YM778.TV Chapter 104 - 103: Really Acquired?
David Lancaster chuckled, apparently unfazed. He was not aware of the real intentions of Finn Lewis, who wasn’t here for the brand that David assumed to be the most valuable asset of HyperCraft. For David, the brand’s production factory had far less value. How much could it actually be worth? A hundred million Federal coins at most, even accounting for the engineers who worked there. Although the boutique manufacturing workshop was equipped with the most advanced machinery in the automotive industry, its scale was not large.
As a result, its value couldn’t be too high. However, the HyperCraft brand carried significant worth – depending on how one looked at it.
“Alright, all these are included. So, may I ask what is your estimate, Mr. Lewis?” Watching Lewis, David Lancaster asked a crucial question directly.
Feeling somewhat speechless, as David was incredibly direct, Lewis thought for a moment and counter-asked, “So Mr. David Lancaster, how much do you think it is worth?”
“I think we need to establish one thing first.” David thought for a moment, did not answer Lewis’s question, but instead changed the topic, as he hadn’t expected an answer when he asked his own question. Today’s meeting was simply to gauge if both sides were interested.
“Of course.” Lewis nodded, and after exchanging more words, the two confirmed the preliminary intentions of both sides. As the Flying Horse was a shareholder-held company, David Lancaster could not make the decision alone. He would need to discuss this with the board of directors, and only after obtaining their approval could the negotiation proceed. However, since David Lancaster appeared here, he had a 90% certainty that the board would approve his decision.
Even more so, because the majority of the directors no longer harbored love for the HyperCraft brand, including David Lancaster himself, and that’s why he was here. After a rather pleasant lunch, Lewis parted ways with him. Now, all he needed to do was wait for the announcement from Flying Horse company. David Lancaster promised he would convene a board meeting as soon as possible to discuss the matter further.
Then, Lewis would need to visit the headquarters of Flying Horse in Stuttgart to conduct the next phase of negotiations. David Lancaster predicted that the board meeting could only be convened tomorrow. However, there were still a plethora of tasks that Lewis needed to prepare. For instance, elite-level workshops that could manufacture handcrafted cars to the standard that Zero demanded were generally owned by major global brands only.
These workshops could only be found in established companies. For instance, Toyota might be the world’s largest automaker, but even within the company, there were luxury cars but no ultra-luxury ones to speak of, let alone luxury brands like Quadriga. Lewis’s options were thus significantly narrowed down. However, do you think these companies would sell their factories?
The engineers who stood behind the brands and supported their existence were the true heart of the brand, which was why Lewis did not tell David Lancaster that he was not interested in keeping the HyperCraft brand if he bought it. If he could successfully acquire it, the HyperCraft brand would recede from the historical stage and Lewis would never allow it to return. Of course, if someone were willing to buy this brand from Lewis, he wouldn’t mind selling it.
Returning to the hotel, Lewis summoned Truman Dale and asked, “Truman, how much do you think it would cost us if we fully acquired this? I really have no idea how much the HyperCraft brand is worth. Based on the prices at which these cars sell, I suspect the value wouldn’t be a small figure, right?”
Truman immediately fell into deep thought and eventually looked up at Lewis and said, “Boss, though the HyperCraft brand hasn’t really taken off and many people don’t know about its existence, all it really needs is for the wealthy to know about it. This brand undeniably qualifies as a luxury one. That’s why I think its price exceeds this number.” Saying this, Truman spread out his right hand, holding out five fingers.
Seeing the number indicated by Truman, Lewis was surprised and said, “5 billion Federal coins?” Lewis was taken aback. He couldn’t afford that figure, especially without Zero’s support.
Truman was momentarily stunned, then said with an awkward laugh, “How could it be that much? HyperCraft brand has not generated so much profit from the day it was established till now. It is around 500 million Federal coins.
Despite its luxury status, its value doesn’t live up to its hype.”
“Although it seems like they can sell each car for several million, or even tens of millions, their profit is usually about half of this price. The hyperinflated valuation is due to tariffs in many countries. Thus, even for brands like Bugatti, they are probably only worth between one and two billion Federal coins. That price is also somewhat high.”
“Oh, 500 million Federal coins, I can accept that.” Lewis nodded. He had initially understood it to be 5 billion Federal coins, a figure he could not afford at all. However, Lewis had missed Truman’s point and thus thought the figure to be 5 billion.
David Lancaster indeed acted quickly. After waiting for two days, Lewis received a call from him, confirming that Lewis could travel to Stuttgart to conduct the next phase of negotiations. It seemed Flying Horse really wanted to sell off the HyperCraft brand. Although they did withdraw a HyperCraft S600 series car model, it had not yet hit the market and thus was not a problem.
Upon arriving in Stuttgart, Lewis saw no difference from Bean City. He wasted no time in wandering around the city, but directly set up a meeting with Flying Horse company for the negotiations. The first round of talks began swiftly. Lewis’s negotiation team was relatively simple – Truman Dale was one, and Lewis, Fishy Wells, and Julia Parker were the other three.
On the other hand, the negotiation team from Flying Horse consisted of relatively more people, approximately 11 in total, including the company’s president, David Lancaster. Some minor details were quickly worked out, including the sale of HyperCraft and its pristine craft-based production workshop from Flying Horse, along with the engineers within the factory as part of the package to Lewis..