Word: mergers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...courtship was brief and tumultuous. Not surprisingly, the marriage was on the rocks before it really got started. After eight days as president of the combined company formed by the merger of Allied Corp. and Bendix Corp., William Agee, 45, decided last week to resign, effective June 1. Reason: Allied Chairman Edward Hennessy would not give him major responsibilities. Said Agee...
...become the predator. To save Bendix from being bought by Martin Marietta, Agee turned to Hennessy, and after four whirlwind days of talks they agreed to merge. Agee got a promise that he would be president of Allied, but his future duties were not settled. Shortly after the merger was officially approved by stockholders a fortnight ago, Hennessy forced the resignation of Alonzo McDonald, who had been Agee's second in command at Bendix. Then Hennessy told Agee that Allied was looking for someone else to be chief operating officer, the second-ranking post, after chief executive...
Agee hardly has to worry about a job. He is a director of several corporations, including Equitable Life Assurance and Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal. At the time of the merger, his Bendix shares were worth about $1.4 million. In addition, unless shareholders sue successfully to stop him, he can pull the ripcord on a golden-parachute deal written into the merger agreement. It entitles him to receive his annual $825,000 salary for five years after he steps down, a plump severance package worth more than $4.1 million...
...will have the intended effect of keeping Agee tied down at Bendix in Michigan, inhibiting him from becoming involved in Allied affairs back East. Hennessy has also promised that he will study, presumably with a critical eye, the "golden parachute" package fashioned by Bendix directors for Agee during the merger battle. Under its terms, Agee would receive his current $825,000 annual salary plus bonuses for up to six years should he be forced to resign...
Agee has thus paid the ultimate price for the blundered Martin Marietta merger: he has lost Bendix. Yet he was keeping up a brave front. Said he last week: "I firmly believe that where mergers are intelligently done, they create jobs and wealth. And this one was." He pledged to stay on at Allied "as long as I'm needed...