Money Games

Chapter 17It's a Race

On November 10, 2004, I received an unexpected phone call from Rodney Ward. The tall, silver-haired Englishman was the Asia Pacific chairman of UBS, the Swiss banking giant. We had known each other for years, and I considered him a friend.

Ward quickly came to the point. He was calling on behalf of Standard Chartered Bank to express interest in acquiring KFB.

StanChart, as Standard Chartered was sometimes known, had made an overture to us months earlier but had not been able to move forward. Its renewed interest was timely, as HSBC's exclusivity period had just expired five days ago and we were at liberty to speak with other suitors. I was hoping StanChart would step forward because we needed to keep our options open in case HSBC's offer did not come through.

I was a little surprised that the call had come from Ward, though. I knew both Peter Sands, StanChart's CFO, and David Stileman, its chief of strategy and business development. They could have easily reached out directly. Yet it was not unusual for a prospective buyer to use an intermediary to facilitate serious discussions. The more I thought about it, the more I considered it to be a good sign. StanChart must have been serious if it had engaged UBS to advise it on a potential deal.

But I was soon disappointed. When I asked Ward how serious StanChart's interest was, he said, “I think it is highly unlikely that StanChart will come through with a confirmation of interest and an offer.”

This was quite ...