Rebirth of England.

Chapter 787 Small Drone

The annual Christmas has arrived as scheduled, and this year's Christmas does not seem to be much different from previous years.

People watch the Queen's Christmas speech on TV, and then go shopping with their families, enjoying the Christmas shopping carnival.

However, judging from the data, it should be affected by the economic situation. The proportion of retail sales through e-commerce in this Christmas season has increased significantly.

Yes, due to habit and festive atmosphere, everyone still likes to take their families to nearby shopping malls for shopping. However, for some commodities, since it is cheaper to order them online, for those cost-conscious housewives, why not go to the mall to check out some shoes, hats and daily necessities, and then place an order online?

Moreover, this year, Argos Retail Group has also offered great discounts for its e-commerce business, which has attracted more users to choose this novel way of shopping.

For many families in Europe and the United States, e-commerce shopping is nothing new. They used to choose and buy goods through phone calls and catalogs delivered to their doorsteps, but now they have changed this method to computers or mobile phones.

In the Holme, a mansion in Regent's Park, not only are there some colorful lights and decorations to create a more Christmas atmosphere, but in the lobby of this mansion there is also a Christmas tree that is much taller than the ordinary standard.

The children were laughing and playing, and whenever they passed by the Christmas tree, their eyes were inevitably attracted by the various beautiful gift boxes hanging on it.

I'm afraid that before going to bed tonight, they will check their stockings hanging on the bedside again, in case Santa Claus misses their share when delivering gifts tonight.

……

"Hello, Mr. Blott, my name is Laura Wong, and this is my business card."

"Cavendish Trust Fund? Madam Wang, are you here to see me on behalf of the Duke of Devonshire?"

As the head of business development at BAE Systems, Matthew Brott is no stranger to the name of the Cavendish Trust. After all, this trust is the major shareholder of many well-known companies.

Wang Wanting was not surprised by Matthew Blot's reaction. She still smiled as usual and said:

"Yes, as you can see, I am a representative of the Cavendish Trust. To be frank, today I would like to talk to you about BAE Systems' small UAV project..."

What Wang Wanting talked about with Matthew was BAE Systems' small UAV project. The predecessor of this project was the Advanced Ceramics Research Institute, which BAE Systems acquired in North America in 2009 for US$1470 million.

At the time, BAE Systems claimed that this move would provide it with a range of mature and reliable products in the field of small, micro and tactical drones.

During this period, Matthew Blott spent most of his time in Arizona, USA, working on related projects.

However, BAE Systems' focus in drones has now begun to shift, and they are more concerned about the large-scale drone platform and supporting equipment business in the UK.

Currently, BAE Systems is the main company in the large-scale UAV project, including Qinetiq, Rolls-Royce and GE Aviation. BAE Systems has invested a lot of resources in it. This is what later became Britain's first high-tech stealth UAV, the Thunder God UAV.

However, the project is currently in the research and development stage and is expected to conduct its first test flight next year.

So under this circumstance, BAE Systems also intends to sell their small UAV project in North America to focus on core areas.

At present, the acquisition of the Royal Arsenal in Leeds by the Cavendish Trust has been confirmed, and the next step is to go through the process. After that, Wang Wanting also began to acquire some BAE Systems shares in the secondary market and from small shareholders through offshore companies controlled by the Cavendish Trust in accordance with Barron's requirements.

At the same time, they also learned that BAE Systems was interested in selling their small UAV project in North America, which was the main reason why Wang Wanting met with Matthew today.

"Indeed, I have heard such rumors, but Ms. Wang, after all, this transaction has not officially started yet. Therefore, as one of the persons in charge of this project, it is not convenient for me to meet with you at this time..."

Although Matthew said this, Wang Wanting believed that since he had come here today and chose to meet her, he must have some thoughts about this matter.

Of course, what Barron didn't tell her was that when the original BAE Systems decided to spin off their small UAV project in North America and sell it, it was Matthew Blott who found investors, got the project, and led the company to later develop the three UAVs: "Silver Fox", "Ray" and "Coyote".

"Today's meeting has no other purpose, Mr. Blot. We will acquire this project from BAE Systems and will naturally proceed according to the normal process..."

Wang Wanting said to Matthew:

"But after that, we need to find a suitable leader for the company. You know, we are a trust company and we need professionals to manage the company."

Matthew naturally opposed BAE Systems' plan to sell the North American small drone project.

But he also knew that the head office did not think that they had much advantage in the field of small drones, and were relatively more concerned about large drone projects - and Matthew was only a business development manager, not a high-level figure, so he did not have much say in this matter.

This was also the main reason why he later left BAE Systems and found investors to take over the project.

Now that there is a ready-made option and the other party also needs a professional to lead the development of the company after the acquisition, it is impossible for Matthew not to be tempted.

"Indeed, I am very interested in this project. I can say that in the past year or so, I have focused most of my energy on this project..."

He thought for a moment and said to the beautiful Chinese woman in front of him:
"I can't make too many promises now because you haven't confirmed that you can get the project, but if that day really comes, I would be very happy to join in."

Getting this answer was enough for Wang Wanting now. She nodded and said to Matthew:

"I believe there will be results soon, Mr. Blot, and I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation then."

After the two shook hands and said goodbye, Wang Wanting immediately called Barron to inform him of the result.

"Then we can start discussing the acquisition with BAE..."

Barron said to Wang Wanting on the phone:

"If everything goes well, I will go to America after New Year's Day, and then I can visit the company."

(End of this chapter)