Tony Ryan by Richard Aldous

Author:Richard Aldous [Aldous, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780717157839
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan

It was a bold claim, not least because it came as a major investor, General Electric Credit Corporation, was pulling out of GPA. In order to fill the gap left behind by GECC, and to match the ambitious plans for future growth, Tony needed capital—and he needed it fast. That money might have come from a public flotation, but there were concerns about whether the markets, potentially spooked by the coming withdrawal of GECC, would fetch up a share price that matched the company’s valuation.

There was no question, Morgan Grenfell bank in London advised, that the GECC factor would have ‘a significant negative impact’. In a private offering, however, the GECC departure ‘could be minimised’. In all likelihood, it concluded, GPA should be able to raise as much privately as it could publicly. That was enough to convince Tony to look for private money. The strategy would be simple, he told his no. 2, Maurice Foley: ‘Raise one large chunk of money in the United States and another in Japan.’

Morgan Grenfell, working in conjunction with First Boston Bank in the United States, quickly identified a massive potential investor: the insurance giant Prudential. The withdrawal of GECC, rather than deterring Prudential, actually seemed to encourage it. Provided that another major investor could be found, it was ‘looking good for $30–40 million’ and was prepared to accept ‘a non-voting instrument with a stock purchase conversion option’.

Securing this investment in the United States kept Tony on familiar tracks. The road east, looking for money in Japan, however, was a new departure. In November 1985 Tony led a GPA team to Tokyo to introduce the company to Japanese trading firms and major banks, including some that were already small-scale investors. The culture shock was profound. Whereas the GPA business culture had often taken advantage of a certain Irish informality of style, it was not an approach that worked in the more stratified and formal Japanese business world.

Tony was prepared for this difference, having spent a great deal of time in the Far East, but, even so, the contrast was marked. At every meeting vast numbers of officials turned up (twenty-three at the first session with Mitsubishi), completely swamping the five-man GPA team. Each meeting involved elaborate courtesies of introduction and endless enquiries about the minutiae of hotels, timetables and transport. In addition, the hospitality schedule was brutal even for Tony, who could always hold his own, with its emphasis on after-hours drinking of Scotch.

By the end of five hectic days burning the candle at both ends, Tony was able to report back to the GPA board on a fund of good will established and, more importantly, offers of credit and investment. In particular, leading institutions, including Mitsubishi, Orient Leasing and the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, were ‘giving serious consideration to an investment’. Indeed it soon became apparent that, far from having to chase Japanese investment, Tony and GPA would be able to choose a partner.

Eventually the choice fell on the Long-Term Credit Bank. The negotiations, complicated by a time difference of nine hours, were convoluted and hair-raising.

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