Villiers Touch Read Free

he needs help to modernize—then offer to buy him and his family out, with enough capital to save the company. You don’t buy all his stock, but naturally your price for bailing them out is controlling interest: you buy fifty-one percent of the stock. The family keeps the remaining nineteen percent. It should look attractive to them—after all, old James Melbard’s getting too long in the tooth to hang on much longer. If you buy in, they can’t lose, no matter what happens. They get a premium price for their stock. And they might even make more money on the shares they keep. Then, of course, there’s that item in the assets column called goodwill—some nice outside money could boost that for them.”
    Villiers opened a flat silver case and took out a cigarette. “You got a match, Sidney?”
    Isher snapped, “No. I don’t smoke.”
    â€œMaybe you ought to. Might clear up that cough.” Villiers smiled a little.
    â€œWhat else do you need to know?” Isher asked.
    â€œFor openers, we can’t move into this without knowing which way NCI’s going to jump when they find out Melbard’s got a buyer sniffing around.”
    â€œYou mean Elliot Judd may get nervous when he hears somebody’s trying to move in on Melbard.”
    â€œI don’t want NCI bidding me up, Sidney—I can’t compete with that monster.”
    â€œNobody could, this side of General Motors. You’ve got a good point.”
    â€œGive me an educated guess. Will they bid against me?”
    â€œDepends on how you handle it,” Isher said. “Do you want me to use your name?”
    â€œNo. Approach them through dummy fronts. With my reputation I’d make them too nervous.”
    â€œAll right. That makes it easier for a start. Now, suppose we use George Hackman again. He’s a reputable broker, and he’s enough of a WASP backslapper to charm the Melbard family. With Hackman and me fronting, they probably won’t get too suspicious. We’ll tell them we’re fronting for a syndicate of bigshot conglomerate executives looking to diversify.”
    â€œWon’t Melbard get sniffy if you don’t identify the clients? There’s a lot of front men dummying for Cosa Nostra goons that want a legitimate outlet for their money. How do you convince Melbard you’re not acting for racketeers?”
    Isher’s face changed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    â€œMelbard will.”
    â€œThen what do you suggest?”
    â€œDiane Hastings.”
    Isher shaped the name on his lips and frowned. “Elliot Judd’s daughter?”
    â€œShe owns the Nuart Galleries chain.”
    â€œWould you mind going back over that one more time? What’s that got to do with us?”
    â€œDiane Hastings will be the client you’re fronting for, when Melbard asks.”
    â€œA bunch of art galleries? Where does she get that kind of money?”
    â€œIt’s a nationwide chain, Sidney. Sixty-one outlets in forty-two states. Art for the masses at popular prices. Greeting cards, artists’ supplies, art books, paintings, posters, prints. Nuart grossed twenty-six million last year—and nobody’s going to question Diane Hastings about Cosa Nostra backing. She’ll say she’s looking to diversify her holdings. Nuart goes public, and she uses the capital from the sale of stock to buy the Melbard company.”
    Isher had to chew on it. After a period of digestion he said, “I don’t know—I don’t know. Tell me something—does Mrs. Hastings know anything about this?”
    â€œShe will.”
    â€˜That’s what I thought.” Isher started sliding papers back into his case. “I’m not going to Melbard with any offers until I have it from the lady herself that she’s acting for you. Otherwise I get hung right in the middle.”
    Villiers’ only reply was a dry look.