Twisted Love and Money (4 page)

“You are aware”
Crawford continued, “that I have to handle about seven thousand
acquisition proposals a year. That makes about thirty a day. These
come in from the Companies themselves, from bankers, brokers,
outsiders and lawyers. When you have a high profile like ours
people think… If you want to flog a business, write to
Crawford…”

Janet smiled in
appreciation. Crawford was as ugly as sin but he was a power in the
City of London.

“Now” Crawford
went on, warming to his topic. “Of those seven thousand proposals,
and in a good year it could be ten thousand, my team may, after
screening, investigate about two hundred. And then we would
successfully complete not more than say ten deals in a year out of
all that. Of course much of the deals will not make the papers
because they are private deals.”

“I see” Janet
said, for the want of something to say. She sipped her coffee and
watched respectfully. She was uncomfortable under his gaze. He had
piercing eyes and she was afraid he could read her feelings. Also,
he kept looking at her legs.

He was such a
dynamic and powerful man in the Company. The way he was staring,
the conviction with which he spoke, and the bulge in his pants,
Jesus, she thought, Crawford has had a hard on just talking about
takeovers. What commitment.

She moved her
legs slightly and watched his eyes. Well, it was either takeovers
or her legs. The soft couch made her bottom sink and her legs were
towards him at an angle or forty-five degrees. She wondered how far
up her skirt he could see. She leaned forward and rested the coffee
mug and her hands on her knees.

“I’m saying
this,” Crawford continued, “to point out that any proposal, even
one from you Janet, has to stand up to a lot of testing before it
can run.”

“I understand
that Sir. You had said that you were less than satisfied by
external sources and you felt that in house research might yield a
few winners. You gave me that project as a ninety-day study. I have
reviewed about five hundred options. These I have narrowed down to
one. It is a winner Mr. Crawford.”

Crawford smiled
in reply, “ I like your spirit Janet. Take me through your
proposal.”

Janet leaned
forward excitedly over her project papers. She really did not need
to refer to them; she knew their contents off by heart.

“The potential
rewards in this area are vast,” Janet began. “I am talking about
the organic foods sector.”

“Come on Janet.
Organic foods are only a small percentage of the business in our
Supermarket division. From memory, about two percent of fresh food,
a niche market, Janet the bigger our company gets the bigger
becomes its appetite for takeovers. We have to produce every year,
year in year out, up to ten percent growth on the previous year to
keep our share rating up on the stock exchange. Small fish are no
use to us. We must take over substantial businesses with growth
potential.”

“Mr. Crawford,
niche market it may well be, but consumers are paying significant
premiums and this augers well for large scale production. I have
done my sums Mr. Crawford. Let me take you through the report.”

She moved
forward to the edge of the couch. She had brought two copies of the
report and a file of glossy high quality slides. Crawford moved
closer to the table and put his glasses on the end of his nose. Yes
definitely, he had decided, she was wearing black pants. No way she
had nothing on.

Janet began to
take him through her presentation in detail. Despite himself
Crawford began to take an interest. He felt a warming in his blood.
This was more than just a pretty face; his pet was a bloody good
analyst. At a point their hands brushed together. It happened
again. She appeared not to notice. She was very interested and very
task orientated and her task was to explain the fruits of her hard
work to Crawford. She was concentrated on making her presentation
in a firm knowledgeable way.

However Janet
sensed the intensity of Crawford’s interest and was inwardly
repulsed, but simultaneously drawn. He was a powerful man. She felt
an excitement and a tension that she was succeeding in attracting
him.

Janet
desperately wanted to impress him. She had worked very hard on her
project and this was a moment of truth. She tried to ignore her
unease and get on with the presentation.

Now she felt
self-conscious. She had the feeling that Crawford was trying to
look up her skirt. This was what she had come to expect, having sat
on the couch on a number of occasions during previous mentoring
sessions. Nothing else had developed, other than the scrutiny of
his piercing eyes. Nonetheless her knees came closer together. None
of this showed in her face as she came to the end of her
presentation. She sensed he was hooked, that he desired her, but
only because she seemed fresh and unattainable. She knew she had to
manage his expectations.

“
What is the bottom line Janet? What is the target?” He spoke
calmly, but was staring at her as she sipped her coffee.

“This is the
exciting part Mr. Crawford. I have analyzed our supplier accounts.
We have a high growth company in our net. One of our largest
suppliers of both fresh foods and organic foods is an Irish company
called O’Byrne Foods.”

“So?” Crawford
said, forgetting Janet’s knees and looking her in the eye.

“They grow
internally and also through some very judicious acquisitions which
they have fitted into their core business.”

“Good.” For
Crawford this comment was a sign he was becoming interested and
Janet pressed home.

“They have a
track record of consistently high growth, nearly thirty percent per
annum for the past five years.”

“Is it for
sale?”

“No. The word
is that they would like to go public in a few years time. They
could hit a hundred million in profits if they continue to grow for
a further five years.”

“Well, can they
do it?” Crawford sounded sceptical.

“Again my
information is that a number of Banks, Insurance Companies and
Pension Funds and business venture houses are sniffing around
offering to back their acquisition programmes. In return for a
share of the action and ultimately a public quote, I would
presume.”

“They will
never keep up that growth rate.”

“Yes Mr.
Crawford, you may be right. However I would wager that they would
easily beat our target of ten percent per annum.”

“What is their
management like?” he asked, changing tack.

“Like any small
company that is doing well, they are very competent. Good marketing
team. But being small as you would expect they are thin on the top
with about three key managers. Rumour is that they are looking for
an experienced financial man to back up the current FD who is the
boss’s daughter.”

“O.K. Janet
let’s say I am interested. How do we hit them?”

Janet smiled,
unsure, had she made a sale? Crawford sensed this. He could not
resist the opportunity. He patted her knee. She had no stockings on
and the momentary pat sent a shiver of excitement up his arm.

“Well done
Janet, a fine research job.”

“I need your
guidance Mr. Crawford.”

Crawford
smiled. “That is what I like to hear. A youngster who realizes she
has a lot to learn. Good basic research Simmons. Now tell me how
could we hit them?”

“We give them a
lot of business Mr. Crawford.”

“What? If we
put up their profits the acquisition price will also go up. What
purchase price do you think we are talking here? A range of five to
ten times profits?”

“That’s right
Mr. Crawford. Of course as a private unquoted company we would not
really go over five times profits, that is one hundred and fifty
million but we have to be aware they are growing fast and are
seeking a market quotation.”

“And Simmons
are you suggesting we give them more business?”

“O’Byrne’s are
expanding very fast. They are stretched financially as a
consequence. Margins in the fresh food end are very low compared to
turnover.”

“So we build up
their account, the amount we owe them, through giving them business
with our Supermarket Divisions,” Crawford interjected, beginning to
catch on.

“Yes.”

Janet smiled;
pleased he was coming on to her wavelength. “Then we delay
payments, maybe one or two months. If we get it right they may
become overstretched financially. Their bankers are bound to be
jumpy. If we can create a crisis the banks may move in to protect
their loans.”

“A
receiver?”

“That would be
ideal. Then we could buy the lot very cheaply as a going concern
from the receiver. We would have to have a climate where it seemed
O’Byrne’s were in trouble and their growth days were over. In those
circumstances the price might be as low as fifty or sixty
million.”

“Very good
Janet,” Crawford said, pleased at how Machiavellian his young
protégé could be.

“Thank you, Mr.
Crawford.”

“You are a
wicked girl, wicked Janet,” he remonstrated with a chuckle. “Janet
you are well aware that what you are proposing is highly illegal.
We can’t, as a major customer of a company, put them into
receivership on a pretext and then buy them out. There are all
sorts of fair trading regulations against that sort of thing.”

“Unfortunately
Mr. Crawford, the line of approach I am suggesting has risks but
the prize is in millions and as through our Supermarket Division,
we are in fact a major customer of O’Byrne’s we are uniquely placed
to take advantage. My view is that they will not sell out to a
reasonable offer. Either we go after them or we have to forget
them.”

Crawford
considered. “We would need to find out when they are at their most
vulnerable. When are they going to be most exposed?”

“No problem,”
Janet said optimistically, “we just have to find out what they are
up to. Then suck them in with a promise of orders from us. Get them
to commit forward and then pull the plug.”

“It is your
problem now Simmons.” Crawford smiled. “I will organize the trap
from this end. I will get our buyers in the Supermarket end busy as
discussed. However our plan must be secret. Only those on the team
who need to know. The Supermarket Divisions will be kept in the
dark as to our true intentions. This plan must never make the
public arena. Also I will contact the O’Byrne backers quietly. See
what I can find out. You Simmons have got to be my legman.”

“Leg man?”
Janet stretched out a long leg and looked at it with raised
eyebrows. Crawford stared and resisted the impulse to fall to his
knees and lick the extended limb. Janet watched his reaction, not
showing her feeling of triumph.

“I work on a
sudden death principle,” Crawford explained, feeling his collar.
“If I like a proposal I set the scene.”

“Scene?”

“Yes. You are
fired Janet.”

“What, but…”
Janet began to protest. She was shocked to the core, thinking how
could she have got it so wrong, but then Crawford continued,
enjoying her confusion.

“
You have to go freelance Janet. You are proposing an approach,
which is illegal. But I like it. You catch the fish you get a big
reward. Fail and we don’t know you.”

“Big reward?”
Janet had heard rumours about Crawford’s style. How he used hit
squads to make acquisitions.

“A large
success fee based on purchase price, our standard terms, a six
figure sum. Can you handle it?”

Janet looked at
him wide eyed. He seemed serious. He was the Managing Director of a
large Multinational. Her confusion was reflected in her face.

“Don’t worry,”
he added reassuring. “You will get a war fund initially say, fifty
thousand in a Dublin account with top ups against receipts. I will
be your mentor Simmons and we will stay discretely in close touch.
Now quickly a decision, are you in or out. You have seconds to
decide. Quick, I only ever ask once.”

“In.” Janet
swallowed.

“All the way?
That is the way we do business Janet.”

“All the way.”
This time she sounded more decisive.

Crawford stood
up, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet. Across the coffee
table he suddenly took her head in his two hands and smacked a kiss
on her forehead.

“To Victory!”
he exclaimed, spreading his arms and smiling a beaming smile at
her.

“Get set up in
Dublin and then phone me. I will give you a private line. Your
expenses will be there before you. Good luck Simmons.”

He held out his
hand. Shaken, Janet shook his hand. “Gather up your papers,” he
instructed. Then, taking her elbow he led her to the door, holding
the hand he had shook. As they walked the few yards his hand
released hers, touched her elbow and slipped around her waist. He
let her go and opened the door.

“Simmons is
going out on a project,” he said to Christine.

“Oh exciting,”
Christine beamed, it was clear that she had previous experience of
this type of proposal, “Come this way Simmons, I will look after
you. Pity you will not be working with us further. Still if you
make a go of it Mr. Crawford will probably have you back on his
long-term hit squad. You really are very young to get such an
exciting opportunity.”

Crawford
watched them go. He scratched his tummy, feeling pleased. Now he
would have Simmons set up in Dublin, depending on him. And as a
bonus they had a good target for acquisition.

At least this
could be fun. Once she was in his power. And she had thought she
had to sell him the concept. Spunky mind you the way she had
immediately accepted his challenge. To work, to work, he thought
and suddenly he had a sparkle in his eye.