“Uncle Law, is Gladness Entertainment seriously considering selling?” Jasper asked.
Zachary nodded and said, “Their boss, Michael Lane, is an old friend of mine.”
“Gladness Entertainment Movies is a branch of his company, Gladness International Corporation. It did quite well in the early years, and the company earned quite a bit of money in the movie industry. However, Harbor City’s movies have been losing their popularity in recent years.
“Which is why he has decided to switch his focus from the movie industry to financial asset management and go international. That’s why he wants to carve out the entertainment portion of his company and sell it.”
Jasper thought to himself that the head of Gladness Entertainment Movies, Michael Lane, was a visionary.
In his past life, Harbor City’s movies had peaked in the 90s. Gangster films, gambling films, and movies starring Stephen Cole had made up the youth of a whole generation.
However, their fame started fading starting from the year 2000, and this went on till the year 2020.
However, Michael Lane did not sell the company in his previous life.
“How much is he selling it for?” Jasper asked.
Zachary frowned slightly as he said, “That’s where things get complicated. To be honest, if Gladness Entertainment Movies had not met all your requirements, I would have eliminated them immediately.
“First of all, Michael is looking for a powerful buyer to buy the equity of other companies through selling the equities of his own company.
“If you’re looking to buy with cash, he’s asking for no lower than two billion dollars for the entire company.”
Jasper now understood why Gladness Entertainment was never sold in his previous life after hearing what Zachary said.
Michael Lane was blinded by money.
One could not even comprehend how much two billion dollars was. Jasper had only spent ten million dollars to own a controlling share of Terizone.
Although, Terizone was a grassroots organization that was still far from being developed to its full potential.
In Jasper’s opinion, Gladness Entertainment Movies was worth no more than 1.5 billion dollars even if it still held the copyright to many movies and had many cinematic resources.
It would only be odd if someone did decide to buy it.
No wonder Gladness Entertainment Company had not managed to sell in his past life.
“Gladness International is only worth five billion dollars as a listed company. Asking for two billion dollars just for a film sub-company is daylight robbery,” Anna said as she frowned.
“You can’t look at things that way,” Jasper said as he shook his head.
“The price of things can’t just be measured using the market price. If you find something you like, it doesn’t matter if you pay a slightly higher price for it. If it’s something you don’t like, you wouldn’t buy it even if it’s priced lower than its market price.”
Zachary smiled. “That makes sense. If we think about the influence Gladness Entertainment Movies has, it’s not surprising that there’s a markup.
“After all, even though Harbor City’s movies are not as popular as they used to be, the market for them still exists. As one of the top five companies in the industry, Gladness Entertainment possesses an excellent system.
“Thus, if Jasper wants to enter the entertainment industry, it’ll be a solid deal for him if he splurges and purchases Gladness Entertainment Industry. Just the time and labor costs that you’ll save on in the process is astronomical.”
“Having said that, I can’t just splurge with no reason. Uncle Law, please help me arrange a meeting with Mr. Lane. I would like to have a conversation with him,” Jasper said.
Zachary nodded. “If you think there’s a need for a meeting, I’ll be more than willing to bring the two of you together. How about this? Most of the tycoons in Harbor City will be attending a charity ball tomorrow to show their support. You can come with Anna.”
“Charity ball?”
A wave of emotions washed over Jasper.
He had seen tycoons attending various charity balls in his past life.
They mostly just procured several harmless items to auction and then donate the money raised to those in need.
To put it bluntly, it was a place where rich people would mingle and spend some money to build themselves a good reputation.
Such charity auctions existed worldwide, but Harbor City’s tycoons were especially fond of using this method to show off.
He had never imagined that he would also be attending such charity auctions after getting reborn.
“What’s wrong?” Zachary asked after noticing the odd expression on Jasper’s face.
He thought that Jasper was not a fan of such occasions.
“Nothing. I’m just curious because I’ve never attended such events,” Jasper said as he smiled.
Zachary laughed and said, “It’s just a place where we talk, meet new friends, and broaden our social circles. We also buy some trinkets that will never be seen again to build ourselves a good reputation.”
“Henry is familiar with such places. I’ll get him to bring you along.”
Henry smirked as he said, “It’s just a place for you to show off, which you’re good at.”
Zachary glared at Henry, who had forgotten his place. He immediately zipped his mouth and stopped joking.
“Alright, I’ll make sure to be on time the day after tomorrow,” Jasper said.
Once Jasper had said his goodbyes to the Law family, Henry acted as his chauffeur back to the hotel.
However, this time, Henry did not mind his duty at all.
After boasting all the way to the hotel, Henry scrammed the minute he dropped Jasper off. It was evident from the direction he was driving in that he was not heading home. He was probably heading off somewhere to have fun.
Jasper could not be bothered.
When he got back to his room, he discussed the company’s plans with Jack and Hudson as usual. It was past midnight when they wrapped things up.
Jasper called Wendy once the meeting ended.
“You’re not asleep yet?” Jasper asked.
“I was waiting for you to call,” Wendy said, her voice as gentle as ever.
Smiling, Jasper asked, “Has much been happening in the company these few days?”
“Things are alright with the company, but trying to learn financial stuff is hard. It’s so complicated,” Wendy said dispiritedly as she flopped onto the bed.
“Every process takes time. Don’t be too eager for achievements and take it slowly. I can’t afford to have you collapse from exhaustion,” Jasper said as he smiled.
Wendy huffed and said, “You’re worried that I’ll collapse from exhaustion? Look at you, taking such a long trip to Harbor City without coming back sooner.”
“I still have some things to do. I’ll come back the minute I’m done,” Jasper said.
Wendy turned onto her side and said, “Oh, right, Dad wanted me to tell you to visit him once you’re back in Mainland. I think there has been some progress with the entertainment companies in Mainland and he wants you to talk to them.”
“I’ll deal with that once I’m back. There are more pressing issues at Harbor City.”
