National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1281 The deal is concluded

The lawyer introduced by Alain Delon was named Henri René, a man in his fifties.

Ning Weimin left a good impression when they first met in the lawyer's office.

This is not only because he has a smart and capable face and is dressed like a gentleman, but also because of his calm and pragmatic work attitude and his high professional qualities.

You know, although he knew that he would make a lot of money by being a legal advisor for such large transactions, the French lawyer still insisted on making the following statement to Ning Weimin as soon as they met.

"Let me make it clear first that I am a lawyer who has been serving Mr. Alain Delon for a long time. So, sir, I have to make sure you understand that this time I am only temporarily providing you with legal services related to your transaction with the film studio. And this is based on the premise that Mr. Alain Delon stays out of it. If... I mean, in case... your business negotiations with the two film studios involve Mr. Alain Delon's interests, then I will have to suspend your service midway, and I will also act as Mr. Alain Delon's agent to fight for his legal rights."

Looking at Alain Delon who looked a little embarrassed, Ning Weimin expressed his full understanding.

"No problem, I agree."

What Lawyer Henry said next made Ning Weimin even more confident in his ability to work.

"Let me make it clear again that I have no intention of targeting you, let alone humiliating you. Sir, if I were the most powerful film producer in France, or even a Hollywood mogul, I would do the same. This is my professional principle. If you ask Mr. Alain Delon, you will know that I am never afraid of any big shots, and I like to confront them in court. In every transaction, I will do my best to ensure that my agents obtain reasonable benefits. This is my career pursuit. Of course, my prices are never cheap, and they match my work ability. I hope you can be mentally prepared for this."

Ning Weimin glanced at Alain Delon beside him, who nodded slightly in agreement.

So, Ning Weimin turned to the lawyer and said with a smile, "I appreciate your frankness, Mr. Lawyer. Henry, can I call you that? I have completely understood what you mean. I can also assure you that I am not a stingy employer. If you are willing to be my lawyer, I have prepared a check for one million francs and will give it to you right away. And this is just an advance payment. If this deal can be completed at a relatively reasonable price in the end, you can send me more bills."

"How should I understand what you mean by a reasonable price?"

"If the other party can make an offer according to the normal market price, I would like to give an additional 20% discount on this basis. After all, this is a large transaction, and everyone thinks that I am doing something stupid and buying a bunch of junk that no one wants. So if that's the case, this small goal of mine should not be difficult to achieve, right?"

The lawyer finally smiled now.

After Henry took the check from Ning Weimin, he shook hands with Ning Weimin solemnly.

"As you wish, sir. From now on, I will be your agent. I will do my best to help you realize your wish as soon as possible."

Then he said to Alain Delon, "Alain, we all have to have a drink together. Thank you for introducing me to such a great client."

…………

Three days later, Ning Weimin was the first to receive feedback from World Television and Film Company.

He immediately called his temporary attorney.

Ning Weimin then brought Matsumoto Keiko to meet Henri René in his office.

It was just a coincidence that the lawyer didn't have any urgent work at the moment.

So after they reviewed the contract terms that had been prepared in advance, they got in the law firm's car and rushed to the appointment at the World Television and Film Company.

This film studio started in the 1920s and still retains the style of that era, looking completely like a traditional studio.

The structure is similar to that of Shochiku Film's large shipyard and the Mist Studio bought by Keiko Matsumoto.

There are many small buildings scattered across the vast site, which are different studios.

The main building has only six floors and is an old building. Only modern facilities have been renovated within the original architectural layout.

So the studio's administrative space was very small and crowded.

Ning Weimin and his group went all the way to the sixth floor, where they met several senior executives from the film studio who had been waiting for them in a relatively spacious conference room.

The studio's general manager, executive director, and deputy general manager in charge of distribution have been authorized by the board of directors to negotiate the film library deal.

So in addition to them, the studio's legal advisors are inevitably here as well.

However, what was somewhat unexpected was that Henri René and the other party's legal advisor actually knew each other. They were once lawyers in the same well-known law firm, and they seemed to have a good relationship.

Both of them were very happy to meet each other in such an occasion, and they exchanged polite greetings without any reservations for a long time.

This undoubtedly provided some additional favorable factors for the successful conclusion of the transaction.

In fact, the process was quite smooth.

After the two parties got to know each other, the production studio first took out the list of films in the library and distributed it to Ning Weimin and his team for them to browse.

Henry also took out the preliminary contract framework he had prepared on behalf of Ning Weimin and had it read through in public.

Then the studio staff brought hot coffee and snacks.

The two parties began to discuss business and contracts over coffee like friends in a friendly atmosphere similar to a chat in a cafe.

It was as if the deal was not that important and that a little more or less didn't matter. They talked about the terms and the price slowly and leisurely like gentlemen.

There was no verbal sparring, bickering, or insults or attacks at all.

To be honest, this surprised Ning Weimin a little.

Perhaps influenced by Hollywood, he always thinks that foreigners cannot speak properly, especially when talking about money, they get easily excited, and they particularly like to bang the table and yell when discussing big business.

Originally, he had made some mental preparations in advance for this meeting, and warned himself that if such a situation occurred, he must not get anxious or angry, and just treat himself as a bystander.

I didn’t expect the on-site confrontation to be so civilized.

And he really became a bystander, watching both parties negotiate the deal in such a gentle and polite manner.

Neither side made any aggressive moves towards the other and behaved quite harmoniously.

Even in an environment where the language is unfamiliar.

Ning Weimin didn't have time to think carefully about the other party's offer of 426,597,800 francs.

In just one hour, his temporary attorney, Henri René, followed his advance instructions and negotiated the final transaction price for him.

"They agreed to all your requests. I negotiated the price for you to 330 million francs. This is better than the target price you requested. So please sign these documents. After signing these documents, all the commercial rights of the TV series and movies in these catalogs in Asia will belong to you and your wife. Of course, signing this document means that you must fulfill your legal obligations on time. The important thing is that you have to pay within a week, at least 200 million francs. Otherwise, you will be in trouble. So... you decide what you want..."

Henri René spoke in English and happily spread the contract in front of Ning Weimin.

However, the French lawyer, who was feeling proud of his efficient work, did not expect that Ning Weimin would return some of his words from three days ago to him. "I would like to send the final terms of the contract to Paris by fax and ask the lawyers there to review it for me. Is that okay? Sorry, Henry, I am very satisfied with your work. I also hope you can understand that I am not targeting you, nor do I disrespect you, but..."

This made Henri René feel a little like he had sprained his waist.

But he was a professional lawyer after all, so he just shrugged his shoulders in surprise and did not show any emotional resistance.

"Understood. Just to be cautious and conduct business as usual."

Then he took the initiative to ask.

"Do you want to send the fax now, or do you want to go back and do it later? If you do it now, I will ask them to provide the equipment..."

"Okay, send the fax now."

Just like that, that afternoon, when Paris responded to Ning Weimin who had been waiting for several hours, saying that there was no problem with the contract, he could sign it with confidence.

Ning Weimin, who had already tasted coffee, had a staff meal and was drinking afternoon tea at the World Television and Film Company, finally ended his good times of eating and drinking for free and making money at other people's studios, and officially signed his name on the acquisition contract.

So from this point on, he bought out all the copyrights and commercial rights in Asia of 2,100 film copies, more than 600 TV series, more than 60 animated series, and more than 80 documentaries originally belonging to World Television and Film Company.

And then they planned to transfer all of this to the name of Matsumoto Keiko Kiri Productions through another document.

That’s not all. After signing, Ning Weimin wrote out a check for 200 million francs on the spot.

He also understood that since it would be the same whether he gave it early or late, why wait until a week later?

It would be better to pay the down payment in the presence of lawyers from both parties. This will reduce legal risks and make you appear more generous.

And when they completed these tasks one by one, needless to say, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko were extremely excited.

For Ning Weimin, this was almost the biggest deal he had ever made, and it was a deal with old-school capitalism.

No one knows better than him what he took from the French. It was a huge bargain in cultural copyright.

He already had a fairly complete plan in mind. These copies would be temporarily stored in Japan, and would be transferred to his homeland when the time was right.

This not only makes it easier to preserve the films, but is also conducive to recovering costs, given the Japanese preference for pink films and the existence of many independent cinemas across Japan that are willing to play art films.

It can also be used to help Fog Studios get tax deductions.

To put it bluntly, if they make some adjustments to the accounts, it may end up being the Japanese government that spends money to buy properties for them.

And if this happens, perhaps it won't be too late for the French to regret it in a few decades.

He hated themselves for being so stupid as to package and sell the artistic products of their most creative period at such a cheap price, while allowing him, an Oriental, to make a fortune from it.

As for Keiko Matsumoto, she was completely intoxicated by the happiness of love and marriage.

You know, she is a person who is obsessed with movies and regards movies as her lifelong career.

Not only did her beloved not let her retire after marriage, but he also helped her improve the finances of the agency, bought a film studio for her, and made blockbuster films such as "Li Xianglan" that caused a sensation in Asia, thus saving her acting career.

Now he has even bought countless copies of films from a major French film studio for her.

  How could she not be moved, how could she not be excited?

With her knowledge of the film industry, she knew that these copies were hot potatoes.

But she didn't care at all whether the deal that Ning Weimin had facilitated was risky.

Because in her eyes, Ning Weimin did this for her.

Rather than saying that she had superstitious faith in Ning Weimin's business ability, it would be more accurate to say that she was glad to have found true love.

So no matter what Ning Weimin chooses to do or what he is willing to do, she will never object.

She will only support unconditionally, cooperate without reservation, and regard it as the greatest happiness in her life.

She didn't know the Chinese proverb "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog", but she already had this awareness and determination.

As for those French people, several senior executives of World Television and Film Company were of course also very happy.

None of them expected Ning Weimin to be so efficient. They originally thought that they would have to compete with another studio in a price war.

I didn't expect that the deal was done and the contract was signed on the same day, and the money was paid immediately after signing the contract.

So even though the deal was done, the overjoyed general manager of the studio still kept the guest with sincerity.

"Excuse me, I would like to take up a little more of your time. I propose that we have a toast to our pleasant cooperation."

There was no chance for objection at all, and the staff who had been prepared took action upon hearing the news.

In a blink of an eye, several female employees of the studio walked into the conference room holding a tray of wine glasses and a bottle of Remy Martin cognac, and respectfully served a glass to each of the bigwigs present.

The general manager raised his glass first and said, "Cheers to our pleasant cooperation and the opportunity to work together again! Cheers to our friends from the East!"

Just like that, everyone at the scene drank up all the wine.

Of course, there was another person who was also very happy that the transaction was completed so smoothly. He was the lawyer Henri René who temporarily took over the business.

Normally, when it comes to transactions involving such a large amount of money, both parties are usually very cautious, and it is easy for things to go wrong in the middle of the negotiation due to huge differences between them.

Originally, according to Henry's own estimate, even if Ning Weimin did not have unrealistic demands, it would take at least two weeks.

After all, there is another studio that will provide comparisons, so you can choose the best one.

He really didn't expect that his work would be completed in just four days, and Ning Weimin didn't even wait for the other company's quotation.

This means that he made a lot of money easily as if pie fell from the sky, and could get his reward quickly.

He was even considering taking an early vacation and renting a yacht to take his wife and children to Morocco and Nice for a few days.

So besides being so happy, when he just left the studio and got into the car, he couldn't help but ask for his payment.