Word: maidman
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Dates: during 1955-1955
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...famed jeweler has stood as a sterling symbol of quality and good taste. During all its 118 years it has been owned and managed by the families of Founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and an early partner, Silversmith Edward C. Moore. Thus, when Manhattan Real Estate Operator Irving Maidman and Bulova Watch Co. talked of taking over Tiffany's and replacing its genteel tradition with the code of the hard sell (TIME, Aug. 8), Tiffany's Fifth Avenue neighbors shuddered with well-bred distress...
...neighbor most concerned was Bonwit Teller's President Walter Hoving. As soon as he read about the plans of Maidman and Bulova, Department Storeman Hoving rode right out to Oyster Bay, L.I. to suggest to Tiffany President Louis de Bébian Moore that he take over. Hoving armed his offer with a pledge to preserve Tiffany's character and traditions, and leave management unchanged...
Moore, who with the Tiffany family and others, claims control of 55,000 shares, turned down Maidman's demands and got ready for a proxy fight. But Maidman, who had bought some 13,000 shares for about $30 each, another 20,000 for $50 or higher, knew he already had a profit without fighting, shopped around for a buyer for his stock. Last week Arde Bulova's Bulova Watch Co. agreed to take over his holdings in a deal that will pay Maidman $60 a share or allow him to exchange the shares for Bulova stock...
...making the deal with Bulova, Maidman left Tiffany's facing a new question: will Bulova try for complete control? Said Bulova's Vice President Stanley Simon: "Obviously, if we bought some of the stock, we would be willing to buy more." Full control might be hard to come by, but Bulova was expected to try to get it by trading Bulova stock for Tiffany shares at a ratio that would give a Tiffany stockholder about $64 a share, almost equal to the book value...
Having lived through Maidman's foray, Moore and the other Tiffany heirs were breathing a bit easier last week. They seemed calmed by the knowledge that even if Bulova wins control it will have to keep Tiffany's tradition and tone. And as Bulova's Simon said: "We have no intention of displacing the management...