Siheyuan: Taking over the steel mill

"This production line is dedicated to the production of tractor accessories. You can see that these equipment are still brand new. They have only been introduced five years ago."

While explaining, Director Wu asked Su Chen to observe the production line. The entire line looked particularly new, almost as if it had just been unpacked.

Su Chen took a glance and noticed that these machines could process engine parts, but he didn't say much and continued to follow Director Wu.

“This production line was purchased during the factory’s heyday, when there were more than 3,000 employees, and it could run at full speed.”

Director Wu told Su Chen with regret.

"Now there are only about a hundred people left, and it is obviously impossible to maintain its full power. It can only rely partly on machines and the rest on manpower."

Su Chen looked around and found that almost all the workers were gathered around this place. Director Wu looked a little embarrassed when he saw Su Chen looking at other employees:

"The current factory workers all truly love the tractor factory. They are old employees who are reluctant to leave. Others will seek other ways out."

Suchen nodded in agreement. Who could ignore their family during this difficult time? He could understand the workers' choices, so he continued to check the factory.

Next, Director Wu took Su Chen to the cafeteria.

This was also Su Chen's request. He had to inspect the factory in detail before making a decision.

After all, if someone wants to cheat, they only need to fake the production line, but the overall status cannot be faked.

Su Chen was walking on the way to the cafeteria and inadvertently glanced at some corners of the factory.

There were some tractor parts piled up in the corner, and although they had been neatly stored, they were still covered in dust.

This shows that the factory's current business is indeed not optimistic.

In better times, these parts would have been used to repair tractors. Su Chen walked out of the factory and saw a partially disassembled tractor parked in the open space outside. "Is this the order we're taking now?"

After taking a closer look, Su Chen determined that this was a very popular design nowadays and this type of tractor was widely used in the market.

It was the Longhong 28 tractor.

This is also a new model launched in the past two years, with fashionable design and practical value.

The front wheels are extremely narrow, almost the size of a car's wheels, but the rear wheels of this tractor are extremely large, like the wheels of a truck.

The Longhong 28 tractor is equipped with a diesel engine, which takes a long time to start each time. Its engine is a twin-cylinder engine that emits billowing black smoke when running.

Looking at the almost completely disassembled tractor in front of him and its open engine, Su Chen couldn't help but feel that the design was quite crude.

However, from his current perspective, the appearance of this tractor is really not flattering, but in today's era, owning a Longhong 28 tractor is already quite enviable. Director Wu nodded repeatedly while narrating:

"This tractor was brought back from the farm a few days ago and the farmer said it couldn't start no matter what he tried, so we took it back to the factory to repair it."

Su Chen felt relieved only when he confirmed that the tractor factory was still in business - at least there was still hope.

At least it was not irreversible. Afterwards, Director Wu accompanied Su Chen to the cafeteria.

The canteen looked more like a small kitchen in an ordinary family.

With a slightly embarrassed expression, Director Wu continued:

"The original large canteen is no longer needed. After all, the number of people in the factory has been greatly reduced. This small canteen is sufficient to meet the needs."

Su Chen nodded and looked around.

I found that this simple kitchen also had many employees preparing meals. Naturally, its scale could not be compared with that of a steel rolling mill.

Seeing that the kitchen floor was clean and there was not much oil stains on the walls, Su Chen felt relieved, which showed that the kitchen staff still took their work seriously.

After walking around for half a day, the two finally completed the tour of the entire tractor factory, and its actual situation was much more optimistic than he expected.

Although the tractor factory is facing the risk of shutdown due to lack of new business, the enthusiasm of employees remains high.

Su Chen believed that if they could take on more orders, these workers would be as efficient as those in the steel mills.

"Director Su, this is the general situation of our factory now. What do you think?" After the tour, they returned to the door of the factory again, and Director Wu asked.

"I think we can discuss further. The current condition of the factory is acceptable." After hearing this, Director Wu felt much less uneasy.

"You two, please come with me."

Then the three of them walked into the meeting room.

Considering that the factory will soon be handed over to Su Chen for management, both the contract content and other matters need to be discussed clearly.

After the three of them took their seats, Director Wu leaned forward slightly, expecting Su Chen's opinion: "Through today's understanding, I have a certain grasp of the current situation of the tractor factory. Based on this situation, I would like to formally acquire this tractor factory."

"I believe that Director Wu should also understand that based on the current situation, it is already difficult for the tractor factory to accept large orders." Although he felt frustrated, Director Wu still acquiesced to Su Chen's point of view.

"Then, may I ask how much Director Su plans to pay to acquire our factory?"

After carefully considering the actual operation of this tractor factory, Su Chen felt that it was actually far beyond his expectations. Although the equipment had a history of five years, it should not be long in actual service.

Therefore, even if the equipment is sold, it can probably be exchanged for tens of thousands of dollars.

What's more, after Su Chen followed Director Wu around the factory, he discovered that the scale of this tractor factory was even larger than he had expected.

Unfortunately, there are not many workers in the factory now, and many places have been abandoned. After considering these factors, Su Chen has already made up his mind about the price.

"Five hundred thousand. I will personally invest five hundred thousand to purchase this factory." As soon as he finished speaking, Director Wu's face was immediately filled with joy.

This offer has far exceeded his expectations.

Even though this tractor factory is quite impressive and the machinery is very new, there are not many people willing to take it over at the moment.

The increasing decline of state-owned enterprises was an established fact, and although the factory could generate about 100,000 yuan in revenue for its new owner every year, no one was willing to take the risk.

For Su Chen, who had obtained a 30 million yuan interest-free loan from the bank, acquiring the tractor factory was not a problem. More importantly, he did not need to worry about whether the tractor factory would be successful or receive orders.

In his view, the tractor plant can not only become an important expansion of the rolling mill's productivity, but also lay the foundation for further development of other product lines in the future.

After all, according to the information Su Chen knew, more than 20 years ago, this tractor factory had been involved in production in many fields, but its business direction gradually changed over time.

As a ** entrepreneur focusing on civilian products, Su Chen certainly did not want to miss this opportunity.

"No problem, but I have to ask other employees as well." Director Wu thought for a moment and stated his request.

"Although I am nominally the manager of this factory, I hope you will not lay off the employees who have worked hard here for many years after you take over."

Director Wu always thinks about his old employees.

Those who are still willing to stay in this factory must have a deep emotional bond with this land. The amount of money is not their main consideration, but more of a desire to maintain this sense of belonging.

For Su Chen, he also understood the emotional attachment of the factory staff, so he nodded and promised:

"Please rest assured that there will be no layoffs after I take over the factory." In fact, he had already planned to retain existing employees and had no intention of laying off these skilled people.

During his previous visit, he also found that most of the technical employees in the factory were talented and just met his needs, but their remuneration still needed proper consideration.

Therefore, Director Wu's worries in this regard are actually unnecessary.

Then, the assistant to the factory director was called to gather the workshop representatives. At this time, the workers in the workshop were attracted by the external changes. They realized that this mysterious person who suddenly visited might change the fate of the factory. They all looked in the direction where he left.

As soon as the news came out that the assistant was looking for the employee representative, the other party followed without hesitation.

After arriving at the conference room and listening to the factory director's introduction, the representatives nodded without hesitation to express their agreement.

Everyone in this factory hopes that the tractor factory will develop better. With Su Chen, a capable new factory director taking over, the workers certainly will not refuse.

After getting the approval of the factory director and workers' representatives, everything went very smoothly.

"If everyone has no objection, we will sign the contract first and then ask the notary office to notarize it." Su Chen said to Director Wu.

Su Chen acted quickly. He hoped to complete the signing procedures as soon as possible so that he could take over and operate the tractor factory as soon as possible. At the same time, he also felt that it would be safer to reach a conclusion as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary complications.

Director Wu was also very happy about selling the factory to Su Chen.

Su Chen prepared two contracts and told Director Wu: "This is a revised version of the contract we used when we acquired the steel mill last time."

Director Wu arranged for the factory's accountant to review the contract first, and he also reviewed it in detail.

Then, Director Wu said to his assistant, "Go and tell the notary office to send someone over."

Director Wu requested that the contract be signed in the presence of a notary public, rather than in private. Although a private contract is also legally binding, considering the scale of the tractor factory, it is best to be as rigorous as possible to prevent any potential disputes.

The assistant immediately did as he was told and ran out to contact the staff at the notary office.

During this process, Director Wu and Su Chen continued to review the contents of the contract. "These terms are drafted in this way. Do you have any objection to this?"

"I will take over the entire business with $500,000 and I will not lay off any of the workers."

Although there are many details, the main items are nothing more than this. Su Chen pointed at the content of the clause and explained it to Director Wu.

Although Director Wu usually did not participate in the specific document processing, he was the director after all and was familiar with the basic content. So he also looked at the contract carefully and immediately expressed his approval.

Director Wu confirmed and nodded, "Okay, just as we discussed before."

Seeing this, Su Chen also pushed another signed and stamped contract in front of Director Wu.

The two responsible persons checked together to ensure that everything was correct and completed the signing process after reaching an agreement.

Then, Su Chen signed his name and stamped the contract in the corresponding place. Then, when he saw that the other party to the contract, Director Wu, also signed and stamped the contract, the contract came into effect immediately.