Recently, in the professional basketball world, resentment toward Orion, the former owner of Goyang Carrot, is growing. When Goyang Carrot was sold by Orion and failed to pass one season, and was driven into a crisis of existence and shook the professional basketball board, the ‘responsibility theory’ sparked.
Carrot revealed extreme ‘financial risks’, such as delaying the payment of salaries for the players in December and January. After all, as the parent company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering went into corporate rehabilitation last month, the Carrot team is looking for a new takeover. The Korean Basketball League (KBL) has come to the point of issuing an ‘ultimatum’, threatening to forfeit playoff qualifications if the remainder of the membership fee (1 billion won) is not paid in full by the end of this month. Anxiety about whether the entire KBL league is shaking due to this unprecedented situation is rising rapidly.
In fact, it was foreseeable. In June of last year, when the KBL board of directors discussed approving the membership of the Carrot club (member company), the biggest issue was the parent company’s financial capability. Because of this, approval for joining was unsuccessful once, but was passed on the condition of ‘payment guarantee’ by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
It is already spilled water to resent Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering & Construction, which has now entered the rehabilitation process. When the situation becomes like this, the arrow turns toward Orion, the former owner, who was busy disposing of the basketball team even though this situation was predictable. It is claimed that Orion made a so-called ‘sale without knowing’.
Orion has been pushing for the sale of the club behind the scenes since the end of 2021, and in April 2022, it disclosed the fact of negotiations with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
This was when there were media reports that Kim Yong-bin, chairman of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering & Construction, was being investigated by the authorities for violating the Capital Market Act. In addition, in the business world, doubts were openly raised about the financial stability of companies led by Chairman Kim, such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Construction and Hankook Technology.
An official from the basketball world said, “It’s not about selling a single Choco Pie, it’s about selling a professional sports team, so we had to closely examine the status of the acquirer.” If Orion, belonging to this conglomerate, sold without knowing it, it would be a lack of ability, and if it sold even after knowing it, it would be irresponsible.” In particular, dissatisfaction with Orion is rising as each company’s 2022 business performance is announced. According to the business world, Orion recorded a record high of 2.8732 trillion won in sales and 466.7 billion won in operating profit in 2022 on a consolidated basis.
The 2022 operating profit of Anyang KGC parent company KGC Ginseng Corporation, which is close to winning the regular league, is 84.8 billion won (sales 1.306 trillion won). The operating profit of KCC, which is said to be the most active investment in professional basketball, was 467.6 billion won (sales 6.7748 trillion won). It is pointed out that it is difficult to avoid criticism for leaving the team, which was a member of the professional basketball launch (1997), to an insolvent company too irresponsibly, even though it is more than five times more than KGC and produces almost the same profit as KCC.
Another basketball player said, “The whole basketball board is shaking due to the carrot incident. I wonder if Orion, who has good business performance, had to sell the basketball team or ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll try to sell it first’.” “In 2011, Daegu→ After being criticized for ‘running away at night’ due to the relocation of the hometown to Goyang, it seems that this time it has become a ‘running away without knowing’. There are also voices of people calling for a boycott of Orion products among basketball players.” 바카라
