National Tide 1980.

It has to be said that although Ikuo Suho's sudden death ended all the conflicts between him and Kiri Studios.

From now on, this old guy will no longer have to worry about his whereabouts being leaked, getting beaten up when he goes out, being interviewed by reporters, or legal proceedings.

But the consequences of his death were far more than just shocking the Japanese public through news reports and providing ordinary people with gossip to talk about after dinner.

After all, he once controlled half of the artists in the Japanese entertainment industry during his lifetime, and his death also meant the complete collapse of the Burning Empire.

Needless to say, since "one super and four powerful" has become a thing of the past, when the former king dies, the other four more powerful lords will inevitably compete with each other for the king's territory and inheritance.

This mainly includes the resources that the Burning Group once occupied in the TV station, as well as the well-known entertainment agencies and contracted artists under its system coverage.

And not only will they come to rob, but "foreign enemies" will come to rob as well.

The "Big Five" in the film industry are not all good guys and girls, especially this time they have clearly stood on the side of Matsumoto Keiko's Kiri Studio from the very beginning.

Moreover, long before the videotape that determined Suho Ikuo's reputation was exposed, the "Big Five" had already begun secretly poaching his talents.

As an ally of the victor, it is normal to reap the spoils and there is no need to be afraid of bragging about it.

They came to divide the flesh and blood of the losers, and they were even more unscrupulous than the entertainment agencies from the four television factions.

On the other hand, some of the stronger firms that were originally under the control of the Combustion Department no longer wanted to be tied to this broken ship of the Combustion Department because they were dissatisfied with Suho Ikuo's control or the distribution of benefits.

Now they had a real chance to be liberated and they no longer had any reservations.

They either choose to fight alone, or find a new backer with better conditions, taking advantage of the situation and hitting it off with these recruiters.

The ones who are really miserable are those small entertainment agencies that belong to the Burning Department but lack strength and have never been taken seriously.

Originally, they were "kidnapped" onto the "pirate ship" and were said to have joined the Burning System under duress.

Although Suoh Ikuo has fallen now, their situation has not improved.

Whether they take the initiative to seek help or are found by others, they have no bargaining power at all.

To put it bluntly, we are still fish on the chopping board. We can only allow others to control us, continue to be others' vassals, and listen to others' orders to barely survive.

As a result, during this period of time, the entertainment industry was quite lively.

Almost half of the entertainment agencies are in a hurry to change their headquarters, and news about mergers and alliances are pouring in.

The entertainment agencies that originally belonged to the Burning Department have released announcements of new collaborations.

Well-known artists whose contracts are about to expire will directly join the "Big Five" or "Super Four".

There were all kinds of news that were completely beyond people's expectations, which was so chaotic that it stunned the people.

If someone could make this experience into a movie in the future, it would probably be as exciting as movies like "The Unjust War" or "The Leader of Japan", which are about the struggles and iterations of Yakuza organizations.

However, to a certain extent, these gossip news have distracted everyone from the pain of losing money in the stock market and alleviated the mental anxiety of many people, which can be considered beneficial to society.

Interestingly, not all winners know how to reap the fruits of their victory.

Just like the protagonist of this fight, Fog Studios, its slow response when it came to dividing up the spoils was a bit surprising.

If nothing else, they didn't even get involved at all, as if nothing happened. Who could believe this?
what on earth is this kind of happenings?
Doesn’t Matsumoto Keiko care about this benefit?
No, actually it was because the incident happened suddenly and Ning Weimin was far away in France.

As for Keiko Matsumoto, she is really just a female star who can act.

Although she is the owner of Mist Studios and has the title of president, she really knows nothing about how to run a business.

Her right-hand men, Watanabe Mitsuru and Okamoto Akira, are of insignificant status.

Originally, they followed Matsumoto Keiko out of Shochiku Film Company because they couldn't wait for promotion according to seniority. However, with their abilities and knowledge, they had never experienced this kind of war and had never enjoyed the benefits of seeing the enemy die and sharing the spoils of war.

At present, they are all focused on how to manage their own private plots, and have not focused their development attention on Suho Ikuo's "legacy".

Since even they themselves did not realize in time that this was an opportunity to devour others and strengthen themselves, how could they possibly give the right advice to Keiko Matsumoto in time?

This led to Keiko Matsumoto completely ignoring the pork-sharing feast.

As a result, she, the person who was most qualified and the one who should have started eating first, did not participate at all.

Fortunately, Keiko Matsumoto still has a "career father".

As someone who has always supported Keiko Matsumoto, President Sakomoto of Shochiku Film is quite particular about his interpersonal relationships.

Especially now that Shochiku Films has reached in-depth cooperation with Kiri Studios, he naturally cannot watch his ally suffer losses.

So while he was "eating and drinking", when he found that Keiko Matsumoto did not take any action, he did not forget to fulfill his "father's duty" and quickly contacted this "daughter" who was concentrating on the filming, reminding her that it was time to get her own spoils.

"Don't just sit there and watch others take action, kid. You are the one who is most qualified to take advantage. So hurry up and make your move."

So, this made Keiko Matsumoto realize that she finally saw the free meal.

It should be said that although the banquet was almost over, it was indeed a bit late for her to take her seat.

But fortunately, there was still one main dish that no one touched.

This is primarily because the "Big Five" in the Japanese film industry have reached a certain consensus after years of competition with each other and the emergence of television-based entertainment agencies.

Now, in order to maintain harmony with each other, they follow the rules whether competing or doing things, and never touch things that they shouldn't touch.

Therefore, they had no intention of paying attention to the Burning Entertainment Agency itself. In their opinion, the owner of this big piece of meat had already been decided.

Just like the king’s golden crown, it can only belong to the knight who leads everyone into the castle.

This is definitely, and must be, the harvest of Fog Studios.

As for the "Four Supers" from TV, they were drooling at the sight of Burning Entertainment Agency.

But they are not stupid. The Burning Entertainment Agency is too sensitive and they know that it will be difficult for them to swallow this big piece of meat on their own.

Once you take action, you will become the target of public criticism, such as becoming an enemy of other firms.

Moreover, Suoh Ikuo was crazy and mortgaged all the copyrights of the agency to speculate in stocks. God knows whether this entertainment agency is still a valuable asset. God knows how much debt Suoh Ikuo owed to others. If he wants to take it all, he must have sufficient financial resources to bear the debt.

That's why they have been hesitant and haven't taken any action, planning to eat what they can eat first.

Even when Burning Entertainment Agency contacted them, they were vague and perfunctory at first.

I just wanted to find out the financial situation, listen to the other party's conditions, and decide to wait and see. I didn't dare to take any real action.

At most, they would just set their sights on a few of the most famous artists at Burning Entertainment Agency, and only think about poaching the artists without any other baggage.

As a result, this move has led to an almost complete confrontation between Burning Entertainment Agency and its artists and even their agents.

The artists and their agents all wanted to leave, having completely lost confidence in the future of the agency.

On the contrary, the current executive director of the entertainment agency, Norio Higuchi, and the publicity director Nario Kawanishi, regard these artists as the agency's last resources and capital. How could they be willing to give up this last straw?

As a result, Burning Entertainment Agency has truly become a place where no one cares about it, and even the people in the agency have no hope of selling themselves for a good price.

Their demands now are actually very unified. They just want to change to a powerful employer and have a stable job. They don’t have too many requirements.

In short, when Matsumoto Keiko decided to go out for dinner, it was quite magical that in front of her, in addition to the leftovers and the messy cups and plates, there was actually a complete, golden and crispy roasted pig with an apple in its mouth, waiting for her to feast on it.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

As for the other diners, they all stayed quietly by the side, watching her eat, and no one competed with her for the food.

So in fact, she just sent Akira Okamoto to reveal a little bit of meaning, and the Burning Entertainment Agency collectively knelt down and surrendered.

The rest was effortless, and Matsumoto Keiko took over the Burning Entertainment Agency.

The condition she agreed to was simply to maintain the original treatment of those who surrendered to her.

In terms of the transaction price, Burning Entertainment Agency is not too expensive.

Ikuo Suho was neither married nor had any children, and both his parents were dead.

Speaking of relatives, he only has an older brother and a younger sister, and they don't interact much with each other.

Especially since this brother and sister are both ordinary people, one works as a clerk in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, and the other married and became a housewife in Osaka.

Given their personal conditions, even if they were the legal beneficiaries of Suho Ikuo's estate, it would not be a good thing for them to accept Suho Ikuo's assets.

After all, they have no way to turn liabilities into positive returns.

So, with the help of Norio Higuchi and Shigeo Kawanishi, they all accepted the conditions offered by Keiko Matsumoto.

He happily signed a contract with Keiko Matsumoto for 20 million yen and sold the Burning Entertainment Agency to Keiko Matsumoto.

Of course, the original price could have been lower, but this was Ning Weimin's idea.

He told Matsumoto Keiko on the phone not to feel sorry for the small amount of money, and there was no need to be too drastic or too greedy.

Considering that what a company needs for operation is stability, it is better to try your best to ensure that the family members have no complaints.

At the same time, this gesture is also shown to new employees.

Because this incident can tell them that the new boss is not a mean person, so they can continue to work with peace of mind.

As expected, once the contract was signed, people's hearts were made up.

The noisy Burning Entertainment Agency immediately ended the panic.

However, it must be said that the debt owed by Ikuo Suho is quite complicated. This guy is really desperate and reckless.

He actually borrowed all the assets of the firm from the bank, and then took the loan contract to a loan shark company for secondary mortgage. He used almost all the channels he could to borrow money, and borrowed a total of 3.3 billion yen.

Fortunately, because this guy's need was urgent and he was a bit reckless in the situation, the gap between his loan amount and the mortgaged assets was quite large.

And Fog Studios also has ample funds in its account.

After asking Ning Weimin's opinion, Matsumoto Keiko readily paid off the debt owed by Suho Ikuo, using 4.4 billion yen to complete all debt clearance work, and recovered all the assets and rights belonging to Burning Entertainment Agency from banks and loan companies.

It should be said that although the only real estate of Burning Entertainment Agency is office space, as a medium-sized entertainment agency, there are not many well-known artists among its artists. Except for a few such as Koizumi Kyoko, Go Yumi, and Nagayama Yoko, there are no "big things". It seems that it is not worth buying this entertainment agency at this price.

But you have to know that Burning Entertainment Agency was the first in the entertainment industry to get involved in copyright management.

As early as 1973 when he founded "BURNING PUBLISHES", Ikuo Suho began to specialize in the music copyright business.

In addition to the artists under Burning Entertainment, he also holds the copyrights to SOUTHERN ALL STARS' early songs and most of Tetsuya Komuro's songs.

Thinking back to the beginning, he was able to quickly pay off the loan of more than 60 million yen that he borrowed when the firm was established in just five years, which laid the foundation for his career.

This is largely due to its good management of music copyright.

The way Suho Ikuo obtained music copyrights was to approach agencies that were in financial difficulties or encountered various troubles with his strong financial resources, and obtain various rights and interests of their artists on the condition of helping them out of their difficulties. In other words, it was equivalent to corporate mergers and acquisitions.

Especially over the years, this guy has been using this model to continuously obtain music copyrights, so the most valuable asset of his entertainment agency is the music copyrights he continues to collect.

According to financial data provided by two of his former right-hand men, Burning Entertainment Agency can earn at least 500 to 600 million yen in revenue every year through copyright fees, which is pure profit without any cost.

It can continue to do so, which means that even if other assets are not considered, it is worth spending money to buy Burning Entertainment Agency just for these music copyrights.

In comparison, the foundation of Taurus Palace is much shallower, but Matsumoto Keiko spent almost the same amount of money to own 90% of the shares.

From this perspective, isn't this deal a good deal?

And what is certain is that from now on, some TV program resources that originally belonged to the Burning Entertainment Agency will also fall into the hands of Matsumoto Keiko. At least for a period of time, the TV station will have to fulfill the contract. This is completely a free benefit.

Finally, the most important point is that after taking over Ikuo Suho's agency, Matsumoto Keiko's shortcomings in acting have been almost eliminated. She no longer has to worry about not finding enough actors, and even the value of the Taurus Palace has been correspondingly improved.

Because Matsumoto Agency merged with Burning Entertainment, there were many well-known singers and naturally more music albums needed to be produced. Naturally, all these businesses now became the meal of Taurus Palace.

That's the beauty of mergers and acquisitions.

The small trust has begun to take shape. (End of this chapter)