The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 109

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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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The Regression of a Fallen Chaebol’s Third Generation — Episode 109
“Representative, Representative, Representative Kang. You’re really living such a hard life, aren’t you?”
After work, in the Yeouido DK Capital office.
I’d come here with Jung Tae-sung the moment work ended. All the employees had already left, and Danny was waiting for us alone in the office.
“Danny, how’ve you been?”
“Phew, I thought I was dying during all this time, but compared to you, I’m living pretty comfortably. Sit down and let’s talk.”
I smiled and took a seat at Danny’s words.
“Explain it to me. Why are you working so hard like this?”
“There’s nothing much to explain. People inside just don’t know what kind of life I’m living, so that’s why.”
“Just open it all up then. Surprise everyone. If it were me, I’d just open everything and strut around living my life.”
I shook my head at Danny’s words.
“I’d like to do that too, but it’s not the right time yet.”
With the money I’d collected so far, it was obvious I couldn’t accomplish even 10% of what I’d planned for this life. In a situation like that, open everything now?
It would only make my relatives pay attention to me and make it easier for them to attack Seonjin Group.
“I suppose you have your reasons… but if there’s anything difficult, just say it.”
Danny seemed to be just worried about me. I smiled again and nodded slowly.
“Speaking of which, that was really fast.”
Word had come to the company that afternoon.
GS had sent a contact expressing investment interest in Seonjin Logistics.
The entire Planning Team buzzed with excitement, and Lim Do-hyun looked surprised too.
I made a show of being surprised along with everyone else.
In truth, there was nothing to be surprised about. I’d set up the board.
Danny shrugged.
“What’s so difficult about it? We’re investing our own money in Seonjin Logistics anyway, and GS is just the intermediary.”
In fact, I’d leveraged Danny’s Networking to invest my own money in Seonjin Logistics.
With GS being a global investment bank, Ribbon’s funds would be a very good forest to hide in.
GS naturally operated as an investment intermediary business, receiving money from investors and investing it on their behalf, and the fees earned there were GS’s largest revenue.
“Even GS was surprised. When we said we’d entrust them with over eighty million dollars—about a hundred billion won.”
Danny began explaining the circumstances with an expression suggesting this was the kind of thing a phone call could handle.
“I called Dustin.”
Dustin was someone Danny had known from his Salomon Brothers days and was now at GS’s Derivatives Desk.
Two years ago during the Subprime crisis, he was also the person who’d served as a CDS counterparty.
“Since he’s on the Derivatives side, he couldn’t connect me directly to the Infrastructure Desk, but he went up through internal channels to the Asia Infrastructure Desk. I told him that this much capital wanted to go into Korean logistics infrastructure, that GS should step forward. That’s what I said.”
It was a proposal the Infrastructure Desk had no reason to refuse.
The capital was already secured, and GS would just need to stand in front as the GP and operate the fund.
With the management fee and the GS name on top of it. It’s a structure where they lend just their name without putting in money.
“Orders came down from New York to Seoul office to check out Seonjin Logistics, and Seoul made the official contact.”
“Since the timing overlapped with when the article came out, the people inside Seonjin will think they took interest after seeing the article.”
“That’s also something you designed.”
At Danny’s words, I shrugged and looked at Jung Tae-sung.
“Director Jung, you worked hard too. The leak couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t difficult work. The media is always hungry for exclusive stories anyway.”
The exclusive article from Goryo Economic Daily was actually something I’d leaked through Jung Tae-sung.
It was to make it easier for GS to approach Seonjin Logistics.
The picture where GS learned about Seonjin Logistics’s project through media coverage and contacted them—there was no other way to interpret it.
Of course, there was some internal investigation at the company to find who had leaked it to the media, but since there was no evidence linking me to it, I wasn’t suspected.
“The media is very excited. Since Seonjin Logistics is making a large investment for the first time in a while, several media outlets have picked it up.”
“Yes, thanks to that, the board I set up is starting to roll even better.”
GS stands in front and Ribbon is behind as the LP providing funds. What’s visible on the surface is only GS’s investment.
“GS Seoul will request IR Materials from Seonjin Logistics, and that’s also something you, Representative….”
Jung Tae-sung trailed off, and I nodded.
“Yes, I wrote the investment scenario itself, so it would likely be based on my materials or I’d end up writing it.”
IR—Investor Relations—is an official document introducing a company to investors.
Since I was the one who had written and reported the investment scenario in the Task Force, there was a high probability I’d write the IR too.
“Wait.”
Danny let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re writing materials to ask yourself to invest in money you’re putting in?”
Danny looked at me.
“…You’re sitting on both sides of the same table.”
“That’s how it’s ended up.”
“This is insane. Just write it roughly. IR is just a formality anyway.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
At my words, Danny shook his head as if to say he couldn’t stop me, and I laughed brightly.

* * *
“The group hopes GS’s proposal leads to actual investment. You checked the materials that came from headquarters?”
The next day, in Seonjin Logistics’s executive office.
Oh Jin-su, the Planning Department Director, was meeting one-on-one with representative Yun Sang-chul.
After GS Seoul office’s investment proposal came in the day before, orders came down from headquarters to the logistics division.
“Yes. An official Letter of Intent expressing investment interest came in from GS Seoul office. They’ve requested a business plan and financial materials.”
Yun Sang-chul straightened his posture.
“It’s good news, but I find it odd that an investment proposal came so suddenly like this. How did it come as if they were waiting?”
“Since the Goryo Economic Daily article, inquiries began coming in from outside. GS seems to be part of that flow.”
Yun Sang-chul nodded, then paused. What came next was contrary to his expectation.
“GS is a global investment bank, isn’t it? Have we ever dealt with a place like that before?”
“We haven’t.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Worry settled on Yun Sang-chul’s face. He was someone who saw risk first, not opportunity.
“They’ll do due diligence too, right? If those people come in and see the company… the current state isn’t exactly good.”
“We’ll send the IR first, and after GS reviews it, the due diligence schedule will be set. There are stages.”
“What if GS comes, looks, and decides it’s not a good fit? If they just leave after spreading rumors, wouldn’t that actually be bad?”
‘He’s only worrying about that? Now?’
Oh Jin-su felt completely drained.
The world’s largest investment bank extended its hand first, and the representative sitting right before him was getting cold feet.
“If GS has sent a Letter of Intent expressing investment interest, rejecting it without even trying to proceed would be even more strange.”
When Oh Jin-su spoke firmly, Yun Sang-chul nodded. He needed reassurance, not rebuttal.
“For the IR… can we just restructure the Task Force Investment Scenario?”
“Yes. We have the framework, so we just need to change the format.”
“We’ll need it in English too, won’t we?”
“I’ll check on that part and proceed.”
Yun Sang-chul seemed about to say something more for a moment, but what finally came out was the same thing as always.
“I’m counting on you.”
Who, by when, at what level. He handed it off without deciding anything. Oh Jin-su got up from his seat as if used to it and bowed.
“I’ll report once the materials are ready.”
With that, Oh Jin-su left the executive office. Walking down the corridor, he rubbed his face once.
‘Kang Seon-woo.’
The IR had to be made based on the Task Force Investment Scenario. When I thought of who could handle that work right away, only Seon-woo came to mind.
‘Assign IR for a global IB to someone two months into the job?’
Logically, it made no sense. Asking a junior employee to write an investment proposal? But if the person who wrote the Task Force scenario didn’t do it, that would be even more strange.
After pondering for a while, Oh Jin-su returned to the office and headed not to his own room but to the Planning Team 2’s seats.
“Director.”
Team lead Lim Do-hyun spotted him approaching and stood up from his seat.
“Do you have something to tell us?”
“Oh, I had something to discuss with Kang Seon-woo.”
“With Kang Seon-woo?”
“It’s convenient timing. Team lead Lim, listen in too.”
Seon-woo stood up at the sound of his name. All eyes turned this way.
“Kang Seon-woo. You know about the investment proposal that came in from GS, right?”
“Yes, I know.”
The rumors had already spread through the company by word of mouth, and I’d heard about it from Kim So-mi this morning, so there was no need to play ignorant.
“GS Seoul has requested IR Materials. We need to make it based on the Task Force Investment Scenario. Can you do it?”
At Oh Jin-su’s words, I looked at Lim Do-hyun, and he gave me an encouraging nod.
“It’s possible.”
“What level is your English? GS Seoul desk is probably staffed with Koreans, but we might have to send it to New York too.”
In my previous life, I’d led several overseas investments and was very familiar with it, but it seemed better to demur now.
“I can handle basic English, but document writing is a different matter.”
“That figures. Then we can use external professional interpreters for that, so for now just write it comfortably.”
“Understood.”
“How soon can you manage it? Since we’ll use the Task Force Investment Report as a draft, it shouldn’t take too long, right?”
At Oh Jin-su’s words, Lim Do-hyun answered on my behalf.
“I and other team members will work around Kang Seon-woo. We’ll have it up within four days.”
“Good. Planning Team 2 will handle it then. I’ll talk to GS and set the schedule and let you know.”
Oh Jin-su announced this and headed to his office, and I bowed in acknowledgment.
“You heard? Kang Seon-woo, you take the lead in putting together a draft, and then we’ll distribute the work.”
“Understood.”
“Everyone stop what you’re doing now and let’s start right away.”
At Lim Do-hyun’s words, every member of Planning Team 2 began moving in perfect unison.

* * *
“With that, I’ll conclude the explanation of Seonjin Logistics’s investment plan for the Chungcheong Region Fulfillment Center.”
Two weeks later, in Seonjin Logistics’s Conference Room.
Two representatives from GS Seoul office were sitting across from us, and on our side sat representative Yun Sang-chul, Director Oh Jin-su, Lim Do-hyun, and myself.
Although I’d made the materials, Lim Do-hyun conducted the presentation.
When the presentation ended, the GS representative asked while passing over the IR materials.
“Could you explain the revenue structure of the Fulfillment model in more detail? The margin improvement compared to existing courier rates is quite substantial.”
Lim Do-hyun looked at me.
“Employee Kang Seon-woo, who handled that section, will explain.”
I stood up from my seat.
“When we transition from two-thousand-five-hundred-won-per-unit courier delivery to comprehensive logistics services in the ten-to-fifteen-thousand-won range per unit, the per-unit margin grows exponentially—not just from simple shipping, but from storage, packaging, and delivery fees as well.”
The GS representative looked at me.
“What about your exit strategy?”
“The structure uses Non-voting Preferred Shares, guaranteeing fixed returns to the investors and an exit within three to five years. Once the center is up and running, recovery should be possible through an IPO or exercise of conversion rights.”
The other party nodded with apparent satisfaction at my answer.
“How do you assess risk factors? Do you have scenarios for cases where e-commerce growth slows?”
Oh Jin-su answered the following question.
“We’ve set a conservative scenario separately on page thirty of the report. The simulation shows that even if growth drops by half, break-even is maintained at year four.”
Questions continued. Lim Do-hyun and Oh Jin-su alternated answering. After about thirty minutes, as the questions wrapped up, the GS representative covered the materials and spoke.
“We’ve already completed headquarters review.”
The room fell silent at those words.
“Today’s presentation was a final confirmation. The New York Asia Infrastructure Desk has investment intent toward Korean logistics infrastructure, and Seonjin Logistics’s Fulfillment conversion plan aligns with the direction we’re expecting.”
Of course it did. The side putting in the money had already confirmed it and told us to proceed.
“Specific investment scale and structure will be finalized through due diligence, but I can tell you with certainty that our participation intent is confirmed.”
Yun Sang-chul stood up and extended his hand.
“Thank you. We look forward to good results.”
Oh Jin-su and Lim Do-hyun shook hands in turn, and I bowed in acknowledgment at the end.
We saw the GS representatives off to the elevator that way. As the elevator doors closed, Yun Sang-chul spoke to us.
“Director Oh, Team lead Lim, and… Kang Seon-woo, you all worked hard.”
We bowed at the representative’s words.
“Since GS is being favorable, it looks like it will proceed well. I’ll go report to the group now, so Director Oh, please take care of the rest.”
“Understood.”
With that, the three of us returned to the office, and as we opened the door, all the Planning Team members were waiting.
“How did it go?”
Kim So-mi asked. Lim Do-hyun nodded.
“Yes!”
Someone cheered, and as if that were the signal, applause erupted from everyone.
Lim Do-hyun smiled too, and I laughed brightly and enjoyed the moment.
“This all started because of Kang Seon-woo’s report. You worked hard.”
As we were enjoying it, Oh Jin-su said this to me, and I bowed to offer my thanks, whereupon all the team members in the office clapped for me.

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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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