pertwk Chapter 111 A Secret Maneuver
Chapter 111 A Secret Maneuver
Xu Lang's efficiency remained as high as ever.
In just three days, he completed a comprehensive due diligence investigation of Hantong Microelectronics and placed a detailed report on Su Chen's desk.
The report's conclusion is clear: this is a small business with a solid technical foundation but facing operational difficulties.
The founder of Hantong Microelectronics is Zheng Hongwei, who graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China with a major in Communication Engineering. His technical capabilities are well-regarded in the industry. The company's core assets include three utility model patents for wireless communication modules, a small-scale SMT assembly line, and most importantly, a license to produce LDCL basic components.
However, Zheng Hongwei was diagnosed with severe cervical spondylosis three years ago. After undergoing two surgeries, his energy levels declined significantly, and the company's business also went downhill. Starting last year, he began to spread the word through intermediaries that he wanted to transfer the entire company to another entity.
Zheng Hongwei had asked several potential buyers, but they either thought the company was too small or the offer was too low and they were unwilling to accept it.
Xu Lang added a note at the end of the report: Zheng Hongwei's target price is around 20 million, but considering the added value of the LDCL license, the actual transaction price may need to be higher.
After reading the report, Su Chen closed the folder and pondered for about thirty seconds.
"The offer is 28 million, a full acquisition, retaining the original staff and production lines," he told Xu Lang. "Also, tell Zheng Hongwei that after the acquisition, Hantong's industrial communication module business will be integrated into Hongyuan's supply chain system, and if his health permits, he can continue to serve as a technical consultant."
Xu Lang was taken aback: "Twenty-eight million? His target price is only twenty million. We should be able to secure it by offering twenty million or twenty-two million directly."
"No," Su Chen shook his head, "The extra six million is for his sincerity and speed. We don't have time to haggle."
Xu Lang immediately understood. What Su Chen wanted wasn't to save a few million, but to complete the acquisition and obtain the LDCL license in the shortest possible time.
Huawei could officially announce its entry into the low-altitude communications market at any time, and the window of opportunity for Hongyuan is shrinking with each passing day.
"I'm flying to Chengdu today." Xu Lang stood up.
"Go quickly and come back quickly," Su Chen said.
……
The 28 million offer proved to be immediately effective.
After seeing Hongyuan's acquisition plan, Zheng Hongwei signed a letter of intent that afternoon. He didn't even haggle—partly because the price itself exceeded his expectations, and partly because Su Chen's promise to retain employees and production lines reassured him.
Although Hantong Microelectronics is not a large company, its dozens of employees have been with him for several years, and he does not want to see them laid off by their new employer after he leaves.
The legal and financial processes proceeded swiftly. Hongyuan's legal counsel, Fang Xu, personally oversaw the transaction, and from signing the letter of intent to completing the equity transfer registration, it only took eleven days.
On June 17, 2020, Hongyuan Intelligent Technology officially announced the acquisition of Hantong Microelectronics.
The moment the announcement was released, Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief in his office at the Longhua headquarters.
He picked up his phone and sent a message to Wu Zheng: The channel is open, H-Link can be accelerated.
……
The acquisition announcement caused a greater reaction in the industry than Su Chen had anticipated.
The news that "Hongyuan Intelligent acquired Hantong Microelectronics for 28 million yuan" is not exactly big news in itself - an acquisition amount of 28 million yuan is hardly a splash in the technology industry.
But once someone dug up Hantong Microelectronics' background information, the nature of the whole thing changed.
"Hantong Microelectronics, one of the seventh batch of authorized LDCL manufacturers, obtained basic production authorization in 2018."
This statement was widely shared in industry communities.
Less than two hours later, everyone realized that Su Chen's real purpose in acquiring Hantong was not the SMT production line or the communication module patents, but the LDCL basic production authorization certificate.
"Incredible! Su Chen has completely undermined their advantage!"
"Hangxindatong wanted a 40 million yuan licensing fee, but Su Chen spent 28 million yuan to buy the entire company along with the license, plus a production line and a technical team. This move was textbook perfect."
"At the summit, Su Chen said he would 'find another way,' and it turns out this is the way he was talking about."
"He Zhiqiang of Hangxindatong must be furious to see this news. He asked for exorbitant prices, and ended up forcing his client to acquire someone else."
The discussion was heated on industry forums and social media, with comments almost unanimously praising Su Chen's business strategy.
At the same time, the more than 300 existing partner clients of the Feiniao platform also noticed this news.
For them, Hongyuan obtaining the LDCL authorization means that the communication module of the Feiniao platform will soon obtain compliance certification. This directly solves their biggest concern—previously, many customers were worried that the communication solution of the Feiniao platform would not be able to pass the airworthiness review, and now this obstacle has been cleared.
Some customers who were originally hesitating between Hongyuan and DJI FlightCore made a quick decision after seeing this message.
Within just one week of the acquisition announcement, Feiniao platform added 47 new signed clients.
……
Chengdu, Hangxindatong.
He Zhiqiang saw the news while he was having lunch.
His chopsticks froze in mid-air, the noodles slipping from the tips back into the bowl, splashing a few drops of soup onto his phone screen.
"impossible……"
He read the acquisition announcement over and over again three times, then slammed his phone on the table.
"Hantong Microelectronics! That Zheng Hongwei—how dare he sell it to Hongyuan!"
He Zhiqiang's mind was in complete chaos.
He was well aware that the licenses from the 16 authorized companies were transferable—no transfer restrictions were initially imposed when the licenses were issued. No one expected anyone to indirectly obtain LDCL licenses by acquiring authorized companies.
Su Chen precisely exploited this loophole.
He Zhiqiang then realized that when Su Chen uttered those words in the conference room that day, "None of the 16 companies that have already obtained authorization are prohibited from being acquired," he was probably already planning down this path.
He was outmaneuvered.
From the moment Su Chen stepped through the gates of Hangxindatong, he was being plotted against.
"This Su Chen..."
He Zhiqiang clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, and the resentment in his heart deepened.
But he could do nothing but resent.
The authorization has been transferred to Hongyuan along with Hantong Microelectronics. This is a completely legal business transaction, and Hangxindatong has no reason to obstruct it.
All He Zhiqiang could do was vow in his heart again and again that he would make Su Chen pay the price in the future.
But he himself vaguely sensed that this vow was increasingly like a weak person roaring at the wind.
The wind won't stop because you're angry.
……
It's late June now.
Around the same time that Hongyuan completed the acquisition of Hantong, another major piece of news came from the industry.
Huawei officially announced the establishment of the "Low-Altitude Intelligent Connectivity Lab," jointly operated by Huawei HiSilicon Semiconductor and the Terminal BG, specializing in drone communication chipsets and low-altitude network connectivity solutions.
Although Huawei used very careful wording, referring to it only as a "laboratory" rather than a "business unit," everyone understood what this meant—the telecommunications giant was coming to grab a piece of the low-altitude communications market.
Huawei's entry into the market has caused quite a stir in the industry.
For DJI, Huawei's technological accumulation in the field of communication chips is far beyond their reach. Although DJI's OcuSync has good performance, if Huawei were to release its self-developed low-altitude communication chipset, OcuSync would likely be completely outclassed in terms of technical specifications.
For Hongyuan, Huawei's entry into the market is both a threat and an opportunity. The threat lies in the fact that once Huawei launches a standardized low-altitude communication solution, H-Link's differentiated advantage will require stronger technological barriers to support it. The opportunity lies in the fact that Huawei's entry will further weaken LDCL's influence—Huawei has always preferred to promote its own standards, and LDCL is simply no match for Huawei.
After learning that Huawei had established a low-altitude intelligent connectivity laboratory, Su Chen immediately called Wu Zheng, Zhang Lei, and Liu Yu to headquarters for an emergency meeting that very evening.
The meeting lasted only forty minutes, and there was only one core topic: acceleration.
The development schedule for Flying Bird 2.0 needs to be accelerated. H-Link prototype verification must be completed within three months. The teams working on the two core technologies of adaptive channel management and air-to-ground cooperative networking need to be expanded.
"It takes Huawei at least one to one and a half years to go from the laboratory to mass production," Su Chen said at the meeting. "This one and a half years is our window of opportunity. Within this window, H-Link must transform from a concept into a product, and from a product into an ecosystem."
Wu Zheng nodded: "I've basically finalized the technical roadmap. Zhao Jiancheng's team at Microsensor Semiconductor can provide sensor-level support for adaptive channel management. My group is already running simulations of the core algorithm for air-to-ground cooperative networking, and we should have a prototype within three months."
Zhang Lei also reported on the hardware progress of Flying Bird 2.0—the prototype of the new generation flight control module has been completed and is undergoing the first round of internal testing.
At the end of the meeting, Su Chen made a decision.
"A month later, Hongyuan held the Flying Bird 2.0 technology launch conference, simultaneously announcing the H-Link technology framework and open roadmap."
Zhou Ming paused for a moment: "President Su, Flying Bird 2.0 is still in the internal testing phase. Isn't releasing it a month later too rushed?"
"It's not a product launch, it's a technology launch," Su Chen corrected. "We want to send a signal to the industry—Hongyuan already has its own solution in the field of low-altitude communication, and this solution is open. While Huawei is still conducting research and development in the lab, we want to first build the framework of the ecosystem."
His eyes shone brightly in the dim light of the conference room.
"Secure our position. Securing it before Huawei and DJI react."
……
On June 25, 2020, Hongyuan Intelligent released an announcement simultaneously through its official website and all social media platforms—
"鸿远智能科技将于2020年7月18日在深圳举办'飞鸟2.0技术开放日暨H-Link低空通信框架发布会'。届时将公布飞鸟2.0开放飞控平台的技术升级方案，以及H-Link低空通信协议的完整技术框架和开放合作路线图。"
The announcement sent shockwaves through the industry.
Feiniao platform’s more than 300 partner clients received targeted invitations immediately, and almost all of them confirmed their participation.
The investment community also reacted quickly. Shen Yumeng of Mingyuan Capital shared the announcement on her WeChat Moments with just four words: "Worth looking forward to." Representatives from Lianchuang Group also indicated that they would send senior executives to attend.
But what really makes the industry nervous is the reaction of competitors.
Upon seeing the announcement, DJI's Chen Jiaming immediately sent an internal email to the marketing department with the subject line "Be vigilant."
The email body contained only one line: "At the last Hongyuan press conference, the Feiniao platform signed 300 contracts in a month. This time, they're releasing a communication solution. Everyone perked up."
Tianying Technology—or rather, the drone business unit of Haotai Group—is also closely monitoring the situation. Although Xia Kanghao has integrated Lu Weimin's Tianying into Haotai's industrial portfolio, the Tianying brand still has a certain number of existing customers in the agricultural drone market. If Hongyuan's Feiniao 2.0, combined with H-Link, forms a stronger technological barrier, Tianying's remaining market share may not be sustainable.
What's even more interesting is the reaction from overseas markets.
Several drone communication solution providers from Europe and North America contacted Hongyuan's international business department via email after seeing the name H-Link, inquiring whether they could attend the launch event.
Low-altitude communication is a global need, but currently the industry lacks a truly open and widely accepted communication protocol standard. If Hongyuan's H-Link can fill this gap, its significance will extend far beyond the Chinese market.
When Su Chen saw these overseas emails, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
……
On the third night after the press conference announcement, Su Chen sat alone in his office with the technical documents of Flying Bird 2.0 and the draft protocol architecture of H-Link spread out in front of him.
Outside the window, the lights of the Longhua Industrial Zone gradually illuminated. In the distance, searchlights at the test flight field flickered occasionally, as the night test team debugged the new module.
Su Chen shifted his gaze from the document to the sticky note he had pressed down on the corner of the table with a paperweight. A few words were written on the note in his own handwriting—
"Hangxindatong. Huawei. DJI."
Three names, pressure from three directions.
While Hangxindatong's barriers have been bypassed, their LDCL patents remain a ticking time bomb. Huawei's entry signifies that the competition for low-altitude communication technology standards will intensify. DJI's FlightCore is eroding the market at a rate of over a dozen new customers per week.
A pincer attack from three sides.
But Su Chen's expression was not anxious; instead, it carried a peculiar calmness.
Because deep in his mind, the technology roadmap in the virtual dismantling lab was slowly lighting up—the feasibility assessment given by the system at the technical nodes of adaptive channel management and air-ground cooperative networking had changed from "high risk" to "achievable".
This means that H-Link is not a castle in the air, but a building about to break ground.
Su Chen picked up a pen and added a line below the sticky note—
"July 18th."
Then he closed the document, turned off the desk lamp, and walked out of the office under the night sky of Longhua.
The curtain is about to rise.
Hongyuan, on the other hand, was already standing in the center of the stage.