May

"Peltz appeared to share little of his bankers’ anxiety. In mid-1985 he purchased through Triangle a $ 2 million apartment in Paris. “Mike made him put it on the market,” commented one Drexel investment banker, “which was the right thing to do. We have a responsibility to our bondholders. What’s he going out and spending the company’s money like that for, when he’s got this mountain of debt?” By the beginning of 1986, however, the first good news was in (and Peltz took the apartment, still unsold, off the market). National Can had had a record year in 1985; its earnings (for April 17 through December) were $ 162 million, up from $ 68,775 the year before; Triangle’s stock had quadrupled, making it the third-best performer on the New York Stock Exchange. With interest rates down, Peltz and May were refinancing the company’s acquisition debt, meaning they were paying down that debt and replacing it with newer debt at lower interest rates. And their combined personal stakes in the company had gone from a market value of roughly $ 8–9 million when they purchased the controlling block of Triangle stock, in 1983, to about $ 34 million. Adding in a premium for control, which would have been present if they were to sell their block, it was now worth more than $ 40 million."

"In April 1983, Peltz and May (in a two-thirds/ one-third partnership) purchased Goldberg’s block, 29 percent of Triangle’s shares, for about $ 14 million. Two million was lent to Trafalgar; twelve million was lent to Peltz and May, from Manufacturers Hanover and Bankers Trust. Bankers Trust took the stock as collateral; Manufacturers Hanover took Peltz’s and May’s signatures and a lien on Peltz’s house in Quogue. Peltz recalled that it took all his powers of persuasion at the bank, and that when he finally walked out of Bill Rykman’s office at Manufacturers Hanover with the certified check in hand and met Goldberg, Goldberg told him that he couldn’t do the deal after all, because the Triangle board would not approve the change of control. “I literally ran the check under his nose, the spittle started to come out of his mouth, he was dying to put his arms around the money,” Peltz declared. “I said, ‘Let me try, let me talk to the board, let me show them I don’t have horns.’"

"In April 1983, Peltz and May (in a two-thirds/one-third partnership) purchased Goldberg’s block, 29 percent of Triangle’s shares, for about $14 million. Two million was lent to Trafalgar; twelve million was lent to Peltz and May, from Manufacturers Hanover and Bankers Trust. Bankers Trust took the stock as collateral; Manufacturers Hanover took Peltz’s and May’s signatures and a lien on Peltz’s house in Quogue. Peltz recalled that it took all his powers of persuasion at the bank, and that when he finally walked out of Bill Rykman’s office at Manufacturers Hanover with the certified check in hand and met Goldberg, Goldberg told him that he couldn’t do the deal after all, because the Triangle board would not approve the change of control. “I literally ran the check under his nose, the spittle started to come out of his mouth, he was dying to put his arms around the money,” Peltz declared. “I said, ‘Let me try, let me talk to the board, let me show them I don’t have horns.’ ”"

"Peltz appeared to share little of his bankers’ anxiety. In mid-1985 he purchased through Triangle a $2 million apartment in Paris. “Mike made him put it on the market,” commented one Drexel investment banker, “which was the right thing to do. We have a responsibility to our bondholders. What’s he going out and spending the company’s money like that for, when he’s got this mountain of debt?” By the beginning of 1986, however, the first good news was in (and Peltz took the apartment, still unsold, off the market). National Can had had a record year in 1985; its earnings (for April 17 through December) were $162 million, up from $68,775 the year before; Triangle’s stock had quadrupled, making it the third-best performer on the New York Stock Exchange. With interest rates down, Peltz and May were refinancing the company’s acquisition debt, meaning they were paying down that debt and replacing it with newer debt at lower interest rates. And their combined personal stakes in the company had gone from a market value of roughly $8–9 million when they purchased the controlling block of Triangle stock, in 1983, to about $34 million. Adding in a premium for control, which would have been present if they were to sell their block, it was now worth more than $40 million."