Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 884: Selling Major Shareholder’s Stock (1) – Part 1

Gun-Ho fixed his eyes on Mr. Adam Castler as he said, “We will have to lower the stock price. It’s way overheated.”

“Lowering the stock price?”

“We sell our stock as a major shareholder in the stock market.”

“Selling our stock? We will need approval from the head office.”

“That’s why I wanted to see you urgently today. Each partner had 50% of the company ownership in the beginning, but as the company became a public company, we had to do public offering and also gave some to our employees through the Employee Stock Ownership Program. Now, we each own 34.6% instead of 50%. The total number of stock issued so far is 26 million. Lymondell Dyeon owns 9 million of them, and GH Mobile owns the other 9 million.”

“That’s correct.”

“I’m suggesting that each of us sells 5% of their shares in the stock market. I believe that will stop this crazy increase in our stock price. If selling 5% of the shares doesn’t calm the stock price, then we will sell 10%.”

“That… That will make our management right weakened, won’t it?”

“Not necessarily. Even if each partner sells 10% of their ownership, we each will still hold 20%, and that is enough to exercise our management right. Look at Samsung and Hyundai, for example. Their chairmen hold less than 5% of the company ownership, but they are still running the company as their own.”

“I… umm, yes, I heard about it.”

“The stock price per share is currently 46,000 won. We sell 1 million shares at this price, and once the election is over, and the stock price comes back to its normal price—6,000 won—then we can buy back our stock.”

“Hmm, that will create some profits.”

“It will create profits of about 40,000 won per share. So, if we sell 1 million shares, we will make 40 billion won. Of course, we will have to make a public announcement about our selling stock since a major shareholder’s stock selling must be put on notice to the public. It will lower the stock price, and maybe the price will be lowered to 30,000 won. Even so, we can make 30 billion won by selling some of our stock and buying them back later.”

“Hmm.”

“I understand that you have worked in various countries before, but I’m sure that you have never seen a situation like this, where you can make special profits unexpectedly.”

“That’s true.”

“We can’t predict for sure how the stock price will change even tomorrow, so I want you to talk to the head office as soon as possible and get their response. We don’t want to delay this. We want to act before any complicated matters happen to the company.”

“I’m wondering, sir, if it is true that Director Hyeong-Woo Lee’s—who is in China right now—brother will run for President.”

“That I don’t know. The only person who can answer it should be Party Leader Jin-Woo Lee himself.”

“Understood, sir. I will give a call to the head office first thing in the morning tomorrow.”

“Please make sure that they understand that each party—Lymondell Dyeon and GH Mobile—will have to sell and buy the same number of shares in the stock market. Dyeon Korea is a joint venture company, and we have to keep it that way.”

“Understood, sir.”

Mr. Adam Castler headed back to Asan City by KTX. Gun-Ho also went home in TowerPalace, Dogok Town after dropping off Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh in Apgujeong Town where she was living.

When Gun-Ho opened the door to his home, there were a man’s shoes that he couldn’t recognize.

“You are home,” a man in a thick voice said.

Gun-Ho lifted his head to see who that was. It was his father-in-law from Silim Town. He probably came to see his grandson.

“Father, how are you?”

“What happened to your face, Gun-Ho?”

“Huh? Something wrong with my face?”

“You seemed to lose a lot of weight, and you look pale. You must have been extremely busy at work these days, huh?”

“Umm, yes. It is true that I’ve been very busy lately.”

“I read it from a newspaper. Your company’s stock became a theme stock, and it caused the stock price to go up dramatically. And, you had to have a press conference about it talking to the news reporters. Isn’t it a good thing though to see your company’s stock price going up like that?”

“It makes so much noise about my company, but it’s not like I make money from it. I have to sell my stock to make money.”

Young-Eun came to the living room and said to her father, “Dad, stop talking about business. Sang-Min’s dad has to wash and have dinner.”

“Oh, that’s right. I won’t bother him. Let’s have dinner.”

After placing Sang-Min, who was sleeping already, in his crib, everyone sat at the dining table. Gun-Ho’s father-in-law visited Gun-Ho’s home in TowerPalace pretty frequently since he was living by himself. He had no wife, and Young-Eun was his only child. Gun-Ho often felt sad when he saw his father-in-law living alone, so he always had a drink with him whenever he came to his home.

“Father, let’s have a drink. I still have the Chinese liquor left that we had last time together.”

“Oh, you mean Maotai, huh? Let’s have one glass of that liquor then. It’s really good liquor.”

Young-Eun placed delicious side dishes in front of her father and Gun-Ho, so they could have them while drinking.

Young-Eun’s father said, “Young-Eun, you will have to take good care of your husband. Gun-Ho looked exhausted and pale.”

Young-Eun smiled and replied, “I think that’s because of his company—Dyeon Korea. As its stock is classified as a theme stock, he had to deal with a lot of people that he didn’t have to before. It has been about a month, I guess.”

Gun-Ho grinned as he was hearing what Young-Eun said about him. He then thought about it.

‘It’s not that, Young-Eun. I’ve been extremely busy, and sometimes, I had to skip my lunch because I was buying 3 million Dyeon Korea’s shares and also selling them.’

Young-Eun’s father asked, “Is it true that Mr. Jin-Woo Lee’s little brother is working for your company right now?”

“Yes, father. That’s true. He is our senior director handling our international market development. He is not in Korea right now though. He is in Guangdong Province, China.”

“I read it from the newspaper that Dyeon Korea has multiple manufacturing facilities in India and China. Are they all part of your company?”

Young-Eun seemed to be interested in what Gun-Ho would have to say about it. She was all ears.

“Yes, that’s correct. We have a factory in Chennai and Noida in India as well, and also one in each city in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and Tianjian City, China.”

“You mean there are 4 factories in other countries, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“A manufacturing facility must require a large land to sit on. That must cost a lot. I believe that you need at least 1,000 pyung large land per factory, huh?”

“The land for each factory is about 5,000 pyung large. Since they are chemical manufacturing facilities, we need land in that size.”

“Whoa! 5,000 pyung?!”

Gun-Ho’s father was astonished when he heard that each factory had 5,000 pyung large land. When he had worked as a school teacher before his retirement, the school had about the size of 5,000 pyung. Gun-Ho had about the same size of land in four different locations overseas. That was amazing. Gun-Ho’s father realized how wealthy Gun-Ho was.

“Hmm, really?”

When Young-Eun had brought Gun-Ho home to introduce him to her father saying she wanted to marry him, Young-Eun’s father wasn’t very satisfied with his daughter’s decision. He actually wanted her daughter to marry someone who was working in the same medical field as she was. The ideal husband for her daughter would be a medical doctor who graduated from Seoul National University as Young-Eun did, Young-Eun’s father thought. But, Gun-Ho was a businessman, and Young-Eun’s father didn’t like it at first. He didn’t want his daughter to marry a businessman because most business people around him failed their businesses at some point in their lives. So, he wanted someone who would have a more stable life such as a medical doctor or a lawyer, maybe. When Young-Eun’s aunt strongly recommended Gun-Ho as Young-Eun’s husband, she said to him, “I was told that he has a building in Gangnam District, and he is a really wealthy man. He looks decent too. You will know what I mean when you meet him in person. He doesn’t look like a businessman, but he looks more like a salaryman in a large company, maybe a manager or some other high position. You should meet him before saying anything further. Young-Eun didn’t say anything negative about him either.”