What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 296 The Last Chance
"You want to buy passenger planes? 100 of them?!"

Zhao Hande thought Tang Wen must have gone mad.

He originally hoped to use the method of imitation to exert pressure and block McDonnell Douglas, but who knew that Tang Wen would turn around and increase the stakes again, and by a super amount.

"How much money do you have? Do you have the ability to take over? Are there that many domestic routes available for you to fly?"

"But I have money! A mere few billion US dollars, Southeast Asia can afford it."

Tang Wen showed no sign of guilt:
“This is a completely civilian product transaction between Geiger and McDonnell Douglas, so we can definitely make the decisions ourselves.”

"So you really can produce 100,000 tons of oil?"

Zhao Hande immediately thought of the vast oil wells in Borneo, and a mere 100,000 tons of crude oil seemed insignificant.

"Money is not important, but if we miss out on McDonnell Douglas, we may never have the chance to introduce wide-body passenger aircraft again in the future."

From a later perspective, Tang Wen explained McDonnell Douglas's current predicament and the brief window of opportunity.

Reaching this deal wasn't just about money; McDonnell Douglas also needed to withstand pressure to convince Congress and investors.

Therefore, Robert needs to weigh whether to take $20 billion to keep McDonnell Douglas independent and survive, or miss what may be its last chance for survival.

Before Zhao Hande left, Tang Wen called him back again:

Are there any companies or construction teams in China with experience in building on sand-filled land?

"I really do... Shanghai, I think there should be a suitable construction company there. Are you already preparing for the work after the sand filling?"

Tang Wen: "I need to contact them, the sooner the better."

With the dredgers he currently owns, he can add tens of thousands of square meters of land every day, but the rotten land that is simply filled in is worthless, and Tang Wen doesn't know how to transform this kind of land into a usable one.

He was even somewhat worried that, given the current domestic experience, it might be impossible to find a usable team.

……

South Pacific port.

Tang Wen has teleported here. Although he can't extract oil here for a long time, he can still produce a few small batches of oil without much problem.

The oil storage tanks here are already full of 3.4 tons of crude oil, and it will take another 16 days of production to gather 10 tons.

Including the time it took to arrive in the United States, it was exactly one month.

As liquid gold, the versatility of oil is undeniable; as long as it's handed over to McDonnell Douglas, they have plenty of ways to monetize it.

Moreover, using oil as a means of exchange rather than cash further solidifies the credibility of Gaijin Oil Company.

Tang Wen had already tested it beforehand, and the fastest way was to build two 5-ton-class oil tankers.

The development of a 5-ton oil tanker is not difficult; it is much simpler than that of a 5-ton warship.

[Research and Development: 5-ton Single-shaft Propulsion Oil Tanker]

Hull: 170 meters long, 28 meters wide, 7650 tons unloaded, 66840 tons fully loaded.

Power: 1 x 3.5 hp steam boiler, single shaft propulsion, economical speed 14 knots/25000 nautical miles
Required experience: 10000

Direct crafting: 260000 silver coins / 14 days

Processing with supplied materials: 9500 tons of steel, 2160 tons of aluminum, 750 tons of petroleum, 38000 silver coins/14 days

The 80-meter-wide dry dock, after deducting the space occupied by the Type 055 destroyer, can just accommodate two ships.

By removing the Yorktown, which is undergoing refitting, and slowing down the process, it can meet the early March deadline on time.

If McDonnell Douglas fails, it wouldn't be a loss to leave it for use in the Spratly Islands.

Well, the holiday is ruined.

Tang Wen looked worriedly at the clueless ship girl:

"Can your fuel tanks hold unrefined crude oil?" "Huh? No, you can't do that!"

The usually clingy golden retriever girl decisively stepped back and crossed her arms in refusal.

It's simply unacceptable for a boiler to be filled with thick, black crude oil.

Tang Wen laughed heartily. Of course, he was just joking; this could be accomplished using other warships.

……

Robert is now very interested in Geigen Corporation.

Before him lay hastily compiled documents containing almost all the public information that Gekin could find.

Its main business is shipbuilding, but apart from taking orders for some fishing boats, it has no large cargo ship or passenger ship orders. Instead, it has been fighting with the monkeys in the Spratly Islands and is suspected of owning several warships from World War II.

Clearly, this is not an ordinary private enterprise.

Robert asked his assistant Martin:
"I heard that an IAA agent discovered those A4 papers. Does he know more about Geigan Corporation?"

Martin: "I'll try to get in touch."

Robert: "Furthermore, Geigin said they have the qualifications to explore and extract oil, which is quite incredible, you know what kind of place the continent is."

“But Jeanswest can verify their authenticity in just a few days and deliver the oil a month later.”

After Martin finished speaking, he added a few more sentences:
"I think I know some of the reasons why Gaijin and the monkeys had a dispute. It seems that it is because the South China Sea has very rich seabed oil resources."

That makes sense.

Robert stood up, walked to the window, and fell into thought.

As the current leader, he certainly didn't want McDonnell Douglas to be acquired.

However, because the DC-9 and DC-10 were completely defeated by the 747 and 737, the three-engine airliner seemed to have become a dead end.

In particular, the McDonnell Douglas 11, which was considered the last hope, received more than 90 orders when production began in 90, but most of them were cancelled and the companies were instead used to purchase products from other companies. To date, only a little over 100 have been sold.

The McDonnell Douglas 11 accident was indeed a problem, but McDonnell Douglas no longer had the time or resources to fix it.

If the deal for these 100 passenger planes can be finalized, he is absolutely confident that he can completely resolve the hidden dangers, make it a safe and fuel-efficient aircraft, and have the energy to devote to the development of the next generation of aircraft.

$20 billion is not a lot for this large order, and may even be a little too little. However, in practice, it will take at least four or five years to complete, and it is normal for it to exceed the budget by 30% in the end. In fact, this is the least impactful factor.

McDonnell Douglas is a large company. As long as investors know that there are still people who favor McDonnell Douglas, and a few hundred million dollars of working capital are put in, many crises can be resolved.

If McDonnell Douglas had the money, could it have avoided being acquired?

That seems plausible. The federal government has consistently and firmly implemented antitrust measures, even forcing orders onto McDonnell Douglas when it was struggling financially.

If given the chance, the government certainly wouldn't want Boeing to grow any bigger.

Because the Asian financial crisis has not yet arrived, and OPEC has not yet increased production to impact South American oil, oil prices have already risen to $14 a barrel and are still on the rise, expected to reach $16 in March.

100,000 tons of crude oil, $12 million.

Robert turned around:

Two things:
-
First, we must require Geigin to disclose the location of its oil reserves and their exploitation value within one month to demonstrate its ability to pay and to pay a deposit of $100 million.

Let Levi confirm this, and remember, you absolutely cannot let anyone else know;
Second, I need to bring them all in and temporarily suspend the merger and acquisition process.

Martin: "We've already started the handover process, so if we postpone the acquisition..."

"This is McDonnell Douglas's last chance. We have to hold on and delay it for a few more months."

Robert stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the bustling street below:

"Macdonald Douglas cannot fail in my hands."

(End of this chapter)