DOW
Asset light strategy explained again / Dismissed executive Kreinberg files suit against JP Morgan
The “asset light strategy” of Dow’s (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) needs explaining, as it has not been well understood, company executives evidently believe. At a presentation during K 2007, Mike Gambrell, executive vice president for basic chemicals and plastics, reiterated the strategy for journalists. A day earlier, CEO Andrew Liveris pushed the concept to analysts once again. The name for the plan devised in 2003, as markets were recovering from a cyclical downturn, may be misleading, Gambrell acknowledged. The purpose was and is, he said, to establish joint ventures for Dow’s basic products portfolio in which the company can exchange its technology for access to raw materials.
The joint ventures are being pursued in “emerging geographies” with a growing middle class, said Gambrell, adding that the strategy does not extend to North America and Europe, and it does not mean that the chemical giant is questioning its identity. However, neither Gambrell nor Liveris ruled out a deal involving the entire company, and Liveris even outlined the rules. Any jv or new entity “will “have to be a growth company,” the CEO told analysts. While preserving Dow’s integration, especially in performance plastics and chemicals, it also should provide a cracker that can support the company’s broad portfolio.
Meanwhile, the fight against Dow by dismissed executive Romeo Kreinberg is gathering momentum – see Plasteurope.com of 10.05.2007. In mid-October, the former vice president for performance plastics and chemicals filed a USD 75,000 “third-party” lawsuit against investment bank JP Morgan. This calls for the bank and its CEO, James Dimon, to be “held accountable” for some of the harm Dow alleges it was caused by published rumours of a leveraged buyout.
Dow accuses its former vp of “breaching fiduciary duty” by secretly plotting with JP Morgan about a deal, while Kreinberg says this charge should be levied against the bank. He alleges that Liveris and the JP Morgan CEO themselves were exploring a buyout, while Dimon simultaneously pursued a similar course for Middle East interests that didn’t want Liveris involved. When the Dow chief got wind of this, through press rumours Kreinberg believes were spread by the bank, Dimon and his institution were offered a chance to escape blame by going for the “scalps” of Kreinberg and former CFO Pedro Reinhard, against whom he held grudges.
In commencing a “very public” media campaign to “destroy his reputation” while concealing its own role in the affair Dow was committing a “blinding act of hypocrisy,” the former executive said. In the filing, the dismissed manager also implicates another former Dow executive, Eddie Wilson, who was once managing director of US-based Koch Industries and now a UK consultant. He says Wilson advised JP Morgan on the Middle East deal.
Hall 8a, Booth K 47
The joint ventures are being pursued in “emerging geographies” with a growing middle class, said Gambrell, adding that the strategy does not extend to North America and Europe, and it does not mean that the chemical giant is questioning its identity. However, neither Gambrell nor Liveris ruled out a deal involving the entire company, and Liveris even outlined the rules. Any jv or new entity “will “have to be a growth company,” the CEO told analysts. While preserving Dow’s integration, especially in performance plastics and chemicals, it also should provide a cracker that can support the company’s broad portfolio.
Meanwhile, the fight against Dow by dismissed executive Romeo Kreinberg is gathering momentum – see Plasteurope.com of 10.05.2007. In mid-October, the former vice president for performance plastics and chemicals filed a USD 75,000 “third-party” lawsuit against investment bank JP Morgan. This calls for the bank and its CEO, James Dimon, to be “held accountable” for some of the harm Dow alleges it was caused by published rumours of a leveraged buyout.
Dow accuses its former vp of “breaching fiduciary duty” by secretly plotting with JP Morgan about a deal, while Kreinberg says this charge should be levied against the bank. He alleges that Liveris and the JP Morgan CEO themselves were exploring a buyout, while Dimon simultaneously pursued a similar course for Middle East interests that didn’t want Liveris involved. When the Dow chief got wind of this, through press rumours Kreinberg believes were spread by the bank, Dimon and his institution were offered a chance to escape blame by going for the “scalps” of Kreinberg and former CFO Pedro Reinhard, against whom he held grudges.
In commencing a “very public” media campaign to “destroy his reputation” while concealing its own role in the affair Dow was committing a “blinding act of hypocrisy,” the former executive said. In the filing, the dismissed manager also implicates another former Dow executive, Eddie Wilson, who was once managing director of US-based Koch Industries and now a UK consultant. He says Wilson advised JP Morgan on the Middle East deal.
Hall 8a, Booth K 47
31.10.2007 Plasteurope.com [209418]
Published on 31.10.2007