Good Cop While Gibbs Plays Bad Cop

“On Sky’s side, Heatley led the negotiations with lawyer Roger Craddock, and on the HKP side there seemed to be a small army. When things were tough, Heatley and Craddock would call in Gibbs to play the bad cop to Heatley’s good cop. ‘The two telecom companies plus the two TV companies would come to Hawaii with 12 people each, which is ridiculous,’ Gibbs recalls. ‘They would come with 50 people.’”

“‘No, Alan! Shit!’ Heatley pleaded. ‘I’ve spent months on this. Our future depends on it. You’re playing Russian roulette! Eighty million dollars is still a lot of money. We can’t afford to lose this. We can do them a more favourable deal.’ Heatley was wretched. It was not simply the $108 million. What if this was the end of the deal altogether? It was a complicated partnership and there was nothing to stop the Americans walking away. The letter Gibbs had dictated had not even made a counter-offer. Heatley would have been prepared to take $80 million to get the deal done. Naturally, $108 million would be better than $80 million, but $80 million was better than no deal at all. No deal now was unthinkable. Gibbs was cool. He knew how much this meant to Heatley, but Gibbs also knew the Americans. ‘No,’ he told Heatley, ‘I know these pricks. I bet they’ll be back by breakfast. This is the way they negotiate. It’s all they know.’ The letter was sent by fax. Heatley waited, more anxious than he had ever been. If it was all over, where would they look for new investors? He did not have long to wait. The Americans replied. Gibbs had been right. The deal was on again, for $108 million. Heatley’s relief was palpable.”