５．M
「――医者にして社長という特徴や、事業の特殊性がもてはやされ、リラは二〇〇九年に上場にこぎつけた」
当時の公募価格、二百円。
株価は、その年内に五千円へ。
「跳ねましたね」
「大量保有していた弓場は、そのとき資産が二百億を超えている」
「他の連中も、儲けたんっすか」
「いや、まとまった株を受け取っていたのは一部のみだ。加えてそいつらは、上場後に去っている」
Ａは資料を持つ指を何度か叩いた。
「――ただ、弓場だけは別だ。彼はリラに残り続け、一円も現金化しなかった」
「風変わりですね……」
「な。売却益を得て、とっとと消える心理の方が、理解できる」
「ヒノキならそうすると」
「もっちろん」
「弓場は利用しやすそうな人間に見えて、案外しにくいかもしれん……まあ、『ターゲット選定』は後にしよう」
ＡはＤを一瞥した。
その視線に、言葉はなかった。
※
“—With the novelty of being both a doctor and a CEO, and with a business that sounded unusually specialized, Lila managed to go public in 2009.”
The IPO price: 200 yen.
Before the year was out, the stock had climbed to 5,000.
“It popped.”
“Yuba, who held a massive stake, was worth over twenty billion yen at that point.”
“Did the other guys cash in too?”
“No. Only a few people received any meaningful block of shares—and those people left after the listing.”
Alder tapped the documents in his hand, once, twice.
“—But Yuba was different. He stayed at Lila, and he didn’t cash out even a single yen.”
“Odd,” Birch murmured.
“Right? I can understand the psychology of taking the capital gains and disappearing.”
“If it were you, Cypress, you would.”
“Obviously.”
“Yuba looks like the sort of man you could use,” Alder said, “but he might be harder to handle than he seems… Anyway. We’ll get to target selection later.”
Alder flicked his gaze toward Dalia.
There were no words in it. Just the look.
