<h4>Chapter 145: Preparation for M&A (1) – PART 2</h4>


    “The reason I talked with the president here is to ask him to hire me as an employee. I wanted to start my investigation early in collecting information to know the exact situation of thepany, like how much debt it really has.”


    “Hmm. So you are interested in acquiring thispany.”


    “That’s right. I believe you probably want to sell thepany to a third party as early as you can. That’s what the court promotes too, right? If thepany is sold even before the court receivership actually starts, you might get an incentive too, I believe.”


    “That’s not a bad idea. What concerns me is that you need to take a position with a real task. We actually have a vacancy in a position that handleswsuit rted work. The person who used to work in the position quit the job; he said the work was too hard for him. Why don’t you take the position and do your own investigation about thepany and its debt while handling thepany’swsuit?”


    “That’s fine with me. I am willing to take any work that you give to me. I hope I could take though a position to a level as a managing director.”


    “That’s not possible. In order to hire a person at a director level, we will need approval from the court.”


    “I see. Then, let’s do this. Let’s tell people within thepany that thepany hired a new managing director, and tell the court that thepany hired a manager who would handle thewsuit rted work.”


    “Hmm.”


    The officer seemed to take some time to think about it, and said,


    “Did the president agree to it? I mean about hiring you, President Gun-Ho Goo.”


    “Yes, he said okay.”


    “Well, let’s do that then since the president agreed to it. Let me first talk with the president, and I will contact you.”


    Gun-Ho lent 200 million won to the Mulpasaneop’s president and secured the loan with his condo in Bangbae Town. The president seemed to be satisfied when he received the money.


    “My sister will be very happy. Thank you.”


    Gun-Ho came back to Seoul and had waited until he heard something from Mulpasaneop.


    “Once I get into thepany, I will have to handle theirwsuit job, but I have no idea what the work is about. What should I do? Oh, the officer manager—Se-Gil Lee from aw firm. I think I can ask him about the work.”


    The reason why Gun-Ho wanted to get into the Mulpasaneop as an employee was to grasp the actual state and condition of thepany such as their actual current assets and debts; that way, he would be able to smoothly acquire thepany without making a mistake when it came to the time for the M&A. Also, Gun-Ho wanted to make himself busy working at Mulpasaneop, so he could suppress his urge to sell his Kumho Chemical stock.


    “I will be too busy to think about selling the Kumho Chemical stock. Let the stock sit there for quite a while, maybe until theing winter.”


    Gun-Ho received a call from the court officer at Mulpasaneop.


    “You can start your work here next Monday. As I previously promised, we will report to the court that we hired you as a manager who would hand thepany’swsuit rted work. However, inside thepany, we will announce that we hired a managing director, but that has to be done by the president, not me. Since I am the appointed officer by the court, I can’t do it.”


    “I understand. Thank you.”


    “Since thepany is officially hiring you, you will have to bring some papers like your resume, your resident registration, and your highest school diploma.”


    “No problem. I will do that.”


    “And the duration of the employment will be 6 months.”


    “That sounds good. I believe everything will be done by then.”


    Gun-Ho urgently called for Manager Kang and Ms. Ji-Young Jeong.


    “I won’t be in the office from tomorrow. I will be working as a managing director at a manufacturingpany in Asan City.”


    “Huh? What about ourpany then?”


    Gun-Ho’s two employees’ eyes widened.


    “I could take the position in Asan City and work there for a while because I know you two will be in this office. You just keep working as you have done, and let me know when there is an important thing you think you need to report to me.”


    “What is going on, sir?”


    “Thepany in Asan City is Mulpasaneop. They manufacture automobile parts. I actually want to make an M&A of thatpany, so I want to be inside thepany in advance to find out more about thepany.”


    “Are you acquiring apany? How big is thatpany? If it is a manufacturingpany, their employees should be at least more than ten people.”


    “Their current employees are actually 250.”


    “250 people?”


    Manager Kang and Ji-Young looked at each other in surprise.


    Gun-Ho at first thought of finding a ce to stay within the Asan City, and then he decided to lease a condo close to Cheonan-Asan Station for KTX (Korea Train Express); it was a 25 pyung condo.


    “This is a newly constructed condo; it looks good. Since the KTX station is right there, it will take me only 30 minutes to go to Seoul, which is nice.”


    Gun-Ho went to Mulpasaneop to work on the following Monday.


    There were 48 workers from the management department who were gathered for the morning meeting. Since it was a manufacturingpany, the number of workers in the production was way higher than the number of the workers in the management. The president introduced Gun-Ho to the workers from the management.


    “This is Gun-Ho Goo. He joined us today and he will be working as a managing director of ourpany. He will handle mostlywsuit rted jobs.”


    Gun-Ho came forward and gave a 90-degree bow to the workers. The workers pped with a nk face. The president continued to talk,


    “Managing Director Gun-Ho Goo graduated from Zhejiang University in China majoring in ounting, and he worked as the president of GH Development Company. Please wee him as our team.”


    Gun-Ho bowed to the workers again.


    Gun-Ho asked the ounting manager to give him thewsuit files. There were 54 ongoingwsuits. Gun-Ho quickly looked through the files.


    “16 of them are about unpaid wages, and the rest of them are from creditors for unpaid loans.”


    Gun-Ho made a call to the office manager—Se-Gil Lee.


    “Oh, President Gun-Ho Goo? I am back to my office in Seocho Town. Why don’t we have lunch together today? I can get to the Gangnam station in 15 minutes on my slow foot.”


    “I am actually in Asan City today. I took a temporary position in apany that I want to make an M&A of.”


    “Oh, really?”


    “If you have time today, can we meet at Seoul Station instead? I will buy you a tasty lunch. I have something to consult you about.”


    “That sounds good. I don’t have any other schedule today anyway.”


    Gun-Ho put all the Mulpasaneop’swsuit files into a briefcase and took a KTX train heading to Seoul. Once Gun-Ho arrived at the Seoul Station, he met with the office manager at the Café Pasci that was located inside the train station.


    “What are these?”


    “These arewsuit documents.”


    Gun-Ho put all the documents on the table and showed it to the office manager—Se-Gil Lee.