New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 70
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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 70. Sincere Lies (5)
The acquisition negotiations for Neo Marvel began.
Of course, CEO Park Min-hyeok of Neo Marvel thought it was an ‘investment attraction negotiation’ rather than an ‘acquisition negotiation’ when he visited Tiger Fund Korea Branch.
“I’m so delighted to meet the CEO of Rollbook in person like this. I’ve always wanted to meet you at least once.”
“The honor is all mine. I was truly impressed by your planning ability in bringing overseas IP and creating a publishing-specialized game company.”
“I’m embarrassed. We still lack the capacity to develop our own games, so we’re currently focusing on publishing.”
Neo Marvel had a structure closer to a distributor.
They were focusing on distribution by bringing overseas game IP into the domestic market.
Of course, it wasn’t that they had no original games at all. They had released some games by focusing on the board game genre, which was relatively easier to develop.
“Actually, the publishing market is quite attractive too. As long as you can secure good IP, there’s definitely a chance of success in the domestic market.”
“I started this business because I agreed with that point. However, it’s also true that there are limits to continuing business expansion without our own IP.”
For CEO Park, who seemed to have many concerns, I began to present the proposals I had prepared one by one.
“I think I can provide some help in both directions.”
“What kind of help?”
“Tiger Fund can support overseas IP publishing. In particular, we can connect you with famous game companies in the United States.”
“If you could really do that for us… I’m truly grateful!”
CEO Park expressed his gratitude to a surprising degree.
And rightfully so – how many overseas IP publishing proposals had he made?
But just because he was a Korean small-to-medium game company, he probably couldn’t even have proper conversations.
But that wasn’t all.
I also presented another proposal I had prepared.
“And we can also support original game development. If Rollbook personnel and Neo Marvel personnel collaborate, we should be able to create quite competitive games. Moreover, if we add integration with Rollbook, rapid growth is possible in a short time.”
“If integration with Rollbook is really possible, that would truly be like a dream. Rollbook is currently the most popular website in Korea, isn’t it!”
CEO Park was so excited he seemed breathless.
However, all these sweet proposals weren’t free.
“For that to happen, Tiger Fund needs to become Neo Marvel’s major investor. Tiger Fund wants to make an investment and secure equity shares accordingly.”
“Well, of course, if you invest in us, I’d be grateful. But… how much equity do you want?”
“We want to acquire 51% equity for 5 billion won.”
“Th-that’s… isn’t that too excessive? That’s not really investment… you’re telling us to hand over the entire company!”
As expected, an intense reaction erupted.
Demanding 51% equity shares was essentially the same as telling him to hand over the entire company.
“We’re not trying to acquire the entire company. Even if Tiger Fund secures 51% of the equity shares, those shares will remain as CEO Park’s friendly shares. And we will clearly specify in the contract that you can continue to maintain management rights.”
“If you have no interest in management rights, is there a reason you need to take as much as 51%?”
For Neo Marvel to grow rapidly, it’s absolutely necessary.”
CEO Park seemed to calm down a bit at the mention that we had no interest in management rights.
But his expression was still hardened, and his blunt tone continued.
“So, what exactly are you planning to do with that 51%?”
“If Tiger Fund becomes the largest shareholder, we’ll have a much more advantageous position in IP negotiations with American game companies. They can only trust us with their games if we’re the largest shareholder.”
“So essentially, I would have actual management rights, but externally it would appear as if we’re a game company under Tiger Fund.”
This wasn’t just an excuse or empty words.
Korean game companies currently had many shortcomings by global standards.
And Korea’s national brand itself wasn’t very high either.
Especially since Neo Marvel was completely unknown overseas, the name value of Tiger Fund was even more necessary.
“To attempt contracts with major publishers like EA or Activision, Tiger Fund’s name is absolutely necessary.”
“If we really contract with Tiger Fund, can we publish EA games? I’ve tried to make contact several times before, but never received a single reply.”
“I can’t guarantee we’ll definitely secure games. But I can get them to sit at the negotiation table, and the possibility of a contract is quite high.”
CEO Park still seemed to have lingering hesitation.
The anxiety that he could lose his company with one wrong contract was clearly visible on his face.
“Still, 51% is too much.”
“If Tiger Fund and Rollbook’s personnel are combined, we can instantly develop games at major game company level. And we can definitely pursue a stock listing within 2-3 years.”
“You were planning a listing too?”
“Private equity funds always acquire shares with listing in mind. And if we sell our shares later, we’ll give CEO Park the right of first refusal.”
It was a frequently used technique.
A magical phrase that induced the illusion that we were ‘just holding it temporarily.’
Namely, the right of first refusal clause.
“If the right of first refusal is guaranteed… that’s not bad.”
“However, we plan to list on the market where we can receive the highest valuation.”
“You mean listing on KOSPI instead of KOSDAQ?”
“No. I mean listing in the United States, not Korea.”
We needed to list on NASDAQ to receive proper corporate valuation.
Even the same company could have a value difference of more than 10 times depending on where it was listed.
“Korean IT Companies have also attempted NASDAQ listings, but they all failed. Even Saera Technology, which received the most attention last year and this year, ultimately failed.”
“That’s because they were Korean Companies. But if Tiger Fund holds 51% of Neo Marvel’s Equity Shares, there’s a high possibility it will be classified as an American Companies.”
“Now I understand why you want 51%.”
I had succeeded in making him understand.
However, he wasn’t completely convinced yet.
I needed one final blow, and I recited the numbers I had prepared in advance.
“If Tiger Fund only holds 20% Equity Shares and remains as a regular investor, Neo Marvel will ultimately be limited to KOSPI listing. In that case, Neo Marvel’s value would be only about 50 billion won. But if it lists on NASDAQ, being valued in the trillions isn’t impossible.”
“Do you really think that highly of it?”
“Of course, it’s impossible with Neo Marvel alone as it is now, but if Tiger Fund and Rollbook are added, it’s definitely possible!”
CEO Park fell into thought for a moment.
He seemed to organize his thoughts internally and summarized the key points.
“You’re saying that even though the Equity Shares percentage decreases, the amount would be much larger.”
“You should look at Equity Shares in terms of amount, not percentage. Would you earn 40 billion won, or would you earn 400 billion won?”
I adapted the words General Manager had said to me when he proposed the Rollbook Equity Shares acquisition.
Perhaps because of that, CEO Park made the same choice I had.
“I’ll accept the proposal. But really, is NASDAQ listing possible?”
“I’ll do my best. And as long as we hold 51% Equity Shares, Tiger Fund has no choice but to give it our all.”
“I don’t know about anything else… but I’ll trust only CEO Lee.”
The fish had entered the fishbowl.
Usually, they say you don’t feed caught fish, but I was different.
I was someone who scattered plenty of food so the fish could live comfortably and at ease.
“We’ll also provide you with the Anti-cheat Program our side developed, starting today. Encore and Nextron are also using this Program.”
“So that’s why cheats suddenly disappeared from Encore Game!”
“And we’ll also provide you with the revenue model created by financial experts within our Fund.”
The anxiety disappeared from CEO Park’s face.
Support that small Game Companies couldn’t even dream of kept coming.
“And we’ll deposit 5 billion won by today.”
“Living life, there are days like this too. I’ll trust only CEO Lee and move forward.”
“You will absolutely not regret today’s choice.”
The contract was finalized with a handshake.
With this, we had secured equity shares in all three promising Game Companies in Korea.
But this was just the beginning. The structure I had designed had only just engaged its first gear.
***
Cali Fund Korea Office.
The Employees had their heads hung low, barely able to breathe.
“Why are they suddenly changing the bidding regulations!”
“It seems the Financial Authorities were under pressure because the Media was making too much noise.”
“Have you confirmed who was behind the Media Play?”
“It’s been confirmed that the movement came from Germany.”
“…Deutsche Bank? Not Tiger Fund?”
It was a feast that CEO Oh Chang-jin had carefully prepared over several years.
But someone had suddenly jumped in and overturned the entire table.
If it was a 2 trillion won feast, it would be strange not to be furious.
“There’s still no evidence that Tiger Fund was involved.”
“Then it’s Deutsche Bank acting alone. Why did they suddenly do something so crazy?”
“It seems to be because of Hanseo Card. With Hanseo Card, which was considered troubled, suddenly being normalized, they probably judged that Hanseo Bank could also recover quickly once acquired.”
CEO Oh Chang-jin’s face contorted.
This wasn’t a pie that could be shared.
The Financial Authorities would never approve joint ownership of a bank.
And Cali Fund absolutely had to acquire Hanseo Bank.
“Find a way! Block the others from bidding!”
“The opponents are too big. Deutsche Bank aside, Singapore Investment Authority isn’t someone we can handle either.”
“Use our connections! Find fault with them, licensing issues, anything to interfere. That’s why we spent money for years building those connections!”
“The Media is closely monitoring, so it’s difficult to move our connections. If we move wrong, we might face a counterattack instead.”
A situation where they could neither do this nor that.
In the end, they had no choice but to push through with pure strength, and in the Financial Industry, strength meant money.
“So we have no choice but to crush them with money.”
“But while the original expected winning bid was 800 billion won, with more competitors, estimates say we’ll need to spend 1 trillion won.”
“So one round of Media Play cost us 200 billion won!”
“Still, if we can acquire it, the profit is expected to exceed 1 trillion won.”
Hanseo Bank was still undervalued.
Of course, the ratio of Non-performing Loans was high, but that was a problem that could be sufficiently resolved.
“Deutsche Bank and Tiger Fund will probably spend around 1 trillion won too, right?”
“Yes. They’re likely making similar calculations to ours.”
“Then, what’s the maximum amount we can spend?”
“Headquarters approved 1.3 trillion won. Anything beyond that would be difficult.”
“After everything we’ve invested so far, we absolutely must acquire this! Find out the other companies’ bid amounts by any means necessary.”
The most certain way to win a bid was to offer the highest price.
But doing so would leave no room for profit.
Ultimately, they could only achieve victory while maximizing profit by understanding their competitors’ bid amounts.
“I’ll mobilize all our planted contacts in each competing company to the fullest. I’ll also try approaching through financial authority channels.”
“But… Tiger Fund really has genuine acquisition intentions, right?”
“They seem to have gained confidence after their Hanseo Card success. They’re moving even more aggressively than Deutsche Bank.”
CEO Oh Chang-jin gritted his teeth.
The face of General Manager Kang Dong-ju, who always rushed to interfere with his work, came to mind.
“This time, let’s crush Kang Dong-ju.”
“I’ll definitely crush him!”
“If necessary, bribe Tiger Fund’s internal staff too. I don’t care how much money it costs.”
“One of my colleagues is at Tiger Fund Korea Branch. I’ll contact them immediately.”
Oh Chang-jin decided not to be selective about his methods.
On Wall Street, winners are forgiven for whatever they do.
On the other hand, he knew better than anyone that losers are forgotten and abandoned no matter how fair and square they play.
New Employee with 1 Trillion Won Annual Salary Chapter 70
E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27
Author | Seo Oh
Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Publishing House | Poten
Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN | 9791175305892
Price | 100 won
ⓒ Seo Oh 2025
This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.
This e-book is published under the author’s contract, so unauthorized reproduction, copying, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without written consent from both parties.
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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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