"Everyone, don't rush. I only said we need to cooperate to prevent the 'yellow monkeys' from profiting greatly from us, not that CNN must secure exclusive broadcasting rights!" Little John said with a smile.
"If you're not bidding for exclusive broadcasting rights, then why are you colluding?" Tony asked, frowning.
"As I said, it's just to prevent the 'yellow monkeys' from profiting!" Little John replied. "My idea is, since the bidding starts at $10 million, let's not throw all our money in. Instead, we'll increase the bid by the minimum amount each time, which is $1 million. Our ultimate goal is to suppress the purchase price within $30 million, rather than throwing in hundreds of millions of dollars and letting those Chinese make all our money!" Little John elaborated.
"What nonsense are you spouting? If everyone wants 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu', there will inevitably be fierce competition. How can it be suppressed within $30 million? Each of us has the authority to spend over $100 million, and we are under orders from higher-ups to secure 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu'. How can we let others acquire it for less than $30 million?" Tony retorted, to which everyone else nodded, unanimously agreeing that Little John was an idiot.
"Then, what if someone wins the bid for $30 million, and simultaneously pays each of us another $30 million as a decoy fee? Would it be possible to secure it for $30 million then?" Little John suddenly blurted out, leaving everyone at the scene speechless.
"Let me be clearer. I hope the five of us can set a rule: no matter how much one of us bids for the exclusive broadcasting rights of 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu', they must pay the other four the same amount as a decoy fee."
"In other words, if I win the bid for 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu' for $30 million, I must pay each of you $30 million as a decoy fee. This way, my total cost for acquiring 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu' would reach $150 million, which already exceeds my bottom line?"
"Similarly, has this price also exceeded all of your bottom lines?"
"When we bid the day after tomorrow, we only need to think about increasing the bid by $1 million each time. That would mean paying an additional $4 million to the other four, equivalent to increasing the bid by $5 million each time. Wouldn't this allow you all to lower the total price while still bidding with all your might?"
"I believe this is a highly beneficial plan. Regardless of which of the five of us secures 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu', the funds paid will be similar to what would have been paid without this plan, still close to the bottom line, and still the result of vigorous bidding."
"However, the other four would receive a substantial income, and it wouldn't be a wasted trip."
"This is equivalent to distributing the $150 million paid to the Chinese equally among all of us. In this way, all five of us can benefit. Isn't that wonderful!" Little John's suggestion left the entire room in silence.
At first, everyone found the proposal preposterous, utterly nonsensical, and had never heard of such a bidding method.
But upon closer consideration, it seemed to be an excellent plan. The winning bidder would not have to pay more, but the unsuccessful bidders would all receive benefits.
This way, they could gain from the bidding regardless of the outcome, truly a win-win situation.
Furthermore, there seemed to be no drawbacks, except perhaps for the misfortune of Jiangnan Group. A world where only Huang He was harmed was thus achieved.
"We can discuss this thoroughly now, but what if the winning bidder reneges on their promise and doesn't pay the other four?" Tony asked, as the biggest issue with this plan was likely how to ensure the winning bidder would keep their word.
"We can sign a confidentiality agreement and invite a third-party company to act as a guarantor. This would essentially ensure the fulfillment of the contract."
"Besides, if anyone dares to breach the agreement, they would be offending the other four simultaneously. Do you think any of us present could survive the collective attack from the other four?" Little John countered, and the others had nothing to say. Indeed, competitors are inherently rivals. If someone dared to break their promise, the other four would immediately form an alliance and tear that defaulting party to shreds.
"It's not just the five of us here today. I also see three other players. If the price reaches $100 million, they're nothing. But if it's only around $30 million, these three might be able to afford it!" someone else added.
This was also their biggest concern: they four had agreed, but what if an outsider disrupted their plan and snatched away all their achievements?
Therefore, although these tactics seemed to involve illegal agreements, with Goldman Sachs acting as an intermediary, there would be no problem. The law would absolutely not prosecute money, especially not an entity as formidable as Goldman Sachs; they were the law themselves.
Thus, the five-company collusion alliance was formed, leading to the situation at the auction two days later. Despite the North American market being the largest market for the TV series 'Piaomiao Zhi Lu' with the most eagerly awaiting audience, the price simply couldn't go up. After great effort, it barely reached $26 million, but this price was already proving very difficult to budge.
This was effectively a bid of $130 million, already infinitely close to the bottom line set by the major television stations. An increase of another $1 million in bidding would equate to raising the price to $135 million, which had already crossed the bottom line for many television stations.
If nothing unexpected happened, the final bid should be around $27 million, at most $28 million.
Many television stations at the scene saw this situation. They were somewhat bewildered and amused, watching Mr. Huang below, wondering how Huang He would handle this dire predicament.
"Sir, we've secured it!" At this moment, someone handed a box to Mr. Huang. Mr. Huang took out two earphones from the box and put them in his ears.
"Let me listen!" Leng Zhimeng, standing beside him, unceremoniously grabbed one earphone, put it in her ear, and heard a foreigner speaking in English. Simultaneously, someone was even providing simultaneous interpretation, saying, "Mr. Chairman, yes, $27 million. This has reached our bottom line of $135 million. We will not bid further. I don't want to pay another $28 million to the other four. If they want to go crazy, let them compete themselves. We at ABC are out! It's not bad to get $28 million for free anyway!"
Leng Zhimeng instinctively looked towards the ABC representative's seat. That representative was holding a mobile phone, talking to someone... or rather, talking to the chairman inside the earphones.