If you're thinking of acquiring a company and want to keep it a secret, tell everyone in the company; let them all in on the truth. Say, 'Listen, if this gets out, we'll probably lose the deal, so we're all in this together.'
Companies are bought for their revenue, customer base, technology, or people. A few great companies offer all of these, but any valuable business offers one.
I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company.
See's candy company was the first high-quality business we ever bought.
I hope to buy brands and businesses globally.
It was emotional when Chrysler sold out to the Germans.
Some years ago one oil company bought a fertilizer company, and every other major oil company practically ran out and bought a fertilizer company. And there was no more damned reason for all these oil companies to buy fertilizer companies, but they didn't know exactly what to do, and if Exxon was doing it, it was good enough for Mobil and vice versa.
I come from the operations side of the business, and I buy companies to operate them, not to flip them.
I buy companies for strategic reasons and operate them.
VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup.
However, given the fact that the State has a controlling stake in the company [Rosneft], it might not be the best course of action when one company under State control buys another one fully owned by the State. This is one point.
Buying a company that is number one in its business is hard to do. When something is for sale, it's often not a leader.
For me, the international expansion of eBay was the best idea. We are now in 35 countries, and have a huge global network. The second best one was the acquisition of PayPal - the wallet on eBay.
Acquiring Sunseeker deepens Wanda's international influence and represents an important step forward for the development of the business.
As Popeyes becomes part of the RBI family, we believe we can deliver growth and opportunities for all of our stakeholders, including our valued employees and franchisees.
How much you accumulate is a byproduct of what you enjoy doing in life. And I enjoy buying companies.
But once you buy a company, you are married. You are married to that company.
The apparent strategy of Pfizer is to take over AstraZeneca, dismember it, and put the different parts of it into its three new divisions, with the ultimate aim of selling off one or more.
I'm not trying to change an image, I'm just trying to make sure that the facts match the image. The facts are basically that I'm a builder. I have not dissembled any company nor split up any companies, nor do I ever buy any companies with that intent.
I hope to continue acquiring companies, not so much for the accumulation of wealth but because it's what I do well, and you always like to do what you do well.
As I have seen with a lot of companies I have covered, acquisition interest can be a heady experience, and not always in a good way.
It's not just buying the company. Sure, we picked the right companies, and we picked the right management and, most importantly, we've given them the right incentive to perform.
We find that when we make an acquisition, or we have a hiring experience, that's one of the hardest things to change. If you've been working for a company where you didn't dare challenge your boss, or what's politically correct in the company, then it affects your career.
When we bought it, Spiegel was in a difficult situation; it made a loss at that time. We invested in it and then it turned around, and then we bought Eddie Bauer and Newport News.
You don't get a chance to buy a company like NBCUniversal unless it's not doing well.
