The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 89



Only Krnovel

Episode 89 Big Deal (2)

A presidents’ meeting was convened.

However, there was a large TV inside the conference room.

Everyone was watching the breaking news on TV.

[Creditors officially announced that Taewoo Group acquired a 51% stake in Kai Motors and took over management rights. The prevailing view is that this will change the landscape of the domestic automobile market.]

“Wow!”

You and I both screamed.

Those who attended the CEO meeting were at least in their 60s, but they cheered and clapped like children.

“Chairman, congratulations!”

The grandfather was maintaining his dignity and maintaining his facial expression.

Her lips kept turning upward, as if it was difficult to hide her joy and excitement.

“Hmm, let the chief secretary give a brief briefing.”

“Kai Motors has officially become part of Taewo Group. We have acquired a 51% stake in Kai Automotive and are planning to acquire an additional 10% stake.”

Kai Automotive’s stock was the cheapest right now.

Therefore, it was beneficial to secure more shares as long as there were no problems with cash flow.

“And with the acquisition of Kai Motors, there has been a change in the business hierarchy. “We surpassed Samjin Group and became second in the business world.”

“Wow!”

It was the presidents who applauded again.

But my grandfather clicked his tongue.

“What kind of fun is this! It’s only ranked 2nd in the business world. “I couldn’t surpass the current group, but it’s too early to like it!”

“sorry. We will work harder to become number one in the business world!”

It was a group of CEOs who were always intimidated by their grandfather’s words.

But today, the voice was loud.

“Chief of Staff, the debt ratio didn’t increase with the acquisition of Kai Motors, right?”

“I am not worried about the debt ratio at all. “We acquired Kai Motors with surplus money, and we still have over 10 trillion won remaining.”

Although Kai Motors was acquired, there was still a lot of cash left.

This was possible because there was investment money received from Aramco, Taewoo Motors’ expansion into China and the United States, and a significant amount of royalties received from Apple.

“Don’t get too excited. “Even though we acquired Kai Motors, it doesn’t change that Hyunjae Motors still has the largest market share.”

Last year’s domestic automobile market share was as follows.

Currently, automobiles account for 47%.

Kai Motors 25%.

Taewoo Motors 24%.

Since Taewoo Motors and Kai Motors combined, they should have had a 49% market share.

As Kai Automobile’s market share fell significantly after it went into legal management, Hyunjae Automobile was still ranked first in market share.

But the difference was a single digit.

The rankings could change at any time.

“If Kai Automobile is normalized, we can surpass current automobiles. “All of Kai Motors’ strong unions have been restructured, so there will be no more strikes.”

Bae Seong-gyun, CEO of Taewoo Motors, spoke strongly.

Although he held the position of vice president of the group, he was a man full of pride in Taewoo Motors.

But we always had to stay in second or third place in the industry.

President Bae Seong-gyun had tears in his eyes as he finally saw hope of achieving first place in the industry.

A moment when everyone is full of hope.

The planning director, who was waiting outside the conference room, hurriedly came inside.

He quietly approached me and told me the urgent news, and I quietly walked forward and turned the TV back on.

[This is breaking news. Hyunjae Motors officially announced the acquisition of SS Motors.]

History has been changed.

In my previous life, Taewoo Group acquired SS Motors.

Hyeonjae Motors acquired Kai Motors, but in this life, it was the other way around.

“I think we will take over SS Motors from Hyunjae Motors and maintain the No. 1 market share in the country.”

“What is the domestic market share of SS Automobiles?”

“It’s 4%. “If you calculate it simply arithmetic, the current car and SS car combined will have a market share of 51%.”

The atmosphere in the conference room became cold.

Everyone who was cheering and clapping until their hands swelled froze.

“It’s a fight between 51% and 49%. Now, the Korean automobile market has been confirmed to be a two-way structure. Since the difference is only 2%, there is a good chance of a reversal. Until last year, the difference between our current car and ours was nearly twice that. “Isn’t 2% a fight worth fighting?”

“Director Kim is right. “How can we not overturn a difference of just 2%?”

If there was a variable, it was Samjin Automobile.

Since neither Kai Motors nor SS Motors could be acquired, there was no way to avoid the government’s big deal policy.

According to the history I know, there was a high possibility that it would be sold to a foreign automobile company.

Then, it became a fight between Taewoo Motors and Hyeonjae Motors.

Whoever wins the battle for market share in the second half of this year will have an advantage.

“The people’s wallet situation is very bad due to the IMF. So, we need to focus more aggressively on selling compact cars. “I understand that compact car sales have increased since the second half of last year.”

“Sales of mid-to-large cars decreased and sales of compact cars increased.”

Bae Seong-gyun, CEO of Taewha, agreed with me and stepped forward.

The compact car market was favorable to Taewoo. Since the current automobile lineup of automobiles was centered on mid- to large-sized cars, its market share was bound to decline.

Moreover, because SS Motors specializes in SUVs, it was difficult to achieve synergy.

“We need to reduce the mid-to-large car line and increase the production of small cars. And only by independently managing Kai Cars can we maintain loyal customers to Kai Cars.”

“Do you mean not to include Taewoo Motors as an affiliate?”

“I am well aware of President Bae Seong-gyun’s outstanding abilities. However, there is too much to lose if Kai Motors is subordinated to Taewoo Motors. “We must emphasize that Taewha and Kaicha are completely different brands to increase our domestic market share.”

Only when there is competition can there be innovation and development.

If we compete with current cars on the outside and Tae-cha and Kai-car on the inside, we can increase our competitiveness.

“Within the group, two car companies compete. Good idea. “What does President Bae think?”

“I still felt a little uncomfortable. As of last year, Taewha was in third place, failing to surpass Kaicha by 1%. “I want to resolve that discomfort even through internal competition.”

“That’s a very good idea. “Then who would you like to take charge of Kaicha?”

My grandfather looked at me secretly and spoke.

It seemed like they wanted me to take charge of Kaicha and revive it, but I wasn’t in a situation where I could go all in on Kaicha.

The IT department had to become independent and dominate the Internet market.

Kaicha was important, but it was nothing compared to the value of an IT company.

“Kaicha is a company that has already gone bankrupt once. “In order to instill a reformative image, I think we need to bring in professional managers from abroad rather than internal figures.”

“Is there anyone in mind?”

“I recommend Carlos Ghosn, an executive at Renault Motors.”

He is now an executive at Renault Motors.

Next year, he will be appointed as the president of Nissan, and will be called the star manager who saved Nissan Motor Company.

Other nicknames for Carlos Ghosn include:

The devil from France.

He carries out restructuring and wields a surgical knife like an emotionless person.

Therefore, Nissan was revived with a complete transformation in just two years.

It would be a waste to send someone like that to Japan.

Moreover, his last years were difficult.

Although Nissan was saved, Japan treated him like a criminal and imprisoned him.

Although he eventually escaped from Japan, he had to spend his last years in Lebanon without being able to return to France.

“That’s an unfamiliar name. “Do you have a personal relationship with him?”

“There is no relationship whatsoever. But his name is quite famous on Wall Street. In particular, it is clear that he is the perfect person to save Kaicha as a corporate revival expert.”

“Then you go to France and recruit him. If that doesn’t work, you can take charge of Kaicha.”

Why are things suddenly going this way?

It seems like grandpa really wants to entrust Kaicha to me.

But you can’t do that. I will do whatever it takes to bring Carlos to Korea.

“Today’s meeting ends here.”

The manager ended the meeting before I could answer.

I hurriedly went outside and immediately called David.

“David! “You’ve made a lot of connections in France, right?”

[I made quite a bit when my boss asked me to work on Thompson Multimedia.]

I had purchased the MP3 copyright from Thomson Multimedia, a French state-owned company.

David obtained the copyright by grilling executives at Thompson Multimedia, and thanks to this, David had connections in France.

“I need to take someone out of the Renault car. Is that possible?”

[This is true in other countries as well, but especially in European countries, the upper class belongs to one community. “If you just walk on one leg, you can see everything.”

“Then, please contact Carlos Ghosn of Renault. We are planning to appoint him as the president of Kaicha, which we recently acquired. This work is really important. “I will go to France myself, so please do the work in advance.”

David must have sensed the urgency in my voice and answered as if he was surprised.

[The boss is coming to France himself? Then, I will go to France today and drink wine.]

“Please say something before I go. “It would be better if we recruited them first.”

[The boss just needs to apply the final stamp and we will prepare everything.]

I could hear relief in David’s voice.

He, with his friendliness and lack of ability, would probably be able to placate Carlos.

* * *

Two days later I boarded a plane to France.

After 13 hours of arriving in France, David was waving my name written in Korean as a pet word.

“boss! “It’s here.”

“Your face looks good. “I guess the wine hit her.”

“No matter how good alcohol is, what do you do? “If you drink more than 10 glasses, you don’t know whether the alcohol in your mouth is wine or vodka.”

David joked.

Judging from his bright voice and expression, it seems like things are going well.

“It looks like you met Carlos.”

“It was a really difficult encounter. “Thanks to the help of Thompson executives, we were able to have a drink.”

“How did you subtly offer to recruit him?”

“I made an offer to recruit him, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of going to Korea. “He said something strange that if he went, he would be betraying Renault.”

I roughly understood the situation.

Renault Motors was aiming to acquire Samjin Motors.

He used the word betrayal because if he went to Kaicha, he would have to compete with Samjin Car, which was owned by Renault.

“I guess I should meet in person and talk. “Can you make room for me?”

“I already made plans to have drinks today. I wanted to make an appointment tomorrow if possible, but they said the only time was today. “I didn’t catch it today because I never want to see my boss rest.”

Did David have any ill feelings towards me?

They immediately made a drinking date without giving me time to adjust to the time difference.

Well, there is no good in wasting time, so let’s get rid of the bull’s horn today.

“I got a good hotel. “There are about 4 hours left until the drinking date, so take a nap.”

I headed to the hotel with David’s guidance.

I closed my eyes for a moment, took a shower, and headed to the meeting place with my sanity intact.

Carlos had already arrived and was waiting for us.

The moment I saw Carlos’ face, I knew why he was called the devil from France.