Chapter 28: Futile Plans
Why?
Samdo General Construction was supposed to merge into Samdo General Trading.
Then, it would focus on overseas projects before re-entering the domestic market.
That was the dream I had.
But it changed.
Samdo Group is abandoning its construction arm.
Why is that?
Could it be because of the changes I made?
***
1993 passed, and 1994 arrived.
It should have been a hopeful new year, but there wasn’t a glimmer of hope for Samdo General Construction.
“The fines alone are 50 billion won.”
“There are 22 compensation lawsuits related to shoddy construction, and the damages claimed amount to 100 billion won.”
“Redevelopment apartment unions are expressing concerns. They might terminate contracts, pay penalties, and switch to other construction companies. Then they could sue for damages as well.”
“It seems unlikely that Samdo General Construction will be able to bid on any public projects. They are being labeled as unqualified due to the social controversies and accidents they’ve caused.”
After Executive Director Lee Min-sik was arrested, none of the bribes he had orchestrated to obstruct Lee Seon-su worked.
The law and regulations were applied directly to Samdo General Construction.
This was the result.
“Is all you people can do tell me what’s not possible? Do you think your salaries are just handed out for nothing?”
It was Executive Director Lee Min-ho of the trading division.
He had been tasked with managing Samdo General Construction as punishment for rashly meddling in the affairs of Lee Seon-su and Lee Jeong-seok.
The former president of the company had resigned, and Executive Director Lee Min-sik had taken over responsibility.
After Lee Min-sik’s arrest, the group had not sent another leader to take charge of Samdo General Construction.
This was due to Chairman Lee Hwan-geon’s directive to sell the company.
But as it seemed likely the company would go bankrupt before the sale could even proceed, Executive Director Lee Min-ho was dispatched.
“Uh… the bank says extending the loans will be difficult…”
“Isn’t that your job to solve?”
Executive Director Lee Min-ho couldn’t help but explode in anger.
Every report was filled with bad news.
“Find a way to resolve this situation immediately! If you don’t, you’ll all be fired without severance pay!”
The executives gathered in the meeting room bowed their heads.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“We’ll do our best.”
Only a few executives responded, and even then, in small voices.
They knew.
There was no way to save Samdo General Construction at this point.
And being pressured to act in a situation with no solutions led a few of them to gather and drink together.
Whether it was bad luck or deliberate, a reporter overheard their lamentations and published an exclusive story about Samdo General Construction’s crisis.
After that, the media swarmed to cover the company’s downfall.
***
I dreamed again after a long time.
In the dream, the sign for Samdo General Construction was taken down and replaced with a new one for Dream Construction.
The process felt incredibly vivid.
It was a dream that felt like reality.
And it would become reality.
That’s why I had no choice but to watch the situation at Samdo General Construction closely.
As a result, my trip to St. Petersburg had to be postponed.
“Whatever Samdo Group is planning, it seems almost certain that Samdo General Construction will go bankrupt. Even within the NIS, they believe this is highly likely.”
“Thank you for your efforts, Consultant Kim Seong-woong.”
Kim Seong-woong had stepped down from his position as NIS Director and became a consultant for Super Guard.
From the outside, it would look like he was merely an advisor.
I had acquired 100% ownership of Super Guard for five billion won.
“But doesn’t Samdo General Construction hold shares in Samdo Group’s subsidiaries?”
Hearing my question, Consultant Kim tilted his head.
“They probably do.”
“Because of those shares, Samdo Group shouldn’t be able to abandon Samdo General Construction so easily. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
“The NIS would have investigated. Since nothing was mentioned…”
Consultant Kim paused.
“It seems I may have overlooked something. I’ll look into it again.”
He immediately set to work.
***
It took longer than expected to determine the shareholding situation of Samdo Group’s subsidiaries held by Samdo General Construction.
“It turns out Samdo Group cleverly divided and transferred the shares to other subsidiaries. I apologize, CEO.”
This explained why even the NIS had difficulty uncovering the situation.
Moreover, Samdo General Construction had not disclosed the changes in its shareholdings.
The subsidiaries that received the shares didn’t need to disclose either because each only received between 0.5% and 0.8%.
Only because the NIS intervened were they able to confirm the changes.
“When did this happen?”
“According to the records…”
Consultant Kim found the timeline of the share changes.
“It was about three months ago.”
Was it a coincidence?
“It seems to coincide with the time I returned to Korea to negotiate with the government.”
Consultant Kim looked as though he had just realized something.
“Yes, the timing matches exactly.”
“It appears Samdo Group has been preparing to abandon Samdo General Construction since then.”
“That seems to be the case.”
It was almost certain now.
The situation had changed because of me.
Samdo General Construction should have merged into Samdo General Trading.
“I think I’ll need to go to Singapore.”
“Singapore?”
“Yes. It seems I’ll need money.”
I had spent nearly all the money I had in Korea acquiring Super Guard.
Senior Lee Jeong-seok, who had the authority to transfer funds, was currently in Ukraine.
I had confirmed by phone that he had joined former Ambassador Petrov.
“Why do you need to go to Singapore? I can arrange a bank loan for about one billion won.”
“You don’t need to move for matters like this, Consultant Kim. I’ll take care of the money.”
“Still, if you don’t need to go to Singapore, wouldn’t it be worth considering using the funds for now?”
“I’m planning to bring at least ten million dollars.”
“…….”
Even with effort, arranging two billion won would be the limit.
But ten million dollars equaled 8.2 billion won.
“That much?”
“Yes, I’m considering acquiring Samdo General Construction if possible.”
Consultant Kim had already been curious about why Lee Seon-su was so interested in Samdo General Construction.
“It’s a good idea, but with 8.2 billion won…”
Consultant Kim doubted whether Lee Seon-su could actually acquire Samdo General Construction.
The company had annual sales exceeding 400 billion won.
“I know.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes.”
He did.
“My initial goal is to become the majority shareholder.”
Right now, no one wanted to buy shares in Samdo General Construction.
In fact, there were only people trying to sell.
Shares that were once over 10,000 won were now only a few hundred won.
The stock had dropped by over a hundredfold.
“Isn’t that risky? If the company gets delisted…”
“It won’t get delisted. Chairman Lee Hwan-geon is a businessman—a merchant, to put it another way.”
He would handle Samdo General Construction in the way that minimized losses.
***
Chairman Lee Hwan-geon was laughing.
“Electronics is our golden goose. Ha ha.”
Samdo Electronics had achieved record-breaking stock value due to improved performance.
“Good work.”
He praised Lee Min-uk, the CEO of Samdo Electronics and the group’s vice chairman.
But Chairman Lee’s face hardened.
It was because of Executive Director Lee Min-ho from the trading division standing nearby.
“And you? Have you properly sorted out Samdo General Construction?”
“I’m sorry, Chairman.”
“If I hadn’t prepared to wind down the construction division in advance, what would you have done?”
Executive Director Lee Min-ho lowered his head.
When Chairman Lee initially proposed liquidating the construction division, Lee Min-ho had opposed the idea.
He believed it was better to merge construction into the trading division.
Samdo General Construction was a company that could recover with a bit more time.
But his perspective had completely changed.
If the group had tried to merge construction, this current crisis would have hit them.
If that had happened, Samdo Group would have been forced to pour enormous resources into saving construction, reluctantly shedding tears to do so.
This was due to the subsidiaries’ shareholdings.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“First, we plan to delay the fines through litigation.”
Chairman Lee nodded.
Done well, this could drag on for years.
“I’ll also finalize the loan extension with the bank president. The bank will have no choice but to comply.”
“The bank will likely do so, considering our group. And then?”
“Once the loan extension is secured, the rumors of imminent bankruptcy will subside.”
“And then?”
“Once the crisis surrounding construction eases, we’ll move to the next phase. With the company’s assets, we can generate significant profits through a sale.”
Samdo General Construction owned a massive amount of buildings and land.
The total value was 750 billion won.
However, most of it was mortgaged to banks.
Additionally, there were ongoing construction projects. Once these projects were completed, the remaining payments would come in.
This revenue couldn’t be ignored.
“The next phase… what’s the stock situation?”
Chairman Lee wanted details.
“Currently, the trading division holds 17%, electronics holds 10%, and life insurance holds 12%. The rest has been dumped into the market.”
Dumped into the market?
They had deliberately tried to lower the stock price.
“We plan to release the 12% held by life insurance. If we do so, the stock price, currently at 450 won, is expected to drop to around 200 won.”
If it went as Executive Director Lee Min-ho said, it would be practically equivalent to delisting.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“At that point, the trading division will buy the shares.”
They intended to lower the stock price to acquire more shares.
“Not bad.”
Samdo General Trading, essentially the group’s holding company, would become the largest shareholder of Samdo General Construction.
This would ensure that no matter what happened, Samdo General Trading would remain unshaken.
“We’ll then raise the construction stock price to around 10,000 won before selling it.”
The original price of Samdo General Construction’s stock was 23,000 won.
However, it was unrealistic to aim for that price due to fines, contract cancellations, and lawsuits.
The company needed to make potential buyers think they could profit from the acquisition.
No company would buy without the prospect of profit.
“Reasonable.”
“Thank you, Chairman.”
“Execute this properly and succeed. If you do, you can retain your position in the trading division.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The reward for successfully packaging and selling the collapsing Samdo General Construction was retaining his position.
Executive Director Lee Min-ho didn’t show his dissatisfaction.
Considering Chairman Lee Hwan-geon’s history, it was fortunate he wasn’t reassigned to another subsidiary.
***
The trip to Singapore was scheduled for two days and one night.
I took the last evening flight to Singapore.
When I arrived, it was already dawn.
I stayed at the airport until morning and then headed to the bank.
I transferred ten million dollars to a bank account in Korea.
It seemed I needed to either hire more people or open an account at the Hong Kong HBC Bank.
Among the banks available in Korea, the Hong Kong HBC Bank was the most reliable for withdrawals.
After finishing the bank matters, I departed for Korea again.
When I arrived at Gimpo Airport, it was 10 PM.
A Super Guard security team was waiting for me.
Since I hadn’t found a house yet, I headed to a hotel.
***
“Welcome back, CEO.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t much.”
“Was everything smooth with Consultant Kim?”
“No issues, except for the fact that Samdo General Construction’s stock dropped to 400 won. At this rate, it might be delisted.”
“That won’t happen.”
“You sound very confident, CEO.”
It wasn’t confidence—it was a fact.
“So, what’s your next plan?”
“I’m planning to buy a construction company.”
The word “buy” rather than “acquire” carried specific meaning.
There were specialized firms that mediated the transfer of companies.
These firms either brokered sales of businesses that owners could no longer manage or created new companies themselves, maintaining them for three years at minimal costs.
Afterward, they sold the companies for a fee.
These firms maintained businesses for exactly three years.
That was critical.
Whether bidding on projects or meeting other requirements, one of the qualifications was that the company must have been in operation for at least three years.
You could purchase a company like this for 3 to 5 million won.
If the company had a track record, the price could climb to tens of millions of won—or even hundreds of millions.
“A construction company? Weren’t you planning to acquire Samdo General Construction?”
“A construction company is better than operating as an individual.”
“That’s true. So, are you planning to purchase through a broker?”
Consultant Kim seemed familiar with buying and selling companies.
“Yes.”
“I know of a better company. It’s a bit more expensive, though.”
“A better company?”
“Yes, a company called Mirae General Construction. They’ve handled a significant number of government contracts. However, due to management issues, they’re planning to close soon.”
Was it coincidence—or prearranged?
If Consultant Kim was mentioning it, I couldn’t ignore the possibility.
“Is it an NIS-front company?”
Consultant Kim flinched but ultimately nodded.
“Yes. But it’s true they’ll be shutting down in a few months. The government contracts can still be maintained.”
“An NIS-front company sounds… complicated.”
“Most employees are civilians, with only a handful as undercover agents. If it closes, they’ll all lose their jobs overnight.”
“Can’t they be relocated to other workplaces?”
“That’s challenging. Only a few employees know the company’s true nature as an NIS front.”
As a covert operation, the company must have made decent money.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have exclusively handled government projects.
“Why is it shutting down?”
“It’s part of a reform plan for the NIS. They’re cutting down heavily on covert funding routes.”
Covert funds were meant to remain undisclosed.
They were used for buying weapons, hiring spies, and acquiring intelligence.
Such expenditures couldn’t be reported to the government.
Government budgets required transparency about their use.
“Additionally, while government contracts will still be available, their volume might decrease over time.”
Without NIS backing, it was an inevitable outcome.
“The company’s track record is solid, though, right?”
“Of course. It’s a profit-driven operation, after all.”
“That makes sense. Did you say it’s called Mirae General Construction?”
“Yes, CEO.”
“Let’s proceed with the acquisition.”
“Thank you for considering my recommendation.”
It seemed the construction company issue was resolved easily.
Now, the timing was the key.
“Consultant Kim.”
“Yes, CEO?”
“Let me know when Samdo Life Insurance starts selling its shares in Samdo General Construction.”
“Samdo Life Insurance?”
Consultant Kim was puzzled about why Samdo Life Insurance would sell its shares in construction stocks, especially with prices continuing to drop.
“Yes. That’s when we’ll begin.”
With Lee Seon-su’s tone and confident expression, Consultant Kim could only nod.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment