Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk.

This is not a consolation.

It's more like telling her:

It's okay, just follow the procedure.

Keiko Miyazawa finally breathed a sigh of relief.

……

After Seiji Shiraishi and his group left, the air in the first reception room finally loosened up a bit.

Matsumoto Takahiro picked up his teacup and took a sip of the already somewhat cooled sencha.

"Section Chief Yamada."

"Yes."

What do you think?

Masakazu Yamada did not answer immediately. He spread out the documents of Shiraishi Refrigerator and quickly flipped to the financial statement section.

"If you only look at the business data, they are good customers."

He said:

"Annual revenue is around 1.6 billion euros, operating profit is 110 million euros, and recurring profit is 80 million euros. The cold chain warehousing and low-temperature distribution business has stable cash flow, and the main customers are high-quality clients such as Daimaru, Hankyu and New Hankyu Hotels."

He flipped to the borrowing details.

"The existing bank loans amount to 290 million yen, of which 90 million yen is from Osaka Credit Union, 70 million yen from Sumitomo Bank, and the rest is long-term borrowing related to equipment. The debt is not heavy."

Matsumoto Takahiro asked:

"What's the problem?"

Masakazu Yamada turned to the page on the use of funds.

"The problem lies in the adjustment of capital policies. More than 300 million euros were used for equity restructuring, which is not ordinary equipment financing."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Kiryu Yaya.

"Kiryu, what do you think?"

Kiryu Yaya never expected that the section chief would directly point him out in front of the branch manager.

He lowered his head slightly and gathered his thoughts.

"I believe this financing is not a matter of operational stabilization, but rather a classic case of defending control."

There was a two-second silence in the conference room.

Masakazu Yamada subconsciously glanced down at the page of information in his hand, as if trying to confirm whether he had missed something.

Matsumoto Takahiro's fingers also stopped at the rim of the teacup, a hint of surprise in his eyes:

"Kiryu-kun, please continue."

Kiryu Yaya flipped the document to the one showing the shareholding structure of Shiraishi Refrigeration.

He spread the page out and pushed it to the center of the table so that all three of them could see it clearly.

Seiji Shiraishi: 38%.

Shiraishi family: 12%.

Takao Shiraishi: 28%.

Morikawa Industrial: 12%.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan: 10%.

Then, Kiryu Yaya used the tip of his pen to dot the two lines about Shiraishi Takao and Morikawa Sangyo.

"Clearly, President Shiraishi is currently planning to use more than 300 million euros for equity restructuring. We first need to clarify which equity shares this fund should correspond to."

He looked up.

"Given that Whitestone Refrigeration is valued at nearly one billion euros, this amount of money corresponds to about 30% of the equity."

"Judging from the equity structure of Shiraishi Refrigeration, there are only two ways in which this 30% equity was formed: either it belongs to Shiraishi Takao's 28%, or it is held by Morikawa Sangyo plus the Shiraishi family and employees."

His pen tip first touched "Morikawa Sangyo", then "Shiraishi Family" and "Employee Stock Ownership Association".

"But it will be very difficult to repurchase shares from the latter. Morikawa Industries is an external shareholder, the Shiraishi family is scattered in multiple households, not to mention the employee stock ownership plan. Acquiring these channels at the same time is impossible to complete in a short period of time, and each transaction needs to be negotiated one by one."

The pen tip moved to the area below the three characters "Shiraishi Takao" and paused.

"Therefore, it is highly likely that there is a problem with the 28% stake held by Takao Shiraishi. President Shiraishi urgently needs to repurchase these shares in order to maintain control."

Masakazu Yamada looked at the paper, suddenly realized something, and almost blurted out:

"So that's how it is!"

But he immediately realized that it wasn't a leader speaking; it was just that Kiryu Yaya, the newcomer, pursed his lips after expressing his opinion.

Why do I feel like my IQ has been completely crushed?

Chapter 21 You must be the newcomer.

Takahiro Matsumoto nodded and posed a question:

"If someone wants to take control of Whitestone Refrigeration, what would their real purpose be? The profits from the cold chain alone don't seem worth such a big fuss."

Kiryu Yaya softly uttered four words:

"Dojima Cold Storage".

"What's truly valuable about Shiraishi Refrigeration isn't the profit on paper, but the Dojima Cold Storage asset itself."

“This piece of land is in a very good location. If the goal of external capital is not to operate a cold chain, but to demolish the cold storage and turn the land into commercial buildings, then the motivation is understandable.”

Upon hearing this, Yamada Masakazu finally understood and quickly said:

"President Shiraishi and his family members appear to have a 50% controlling stake, but it is uncertain whether the family members' shareholding is stable."

"If external capital were to acquire 28% of Shiraishi Takao's stake and 12% of Morikawa Sangyo's stake, that would be 40%."

"With 40% equity, if external capital can secure half of the equity held by the Shiraishi family and employees, they can control Shiraishi Refrigeration and take over Dojima Cold Storage!"

Kiryu Yaya nodded and said:

"Of course, this is just our guess. We need to confirm other issues before finalizing the loan."

Masakazu Yamada was silent for a moment, then he chuckled.

"Branch Manager".

"Ah."

"I now know that Fuji Metals is no accident."

Takahiro Matsumoto did not laugh.

But when his gaze fell on Kiryu Yaya, it was noticeably deeper than before.

"Kiryu-kun."

"Yes."

"Your analysis is very reasonable."

Matsumoto Takahiro slowly said:

"Section Chief Yamada, from now on, we'll treat this case as a risk financing case for control."

Masakazu Yamada sat up straight.

"clear."

Takahiro Matsumoto stood up.

"The preliminary hearing for the Shiraishi Refrigeration Case will begin tomorrow. The on-site investigation will take place Monday morning. Chief Inspector Chihaya will preside, with Kiryu assisting in the investigation."

Kiryu Yaya stood up straight.

"clear."

The two returned to the financing review department and told Chihaya Yuri about Shiraishi Refrigeration's case.

Chihaya Yuri raised her head, her gaze sweeping between Yamada Masakazu and Kiryu Yaya.

"Section Chief, what did the branch manager say?"

Masakazu Yamada said:

"The branch manager has been appointed. We'll look at it from the perspective of risk financing based on control. You'll be the lead auditor, with Kiryu assisting. We'll conduct an on-site investigation on Monday morning."

Chihaya Yuri's gaze paused slightly.

"Control risk?"

"Kiryu-kun's judgment."

Chihaya Yuri glanced at Kiryu Yaya, but didn't ask any further questions. She simply reached out and took the folder.

She flipped through the pages, her gaze lingering briefly on the shareholder register.