The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3116

Chapter 3116: Semdam & Sons

Semdam & Sons was one of the largest companies based in the Pelsa Ryndover System. It was headquartered in Talulah Silver and had grown into one of the foremost ship vendors of the port system.

S&S managed to beat out multiple local competitors through a rather admirable fashion. Instead of pursuing unrelenting growth of aggressive business opportunities,the ship vender kept its head down for most of its history.

In the past, it had never been the market leader of the Pelsa Ryndover ship market. Larger, more well-funded companies dominated this sector for a long time, causing S&S to be relegated to the background.

However, no giant lasted forever. For one reason or another, these market leaders fell from grace. Perhaps they broke the law and got caught. Perhaps they backed the wrong faction. Perhaps they invested in a major business venture that subsequently incurred immense losses.

Whatever the case, none of these ship trading companies survived the test of time. Instead, the mid-sized player that had long played second string gradually filled the void and silently grew to become the main player in the local ship market.

The company's primary business model was nothing complicated. It purchased pre-owned starships at a considerable discount. Most of them tended to be damaged or severely worn out, though there were also instances where organizations had to get rid of their better ships quickly.

Regardless, what S&S did to the ships it bought with a lot of money determined the profits it could earn from them. The company possessed an extensive amount of shipyards and repair facilities in and around Talulah Silver that were all dedicated to repairing and refurbishing the damaged vessels.

Though the effort and expenses were considerable, the markup was even greater! Even if S&S mainly sold second-hand ships, there were many buyers who needed to obtain suitable starships in a short timeframe. The cost and hassle of ordering custom starships from shipbuilding companies was not always the best solution, and recent events had made it a lot harder for customers to get the shipyards to accept their orders.

The second-hand ship market was booming at the moment. S&S keenly understood the market trend and was already regarding its large and diverse stock of pre-owned starships as treasure troves!

Gillian Semdam was the second-generation chairman and CEO of Semdam and Sons. While he was not the founder of the ship trading company, he was the principal leader and businessman responsible for allowing S&S to become the market leader after many decades of steady growth.

Due to Gillian Semdam's shrewd but stable leadership, the company possessed an extremely firm foundation in the Pelsa Ryndover System. Its financial strength was robust, it operated a strong mech security force, it formed a symbiotic bond with supportive politicians and it never sought to expand beyond its familiar region.

For this reason, Semdem & Sons managed to avoid the fate of its predecessors. The company was very difficult to assail because it was simply too stable and secure in its current condition.

Even if some terrorists blew up a large chunk of precious inventory, S&S was sitting on such a big mountain of money that it could easily weather the setback.

If the company's finances were drained for some reason, it still wasn't a big deal because it could just sell a bunch of ships to solve its liquidity problem. In fact, the company's leverage was low enough that it could easily take out more loans instead. _{freewёbnoνel.com}

Gillian Semdam supported multiple sides of the local political scene by spending lavishly on campaign contributions. No matter who came into power, S&S would always have their bases covered.

The company even developed a friendly relationship with the Ivena Federation's military by purchasing their old and outdated starships at higher prices.

Faced with such a stable company led by a careful leader, it was immensely challenging for the Larkinson Clan to apply any leverage in its business negotiations.

Shederin Purnesse and his negotiating team had already spent months trying to progress the stalled talks. However, instead of moving the deal forward, it actually showed signs of sliding backwards!

The incentives to hold on to the precious capital ships and reserve them for more lucrative business deals grew stronger with each day that passed.

Even entering the Pelsa Ryndover System didn't seem to make a difference. Face to face talks went nowhere as not even Shederin's personal charm was able to penetrate the armor of the Semdams.

While the Larkinson Clan experienced fewer difficulties in procuring supplies and recruiting thousands of vital personnel, the continual failure to acquire the four capital ships that Semdam & Sons had in inventory served as a glaring disappointment.

At the end of the one week deadline, Shederin Purnesse had no choice but to return to Ves with his head bowed in defeat.

"What's the problem?" Ves asked as he did not bother to turn around while he was assembling an experimental human-sized energy rifle.

Ever since he accepted Gloriana's challenge, he had been working intensively on trying to develop a powerful weapon that was potent enough to serve as the main armament of the Sentry Project.

He did not slack off even if he was tempted to pay more attention to what Talulah Silver had to offer. There was no time for him to go on a vacation when he still had to complete several important expert mech designs.

"Semdam & Sons has become increasingly more unwilling to sell its capital ships to us." Shederin straightforwardly answered. "After our clan has performed some investigations around Talulah Silver, we discovered that the ship vendor is already in talks with multiple local organizations about selling the relevant vessels."

Ves frowned. "Didn't we offer enough money? How much is our latest offer?"

"We offered to purchase the four ships at the equivalent of over 12 trillion hex credits. This is at least double the ordinary market value for a collection of non-combat capital ships. Their age, physical conditions and functional capabilities are serviceable, but not particularly impressive. They are ordinarily worth around 1 to 2 trillion hex credits in calmer times."

"It's too bad that times have changed." Ves sighed as he continued to tinker with his test rifle. "Do you think we can still solve this problem with money?"

The chief diplomat hesitated for a second. "We believe this option might still be viable. Currently, Gillian Semdam is aiming to barter his trade goods for intangible benefits in order to increase chances that his company will be able to survive the worsening trend, but enough money can accomplish that as well. The problem… is that the sum will plunge us deeper into debt."

"How. Much?"

"At least 15 trillion hex credits. This is the minimum sum that will match the inflated value of the capital ships once we extrapolate the explosive growth in market price. Mr. Semdam would rather delay the sale of his starships by one or two years in order to sell them at comparable prices than to trade them away too early at a lower price."

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