Chapter 30: It’s truly a war.
—
“This is truly a war.”
“I don’t understand why Dream General Construction is buying our company’s shares,” said the employee.
Executive Director Lee Min-ho was furious at the response.
“Is that even an answer?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do you think saying sorry solves anything? Find out why Dream General Construction or whoever is buying our construction shares!”
The employee bowed his head.
“I’ll investigate further.”
Even as he said this, the employee felt frustrated. What else could he find out?
Why would a small construction company buy Samdo General Construction’s shares?
‘The shares must look like an opportunity since they’ve dropped so much.’
But he couldn’t say this out loud.
As the employee was about to leave, Lee Min-ho shouted again.
“Who’s the CEO of that company?”
How dare a small construction company interfere with the affairs of Samdo Group!
He was determined to shut them down completely.
If it was Samdo Group, such a feat was well within their power.
“Uh… Let me see…”
The employee rummaged through the documents.
“You don’t even know that!”
Lee Min-ho’s frustration grew.
The employee didn’t even have basic details memorized.
“I found it.”
“Who is it?”
“Lee Seon-su? It’s Lee Seon-su.”
“….”
Lee Min-ho couldn’t believe it.
With trembling thoughts, he asked again.
“Who did you say?”
The employee, tilting his head at Lee Min-ho’s lowered tone, replied,
“Lee Seon-su.”
“But Lee Seon-su doesn’t own a construction company…”
According to Samdo Group’s investigation, Lee Seon-su didn’t own a construction company.
Was it someone with the same name?
It all felt too strange.
“How old is the company?”
“Uh… Let me check!”
When the employee fumbled with the documents again, Lee Min-ho stepped forward and snatched the report.
Startled, the employee stared at him in confusion.
But Lee Min-ho paid no attention and focused on the report.
“Ten years?”
The report only listed the company’s incorporation date.
It contained only basic information—just the address and the establishment date.
There was no financial statement or data about the company’s financial structure.
“If it’s been around for ten years, it can’t have anything to do with Lee Seon-su…”
The thought that Lee Seon-su could have acquired it never crossed his mind.
The situation felt stifling.
“You call this a report!”
His frustration erupted at the employee.
“I’m sorry.”
“Investigate the company’s financial structure, details about the CEO, and any shareholder or representative changes!”
“Understood.”
The employee hurriedly took the discarded report and left the room.
Left alone, Lee Min-ho was lost in thought.
Should he stop what he was doing now?
He shook his head.
Stopping now would only complicate matters further.
It could even make things worse.
Dream General Construction had already acquired 17% of Samdo General Construction’s shares.
Even the shares thrown in by ordinary shareholders were being bought by Dream General Construction.
“Damn it.”
Samdo Group had initially planned to start buying Samdo General Construction’s shares when the price was at 200 won.
Dream General Construction had started buying shares at around 250 won.
They had gotten ahead of Samdo Group.
***
Amid this unfinished situation, Lee Min-ho received another report about Dream General Construction.
His hands trembled as he read it.
“Don’t you know who Lee Seon-su is?”
It confirmed that Lee Seon-su had acquired Mirae General Construction and renamed it Dream General Construction.
The employee who delivered the report blinked in confusion.
“He was your subordinate! A subordinate!”
Only then did the employee recall who Lee Seon-su was.
The one who had taken the fall for the Gupo Freight Train accident—Lee Seon-su.
“Executive Director, are you saying it’s that Gupo Lee Seon-su…?”
“Yes!”
The employee couldn’t understand why Lee Min-ho was so angry.
It was natural since he didn’t know that Lee Seon-su had brokered the deal with Gazprom and acted as South Korea’s agent in Russia’s debt settlement negotiations.
The government had thoroughly kept the debt negotiation representative’s identity a secret.
“Would someone who was kicked out of construction buy shares with good intentions? Think, for once!”
The employee felt wronged but knew better than to complain.
Complaining would only invite harsher scolding.
“Get out!”
The employee’s eyes widened.
It was the first time Lee Min-ho had ever said “Get out” to him.
He had gotten angry before, but he had never spoken this harshly.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
The employee hurriedly left.
Once alone, Lee Min-ho pulled out a newly released mobile phone by Samdo Electronics.
Samdo Electronics had developed and launched Korea’s first mobile phone.
Thanks to this, Samdo Electronics’ stock price had skyrocketed.
The phones were first distributed to Samdo Group’s executives and employees.
“It’s me.”
Lee Min-ho called the financial director at Samdo General Trading.
“Start right now. You know the price is higher than planned!”
The current stock price of Samdo General Construction was 230 won.
“Do you not understand the situation? Someone is sweeping up the shares! Why isn’t the price dropping?”
The stock would never fall to the planned 200 won where Samdo Group intended to begin its purchases.
This was because Dream General Construction, led by Lee Seon-su, was continuously buying the shares.
“We must secure at least as many shares as Samdo Life Insurance had!”
Samdo Life Insurance had sold 12% of its Samdo General Construction shares.
If they couldn’t recover that 12%, their managerial control could be shaken.
Losing managerial control would mean Samdo General Construction couldn’t be sold.
“Stop making excuses and start now!”
Lee Min-ho hung up the phone.
The battle between Lee Seon-su’s Dream General Construction and Samdo Group for Samdo General Construction’s shares had begun.
But it was already too late.
***
Bang!
The sound of something breaking came from Lee Min-ho’s office.
“Do you think this makes any sense?”
The truth was, it didn’t.
The stock price of Samdo General Construction had stopped at 350 won.
The stock-buying competition between Dream General Construction and Samdo Group had ended.
The result was Samdo Group’s defeat.
“How could Lee Seon-su manage to acquire 32.33%?”
Dream General Construction had secured 60 million shares of Samdo General Construction.
The average purchase price was 270 won per share.
“Executive Director… At least we avoided the worst-case scenario.”
“What worst case are you talking about? Do you think this is a joke?”
“I’m not joking. Currently, the group holds 21% of the shares.”
Lee Min-ho glared at the executive who had spoken.
“Are you confirming that I’ve failed?”
Before this battle, Samdo Group had held 39% of Samdo General Construction’s shares.
Now they had only 21%.
They had lost 18%.
“Not only did we lose the 12% from Samdo Life, but you’re also saying we threw away 10% from Samdo Electronics?”
Realizing Lee Seon-su’s involvement, they had hastily begun buying shares.
But Samdo Life Insurance had only managed to recover 3% of the shares it had sold, and Samdo Electronics recovered just 7%.
The purchases had been carried out exclusively through Samdo General Trading, without involving Samdo General Construction’s employees.
The responsibility for this failure fell entirely on Lee Min-ho.
“Executive Director, please think this through. The group still holds 21%, the bank has 4% in friendly shares, and institutional investors hold another 5%. They are on our side. Combined, that’s 30%.”
Lee Min-ho calmed down.
He realized he had been overly agitated about losing to Lee Seon-su once again.
Seeing this, the executive continued.
“Additionally, there are 5.3% of shares held under borrowed names. Combined, we have 35.5%. This gives us a 3.17% advantage over Lee Seon-su.”
Even though the Financial Real Name Act had come into effect, borrowed-name accounts still existed.
They wouldn’t disappear overnight.
Only a select few within Samdo Group knew about these accounts.
There was no way for Lee Seon-su to find out about them.
“And the remaining shares?”
Lee Min-ho’s question hinted at his intent.
The executive understood.
Adding Samdo Group’s 35.5% to Lee Seon-su’s 32.33% made a combined 67.83%.
The remaining 32.17% would have to be held by general shareholders.
“I don’t think the individual shareholders’ shares will cause much trouble. They won’t attend the general meeting, after all.”
Lee Min-ho recognized the executive’s suggestion.
“So, we just proceed with the sale as planned?”
“There’s no other option. Isn’t that what the Chairman wants?”
Lee Min-ho bit his lip.
At the current price of 350 won per share, Samdo General Construction’s total valuation was approximately 65 billion won.
Samdo Group’s 35.5% share was worth 23 billion won.
This was far less than they had initially anticipated.
At 10,000 won per share and a 49% ownership, the valuation would have been around 1.2 trillion won.
Even considering assets and accounts receivable, the best they could now expect was around 700 billion won.
“If we sell Samdo General Construction, won’t Lee Seon-su also profit from this?”
“If he sells all his shares, yes. But if he doesn’t sell, he won’t make any money.
Also, it’s better than having him meddle in Samdo General Construction’s affairs or acquire more shares to take over managerial control.”
Lee Min-ho nodded.
If Lee Seon-su didn’t sell his shares to the buyer, he wouldn’t profit.
If he didn’t sell, he could interfere with Samdo General Construction’s operations.
Additionally, in its current state, Samdo General Construction couldn’t be operated effectively in South Korea.
There were too many unresolved issues.
This would give Lee Seon-su leverage to interfere further.
“Fine. I’ll convince the Chairman.”
Their initial plan had failed.
But they couldn’t just give up.
Chairman Lee Hwan-geon would never give him another chance if he did.
***
Chairman Lee Hwan-geon sat at his desk, reviewing documents.
Lee Min-ho knelt before him.
He was nervous.
Even after kneeling for nearly an hour, he didn’t feel the numbness in his legs.
He was too tense.
Thud.
It was the sound of Chairman Lee placing the documents on the desk.
What would his decision be?
If Chairman Lee left without saying anything, the carefully crafted plan would vanish into thin air.
At the same time, so would Lee Min-ho’s position in Samdo Group.
But if it went the other way…
“Stand up.”
It had worked.
Relief washed over Lee Min-ho as he tried to rise.
“Urgh.”
After kneeling for an hour, his legs wouldn’t move properly.
But he forced himself to stand, patting his legs.
Chairman Lee Hwan-geon smiled contentedly at the sight.
“That’s the way it should be. Even if you fall, you must stand up again.”
Lee Min-ho realized that Chairman Lee had deliberately spent more time reviewing the documents.
“The stock issue… sometimes things like that happen.”
Forgiveness, just like that?
Even though they had incurred a loss instead of making a profit?
“I thought you would stop after failing, but you didn’t. That’s commendable.”
Chairman Lee Hwan-geon was pleased with Lee Min-ho for not giving up.
“According to this report, Samdo General Construction was a company we were planning to let go of anyway.”
He had identified the core of the issue and prepared a plan.
“But we can’t let Lee Seon-su profit too much. The fact that he acquired a small construction company means he plans to acquire Samdo General Construction.”
Chairman Lee had already seen through Lee Seon-su’s intentions.
“If Lee Seon-su acquires Samdo General Construction, the government will discreetly support him, whether he wants it or not.”
This was a high probability.
“We can’t give wings to a tiger. Proceed according to the plan.”
Lee Min-ho bowed his head.
“Thank you, Chairman.”
“But if you fail again, I won’t forgive you.”
“I understand.”
“I’ll also give you a fail-safe gift.”
Chairman Lee pulled out some documents from his desk drawer.
Lee Min-ho stepped forward to receive them.
“This is…”
“My secret weapon for you.”
Lee Min-ho resolved that he would never lose to Lee Seon-su.
“I’ll convene a board meeting to approve the sale.”
“Do it.”
The decision to sell the company was within the management’s authority.
However, once the decision was made, Lee Seon-su would call for an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.
He would likely propose replacing the current management.
If that happened, the sale would fall through.
To prevent this, they needed more shares than Lee Seon-su.
With the combined friendly shares from institutions and banks, they still held more than him.
***
“Sir! Samdo General Construction has decided to sell!”
Advisor Kim Seong-woong rushed into the CEO’s office.
As expected, they’re moving as planned.
“They’re following the order of steps. Contact Attorney Kang Mu-song and have him request an urgent shareholders’ meeting.”
“Yes, sir.”
Attorney Kang Mu-song had already been prepared for this.
The agenda was to replace the CEO and management.
Poor management and various incidents would serve as sufficient justification.
“Sir, Attorney Kang says he’ll proceed immediately.”
Attorney Kang Mu-song had founded the law firm Mu-song.
With the 1 billion won I had given him.
He had even hired three additional lawyers, two office managers, and three staff members.
Existing trials were progressing smoothly.
Thanks to this, he could prioritize my matters.
“Good.”
“This is truly a war now.”
A war against Samdo Group.
Something I couldn’t have even imagined before I had that dream.
“Sir, we’ll win, right? We hold 32.33% of the shares.”
Advisor Kim Seong-woong still seemed uneasy.
“We’ll win no matter what.”
Seeing the confidence in my expression and tone, Advisor Kim nodded.
“It feels like we will.”
So far, nothing I’ve said has failed to come true.
Even when it seemed impossible.
They just trusted me.
—
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