Monday, July 10, 2017

Numbers of companies interested in acquiring Polychrome 4

Numbers of companies interested in acquiring Polychrome 4 .    By Mr. Bob Gumbinner

In 1979, Rhodia  appointed Tony Perone as a director of Polychrome. Mr. Perone wanted Mr. Halpern to resign. They bought the Polychrome stock that the Englehard group owned. Then they made a tender offer to buy at $18 a share to buy a majority of the Polychrome stock. Mr. Halpern had had an understanding with Mr. Koyashi to merge Polychrome with Fuji Film. Unfortunately, Mr. Kobyashi had died by this time and Mr. Onishi was the president of Fuji. Mr. Onishi had been in charge of the Fuji United States operations. Although Jim Graves and Bernard Gold had cultivated Mr. Onishi, Mr. Halpern had ignored him. Mr. Halpern then turned to Dainippon Ink and Chemicals. They entered in a bidding war with Rhone Poulenc for the Polychrome stock. They finally offered $27 a share and bought the Rhodia shares and made a tender offer for the rest. During this period Mr. Picard supported Mr. Halpern rather than the Rhodia offer. Mr. Piani was neutral.