Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 114

114. 33rd. On the Boundary of Winter and Spring, Beginning and End (6)

A while later.

Jang Ho-min met Lee Myung-jin at a Japanese restaurant leased under his name after receiving a call from Sun Hae-cheol.

“How have you been?”

“How could I be? I’m preparing for the acquisition and can’t even see my wife and kids.”

Jang Ho-min chuckled at Lee Myung-jin’s curt reply.

“You’re still the same, losing sight of everything when you get into work. Let’s sit down and eat first.”

“Sure.”

Jang Ho-min almost pushed Lee Myung-jin to sit down and ate the sashimi and drank the sake on the table.

“Are you really going to acquire Hanko Iron & Steel?”

Jang Ho-min put down his glass after emptying it and asked. Lee Myung-jin looked at him with a surprised expression and replied.

“Did you think I’d acquire it for show? My father is demanding that I bring back everything from steel to construction, energy, shipbuilding, and pharmaceuticals.”

Hearing that, Jang Ho-min clicked his tongue and exclaimed.

“Wow, your uncle is really scary. Did he rejuvenate after lying down for over a decade?”

“There’s no reason not to with plenty of chips available. I think he’s trying to prepare a foundation for me to take care of when Sung-min gets older and starts preparing to separate.”

Lee Myung-jin casually mentioned his family affairs and emptied his glass. In contrast, Jang Ho-min put down the sashimi he had picked up with his chopsticks onto his plate.

“Separate?”

“Yeah. Originally, my brother was supposed to take over Haedong Corporation and Merchant Bank, and I was supposed to take over Heavy Industries, so it’s right to separate.”

“So, are you going to separate the business group?”

“Why not? We can separate by taking out some of Haedong Heavy Industries’ shares in Haedong Corporation and some of Haedong Corporation’s cash. We could separate now, but I don’t know when he’ll do it.”

Jang Ho-min swallowed hard as he looked at Lee Myung-jin. Perhaps the negotiation would work.

“Then let’s negotiate.”

“What negotiation?”

“Take a look at this first.”

Jang Ho-min quickly opened the bag he had placed behind him and took out a file, handing it to Lee Myung-jin.

“Is this the negotiation?”

“Yeah. It won’t be too much, but it won’t be too little either.”

Unlike Jang Ho-min’s confident expression, Lee Myung-jin opened the file cover with a sullen expression. He knew exactly what he needed to secure this time, so he continued to mix truth and lies to Jang Ho-min, and he had to lie until the negotiation was over.

Lee Myung-jin’s lips gradually curled up as he examined the contents. Jang Ho-min’s lips also curled up as he saw that the bait he had thrown with great effort was working.

Lee Myung-jin carefully examined the last page, closed the file, and put it down next to him.

“Are you going to keep all of this?”

“Of course? Well, even if the supply price is a bit low, a 10-year deal will help the company’s cash flow, right? Hanko Iron & Steel’s Busan plant is next to your steel plate factory, so the connectivity is good too.”

Despite the proposal he had made with great effort, Jang Ho-min gritted his teeth as he saw Lee Myung-jin crossing his arms and bowing his head. He couldn’t have imagined this situation even four years ago, could he?

Still, if he couldn’t win him over, the internal war would likely become difficult. Therefore, to secretly buy shares of Shinseong Electronics and Shinseong Corporation with the slush fund [secret fund, usually for illegal or unethical purposes] created during the construction process and stab Jang Ho-gun in the back at the crucial moment, he had to make Lee Myung-jin step down from Hanko Iron & Steel.

How long had it been? Lee Myung-jin raised his head.

“Deal.”

“Deal?”

Before Jang Ho-min’s pupils could even widen, Lee Myung-jin added a condition.

“Instead, the supply price of hot-rolled steel sheets is 90 percent of the international market price. The Busan plant site is half the current market price. No slush fund transactions.”

“Hey! That’s too much···!”

Lee Myung-jin raised his hand to stop Jang Ho-min from shouting.

“One more thing. The acquisition cost of the remaining four affiliates is 400 billion won [approximately $300 million USD] in total. We’ll negotiate with the creditors, but you take charge of Hanko Iron & Steel’s subcontractors.”

Flames blazed in Jang Ho-min’s eyes. To sweep away the companies he would have coveted if he had the resources for only 400 billion won!

Seeing Jang Ho-min’s distorted face, Lee Myung-jin told him what he would give up.

“If you allow that, Haedong Merchant Bank will help inject funds into the subcontractors you save. We’ll select the companies to save. How about it?”

“Hmm···.”

Jang Ho-min stroked his chin and made a humming sound.

They were cumbersome, but they were subcontractors that would damage Hanko Iron & Steel if they collapsed as they were. If Haedong Group would save those companies, the financial burden would be reduced, so it was something Jang Ho-min would welcome with open arms.

“Deal.”

The two men, having concluded their negotiations, relaxed their expressions and filled their glasses. Who made the better deal was something to be seen.

***

After parting ways with Jang Ho-min, Lee Myung-jin called me and told me to come to Samcheong-dong. I went to Samcheong-dong and listened to the story of the negotiation with Jang Ho-min while drinking tea with my grandfather and Lee Myung-jin.

“How is it, nephew?”

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

It was a good, no, a very good negotiation. To bring in lucrative affiliates for 400 billion won and even secure cooperative companies that would become potential prime customers of Haedong Merchant Bank?

If we acquired and revived Hanko Iron & Steel, the subcontractors would also be revived, so it was perfect that we had the right to select the companies to save.

Lee Myung-jin looked new. He was a man who had been clinging to technology to the death, but seeing him make such a deal, he couldn’t hide that he was my grandfather’s son.

“See? Didn’t I say your grand-uncle would like it too? Tsk, tsk.”

“Oh, Father. Still, Haedong Merchant Bank is Sung-min’s company, so we have to hear his opinion, haha.”

My grandfather, who had been clicking his tongue, chuckled as he saw Lee Myung-jin burst into a hearty laugh.

“Now that you’re vice chairman, you don’t give in even a word, eh heh heh.”

“No, Father. I still have a long way to go, haha.”

After a round of exchanging compliments and humility, my grandfather took a sip of black tea with a comfortable expression.

“I think we’ve secured everything we need with this. Director Go and Myung-jin, you take care of meeting with politicians and creditors. I’ll make a call to Jo, the president of Dongyang Ilbo [a newspaper].”

“Yes, Father.”

We watched as my grandfather made a call.

“Ah, President Jo? Among the companies that came out this time, our family is trying to salvage a few good ones···.”

Dongyang Ilbo, which used to be the second company of Choguk Ilbo, was now acting as our family’s speaker··· The world was truly long, no, it was something to see by living twice.

***

The next morning.

[Haedong Group Announces Intention to Acquire Hanko Group Affiliates

Chairman Lee Dae-soo and Vice Chairman Lee Myung-jin of Haedong Group announced their intention to acquire at least four companies to resolve the Hanko crisis that has cast a shadow over the Korean economy. ···However, Hanko Iron & Steel is large in scale, so it is being carefully reviewed···.]

Jang Ho-min, who was at the head of the conference room, threw the day’s Dongyang Ilbo, folded so that the article he was looking at was visible, in the middle of the table.

“Is this enough to be sure?”

It was a question like a Zen riddle, but the executives’ faces brightened. Wasn’t the article in Dongyang Ilbo a sign that Haedong Group would accept Jang Ho-min’s proposal?

“Yes, Vice Chairman. If Haedong Group withdraws, the acquisition of Hanko Iron & Steel will be easier.”

“If this happens, we can reduce the portion to be paid in Korean won [Korean currency] to 800 billion won, even if we can’t get the $1.2 billion foreign currency loan.”

Both the executives who answered and Jang Ho-min, who heard the answer, felt much lighter. Thanks to Haedong Group, a formidable enemy, drawing a line, they were able to get their hands on the Hanko Iron & Steel asset, weren’t they?

“Heaven has helped us, Vice Chairman. If we had failed···.”

“We would have had to put up all of Shinseong Life Insurance shares as collateral.”

Jang Ho-min was prepared to put up even Shinseong Life Insurance shares, one of his and his affiliates’ cash cows, as collateral if things went to the worst. It was like blocking something that should have been blocked with a bulldozer with a hoe, so it was a great relief for Jang Ho-min and his executives.

“We’ll negotiate tomorrow, so organize our proposals by today. You know without me saying it, drag out the time appropriately and then match it as if you can’t win. The debt owed to Haedong Group will be postponed until after the internal war is over.”

“Yes, Vice Chairman!”

The executives answered in unison to Jang Ho-min’s instructions.

***

The next morning.

Both sides’ working-level officials started negotiations at a table inside a yacht in Incheon Port.

“According to the data secured by our Haedong Group, the market outlook for hot-rolled steel sheets in the current international steel market is···.”

“What are you talking about? The data we looked into is more than 10 percent more expensive than that! And the prices of cement, rebar [steel reinforcing bar], and H-beams [structural steel beams] are···.”

Neither side would back down. Raising their voices while brandishing data covered with all sorts of graphs and numbers was basic, and···

“Where did you go to school! I graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Economics!”

“Is graduating from Seoul National University’s Department of Economics everything! How many years have you been eating company rice [how long have you been employed]!”

Not to mention their academic backgrounds, they even brought up their parents and ancestors and grabbed each other by the collar several times.

But.

Both sides knew.

That it was Haedong Group, waking up from a long hibernation and soaring, and Shinseong Group, reigning as one of Korea’s top three conglomerates [large business conglomerates], so they were dragging out the time because of pride, self-esteem, and loyalty competition towards the owners.

Therefore, when it was lunchtime, they quietly ate as if nothing had happened. There was even this kind of thing.

“Are you having a hard time? Hehe.”

“What hard time? We’re just servants, we have to look good to the higher-ups to stay in the company even if we can’t go any higher, right? Hehe.”

The representatives of the working-level negotiators on both sides comforted each other with the sympathy of office workers while drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette, and···

“Thanks to the information passed on by Vice Chairman Jang, the Panama case was easily resolved. Thank you, haha.”

“Don’t mention it. We passed it on because of our circumstances, but I’m glad to hear it will be helpful, haha.”

They even exchanged thank-you greetings for the fact that their interests were aligned and they had worked together on business matters.

That’s how lunchtime ended, and the working-level officials on both sides, who had been arguing repeatedly, started to adjust, stepping back one step at a time as if they had made a promise.

As a result, the negotiations, no, the loyalty competition that had started in the morning, ended around 7 p.m.

“I can’t help it. I have to be satisfied with this much.”

“Let’s do that. The best negotiation is a negotiation where both sides are only half satisfied.”

The working-level representatives on both sides went to Lee Myung-jin and Jang Ho-min in the VIP room and handed over the results of the loyalty competition called ‘contract’.

“Hmm···.”

The two men looked at the final contracts they had each received and let out a light breath. It was just a waste of time to make them compete for loyalty any further within the framework they had set.

“Let’s end it at this point, Vice Chairman Jang.”

“Let’s do that, Vice Chairman Lee.”

The two men, holding their weight and agreeing, immediately placed the contracts they were holding tightly on the table and started taking turns stamping them in the middle, one sheet at a time.

In that way, the seals of the vice chairman of Haedong Group and the vice chairman of Shinseong Group were stamped in order, and only after signing their respective signatures in the signature column at the bottom of the last page and stamping their seals did the two men hand over one copy each to their respective working-level representatives.

“Good job.”

“Good job.”

Lee Myung-jin and Jang Ho-min patted their respective aides and handed over the contracts, and with that, the secret agreement was concluded. Hiding their inner thoughts of stabbing each other in the back later.

***

Some time after the secret agreement between Lee Myung-jin and Jang Ho-min was concluded.

The year changed to 1997, but Haedong Group and Shinseong Group’s heavy chemical affiliates were still bickering over Hanko Group.

Both sides were exchanging sharp remarks in front of the newspapers, but behind the scenes, they were holding hands and haggling over the acquisition price with influential politicians and bank presidents from both the ruling and opposition parties.

While the two conglomerates were showing different faces in front and behind and carrying out countless black deals, the dark cloud called the Hanko crisis was growing bigger and bigger.

“Did you hear that Sammin Group went bankrupt yesterday?”

“They invested recklessly in special steel and went bankrupt. We’re also re-planning our funding plan under the instructions of the US headquarters, sister.”

We, who had finished dinner at a Misari cafe for the first time in a while to match the evening time, could not escape the influence of the dark cloud either. If we had been born in an ordinary family, we wouldn’t have even known what the Sammin Group crisis was, but as people from conglomerate families, we would have been fools if we didn’t worry about it.

Jang Ha-yeon took a sip of coffee and sighed.

“I don’t know what will happen. It was shocking that Hanko Group collapsed···.”

“Honestly, how many of the elders in the business world have properly grown their companies? Most of them have a debt ratio of 400 to 500 percent as a base. Except for our family, our maternal family, Shinseong, Taehyun, and SG.”

Haedong Group’s debt ratio is at most around 20 to 30 percent, but even Shinseong, Taehyun, GK, and SG exceed 300 percent. Jang Ha-yeon nodded with a heavy expression at my blunt reply.

After drinking tea silently for a while, I threw out a proposal that I had been thinking about for a long time to Jang Ha-yeon.

“Sister, how much money do you have?”

“35 billion won [approximately $26 million USD]. It’s in your company’s CMA [Cash Management Account].”

She was truly a thrifty woman. Considering the 20 million dollars invested in Titanic, she had put 38 billion won into Haedong Merchant Bank’s CMA since last year, so didn’t she spend less than 2 billion won?

“What about you?”

“50 billion won [approximately $37 million USD].”

“It’s decreased that much?”

“There were many places to use it. Entrusting money to Triumph, paying inheritance tax in installments, providing money when establishing Haedong Securities, even investing in Titanic··· haha.”

I trailed off and gave a sheepish smile as I looked at Jang Ha-yeon, who was startled. What good is it if the money increases? There were more places to spend money.

After drinking coffee silently for a while, I said to Jang Ha-yeon.

“Sister, I’m running money at Haedong Securities’ Hong Kong branch this time, would you like to invest only 20 million dollars?”

“What about you?”

Even as she asked the question, her eyes were sparkling, and it seemed like she would decide based on the amount of money I would bet. I looked into her eyes and opened my mouth.

“50 million dollars. I’m going to try to pull in 10 million dollars more from Sung-moon, Sung-woo, and Sung-ah.”

I had to fatten up Jang Ha-yeon’s and my cousins’ assets in my domestic pocket this time. In a few years, Lee Myung-jin won’t be able to avoid separating the business group, so I have to load as much ammunition as possible so that my cousins will have less burden on inheritance.

Jang Ha-yeon nodded after thinking for a while.

“I’m fine with it. But···.”

She trailed off for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“It would be nice to pull in Yong-jae, Soo-yeon, and Min-jae’s money little by little too.”

“Huh?”

To bring in the most hateful people··· Could it be?