Dave Butler, the CEO of Universal Pipe, Inc. (UPI), a maker of PVC pipe, had to conclude whether to acquiesce and let the Japanese parent company that possessed UPI file for bankruptcy as part of UPI's deal to a private equity firm or to find an alternative solution. UPI would probably be liquidated in the event the sale were to go and all personnel would be disregarded. Butler considered this to be immoral and he pondered buying the business himself.
This was uncertain because the economy was not doing well; the firm had been performing badly until most recently and carried a sizeable debt load. Very little time was left and gossips about the imminent insolvency were flying. The case describes the style of competition in the pipe business and also the companies of PVC resin; the business, its crucial material PVC as well as the checkered past of the business due to poor choices by earlier top management. This forms the basis for developing a proposal to the current owners; inventing a post-acquisition strategy and related outlook of future operation should the present CEO prevail with a speculative acquisition and go on.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 01, 2011 PRODUCT #: NA0164-HCB-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about STRATEGY & EXECUTION
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