At night, David laid in bed exhaustedly after going over all the documents this entire afternoon.
From the handful of Hollywood companies and comparing each of them, David finally landed on one specific company.
Phoenix Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Phoenix Pictures Entertainment Inc. is a small local Hollywood company that prioritizes self-sufficiency. They were established in 1980 by a small businessman interested in attempting to make films.
The other companies that David was eyeing on were some low-tier ambitious companies that aim to aggressively expand their company through the success of several low-cost films.
These companies only rely on movie scripts with low budgets to make profits. From what he had gathered, most Hollywood companies were run this way.
A healthy company development was the most important so that when he takes over the company, he would not have to start from scratch.
However, Phoenix Pictures Entertainment Inc. is a unique one among the others. After some investigations, this company makes and buys movies and only distributes them in California and some surrounding states.
As for the far-away states, they simply sell them, sell them at a good price to cover their entire movie budget.
This can make sure that even if the movie is a failure, they won't lose anything. It would also spare them the trouble of fighting for advantage with many local state companies in other states for copyright shares and so on, which is too troublesome for their small company.
If they were to do this, they would just be bullied, and they won't be able to do much.
The owner seeks to prioritize having a stable film company before aiming for profits. The downside is that they also barely earn anything, which would explain their little to no growth over the past years.
Aside from that, they can also produce their own videotapes in small amounts and distribute them locally on their own.
This company is basically a mini version of the giant Hollywood companies, except that they only play in a few states. They have a small production crew and their own small division of distribution channels.
This is exactly what David was trying to find, checking all the conditions he was looking for.
For the company valuation, it was only $1.8 million.
When David first saw it, he immediately knew something was wrong. This company should at least be $4 million if all the details were correct.
But upon further investigation, David found that this company was actually near bankruptcy and had laid off many of its employees.
Well, the reason was unfortunate but understandable. The owner was now old and bedridden. His children didn't know how to run it, and each year, the company balance is only slowly draining away.
So they were urgently trying to find a buyer to take over the company before its value disappears.
Naturally, David will not let this go. He has to buy it before another group tries to purchase it.
The good news is small companies like these are in the hundreds. There are just too many of them, and they are just very tiny in the face of the giants in the industry.
Every day, few companies disappear, and another few pop out. This is just a normal occurrence in the overly competitive stage of Hollywood.
But for David, this one is the best among them, so if he could acquire it, then it would be for the best.
"Still, if the owner weren't old, he probably wouldn't want to sell this company. After all, stable Hollywood companies can easily increase their value through time, especially in the coming decades."
...
In a blink of an eye, a month passed.
David finally reached an agreement with the side of Phoenix Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Now, why did it take so long?
David wasn't expecting it either. The world once again proved that some things will always go wrong when you least expect it.
Anyway, in short, the owner unfortunately died, and his children fought each other for the company. Well, David could just buy the company, and they can share the money, but no, they just had to make it hard for him.
It turns out that some of the children wanted to sell it, but some did not want to, so they did the most annoying action, they went to court.
David had to wait for the processes to end and settle everything before finally negotiating a price. The only good thing that happened was the company further deteriorated, leaving the other side no space to demand anything.
So with a price of $1.8 million, David easily completed the acquisition of Phoenix Pictures Entertainment Inc.
The first thing he had to do was to change the name. To keep it simple, he left it at Frost Pictures Entertainment.
Why would he put his name in it? Well, the answer is simple, why not?
Also, his name sounds great, and he can also bring some of his fame towards his company, and in the future, his company will also give him a lot of influence.
From this day on, he finally joined the playing ground of Hollywood. This land is like a jungle, and one thing's for sure, he will never be the prey.
...
The next morning, David washed after his workout and drove to the company. This can be said to be his first full acquisition, his first company.
"Good morning Mr. Frost."
William Johnson, the current CEO of the company, was already expecting him at the entrance. This guy was very unfortunate to work on the company just as the owner fell sick.
In the past two years that he had been in the company, he tried to salvage what was left. Still, the previous owner's children refused to give out any budget to purchase small successful film copyrights, effectively halting the entire company.
The small profits they earned in the last months only came from selling videotapes of their past movie collections.
He is currently 38 years old, married with a family of two children.
In the office, David sat comfortably and did a quick scan of the company's current state before looking up at William.
"William, how much money are we losing?"
"Boss, we are losing about $20,000 each month if we continue not making any changes."
"Do you have any suggestions to fix our current problem?"
"Boss, since we currently don't have any film projects, if we shut down the film division temporarily and lay off some remaining employees who don't have much else to do, we can stop all the losses and even profit a little bit just by selling videotapes."
William seems like he didn't want to shut down the film division, hesitant to speak about it but to stop the company from losing money, this is the only way.
From his words alone, David felt like he is at least capable of doing what the company needs.
"William, I saw from your information that you are working on another Hollywood company for many years. Why did you choose to move here?"
William smiled bitterly as if recalling an unfortunate memory but didn't hesitate to answer.
"Boss, the company I was in, got acquired by a second-tier Hollywood company, and they decided to move away and combine the two companies. My family lives here in Los Angeles, and at that time, we just bought a house here, so relocating to a faraway area is very difficult for us, so I had no choice but to find another job."
David nodded, completely understanding his circumstances. He probably had to quit a higher-paying job for his current job only to end up with all this mess. That is indeed unfortunate.
But being a CEO of a company acquired by a second-tier Hollywood company, this is definitely an astounding feat. This means that he is capable of bringing the company to success, enough to be noticed and bought by a larger company.
Talented and capable people are rare, so naturally, David is very accepting of him.
And David is willing to give him a chance.
Hopefully, he can really prove his talent by making use of the opportunity given to him.
"William, do you want to continue being the CEO of the company?"
William's heart jumped when he heard David's words. He can't help himself. He thought the new owner would replace him. After all, this is normal when the company changes hands.
Now that he is being given a chance, how can he let it go?
"Yes, boss! I want to stay."
Finding a job with high pay and a lot of freedom to make decisions is very difficult, especially in Hollywood, where there is no lacking of people.
If he doesn't accept it, someone out there can easily replace him, and he cannot afford to risk being jobless, having a wife and two children relying on him at home.
"Well, William, from now on, you are the CEO of Frost Pictures."
"Thank you, boss! I will not let you down."
"Now that I have completed the acquisition, let's talk about our plan for the company."