GL Chemical (1)
A few days after the birthday party, Go Hyeonji met up with her friends.
Kim Seoyoung, Lee Taehee, and Park Gaeul.
Kim Seoyoung was her cousin, and the other two were from the business elite as well. All of them had been at the party that day.
Several days had passed, but every time she thought back on what happened, her anger still bubbled and boiled inside her.
In all her life, that was the first time she had ever been humiliated so publicly.
Go Hyeonji wanted Han Miru to apologize, one way or another, but she had no leverage. And it wasn’t as if she could call him directly and tell him to apologize.
“Is Continue Capital really that amazing?”
At her question, Kim Seoyoung nodded.
“I didn’t know much about them either, but after looking into it, they’re even bigger than I imagined. They’ve already acquired quite a few companies, and just Snow Crash alone is worth more than 100 trillion won. They also bought Legend Games recently. And even after all that, there’s talk that they’re still sitting on tens of trillions in cash.”
Lee Taehee and Park Gaeul agreed with her.
“With Continue Capital’s assets and cash holdings, they’re probably bigger than the Daeyeon Car Group.”
“In Korea, maybe only the Yuseong Group could really compare.”
What? That big?
She had heard people mention it often enough, but hearing the details like this still surprised her.
“B-but even so, he’s just an employee, right?”
“I don’t think he’s just any employee.”
“Huh?”
He’s an employee, so he’s an employee. What does “not just any employee” even mean?
Park Gaeul said, “I heard he meets Chairman Yoo Jae-ho from time to time, and Vice President Heo Minwoong of Hwaan Group basically calls him a brother.”
“What? He’s acting close with Minwoong oppa? Isn’t that way too obvious?”
There were plenty of people who claimed to be close to chaebol families just because they’d exchanged greetings once. If Han Miru was one of those types, it was almost funny.
But Park Gaeul shook her head.
“No. It’s not Han Miru acting close. It’s Vice President Heo Minwoong who’s acting close. I even heard he’s personally taking care of business involving Miru’s father’s company.”
“……”
Heo Minwoong was famous for being sharp-tempered and for acting like a tyrant whenever the other party wasn’t from a chaebol family. Everyone in the know remembered the time he spoke down to Vice Chairman Kwon Hyeok-jun of Yuseong Electronics at a drinking party and made dismissive remarks, only for Chairman Yoo Jae-ho to storm straight to Chairman Heo Seonghun and lodge a furious complaint.
And now that same man was calling Han Miru his younger brother and even helping out with Miru’s father’s company?
“W-why would Minwoong oppa do that?”
“Probably because Miru helped him during the Thomas Motors mess. If Hwaan Energy hadn’t sold its stock in time back then, Vice President Heo would’ve been the one left holding the bag.”
Anyway, hearing all that made it easier to understand why Han Miru had been so brazen with large corporations, telling them to submit materials if they wanted to do business with Byunjin Industrial.
A normal small or mid-sized company would have been crawling on the ground just to land a single supply contract, but if Hwaan Energy was backing them, there was nothing to be afraid of.
And if anyone ever tried to come after Byunjin Industrial, Vice President Heo Minwoong clearly wouldn’t sit still.
Before long, the conversation turned to Han Miru himself.
“During the Hanjeong Group mess, he met with Vice Chairman Ju Cheol-jin and Kim Sung-gwun of KSGI and handled the negotiations himself. And during the Blackwood scandal, he even showed up at the headquarters in Texas.”
“Oh! Right. You know that incident where Chairman Samara escaped from Japan a while ago? There were rumors that he was involved in that too.”
“No way……”
“According to the rumors, he’s basically Continue Capital’s number two. Even if that’s not true, he sounds like Representative Lockhart’s right-hand man.”
“Didn’t Yoon-ah bring him to the party?”
“Are they dating, then?”
“He acted like he had no time for romance all this time.”
“Seriously. Busy as he is, he still manages to do everything.”
“……”
Go Hyeonji bit her lip lightly.
What? Then does that mean he’s better than Yuseon oppa?
The thought that Sung Yoon-ah was somehow getting one over on her only made her feel worse.
Jang Yuseon was the third son of Chairman Jang Hisu of Daeyeon Car Group.
Since the conglomerate had already been slated to pass to the eldest son, Vice Chairman Jang Hoseon, he would only inherit one or two affiliates, including Daeyeon Winner.
But even those companies weren’t businesses he could fully split off or control on his own. In the end, they were the kind of firms that couldn’t survive unless they supplied Daeyeon Car anyway.
In effect, he would have to spend his entire life watching Daeyeon Car’s every move and reading its mood.
By contrast, being the number two at a private equity fund put Han Miru in a position higher than the president of most chaebol affiliates. That was probably why he could get away with acting so boldly even in front of conglomerates.
But he had gone too far.
How could he stand in front of me and call GL Group a gang of thieves?
She still couldn’t understand it.
Her grandfather was the chairman of GL Group, and her father was the heir. Unless he intended to make the entire group his enemy, how could he possibly say something like that?
Lee Taehee asked cautiously, “But is GL Group going to be okay?”
Go Hyeonji lifted her eyes and asked in a sharp voice, “What do you mean by that?”
“Ah, no. It’s just that every company Continue Capital touches seems to run into trouble. Hanjeong Group, and even LD Studio recently.”
Continue Capital had become famous for making every company it touched collapse.
The most notorious activist short-selling fund in that field used to be Empty Pool Research, but now that title had clearly gone to Continue Capital.
Come to think of it……
Lately, the atmosphere at home had changed a little.
Even if they didn’t show it openly, her father and older brothers were clearly paying close attention to Han Miru’s words.
They almost seemed worried that something might happen.
Who exactly is that guy?
GL Group was the fourth-largest chaebol in the country. It wasn’t even in the same league as Hanjeong Group.
No matter what Continue Capital tried, it wouldn’t make GL Group budge.
Go Hyeonji gave a derisive snort and said, “Hmph! So what if he is?”
I called David.
“Is everyone doing well?”
“Yes. They are.”
Snow Crash, Legend Games, Purple Games, O'Connor Burger—every company was growing by the day.
“You checked the materials I sent, right?”
“Yes. We’ve already started.”
Following my instructions, Continue Capital had begun shorting GL Chemical little by little.
David clicked his tongue and said,
“This is a strange one. I don’t even know where to begin. Whether they used a physical split-off or not, spinning off a subsidiary and listing it always harms shareholders. How do shareholders just sit there and take it?”
“They do. It’s not really seen as unusual here.”
As I’d said before, if a corporate executive pulled this kind of stunt in the United States, they’d be sued into the ground and forced out immediately. If it was proven they had deliberately damaged shareholder assets, they could even end up in handcuffs.
But global standards and Korean standards were different.
If you wanted to invest in Korea, you had to understand the unique nature of the Korean market.
There was a reason even the world’s most notorious activist hedge funds would bet on Korea and end up getting absolutely wrecked, leaving in tears.
“By the way, why did you drag a lawmaker into this?”
The reason was to raise Namgoong Seok’s profile.
But there was another important reason too.
“Because that’ll let me make the whole thing bigger.”
On its own, this should have been a quiet listing and done with it. But even if only Continue Capital inserted itself into the matter, it would already be a stir.
And if politics got tangled into it as well?
“If everything goes the way I expect, the Korean stock market is going to turn into a complete mess.”
After receiving Han Miru’s tip, Representative Namgoong Seok sprang into action immediately.
He brought the issue before the National Assembly.
Most people reacted with disbelief.
A subsidiary listing after a physical split-off had never really been a problem before. And in GL Chemical’s case, the stock had actually risen after the split-off.
So why was some lawmaker suddenly claiming that GL Entech’s listing might crash GL Chemical’s share price, and demanding that the listing be halted?
Namgoong Seok kept raising his voice, but not even the ruling New Korea Party paid him any attention—not to mention the lawmakers from his own party, the Woori Kookmin Party.
Then how did GL Chemical shareholders react?
Did they clap and cheer?
Absolutely not.
Who in their right mind would be happy to hear their own stock might fall?
GL Chemical shareholders were furious and posted protest messages on the Woori Kookmin Party website.
Faced with the fierce backlash from GL Chemical shareholders, the Woori Kookmin Party lawmakers broke out in a cold sweat.
It was already a politically sensitive time with the presidential election just around the corner, and Namgoong Seok’s outburst could easily hurt them at the polls.
When reporters asked about it, Party Leader Im Changsik said with obvious annoyance, “That is entirely Representative Namgoong Seok’s personal opinion. It has nothing to do with the party line. That said, I will look into the matter more carefully to make sure none of our party members’ remarks cause unnecessary harm.”
The issue also came up during the closed-door caucus.
Park Seongju, the leading figure in the pro-Im faction, stepped forward and sharply criticized Namgoong Seok.
“We must win the change of power in this election. With only a few months left until voting day, please refrain from actions that could damage the party.”
But Namgoong Seok was not the kind of man who would back down just because someone told him to.
“The party should push this forward through legislation. That’s the only way to prevent damage to shareholders.”
“Damage to shareholders? Can’t you see that GL Chemical shareholders are complaining because of you, Representative Namgoong?”
“The real damage will happen after the listing. That’s why GL Entech’s listing has to be stopped.”
“If you want to pass legislation, at least do it after the election.”
“By then, the listing will already be finished. How am I supposed to wait until then?”
Despite the pleas of the party’s senior lawmakers and its highest-ranking officials, Namgoong Seok refused to budge, and the caucus ultimately descended into chaos.
The Woori Kookmin Party even warned that disciplinary action might follow, but Namgoong Seok only raised his voice higher.
“A listing after a physical split-off is nothing more than management stealing shareholders’ money. This is exactly why the Korean stock market stays permanently undervalued. We have to fix this now, once and for all.”
Up to that point, hardly anyone had paid much attention to Namgoong Seok’s argument.
GL Chemical’s stock also showed little reaction.
(Strategy) GL Chemical is an undisputed powerhouse in the battery industry, counting GM, Ford, the Daeyeon Car Group, and the Volkswagen Group among its customers. Its technology is also world-class.
Its number-one global market share belongs to China’s DATL, but if China is excluded, GL Chemical ranks first.
Its current market capitalization stands at roughly $65 billion.
However, Representative Lockhart warned investors that GL Chemical’s share price could collapse to less than half of its current level.
He pointed to the weakening investment appeal caused by GL Entech’s listing, along with the double-counting problem that so often appears in the Korean stock market.
...
In other words, according to Representative Lockhart, GL Chemical was no longer a battery company in any meaningful sense.
“Since its core division has been split off, GL Chemical’s current price is excessive. Separate from GL Entech’s growth potential, GL Chemical will not benefit from that growth. If you hold GL Chemical shares, I recommend selling immediately. Continue Capital has already begun shorting, and we will continue until the stock reaches our target price.”