Chapter 138: Company in Rehabilitation (1) – PART 1

Gun-Ho at first wanted to give Accountant Nak-Jong Lee the impression that he was referred to him by someone he knew, and then he changed his mind.

“Maybe he would feel uncomfortable being referred by someone. Let’s just go see him on my own. An accountant usually welcomes any person who needs his consultation.”

Gun-Ho made a call to Anchang Accountant Office in Cheonan. Given the fact that the office had been handling a big company’s financial matters like Mulpasaneop, it must be a decent accountant office.

“May I talk to Accountant Nak-Jong Lee?”

“He is not in the office right now. May I tell him who called?”

“I just would like to consult him. When do you expect him to come to the office?”

“He will be here after 2 pm.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Gun-Ho slowly headed to Cheonan City in his Land Rover while humming Bohemian Rhapsody.

“Attorney Kim said the tax office of Cheonan City is located in Cheongsu Town.”

“I am an artist who hunts companies. The founder of Hanjin Group—Jung-Hun Jo said that running a company is an art. That’s right. I am an artist—a takeover artist.”

Gun-Ho parked his car in front of the Cheonan tax office and looked around. Usually, an accountant office or tax accountant office was located close to the tax office in the area.

“There we go. It’s right over there on the fifth floor. Considering it is a province, I think there will be only two or three accountants working in that office.”

“Hi. How may I help you?”

A female worker stood up and asked Gun-Ho who just entered their accountant office.

“Hi. I am here to see Accountant Nak-Jong Lee to consult about my financial situation.”

“Have you made an appointment with him?”

“No, I haven’t. I just came from Seoul.”

The female worker went to an office and let the accountant know that someone from Seoul was here for a consultation.

“Let him in.”

Gun-Ho entered the office and bowed to the accountant respectfully. The accountant looked like in his 50s and looked very experienced in the field.

“How can I help you?”

Gun-Ho gave his business card to the accountant and said,

“I do a rental property business in Seoul. I also have a joint venture with China in Jiangsu Province, China.”

Accountant Nak-Jong Lee looked at Gun-Ho’s business card and then looked at Gun-Ho’s face; he had a suspicious look on his face.

“I actually came here to know about Mulpasaneop in Asan City.”

“Are you a creditor to Mulpasaneop?”

“No, I’m not. I used to work at a company that was one of Mulpasaneop’s vendors. I want to help the company.”

“How do you think you can help the company?”

“I do a hard money business as well. I think I can lend some money.”

Accountant Nak-Jong Lee said with a sneering look on his face.

“You have looked at their financial statements, haven’t you?”

“I have a rough idea about their financial situation.”

“If so, why would you lend money to them?”

“Even though they have no real properties that could be used as collateral for a loan, I think there should be some other way to get a loan; they should have other assets like equipment or something.”

Accountant Nak-Jong Lee shook his head from side to side.

“That’s nonsense!”

The female worker came into the room and left hot green tea on the table.

“I used to work at a factory before. A factory should have something valuable enough to use as collateral.”

“I’ve never heard of using a lump of scrap metal as collateral for a loan. I don’t think I can help you with the Mulpasaneop matter. Please leave.”

“Let me ask you one thing, then I will leave. If I offer to lend money to Mulpasaneop with the interest of 20%, do you think the president of Mulpasaneop would take my money?”

“He would take your money, of course, because he has been suffering a lot with creditors. Are you aware that they already started the court receivership?”

Gun-Ho was a bit surprised but tried not to show his emotions to the accountant.

“I actually came here to ask you about it. I’d like to know their case number.”

“You can ask the female worker outside the office. I will just get back to work now. I have so much work that I have to finish.”

Gun-Ho bowed to the accountant respectfully before leaving his office.

“We might see each other again in the near future. Oh, I’d like to pay for the consultation fee; I guess I have to pay for your time.”

“You don’t need to pay the fee. Just go, please.”

Gun-Ho walked towards the female worker with a smile.

“Thank you for the tea, Miss. I was told that I could ask you about the case number of Mulpasaneop.”

The female worker searched a pile of documents for a while, and then she wrote down a case number on a yellow post-it before giving it to Gun-Ho.

“Daejeon District Court 20xx Court Receivership 000.”

Gun-Ho took the memo and walked out of the office.

“I wanted to ask him about the number of Mulpasantop’s creditors as well, but I guess that’s not so important right now. Well, that company ended up being like this. I drove this far to get the case number; I guess I didn’t at least waste the gas.”

Gun-Ho was about to leave when he decided to get them something before leaving for Seoul. He purchased a box of fruit drinks and a box of walnut cookies.

“I’d better get along with the accountant office in case I need them again in the future.”

Gun-Ho went back to the accountant office while carrying a box of drinks and a box of walnut cookies. The accountant was talking with the female worker in his office.

“Why did you come back?”

“I just wanted to give you these. You didn’t even charge me for a consultation fee.”

The female worker took the drinks and cookies from Gun-Ho with a smile.

“Thank you.”

The accountant seemed to be relaxed a bit this time.

“You didn’t have to bring me anything. I am no longer Mulpasaneop’s accountant. Once a company starts its court receivership, they take care of the company, and their accountant is automatically released from the duty.”

“I’m aware of it. I’m leaving now. Thank you for your time today.”

Gun-Ho actually didn’t know anything about it; he just pretended that he was aware of all that.

“I guess I will have to learn more about the court receivership.”

Gun-Ho made a call to Attorney Young-Jin Kim. He didn’t go straight to the topic that he wanted to talk about with him. Instead, he started some small talk.

“Hey, we have to do the golf thing again in China too. With Professor Jien Wang, right?”

“Sure. But not any time soon though. I have so much work piled up these days.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s too much.”

“Oh, do you happen to know an attorney who knows well about the court receivership? A company that I know started their court receivership.”

“Why do you want to know about it? You want to make an M&A of that company?”

“Oh, is M&A the next step after a company starts the court receivership?”

“If they can’t get back to the business on their own, an M&A is a good option for them. If you look at an economic newspaper, you will easily see an advertisement from an agency about M&A of a company.”

“An agency?”

“Yes, they connect between a company and a buyer. It could be another firm like a law firm. Which company are you talking about, by the way?”

“I just want to know about the court receivership system.”

“I know someone who is an expert in the court receivership. He is working in Seocho Town. And his office manager is also very experienced in that field as well.”

“Will you introduce the office manager to me then?”

“Sure. I will make a call to that office. The attorney over there is my senior and he is a very good person. His office is in Seocho Town and it must be close to your office.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. What are friends for?”