American Fortune Life

“I read today's briefing. What happened to The Miami Herald? And what news from the Chicago Forum Newspapers? ”

Andy whispered with a small mouthful of coffee and saw that there was only Al left in the conference room in the video window before he put the cup down and asked.

“Owing to debt, the newspaper giant McLachy Newspapers Group intends to sell Miami Herald, an important member of the newspaper, who has contacted all buyers interested in the newspaper.

As for Forum Newspapers, it is judged from the information we gather that they will apply for bankruptcy protection at a later date, but this application for bankruptcy protection should be aimed at restructuring the company's debt and will not affect the normal operation of its newspapers and television stations. ”

Al explained to Andy that he was well aware of the importance his boss attached to the media industry, and did not look at the current paper-made tragedy, redundancy, sale, bankruptcy, but that the centennial newspapers could not ignore and trivialize their voice.

Even as the current market squeezed by the Internet shrinks, advertising revenues plummet, and survival becomes unsustainable, it has to be acknowledged that the credibility and influence of these brand newspapers remain the first choice for people to choose to tell the truth in the face of the Internet, which is hard to tell the truth about news.

The advantages of the Internet are undoubtedly fast, informative and, most importantly, free, which is unbalanced by traditional paper media, but it also makes it difficult to distinguish between true and false information, which is the Internet's biggest problem flaw.

Al is also aware of the reforms being made by his boss and several of his opponents. Instead of going to the Internet to rob the news of the speed of updates, the newspapers are going to read more deeply to help people understand the real events, instead of telling a story in as simple a few lines as the Internet, which is fast, but also makes it unclear who reads the news.

In terms of the current operation of several newspapers, the reform was very successful, even if it was a loss, but only a few million dollars. For Andy, such small money was acceptable, after all, in the current economic environment, it was difficult not to lose.

That's why Andy dared to buy newspapers and newspapers with quality brands even as he went downhill, rather than buying newspapers, rather than buying the credibility and influence that people instinctively believed in.

Forum Corporation was bought in 2007 by American real estate tycoon Samuel Zell in a highly leveraged financial manipulation and employee stock subscription scheme for a total of $8.3 billion, a standard blank glove white wolf acquisition game that successfully transferred all borrowings to Forum Corporation, and now has more than $12 billion in liabilities.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's has reduced Forum's debt rating to garbage last month, saying that the financial crisis will discourage groups from selling assets and limit the amount of funds collected.

The Chicago-based Forum Corporation, 161 years old, is the second-largest annual earnings and third-largest distribution group in the United States. The Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune rank fourth and eighth in U.S. sales.

Andy's main purpose in keeping a close eye on the Forums is to see the Los Angeles Times in their hands, and to be another Worcesterman in Hollywood, the most influential newspaper in California, must have it.

“The Los Angeles Times has been in a state of uncertainty for the past year, restructuring its editorial services twice, replacing its editor-in-chief and imposing layoffs. At the same time, its parent company's indebtedness has not improved, and its advertising revenues and sales have declined significantly.

Boss, if you want to acquire The Los Angeles Times, it costs about $240 million. ”Al introduced.

“Hmm?” Andy frowned, some incredibly looking at Al, "Why is there such a big funding gap? ”

“Located in the golden corner of downtown, next to City Hall, the 80-year-old Los Angeles Times building is a key chip and the main reason for the large funding gap, and the main reason I suggested in my briefing that the owner consider the Miami Herald is that the newspaper also has a headquarters building in a superior location in Biscayne Bay.

With the $220 million Miami Herald, this building alone could offset most of the acquisition costs if future properties were to warm up. ”

Having heard Al's analysis, Andy was sighed at with emotion, and I have to say it was a sad thing that the newspaper was in a dire state, and their physical office building was likely to be much more valuable than the newspaper itself. And if the building happens to be in a middle-class high-end neighborhood, it can double its value.

The Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald undoubtedly have a very valuable headquarters building, and now the United States is at a time of real estate bubble rupture, and the valuation of these buildings has been completely minimized.

Andy touched his chin and fell into his thoughts. Founded in 1903, the Miami Herald is South Florida's second largest newspaper and, in addition to Florida, it is distributed throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with over 800 employees.

Its brand value is unquestionable. To be honest, Andy didn't really see much of it for more than $200 million. For him today, these are small sums, just like people with hundreds of dollars and huge sums of money walking into a '2 yuan store’ to buy something, never minding spending 2 yuan.

Not to mention, since Al thinks their HQ building is valuable, there must be a lot of cheap money to make, and Andy has absolute faith in Al's chief thinker judgment.

“So, send someone to get in touch with the McClatchie newspaper group, and I'll fly to Miami by November 6th, and I'll finish the deal, and, by the way, send someone to the forum company and tell them that I'm very interested in The Los Angeles Times, and as a Los Angelen, I know that Californians want this newspaper back in the hands of the locals... ”

Arnold has no expression, but the corner of his mouth is still unnatural, his boss really has some strange reason, boss, you look like a New Yorker, right? Is it Los Angeles living in Los Angeles?

“Okay, boss, I'll arrange someone to contact each other right away. The Herald doesn't have much of a problem. The McLarch Group really wants to sell and is anxious to get back into the cage fund to get out of debt, but the Los Angeles Times may run into some trouble. Samuel Zell may have screwed up, but after all, he just bought the Forums and won't necessarily easily admit to losing. ”

“Then let out the news of my intention to acquire The Los Angeles Times and let his creditors make a choice. I'd like to see the opportunity to repay the money, but I want to apply for bankruptcy protection, such as Barclays, MG Chase, and these creditors will wait kindly for years to get him out of bankruptcy! ”

Andy was very calm about the trouble that might arise, saying that for forum companies that owed PIGU debt, they didn't have to rush to get slaughtered, they were going to file for bankruptcy. The hardest part was those banks that lent money to Samuel, and now they have an opportunity to swap the first interest on the forum company, and they would never let Samuel get over it.

“Got it, boss.” Al nodded, “Boss, Starbucks acquisition plan, when does it start? ”

“When I'm done with things on the French side, you can start on your side. Just let General Electric dry first. Didn't they always think they were going to eat me? Oh, I'm shifting the acquisition target, see if they're in a hurry!” Andy grinned.

Al, who received a clear answer, nodded. He was admirable, patient, resolute enough about some of his big BOSS decisions and would not be blinded by a temporary gain or loss, which appeared in a young man in his twenties and was undoubtedly very surprising and mature beyond his age.

Andy doesn't know what his heaviest men think of him, the only thing he has to do next is spend all the money he has before the end of the financial storm, in exchange for quality assets that he can earn in the years to come!