PRIME MOVERS
Entity Dossier
entity

Underwriting Assistance Committee

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Strategic PatternProcess of Bites, Not Grand Plans
Decision FrameworkCash Flow Over Earnings as Debt Survival Test
Relationship LeverageHighly Confident as Substitute for Actual Capital
Capital StrategyInterest Deductibility as Leveraged Assault Fuel
Competitive AdvantageNOL as Bidding War Nuclear Option
Signature MoveSpeed-of-Sale as Debt Survival Doctrine
Signature MoveLawyer as Deal Principal, Not Hired Gun
Signature MoveParis Apartment Discipline
Signature MoveAll Debt Disguised as Equity
Cornerstone MoveBuy the Whole, Sell Everything But the Crown Jewel
Cornerstone MoveBlind Pool Before the Target Exists
Cornerstone MoveBribe the Gatekeeper, Storm the Castle
Cornerstone MoveBankruptcy's Tax Corpse as Acquisition Weapon
Competitive AdvantageTax Arbitrage as Structural Weapon
Operating PrincipleProfessional Manager Decay Across Generations
Risk DoctrineNever Cut Back a Committed Deal
Signature MoveMilken: Four-Thirty AM Cathedral-Builder With No Office
Capital StrategyVenture Capital Masquerading as Debt
Signature MovePeltz: Spittle-on-the-Check Persistence from Near-Broke
Signature MovePerelman: Borrowed $1.9M to a Boeing 727 in Seven Years
Cornerstone MoveManufactured Credibility from Thin Air
Decision FrameworkContra-Thinking as Default Mental Operating System
Identity & CultureForced Savings as Loyalty Handcuffs
Cornerstone MoveCash Flow Over Earnings as the Only Truth
Cornerstone MoveBuy the Core, Sell the Pieces, Erase the Debt
Signature MoveKingsley: Mount Everest Desk, Twenty-Year Sounding Board
Signature MoveIcahn: Wrestling-a-Ghost Negotiation Until the Last Penny
Cornerstone MoveOwner's Equity as the Non-Negotiable Discipline

Primary Evidence

"In theory, the Underwriting Assistance Committee (UAC), formed in 1982, had to approve every underwriting the firm did. On the committee were about eight or ten (it varied slightly over the years) corporate-finance professionals. The investment banker for every proposed underwriting wrote a memo to the UAC, outlining its substance and the pluses and minuses of Drexel’s doing the deal. Also, in 1984 or so, Leon Black introduced into his memos (which then became the form) a first-page paragraph stating what Drexel’s compensation would be. “That marked a subtle shift here,” claimed one investment banker. “The fees don’t belong there. The deal should be judged on its merits, not the fee. It was going public with our venality.”"

Source:The Predators' Ball

"In theory, the Underwriting Assistance Committee (UAC), formed in 1982, had to approve every underwriting the firm did. On the committee were about eight or ten (it varied slightly over the years) corporate-finance professionals. The investment banker for every proposed underwriting wrote a memo to the UAC, outlining its substance and the pluses and minuses of Drexel’s doing the deal. Also, in 1984 or so, Leon Black introduced into his memos (which then became the form) a first-page paragraph stating what Drexel’s compensation would be. “That marked a subtle shift here,” claimed one investment banker. “The fees don’t belong there. The deal should be judged on its merits, not the fee. It was going public with our venality.”"

Source:Predator's Ball

Appears In Volumes

The Predators' BallPredator's Ball