Word: merger
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Dennis Levine was one of Wall Street's hottest young investment bankers. A managing director with Drexel Burnham Lambert, Levine, 33, was glib and gregarious, and had a knack for cultivating clients. In addition, he had a particular gift for obtaining information about impending hostile merger bids and then persuading takeover targets to hire his firm for their defense. According to federal law-enforcement officials, Levine also used his expertise for a less innocent pursuit: buying stock in companies that he knew were about to be acquired, and then selling the shares at a profit after a takeover bid sent...
...merger specialist, Levine was privy to valuable information week in and week out. Curiously, in 35 of the 54 insider-trading cases cited in the SEC charges, the investment bank that Levine worked for was not involved with the merger bid. The implication is that he may have been exchanging information with other investment bankers or stock traders...
Sperry, started in 1933 as a maker of navigational equipment, treasures its independence. But going it alone could become increasingly difficult because of heated competition from Japan and an industry-wide slump in sales. Burroughs, facing the same problems, thinks the merger would allow the two companies to cut expenses by combining their purchasing, research and development, and other departments. More important, the combined bulk of the company could give reassurance to cautious computer buyers, who often prefer IBM simply because it stands so large and secure. Says Michael Geran, who studies the industry for E.F. Hutton: "The merger makes...
...merger bid represents a career-end gamble for Blumenthal, 60, who earlier served as chairman of Bendix and as Treasury Secretary under President Carter. His determined advance convinced Wall Street that Sperry's days as an independent company are numbered. In just two days last week, speculators sent Sperry's stock price up $16.25, to $71.25. Some investors think Sperry will find a so-called white knight to deliver it from Blumenthal's clutches, but the company is running out of candidates. During the past year, Sperry is rumored to have held merger talks with ITT, General Dynamics...
King of Madison Avenue? No agency can hang on to that crown for long these days, thanks to an epic acquisition binge. Only two weeks ago, the merger of three large firms--BBDO International, Doyle Dane Bernbach Group and Needham Harper Worldwide--created the biggest agency in the world (estimated annual billings: $5 billion). But that superdeal appeared to have been surpassed last week when London's Saatchi & Saatchi agreed to buy Manhattan-based Ted Bates Worldwide for an estimated $350 million. Those two companies, which are expected to announce the deal early this week, will have billings of about...