Unocal

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

"Drexel clients—in addition to Triangle Industries—would make bids for companies, all backed by Milken’s junk bonds. Mesa Petroleum, with a net worth of $ 500 million, would go for Unocal. Lorimar, with a net worth of $ 105 million, would offer $ 1 billion for Multimedia. Sir James Goldsmith would make a bid for Crown Zellerbach Corporation for $ 1.1 billion. Golden Nugget, with a net worth of $ 230 million, would go for Hilton Hotels for about $ 1.8 billion. And Farley Industries, with earnings of $ 6 million, would go for Northwest Industries, for about $ 1.4 billion. Other bids would take longer to germinate—but they would turn out to be the most fruitful of all."

Source:The Predators' Ball

"Drexel clients—in addition to Triangle Industries—would make bids for companies, all backed by Milken’s junk bonds. Mesa Petroleum, with a net worth of $500 million, would go for Unocal. Lorimar, with a net worth of $105 million, would offer $1 billion for Multimedia. Sir James Goldsmith would make a bid for Crown Zellerbach Corporation for $1.1 billion. Golden Nugget, with a net worth of $230 million, would go for Hilton Hotels for about $1.8 billion. And Farley Industries, with earnings of $6 million, would go for Northwest Industries, for about $1.4 billion. Other bids would take longer to germinate—but they would turn out to be the most fruitful of all."

Source:Predator's Ball

Appears In Volumes

The Predators' Ball Predator's Ball