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CH252 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 03:20:25 +0000 UTCThe next morning
Despite the fact that the stock market had yet to open, more than 30 to 40 individual investors had already gathered at the Daehung Securities trading hall in Yeouido early in the morning.
The investors were a diverse mix—from elderly gentlemen wearing fedoras to middle-aged men in ties and women with permed hair. They huddled in small groups, chatting amongst themselves, or paced anxiously between the large stock market display board and the trading terminals as they awaited the market's opening.
The hot topic among them was, without a doubt, the sudden M&A announcement involving Mido Department Store the day before.
"Why is the market taking so long to open today?"
A middle-aged man, holding a pre-filled trade order form, muttered impatiently.
"Mr. Kim, are you planning to buy Mido Department Store stocks too?"
A permed-haired woman beside him struck up a conversation, to which the man responded with an obvious expression.
"Of course! With an acquisition deal in play, it’s clear as day that the stock price will soar. If I had known this would happen, I would've bought Mido instead of Utopia. What a waste."
"Tell me about it. But since the news only broke yesterday, there’s still time to make a profit."
"Exactly. Daehung Group will never let Mido slip through their fingers. If this turns into a bidding war, the stock price will shoot up like a young man's, well, you know..."
"Oh, goodness! Must you make such a crude comparison?"
Despite her disapproving tone, the woman’s eyes were filled with excitement. Clutching the bag stuffed with cash that she had withdrawn in preparation, she could hardly contain her anticipation.
Most of the investors present in the hall were there for the same reason—eager to buy Mido stocks, hoping for a dramatic price surge. Many were seasoned traders with considerable investment experience, and they had little doubt that this was a golden opportunity to make big money.
Just then, a murmur spread among the people gathered around the trading terminals. The permed-haired woman tilted her head in curiosity.
"What’s going on over there? Why is everyone so worked up?"
"I don’t know."
The middle-aged man also looked puzzled. Then, spotting a familiar face—someone he often saw at the trading hall—he quickly waved.
"Hey, Guksang!"
A man in a brown jumper looked around before noticing the middle-aged man and walking over.
"Oh, hey, hyung. You’re here too."
Guksang, as he was called, had run a small fruit shop before closing it down last year to enter the stock market. The brown jumper he was wearing was from his shopkeeping days, still embroidered with a small logo on the chest.
"What’s going on up there? It seems pretty noisy."
The middle-aged man gestured toward the crowd in front of the terminals.
Guksang, his face flushed with excitement, glanced around cautiously before lowering his voice.
"Donghae Group just made a public announcement—they're offering to buy Mido Department Store shares at 20,000 won per share."
"What?!"
"Oh my!"
The middle-aged man and the permed-haired woman, who had been listening intently, widened their eyes in shock.
"Did you just say 20,000 won per share?"
“I’m telling you, that’s exactly why everyone’s going crazy right now.”
Anyone holding Mido Department Store stock was essentially guaranteed a profit of at least 20,000 won per share, making it an opportunity too good to ignore.
What fueled individual investors' buying frenzy even further was the certainty that Daehung Group wouldn’t sit back and accept defeat without a fight.
"Donghae Group must be dead set on acquiring Mido Department Store."
"Now that their intentions are out in the open, they’re going all in."
As the permed-haired woman and Guksang exchanged words, the middle-aged man suddenly tore up the trade order he had been holding, his face filled with urgency.
"I can’t just sit around like this."
Hurriedly, he grabbed a fresh order form from the table, quickly jotting down a new purchase amount with his pen.
"Mr. Kim, what are you doing?"
The permed-haired woman asked, watching him curiously. He put his pen down and responded matter-of-factly.
"Now that there’s a public announcement for a buyout, who in their right mind would sell for less than 20,000 won?"
"Well… that’s true."
Unable to argue with his logic, she nodded in agreement. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she peeked at the amount he had written.
"20,100 won? That’s even higher than the price Donghae Group announced!"
"Of course. Daehung Group isn’t going to just roll over. To secure more shares than their rival, they’ll have to counter with an even higher bid. That’s why I need to buy as many shares as possible before that happens."
"Oh!"
Finally understanding his strategy, the permed-haired woman rushed to fill out a new trade order herself.
Around the trading hall, it seemed others had reached the same conclusion. The fresh order forms on the table quickly disappeared, running out in no time.
With tension and anticipation thick in the air, the clock struck 9:30 AM, and the stock market finally opened.
Sure enough, the moment trading began, Mido Department Store’s stock— which had closed at 9,650 won the previous day—surged to its daily price limit in an instant.
[Mido Department Store 14,360
+4,710]
The investors in the trading hall erupted in cheers and groans as they watched the stock price flash bright red on the market board.
"Wow! It hit the upper limit right away!"
"Look at it keep climbing!"
"Even at this price, barely anyone is selling."
"Who would sell now when Donghae Group has already declared a buyout at 20,000 won per share?"
"That’s true."
"Just look at that trading volume… Damn it, I shouldn’t have sold. If I’d just held onto my Mido shares a little longer..."
One investor, who had sold his Mido Department Store stock just days earlier, stared at the market board in despair, realizing he had missed out on a massive profit.
Meanwhile, over at the brokerage’s customer service counter, chaos erupted as desperate buyers scrambled to place orders.
"Mido Department Store! Buy as much as possible!"
With a fierce determination, the permed-haired woman dumped a thick bundle of 10,000-won bills from her bag onto the counter. Meanwhile, in another corner, people jostled and shoved, fighting to place their orders first.
"I was here first!"
"What nonsense! I’ve been standing here for ages!"
"Move aside!"
"Who do you think you are, talking down to me?!"
"Ugh, a young brat shoving people around! Hey, how old are you?!"
"Stop pushing!"
"Just place my order already!"
Like a pack of rabid wolves, the investors shoved their trade slips forward, shouting over one another.
Though this trading hall usually saw heavy foot traffic, it had eight service counters to handle the flow. But today, even those weren’t enough.
The scene was nothing short of a riot. The overwhelmed staff, drenched in sweat, frantically keyed in orders at their computers—until suddenly, their expressions turned troubled.
"Uh… I’m sorry, but the orders aren’t going through."
"What do you mean they aren’t going through?!"
"There are tons of buy orders, but hardly any sell orders."
The permed-haired woman, now even more desperate, pulled out another wad of cash from her bag and raised it high.
"Then put in my order at 21,000 won! No—make it 23,000 won!"
"23,000 won? Are you sure about that?"
The male staff member looked at her in shock. But she waved him off impatiently.
"Of course! Just buy it already!"
"A-All right."
He hurriedly typed in the new order.
This time, since she had bid significantly above the 20,000-won price declared by Donghae Group, her purchase went through immediately.
"Order filled: 869 shares of Mido Department Store at 23,000 won per share."
Even though she had just bought the stock at twice the previous day’s closing price, the permed-haired woman beamed with satisfaction. She carefully tucked the order confirmation into her bag like a prized possession.
Seeing this, the other investors grew even more frantic. In a frenzy, they all rushed to raise their bid prices and submit new buy orders.
"I’ll buy at 23,000 won too!"
"Hey, let me go first!"
"Don’t you dare cut in line!"
Shouts rang out over the crowd as people shoved their way forward, their elbows digging into ribs, their voices raised in frustration. The scene had turned into utter chaos.
"Everyone, please stay in line! We’ll process your orders in turn—please remain orderly!"
The branch manager rushed out belatedly, shouting at the top of his lungs. Even security guards and male staff members came forward, trying to restore order by organizing a line.
But in front of the frenzied investors, it was useless.
If anything, seeing the stock price climb by thousands of won right before their eyes only made people more desperate. Shoving, pushing, and even outright scuffles broke out as they scrambled to place their orders first.
Meanwhile, the stock price of Mido Department Store had already surged past the public tender offer price of 20,000 won.
[Mido Department Store 23,490 +13,840]
* * *
Gangnam, Seoul
Seok-won, who had been granted full authority over this battle by Chairman Park Tae-hong, immediately set up a situation room within Daeheung Venture Capital’s finance department to monitor the market movements.
"The morning session isn’t even over yet, and the price has already jumped by more than 13,000 won. The market’s gone completely mad."
Jung Hwan-yeop, seated at a desk with two bulky CRT monitors side by side, muttered with a grim expression.
Given the gravity of the situation, his usual playful demeanor had vanished.
The rest of the team was just as tense, eyes glued to their monitors, tracking every market fluctuation.
The fate of Daeheung Group practically rested in their hands, and the crushing weight of responsibility bore down on them.
Standing behind them, sleeves rolled up, Team Manager Choi Ho-geun observed his subordinates, then stole a glance at Seok-won.
Despite Donghae Group’s preemptive strike with a public tender offer, Seok-won stood there with his arms crossed, completely unshaken.
No, more than that—he looked entirely at ease, almost amused.
This sparked an inevitable question in Choi’s mind.
"Did you anticipate they would make this move?" he asked cautiously.
Seok-won nodded slightly, unfazed.
"Since our M&A attempt was exposed earlier than planned, I figured they’d try to seize control by announcing a public tender first."
"As expected," Choi murmured in admiration.
"But I didn’t think they’d move this quickly—not within a single day. Whoever is behind this is making a bold play."
Seok-won even let a faint smile slip, as though he found the situation amusing.
Choi, watching him, shook his head in disbelief. But at the same time, the nagging unease in his chest slowly dissipated.
With someone as composed as Seok-won holding the reins, he, too, could stay calm.
"But 20,000 won per share… isn’t that a bit low for a public tender offer?"
"You think 20,000 won is low? That’s double yesterday’s closing price."
Choi furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Even with the financial strain from the Gangnam branch construction, Daeheung Group still ranks within the top 50 conglomerates. If they pull together resources without hesitation, 20,000 won per share is well within their means."
"Hmm… that’s true."
After a moment of contemplation, Choi nodded in agreement.
"If we counter their move, they’ll likely raise the tender price to gain the upper hand."
Seok-won had already predicted Donghae Group’s next step with pinpoint accuracy.
"But we can’t just sit back and let this happen."
"Of course not."
Seok-won stroked his clean-shaven chin, his eyes glinting with thought.
"When the afternoon session begins, we’ll make an official announcement. Daeheung Group will also launch a public tender offer for Mido Department Store shares, open until the 15th of this month."
"What should our purchase price be?"
"Since they’ve set their price at 20,000 won, let’s add another two sheets and buy at 40,000 won per share."
40,000 won per share—just yesterday, no one would have imagined Mido Department Store’s stock price would climb this high.
The real issue was that even at this price, there was no guarantee they could secure as many shares as they needed.
If Donghae Group decided to immediately counter with a higher bid, all their efforts would be for nothing.
At this rate, even if they won the battle for shares, the aftermath would be a disaster—it was as clear as day.
Choi Ho-geun felt a twinge of unease.
But only for a moment.
Right now, winning the fight for shares took priority over any long-term concerns. He pushed his worries aside.
"Understood."
Without hesitation, Choi turned and relayed the order to Jung Hwan-yeop, the section chief.
Bzzzz.
Just then, a vibration sounded.
Seok-won pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and answered the call.
[Boss, it’s me.]
Hearing Landon’s voice, Seok-won glanced at Mido Department Store’s stock price, hovering around 23,000 won, before asking:
"Did you take care of what we discussed?"
[Yes, as per your instructions, I transferred $400 million to Daeheung Venture Capital’s corporate account.]
"Good work."
Still holding the phone to his ear, Seok-won continued,
"What’s the status of the Donghae Yuryang deal?"
[We’re increasing our stake in line with the foreign ownership limit expansion.]
"Mido’s M&A could impact Donghae Yuryang’s stock as well. Wrap up the operation quickly."
[Understood.]
After issuing a few more instructions, Seok-won ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Then, with a faint smirk, he murmured to himself,
"I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize they weren’t the hunters—but the prey all along."
