In order to sign Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu, Matsumoto Keiko's additional expenses were not just the termination fee between them and the original agency. In fact, the cost paid was almost 200 million yen.
You know, in order to achieve the real effect of buying horse bones for a thousand dollars, and to allow these two famous actors to film with peace of mind after joining Fog Studio, Matsumoto Keiko completely followed Ning Weimin’s advice. , giving them the treatment of real first-line stars.
For example, assign a support team to each of them.
Including full-time agents, public relations personnel, life assistants, stylists and car drivers.
So at least eight or nine more people have to be added to the office, and the salary alone will cost an additional five million yen per month.
In addition, the conditions given by Keiko Matsumoto in the agency contract signed with two people in the name of Matsumoto Office are also quite generous.
The contract stipulates that in addition to starring in film and television dramas and related publicity activities, Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu will not be forced to participate in programs and performances that they do not like.
Furthermore, the share-sharing contracts signed by Matsumoto Office, Utsui Takeru and Miura Tomokazu are all forty-six to six.
The firm got four, and Takeru Utsui and Tomokazu Miura both got six.
It should be said that this is a very rare contract of benevolence and justice in the entire Japanese entertainment industry.
Because usually, even the top stars in Japan, the best treatment is only 50-50.
And this kind of contract can only appear in small and medium-sized firms. It is absolutely impossible for large entertainment firms to give such conditions.
For example, when Keiko Matsumoto signed a contract with Shochiku, even though she was a well-deserved "Shochiku's First Sister".
However, he still only received 40% of the salary from the film, and 60% belonged to Songzhu.
This is why big-name Japanese stars eventually become independent.
It's really because of the industry culture in Japan that agencies squeeze artists too hard.
Both the original major studios and the current TV entertainment agencies are all on the same page in this regard.
Only by letting the office make enough money first, can the artist get some meat to eat.
So in the current Japanese entertainment industry, a financial contract with generous benefits and low demands like that of Fog Studios is simply a scorpion’s shit. Ordinary firms cannot do such a thing. Something stupid is coming.
From this point of view, Matsumoto Office has completely deviated from the original intention of capital, which is worthy of the integrity and goodwill of Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu.
Besides, as the old saying goes, when people disperse, wealth gathers together, and when wealth disperses, people gather together.
For Keiko Matsumoto, although she was not as shrewd in terms of finance, her wave of goodwill successfully gained the loyalty of Ken Utsui and Tomoka Miura.
And this kind of "iron triangle" is exactly the support that Fog Film Studio, which is currently most short of money, really needs.
Whether it is a loss or a profit, whether it is a fool or a genius, this is a matter of opinion between the beholder and the wise.
As for Ning Weimin, he understands this truth better than Matsumoto Keiko.
And when it comes to spending money, he is much more powerful than his wife.
Two hundred million yen is nothing. He spends money without blinking an eye, like a landslide or a tsunami.
In fact, just when Matsumoto Keiko signed Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu, Ning Weimin was taking Mamiya, a lawyer from Watanabe Mitsuwa's office, with Hiroshi, the major shareholder of Taurus Palace. Heisaburo and President Minoru Funaki are engaged in a potentially costly business negotiation - to acquire shares of Taurus Palace for Keiko Matsumoto.
As long as this matter is negotiated, I don’t know how many 200 million yen I have to let him spend.
Of course, some people may be curious.
Isn't this Taurus Palace well-run? With Teresa Teng under its command, a double-crown singer, record sales have skyrocketed.
What's more, once "Crazy Rich Asians" is released and becomes a hit, it is completely foreseeable that Teresa Teng and her new song "The Stream" will definitely become popular again.
Why are you suddenly selling your shares?
Doesn’t this mean selling the golden chicken that lays golden eggs? That would be too stupid.
Actually, this is not surprising at all, for no other reason than because Taurus has to take this step now, and there is really no better choice.
What?
After seeing the faint threat from Zhou Fang Yuxiong, Daqing Fushi Minoru immediately called Teresa Teng and talked to her about what to do.
Unexpectedly, Teresa Teng was a die-hard ally of Ning Weimin. The two had already fully communicated about the pressure faced by "Crazy Rich Asians". Teresa Teng stood up almost without thinking. Ning Weimin's side, and his attitude is very tough and resolute.
After learning about Funaki Minoru's intentions, she only said, "I will definitely stand with President Ning on this matter. It is impossible for me to leave the crew, let alone help outsiders deal with it. My friend. If you insist on letting me do this, president, then I can only consider leaving Taurus Palace.”
As a result, Funaki Minoru was completely dumbfounded and never dared to mention this matter again. And half a sentence.
To be honest, Taurus Records was originally a record company that could not be smaller.
The development in recent years seems to be booming. It is about to evolve into a medium-sized company with about fifty people. It seems to have achieved great results.
But to put it bluntly, it was just a scene supported by Teresa Teng alone.
Minor Funaki knows this best. As a record company, his Taurus earns 90% of its annual operating income through Teresa Teng.
Without this diva, Taurus Palace would no longer be a palace, but would probably be called a bullpen.
Therefore, no matter what Teresa Teng said, everyone in the Taurus Palace, including him, had to obey unconditionally, and they would never dare to force this diva.
But then again, the question now is, if Shu Fang Ikuo’s burning element gets angry and treats them as enemies, what will happen to the little Taurus Palace in the future?
Minor Funaki really doesn’t think he can withstand the tossing of the combustion system.
For this reason, as a little kid who was frightened by the fight between two gods, he was thinking about it and was in a dilemma.
I can neither persuade Teresa Teng to resign, nor dare I offend the "leader" of the Japanese entertainment industry.
In the end, he had no choice but to ask for help from Saburo Hirohei, another major shareholder of Taurus Palace.
This was his boss in the planning department when he worked at PolyGram Company.
He was also the one who funded and helped him found Taurus Palace after he left PolyGram.
In the end, the boss was still a boss, and his knowledge was indeed different. Saburo Hirohei broke through the limitations of Minoru Funaki's thinking in just a few words.
“Don’t think too much, there will be no good end for those who sit on the fence. Now that Teresa has decided, what else can we do? We have no choice but to stand with Fog Studios. But if you want me Let's say, while the company's performance is at its best now, we might as well sell half of the company's shares. In this case, no matter what happens in the future, we will not bear all the risks ourselves. "I have to say this idea. That's really good, it's quite clever in being able to advance, attack, retreat and defend.
Minor Funaki immediately realized that if he could really sell part of the shares in Taurus Palace.
As shareholders, not only can they get a large amount of money immediately and become rich.
And with new shareholders as allies, the ability to withstand pressure will also be strengthened.
Especially at this time, because the stock market and property market are in a state of raging fire.
Then it seems that selling the company that you have worked so hard for is not that uncomfortable. At least the money you get can be used to buy houses and stock stocks.
If you really want to invest, if you catch a good market, you might earn more than you would from running a company.
As a result, Minoru Funaki, who was enlightened, immediately reached an agreement with Saburo Hirohei who came up with the idea.
The two did what they said, and soon they separated to find buyers.
Needless to say, if you want to sell shares and sell them at a good price, of course you have to find someone with deep pockets.
But on this basis, Minoru Funaki actually has some small thoughts of his own, that is, he still has demands for management rights.
He is different from Hirohei Saburo. Taurus is the foundation of his entire career.
If possible, even if he sells his shares, he does not want to be marginalized in the company in the future.
I still hope to continue to serve as president and manage the operations of Taurus Palace.
So Minoru Funaki didn’t really like to follow Saburo Hirohei’s idea of contacting big record companies, and from then on he became a small label under a big company.
The first buyer that came to his mind was Fog Studios.
The reason is also very simple. In addition to the close cooperative relationship and consistent interests, absorbing such shareholders does not have to worry about changes in the cooperation.
The key is that Matsumoto Keiko is not the kind of owner who likes to stretch his hands too far and has a strong desire to control. From now on, he should still be in charge of the Taurus Palace.
This point can be understood as long as the management power of Fog Studio has actually always been in the hands of Akira Okamoto and Mitsuru Watanabe.
Even Ning Weimin, Matsumoto Keiko's husband, is young and wealthy, friendly, friendly, and generous.
In addition, he once helped Teresa Teng win the Record Award regardless of gain or loss, thus gaining Teresa Teng's trust.
Aren’t they the best trading partners?
Taking a step back, Teresa Teng's contract with the Taurus Palace will have to be re-signed with two years left. Whether Teresa Teng can be retained by then, Minoru Funaki is not sure.
It would be different if there was Fog Studios as a shareholder.
Presumably because of her favor to Ning Weimin, Teresa Teng will still choose to stay in Taurus Palace two years later.
Therefore, Minoru Funaki called Ning Weimin, hoping to find out from him the strength of Fog Film Studio and whether he was interested in becoming a shareholder of Taurus Palace?
What Minoru Funaki is most worried about at this time is whether Kiri Productions is short of funds as rumored.
Unexpectedly, Ning Weimin's response to him was quite positive.
I only asked him about his quotation, and he quickly expressed his strong interest and replied who would like to make an appointment to meet and discuss in detail.
So much so that with Saburo Seki's experience in the recording industry, he had not yet had time to find out whether Sony Music and Victory Records were interested in investing in Taurus.
Minoru Funaki successfully made an appointment with Ning Weimin to the Taurus Palace and took him to meet Guanghei Saburo.
Suddenly we entered the stage of substantial contact.
At this moment, not surprisingly, everyone is focused on how to bargain.
However, when it comes to this, what surprised Minoru Funaki and Saburo Hirohei was that Ning Weimin did not take the conventional method and discuss the quotation of Taurus Palace in detail one by one, but took the initiative to hand it over to provided their bids for two different acquisition plans.
Even the price gap between the two plans is a bit big, which is really puzzling.
So for this reason, Guanghei Saburo opened his eyes wide and asked with doubts on his face.
“Oh, with all due respect, the price of the solution you provided seems to be very problematic?”
He pointed at the first document handed to him by Mitsuru Watanabe and said, “ President Ning, with this plan, you plan to purchase 34% of the shares of Taurus Palace at a price of 1.2 billion yen. In other words, in your heart, you recognize that the value of Taurus Palace is about 3.5 billion yen. But this one..."
He said, holding the second document next to him in front of him, "This plan is that you want to acquire 90% of the shares of Taurus Palace. The price you gave is 4.5 billion yen. So in this plan, the value of Taurus is 5 billion yen. This is very strange. The valuation of the two plans is completely different. Was it an oversight? Or was it your subordinate..."
"That's what I meant."
Ning Weimin coughed a little, then faced the astonished Saburo Hirohei and Minoru Funaki and said seriously, "Please allow me to explain it to you two."
"Okay, please speak."
“Actually, since I received President Funaki’s offer, I have been seriously considering investing in Taurus. But to be honest, with our mutual friendship and the good cooperation with Taurus, I am very unhappy. I am willing to bargain like a see-saw. So I am here today. In order to avoid such disrespect, I have come up with two plans based on our own situation and with the greatest sincerity. For your reference.”
“Oh, you mean, this is the final price you gave. To be honest, I would like you to calculate it item by item with us, after all, the first plan is different from ours. There is still a gap between the quoted prices. And your share requirement is 34%, which is more than we expected. As for the second option, although the price is better, it can’t be said to be a share purchase, right? It looks like a full acquisition. This is different from what we imagined, and even so, I still can’t fully understand the difference in valuation between your two plans.”
Guang. Heisaburo said and turned to look at Minoru Funaki.
Funaki Minoru, the middleman, could only smile awkwardly and nodded in agreement, expressing his agreement with his opinion.
Although it was a little embarrassing for him at this time, he could finally tell which one was closer.
"Please don't worry, Guangping Sang, I will talk about these issues soon."
Ning Weimin didn't mind, he responded in a neither humble nor overbearing manner, and continued to explain, "The price of the first plan is mainly based on the realization needs of the two of you. Didn't you ask for 30% of the shares at 1.5 billion yen? We can give 1.5 billion yen. But the shares to be purchased start from 100. Thirty-fourths has become just 34%. I think this kind of price discount is a normal room for concessions in normal business negotiations, right?”
“As for why? Want to increase this 4% share? Of course it is for the veto power. We spend money to buy shares. At least we hope to have the right to avoid decisions that may be detrimental to ourselves in major company decisions. This is very important. Otherwise, there is no need for us to spend this money. But frankly speaking, even so, this plan is not worthy of our expectations, because at most only one-third of the shares will be traded, which can only ensure the stability of our cooperation. . From our standpoint, there is not much to gain from it. ”
"But the second plan is different. If you two are willing to sell most of the shares of Taurus Palace, we would be happy to completely take over Taurus Palace. After that, we can not only integrate Taurus Palace and Fog Studios in business-related aspects We will make integration adjustments and reduce operating costs. We will also find ways to increase investment in Taurus, further expand the music business, and truly make Taurus a powerful record company. Since this plan can bring us considerable benefits. In terms of price, we also hope to satisfy our friends, so we have a considerable premium.”
“Of course, even if we acquire the whole company, we hope that President Funaki will remain in office. Asking for 90% of the shares, that achievement is reserved for President Funaki. We know very well that President Funaki is an indispensable person for both Taurus and Theresa. So if you two. If we are willing to make it happen, in addition to investing 4.5 billion yen to purchase 90% of Taurus Palace's shares, we will also accept President Funaki as our partner and be responsible for all the record business in the future." (End of Chapter)