Enemy Within Read Online Free PDF Page B

go through, in my mind the sequence of events that had got me in to this…
    Having gone in to the office the day following Adrian’s arrival I ’d learnt that Allied Grampian had called again and persuaded Alec that their client really was serious and that we should at least meet and see what t he y were offering. The client was apparently in Bristol that day and when they had suggested lunch Alec had reluctantly agreed.
    Lunch had been at a restaurant on the wharf and when Alec and I arrived we ’d been shown to a booth where three other men were already seated. They all rose as we arrived, one was Stewart Logan from Allied Grampian, a tall, greying Scots banker, probably in his fifties. I had done some brief research on him and he seemed to have a reputation as a reliable middle of the road investment banker.
    Logan had introduced the other two as a Mr Octavian Plavsic and his colleague Mr Joseph Narai from an obscure sounding company called Mendip Finance. Plavsic, obviously the boss, was in his early to mid forties; dressed expensively in a dark suit, grey silk shirt and tie , and shiny black moccasin shoes. If he had not had a soft east European accent he might almost have come out of a Mafia movie! His colleague had the same accent but was in a more conventional grey city suit, late twenties, and carried the briefcase and papers. We all shook hands and sat down.
    Over lunch the conversation had been routine including the usual England World Cup recriminations. Plavsic commented that England seemed to have lost the will to win in soccer as well as many other areas. I am not a fan of heavy Italian food at lunchtime and after strugglin g through pasta with salad I’d been glad to see Logan start to get down to business.
    He ’d briefly described the services offered by his bank and said that Mendip Finance were long standing clients of the bank. Narai, prompted by Plavsic, and frequently interrupted by him, had then gone on to talk about Mendip Finance. In short it turned out that they were an investment and trading company based in London and Zurich. He claimed Mendip was involved in commodity trading in Africa and Asia and had equity investments in a number of corporations in the UK, Germany and USA.
    I have little time for all of this type of padding and had interrupted. “OK, so why are you interested in us, I do n't sense much synergy?' I sense d Alec sighing quietly at my impatience and lack of finesse.
    “Well,” Plavsic had said , “you might be surprised at the range of businesses we have invested in. We are interested in making money and we believe that when you launch ForceNet this company will make real money.'' Alec had glanced at me. ForceNet was not a published name and no public announcements had been made about the product.
    Logan saw my glance and said, “It's widely rumoured in the market that you have a major new product, that is why your brokers are able to wind up the prospective IPO price.”
    “Let's stop beating the bush” said Plavsic, “is that the right expression?”
    “Beating about the bush,” I ’d corrected with a tired smile.
    “Thank you,” he ’d said returning the smile, and then turning to Alec, “We would like to buy your company and are prepared to pay a very good price. It would be a full cash purchase.  Nearly as good as you might get from a successful IPO but with much greater certainty, none of the risks of an IPO, and far fewer restrictions on the current shareholders.”
    “We all know the complicatio ns of a public offering,” Stewart Logan had added , “there is a lot to be said for not going down that road.” He ’d then looked at Plavsic, who ’d continued.
    “Of course we would still want you two involved in the Company and there could be an opportunity for you to retain equity so as to participate in the future benefits of the new products if you wished.” 
    Alec had looked at me sideways, and then said to Plavsic. “We can look at any offer