Janet and Simon spent her birthday weekend in Miami.
Taking advantage of the downturn in the U.S. real estate market, Janet had purchased a 15-acre oceanfront property in North Palm Beach last year. The plot was located in an upscale neighborhood, with a golf course to the north, a private beach to the east, and a forest park to the south, making it a prime location.
If not for the real estate slump causing developers to cut back on projects, and the fact that the buyer was Simon Westeros, who could bring significant fame to the neighborhood, this land, sufficient to build seven or eight mansions, would not have been sold as a package.
Even so, the 15 acres of land still fetched $10 million.
Janet planned to invest $20 million to build an oceanfront estate, with the main villa already under construction since last year. The entire estate was expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by the second half of next year.
As a temporary measure, Janet also purchased a 1.5-acre mansion next to the estate, planning to incorporate this half-hectare mansion into the estate once it was completed.
Since Simon's property purchase in the neighborhood was announced, property prices in the area had risen by 20% in just one year.
The few mansions around Simon's estate had become highly sought after, with offers exceeding the average price of the neighborhood by double. Savvy developers used Simon's estate as a selling point, tightly holding onto properties in hopes of selling to more wealthy celebrities to further boost the area's popularity.
Shopping, fishing, attending parties... Janet filled the three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday with a vibrant schedule.
The couple returned to New York on Monday, March 16th.
Sophia Facci was still in town.
Having conducted a thorough investigation of CK beforehand, Sophia offered $50 million for CK on Saturday. This included $40 million to purchase 55% of CK's shares from shareholders and $10 million as a loan to help alleviate CK's cash flow problems.
In addition, Sophia promised that after the acquisition, Melisandre and the entire Westeros system would provide CK with resources in channels, legal affairs, marketing, and other areas to help CK quickly turn around and grow.
Apart from internal family disputes, many of CK's issues were similar to those Gucci faced before its rapid rise, which was evident to all.
Although Sophia's offer was relatively low, it was not harsh, allowing CK's other shareholders to retain 45% of the shares for future appreciation.
Thus, despite the 24-hour consideration period, after several fruitless attempts to negotiate, CK founder Calvin Klein and the company's board eventually accepted Melisandre's offer at the last minute.
News of the acquisition agreement made headlines in the New York Times on Monday.
Following the acquisitions of Gucci, Château Latour, and Van Cleef & Arpels, Melisandre had once again acquired a well-known luxury brand, taking another step towards becoming a comprehensive luxury goods group.
CK was not a publicly traded company.
However, with the announcement, the shadow of bankruptcy over CK dissipated. Media reports led to a noticeable increase in CK product sales, and even those embroiled in licensing disputes with CK softened their stance. Though reluctant to relinquish licenses, they expressed willingness to make concessions on licensing fees.
Simon did not return to the West Coast this week but stayed in New York to participate in the next phase of Cersei Capital's development planning.
First was the Cersei Fund Management Company, a hedge fund.
After completing last year's operations in the oil market, Cersei Fund Management faced a 'transition' issue.
To avoid potential targeting of the entire Westeros system, Cersei Fund Management would minimize macro hedges that could impact a nation's economy.
In fact, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cersei Fund Management's analysts predicted a reshuffling of the European monetary system.
In 1979, eight EEC countries, led by Germany and France, established the European Monetary System to counter the U.S. dollar, setting a relatively fixed exchange rate mechanism based on each country's strength. The 'maverick' UK joined the system in 1990, just two years ago.
However, with the unification of East and West Germany, Germany's economic power surged, making the existing exchange rate system unfair to Germany. To attract the UK, the pound's exchange rate was significantly overvalued when it joined two years ago, creating a strong imbalance needing a reshuffle.
Of course, the UK, having gained an advantage, was unwilling to reshuffle, necessitating external forces to push it.
In the original timeline, Soros's Quantum Fund attacked the pound in September 1992, leading to significant devaluations of the pound, lira, peseta, and other European currencies.
Soros personally earned $1 billion from this currency attack, making a name for himself. The Quantum Fund and other hedge funds involved in the attack also profited immensely.
On the other hand, post-crisis, the UK withdrew from the European Monetary System, the EEC was dealt a blow, and the dollar's position was further solidified.
Without delving into the deep geopolitical game involved, with Simon's foresight advantage, Cersei Capital could now preemptively position itself in European currencies, gradually building short positions in the pound, lira, and other currencies destined to plummet.
However, unlike the purely financial Quantum Fund, the Westeros system, if involved, might earn a hefty profit but would undoubtedly face hostility and targeting from European countries, hindering future business in various aspects.
Therefore, after reviewing Cersei Capital's analysts' report, Simon personally forbade any participation in this operation, not allowing a single penny.
With Quantum Fund leading the charge, Cersei Capital might not attract much attention from small gains, but there was no need to get involved for the scraps.
Most importantly, Cersei Fund Management had more suitable targets.
Tech stocks!
The new tech wave centered around the internet had already begun, with companies like Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Cisco, and AOL seeing their stock prices soar in recent years. However, based on his memory, Simon knew that the current prices had yet to reach their peak.
Thus, now was the best time to go long on U.S. tech stocks.
In the original timeline, Tiger Management, after a successful spree in Southeast Asia with Quantum Fund in 1997, bet on shorting tech stocks, leading to its liquidation within two years, losing over 80% of hundreds of billions of dollars. Hedge funds are a zero-sum game, and Tiger Management's liquidation also indicated the immense profits for funds going long on tech stocks.
Though it might take a few more years for tech stocks to reach their peak, the overall trend of the Nasdaq market meant that entering now would still yield significant profits.
Moreover, going long on tech stocks did not carry the strong political risks of macro hedging, such as currency speculation. The Nasdaq tech stock market, with its trillion-dollar valuation, provided ample room for Cersei Fund Management to operate freely.
In the Fifth Avenue apartment.
It was Wednesday, March 18th.
Simon and Janet returned home from Cersei Capital's Midtown headquarters, and Sophia visited for dinner, discussing CK.
Although an agreement had been reached, formalizing the acquisition still required a detailed operational and financial audit of CK by Melisandre to ensure no unforeseen debts or legal risks. If all went well, the acquisition could be completed by early next month.
"After the acquisition, CK will focus on high-end men's and women's fashion, jeans, and underwear. While high-end fashion will compete with Gucci, it will also diversify Melisandre's fashion offerings. The jeans and underwear lines are more crucial, as Gucci has not ventured into these areas," Sophia explained during dinner.
Simon asked, "At the party, Klein mentioned CK's fragrance sales were good?"
Sophia shook her head. "The fragrance business only accounts for about 5% of CK's total sales and struggles to compete with brands like Dior and Chanel. This line won't be canceled but won't see more investment. We're focusing on developing Gucci's fragrance business."
Janet, sitting next to Simon, asked, "What about the brand licenses?"
Sophia replied, "It's complicated. In the '80s, CK granted licenses for sleepwear, swimwear, eyewear, socks, footwear, and home goods. It's challenging to reclaim these now, especially with Melisandre taking over CK. However, these licenses will expire within five years. My goal is to negotiate as many cancellations as possible. If we can't reclaim them, we must ensure the quality of licensed products to protect CK's brand image."
Simon added, "If the company checks out, we can arrange some CK brand exposure at the Oscars at the end of the month."
"I'm already working on that," Sophia nodded, then turned to Janet. "How's the LTD acquisition going?"
LTD is the shorthand for Victoria's Secret parent company, Limited Brands.
Janet said, "KKR and Blackstone have shown interest in LTD recently, possibly leading to a bidding war. If the price gets too high, we'll have to back out."
KKR, known for the record-breaking Reynolds Nabisco merger, and Blackstone, now managed by Laurence Fink, are top-tier private equity firms on Wall Street.
After quietly initiating negotiations in February, several meetings failed to reach an agreement, and the news inevitably leaked.
Although LTD denied leaking the news, the facts were clear.
The leak caused LTD's stock price to rise significantly, with its market value surpassing $1.5 billion.
Neither KKR nor Blackstone had made formal offers yet, but a bidding war seemed inevitable, making a friendly acquisition unlikely.
Cersei Capital's Apollo Management adjusted the acquisition plan, raising the offer cap for LTD to $2.5 billion, an $800 million increase from the initial $1.
7 billion hoped for a friendly acquisition.
Even with such a high cap, it wasn't guaranteed against two strong competitors.
However, the acquisition team had secretly acquired 4.9% of LTD's stock. Even if the acquisition failed, Cersei Capital wouldn't leave empty-handed after liquidating these shares.
In Simon's memory, LTD's peak market value once exceeded $20 billion.
Even buying the company now for $2.5 billion, given the expected U.S. economic growth over the next five years and LTD's potential, Simon believed LTD's stock could at least double in value.
An average annual return of 20% over five years isn't low for private equity.
Simon returned to Los Angeles the next day, as March approached its end and the 64th Academy Awards, scheduled for March 30th, drew near.
According to the voting process, Oscar judges had already mailed their ballots, and the results were mostly settled.
This year, Daenerys Entertainment's key nominated films, "The Piano" and "Thelma & Louise," were likely to be runners-up. Other nominations, like "A Brief History of Time" for Best Documentary and "Raise the Red Lantern" for Best Foreign Language Film, hadn't received much publicity.
It was destined to be a relatively quiet year for Daenerys Entertainment at the Oscars.
Out of 22 total nominations for Daenerys Entertainment, the only sure bet was Holly Hunter for Best Actress for "The Piano."
Her outstanding performance in "The Piano" made her a favorite, and compared to other nominees, she had deep connections in Hollywood. She had once been Spielberg's girlfriend, after all.
Hunter's agency, ICM, had invested significant resources and connections to secure her the Oscar.
In 1992, Easter fell on April 19th.
With a month to go, Daenerys Entertainment's Easter highlight, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II," was in its final promotional push.
Simon was pleased with the sequel's production but worried about the box office performance due to the steep declines seen in New Line's 1990s "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sequels.
If not for the sequel's budget of only $30 million and the need to align with Blizzard Studios' "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game series, Simon would have considered canceling the sequel, like with "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."
The 1990 release of the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film didn't immediately lead to a sequel last year due to Simon's concerns.
Ultimately, while "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" had high recognition, its appeal skewed younger, and adult audiences quickly lost interest in sequels after the initial novelty wore off. Even though the films were rated PG, live-action turtles didn't charm children as much as cartoons did.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!] [www.p@treon.com/INNIT]