, hearing Eric's intent to acquire Elite outright caused John's expression to flicker.

As the founder of Elite, John had maintained control over the company because of its relatively dispersed shareholding, with no other suitable manager available to take over. However, if Elite were to be wholly acquired by Eric, this powerful billionaire could easily kick him out of the company.

Eric waited patiently for John to deliberate for a moment before relaxing his tone and saying, "John, if you've followed the companies within the Firefly network, you should know that I'm a boss who is very willing to delegate authority to professional managers. You founded Elite more than twenty years ago and developed it into the world's largest modeling agency; your abilities are unquestionable, so I'd be very willing to let you manage the company. You could even retain your stake. Of course, Elite requires thorough restructuring, like a phoenix rising from the ashes; otherwise, it will only flourish temporarily before declining. So, if I were to acquire this company, I would enhance control to ensure sufficient returns on my investment, while simultaneously avoiding issues similar to those highlighted in the recent BBC documentary."

John hesitated for a moment before saying, "Eric, the modeling industry operates this way; if you can't accept some of the unspoken rules, the resources will only flow to companies that allow these rules to persist."

"But everything should have its limits, unless you want to see this industry go completely downhill. In fact, why has IMG's modeling subsidiary been so successful in recent years? Because it's a latecomer with none of the chronic issues of traditional modeling agencies. It also adheres to the fundamental principles of a commercial company, maximizing the commercial interests of models. If a company only focuses on its scale but neglects the essence of profitability, it is destined to struggle in the long run."

This time, it wasn't until the waiter served the lunch that John finally nodded and said, "Alright, Eric, I'll convey your message to the board."

Eric waved off the attractive waitress who was giving him flirty glances and asked her to bring him a bottle of water, then handed a business card to John. "John, the $1.3 billion is my final offer. I won't waste too much time on Elite. If you decide, call me; if you don't want to accept this acquisition, then don't reach out."

After lunch with John Casablancas, Eric hurriedly set off for Queens.

...

Today marked the fourth round of the US Open, and Eric didn't know much about tennis. He only knew that the match featured Anna Kournikova against another tennis star, Lindsay Davenport. Perhaps it was on purpose by Mark McCormack that both players were signed athletes under IMG.

Close to 2 PM, Eric arrived at the National Tennis Center and realized the match was about to start.

Just as Eric's car parked in a lot, a tall woman in a blouse and black pants approached -- none other than the life assistant named Catherine Neumann whom Cindy had recently hired.

Cindy couldn't make any public appearances right now because she and Linda were involved in the acquisition of IMG. Eric had initially planned for Linda to join him for this meeting, but unexpectedly, it was this German woman who showed up.

Though they hadn't spent much time together, Eric found it hard to adapt to this woman's demeanor.

Catherine had a silent, distant aura akin to that of twins, but they gave off completely different vibes. The silence from twins could feel comforting, whereas Catherine had a commanding presence that made it hard not to look at her, exuding an almost conspiratorial aggressiveness.

As she approached, the woman simply greeted him coolly, "Mr. Williams."

Eric scanned the woman's attire -- her hair was neatly styled into a bun, makeup was minimal, and her blouse and slacks were meticulously pressed. With a lovely face and graceful figure that could be quite appealing, she also unmistakably bore a restrained demeanor. Even when faced with Eric's unabashed scrutiny, her only reaction was a slight blink, which seemed unrelated to his stare.

After a few seconds of standoff, Eric finally remembered something, turned to a nearby bodyguard, and whispered a few instructions before addressing Catherine, "Let's go."

Eric hadn't lowered his voice much when speaking to the bodyguard, yet Catherine remained unflustered, quietly following Eric out of the parking lot alongside him.

...

As soon as they walked out of the parking lot, IMG Group CEO Payne Forstmann came to greet them. After a simple greeting, Eric and Payne Forstmann entered the stadium through the internal passage and went straight to a seat outside the stadium.

Though the crowd had filled over 80% of the arena, there were still empty seats in the higher rows around the outer area where no one else sat.

Mark McCormack was a tall, silver-haired gentleman, using a cane and still having a decent spirit.

After exchanging some small talk, they sat down in their seats.

However, once seated, noticing the various broadcast camera positions within the venue, Eric glanced around and directly told Catherine, "Go check which TV station is broadcasting the match. Tell them not to pan over to us."

Catherine nodded and got up to leave.

Mark McCormack, listening to Eric's words, said, "Eric, being too low-key isn't always a good thing."

Eric smiled, "I just prefer to avoid unnecessary public attention."

Mark nodded, smiling as he gestured towards the two athletes already warming up in the center of the court. "What do you think of them?"

Eric replied, "I'm not very knowledgeable about tennis, but from what I gathered, Anna's career since turning professional in '96 can only be described as mediocre. Last year, her best result was making it to the fourth round of three of the four majors, far from a championship. I don't know much about Davenport."

Mark smiled knowingly, "Davenport has won two Grand Slam titles. You seem to know Anna's record well while not knowing much about Davenport. Eric, you know this reflects IMG's value."

Eric argued, "But tennis ultimately depends on skill."

"Of course," Mark agreed. "Actually, the top players in the world like the Williams sisters, Davenport, and Graf are all signed stars under IMG. However, skill isn't the only deciding factor. Take Anna, for instance; she's undoubtedly mediocre and has a haughty personality, not putting in enough effort in training, yet IMG has managed to make her the highest-earning female star in the sport. Last year, she earned $12 million from endorsements with brands like Adidas and Rolex, and this figure is likely to increase if her performance improves. However, 30% of that income goes to IMG. In comparison, although Davenport facing her today has a stronger skill set, her annual income is less than a third of Anna's, and we only get a 10% cut from her contract."

If not for IMG's well-established commercial operations, Eric wouldn't have been so interested in the company. It was rumored that IMG's methods had even made it into Harvard Business School's case studies, a testament to its successful expenditures.

Hearing Mark's words, Eric showed an appreciative expression, admitting, "That's why I'm sitting here; IMG truly is an outstanding company."

Mark smiled at Eric's compliment but then shook his head with a touch of sadness. "If not for my kids not living up to expectations, I would never consider selling this company."

As the older man reminisced, Eric found it hard to respond and fell into silence.

Mark soon pulled himself back together and said, "I heard you're interested in the whole IMG Group. I could help persuade the other shareholders to sell their stakes, but how much are you planning to offer?"

"$1.5 billion," Eric replied. "Compared to my previous offer, you can get an additional $750 million. If it's just the 55% stake of the McCormack family, my offer is still $750 million."

"$1.5 billion, honestly, IMG is worth that much," Mark nodded. "I will help you secure it."

Eric was surprised to hear Mark say that; he had anticipated some serious negotiations during their meeting.

Noticing the change in Eric's expression, Mark smiled, though with a hint of bitterness. "Eric, more than wanting to sell IMG for a good price, I hope it finds a good home. This company is my life's work, so I just wanted to meet its new owner face to face."

*****

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