Chapter 1287: Buying In

The fate of a trainee naturally would not stir anyone's heart.

Whether it was Zhao Fusheng or Kim Young-min, they were more concerned about maximizing the interests of their respective companies. The former needed to be responsible for his trip to Korea, while the latter had to be accountable to the entire company's shareholders.

So this was the trouble of being a businessman: you had to be responsible for every action you took, and only actions that generated profits were valuable.

Smiling as he bid farewell to Kim Young-min and other SM executives, Zhao Fusheng left with Dong Chenxi and the others.

Sitting in the car, Dong Chenxi was puzzled and asked Zhao Fusheng curiously, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Zhao Fusheng chuckled, "What, find it strange?"

Dong Chenxi nodded, "More than strange. I just feel that you went to their company for no reason, just to meet Kim Young-min and get to know a fellow townsman. No matter how I think about it, it seems pointless."

She found it hard to believe that Zhao Fusheng would do something so boring.

"Believe it or not, within three days, our information will be on the desks of several song companies in Seoul." Zhao Fusheng winked at Dong Chenxi, smiling meaningfully.

Dong Chenxi was startled, a bit surprised, then quickly understood what Zhao Fusheng meant.

"You did it on purpose?" Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng in surprise, then answered herself, "That's right, SM will definitely investigate our group's information, and then that information will be leaked by people from other companies within their organization..."

She wasn't stupid; with a little thought, she could figure out what was going on.

One had to admit that Zhao Fusheng's approach seemed a bit rash, but if it really turned out as Dong Chenxi guessed, then this move was indeed the right one.

Zhao Fusheng said nothing more, just smiled faintly.

The car soon returned to the apartment. Getting out, Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi, "You and Liang Jingyu come over; I have something to discuss with you."

Liang Jingyu and Dong Chenxi exchanged glances, but obediently followed Zhao Fusheng upstairs.

This was a five-story apartment building, rented out entirely by Liang Jingyu to serve as a temporary dormitory for the Future Group. As for the office building, he was still scouting for one, since Zhao Fusheng's requirement was to purchase an entire office tower—a truly bold move.

Upstairs, Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi and Liang Jingyu, "The situation in Korea is generally good. If nothing unexpected happens, I plan to set up a Korean branch here. Old Liang, are you interested in being the general manager?"

Over the past couple of days, he had been fairly satisfied with Liang Jingyu's work. This deputy manager of the Investment Department, who had arrived in Korea ahead of time, had not only arranged the logistics and reception for the entire large team in an orderly manner but had also gathered quite a bit of information about the music industry and even the film and television sector.

Although most of this information was already known to Zhao Fusheng, that didn't mean he would ignore someone who was genuinely eager to get things done.

In his view, Liang Jingyu, who was capable and also fluent in Korean, would definitely be a qualified candidate for general manager.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Liang Jingyu's body trembled, and his entire expression turned somewhat shocked. Then, with a hesitant look, he said, "Chairman, you're not joking, are you?"

Zhao Fusheng immediately laughed and waved his hand, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"No, no," Liang Jingyu quickly waved his hand and said, "Thank you, Chairman, for giving me this opportunity. I will definitely work hard not to let you down."

This was from the heart. No one didn't hope to rise above the rest, and Liang Jingyu was no exception.

He knew very well the relative importance of being the deputy manager of the Investment Department of Future Investment versus the general manager of the Future Group's Korean branch.

Zhao Fusheng laughed and said to Liang Jingyu, "Actually, I have a request too. You've seen the situation here in Korea. If we use all domestic personnel, the cost will be too high, and it won't be good for the company's development. So your task is very challenging. I hope you can recruit people as soon as possible and set up the company's framework."

Liang Jingyu now understood Zhao Fusheng's intention and nodded repeatedly, "Chairman, rest assured, I will handle this matter as soon as possible."

He was well aware that the reason Zhao Fusheng valued him was because he knew Korean and could quickly establish the company's framework. If he couldn't do this well, then he probably wouldn't have much of a chance as general manager.

Watching Liang Jingyu leave the room full of drive, Dong Chenxi then looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked with confusion, "What do you want to do?"

Zhao Fusheng shrugged, "Naturally, set up an investment company here."

"An investment company?"

Dong Chenxi was taken aback, clearly not quite understanding this answer from Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "I think the Korean market is still workable. Establishing a Korean branch is inevitable. Since that's the case, we need to keep labor costs to a minimum."

Dong Chenxi nodded at this. Zhao Fusheng's words were indeed correct. Expanding into a foreign market, if labor costs weren't controlled, the company's investment would be too large.

"We have to admit, the entertainment industry in Korea has great development prospects." Zhao Fusheng smiled. "Don't you think it would be fun to make money off Koreans if we get the chance?"

Dong Chenxi was stunned. She hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to have such a dream.

But thinking about it carefully, it was indeed a pleasant prospect.

"Up to you. You're the boss, so you'll be the one hurting most if we lose money." Dong Chenxi teased Zhao Fusheng with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng was momentarily speechless, pointing at her for a long time without saying a word.

But Dong Chenxi was quite pleased, cheerfully standing up to leave.

Zhao Fusheng, however, spoke up: "Wait a moment."

"What's up?"

Dong Chenxi stopped and turned to look at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng said, "Prepare yourself. We're going to acquire a portion of SM Entertainment's shares."

Dong Chenxi was taken aback, somewhat surprised. She really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to set his sights on SM's stock.

According to the information Future Group had obtained, SM's equity structure was quite chaotic. The largest shareholder was founder Lee Soo-man, and the second largest was Japan's Avex Group. The other shareholders were mainly Korean domestic investors. The current CEO was Kim Young-min, responsible for overall operations, while Lee Soo-man, as the largest shareholder, handled artist-related business.

To form closer ties with its artists, SM also used equity incentives. There were two main methods: third-party allotment and stock options. The former targeted ordinary artists, the latter targeted management (including artists in management) and employees. In May 2002, artists Kangta and Moon Hee-jun received SM shares through third-party allotment. On March 28, 2005, Kangta became a non-registered director and received stock options. Later, BoA also obtained shares through third-party allotment.

Dong Chenxi believed Zhao Fusheng knew all this, but she still didn't understand why he planned to buy SM's stock.

"Are you planning to acquire this company?" Dong Chenxi hesitated, asking Zhao Fusheng. "If we do that, our capital reserves might not be sufficient."

In fact, the total available funds for Future Investment, including loans from Banco do Brasil, did not exceed five hundred million US dollars.

Previously, acting as agent for World of Warcraft, and later supporting various Future Group projects, including partnering with Jack Ma on Alipay, Future Investment had been spending money like water.

Dong Chenxi had reminded Zhao Fusheng more than once that his current problem was how to raise enough funds to support short-term investments; otherwise, his capital would soon run out.

Zhao Fusheng naturally understood Dong Chenxi's meaning. He smiled faintly and said, "It's okay, we don't need much. Prepare fifty million RMB to acquire some shares circulating on the market, just enough to reach five percent."

Dong Chenxi looked bewildered, not quite understanding Zhao Fusheng's intention.

Given SM's current valuation, five percent of the stock, without considering costs, would be more than covered by fifty million RMB. But Dong Chenxi didn't understand why Zhao Fusheng wanted to acquire that five percent—was it just for a board seat?

"What, don't you understand?" Zhao Fusheng asked with a smile.

Dong Chenxi nodded. "Fifty million RMB, at the current exchange rate, is nearly ten billion Korean won."

Zhao Fusheng smiled. He remembered reading a report that SM's stock price didn't break one trillion Korean won (about 6.1 billion RMB) until the end of 2014.

But that was ten years later.

Now, SM's market value was barely over one hundred billion Korean won, meaning he could buy one-tenth of the company's value with fifty million RMB. Then, due to exchange rate changes and other factors, in about ten years, that money would become six hundred million.

Fifty million turning into six hundred million.

Any fool would know what to do with this deal.

A sure profit, no loss.

"It's a signal." Zhao Fusheng looked at Dong Chenxi and smiled. "I need to let Koreans know that our Future Group is a company with strength."

Dong Chenxi was startled, her brows slightly furrowed, but she began to grasp Zhao Fusheng's intent.

She had initially thought Zhao Fusheng was planning to invest in a few projects, but now it seemed he was playing a much larger game—one so big that no one but himself seemed to understand his thoughts.