Word: knighting
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Hennessy is a man who ought to know. Allied played the role of "white knight" in the merger mess, which was stirred up last summer when Bendix Chairman William M. Agee, 45, made a surprise tender offer for the shares of MX missile contractor Martin Marietta. But Martin Marietta turned the tables on Agee. The company promptly retaliated by trying to buy Bendix, and the result was a corporate donnybrook in which the two companies acquired huge chunks of each other and made headlines in the process. Finally Allied was called in by Bendix to buy Bendix stock and save...
That would be anywhere from six to 18 months, judging from other white knight mergers. Top managers of acquired companies rarely stay past the time it takes for the acquiring company to learn the ropes and bring in its own people. It took only 16 months, for example, for John Duncan, 62, to pull the ripcord on his $1 million golden parachute after the company he headed, St. Joe Minerals Corp., was bought 18 months ago by Fluor Corp. to escape a hostile bid by Seagram Co. Ltd. of Canada...
...largest white knight merger of all was Du Pont's purchase of Conoco in September 1981 for $7.4 billion, against hostile bids by Mobil and Seagram. Conoco has turned into Du Pont's most profitable division; its performance blocked Du Pont's earnings last year from being even lower than they were. But the recession has weighed heavily on the chemical giant, making the huge debt from the Conoco purchase harder to carry, and forcing the company to omit its customary extra year-end dividend. To save money, Du Pont executives have announced plans to close Conoco...
...Allegheny International played rescuer to Sunbeam in late 1981, saving it from takeover by IC Industries, Inc. Soon, however, Sunbeam Chief Robert Gwinn and 160 of his colleagues found themselves out of jobs. Complained one executive: "They went at us with a meat ax. If Allegheny is a white knight, God save us from white knights." But Allegheny has complaints too. Chairman Robert Buckley said he discovered in Sunbeam "problems under the surface that were greater than they seemed...
...corporate marriages will not be as big or as exciting. They will also be between less disparate companies in similar industries. That could lead to friendlier arrangements and so reduce the need for lances, maces and battle-axes. Firm handshakes between reasonable people could make the white knight obsolete...