Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 640 - 464: Romance and Acquisition Plan_3

The film's production cost was 35 million US Dollars.

Considering Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins have a bigger following overseas, the overall box office should see some profit, with an estimated seventy to eighty million US Dollars.

It could barely make up for the losses caused by the previous two films.

In the past two months, Lionsgate Films also helped Relativity Media release two films, "Shark Night" and "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer"; the former barely broke even, while the latter lost over ten million US Dollars.

By September, the Hollywood summer season came to an end, and the media released some statistics: this year's North American summer box office sold 543 million tickets, with total revenues of 4.4 billion US Dollars.

The number of moviegoers was the lowest since 1997, with the peak in 2002 when 653 million movie tickets were sold.

However, due to the influence of 3D films, the total box office revenue of 4.4 billion US Dollars set a new record.

During the summer season, Paramount, with films like "Transformers 3," "Captain America," "Thor," "Super 8," and others, took in about 1.5 billion US Dollars at the North American box office, while Warner Bros. Pictures, with "Harry Potter 7," "Hangover 2," "Green Lantern," "Horrible Bosses," "Bridesmaids," and others, earned around 1.3 billion US Dollars.

Disney, Universal, and Sony were closely matched, each earning around five to six hundred million US Dollars.

20th Century Fox was at the bottom.

Lionsgate, with 210 million US Dollars, ranked tenth for the time being.

This 4.4 billion was a big pie, but unfortunately, with Lionsgate's current scale, it could only take a small slice.

"Today at the company meeting, President Burns raised a topic, the acquisition of Summit Entertainment to form a powerful alliance. This was a plan before Lionsgate was acquired; it was interrupted due to the change of ownership. Now President Burns has proposed it again. Should we continue with this plan?"

At the dinner table, Ivanka asked while eating.

Michael Burns is the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Lionsgate Films, leading the planning and acquisition of its business expansion.

The target of the company's acquisition is Summit Entertainment, established in 1993 and also headquartered in the Santa Monica area, which has produced many popular films, including the "Twilight" series, "Step Up" series, and the 2009 Oscars Best Picture "The Hurt Locker," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Vanilla Sky," "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," and others.

In recent years, Summit Entertainment also became the lead among independent film production companies at the box office due to the "Twilight" series.

If Lionsgate could acquire Summit Entertainment, they would obtain the film rights to these movies, but since Summit holds the "Twilight" series, the price will certainly not be low.

"What is Summit's asking price?"

"Around 420 million. There's room for negotiation, and the acquisition can also be achieved through stock considerations," Ivanka said.

430 million is a very reasonable number, as a film company making money from its movies does not necessarily mean the company itself is valuable.

A film company is like a hen that lays eggs; every year, shareholders take away most of the profits, leaving only a portion for production funds.

For a film company, the valuable assets are the movie rights income and the rights to adapt popular films, distribution channels, production departments, and so on.

Compared to Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment has no experience with being public, limited funds, only producing two to three films a year, no television department or channels, video websites or a large catalog of films, and has weaker distribution capabilities.

This is also why Summit Entertainment, despite owning the "Twilight" series that has garnered over two billion in global box office, is not actually as valuable as Lionsgate Films.

As for whether to acquire the company, Link needs to give it some serious thought.

The benefit of the acquisition is to expand Lionsgate Films' catalog. Originally, Lionsgate had over 12,000 movie and television titles rights, mostly acquired through the purchase of other film production and distribution companies.

With these entertainment rights, Lionsgate Films makes about eighty million US Dollars annually in licensing fees.

After acquiring Summit Entertainment, it could expand the company's catalog and extend its entertainment IP portfolio.

Also, Summit Entertainment has decent capabilities in film production and distribution, which could play a strengthening role.

Originally, Lionsgate was able to move from the eighth spot in Hollywood to the seventh or sixth and even surpass Fox, Sony, and Paramount to enter the top five, thanks in part to the acquisition of Summit Entertainment in 2012.

This is the advantage.

The disadvantage is that it's somewhat expensive.

From the perspective of investment returns, if one had US\\$430 million on hand, investing it in other sectors, such as the volatile Nvidia, could increase its value by 100 times over the next decade; investing in other areas could also earn more than tenfold.

To sell it to Summit Entertainment is not a reasonable investment.

Additionally, the reason Lionsgate Films originally acquired Summit Entertainment was that Lionsgate is a listed company. The most direct way for a listed company to grow bigger and stronger is through acquisitions and mergers.

Now that the company is privately owned, the sources of capital are limited, the ability to withstand risks is reduced, and continuing on the same path will inevitably lead to problems over time.

Thinking of this, Link put down his juice glass and looked at Ivanka across from him.

"Dear, what do you think about this? I'd like to hear your opinion for reference," he said.

"My thought is that it's not suitable to acquire Summit Entertainment for the time being," she stated.

Ivanka set down her knife and fork and shared her reasons.

First of all, both of them were new to the film industry and didn't fully understand it. Having acquired the large company Lionsgate Films, quickly going on to purchase Summit Entertainment was a step too fast.

Secondly, they had only completed the acquisition of Lionsgate Films in May and were not fully aware of the internal situation nor had 100% control. Acquiring another company of a size not much smaller than Lionsgate at this time could lead to management issues.

It also wouldn't allow for the full utilization of the strengths of Lionsgate + Summit, leading to a waste of funds.

Finally, Lionsgate Films currently had a debt of US\\$180 million. The box office performance this year was average, and Link didn't have sufficient funds on hand. Continuing to acquire through debt would bring a heavy burden to both him personally and the company.

"My opinion is that we can acquire, but not in the next two years. In a few years, if Lionsgate Films is doing well and has the strength to acquire other companies, we can consider buying Summit or other companies. That would be a more prudent approach," she said evenly.

"You're right, it is a bit fast. Let's do as you suggest and see how things go in a few years," Link said.

"Good!"

Ivanka nodded and continued to eat.

Link looked at her. "Dear, won't it seem too serious to discuss work while we're eating?"

"No, we can flirt in the kitchen, read in the study, and talk business at the dining table. It shows that we are like-minded and in harmony in all aspects. I like it this way," Ivanka said, her lips formed into a tantalizing curve, her eyes growing brighter.

"Yes, it does sound like that," Link remarked with a smile. "There's also the fact that we're very in sync in bed. It's a pity you're pregnant now, and I'll have to wait until next year to touch you. Every time I think about this, I feel a bit regretful, even though I'm looking forward to the child."

Ivanka smiled slightly, her cool and elegant demeanor suddenly taking on a seductive charm.

"Who said you have to wait a year? After three months of pregnancy, we can make love again. As long as we're careful, there shouldn't be any problems," she said.

"Is that true?"

Link was somewhat surprised; as a rough man, he didn't know this piece of knowledge.

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Ivanka blinked her captivating eyes and issued a soft 'mm-hmm' through her delicate nose, responding to him in this manner.

Yet her murmur was too enticing, making Link's heart tremble, so he couldn't help but lean in and kiss her red lips before she could eat the strawberry.

For Link, Ivanka's red lips were always the most delicious delicacy at the table.