New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 135

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 135. Spoils of War (4)

When I returned to Korea, tremendous events had erupted.

Of course, I had heard about the information while in the United States, but returning to Korea made me feel it firsthand.

“Branch Manager, Daehyeon Electronics and Daehyeon Construction have been handed over to the creditor group.”

“It seems Daehyeon Group has completely given up management rights.”

“Their financial situation no longer allows them to maintain control. And the creditor group’s pressure was so intense that they couldn’t protect their management rights.”

“Are there any companies showing interest in Daehyeon Electronics and Construction?”

“Currently, there are none at all. In the case of Daehyeon Electronics, excluding the semiconductor business, there’s nothing worthwhile so no one is showing interest, and Daehyeon Construction’s debt scale is so large that everyone is too intimidated to even consider it.”

The fall of Daehyeon Group.

During Chairman Wang’s era, it was the overwhelmingly dominant number one conglomerate, but now Daehyeon Group had been torn apart and disappeared from the center of the business world.

In the case of Daehyeon Automotive and Heavy Industries, they were still going strong.

But that was also because they had broken away as independent groups, no longer belonging to Daehyeon Group.

“What’s the debt scale of Daehyeon Construction?”

“It’s been confirmed to exceed 7 trillion won. This year’s deficit alone exceeds 380 billion won.”

“I should meet with the creditor group once.”

“Are you also interested in acquiring Daehyeon Construction?”

“If we can buy it cheap and sell it expensive, there’s no reason not to acquire it.”

Deputy Branch Manager Kim Do-yun showed reluctance.

That’s how much Daehyeon Construction was suffering from enormous debt, and it was a distressed company that no group was showing interest in.

“Acquisition might be possible, but covering the deficit won’t be easy.”

“Even the saltiest water becomes drinkable if you pour enough fresh water into it. And Tiger Fund can supply enough of that amount of water.”

“Even if it rains on the sea, the sea doesn’t become a river.”

“Daehyeon Construction isn’t the sea. Even if it were the sea, it doesn’t matter. If we can resell it to someone at a high price, holding the sea temporarily wouldn’t be bad either.”

Daehyeon Construction, treated only as a burden.

But if polished well, that burden could turn into a gold nugget.

If we could sell that gold nugget version of Daehyeon Construction at a high price, it would be a profitable business.

***

Meeting with Daehyeon Construction’s creditor group wasn’t difficult.

We already had experience acquiring the semiconductor business from Daehyeon Electronics’ creditor group.

Moreover, since Daehyeon Construction’s creditor group was also centered around Korea Development Bank with commercial banks, sufficient relationships had already been built.

“It’s been a while. I’m sorry for taking time from your busy schedules.”

“Not at all. We’re grateful that you contacted us first, Branch Manager.”

The Vice President of Korea Development Bank welcomed me.

Starting with the Vice President, I exchanged greetings with the commercial bank representatives before proceeding with the meeting.

“I’ve gathered all of you here because I have a request to make.”

“What kind of request? If it’s a request from Tiger Fund, we’ll review it as positively as possible.”

“Daehyeon Semiconductor and the small device factory Nexcon are gradually coming back to life.”

“That’s truly a desirable development. Without Tiger Fund, we couldn’t have even attempted the strategy of partnering with overseas companies to boost sales.”

The Vice President’s expression was bright.

He seemed satisfied that the sold company was operating smoothly.

This was a natural reaction from Korea Development Bank, which unlike general commercial banks, is closely intertwined with the state.

On the other hand, the commercial bank representatives’ expressions were different.

Without showing much interest, they were subtly indicating for me to get to the main point.

“It’s all thanks to the creditor group. As factory sales increase, we need to expand production facilities. So we want to purchase part of the Daehyeon Electronics Complex site.”

“How much are you thinking of purchasing?”

“I understand the complex site is 320,000 pyeong in scale. Of that, Nexcon’s site is only 30,000 pyeong. We want to additionally purchase half of Daehyeon Electronics’ site.”

Now that I mentioned buying land, the commercial bank representatives finally showed interest.

Some were calculating the real estate value in their heads, and a few even took out materials to check prices directly.

“The current market price is about 500,000 won per pyeong. To purchase 150,000 pyeong would require 750 billion won. Including the factories, the total would reach 1 trillion won.”

“Actually, we don’t need the factories. Even if there are unused factories, we’d have to demolish and rebuild them.”

“Even so, we can’t ignore the factory value.”

“Fine. Under those conditions, we’ll acquire 150,000 pyeong of the complex site for 1 trillion won.”

I boldly spent 1 trillion won.

The creditor group couldn’t hide their smiles.

The Vice President of Korea Development Bank even subtly made another proposal.

“Aren’t you interested in acquiring Daehyeon Electronics? You’ve acquired the semiconductor division, the small device factory, and now even the site. You’ve already acquired more than half of Daehyeon Electronics, so how about acquiring the whole thing?”

“I’m not thinking about full acquisition yet. Rather, how is Daehyeon Construction progressing?”

I shifted the topic to Daehyeon Construction.

Daehyeon Construction had more to extract than Daehyeon Electronics, which had already been drained of its value.

“Are you also interested in Daehyeon Construction?”

“Who wouldn’t be interested in Daehyeon Construction? It’s just that the debt scale is too large and it’s even running a deficit, so no one can think of acquiring it. But if it’s a partial acquisition, wouldn’t that be worth considering?”

“You mean acquiring only some business divisions of Daehyeon Construction, like the partial acquisition of Daehyeon Semiconductor. We oppose that type of partial acquisition.”

The Vice President of Korea Development Bank strongly expressed his opposition.

While recovering even some funds through partial sales might be better, he seemed opposed because selling only the profitable divisions would leave only debt and deficits.

“Then, is the creditor group going to manage Daehyeon Construction? I understand this year’s deficit alone exceeds 380 billion won.”

“Even so, we have no intention of selling only the profitable assets.”

“Then, if Tiger Fund were to hope for Daehyeon Construction acquisition, would debt forgiveness also be possible?”

I subtly revealed acquisition interest.

Then the Vice President of Korea Development Bank nodded vigorously.

“Debt forgiveness is naturally possible, but… are you really thinking of acquiring all of Daehyeon Construction?”

“If the conditions are right, couldn’t we acquire it? While it’s currently suffering massive deficits, if we utilize Tiger Fund’s global network, we can minimize the deficit.”

“What conditions do you hope for?”

The initiative was with me anyway.

Since I didn’t necessarily need to acquire Daehyeon Construction, there was no need for me to reveal conditions first.

“I’d like to hear the creditor group’s conditions first. We’ll adjust our conditions accordingly.”

“Hmm, Daehyeon Construction’s current value approaches 5 trillion won. But the debt scale exceeds 7 trillion won. If Tiger Fund hopes for acquisition, we can forgive 20% of the debt.”

It was an absurd condition.

Even with 20% debt forgiveness, the remaining debt scale still far exceeded 5 trillion won.

Adding the acquisition price, acquiring Daehyeon Construction alone would cost a whopping 10 trillion won.

“Do you think it’s worth acquiring Daehyeon Construction for 10 trillion won?”

“First, you only need to pay 5 trillion won in acquisition funds. Considering Tiger Fund’s creditworthiness, if you pay interest on time, we’ll renew the loan every 5 years. And if you repay part of the principal, we can lower the interest rate even further.”

I had seen enough of the creditor group’s cards.

These were completely unrealistic conditions.

Without needing further discussion, I presented the conditions I had in mind.

“Tiger Fund’s conditions are as follows. 30% debt forgiveness and if you set the acquisition price at 3 trillion won, Tiger Fund will acquire Daehyeon Construction.”

“Including acquisition price and debt, we’d have to discount a whopping 2.7 trillion won. Such conditions are difficult to accept.”

The gap between the creditor group and me reached 2.7 trillion won.

Of course, the creditor group’s position was understandable. They couldn’t accept a 2.7 trillion won loss, so it would be difficult to accept.

But I felt the same way.

If I couldn’t get a 2.7 trillion won discount from the creditor group’s conditions, there was no reason to acquire Daehyeon Construction.

No matter what recovery plan I had prepared, at that price, I would only be taking on losses.

“I’m not simply asking for a 2.7 trillion won discount without any conditions.”

“Are there other additional conditions?”

“If you accept Tiger Fund’s conditions, we’ll repay the debt equivalent to 4.9 trillion won in a lump sum.”

“You mean you’ll repay the full 4.9 trillion won?”

“Repayment is possible within this year at the latest. If needed, we can even specify Tiger Fund Headquarters’ guarantee in the contract.”

The meeting hall began to buzz.

The sale of Daehyeon Construction, which they thought could never be sold, had become reality.

[If we can recover just the principal intact, couldn’t we accept a 2.7 trillion won discount?]

[4.9 trillion won in borrowed funds plus 3 trillion won in acquisition funds makes 8 trillion won total. In times like these, Tiger Fund is the only place that can execute 8 trillion won at once.]

[This appears to be the only opportunity to recover at least part of the principal with certainty.]

[Maximum recovery is important, but what’s more important is guaranteed recovery. If we leave things as they are, Daehyeon Construction may never be able to repay the principal.]

The commercial bank representatives each voiced their opinions.

Fortunately, or perhaps naturally, no one was greedy enough to demand interest as well.

Still, opinions were divided into two camps.

One side insisted that the principal must be recovered at all costs, while the other believed that Daehyeon Construction should be sold now even if it meant losing part of the principal.

Since I couldn’t just keep listening to the discussion forever.

I cleared my throat to focus their attention and spoke up.

“Ahem, I’m not sure if you’ve already heard, but Tiger Fund has recently made considerable profits in the United States.”

“We heard through the media about Tiger Fund and the U.S. Government joining forces to fight against the short selling forces. You really worked hard.”

“That’s why I’m making this proposal while we have cash reserves available. However, due to the nature of fund capital, we can’t let cash sit idle for long. If you don’t accept this proposal today, the authority to execute these funds will be transferred to another branch office.”

A threat, or rather, pressure.

It was a viable strategy since there was no other company besides Tiger Fund that would acquire Daehyeon Construction.

The effect of the pressure was immediate.

[If not now, we don’t know when another opportunity to sell Daehyeon Construction will come.]

[Think about the IMF crisis. There were many cases where debt forgiveness exceeded 40%, not just 30%. Tiger Fund’s proposal is quite reasonable.]

[For Daehyeon Construction’s sake too, selling would be better. With Tiger Fund’s global network, they can certainly revive Daehyeon Construction.]

The commercial bank representatives suddenly began praising Tiger Fund in unison.

The Vice President of Korea Development Bank, who had been quietly listening to their voices, pointed out the most important issue.

“I also agree with selling Daehyeon Construction. But I’m not sure if the government will allow it. Even though it’s not the case now, wasn’t Daehyeon Construction like a symbol of South Korea just a few years ago?”

“You don’t need to worry about that part. We can minimize any controversy by using the same method we used when acquiring Daehyeon Semiconductor.”

The first time is difficult, but the second time is easy.

Of course, even so, we would still need to negotiate with the Blue House.

Getting the creditor group’s consent would make negotiations with the Blue House much easier.

“Then the creditor group agrees to sell Daehyeon Construction to Tiger Fund. However, the actual sale process can only proceed once we get permission from the Blue House.”

“I’ll obtain government approval within this week.”

If I could just get the Blue House’s permission, I would be able to acquire Daehyeon Construction.

And I had already prepared several cards to present to the Blue House.

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