Categories: uncategorized
Date: 17 May 2007 16:27:17
Today is a joyous day for me. The takeover battle for the company has reached a conclusion, unless someone else now decides to join in.
Our founder and CEO had announced that he wanted to take the group private and put in an offer to the company. His first attempt fell through after his backers pulled out following poor Q4 results last year. So he went out and found new backers and put a new bid in.
This was almost immediately trounced by another private equity company; they had bought the TNT Logistics division last year. Then things turned nasty. Our CEO was accused of putting undue pressure on the board to roadblock the rival office and a court case began regarding this.
Last weekend the CEO put in a new offer and this was again trumped by his rivals. The deadline closed yesterday and we've now discovered that he is pulling out of the contest. I think that this actually means that he's lost and his backers won't go higher.
So why am I joyous? Well I'm happy because I think it's time for a change. The company has stagnated over the past 5 years. The management has failed to lead with any energy. They've been happy for the company to fall behind others in the consolidation of the industry. When TNT Logistics, and other companies, came on the market we did nothing. While DHL swallowed everything in sight we sat on the sidelines saying how everyone else was overpriced.
Over the last 2 years our quarterly bonuses have been instated and then withdrawn without warning. The targets have been given and then changed when we met them. Our pay rises were never granted but we weren't told why. Now we know why; because the books were being massaged to make any bid by our CEO look good for the private equity companies he approached.
I know that our senior management in the US will be culled, as our new owners have stated that that would happen. The new owner is also less UScentric in their outlook. In addition we are now combining 2 companies that have little overlap but great synergy.
Roll on the final announcement and the bid going through.