Chapter 296: The Bronfman Family
As soon as Aaron Anderson's Dawnlight Group officially entered the race to acquire MCA Inc. from Panasonic, Hollywood was instantly shaken.
Who would ultimately take control of the legendary Universal Pictures suddenly became one of the industry's biggest mysteries.
Compared to that, the news of Jeffrey Katzenberg leaving The Walt Disney Company no longer seemed nearly as important.
"You're actually trying to buy Universal?"
Lying across Aaron's chest in bed, Jennifer Connelly looked genuinely excited.
"I'm considering it," Aaron replied, holding the voluptuous woman in his arms with a faint sigh.
After all, MCA's valuation was hovering around six to seven billion dollars. Even for Dawnlight, swallowing a giant like that wouldn't be easy.
"That's incredible," Jennifer said, kissing him lightly. "But you must have a lot of competition, right?"
Universal and Paramount Pictures were the two oldest major studios in Hollywood—both founded in 1912, even earlier than MGM, Columbia, or Warner Bros.
Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Of course there's competition."
The liquor empire Seagram Company, led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., had been eager to enter Hollywood for years.
And with Michael Ovitz—one of Hollywood's most powerful dealmakers—guiding them, their position was formidable. After all, Ovitz had helped Panasonic acquire MCA in the first place, and now Panasonic had turned to him again to handle its sale.
Jennifer kissed Aaron again.
"Still, Dawnlight has the strongest momentum in Hollywood right now. The two most talked-about films this year are definitely Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction."
"The Lion King is doing great too, but animation isn't quite the same as live-action."
Aaron smiled, then rolled over and pinned her beneath him.
"One step at a time," he murmured. "Asset evaluations take time too…"
That afternoon, at Dawnlight headquarters in Burbank, Aaron met with Peter G. Peterson, co-founder of Blackstone Inc. and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
Handing him a glass of wine, Aaron asked,
"Blackstone has a pretty good relationship with Akio Morita, doesn't it?"
Peterson nodded.
"Blackstone's first major acquisition deal was helping Sony acquire CBS Records."
"You could say Morita was our very first major client."
Aaron smiled.
"Good. This time we're dealing with the Japanese again—but you'll also need to get past Michael Ovitz and Herbert Allen Jr., Panasonic's advisors."
"I'm guessing Edgar Bronfman promised Ovitz that he'd run MCA after the acquisition."
Peterson frowned slightly.
"Seagram insists cash won't be an issue. That makes things difficult."
"If Dawnlight wants to swallow a company this large, Aaron… you may have to give up quite a bit of equity."
Aaron nodded calmly.
"That's expected. We can leverage the merged company itself. With Dawnlight's current momentum, I believe Wall Street investors will back me."
"We'll begin evaluating MCA's assets immediately," Peterson replied. "Then we'll prepare a competitive offer."
For Blackstone, this was likely the largest transaction they had ever handled. Peterson knew he couldn't afford any mistakes.
After Peterson left, Christiana Reali entered Aaron's office to update him on production status.
"Scream, Con Air, and Se7en have all wrapped filming and entered post-production."
"Our in-house production Red Dragon is still filming, along with Phantom Pictures' Sense and Sensibility and PolyGram's Dead Man Walking."
Aaron rubbed his temples.
"What's Michael Bay doing lately?"
"Oh, he's basically waiting for Bad Boys to release next spring," she replied. "It's his directorial debut, after all."
Christiana Reali spoke as she settled herself onto Aaron's lap, wrapping her arms around him affectionately.
"So," she teased, "you really think highly of him?"
Aaron nodded and pulled a script treatment from his desk drawer: The Rock.
"Give this project to Michael Bay. I've already seen the rough cut for Bad Boys, and the results are impressive."
"He's genuinely talented when it comes to action films."
The Rock was a pure adrenaline-fueled action-adventure blockbuster—exactly the kind of film suited to Michael Bay's style.
"Alright," Christiana replied without objection. "I'll probably need to spend some time in New York next. We're preparing for this year's Victoria's Secret fashion show."
"Last year's show generated a huge amount of buzz and boosted sales quite a bit. This year, the scale will be even bigger."
Aaron smiled and ran his hand lightly across her thigh.
"That's good news. Didn't you sign a few new models in Brazil?"
"I did," she whispered into his ear. "Beautiful faces, tall and sexy figures… fiery samba girls."
Aaron laughed and gave her a playful pat.
"Come on. No Brazilian woman could outshine you."
That evening, outside a club on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, two motorcycles roared to a stop.
Jack Wells and Aaron removed their helmets.
"How was it?" Jack grinned.
"Thrilling," Aaron replied, brushing back his hair. "Perfect timing for a drink."
Inside the club, Jack brought up the NBA.
"The 1994–95 season won't be affected. Everything's moving forward as planned."
"Preseason has already started, and construction on the Houston Dawnlight Center is progressing smoothly."
Aaron nodded.
"The Rockets just won their first championship. Team morale must be through the roof. Next season should be exciting."
Jack laughed.
"More than morale—they're overflowing with confidence."
He clinked glasses with Aaron before lowering his voice.
"As for the Texas governor's race, George W. Bush is leading in the polls."
"Unless something unexpected happens, he'll probably become governor in November."
Aaron shrugged.
"Not bad. Over here in California, Pete Wilson is also leading comfortably."
"He's got a strong chance at reelection. People really approved of how he handled the Los Angeles earthquake."
Jack lit a cigarette.
"We've invested a lot in both of them. Once they succeed, it'll finally be time for us to see some returns."
Aaron finished the last of his drink before speaking again.
"Look into the Bronfman family behind Seagram."
"Seagram is our biggest rival in the fight for MCA."
"No problem," Jack replied.