The new combination of "Ruyi + Wanda Film" is intended to create a whole industry chain from content development to publicity and screening, as well as follow-up IP derivatives development.
Punctuation financial researcher Yin Yujia.
The Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon is approaching, and the curtain of Spring Festival movies is about to open, "Hot and Hot", "Flying Life 2", "Article 20", "Mr. Red Carpet", "Let's Shake the Sun Together", "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space", "Eight Rings: Canopy Nether" and other 7 works will be released simultaneously on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and famous directors and actors will go into battle.
Wanda Film Co., Ltd. *** Wanda Film, 002739SZ) also recently released its 2023 performance forecast, and the company expects to achieve a net profit of 900 million yuan to 1.2 billion yuan during the period, compared with a loss of 19 in the same period last year$2.3 billion; It is estimated that the net profit after deducting non-attributable to the parent will be 700 million yuan - 1 billion yuan, and the loss will be 20 in the same period last year$8.1 billion.
In fact, this performance forecast of turnaround also relieved some pressure on the new chairman of Wanda Film.
Punctuation financial researchers noticed that just two days before the release of the performance forecast, Wanda Film announced that it elected Chen Xi as the chairman of the company's sixth board of directors and appointed him as the company's president. Chen Xi graduated from ** Drama Academy with a bachelor's degree in acting, and is also an EMBA in finance from PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University. In 2012, she founded Yingyitong Media, and since 2015, she has successively served as the president of Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production and the executive director of China Ruyi Holdings. As of now, Chen Xi does not hold shares in the company.
In December last year, Ruyi Films, whose actual controller is Ke Liming, completed the acquisition of all the shares of Beijing Wanda Investment, the former controlling shareholder of Wanda Films, and became the new controlling shareholder. With Chen Zhixi and Gong Qiao, two people with Confucian backgrounds, entering the board of directors, Wanda Films, which was officially taken over by the Confucian Department, will also enter a new stage of development.
How did the Confucian Films, the company behind Wanda Films, become a new force in Chinese film and television? As a Confucian cadre, where will Chen Xi lead Wanda Films?
The producer's path to the finals
Speaking of Chen Xi, everyone may not be familiar with it, in fact, she has a more well-known stage name Chen Zhixi. Suffering from the situation that actors are always selected, Chen Xi is committed to becoming a producer of film and television projects. And the first work she participated in the production of achieved the hit of the year - in 2012, "People in Embarrassment in Thailand" was released, and the film gained 12The total box office of 700 million yuan set a new record for the box office champion of the year.
In the domestic film market at that time, one of the highest-grossing commercial film genres was imported blockbusters, such as the domestic box office champion in 2011 was "Transformers 3", which received 10 at the box office$9.5 billion; Domestic blockbusters that are themselves big-scale productions and have a well-known director's foundation also have a place, such as "Let the Bullets Fly" directed by Jiang Wen in 2010, which won a box office of 63.7 billion yuan, "The Thirteen Hairpins of Jinling" directed by Zhang Yimou in 2011, and finally gained 59.2 billion yuan box office.
At that time, commercial films of the pure comedy genre were not recognized by the mainstream film investment community at that time, and Chen Xi was very optimistic about this film that brought together the three top comedians in China at that time, Xu Zheng, Huang Bo and Wang Baoqiang. Therefore, his role as a producer attracted investment, and the film was successfully produced and became an instant hit, winning the domestic box office champion that year.
Since then, Chen Xi has not stopped digging new directors and producing small and medium-budget films, and Dapeng Dong Chengpeng is such a new director that Chen Xi has discovered. In July 2015, Chen Xi and Dapeng's "Pancake Man" was released and won 115.9 billion box office. In the decade since, the two have collaborated even more. In addition to "Pancake Man", there is no shortage of producer Chen Xi behind many popular films directed by Dapeng, such as "Sewing Machine Band", "Auspicious Ruyi", "Keep You Safe", "Warm" and other movies.
After joining Ruyi Pictures in 2015, Chen Xi also participated in the production of popular films such as "Detective Chinatown", "Hello, Li Huanying" and "She Who Disappeared", with a cumulative box office of more than 10 billion. With the blessing of the high reputation and high box office of many films, Ruyi Pictures has become a new force in the film industry that cannot be underestimated.
Of course, the films that Chen Xi participated in the production have also had box office failures. Released in 2018 and produced by Chen Xi, "Animal World" is the opening film of the 21st Shanghai Film Festival. As an action suspense genre film adapted from comics with a strong two-dimensional style, the film is also considered to be a major attempt at the industrialization of domestic films.
However, the film did not receive audience recognition and high box office returns. According to public information, the total investment amount of "Animal World" is 25.1 billion yuan, of which Jixiang shares (an affiliate of Shanghai Ruyi) is the largest investor in the film, accounting for 25% of the shares, with an investment amount of 62.75 million yuan, and the final recognized income is only 28.02 million yuan. It is estimated that the loss on investing in the film is more than 50%.
Chen Xi posted on Weibo to thank Ruyi and Wanda colleagues
Source**: Chen Xi's personal Weibo.
In 2023, Wanda Film's shareholding will continue to change. In July 2023, Wanda Culture Group transferred its 49% stake in Wanda Investment, the controlling shareholder of the company, to Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production*** (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Ruyi). Shanghai Ruyi invested 226.2 billion yuan. It is reported that Shanghai Ruyi is a Hong Kong-listed company, China Ruyi (1036HK) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and its main business is the production and operation of radio and television programs and the distribution of films.
In the following December, Wanda Film announced again that it received a notice on December 6, 2023 that Wang Jianlin, the indirect controlling shareholder of the company, Wanda Culture, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Hengrun Enterprise Management and Development, planned to transfer 51% of the shares of Wanda Investment, the controlling shareholder of the company, to Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management. After the completion of the transfer, Ruyi holds 100% of the equity of Wanda Investment, and then holds 20% of Wanda Film03% equity. The actual controller of Wanda Film changed from Wang Jianlin to Ke Liming. And Wang Jianlin will indirectly control Wanda Films through multiple entities109% equity.
Is this acquisition deal, which spans more than half a year, a good deal?
According to Guotai Junan's calculations, China Ruyi's acquisition of Wanda Film has a huge discount compared with its market value. From a trading perspective, China Ruyi spent a total of RMB44 in July and December 2023The acquisition of a 20% stake in Wanda Film for RMB1.7 billion, which is approximately RMB53 per cent equity interest in Wanda Film held by China Ruyi as of December 26, 2023The market value of 9.1 billion yuan (in Wanda Films, 1237 yuan ** price calculation) compared to an 18% discount. Punctuation financial researchers noticed that as of February 5, 2024, Wanda Films should receive 1002 yuan shares.
As of December 31, 2023, Wanda Film has 905 theaters with 7,546 screens in China, including 709 directly operated theaters with 6,156 screens and 196 asset-light theaters with 1,390 screens. The company's Australian cinema chain has 61 theaters with 529 screens. As of the close of the market on February 5, 2024, the latest market value of China Ruyi, a Hong Kong-listed company also controlled by Ke Liming, is 180At HK$7.4 billion, Wanda Film's latest market capitalization is 2183.7 billion yuan. On the whole, Wanda Films is larger and its assets are quite high-quality.
At the same time, Wanda Film, as the largest film investment in China, has the largest market share of cinema resources. The company's Wuzhou Distribution has the qualification of film distribution. Relying on the ability of Ruyi Pictures to produce, produce and integrate upstream and downstream, coupled with Wanda Film's strong cinema distribution and screening terminal cinema resources, the new combination of "Ruyi + Wanda Film" is intended to build a whole industry chain from content development to publicity and screening, as well as subsequent IP derivatives development.
Entering 2024, the film "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop" participated by Ruyi Pictures has become a dark horse on New Year's Day, and the box office has exceeded 11 as of February 2600 million yuan. The upcoming Spring Festival is also an important appearance for Ruyi and Wanda, "Article 20", "Flying Life 2", "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space", and "Hot and Hot" The four popular Spring Festival movies are all produced or distributed by Ruyi, Wanda, and Wuzhou.
However, there are few permanent victories in the film industry. In previous years, the Spring Festival file, comedy was the popular password, and the comedy elements of the seven movies in this year's Spring Festival file are quite strong, who will be the final winner? As a heavyweight player in the Spring Festival file, can Ruyi Pictures and Wanda Films, which have repeatedly bet on hits, continue to identify the "audience's taste"? The combination of "Ruyi + Wanda Film" will also continue to usher in the test of the market.