A Not-So-Tender Offer Book

Barmash, a veteran business journalist and author, looks at the behind-the-scenes dramas taking place during corporate mergers and acquisitions, and assesses the impact megamergers have had on corporate performance, the economy, and employees and shareholders. The book was originally published by Prentice Hall in 1995. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

Is it possible that the United States could be forced to surrender not to enemy attack or to revolution but to hostile takeover by the world's money barons? Barmash (Welcome to the Conglomerate, You're Fired!) thinks so. In an alarmist prologue, he outlines a scenario wherein an international consortium of investors formed for the purpose of acquisition informs the president that it is already the third-largest owner of American properties after the government and the citizenry and it is now prepared to buy up the rest of the country. The consortium predicts that the American people will not be able to resist its offer. With the new global economy, the concentration of wealth into fewer hands and another wave of mergers under way, the nation itself could be vulnerable. Is there enough money in the world to buy the United States? Barmash says no, but with innovative leveraging, yes. He claims there are banks that would finance such a deal and individuals willing to profit from it. Is Barmash writing fiction? (Oct.)