The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 75

75. A Long Day in LA (4)

“Tony, sit down.”

At Lyra Marine’s words, Tony Allen’s furrowed brows relaxed.

“Lyra?”

“Sit down.”

Tony Allen, who had been furious at Jung Hyun-woo’s $10 billion remark, lowered his head as if he had become a docile lamb.

“Ms. Marine, I apologize for getting agitated.”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but rethink his relationship with Lyra Marine.

‘He bows his head to a secretary like that?’

Tony Allen was even watching Lyra Marine’s reaction.

‘No executive watches a Wall Street secretary’s reaction.’

Then there’s only one thing to consider.

Lyra Marine is not Tony Allen’s secretary.

Then why is she hiding her identity?

‘Is it to test us? If not… it could be to test Tony Allen’s abilities as a manager or executive.’

It was when he narrowed his brows.

Lyra Marine turned her gaze to Jung Hyun-woo.

“Mr. Jung, I’d like to hear why it’s $10 billion.”

Instead of asking about her identity, Jung Hyun-woo spoke to her in a soft voice.

“If you only consider the paper indicators such as Victoria Corporation’s sales and net profit, the value of $10 billion would be excessive.”

“Are you saying there’s value that isn’t shown on paper?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“$10 billion is the amount that includes both the value of Victoria Corporation and the risks of this deal.”

The risks of the deal.

Lyra Marine could understand his words to some extent.

“You mean the price includes both value and risk.”

“What do you think, Ms. Marine? Do you think $10 billion is excessive?”

At Jung Hyun-woo’s question, Lyra Marine replied in a dry voice.

“Let’s talk about our calculations. Here’s how we arrived at our valuation. Victoria Corporation’s assets will be between $100 million and $200 million, combining the cash assets invested in Magellan Fund and the network system installed in the United States.”

Bank of America knew that Victoria Corporation had invested in Magellan Fund.

“And Victoria Corporation generates monthly sales of $15 million through JP Service. If you calculate this for one year, it’s approximately $180 million. We calculated Victoria Corporation’s current value at $800 million by combining these two values, assets and sales.”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but narrow his brows at her detailed calculation.

‘They even know about the money invested in Magellan Fund. Could there be an informant on our side? If not, from Magellan Fund?’

Either way, Bank of America knew more than what was written in the accounting report.

‘As expected, a big player on Wall Street.’

Bank of America seemed to have strengths in areas different from JP Morgan.

“If we set the value based only on the current value, $800 million, Mr. Jung wouldn’t agree. So, we added the future value to Victoria Corporation’s current value.”

Jung Hyun-woo slightly raised his intonation.

“So, the amount that came out is $2 billion?”

Lyra Marine nodded.

“The current value is $800 million, the future value is $1 billion, and the cost of parting with JP Morgan is $200 million, so the total amount calculated was $2 billion. Mr. Jung, isn’t this a reasonable amount?”

“Detailed calculation.”

She thought there were no errors in Bank of America’s calculations.

‘We finished the calculation after grasping everything about Victoria Corporation.’

Lyra Marine was convinced that the amount of $10 billion that Jung Hyun-woo claimed would never come out no matter what.

“Now, Mr. Jung. Tell us your calculations.”

Jung Hyun-woo could feel the confidence in her voice.

‘She seems used to handling numbers. But the world is not defined by numbers.’

He was about to thoroughly break down her calculations from now on.

“I listened well to Bank of America’s calculations. But there are many things missing from your calculations.”

Not one, but many.

Lyra Marine couldn’t help but narrow her brows.

“Hohoho, what kind of things are missing?”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right index finger.

“The first thing missing is the increase in JP Service subscribers. I think you know, but the number of JP Service subscribers is steadily increasing every month. This upward trend will continue not only in 1983 but also in 1984. If we continue to work hard, this upward trend will continue even after 1985.”

Lyra Marine raised her voice as if to refute.

“The increase in JP Service subscribers is already included in the future value.”

She had allocated $1 billion to Victoria Corporation’s future value.

Jung Hyun-woo asked softly, like a magician on stage.

“Really?”

Lyra Marine’s voice was sharp.

“Mr. Jung, do you think it’s not?”

“Of course not. The company that works with JP Service is not only JP Morgan.”

Lyra Marine said in a clear voice, as if she already knew that too.

“Do you think we don’t know that Victoria Corporation is working with IBM?”

Jung Hyun-woo chuckled at her question.

“Ms. Marine, the company that works with us is not only IBM.”

He had made a deal with Commodore prior to this meeting.

‘It’s not the stage to reveal this card yet, but…….’

Lyra Marine couldn’t help but pause at the answer that it wasn’t just IBM.

“The company that works with you is not only IBM?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“Ms. Marine, you seem to think that Bank of America is the only company that has reached out to us.”

This was a development that Lyra Marine had not expected at all.

“Th, that…….”

She couldn’t finish her words.

‘Could it be that another bank besides us has made an offer to them?’

It wasn’t that there were no suspicious banks.

‘Is it Citibank? Or Goldman Sachs? If not, is it Morgan Stanley?’

However, there was no information that Citibank or Goldman Sachs was moving. The same was true for Morgan Stanley.

‘But even if there is no information that has come to us, we cannot conclude that they have not moved.’

The three companies were fiercely competing with Bank of America and JP Morgan. It was not particularly strange for them to move secretly while deceiving their rivals.

The moment she narrowed her brows, Jung Hyun-woo smiled brightly.

“Ms. Marine, if Victoria Corporation starts collaborating with a new partner, the number of JP Service subscribers will increase to over 3 million.”

With 3 million subscribers, monthly sales alone were $45 million, and annual sales easily exceeded $500 million.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

While she was in shock, Jung Hyun-woo added an explanation.

“In fact, this is also the minimum figure. If our efforts pay off, or if you’re lucky, the number of subscribers could increase to 5 million or 10 million.”

The valley carved into Lyra Marine’s brow deepened further.

‘5 million? 10 million? This is a bluff!’

However, it couldn’t be said to be just a bluff. If Citibank or Goldman Sachs started a new service with Victoria Corporation, they could aim for more than 5 million subscribers, as he said.

‘Who the hell got involved in this deal?’

While she was immersed in her competitors, Jung Hyun-woo spread his second finger.

“The second fact that Bank of America overlooked is Victoria Corporation’s investment capabilities.”

Lyra Marine straightened her narrowed brows at the words “investment capabilities” and raised her eyebrows.

“Victoria Corporation’s investment capabilities?”

She thought it was an absurd statement.

‘Surely they’re not trying to show off by investing $20 million in Magellan Fund?’

Jung Hyun-woo put a slight force on his neck.

“Ms. Marine, Victoria Corporation is not just a company that handles JP Service.”

“Do you invest on your own?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at her question.

“Yes. Over the past two years, Victoria Corporation’s investment return has exceeded 500%. In fact, Victoria Corporation was a company that mainly invested before starting JP Service. If you investigated us, you would know that much, right?”

The 500% return he revealed was the performance excluding taxes. If he talked about it without excluding taxes, Victoria Corporation’s return increased to 700%.

Lyra Marine said coldly.

“I think the 500% return is exaggerated.”

The reason she answered this way was because the return presented by Jung Hyun-woo was too high.

‘Even the funds that are generating excellent returns on Wall Street have an annual return of only about 15%.’

Jung Hyun-woo was not angry at her saying it was exaggerated. Instead, he simply shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“Exaggerated? Ms. Marine, you don’t seem to have carefully examined our accounting report. If you had looked at the two-year report, you would have known the exact return.”

As he trailed off as if he was sorry, Lyra Marine clenched her right hand tightly.

‘We carefully examined last year’s report as well as the report from the year before last. But there is no such content in the accounting report…….’

I couldn’t say there wasn’t.

She certainly did not look closely at Victoria Corporation’s cash flow, especially the part about investment income.

‘Tsk, I made a mistake. I hardly took care of the investment income side.’

She and her team members only focused on the increase in Victoria Corporation’s sales and net profit.

Of course, she also had something to say in her defense. Victoria Corporation was famous as a JP Service provider, not a company famous for its investment income.

Jung Hyun-woo said in a bright voice.

“Of course, we won’t be able to continue to generate a 500% return in the future. But can’t we achieve 50% annually? What if we concede as much as possible and say 30% annually?”

Lyra Marine hardened her face.

“If it’s a 30% annual return, it would be better to enter Wall Street than the IT industry.”

As mentioned earlier, the outstanding investment companies on Wall Street were recording returns of around 15%. 30% was twice that.

Jung Hyun-woo lightly brushed off her thorny words.

“So, you’re preparing for that too.”

Lyra Marine’s expression wavered once again.

“You’re going to enter Wall Street?”

“Ms. Hilton is in charge of Victoria Corporation’s investment division. Her investment capabilities are reliable.”

When Jung Hyun-woo mentioned her, Sarah broke her silence and mentioned Victoria Corporation’s return.

“Ms. Marine, you may not believe me even if I tell you, but Victoria Corporation’s investment return last month was 12%.”

If the monthly return was 12%, the annual return far exceeded 100%.

Lyra Marine clenched her hands tightly to suppress the emotions boiling in her heart.

‘I can’t believe everything they say.’

But I couldn’t say that everything was a lie. At least, I had to think that they were achieving the average performance of an investment bank.

‘If I calculate the value of the investment bank side…….’

She thought that even so, $10 billion was absurd. At best, she thought she could give it $3 billion, or a little more, up to $3.5 billion.

“Ms. Hilton’s investment capabilities may be excellent. But I don’t think that can greatly increase Victoria Corporation’s value.”

Sarah countered her rebuttal in a bright voice.

“Ms. Marine, was the most important thing at Bank of America the asset size? Shouldn’t you also consider the know-how that has dominated Wall Street for decades? I think what I learned and felt from my family and the results I achieved with it are valuable enough.”

She lightly bluffed by bringing in the Hilton family.

Lyra Marine sighed deeply inside.

‘Hoo…… what I learned and felt from my family.’

She thought it wasn’t just that.

‘It’s clear that the Hilton family is behind Victoria Corporation.’

She suspected that Victoria Corporation’s record-breaking returns were also created with the help of the Hilton family.

Jung Hyun-woo spread his third finger towards Lyra Marine, who was on the defensive.

“The third fact that Bank of America overlooked is the new services that Victoria Corporation is preparing.”

Lyra Marine’s eyebrows rose once again.

“New services?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied as if explaining.

“Ms. Marine, JP Service is just one of the many services that Victoria Corporation will provide. We are preparing many services in addition to JP Service. You can think of this as not selling only one model at a car company, but selling several models across the board.”

If there are several services similar to JP Service prepared? And if those services are comparable to JP Service?

Jung Hyun-woo’s claim of $10 billion was not absurd.

‘That can’t be!’

Tony Allen narrowed his brows after confirming that Lyra Marine’s face had turned pale.

‘Ms. Marine has been completely caught up in their pace.’

Every time she refuted, the opponent was taking out a more powerful card. Moreover, it couldn’t be said that everything was a bluff.

Even if only half of what Jung Hyun-woo mentioned was realized, Victoria Corporation’s value far exceeded what Bank of America had calculated.

‘This fight is wrong.’

Tony Allen judged that further conversation was meaningless. However, Jung Hyun-woo didn’t seem to be thinking of ending the attack. He raised his finger again.

“Fourth, you did not calculate the value of the patents that Victoria Corporation has.”

In a situation where the three things mentioned earlier were already overwhelming, the fourth one appeared.

Lyra Marine raised her eyebrows this time as well.

“The value of the patent?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“Victoria Corporation owns all patents related to JP Service. Companies that want to provide services similar to JP Service in the future must pay royalties to Victoria Corporation. Not only that. Victoria Corporation will also hold patents for future services to be released. We believe that the value of this patent is not small.”

The patent war in the IT industry had already begun.

The legal battle between Atari and Activision, and the patent dispute between Microsoft and Apple all happened in the 1980s.

Sarah couldn’t help but be surprised every time she heard Jung Hyun-woo’s rebuttals.

‘I didn’t know Charlie was calculating the company’s value so thoroughly.’

If Victoria Corporation’s value reached $10 billion as he calculated, her assets would increase to $3 billion.

‘If it’s $3 billion, does that mean I’m richer than Aria?’

For reference, the amount Aria Walton inherited from her father was just over $2 billion. If it was $3 billion, she could be 1.5 times richer than her.

Lyra Marine sighed deeply at his continued claims.

“Hoo……. Mr. Jung, I will admit that your calculations are wrong. But I still think $10 billion is too much. That’s too much money.”

As explained earlier, $10 billion was the same value as Philip Morris. She thought that Victoria Corporation’s value was only half of that, no matter how high it was.

Jung Hyun-woo smiled at her words that it was too much.

“Ms. Marine, rest assured. Even if Bank of America offers $10 billion, we will not sell Victoria Corporation.”

The story that he had no intention of selling in the first place.

Lyra Marine released her clenched hands.

‘Then what was the story we’ve been having so far?’

Tony Allen’s thoughts were the same as hers.

‘If you had refused from the beginning, there would have been no need to have this conversation.’

Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice as if he had seen through the minds of the two of them.

“Do you think it would have been better if you had refused from the beginning?”

Tony Allen and Lyra Marine were speechless at his question.

“Th, that is.”

“…….”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice again.

“Ms. Marine, Mr. Allen, don’t you think that if you know each other accurately, there will be no trouble when you work together?”

He gave a long explanation to accurately inform them of what kind of company Victoria Corporation was.

‘Are you telling me to believe that now?’

It was when Tony Allen narrowed his brows.

Lyra Marine cleared her throat and asked Jung Hyun-woo.

“Mr. Jung, does that mean that you can’t sell the company, but you can collaborate with Bank of America?”

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together at her question.

“Before answering that question, I want to know Ms. Marine’s identity. I don’t think she’s Mr. Allen’s secretary.”

Sarah also helped Jung Hyun-woo.

“Ms. Marine, I don’t think it’s polite to hide your identity before negotiations.”

Lyra Marine bit her lower lip at the two people’s remarks. If she wanted to continue negotiations with Victoria Corporation, she had no choice but to respond to the two people’s demands.

‘Hoo, I can’t help it.’

She sighed briefly and lowered her head.

“I have committed a discourtesy. I apologize to both of you. Lyra Marine is my real name, and I am the branch manager of Bank of America’s Queens branch.”

Queens refers to the eastern part of New York State and the area north of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Jung Hyun-woo raised an objection to her apology.

“That’s a hard story to believe. How could the branch manager of Queens come out to negotiate a $2 billion corporate acquisition?”

$2 billion was a huge amount that could acquire one of the average local banks.

‘Even if the CEO cannot attend such a large negotiation such as the acquisition of a local bank, key personnel such as the COO or CFO must attend as a matter of principle.’

Lyra Marine slightly raised her voice.

“What if I’m the granddaughter of Chairman Giannini?”

Chairman Carlo Giannini.

He was the nephew of Amadeo Giannini, who is considered the best financier of the 20th century, and the representative of Bank of America.

Jung Hyun-woo nodded inwardly.

‘The granddaughter of the Bank of America Group Chairman. Then I can understand.’

He thought he could finally have a proper negotiation.