I am a nobleman in England

"What do you think of the takeover offer sent by the British?"

In the conference room of the AMC Cinemas Holding Company in New York, the controlling shareholders are gathered around the table, while the management of the AMC Cinemas headquarters in Leawood, Kansas can only listen to these capital players through remote video. Decisions will determine the future of their theater company.

"I have no opinion, as long as the price is right, why not agree."

"My opinion is the same. The IPO is far away. I don't want to waste any more time, as long as the price is right..."

"Recently, I heard that several theater companies in the United States and Europe are waiting to be sold. The other party chose AMC. I believe that the reason why we chose AMC is the same as that of the largest scale. It is not a listed company. It is conducive to mergers and acquisitions. In the core area of ​​the city. At the beginning, the five of us acquired them one after another, but finally came together and owned equal shares.

It even created a small miracle in the history of leveraged buyouts.Isn't it just to sell it?However, no one has the ability to accept, and the open market IPO of securities exchanges has always lacked such a little luck.

Now someone is willing to take over, why hesitate?Isn't this exactly what we want?"

Listening to what this group of controlling shareholders said, the managements on the other side of the video window at the headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, looked gloomy and looked very ugly, but these managements could only helplessly accept this group of greed. The decision of ruthless financial capitalists, who makes them the real controller.

This is the first-class players in the leveraged buyout arena that Arthur needs to face next-Apollo Investment Fund, MG Chase Investment Fund, Bain Capital, Carlyle, Spectral Investment Fund.

The five private equity fund companies jointly hold AMC, and the shares are equal.After five top private equity funds leveraged their acquisition of AMC, they rushed to the New York Stock Exchange.But it always seems to lack a little luck. With the withdrawal of the fund, they can only say goodbye to AMC's IPO feast.

At the right moment, Arthur Bolin appeared.

Of course, the top players in leveraged buyouts are naturally unwilling to withdraw. They have an insatiable appetite.In their view, Arthur Boleyn seemed to be prey from England.

In fact, these five funds have already recovered their invested capital and basically hold shares at'zero cost', but they have been trying to make AMC go public for cash.

Sending AMC to the New York Stock Exchange for IPO is of course the best exit option.It is the dream and holy grail of private equity fund companies to raise funds from the open market to real permanent xing. One is that the returns are generous, the other is to avoid tedious fundraising activities, and the third is to expand the scope of investors.

It's just as they said, maybe it's really bad luck, and there has been no way to succeed in the IPO. For Arthur Bolin, who knocked on the door at this time, naturally he would not let it go easily, but would open his mouth.

"How about a billion dollars?"

"Perhaps we should ask for more points. Anyway, we need to negotiate..."

"Hehe, what if you scare the other party away? Where can we find such a buyer?"

Listening to the discussion of these greedy and shameless vampires, the theater management is really dripping blood in their hearts, but they are also constantly cursing in their hearts, knowing that their so-called $1 billion is only the price of equity acquisition.In addition, AMC has $1.5 billion in liabilities.

"Haha, negotiation, every negotiation is a war, but the situation is good or bad. We don’t worry, we just talk to him without any haste, you know, except AMC has beautiful business performance, wait Good news for the listing, we still have a magic weapon for continued profitability, dividend capital restructuring..."

"Hahaha..."

"Ha ha..."

In the conference room, the heads of the five foundations all knew and laughed. They didn’t notice that there were already a few lowered heads on the other side of the video. Their complexion became more and more ugly. They secretly gritted their teeth, and their eyes flashed with hateful cinema companies. Of course, they, the capital predators, also know that the management of the theater company hates them, but unfortunately, they are the controlling shareholders and the owners of AMC. They can play whatever they want. If a group of part-time workers are obedient, just get out of the way and change to obedient ones.

And the reason why the heads of the five major foundations are extremely happy when they hear about the dividend capital restructuring. The management who has feelings for AMC hates and is helpless. The so-called dividend recapitalization means that the acquirer does not have to sell the assets completely, as long as the company is basically If you repay the debt, you can use cash to borrow again, and the loaned funds can be used to pay dividends.

To put it simply and bluntly, for example, a property in the Second Ring Road of Beijing has been increasing in value, and the owner can repeatedly apply for mortgage loans for it to realize capital gains.

Therefore, the acquired AMC company has been doing its best to promote the growth of cash flow. After such a repetition, the five major foundations quickly recovered the investment cost, but the debt of the AMC theater company is getting heavier.

This method is likened to that the goose that lays the golden egg only lays a huge goose, but it gets the foie gras everywhere.This is how private equity shareholders arbitrage AMC.

Looking at the detailed information on the five holding funds in his hand, Arthur frowned more tightly. He also knew that he was facing the world's top counterparties this time, and the acquisition negotiations would be very slow and difficult. He couldn't cut the mess with a sharp knife, and he also needed to be cautious and fearful of risks.

In fact, what he needs to face this time is the two symbols of the United States, Wall Street and Hollywood.If you want to become the master of AMC and become its new owner, you may have a long way to go!

In fact, everyone knows that speed is everything in a large-scale leveraged buyout war.

If a competitor appears, prolonged competition will raise the price of the acquired company. This means that the acquirer needs to borrow more funds to acquire the company, and the debt burden will be heavier. In the end, it will only hurt both sides or snipe. Fight, fishermen profit.If there is an open bidding, the acquisition battle will evolve into a roulette battle, and buyers will suffer the most.

To be honest, Arthur can negotiate with the other party with a good attitude. As long as the price is not too excessive, he can quickly complete the acquisition. Anyway, the funds he acquired are also loaned from Barclays Bank, and Barclays Bank is also willing to give He took a loan.

Why do you like to borrow money and use leverage to buy companies?

This is because, according to the US tax law, only interest payments can be deducted from corporate profits before tax, while dividends cannot be deducted before tax.The income tax law in the United States is undoubtedly the spark that ignited leveraged buyouts, and the high-yield bonds are the result of leveraged buyouts.Michael Milken, the former emperor of high-yield bonds on Wall Street, raised huge sums of money in leveraged buyouts.These bond funds provide great convenience for leveraged buyouts, like high-quality fuel, turning Volkswagen's Beetle into a fast-moving Ferrari.

I always have to pay back the borrowed money. What do I need to pay back?How to pay it back?

The first is to extend the loan period, the second is to issue new bonds to repay old debts, and the third is to IPO...

So for Arthur, the funds are very sufficient, but he does not want the greedy vampires of Wall Street to take too much advantage from him, and no one's money is windy.

Negotiation is a war. Whoever lets go first will lose!

Not only fast, but also tight inside and loose outside, the inside is light and sword shadow, and the surface is calm.In addition, confidentiality is key.There is a famous saying on Wall Street that if the merger is in the news without results, you will be in great trouble. Once the company acquisition news is leaked, many people will participate in the bidding, and even their brothers.

Therefore, once the negotiation begins, the confidentiality agreement must be signed first!

"Boom boom——"

"Come in!"

Arthur put down the file in his hand, looked at the man who opened the door, and asked, "Is there a result?"

"Yes, the boss, they accepted our takeover offer with a price of 1 billion U.S. dollars and asked us to take on all the debts of 1.5 billion..."