sinovels Chapter 532: Quietly Becoming Marvel’S Creditor
Chapter 532: Quietly Becoming Marvel’S Creditor
Reception room.
Lu Qi and Avi Arad exchanged a few words and then went directly to the topic.
Lu Qi smiled and said: "Mr. Arad, I'm here uninvited this time, so I won't beat around the bush and tell the truth."
“I came to your company this time to initiate an acquisition invitation to your company on behalf of Future Group.
Avi Arad, who had just sat down and his butt was still hot, was stunned on the spot.
Good guy!
All he can say is good guy!
On the way here, he was still thinking about Lu Qi's purpose of coming to them.
result.
They are here to buy them!
It’s so direct!
There was no beating around the bush at all, leaving him completely unprepared.
"Oh, by the way, there is something else I want to tell Mr. Allard."
"Just yesterday, Future Group signed an agreement with Merrill Lynch to transfer Marvel's "Thor", "Captain America" and other characters that were mortgaged to Merrill Lynch to Future Group."
"To put it simply, our company, Future Group, is now a creditor of your company."
Lu Qi added with a smile.
Although Marvel is the creator of more than 8,000 Marvel comic characters, the copyrights for most of the current IP characters are not actually owned by Marvel.
Marvel's history dates back to 1939.
The company name at that time was TimelyComics.
In 1951, it was renamed Atlas Comics, and in 1961 it was officially renamed Marvel Comics, and the official mark was determined: in the upper left corner of the comic cover, a rectangular box with the image of the current protagonist inside, below It's the words "MarvelComicsGroup".
Because Marvel means "surprise, miracle", it was once called "Marvel Comics" in the Dragon Kingdom. In September 2010, Marvel officially changed its Chinese name to "Marvel".
Marvel was founded by publisher Martin Goodman, who had earlier devoted himself to founding popular magazines, covering many aspects such as western stories, detectives, adventures and science fiction.
By 1938, he decided to look for a new direction - novel, gorgeous, and exciting and intense scenes - that's what comics were.
Although DC Comics had already taken the lead and launched two ace characters, Superman and Batman, with novel ideas and wonderful creativity, Marvel still found its own way and created unforgettable new characters.
Most of Marvel's heroes are written by Stan Lee alone. Such a heavy workload is unimaginable to ordinary people.
In 1941, Stan Lee's first work came out, which was the main part of the "Captain America" comic series.
Beginning in November 1961, with the assistance of his partner cartoonist Jack Kirby, he created "Fantastic Four", "Spider-Man", "Iron Man", "Thor", "Hulk", "X-Men" and "Doctor Strange" ” and “Daredevil” and other comic book characters, and guest-starred in many movies such as “Venom”.
Thanks to the success of works such as "Spider-Man" and "Fantastic Four", Marvel, which at that time only published comics, gradually grew from the 1960s to the 1980s, and in the 1990s reached the peak of its wealth since its establishment.
In 1993, Marvel was growing wildly with the help of capital.
Comics that were once considered "disposable items" by parents are becoming valuable collections for collectors, and "comic collecting" has attracted mainstream media attention.
Marvel has also added fuel to the fire by issuing different cover designs or using special printing techniques to create "limited editions" to enhance the so-called "collection value" of comics.
This trick works every time.
The "limited edition" comics were snapped up by readers, and speculators continued to push up prices, making the market increasingly crazy.
Later, the prices of comics became increasingly outrageous, and the market even considered them to be the "tulips of the publishing industry."
More and more fans are withdrawing from the collection market because the cost is too high, and they feel that the quality of comics is declining.
Between 1993 and 1996, comic book sales dropped by 70% and hundreds of comics retailers went bankrupt. The collapse was devastating to the industry.
after.
Things took a turn for the worse.
Marvel's stock price collapsed, falling from 35.75 meters per share in 1993 to 2.37 meters per share in 1996.
Marvel, which was heavily in debt and suffered heavy losses, decided to enter a new field -- reorganizing with ToyBiz to establish Marvel Studios.
However, this idea was strongly opposed by shareholders at the time, who believed that losses would become increasingly serious.
Perelman, then CEO, came up with a dirty trick - filing for bankruptcy so that he could reorganize Marvel without shareholder approval.
Now the conflict between Marvel shareholders has completely intensified.
"The Wolf of Wall Street" Carl Icahn was also a Marvel shareholder at the time, and he strongly opposed the bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Carl Icahn said that Perelman is like your plumber who not only completely destroys your house, but also wants to take your house away.
The lawsuit lasted for more than 2 years [The final result was shocking.
ToyBiz and Marvel successfully reorganized. At the same time, Perelman and Carl Icahn were out at the same time, and ToyBiz executive Avi Arad officially joined Marvel.
When Marvel first entered the big screen, it encountered obstacles and fell into financial difficulties.
Arad had to travel around Hollywood to explain the film value of Marvel IP to studio executives.
In the late 1990s, things began to change.
At that time, Marvel began to find its footing. "Blade" was a great success and earned 70 million yuan in box office, but Marvel's revenue was only 25,000 yuan.
The "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" movies are extremely popular, and Marvel only gets a small share of the profits.
We gave the best part of ourselves to others! Arad once said with infinite sadness.
In 2003, things took a turn for the better.
"Angry Birds" producer David Messer proposed, why not make movies under his own brand? Why can't the superheroes in these movies crossover with each other, like they do in the comics?
This is a million-dollar proposal and the prototype of the Marvel Universe (MCUI).
While Marvel's stock has rebounded since 1996, Messer feels "movies" could help it soar even further.
Although the proposal is good, it must first convince the Marvel board of directors, and it also needs financing.
In 2005, a breakthrough was made in financing, and Marvel reached an agreement with Merrill Lynch.
Marvel uses its own star character IP - Thor and Captain America - as collateral. If the movie does not make money, the copyrights of the superheroes will belong to Merrill Lynch.
Merrill Lynch will provide Marvel with a $525 million mortgage loan over seven years.
Lu Qi's words made Arad dumbfounded.
Arad looked stunned.
The news was so sudden that they didn't receive any news at all.
certainly.
It's normal for them not to receive it.
Because the deal was between Future Group and Merrill Lynch.
There is no special agreement on the right to know between Merrill Lynch and Marvel.
so.
To whomever Merrill Lynch wants to transfer this creditor's rights, there is no need to notify them, let alone their consent.
and.
Merrill Lynch itself is currently on the verge of bankruptcy due to the economic crisis.
At this time, when the Future Group proposed the transfer of creditor's rights, Merrill Lynch Group was too late to be happy and would never disagree. .