Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 66

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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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66. Don’t let your guard down. Keep a close watch.

Seokwon removed his upper garment and handed it to the Female Server standing behind him, then settled into the empty seat across from Park Jin-hyung and spoke.

“Were you drinking alone without any sense of loyalty?”
“I was just having a light aperitif while waiting.”

Park Jin-hyung chuckled as he spoke, then turned his head to look at the Female Server standing to one side.

“Please bring out the food we ordered.”
“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

The Female Server, who had answered with a smile, closed the sliding door and left.
Then Park Jin-hyung picked up a ceramic sake bottle decorated with cherry blossom patterns and spoke.

“Have a drink.”

As Seokwon extended his cup, Park Jin-hyung poured clear sake into it.
The subtle fragrance that wafted forth suggested this was quite fine liquor.

“Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since we’ve shared a meal together like this.”
“It really has.”
“You’re busy with work too, but let’s make time for moments like this between brothers more often.”
“I actually prefer dating beautiful women over spending time with men.”
“You don’t even have a girlfriend, and here you are talking.”

Park Jin-hyung laughed as he spoke.
He knew well that despite the many women who had followed him since childhood thanks to his handsome appearance, his younger brother wasn’t the type to casually date just anyone.

“Did you go to the United States just to study and come back with a sharper tongue?”
“What’s this about? You know I was on a scholarship all four years.”

As Seokwon held his own in the exchange, Park Jin-hyung simply chuckled.
He found himself genuinely pleased by how much more cheerful and unguarded his younger brother had become compared to before studying abroad.

“Just drink.”

The two of them clinked their glasses lightly and downed their sake in one gulp.
He picked up the bottle and refilled Park Jin-hyung’s empty cup before speaking first.

“By the way, it might be a bit early, but congratulations, hyung.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Father mentioned it—you’re being promoted to president of Daheung Textile at the year-end personnel reshuffle.”
“Yeah, that’s how it turned out.”

Watching Park Jin-hyung answer so matter-of-factly, Seok-won spoke in a measured tone.

“President of a major subsidiary in your early thirties? That’s practically a crown prince investiture, isn’t it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Everyone will see it that way, though. Father’s already decided to pass the group to you, so he put you directly in the president’s seat instead of vice president.”

Seok-won shrugged as he spoke.
Park Jin-hyung harbored similar thoughts deep down, but he showed no outward sign of it.
Instead, he gazed steadily at his younger brother sitting across from him and asked.

“You’re not resentful toward Father?”
“Why would I be?”
“You’re Father’s son too.”

He was indirectly asking whether Seok-won felt bitter about not being given a proper chance to compete.
It was a question that could have made the atmosphere heavy, but Seok-won answered without hesitation.

“I received venture capital shares this time too. Besides, I have no desire to covet your position. I’m satisfied with exactly this much.”

His casual tone carried no trace of regret or lingering attachment.
Park Jin-hyung, who had been watching his younger brother with a composed gaze, sensed that this was genuine sincerity rather than pretense, and he nodded quietly.

“I’m grateful you see it that way.”

Park Jin-hyung had assumed Seok-won was yielding reluctantly out of respect for their father’s wishes, and he felt both apologetic and grateful.
But Seok-won’s true feelings were different.

‘For now it’s manageable, but textiles and department stores—the pillars of Daheung Group—are industries where competition grows fiercer and growth potential diminishes with each passing year. There’s no reason for us brothers to shed blood fighting over something like that.’

It would have been a hundred times better to extract the securities and venture capital with greater growth potential early on.
Rather, I could only feel sorry for my brother, who would have to shoulder countless subsidiaries that would become headaches in the future and navigate through these difficult times.
With the hostile takeover about to unfold and the IMF crisis looming, the path ahead was nothing but thorns.

‘I feel like I’ve taken out the essence and left him with nothing but heavy baggage. I feel a bit sorry about that.’

Instead, I resolved to help him from the sidelines so he could overcome the hardships that lay ahead.
Just then, there was a knock, and the sliding door opened as two Female Servers entered carrying the dishes we had ordered.
Utensils and side dishes were arranged on the table, and black ceramic bowls were placed in front of us.

“This is steamed scallop clams with a sweet and tangy flavor to stimulate the appetite.”

Park Jin-hyung took a bite with his chopsticks and wore a satisfied expression.

“Not bad. You should try some too.”

After tasting the steamed scallop clams myself, I nodded in agreement.

“Hmm. The chef’s skill is excellent.”

Soon after, an appetizer course arrived on a pristine white plate—uni shaped like flower petals, konnyaku jelly, a perfectly grilled herring fillet, and skewers made with octopus, egg, and sword beans.
Each element was so harmoniously balanced that my chopsticks moved of their own accord.
Then came the main course: bluefin tuna belly and red seabream sashimi.
As I placed the expertly sliced, resilient raw fish in my mouth, it seemed to melt delicately on my tongue.
After savoring the meal slowly and becoming reasonably full, Park Jin-hyung took a sip of sake, set it down, and asked.

“You said you had something to discuss when we met. Why don’t you tell me now?”

I wiped my mouth with a napkin and spoke with a serious demeanor.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d listen to what I have to say without misunderstanding first.”
“What’s going on that you’re scaring me before you even start?”

Park Jin-hyung spoke with a laugh, but I didn’t relax my stern expression.

“I looked into the group’s governance structure, and it seems there are some problems.”

Park Jin-hyung’s brow furrowed at the unexpected words.
It made sense—he had suddenly invited me to dinner, but he had no way of anticipating that I would bring up the group’s governance structure.

“A problem?”

Under the weight of their gaze, I spoke with unmistakable gravity.

“You’ve constructed a pyramid structure with the department store and textile company as the two pillars, with subsidiary companies positioned beneath them.”

Park Jin-hyung nodded, mentally visualizing the group’s governance structure.

“Exactly.”
“On the surface, it appears well-organized, but if you examine it closely, there’s a fatal weakness.”

The smile vanished from Park Jin-hyung’s face as he absorbed my words.

“You already know that even if we combine all the department store shares owned by Father and our family, it only amounts to 19.6%.”

Even that represented a substantial sum—the equity value alone far exceeded one hundred billion won at current stock prices.

“The textile company is even lower—less than 19%.”
“But the department store holds 32.8% of the textile company’s shares.”
“That’s precisely the Achilles heel of our group.”

Park Jin-hyung’s brow furrowed as he fixed his gaze upon me.

“As you said, if we add Father’s and the department store’s textile holdings, we exceed a majority, so there’s no problem maintaining control of the textile company.”
“….”
“But what happens if someone targets the department store and attempts a hostile takeover?”
“…!”

Recognizing the concern I was raising, Park Jin-hyung’s expression hardened instantly.
Seeing that reaction, I held up three fingers.

“If the opponent accumulates just 30% of the shares, they could seize not only control of the department store but devour the entire group wholesale.”

In that moment, Park Jin-hyung felt a chill run down his spine, and he swallowed hard.
He wanted to deny it, but considering that the department store holds 32.8% of the textile company—one of the two pillars supporting the group—it was entirely plausible.
Driving the point home, I continued.

“With just hundreds of billions, they could seize the department store and an entire group worth trillions of won. If I were in their position, I’d never let such a tempting prize slip through my fingers.”

As heavy silence settled over the room, Seok-won, having finished his explanation, quietly observed Park Jin-hyung, whose face had hardened like ancient stone.
Park Jin-hyung’s throat felt parched, so he picked up the glass of liquor before him and drained it in one long gulp, then spoke in a strained voice.

“I understand well enough that there are vulnerabilities in the governance structure, as you say. But since there haven’t been any major problems so far, you don’t need to worry too much.”

Just as Seok-won was about to counter, Park Jin-hyung continued first.

“Of course, I’m not saying I’ll just sit idle. Now that I’m aware of the weaknesses, I’ll work on improving them gradually.”

Though he had anticipated this to some degree, Seok-won couldn’t help but inwardly sigh at the sight of his brother remaining oblivious to a situation where a blade could descend upon his neck at any moment.

‘I suppose he’s being more complacent precisely because no hostile takeover attempt like this has ever been made domestically until now.’

But knowing that the Daeheung Group would become the very first such case, Seok-won couldn’t simply let this matter rest.

“This isn’t a situation where you can afford to be so relaxed, hyung.”

At that, Park Jin-hyung’s eyes flashed sharply.

“Are you saying you’ve heard that someone is targeting our group?”

Under his gaze, Seok-won shook his head.

“That’s not it, but if you continue with this governance structure, hungry wolves will inevitably appear sooner or later.”
“I know. That’s why I said I’d gradually reform the governance structure.”
“By then it will be too late.”

At the frustrated tone in his voice, Park Jin-hyung instead narrowed his brows and asked.

“Why are you pushing so hard when nothing is even happening right now?”

It’s not now, but it will happen soon!
Seok-won cried out inwardly, striking his chest.
But he couldn’t voice that directly, so he tried to persuade him indirectly instead.

“There is nothing more unsettling than continuing to carry a time bomb in your arms, not knowing when it will explode. That’s why.”

For a moment, suspicion arose, wondering if that was really all it was, or if my younger brother might be greedy for the management rights of the group.
But since Seok-won had just driven home the point that he had no interest in the position of successor, Park Jin-hyung decided to set aside his doubts for now.

‘If you really had other thoughts, you wouldn’t have said this.’

If he had been greedy for management rights, there was no way he would have said with his own words the easiest and surest way to take over the entire group.
Had I possessed ambitions for control, I would never have revealed the easiest and most certain method to seize the entire group with my own lips.
This meant he was speaking out of genuine concern for both the group and himself, so Park Jin-hyung regarded his younger brother with warm eyes.

“Since you’re saying this, I’ll be honest with you.”
“Since you’ve gone this far, I’ll be honest with you too.”

Seokwon nodded his head and listened.

“Even if we want to improve governance, the financial situation is not feasible.”
“Even if I wanted to improve the governance structure, the financial situation doesn’t permit it.”

Looking at Seokwon furrowing his brow, Jinhyeong Park picked up the bottle and filled the empty glass himself.

“It wasn’t bad until last year when we acquired Daeheung Securities, but competition in department stores has become fiercer and the cotton milling industry has been bad for several years, so profits are falling sharply.”

It has been a long time since the labor-intensive cotton spinning industry began to decline in Korea due to continuous wage increases.
The labor-intensive textile industry had long since entered its twilight years domestically due to continuous wage increases.
Moreover, the department stores, which had served as our reliable cash cow, were increasingly losing ground to the aggressive operations of Lotte and Utopia department stores.

‘This is why they say that I am a promising candidate for the position of successor to the group.’

The bigger problem was that Daeheung Group’s management performance would not improve in the future, but would only worsen over time.

“Moreover, we are planning to relocate a large number of domestic textile factories to China to improve profitability. Moreover, we are running out of funds to purchase shares.”
“Moreover, to improve profitability, we’re planning to relocate numerous textile factories from the domestic market to China. This leaves us with even less spare capital for equity purchases.”

Park Jin-hyung smiled bitterly, as if he was sorry for saying such a thing.

“But it’s not so difficult that the group will be shaken right away, so don’t worry too much. Since we knew there were problems with the governance structure, we can gradually improve it later when we have more time.”

Since there was no way to persuade him any further, Seokwon decided to take a step back.

“You take care of it, brother. But you never know when you might be attacked, so don’t relax and watch closely.”
“I’ll trust your judgment. But since we don’t know when an attack might come, stay vigilant and keep your guard up.”

Park Jin-hyung, who willingly accepted his younger brother’s advice, slowly raised the corner of his mouth.

“It’s really reassuring to have you by my side like this.”
“It’s really reassuring to have you by my side like this.”
“What… we’re family, aren’t we?”

Seokwon lightly clinked his glass and drank the remaining half of the liquor in one gulp, thinking.

‘In the end, I don’t think we can avoid hostile takeover attacks.’

Seokwon tried to hide his bitter expression as he felt an exhilarating sensation running down his throat.

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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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