Hal Mercer walked into the Monday meeting certain of one thing: he wasn’t going to let his father’s company fail. Not on his watch. These people could either jump in the trenches with him and start helping him shoot the enemy or they could get the hell out of his way. He opened his portfolio and set out his agenda and notes for the meeting. He cleared his throat and began.
“Okay, everyone. Why don’t we get started?”
Hal waited while people began sitting down and looking his way.
“Good morning. Today I want to talk about the prospects for our merger with D’Arville.” That really quieted them down. Good. They were all listening. “The main question before us is what to do if they reject our merger offer. Do we then pursue a hostile takeover? As you all know, our competitors are showing signs of weakness. Their president is rumored to be ill and poised to retire. Although they have a larger market share than we do, their stock value is down lately. Where do we stand, and is everybody on side with this? Archie, why don’t you start?”
Hal sat down and gave him a big smile of encouragement. Archie Bishop, the VP of Finance, was just as pleasant as he stood up to have his say. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit and a white shirt with a burgundy tie, his balding scalp ringed by a neat fringe of white hair. He adjusted his glasses and smiled back at Hal. Just a couple of old buddies working together for the greater good. You’d never know the man was still feeling the sting of the board’s rejection. Too bad, baldy, they went with the younger model CEO.
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