Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 251

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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251. Go ahead and execute your plan.

Donghae Group Headquarters, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
The moment Woo Ho-geun rushed in after receiving the call and opened the door to the Chairman’s Office, a thunderous roar erupted.

“How exactly are you running things!”

The harsh voice reverberated through the Chairman’s Office with such force that Woo Ho-geun instinctively lowered his head, avoiding the gaze of Chairman Woo Yong-gap, whose face had flushed crimson with barely contained rage.

“Perhaps we should sit down first and discuss this calmly.”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol, who had arrived earlier, attempted to soothe Chairman Woo Yong-gap.
Only then did Chairman Woo Yong-gap, breathing heavily, wave his hand dismissively as if he had no desire to speak further.
It was entirely understandable that Chairman Woo Yong-gap was furious over the unexpected press conference held by Daeheung Group.
Yet as I watched him berate me as though I had committed some grave transgression when in reality the situation had merely gone slightly awry—not completely derailed—resentment surged within me.

‘Damn it.’

I clenched my lower lip tightly and made my way to the empty sofa on the right, settling into it in silence.
Observing his son’s demeanor, Chairman Woo Yong-gap spoke with exasperation in his voice.

“Surely you’ve heard that Daeheung Group gathered reporters and exposed everything—that we’re attempting a hostile takeover.”
“…Yes.”

Upon hearing the response, Chairman Woo Yong-gap struck the armrest of his sofa forcefully with his palm and bellowed.

“We haven’t even accumulated enough shares, and now the target has caught on and exposed that we’re behind it! How could this possibly happen!”
“….”

As his son stood silently enduring the tirade, Chairman Woo Yong-gap furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“I was so careful in my instructions. What is this! I never should have entrusted this task to you in the first place!”

The words that wounded my pride made me clench my fists resting on my knees.
Chairman Woo Yong-gap turned his head and began reproaching Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol as well.

“I told you to make sure there were no mistakes, so what were you doing on the sidelines!”
“I have no excuse.”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol bowed his head in apology.

“There’s not a single person who does their job to my satisfaction! This is why I don’t know who to trust with anything.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap, still seething with frustration, shrugged his shoulders and threw a tantrum.
Woo Ho-geun, whose fists were clenched so tightly that the tendons on the back of his hands stood out, lifted his head defiantly and spoke.

“I was somewhat surprised that Daeheung Group caught on faster than expected, but it’s not serious enough to make a fuss about.”
“What!”

Under Chairman Woo Yong-gap’s harsh gaze, Woo Ho-geun spoke with composure.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t secure more shares, but keeping it secret indefinitely was always going to be difficult—it was bound to come to light soon anyway.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? The problem is exactly what you said—the timing isn’t ripe yet!”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap furrowed his brow and turned his head sharply toward Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol.

“How much of Midopa Department Store’s shares have we accumulated so far?”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol glanced at Woo Ho-geun sitting across from him and answered.

“Including the shares we transferred to Baekje Industrial after accumulating them through Donghae Peregrine Securities, we’ve secured a total of 14%.”

The moment Chairman Woo Yong-gap heard the answer, his expression darkened.

“Look at this. Fourteen percent doesn’t even match the shares held by Chairman Park’s family, and you’re spouting such idle talk!”
“The difference is only about 5%, so we can reverse it quickly.”
“Ha!”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap let out a hollow laugh as if exasperated and clenched his teeth.

“Don’t you know that in a shareholders’ meeting, even one vote fewer than the opposition makes everything meaningless? Now that they know we’re targeting Midopa Department Store, it’s obvious as day that they’ll desperately buy up shares!”

But Woo Ho-geun still countered with a composed demeanor.

“Of course they will. But contrary to their wishes, acquiring shares won’t be so easy.”

There was something suspicious about his unnaturally confident demeanor—a hint of hidden scheming.
Chairman Woo Yong-gap narrowed his brow, his eyes slitting as he glared at his son.

“What exactly are you so confident about?”
“It’s simple. They won’t have enough capital to purchase the shares.”

Woo Ho-geun met his father’s piercing gaze directly and lifted his chin.
Chairman Woo Yong-gap then crossed his arms and gestured with a nod for him to elaborate.

“According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, the Daeheung Group has at most around 10 billion won in liquid cash available right now. In contrast, we still have 55 billion won in ammunition remaining.”
“Are you certain that’s all the cash they have?”

Woo Ho-geun nodded without the slightest hesitation at his father’s confirming question.

“We extracted this information from inside the Daeheung Group, so it must be accurate.”
“Hmm.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap, sitting with his legs crossed, internally revised his assessment of his son upward.
Rather than recklessly charging forward, his son had demonstrated the meticulousness to extract internal intelligence on his opponent—quite impressive.
However, he showed no outward sign of this, merely nodding slightly.

“Despite running a cash-based department store business, they have only that much in liquid funds. I’ve heard rumors that they’ve poured every last won into the construction of the Gangnam Branch, and it seems those rumors are true.”

Woo Ho-geun then leaned forward and spoke with intensity.

“The hasty press conference announcing their hostile M&A attempt on Midopa Department Store was clearly a scheme to use public opinion to corner us, and in that window, to secure the funds they lack.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap grimaced and nodded heavily.

“The moment other group chairmen hear this news, they’ll view us unfavorably.”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol, present with them, added his words with a stern expression.

“By emphasizing foreign involvement in the press conference, they appear to be deliberately stoking resentment from the business community and the public.”
“Undoubtedly.”

A hostile M&A was already difficult to gain favorable reception, and with foreign forces involved on top of that, it was perfect for steering public opinion against the Donghae Group.
Recognizing that the situation would deteriorate further, Chairman Woo Yong-gap’s expression hardened.

“Since we’ve already made up our minds to acquire Midopa Department Store and Daeheung Group, we should have been prepared for criticism from other conglomerates and public opinion, shouldn’t we?”
“Hmm.”
“We’ll certainly face some backlash in the short term, but it won’t last long. However, the benefits we can gain by bringing the entire Daeheung Group under our wing through Midopa Department Store are immeasurable.”

Woo Ho-geun, speaking from his seat, infused his voice with conviction as he gazed at Chairman Woo Yong-gap, who sat in the place of honor.

“Then there’s no need to deliberate further—the answer is clear, isn’t it?”

Observing the fierce determination burning in his son’s eyes, Chairman Woo Yong-gap murmured inwardly.

‘I thought he was just a reckless fool causing trouble everywhere, but it seems he’s finally come to his senses.’

From the beginning, his son’s mind had always worked a bit sharper than most.
Had the scandal from before not been exposed to the media, he would have successfully mobilized massive capital.

‘Sending him to Hong Kong turned out to be valuable experience.’

Though I’d sent him there to reflect, he’d grown considerably in the process—a fortunate outcome.
Chairman Woo Yong-gap nodded gravely in agreement.

“You’re right. The milk’s already spilled, so there’s no use crying over it. Besides, it would be a shame to abandon such a tempting prize.”

Yet Chairman Woo Yong-gap’s frown remained unrelenting.

“Once the battle for shares begins, the other side will come at us with everything they have, knowing their group’s fate hangs in the balance. Do you have a countermeasure?”
“Of course I do.”

Woo Ho-geun answered as if he’d been waiting for this question.
Chairman Woo Yong-gap then straightened his posture from where he’d been leaning back and asked.

“Explain yourself.”
“Since it’s now clear that we’ve been accumulating shares, I intend to declare a public tender offer for all circulating Midopa Department Store stock before the market opens tomorrow.”

At this unexpected proposal, Chairman Woo Yong-gap’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Did you just say a public tender offer?”
“Yes.”

A tender offer meant publicly purchasing shares held by shareholders at a predetermined price in the quantity necessary for the purpose of acquiring management control.

“By striking back openly like this instead of hesitating, we can neutralize Daeheung Group’s scheme to buy time until they can prepare a countermeasure.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap fell silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing as if something troubled him.

“It’s not a bad approach, but to get shareholders to accept a public tender offer, we’d need to sweeten the deal considerably. Won’t that place too heavy a burden on our finances?”

Woo Ho-geun answered decisively to his concerns.

“The moment Daeheung Group exposed the situation, it became a war of capital. In that case, striking hard and fast before the other side can mobilize their funds—seizing the initiative decisively—will actually cost us less money in the end.”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol, seated across from them, cautiously joined the conversation, siding with Woo Ho-geun.

“Young Master is right. There’s nothing to gain for us by dragging this situation out.”

Woo Ho-geun pressed his case further.

“Exactly. If we hesitate and another group gets drawn into this fight, everything could spiral out of control.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap leaned back against the sofa, his face grave as he deliberated, then reached a decision.

“You’re right—there’s no benefit in letting this grow. Even if it strains us, it’s better to tie this up quickly. The Federation of Korean Industries and other groups will feel uncomfortable about it, but they’ll have little room to intervene.”
“Precisely.”

Chairman Woo Yong-gap tapped the armrest of the sofa, his expression troubled.

“But even if the other side isn’t fully prepared, once we announce a public tender offer, they won’t just sit back and take it. If that happens, won’t the funds we’ve set aside be insufficient to secure the shares we need?”
“That’s why I called my Uncle before coming here.”

At the mention of having prepared a countermeasure in advance, Chairman Woo Yong-gap’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“You spoke to your Uncle?”
“Yes.”

Woo Ho-geun straightened his posture and spoke with confidence.

“Donghae Peregrine Securities will acquire Midopa Department Store’s 4.1% stake, and we’ve agreed to loan an additional 23 billion won.”
“They really agreed to do that?”
“Yes. In exchange, once we secure control of Daeheung Group, we’ll transfer two of its subsidiaries to my maternal uncle.”
“Which two?”
“Nowon Cable TV and Global Korea Economic Newspaper.”

Both were considered crown jewels among Daeheung Group’s subsidiaries.
Woo Yong-gap clicked his tongue briefly at his brother-in-law’s shrewd approach—helping while securing every advantage for himself.
But he wouldn’t have done differently in the same position, so he said nothing more.

“It’s a shame to give up those assets, but if we can acquire all of Daeheung Group, I suppose that’s a reasonable concession.”
“Exactly. It’s often better to yield the smaller pieces and seize the core than to be greedy and ruin the entire deal.”

Woo Yong-gap nodded and asked again.

“Setting that aside, what price are you planning for the tender offer?”

Relieved that Woo Yong-gap had accepted the transaction conducted with his uncle without prior approval, Woo Ho-geun answered.

“20,000 won per share.”
“What was Midopa Department Store’s stock price?”

Chief Secretary Jeon Hae-cheol answered immediately.

“Today’s closing price was 9,650 won per share.”
“So that’s a bit more than double.”

Woo Ho-geun added calmly.

“The first offer will be 20,000 won. If Daeheung Group counters, we’ll raise it to 50,000 won in the second round.”
“Hmm.”

Woo Yong-gap furrowed his brow and let out a low murmur.
After a moment of silent deliberation, he lifted his head again.

“The price is steep, but if we’re acquiring not just Midopa Department Store but all of Daeheung Group, it’s worth the gamble. Go ahead with your plan.”

Woo Ho-geun, who had been waiting anxiously for his response, immediately brightened.

“Thank you!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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