You Say 'Takeover.' I Say 'Merger of Equals.'

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by greek_philosophizer, Dec 21, 2003.

  1. The latest on the lawsuit
    in the New York Times.

    Great article.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/business/yourmoney/21trial.html

    Excerpted:

    Testimony in the trial was expected to conclude
    last week but was thrown off course when
    DaimlerChrysler turned over 61 pages of notes
    written by former top Chrysler executives during
    the transaction.

    The notes were sealed, though a few scraps emerged
    in court proceedings, including bullet points like
    "loss of independence" and "senior management sold
    out."

    DaimlerChrysler's lawyers have suggested that Mr.
    Kerkorian's claim borders on the absurd. They said
    that the terms of the deal had been spelled out
    clearly in writing in an agreement disclosed to
    shareholders and that Mr. Kerkorian had an
    insider's view of the transaction through his
    representative on Chrysler's board.

    Yet the Chrysler executives, Mr. Eaton included,
    also said that they stood by the deal. "I believe
    it was a merger of equals," Thomas T. Stallkamp,
    the former president of the Chrysler Group, said
    at the trial. He was forced out of Chrysler the
    year after the merger.

    But was it a merger of equals? At the trial, Mr.
    Schrempp called that description "absolutely correct."

    "And by telling the truth," he added, "I don't
    think I can defraud anyone."

    Further, he argued, the terms of the contract laid
    out a division of management for a set period of a
    few years, and that condition was met; beyond
    that, he said, no company can permanently cede the
    right to make management changes.

    ..
     
    greek_philosophizer, Dec 21, 2003
    #1
  2. greek_philosophizer

    73blazer Guest

    This has been a great trial, I've been following it all along. As a
    former Chrysler/DCX Employee my curiosity gets the best of me. I quit in
    98 shortly after the merger because the German rule sucked ass.They came
    over an wanted all the info they could get from us, but when we asked
    questions of them or wanted them to hand over some stuff, refused, and
    if we kept insiting, sometime worse than just a nasty e-mail. I was in
    the IT group, they wouldn't tell us shit about how they put together
    thier CAD systems..but they sure came over and demanded many reports
    from us on how we did it.
    I have/had many friend in other groups, the tranmission group was simply
    curious about some of Daimlers vast history of building
    transmissions..(as well we should be curious of others trans designs,
    whoever designed the A604 should be put in gitmo, and whoever descision
    it is to keep using it to this day, should be shot),
    The diesel engine guys were worried when the cummins deal was about to
    run out, so they wanted some Daimler diesel tips, why not, Daimler has
    been building diesel engines for decades. Did they get them, hell no,
    all they got was addition spy software put on thier machines, I should
    know, I was one of the ones forced to put it there.

    This deal stunk from the second it was announced. BUT, the bottom line
    here, in the trial, is everybodies right. The top execs DID sell out.
    The merger was not a merger, it was a sellout. Mr Schrempp is right too,
    all the terms of the aggreement have been met.
    What I want to see in this trial, which I havn't seen yet, is where did
    all the cash go? At the beginning of '98 Chrysler had almost
    $1,000,000,000 (billion) in CASH! Anticipating, what they all testified,
    was to be a hard few years to come. That CASH was GONE at the end of the
    merger, and suddenly, the "Chrysler" divsion is doing poorly, well,
    we'll have to cut some research programs...some jobs....(don't worry,
    being in IT, I quit when the handwriting was on the wall, and the IT
    market is still good!)...
    There is no winner here either, if DCX has to fork over billions to
    Kerkorian, that will be the death of alot of people in Auburn Hills.
    No one in Germany will fret. If DCX wins, everyone will still thing
    the deal stinks, because it does, do what to do, what to do..
     
    73blazer, Dec 22, 2003
    #2
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.