Golden Spoon Investor

Chapter 560 560: CH561

"President Cha Sang-woo of Daeheung Securities is here."

At Na Seong-mi's words, Seok-won lifted his eyes from the monitor.

"Let him in."

"Yes."

She stepped out, and before long, Cha Sang-woo entered the room carefully in a gray suit.

Seok-won rose from his seat when he saw him bow politely and gestured toward the sofa.

"Have a seat over there."

Once Seok-won walked around his desk and settled into the center seat, Cha Sang-woo followed and took the sofa on the right.

Standing near the door, Na Seong-mi approached and asked,

"What would you like to drink?"

Seok-won, legs crossed, turned his head toward Cha Sang-woo.

"How about coffee?"

"That sounds good."

Seok-won raised two fingers toward Na Seong-mi.

"Bring two coffees."

"Of course."

After she stepped out and closed the door, Seok-won leaned back and looked at Cha Sang-woo.

"How are the negotiations going?"

Cha Sang-woo straightened his posture and replied,

"The government wants the sale wrapped up before the end of the year, so they've been pushing both the creditors and Hyunwoo Group pretty hard."

"As long as Korea is still under IMF oversight, they'll be desperate to produce results one way or another."

"Thanks to that, we've managed to settle the main points without much friction."

"I expected it to take two or three weeks, but this is faster than I thought."

"As I mentioned earlier, the government is in a hurry. And compared to AIG, which dragged things out while making all sorts of unreasonable demands, the terms we presented were reasonable enough. That's why the talks have been progressing smoothly."

Hearing this, a faint smile lifted the corner of Seok-won's mouth.

"It wasn't intentional, but AIG ended up helping us."

"That's true."

Cha Sang-woo respectfully held out a file folder with both hands.

"This is the draft of the agreement we settled on."

Seok-won took the folder, opened it, and began reading through the draft contract carefully.

During that time, Na Seong-mi returned with a tray and set down cups of coffee in front of the two men before quietly stepping out again.

With the rich aroma of roasted beans spreading through the room, Cha Sang-woo watched Seok-won read and said,

"As stated in the draft, we agreed to acquire all newly issued shares worth two billion dollars and all Hyunwoo Group's existing shares in Hyunwoo Securities held by its subsidiaries."

"So that gives us a total stake of 43.9 percent."

"Yes."

Cha stayed composed as he continued.

"We also agreed to base the acquisition price on today's closing price of 8,250 won per share."

"Before the official talks with AIG started, wasn't Hyunwoo Securities trading somewhere around ten thousand won?"

"That's right. But after AIG's unreasonable demands—including their insistence on buying the new shares at a ten-percent discount—were revealed through the media, the stock price dropped sharply."

"Well, of course it did. Anyone could see the price was going to fall. If it were me, I'd want to sell too."

"I would as well."

After setting the folder down on the table, Seok-won leaned back and let out a small laugh.

"Thanks to AIG's greed, we're getting Hyunwoo Securities at a bargain."

"Hah. When you put it that way, it's true."

"How did you decide to handle the securities finance bonds?"

Cha answered immediately.

"We agreed to keep the existing terms with no maturity extension and no interest rate reduction."

Then he added, as if suddenly remembering something.

"And apparently, AIG also asked the government to forgive six hundred fifty billion won out of the 2.5 trillion won in securities finance bonds."

Seok-won clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"So the ten-percent discount, the maturity extension, and the interest cut weren't enough—they wanted debt forgiveness too. No wonder the government was fed up."

"From what I can tell, AIG really thought they could strip us clean like easy prey."

Even knowing exactly what AIG had been trying to pull, Seok-won couldn't help giving a faint, bitter smile at how helpless the Korean government was against foreign capital.

"We didn't intend it, but the way things turned out, it looks like we swooped in at the last minute and snatched Hyunwoo Group's financial companies, including the securities firm, right out from under them. Didn't AIG complain?"

"At first, they seemed to realize what was happening and pushed back a little, but their reaction wasn't as strong as I expected."

"Really?"

If someone had been eyeing an acquisition for that long and another party cut in midway, getting angry would be natural.

But hearing that AIG's response was lukewarm left Seok-won puzzled.

Seeing his expression, Cha Sang-woo added with a small smile,

"This is just my guess, but I think they were already on the verge of giving up because they didn't have the financial capacity. With us stepping in at that exact moment, they probably felt relieved. So they put on a show of protesting, then backed away quietly."

As if it still didn't quite make sense to him, Seok-won narrowed his eyes.

Cha burst into a hearty laugh.

"AIG signed a put-option contract with you and suffered massive losses."

"Oh? So they don't have the funds to acquire Hyunwoo Group's financial companies anymore?"

"Rumor has it they lost well over a billion dollars from that put-option deal. Doesn't that match the exact amount AIG offered as their acquisition price?"

"It was actually 1.6 billion."

When Seok-won corrected him, Cha Sang-woo's face lit up with admiration.

"To earn that much from a single short bet… that's incredible."

He looked at Seok-won with genuine respect before continuing.

"And with the dot-com bubble bursting, the stock market collapsed. They must have taken huge losses on their invested assets as well. Under those conditions, they simply wouldn't have the capacity to acquire Hyunwoo Group's financial subsidiaries."

Only then did the pieces fall into place for Seok-won, and he gave a small nod.

"Now that I hear it, that does make sense."

He had heard that a butterfly's wings could create a typhoon on the other side of the world, but he never imagined that a single short bet of his would trigger this kind of chain reaction.

He tapped the sofa armrest lightly with his fingertips, thinking it over for a moment before finally lifting his head again.

"After the acquisition, let's not leave the 2.5 trillion won in securities finance bonds until maturity. We should repay them early."

"All of it?"

"Yes. We made a tidy profit from the Nasdaq short bet with the Eldorado Fund, didn't we? Bluehole Securities earned quite a bit as well."

Unlike other securities firms that relied mainly on brokerage fees, Bluehole Securities—shaped heavily by Seok-won's influence—actively invested its own capital to diversify revenue.

Naturally, Bluehole's venture capital and asset management division participated in the short bet with him, producing the highest returns in their history.

"Once the acquisition goes through, we'll merge Hyunwoo Securities into Bluehole the same way we did with Daekwang Securities. It's not like we're short on cash, so there's no reason to keep paying 6.6 percent interest for another three years."

"The rate isn't extremely high, but paying 165 billion won in interest every year is wasteful. It would be better to clear it out."

Cha Sang-woo agreed with a positive nod.

Seok-won lifted his cup, took a small sip of coffee, and asked,

"When Hyunwoo Securities is merged, how much will my stake be diluted?"

"Fortunately, since we're acquiring both the newly issued shares and the shares held by Hyunwoo Group's subsidiaries, the dilution isn't as severe as we feared. Even so, your personal stake will drop to just barely above fifty percent."

"We're not swallowing some small company here. We're acquiring the second-largest securities firm in the country. That's a hit I can accept."

The industry's top firm, of course, was Bluehole Securities.

Once the merger went through, Bluehole's market share would instantly surpass thirty percent, cementing it as the clear and dominant leader.

"Alright, then proceed with the acquisition under these terms."

"Understood."

Cha gave a short reply and gathered the file folder.

Seok-won expected him to leave right away, but Cha lingered by his seat, hesitating. Noticing it, Seok-won raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something else?"

Cha opened his mouth as if he'd been waiting for that question.

"With this acquisition, we'll also have an investment trust company under our umbrella."

"And?"

"How about we create a distinctive blind fund of our own? Something similar in concept to the Buy Korea Fund that, despite its rough outcome, still managed to draw over eleven trillion won in subscriptions."

"A blind fund?"

"Yes."

Normally, when people talked about a fund, they meant a project fund—something built around a specific product, sector, or country. Subscribers would look at the target and decide whether to invest.

A blind fund, however, was the opposite. It gathered money first, without announcing the investment targets, and the management company handled all decisions, later distributing any profits.

"Public perception of funds isn't very good right now. Not just any fund, but a blind fund? I'm not sure something like that can succeed."

When Seok-won responded skeptically, Cha Sang-woo began persuading him with renewed energy.

"You're right that trust in funds has plummeted after the August 12 redemption freeze, the cases of misselling, and all the regulatory violations that came to light. On top of that, the recent stock market crash wiped out fund balances across the board."

One of the biggest reasons investment trust companies—once known for high returns—had fallen into trouble was the mass exodus of capital from their funds.

But Cha spoke with confidence.

"In this environment, a typical fund would have almost no chance. But we have one unmistakable advantage that will draw attention. If we use it well, the fund will be a huge success."

"And what is that?"

Seok-won leaned forward, intrigued.

Cha met his eyes with a meaningful look.

"You, Chairman."

"…Me?"

Seok-won tilted his head, bewildered.

While his face was full of question marks, Cha nodded vigorously and spoke with excitement.

"Yes. When the media reported that you were ranked number one on the Forbes list of the world's richest people, a titan of Wall Street, it became a huge sensation. And after the articles about you being the only investor to earn tens of billions during the dot-com crash, there's hardly anyone in Korea who doesn't know your name."

"Is it really to that extent?"

"Of course. Throughout the IMF crisis, Koreans were ridiculed for celebrating too early. They watched core companies and valuable assets get sold off to foreign capital for cheap, and many felt their pride shatter. But now, a Korean has outperformed the most arrogant investors on Wall Street and become the richest man in the world. That gives people comfort. It makes them proud."

It was similar to the comfort Koreans felt when a Korean pitcher rose to prominence in Major League Baseball or when a Korean golfer dominated the LPGA during the bleak IMF years.

Because Korea had been helpless under the assault of foreign speculators, seeing Seok-won achieve extraordinary success in the heart of Wall Street carried even more symbolic weight.

And many people looked at him with a sense of catharsis—regaining some of the pride they had lost.

Understanding what Cha meant, Seok-won asked:

"So you're suggesting we launch a blind fund under my name."

"Yes. If it's a fund managed by the world's richest man and a major Wall Street figure, people will rush to sign up."

"Hmm…"

Seok-won rubbed his chin, thinking it over.

No matter how high the fund fees were, they were nothing compared to the returns coming from the Eldorado Fund and his other ventures.

Even if the staff handled the day-to-day operations, a fund bearing his name meant he couldn't ignore it entirely, which sounded more like a headache than an opportunity.

But he also knew how many ordinary people, desperate to grow their money after the IMF crisis, had poured their savings into trendy investments—Latin American bonds, China funds—only to end up losing it all.

With that in mind, his thoughts shifted.

Rather than letting fund managers and asset managers stuff their pockets with fees while producing miserable returns, maybe it wouldn't be so bad for him to step in, protect people's money, and help them grow their wealth properly.

Having come to a decision, Seok-won nodded at Cha Sang-woo.

"It sounds like a good idea. Let's move forward with it."

The moment he agreed, Cha's face lit up with a bright smile.

"Understood."