VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [157]
“I see,” said Amy, wondering what Peter had set up here, wondering if this was just a pleasant trap of some sort.
“Peter assures me there are no microphones in this room,” said Diana. “No bugs of any sort. So feel free to speak freely at any time.”
“I will, but I’m just trying to sort things out,” said Amy.
“Of course you are, and you have nothing to fear,” said Diana. “Boole Group Partners has honed its investment philosophy along the lines of Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham. We are in for the longer term. We do from time to time sell businesses, if we sense their business models have lapsed and cannot be repaired. But we prefer to avoid selling. And we do not meddle. We do not micromanage. We listen; we state our expectations; and then we get out of the way and let that superb management, that we nurture and prize so dearly, go do the job.”
“That sounds very … wise,” Amy said.
“I am glad you think so,” said Diana. “Because the Boole Group Partners has made an offer to purchase Hi-T Composites. The price is a good one for Winner, a realistic price, not the premium that Peter would prefer, but these are not the times for that. Anyway, the mechanics of the deal are straightforward. Winner desperately needs cash to recapitalize its financial services unit and Hi-T is about the only Winner business anyone with a brain might want to buy. And I have the ability to write a check for the whole amount – not that I would, of course – which puts me at the head of the line.”
“Has Mr. Winn agreed to the sale?” asked Amy.
“Yes. Winner and Boole Group Partners have reached an agreement in principle – on one condition, my condition: that you, Amy, remain in position as president of Hi-T and as its chief executive officer. Hence, our private conversation here today.”
Diana and Amy spoke with each other for an hour or so, then met with Peter and his legal staff. By the end of the afternoon, it was a done deal. The formalities would take a while, but these were mere details. Hi-T would go to the Boole Group Partners, an undisclosed but large amount of cash would go to Winner, and Amy Cieolara would become president and chief executive officer of Hi-T with compensation that could make her quite a wealthy woman in her own right over time.
Amy spent the evening with Diana Boole in her penthouse on Manhattan’s East Side. They were joined by Diana’s husband, a sculptor – somewhat accomplished – who played no role in the business, and several of the Boole Group partners. The Booles’ private chef prepared dinner: a simple, yet superb coq au vin as the main course served with a magnificent Côte d’Or red burgundy. Amy allowed herself two glasses, and would have loved to have enjoyed more, but for the need to remain sharp. She slept in the Booles’ guest apartment, as a light snow drifted past the bedroom windows.
The next morning, Amy got a text message from Tom:
Kids in school
Cookies delivered
Mission accomplished
When the plane returning her to Highboro touched down, she saw that Tom’s Beech Baron was missing from its usual place. He was off again, who knew where, maybe on a charter, maybe just gone fishin’. She felt a pang of disappointment as she drove to the office. She grumbled silently to herself that whenever she most wanted to connect with him, he never seemed to be around. But then, she asked herself, how could she complain after she had just trusted him to be with her kids?
Back to ordinary reality in downtown Highboro, no one had any notion of what had transpired the day before. Amy was in her office, reviewing the fifty or