Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

‘So who do you think they’ll put up?’ asked Nat.

‘I don’t have any doubt that you’ll be up against Ralph Elliot.’

‘So the Republicans have ended up endorsing Barbara Hunter after all,’ said Fletcher.

‘Only because no one else wanted to run against you,’ Jimmy replied. ‘Once they realized you were nine points ahead in the polls.’

‘I hear they begged Ralph Elliot to throw his hat in the ring, but he said he couldn’t consider it while he was in the middle of a takeover bid for Russell’s Bank.’

‘A good excuse,’ said Jimmy, ‘but there was no way that man would have allowed his name to go forward unless he knew he had a reasonable chance of beating you. Did you see him on television last night?’

‘Yes,’ said Fletcher with a sigh, ‘and if I hadn’t known better, I might have fallen for that “be assured of your future by joining the largest, safest and most respected bank in the state”. He’s lost none of his old charisma. I only hope your father didn’t fall for it.’

‘No, Harry’s already pledged his one per cent to Tom Russell, and is telling everyone else to do the same thing, though he was shocked when I told him how much his shares were worth.’

Fletcher laughed. ‘I see the financial journalists are speculating that both sides now have around forty per cent, with only another week to go before the offer closes.’

‘Yes, it’s going to be close. I only hope Tom Russell realizes just how dirty it will become now that Ralph Elliot is involved,’ said Fletcher.

‘I couldn’t have made it clearer,’ said Jimmy quietly.

‘When was this sent out?’ Nat asked as the rest of the board studied the latest missive circulated to all shareholders by Fairchild’s.

‘It’s dated yesterday,’ said Logan, ‘which means we have three days left to respond, but by then I fear the damage will have been done.’

‘Even I wouldn’t have believed Elliot was capable of sinking this low,’ said Tom as he studied the letter signed by Murray Goldblatz:

— Mr Cartwright was neither born nor raised in Hartford;

— he was rejected by Yale after cheating in the entrance exam;

— he left the University of Connecticut without a degree, after losing the election for student president;

— he was sacked from J P Morgan after losing the bank $500,000;

— he’s married to a Korean girl whose family fought against the Americans during the war;

— the only job he could find after being sacked by Morgan’s was with an old school friend, who just happened to be chairman of Russell’s Bank.

‘This is the response that I propose we send out by express mail today,’ said Logan, ‘allowing Fairchild’s no time to respond to it.’ He slid a copy across to each board member.

— Nat was born and raised in Connecticut;

— he won the Medal of Honour in Vietnam;

— he completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard (summa cum laude), before going on to Harvard business school;

— he resigned from Morgan’s, having made a profit for the bank of over a million dollars;

— during his nine years at Russell’s as Chief Executive, he has quadrupled the bank’s profits;

— his wife is Professor of Statistics at UConn, and her father was a master sergeant in the American Marines.

‘Can I release it immediately?’ asked Logan.

‘No,’ said Nat, tearing it up. He didn’t speak for some time. ‘It takes a lot to get me angry, but I am about to kill off Ralph Elliot once and for all, so listen carefully.’

Twenty minutes later, Tom ventured the first comment, ‘That would be taking one hell of a risk.’

‘Why?’ asked Nat, ‘if the strategy fails, we’ll all end up multi-millionaires, but if it succeeds, we’ll take control of the biggest bank in the state.’

‘Dad’s livid with you,’ said Jimmy.

‘But why?’ asked Fletcher, ‘when I won.’

‘That’s the problem, you won by over twelve thousand votes, which was tactless of you,’ said Jimmy as he watched Harry Junior running down the wing, the ball at his feet. ‘Don’t forget that he only managed eleven thousand once in twenty-eight years, and that was when Barry Goldwater was running for president.’

‘Thanks for the warning,’ said Fletcher. ‘I guess I’d better avoid the next couple of Sunday lunches.’

‘You’d better not, it’s your turn to be told how he made a million overnight.’

‘Yes, Annie warned me that he’d sold his shares in Russell’s Bank. I thought he’d made a pledge not to release them to Fairchild’s at any cost?’

‘He did, and he would have kept to it, but the day before the offer was due to close, and the shares had peaked at $7.10, he had a call from Tom Russell, advising him to sell. He even suggested that he got in touch with Ralph Elliot direct so the deal would go through quickly.’

‘They’re up to something,’ said Fletcher. ‘There’s no way Tom Russell would have told your father to deal with Ralph Elliot unless there’s another chapter still to be written in this particular saga.’ Jimmy said nothing. ‘So can we therefore assume that Fairchild’s has secured over fifty per cent?’

‘I asked Logan the same question, but he explained that because of client confidentiality, he couldn’t say anything until Monday, when the official figures would be released by the SEC

‘Ouch,’ said Jimmy, ‘did you see what that Taft kid just did to Harry Junior? He’s lucky Joanna’s not here, otherwise she would have run on to the field and whacked him.’

‘Those in favour?’ asked the chairman.

Every hand round the table rose, though Julia seemed to hesitate for a moment. ‘Then it’s unanimous,’ declared Tom and, turning to Nat, added, ‘perhaps you should take us through what’s likely to happen next.’

‘Certainly, chairman,’ said Nat. ‘At ten o’clock this morning, the SEC will announce that Fairchild’s has failed to secure control of Russell’s Bank.’

‘What percentage do we think they’ll end up with?’ asked Julia.

‘They had 47.89 per cent at midnight on Saturday, and may have picked up a few more shares on Sunday, but I doubt it.’

‘And the price?’

‘At close of business on Friday they were $7.32,’ said Logan, ‘but after this morning’s announcement, all pledges are automatically released and Fairchild’s cannot make another bid for at least twenty-eight days.’

‘That’s when I plan to put a million of Russell’s shares on the market,’ said Nat.

‘Why would you do that?’ asked Julia, ‘when our shares would be certain to fall sharply.’

‘So will Fairchild’s because they own nearly fifty per cent of us,’ said Nat, ‘and they can do nothing about it for twenty-eight days.’

‘Nothing?’ repeated Julia.

‘Nothing,’ confirmed Logan.

‘And if we then use the extra cash to buy Fairchild’s shares as they begin dropping...’

‘You would have to inform the SEC the moment you reached six per cent,’ said Logan, ‘and at the same time let them know that it’s your intention to make a full takeover bid for Fairchild’s.’

‘Good,’ said Nat, as he pulled the phone towards him and dialled ten digits. No one spoke as the chief executive waited for the phone to be answered. ‘Hi, Joe, it’s Nat, we’re going ahead as planned. At one minute past ten, I want you to place a million of the bank’s shares on the market.’