Han Juhyeong of Hanyeong Auto (4)

Rumors that Yuseong Steel was up for sale began to spread through the market.

The whispers had started when Lee Jaseung summoned potential buyers to a hotel; they caught fire in earnest once Seo Minjae joined the creditors' committee.

The creditors' committee was pushing hard for the sale of Yuseong Steel.

Include the sale of Yuseong Steel in Yuseong Group's rehabilitation plan!

With the atmosphere like that, leading domestic conglomerates began weighing their financial capacity ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and reviewing a potential acquisition.

Yuseong Steel was an attractive asset. Its debt ratio was a little high, but it had posted a rock-solid annual operating profit of two hundred billion won. If the asset truly came to market, you had to be ready before anyone else.

Hanyeong Auto Group was no exception. They immediately launched a group-level M&A review. A task force was formed under the chairman's direct authority, and the group's elite were all called up.

Han Juhyeong sat in on the sessions as part of his management training. Chairman Han issued him a warning.

"This is a completely different scale from any acquisition you've done before. Don't stick your neck out—just watch and learn. Understood?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

"You little—!"

Han Juhyeong reviewed the corporate valuation report the management research institute had sent over. The team leader presenting the latest report pointed at the projector screen.

"Including debt, the acquisition price is expected to settle between one trillion and 1.2 trillion won. With Yuseong Steel's enterprise value assessed at 1.6 trillion, that's roughly a thirty-percent discount."

One trillion. The number landed with real weight. Han Juhyeong had been through a few acquisition battles—he liked launching new businesses—but he had never acquired a company worth more than a trillion won. This was a truly massive enterprise.

"We've made initial contact with Yuseong Steel's management, but as expected, their stance is extremely hard-line."

Chairman Han tapped the table with his fingertips.

"So they still don't feel the heat."

"They can't simply hand over the group's core. But as time passes, Yuseong Group will grow more desperate and try to sell Yuseong Steel even at a fire-sale price."

The opportunity was clear. With a major financial fraud scandal tangled up in the case, the government wanted as smooth a resolution as possible. If Hanyeong Auto Group decided to acquire, they could even expect government-level support.

The problem was that others were eyeing the same chance.

"Which companies are currently salivating over this?"

"There's a list of acquisition candidates on page 135 of the report."

Han Juhyeong flipped through the meeting materials. His eyes widened.

"Huh?"

The list jumped out at him.

Hanyeong Auto.

Hanyeong Heavy Industries.

Private equity fund Chae Partners.

These are exactly the ones Lee Jaseung called to the hotel suite that day.

When he hesitated, the chairman looked back at him.

"What is it?"

"Ah, nothing."

"Tsk. Focus."

"Yes, sir."

After the light scolding, Chairman Han resumed the meeting.

"There's a private equity fund."

"Yes. Chae Partners is forming a consortium. And Hanyeong Heavy Industries is also on the list. Considering business synergies, they're the stronger candidate."

"Hmm."

Hanyeong Heavy Industries. Ever since the brothers' feud had split the two groups, Hanyeong Auto and Hanyeong Heavy Industries had spent ten years each claiming legitimacy and fighting. The two groups had snarled at each other over every domain—down to seating arrangements in restaurants. From Hanyeong Auto's perspective, Hanyeong Heavy Industries was a pure rage button.

Resolve settled on Chairman Han's face.

"We can't lose to Hanyeong Heavy Industries."

When the chairman's fighting spirit ignited, the conference room heated up. Technical jargon began flying at a breathless pace.

Han Juhyeong looked around. Once the project officially launched, this room would grow even more complicated. M&A specialists, due-diligence teams dispatched from accounting firms, lawyers from major law firms—the conference room would gather the absolute best experts in the business world.

Could I really take the lead of experts like these and command a major acquisition project?

The days when he had confidently asked his father ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to entrust him with the project now felt pathetic. But the more he thought that way, the more Lee Jaseung's words kept flickering in his mind.

Han Juhyeong, that wouldn't be all that hard for me.

The guy who always looked as if every problem in the world was easy. Would a one-trillion-won acquisition project be easy for him too?

I already have a plan.

If Lee Jaseung helped, what would change?

Maybe I should ask him to send over a contract.

After some deliberation, he sent Lee Jaseung a message. And a week later, Han Juhyeong found himself on the verge of final signature.

"······?"

A meeting room in a hotel.

On one side, lawyers were conducting a final review of the contract, while Lee Jaseung was casually tossing a rubber ball, amusing himself. Amid the regular thump-thump, Han Juhyeong turned the business card he had just received this way and that. It bore the company name Makers along with Lee Jaseung's name.

Han Juhyeong set the card on the table and asked,

"Don't most financial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠firms use 'Partners'? What's Makers? What, is it a manufacturing company?"

Lee Jaseung, lounging in his chair, let out a short laugh.

"In a certain sense, it is manufacturing."

"For real?"

"We take some incomplete guy and turn him into a proper chaebol heir, after all."

"······Hey!"

He lightly ignored Han Juhyeong, who had bristled as if the remark were about him, and turned his gaze toward the lawyers approaching them.

"Has the review been completed?"

"Yes. You may proceed as is."

Over the past week, both sides had brought their own lawyers, reviewed every detail of the contract, and ironed out differences. Today they had made the final confirmation that there were no legal issues.

Lee Jaseung accepted the contract and opened the file on the desk. He took out a fountain pen and walked through the key clauses.

"This is a project contract. The consulting scope is limited to the acquisition of Yuseong Steel. The goal is to further solidify your succession through that acquisition. The retainer is two billion won, and the success fee is applied differentially based on the acquisition amount."

If acquired for over one trillion won: one percent. If acquired for under one trillion won: one and a half percent. In other words, the cheaper they bought Yuseong Steel, the higher the rate.

Finally he pointed out the special success fee.

"And here—there's also a clause that pays an additional two billion won if you are appointed CEO of Yuseong Steel."

"If every condition is met, the amount I have to pay is······."

"Twenty billion won."

"Your fee is ridiculously expensive. What, are you pocketing investment-bank-level advisory fees all by yourself?"

He spoke gruffly, but Han Juhyeong accepted it without real protest. This wasn't simple acquisition advisory—it was succession consulting. An ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opportunity to establish an independent business foothold in steel inside Hanyeong Auto Group and fully secure his position as successor.

At that rate, twenty billion is worth paying.

Han Juhyeong picked up the fountain pen in front of him. Only the sound of the nib gliding across paper filled the quiet meeting room. After each had signed, they took a copy of the contract.

The contract was now established. Lee Jaseung felt a quiet satisfaction at that fact.

Now I just need to turn Han Juhyeong into a dramatic success story.

It was perfect material for a narrative. The success of a failure. The awakening of a wastrel. Wasn't that the classic story people always ate up?

President of Hanyeong Steel. He intended to put Han Juhyeong in that seat with complete sincerity.

Lee Jaseung began the first step.

"What's the situation at Hanyeong Auto Group right now?"

"Well, everyone's waiting for Yuseong Steel to come onto the market, right? Probing their willingness to sell once in a while, predicting what conditions the other competitors will offer, polishing a better acquisition proposal. Just the usual acquisition process."

"Then go to the chairman and propose doing it a different way."

"How?"

Expectation lit Han Juhyeong's eyes. That was what the twenty billion had been for—to hear this method. And the method Lee Jaseung proposed was something he had never anticipated.

"Induce Yuseong Steel to file for court receivership."

"······."

Blink. Blink. Only after meeting that ice-cold gaze did the dazed Han Juhyeong snap back to himself.

"······Ah, court receivership, right?"

Nodding as if he understood, Han Juhyeong worked his brain, trying to catch up to Lee Jaseung's way of thinking. From business acquisition to court-led acquisition. He understood they were changing the genre.

But why?

Normally you shifted the stage like this because the courtroom stage favored Hanyeong Auto Group.

What's advantageous for us? Nothing's advantageous at all.

It wasn't strange that he harbored these doubts. Because······.

"Doesn't court receivership only favor Yuseong Steel?"

Court receivership was a shield for management control. The moment receivership commenced, the creditors couldn't touch Yuseong Steel. Moreover, it was customary for the existing management to be appointed as administrators and retain control. So the court receivership system, for all its beautiful purpose of business normalization, was frequently distorted into a shield for management rights.

Lee Jaseung did not deny the point.

"That's the general case. But think carefully, Han Juhyeong. This is court receivership. The moment Yuseong Steel enters the court's protection, the final decision-maker becomes the court."

The final decision-maker shifting to the court. That was a double-edged sword.

Outside court, no matter how hard the creditors pressed, Yuseong Group held the decision-making power. But the moment they entered court receivership, everything changed. Whatever rehabilitation plan the creditors put forward. Whatever management plan the existing administrator proposed. In the end, every decision required the court's approval.

And that difference was enormous. Large enough to reverse the game.

"We'll simplify the entire acquisition process through the window of the court. Then you only have to capture a single decision-maker."

Feeling somehow overwhelmed, Han Juhyeong answered.

"······The court."

Lee Jaseung smiled as if that were the correct answer.

Han Juhyeong had no choice but to admit it. Lee Jaseung's plan was worth every won of the twenty billion. After hearing a plan so meticulously constructed—clear enough even a beginner could follow—he even felt a hollow emptiness.

What the hell has the TF team been doing until now?

They had never escaped the conventional acquisition methodology. Sounding out sale intentions, negotiating conditions, competing with rivals—the traditional M&A approach. At best, writing a better acquisition proposal was the extent of it.

But Lee Jaseung had shattered that framework and presented a completely different dimension of the game. A court receivership strategy. It was an approach he himself would never have attempted—would never even have conceived.

But with this, we can exploit Yuseong Group's situation in the most efficient way.

Yuseong Group was in a special situation. So the correct path was a strategy that used that situation with maximum efficiency. Without Lee Jaseung, they would have wandered in circles for a long time.

The only consolation was that Hanyeong Auto Group's TF team hadn't come up with this idea either!

So I'm the same as those guys!

In an instant he had knocked the experts down to a level similar to his own—then corrected his thinking again.

No. I'm better. Because I have Lee Jaseung!

Suddenly twenty billion didn't feel expensive at all. As long as you reached succession, even if you went the long way around, it was fine—and if you lacked a brain, you just outsourced it, right? Fortunately, Han Juhyeong had plenty of money!

After hearing the plan in detail, a question arose. Every part of the plan presupposed one thing.

"Then how do we make Yuseong Steel file for court receivership?"

"That isn't difficult. My uncle is already considering a court receivership filing. That makes things even easier."

Lee Jaseung set the rubber ball he had been holding onto the table and gave it a light push with his finger. The ball rolled across the smooth surface and dropped off the edge with a soft thump.

"You just have to give them a little shove from behind."