Omniscient Investment Point - Chapter 237



Only Noblemtl

237. Unicorns – 1

(1)

I went back to Japan with Hyun Ki-hyuk.

It was my first time on a plane like that.

“Isn’t this your first time in first class?”

“No. But this is the first time someone has given it to me.”

“ha ha ha.”

Feeling good, Hyun Ki-hyuk paid for all the first-class tickets.

Honestly, you might ask, “What kind of first class is this when you’re going all the way to Japan?”

‘Flex is no joke.’

I thought that if I had money, there was nothing I couldn’t do.

The same goes for staying at one of Nagoya’s best accommodations.

“Life is shorter than you think. Now that I’m my age, I wish I had enjoyed my 30s and 40s… … I have regrets like this.”

“If that were the case, Hyun Ki-hyuk wouldn’t be here now.”

“Is that so? Hahaha.”

We didn’t talk about business at all.

instead,

“I heard a rumor recently. It’s Suwon Yeongtong vs. Cheongdam.”

“Hey, is Yeongtong a match for Cheongdam?”

“It’s not about real estate. There’s talk about the H2K forces gathering in Yeongtong vs. the JTS forces gathering in Cheongdam.”

“Oh, I guess people are bored.”

We spent the night chatting about such trivial matters, and the next day we finally signed the letter of intent to acquire.

“It went faster than I thought. I guess we can save time.”

“Yes, that’s right. I have a lot of things spread out here and there, so I think it turned out really well.”

There is actually a mountain of work to be done.

It wasn’t always like that, but the number of things I had to worry about was rapidly reaching its peak.

From the acquisition of Mrs. Securities to the IPO work of several companies… … .

‘I need to go to Korea right now and run until my feet sweat.’

Meanwhile, the reason it is a letter of intent and not a contract is because of the due diligence work.

Anywhere, accounting and finance can be different than what it seems.

A little difference is fine, but if it’s completely different, all the negotiations we’ve done so far will be invalid.

Of course, I thought there was no way that magnetic would do that, so I returned to Korea.

“Sir, the investigation here is finished.”

In Korea, there was a place waiting for an acquisition like Magnetic.

That’s the wife’s securities, and when the investigation was completed, it turned out that there were no particular problems.

To be exact, there were still PF issues, but with the exception of Suwon ENC, there were no PFs classified as bad debt.

“Then, I have to stamp it.”

Once it was decided, there was no reason to waste time.

That’s not the style, there was a lot to do after taking over the securities firm.

So I took over the wife’s securities the next day,

“I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“Please, take a good look at me. Hahaha.”

The scene of him shaking hands with the existing representative, Tae-soo Lee, drew an enthusiastic response from domestic individual investors through news and newspapers.

– JTS acquired a securities firm?

– Is this something to celebrate?

– We should celebrate. Where else could there be a place more caring for shareholders than JTS?

– I’m looking forward to the future.

Is it because of that expectation?

Interview requests kept pouring in.

Every time that happened, I told the reporters this.

“Affiliates should be operated independently. Therefore, I will give full authority to CEO Lee Tae-soo.”

I’ve said it several times, but why is there no trust in the eyes of the reporters?

‘Well, don’t believe it.’

What does it matter what they think?

The important thing is to not break your heart.

In fact, I promised that I would not touch Lee Tae-soo’s original business plan, and instead, I laid out the groundwork for him to tell me if he wanted anything more.

Then,

“It is our goal at JTS Securities to become a leader in the upcoming STO market.”

I definitely like this guy.

Because they have already abandoned their old name, Buin Securities, and added the name JTS Securities to the end of every word.

For reference, the STO market refers to digital assets that utilize distributed ledger technology.

So recently, art, buildings, music, etc. have been traded on specific platforms, and JTS Securities has partnered with a platform that trades not only all three, but also Korean beef.

Although this won’t make any money right away, it is expected to grow into a market worth hundreds of trillions of dollars within a few years.

Why should I bother to oppose it?

“We will give you full support to help you achieve that goal quickly.”

“Ah… , , thank you.”

Was it because I answered too coolly?

He stutters and looks into my true intentions.

So I opened up a little more.

“I am also studying STO diligently. I also know that now is the right time to take the lead in the market. So I have no choice but to fully support it.”

“yes…….”

“In that sense, how about creating our own platform?”

“By itself?”

“Yes, I’m personally quite interested in real estate. Especially commercial real estate. So I’m asking about platforms for real estate piece investment.”

“ah…….”

Real estate piece investment.

A place that has recently entered the industry stands out.

Although it is not large, it is attracting the attention of the MZ generation and dominating the market.

“Lord, is that place famous especially among the young generation?”

In fact, the platform called ‘Lord’ made piecemeal investments through commercial real estate public offerings and was always successful in raising investment funds early.

Knowing this, when I mentioned the Lord, Lee Tae-soo’s eyes widened.

“Yes, yes, that’s right. The Lord has even formed an alliance with us.”

“Wow, that’s great. Then how about taking over that place?”

“Huh? You’re even thinking about taking over… …?”

“Not right now. We will continue to buy up shares through investments. If we aim to eventually become the largest shareholder, I think it won’t be bad.”

“Well, startups often do that, so there’s no reason they can’t do it.”

When Lee Tae-soo nodded, I smiled brightly.

“Yes, then please proceed right away.”

“all right.”

I know the mindset of people who have started a startup.

At first, we usually start out with big dreams, as if we were going to swallow up the world.

But soon you feel the wall of reality.

In other words, most people have no choice but to give up their dreams of expanding their business in front of money.

At this time, they hand over their business to the capitalists and start recharging.

Then, I took a fresh start and focused on a new startup… … .

‘Come to think of it, Chan-gyu and Ki-jun might be able to surpass that level.’

They have surprisingly not encountered any huge walls since starting their startup.

Of course, Han Ki-jun wandered for a while within the wall of reality, but that was only for a moment.

With my support, they jumped right in and became an AI startup with the best technology in the country, so they treat me with the utmost respect whenever I visit them these days.

‘Should we go see the guys for the first time in a while?’

(2)

As expected, today, as soon as Han Ki-jun saw me, he dragged me to his office and made me coffee himself.

But it seemed like the guy had something to say.

After taking a few sips of coffee, he finally made up his mind and said the following.

“Sir, I’m thinking about whether our company should look into listing on NASDAQ.”

“NASDAQ?”

As if he had read my expression, the guy immediately asked me a question.

“Huh? Why? Is it not that great?”

“NASDAQ is still early. If you need more funds, it would be better to aim for KOSDAQ.”

“KOSDAQ… …?”

A cold voice came out of the guy’s mouth.

This wasn’t the first time we’d had a conversation like this, but today I think he was especially looking forward to it.

“Sir, our technological prowess is not lacking even when compared to the global market.”

“I know, too.”

“But why… … ?”

“That’s because raising capital from KOSDAQ is often relatively more advantageous.”

What I say is true.

Just because you’re listed in the US doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be able to raise a lot of money.

There has to be some kind of definite killing point.

“Especially, unless it’s a global first, it doesn’t mean much.”

“the first…….”

“Yes. In Dr. Kati’s case, the fourth-generation anticancer drug and the pancreatic cancer treatment were the first of their kind. That’s why they attracted more attention.”

This indirectly means that Neo Open’s AI technology is not the first.

Han Ki-jun nodded with a regretful expression, as if he understood.

He looked a bit disappointed, so I snickered and said.

“But as I said earlier, the Korean market may be more attractive than the U.S. market.”

“Is that so?”

“I can’t help but bring up Dr. Carti as an example… What do you think would have happened if other bio companies had been listed in the US? Their valuation would have been relatively lower than in Korea. No, they would have been 100% lower.”

This was also true.

A Korean bio company that has secured a certain level of sales, rather than a special technology listing, is listing on NASDAQ?

It cannot raise more funds than KOSDAQ.

There is already quite a bit of comparative data circulating.

Among Korean and American bio startups developing specific new drugs, the market capitalization of the KOSDAQ-listed companies was higher.

“There are probably quite a few AI startups in the US that are listed. If you search the portal, you can easily find them. So, check out their market capitalization and how much money they raised when they first went public. And if you think it’s okay to just secure that much capital, then I’ll help you in every way possible. Got it?”

Han Ki-jun nodded again to my question, but his momentum had diminished.

‘Did you step on the growing sprout too much?’

No, it is not.

Han Ki-jun also needs to know reality.

However, Neo Open is still a loss-making company.

The future is bright, but you will inevitably have to spend more money than you earn.

Investors are not as patient as you might think.

That is, it doesn’t make you wait long.

Especially in the case of the United States, which is more advanced than Korea, there was a risk of losing mental strength due to shareholders’ pressure.

In that case, Korea would have been better.

‘By the way, how much of an evaluation can I get in Korea?’

I’m once again curious about the true value of Neo Open.

Naturally, unable to contain his curiosity, he went outside and entrusted the task to Chief Secretary Kwak Hyeon-woo.

“Here, evaluate the value.”

“Yes? Oh, yes, yes. I understand.”

And a few days later, Neo Open was valued.

They say it’s 800 billion won.

‘Oh, there aren’t many unicorns left.’

A unicorn is a privately held company valued at more than $1 billion.

At the current exchange rate, it is 1.3 trillion won, so Neo Open can increase its value by approximately 500 billion won.

In that case, I couldn’t help but be curious about Do Chan-gyu’s Echo & F.

“That won’t work. Check out Echo and F too.”

“Oh, yes, yes. I understand.”

After becoming the Chief Secretary, Kwak Hyun-woo became busier.

Your soles will get a little sweaty, as you continue forward… … .

And after a while, I was given another report that assessed the value of F&F… … .

“1.6 trillion?”

It was exactly twice that of Neo Open.

“Wow, this is it, Chan-gyu went to Unicorn first… … .”