Chapter 7
Since the moment when Grenville decided to act, nothing had happened.
A month later, he came across an interesting article in the business press. A new insurer, Stirling Limited was blazing an unconventional trail. Stirling was dealing with oppressive regimes around the world. What was worse, said the article, was the high risk business it was taking on. Stirling was a house of cards, its management had form and before too long, it would have the market association and the Inland Revenue breathing down its neck.
Grenville noticed that Stirling was being run by Nigel Black.
He’d read of Black’s exploits in the financial press over the previous five years and arranged to see him at his office.
With the preliminaries concluded and the door of the meeting room closed, the conversation went something like this :
“Now, Mr Grenville, I see you’re with Plantation. How may I help you ? Are you looking for a job with us ?”
“Ha, ha – not at all. Thank you for seeing me. I merely wanted to express my admiration.”
“Admiration ? For what exactly ?”
“Oh....let us say, for your resilience, your inventiveness, your audacity...”
“Thank you very much. Uh, where is all this leading ?”
“Your audacity.....to keep fleecing investors the way you have in the past five years....”
“Ah ! I see. You’re a dissatisfied shareholder.”
“No, I’m not a shareholder at all. Please, don’t be offended – I think you’ve done magnificently for yourself. Stirling seems to be the most recent iteration of a successful strategy to print money....”
“Are you after something ? Because if you are, the door is behind you....”
“No, I’m not ‘after anything’ at all, I assure you. I’m not an investor or a shareholder in Stirling or your other previous companies which have all fallen apart. I’m here to put a proposition to you.”
“Such as – what precisely ? I really doubt that we can discuss anything...”
“To attract avaricious investors ? By promising inflated returns ? Why not ? Who cares if it disintegrates further down the track – like your three earlier public offerings of shares in different companies – all of which collapsed after you exited with very handsome returns – after you sold your own shares, of course. Such excellent timing. And on each occasion, you faced down the calls to pursue you personally for having gulled the original shareholders. In the end, nothing came of it, did it ? And you grew substantially richer each time. Such bravado. I’ve been looking for someone just like you to solve my own particular problem – which I’m sure will interest you.”
And after further objections by Black which almost resulted in Grenville being physically thrown out of Stirling’s office, the conversation resumed :
“I’m pleased that we now understand each other better. As I’ve explained, my view is that if we combine our separate companies, the end profits for each of us could be quadrupled. Stirling has precisely the type of portfolio which would hasten Plantation’s demise. If we’re clever, we can arrange things so that we cash in on the way down and on the way back up again.”
“What you’re suggesting is a straight exchange of shares in Plantation by Stirling – well, that wouldn’t be a problem – Stirling’s not worth anything anyway – there are no claims reserves set aside – it’s merely a shell but nobody knows that yet. The premiums have all been sent offshore by me where no-one will find them, I can promise you. So, what you’re proposing is feasible. We could set up some rather interesting claims to clean out Plantation’s reserves – the claims money could be diverted elsewhere by us – when Plantation crashes we’d do a phoenix operation and buy back its business on the cheap and also cash in on discounting the claims and Plantation’s book of business. After that, we’d head off into the sunset, leaving others to run Plantation for us, get it re-named and listed on the exchange, then sell our shareholding when the price peaked again.”
“Precisely. We would profit from both directions at the same time – the claims reserves and getting control of one of the most profitable operators in the market. Well, are you in or not ?”
“You observed rightly that I’m cautious by nature. I’d like to think about it for a day or two – and if we go ahead, we’d need to spend a lot more time talking it through....there would be a lot at stake....”
“Of course. We would need to plan everything down to the smallest detail. But please, don’t take too long about it. Also, what we’ve discussed is obviously between us both. If anyone asks me, I’ll deny we’ve ever met.”
“You needn’t worry on that score. I would have as much to lose as you would – Stirling’s reputation around the City isn’t exactly pristine at the moment.”
The next day, Black rang Grenville and told him he was in on the scheme. Then, they spent two days at Black’s country house in the Cotswolds going through it all – in the absence of any witnesses.
A handful of claims was selected. Each one was large enough to burn through Plantation’s capital reserves in one go. If most of the claims were disproved, it would only need one of them to bring the company down and for the liquidators to go in. Grenville would deal with Jim Ashby and get him out of the way to push the merger through. It would take between twelve months and two years for everything to fall apart and the completion of the first part of the scheme ; the second part would involve Plantation being converted into a phoenix operation. Ashby, as the head of the company, would be duped and overwhelmed by the enormity of six mega-claims landing simultaneously on him and it would be curtains for Plantation, at least in its current form.
“To Plantation,” said Grenville while pouring out glasses of champagne for himself and Black. “May it rest peacefully – and profitably – for us.”
Plantation A Legal Thriller Page 7