New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 136

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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 136. Spoils of War (5)

The Chief Secretary, the second-in-command at the Blue House.

While most corporations would go to great lengths to arrange a meeting with him, Tiger Fund had no need for such efforts.

A single phone call was enough to set up an appointment, and we could meet and have a conversation the very next day.

“Branch Manager Lee, it’s been a while. I understand this is about Daehyun Group again, is that correct?”

“I contacted you to discuss the acquisition of Daehyeon Construction.”

“Tiger Fund must have quite a lot of money. Seeing that you’re trying to acquire even Daehyeon Construction, which is called a pile of debt.”

Daehyeon Construction was a headache for the government as well.

Although the phrase “too big to fail” had lost its power after the IMF crisis.

Still, considering the symbolic nature and scale of Daehyeon Construction, they absolutely couldn’t let it collapse.

The moment Daehyeon Construction fell.

A tremendous domino effect would occur.

So the Blue House had no choice but to take great interest.

“We’ve reached an agreement with the creditor group to sell Daehyeon Construction to Tiger Fund under conditions of debt reduction and acquisition price discount.”

“You contacted me because you need the Blue House’s final approval.”

“That’s correct. If the Blue House opposes it, we’ll give up on acquiring Daehyeon Construction.”

There was no need to show unnecessary greed.

In fact, there wasn’t a compelling reason why we absolutely had to acquire Daehyeon Construction.

We were just eyeing it because buying it now would allow us to resell it at a higher price in a few years.

Of course, there were other reasons, but Daehyeon Construction wasn’t an absolutely necessary choice.

“Hmm, is it true that you’ll repay Daehyeon Construction’s debt in a lump sum?”

“We’ve agreed to repay the full amount agreed upon with the creditor group within this year. Once the debt disappears, Daehyeon Construction will be reborn as a much healthier company.”

“If the debt disappears, the interest burden will decrease. But that doesn’t mean the deficit will be resolved immediately, does it?”

The government also needed assurance.

They demanded justification for why Daehyeon Construction must be sold to Tiger Fund, and I laid out the justifications I had prepared in advance.

“No matter how much deficit there is, Tiger Fund can sufficiently handle it. Not just the current deficit in the hundreds of billions of won, but even if it were in the trillions.”

“I’m not doubting Tiger Fund’s financial capacity. But we can’t just leave it as a deficit company forever, can we?”

“That’s why I’ve prepared several proposals. If you have time, may I present them here?”

“I have plenty of time today. You can talk all night until tomorrow morning if you want.”

The Chief Secretary straightened his posture.

I spread out the maps and related materials I had prepared in advance.

“There are SOC projects that can’t be pursued due to lack of funds. There are dozens of essential projects like highways, ports, tunnels, and bridges that are stalled due to budget constraints.”

“We had to tighten our belts during the IMF recovery process, so it was unavoidable.”

“Tiger Fund will invest in those lacking funds. If we proceed with private investment, the government can secure various infrastructure without spending budget.”

Government budget was limited.

Especially large-scale civil engineering projects typically cost hundreds of billions of won, and in many cases, even trillions.

If the private sector invested in such projects instead, the government could build infrastructure early without spending budget, which would be a tremendous benefit.

Of course, one could argue it’s a loss since investors would take all the toll revenue, but in the long term, securing infrastructure quickly would be a much greater benefit.

“The private investment law was indeed revised after the IMF. Several places have already pursued projects with private capital.”

“I’m thinking of scaling it up significantly. Tiger Fund plans to invest trillions of won annually in SOC projects alone. Of course, this is contingent on acquiring Daehyeon Construction.”

“So you’re saying you’ll invest in SOC projects to support Daehyeon Construction.”

It was a plan that could revive Daehyeon Construction at once.

After all, a construction company’s revenue depends on how many contracts it wins, and if it monopolizes SOC projects, it wouldn’t have to worry about contracts for at least 10 years.

“If we proceed this way, we can increase infrastructure, save Daehyeon Construction, and avoid restructuring.”

“Can you really promise trillions of won in investment annually?”

“I can promise that. Of course, we’ll need a lot of help from the government. If we can receive everything from feasibility studies to permits, subsidies, and tax benefits, annual trillion-won investment is possible.”

The government was ultimately the main body of SOC projects.

Profitability would vary depending on how much government support was provided.

If we could receive active government support, Daehyeon Construction could even aim for profitability.

“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be a better solution than this.”

“Even if problems arise, they’ll occur 3 or 5 years later when construction is completed.”

“That would be after the President’s term ends.”

“This administration will take all the achievements and fruits, while any potential burdens will pass to the next administration.”

The immediate achievements were clear.

Groundbreaking, job creation, economic stimulus, and even Daehyeon Construction’s revival.

But problems from private investment would only occur 3 years later.

Backlash over excessive tolls, environmental issues, and financial subsidy problems.

All of these would be the responsibility of the next administration, not this one, so there was no reason to refuse.

“Final approval requires the President’s permission. I’ll report to the President with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport within this week.”

“Thank you for your positive consideration. Just starting SOC private investment will put massive funds into the market from this year. It will be a great help for economic stimulus.”

“It will also be a great help for the presidential election, which is less than 2 years away.”

The most important thing for politicians was ultimately elections.

And the most important presidential election was now only 2 years away.

How much the economy recovered before the presidential election would determine not only the government’s but also the party’s approval ratings.

So the Blue House had no choice but to accept this proposal.

There was no more certain economic stimulus plan than this.

***

My prediction was exactly right.

In less than a week, permission for the Daehyeon Construction acquisition came from the Blue House.

Now, once we met with the creditor group and signed the contract, Daehyeon Construction would come under Tiger Fund’s wing.

But there was someone I needed to meet before that.

I needed to meet Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon of Daehyun Group, who had been the owner of Daehyeon Construction.

No matter how much management control had passed to the creditor group, Daehyeon Construction’s roots were still with Daehyun Group.

“Branch Manager Lee, you’ve arrived? It’s good to see your face like this.”

“Thank you for welcoming me.”

Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon’s face looked quite haggard.

Well, it would be stranger if his face looked fine when everything from Daehyun Electronics to Construction had all passed to the creditor group.

“I heard from the creditor group that Tiger Fund is also acquiring Daehyeon Construction. I’m worried that the entire Daehyun Group might end up in Tiger Fund’s hands.”

“You can think of it as Tiger Fund considering Daehyun Group’s affiliates to be excellent. Tiger Fund didn’t target the group itself. We simply acquired the best companies that came on the market.”

“Of course, I don’t think that way either. I just said it because I feel empty inside.”

I could sense emptiness in Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon’s eyes.

As much as affiliates had disappeared from Daehyun Group, his soul seemed to have disappeared as well.

But I hadn’t forcibly stolen the companies. I had simply acquired companies that had passed to the creditor group.

“Like with the Semiconductor Division, I promise to give priority in selling Daehyeon Construction to someone from the Daehyun Family.”

“You say Daehyun Family, not Daehyun Group. It sounds like you’re saying Daehyun Motors or Heavy Industries could acquire Daehyeon Construction.”

“I promised Chairman Wang that I would protect the Daehyun name. The best option would be for Daehyun Group to directly reacquire Daehyeon Construction, but the second-best option would be for someone from the Daehyun Family to acquire it.”

This was one of the reasons for acquiring Daehyeon Construction.

No matter how far it had fallen, Daehyeon Construction was the symbol and legitimacy of Daehyun Group.

Eventually, when the situation improved, people from the Daehyun Family would surely come running to reclaim it.

Tiger Fund just needed to hold onto it well and wait until then.

When they came running, we could secure sufficient profit just by inducing price competition.

Of course, to keep the promise with Chairman Wang, we had to revive Daehyeon Construction, and in the current situation, there was no other viable method besides Tiger Fund taking it on.

“I will definitely reclaim Daehyeon Construction. So please wait.”

“I’ll wait as long as it takes. I’ll keep Daehyeon Construction warm until it returns to its owner’s embrace.”

“Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. Because of this incompetent father, Daehyeon Construction had to leave home.”

Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon was blaming himself.

But Daehyeon Construction’s situation wasn’t entirely his fault.

Of course, if the succession war hadn’t occurred, the situation might have been different, but that was hindsight.

“But there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

“Please speak freely.”

“What happens to the baseball team? I heard that Daehyeon Group will no longer support the professional baseball team.”

The professional baseball team that had Daehyeon Electronics as its parent company.

But since Daehyeon Electronics had been handed over to the creditor group, the parent company had essentially disappeared.

Now it was operating solely on funds from Tiger Fund, making it difficult to run the baseball team.

“Our circumstances don’t allow us to take care of the baseball team as well.”

“I heard the team’s operating budget has been cut in half, making proper training impossible. Do you plan to leave it like this?”

Daehyeon Group had no reason to cling to the baseball team.

Under normal circumstances, they would have cherished it, but the moment Daehyeon Electronics and Daehyeon Construction were lost, the baseball team was no longer an important asset to the group.

“Are you interested in acquiring the baseball team?”

“Daehyeon Semiconductor already holds 50% of the shares. If anyone should acquire the baseball team, shouldn’t it be Daehyeon Semiconductor?”

“Then please take it. We don’t have the capacity to worry about the baseball team.”

The baseball team had been supported by various companies within the Daehyeon Family conglomerate.

But after Chairman Wang passed away, that support was almost completely cut off, and Daehyeon Group couldn’t bear the burden of over 10 billion won in annual costs alone, so the baseball team had no choice but to be sold.

It wasn’t even really a sale.

The baseball team wasn’t valuable enough to receive money for, so it was more like transferring operating rights.

“Then I’ll do my best to operate the baseball team properly.”

“Having Tiger Fund operate it would be more helpful for the baseball team than staying with Daehyeon Group, which can’t provide proper support.”

“Still, I’ll promise you one thing. I won’t change the baseball team’s name for three years.”

“You’re telling us to come back and reclaim it within three years.”

It was the maximum consideration I could offer to Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon.

How devastating would it be if the name changed immediately?

That was also why I hadn’t changed Daehyeon Semiconductor’s name right away either.

“Tiger Fund wants to continue maintaining good relations with Daehyeon Group.”

“Thank you for your consideration. I will definitely come back to reclaim them, so please wait.”

Chairman Jang Dong-hyeon stood up from his seat and extended his hand to me.

I smiled and shook his hand, but I thought it wouldn’t be easy for Daehyeon Group to reclaim the companies that had fallen to Tiger Fund.

Daehyeon Group’s growth engine was very weak.

The properly functioning gear teeth were too small in scale, while the large-scale gear teeth weren’t functioning properly.

So Daehyeon Semiconductor and the baseball team too.

Would remain under Tiger Fund’s ownership forever.

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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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