Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 257

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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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257. Let’s go see just how impressive this guy really is.

The next day, Yeouido Securities District, Seoul.
Exiting through Exit 3 of Yeouido Station, tall securities company buildings lined both sides of the street in neat rows.
Around lunchtime each day, it was common to see securities employees who had finished eating gather in small groups before heading back to their offices—some sipping vending machine coffee, others leaning against nearby walls smoking cigarettes and chatting.
With tobacco smoke billowing from both securities workers and individual investors visiting the trading floor throughout the entire day—from morning through closing time—everyone had taken to calling this alley by the nickname “Raccoon’s Den.”
Ko Byung-chu and Woo Jung-hyuk, who worked at Saseong Securities, along with Do Jin-han, had emerged from lunch and now stood in one corner of the alley, enjoying their post-meal cigarettes.
Ko Byung-chu, holding a vending machine coffee in one hand with a cigarette dangling from his lips, lit it and handed the disposable lighter back to Woo Jung-hyuk, his colleague from the same cohort across from him.

“Didn’t the oxtail soup seem to have less meat than it used to?”
“Huh? You noticed too? I thought it was nothing but vegetables—I could’ve sworn it was vegetable soup instead of oxtail soup.”

Do Jin-han, their junior, tilted his head slightly to the side to exhale smoke and joined in their complaints.

“It was decent when they first opened, but it’s been getting worse.”

Seeing both of them say the same thing, Ko Byung-chu frowned slightly.

“We had no choice today since there were no seats elsewhere, but I won’t be going back.”
“Right.”
“I’m planning to skip that place from now on too.”

Perhaps because today’s lunch had been so unsatisfying, none of them looked particularly pleased.

“Sigh. Lunch hour is the only bright spot in this tedious office life, but it’s sad how the decent restaurants seem to be disappearing.”
“Tell me about it.”

For office workers, nothing mattered quite as much as whether lunch had been delicious.
It was practically a running joke that when changing jobs, people considered the quality of nearby restaurants just as important as the salary—that said it all.
Ko Byung-chu, cigarette wedged between his fingers, took a sip of coffee and suddenly recalled something, glancing cautiously around.
Then he lowered his voice and spoke carefully.

“Did you see the rumors that came out today about Daeheung Group?”

Woo Jung-hyuk leaned in slightly as if about to share a secret and asked back.

“You mean their financial situation is poor?”
“Exactly. They’re saying they don’t even have a hundred billion won in readily available cash.”

At that, Do Jin-han, who hadn’t yet accumulated enough seniority to receive insider tips, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Is that really true?”
“Yeah.”

Ko Byung-chu nodded his head.

“You know how Midopa Department Store shares were climbing steadily until yesterday, but today they’ve been faltering since market open and have dropped to around seventy thousand won.”
“Gasp. You’re saying that’s because of this?”

Ko Byung-chu finished his drink, tapped ash into the empty paper cup, and boasted as he revealed the content of the insider information.

“Apparently, Daeheung Group was planning to issue a massive warrant bond to defend their management rights due to insufficient funds. But since that’s not working out, they’ve concluded it’ll be difficult to raise the public acquisition price any further.”

The warrant bond, abbreviated as BW, was simply a bond that granted the right to receive new shares at a predetermined price once the agreed period expired.
If the company’s stock price had risen by maturity, one could receive shares instead and pocket both the accumulated interest and the capital gains from the stock appreciation.
Conversely, if the stock price was low, one could simply be repaid the principal, making it a far more advantageous financial instrument for the creditor lending the money.
Do Jin-han, wearing a brown necktie, spoke with his expression slightly hardened.

“If they’re pushing to issue BW rather than ordinary corporate bonds, Daeheung Group’s financial situation must be quite dire.”

Ko Byung-chu shrugged and continued.

“As you know, they’ve been struggling for years due to the slump in their core textile business.”
“That’s why they closed almost all the domestic factories and moved all production facilities to China.”
“Right. And they poured considerable money into China in the process.”

Do Jin-han nodded slightly, as if he understood.

“Building new production factories from scratch must require a substantial amount of capital.”

Then Woo Jung-hyuk, who was beside him, flicked his already-finished cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his shoe as he spoke.

“On top of already spending money in massive chunks, they even won the bid for the Sampoong Department Store Site at a whopping two hundred and fifty billion won, so the group’s coffers are bound to be completely empty.”
“Ah, I remember going to watch when they demolished and dismantled the department store building. It was quite a spectacular sight.”

Ko Byung-chu cast a sidelong glance at Do Jin-han, whose admiration seemed oddly out of place given the mood.

“That was supposed to be a workday, wasn’t it? How did you manage to go see it? Don’t tell me you played hooky?”
“Well, about that….”

Do Jin-han, who had actually taken sick leave and gone to see it with his girlfriend, averted his gaze with a sheepish expression.

“Wow. Look at this guy. Always getting distracted.”

Ko Byung-chu glared at him and expressed his exasperation, but Woo Jung-hyuk interjected from the side with a suppressed chuckle.

“We’ve all skipped work on fake sick days before. Cut him some slack.”
“Tsk. Let’s just do better going forward, yeah?”
“Hehe. Of course, Manager.”

Seeing how quickly Do Jin-han submitted, Ko Byung-chu clicked his tongue and returned to his original topic.

“Anyway, with the financial situation already precarious, they’re forcing through the acquisition of the Sampoong Department Store Site and then pouring massive amounts of cash into constructing a massive new Gangnam Branch, so there’s no way there’s any money left in the coffers.”

Woo Jung-hyuk pulled a mint from his pocket to mask the cigarette smell and spoke while chewing it.

“The construction costs for the new Midopa Gangnam Branch alone exceeded 200 billion won.”
“Right. Midopa Department Store launched a massive media campaign saying they were building the nation’s premier luxury department store.”

Since it was an ambitious project to seize the initiative in the department store wars, the Daeheung Group invested considerable effort in publicity and generating buzz.
The controlled demolition—the first of its kind in the country—was also attempted with this in mind.

“If things continue like this, it’ll be hard for Midopa Department Store’s stock price to rise further.”

Do Jin-han smacked his lips regretfully.

“Unless the Daeheung Group raises their tender offer price again by Friday.”

Upon hearing the response, Do Jin-han grimaced and scratched his head with one hand.

“I told my clients that the M&A issue wouldn’t be resolved easily and that it would still be safe to buy, but now I’m in a bind.”
“Sigh… If this goes wrong, we’ll have people collapsing on the trading floor again.”
“Well. That’s happened once or twice before.”

Ko Byung-chu replied without much concern.
The longer one spent in the Securities District, the more one witnessed every conceivable spectacle, so it was only natural to become indifferent even when chaos erupted.

“Before things escalate and someone shows up at the Trading Floor causing a scene, I’d better make some calls quickly. Tell them to sell before it hits seventy thousand won.”
“Yes, we should do that.”

Just then, Ko Byung-chu stubbed out his cigarette—already smoked down to nothing—in an empty paper cup and spoke offhandedly.

“But honestly, doesn’t it seem like Donghae might actually swallow up the Daeheung Group at this rate?”
“If the management rights to Midopa Department Store truly transfer, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“Then this would become a truly momentous event. We might literally be standing in the middle of history.”
“I don’t know about everything, but I’d wager there’s more than one group feeling nervous watching this M&A unfold.”

Ko Byung-chu smiled wryly, as if agreeing with Woo Jung-hyuk’s assessment.

“That’s probably true. Most conglomerates control their entire groups with just a small fraction of ownership shares.”

Then Woo Jung-hyuk rolled up his sleeve to check his watch and spoke with urgency.

“Time’s up. Let’s head back before Manager Oh gives us another earful.”
“Already? I don’t think I’ve even finished digesting lunch yet. I never understand why lunch breaks are so short—they were the same length back in school.”

Ko Byung-chu grumbled as he crumpled the paper cup and tossed it into a trash bin in the corner.
Then, together with the other two, he hurried back toward the office building.
The Midopa Department Store stock price, which had surged repeatedly on the back of M&A rumors and gossip that had spread before the market even opened, now showed signs of faltering and weakness.

* * *

That afternoon.
True to its reputation as a neighborhood where only heaven-blessed wealthy people lived, Seongbuk-dong was lined with grand and imposing residences that most wealthy individuals could never hope to afford.
The towering walls stacked so high that one couldn’t see inside, along with surveillance cameras positioned throughout, testified that this was the Republic of Korea’s most exclusive neighborhood, home to conglomerate chairmen and celebrities whose names were household words.
In the spacious garden pond of a residence where a massive persimmon tree—easily over a hundred years old—grew beyond the wall, stood a white-haired man in his seventies wearing traditional Korean attire.
As the elderly man scattered a handful of feed from the container in his hand, silk carp the size of an adult’s forearm splashed through the water, feeding eagerly.
The white-haired man was Cheon Seong-deuk, originally from Haeju in Hwanghae Province, known as Chairman Cheon in the Myeongdong private lending market, a major player who moved hundreds of billions of won in cash.
After handing the feed container to the large Bodyguard standing behind him, Cheon Seong-deuk clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the dimly darkening sky.

“Looking at those dark clouds rolling in, it seems like we’ll have quite a downpour tonight.”

Just then, Oh Tae-min, the butler, crossed the garden and bowed respectfully from behind.

“Chairman. You have a visitor.”

Cheon Seong-deuk, who had been leisurely gazing at the sky and reading the weather, finally turned his head.

“You mean Chairman Park’s second son?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What was your impression of him?”
“Just as the rumors suggested—his features are sharp and his eyes gleam with intelligence.”
“Hmm. So he’s not just another pretty face with nothing behind it.”

Cheon Seong-deuk stepped back from the pond’s edge and murmured softly.

“I heard he made substantial profits investing in Ogwang Industries and Cheonho Steel.”
“More than that—he invested in a company called Netscape in the United States, took it public, and sold his stake for hundreds of millions of dollars in gains, or so I’m told.”

At the mention of money, a glimmer of interest kindled in Cheon Seong-deuk’s eyes.

“Remarkable. Here I am, having scraped and clawed my way through the rough streets of Myeongdong my entire life, and this young upstart has amassed more wealth in a few years than I’ve earned in a lifetime. The boy is clearly exceptional.”

Most corporate presidents would struggle to secure even a single audience with Cheon Seong-deuk, which was precisely why he had not outright refused when this young Seok-won suddenly reached out requesting a meeting.

“He’s coming to see me out of the blue now, no doubt because of the Midopa Department Store shares?”
“Likely so.”

Cheon Seong-deuk had been a major shareholder, holding 3.2% of Midopa Department Store for over a decade.
An intriguing expression crossed his face as he curved his lips into a slight smile.

“The moment rumors spread that Daeheung Group’s finances are in trouble, Chairman Park’s second son comes knocking on my door. Too much of a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“Perhaps he’s come to ask for your support at the shareholders’ meeting, given that they’re at a disadvantage in the share battle.”
“That’s possible. But didn’t you just say that Chairman Park’s second son earned substantial sums in the United States?”
“….”

Oh Tae-min, finding himself at a loss for words, fell silent.

“It doesn’t quite add up that Daeheung is struggling financially. Well, I’ll find out soon enough what he’s really after when we meet.”

Cheon Seong-deuk regarded Oh Tae-min, who stood quietly in an upright posture, and asked:

“Is he waiting in the annex reception room?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go see just how impressive this fellow is.”

With that, he turned and strode purposefully toward the annex.
As the years accumulated, Cheon Seong-deuk had grown indifferent to most matters, rarely displaying much enthusiasm—yet today, an unusual vitality radiated from him, prompting Oh Tae-min to regard his retreating figure with a puzzled expression.

“I haven’t seen him like this in quite some time.”

Suspecting it had something to do with the Daeheung Group’s second son, Oh Tae-min hastened to follow.

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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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