Word: ponts
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That marriage, however, is not totally certain. The deal still has to be accepted by stockholders of both Du Pont and Conoco. For two months a flock of suitors had fought over Conoco in a bidding battle as frenzied as an auction for a newly discovered Rembrandt. The other most serious contenders: cash-laden Seagram Co. of Canada, the world's largest liquor distiller, and Texaco, the third biggest U.S. oil firm...
...Conoco-Du Pont agreement was the climax of a complex drama of high finance. It began with unwelcome assaults on Conoco by two Canadian companies. The first came in May, when Dome Petroleum bought 20% of Conoco's stock. The U.S. company fended off that threat by agreeing to trade its majority interest in the Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Co. in return for the Conoco stock that Dome had acquired. At the same time, however, a more ominous Canadian challenger appeared. In late May, Seagram privately approached Conoco with an offer...
...help," said Bailey. The merger talks moved swiftly, in part because Bailey, 57, the burly son of an Indiana coal miner, and Jefferson, 59, a London-born intellectual with a Ph.D. in chemistry, knew each other well. They had worked together on joint gas-exploration ventures that Du Pont and Conoco had begun three years ago in Texas. Jefferson flew to Stamford four times in the next eight days. All along, he assured Bailey that Conoco's management would not be changed...
Suddenly, in the midst of discussions between Du Pont and Conoco, another competitor appeared. Texaco made an offer for Conoco that was roughly comparable to Du Font's bid. But Bailey preferred to stick with Du Pont. He feared that even the Reagan Administration would balk at a merger between the two huge oil companies: a Texaco-Conoco combination would be larger than any U.S. energy firm except Exxon...
...Pont, the planned acquisition of Conoco is a daring departure. The 179-year-old firm, which started as a gunpowder business on the banks of Delaware's Brandy wine Creek, now sells everything from synthetic fibers and insecticides to cookware coatings and auto paints. But for the company that invented nylon and Teflon, growth has come mainly from in-house research and innovation rather than conglomerate building. The addition of Conoco would more than double Du Pont's size, and some Wall Street analysts fear that the new colossus would lose some technological drive. Says John Henry...