Zeev, it does look like BMY paid that initial installment, and as the later article posted here (by lh56) indicates, BMY wants to change the agreement re 'purchase price.' ie, they don't want to be obligated to invest any more than they already have.
My first take on Icahn is that he may think BMY does not want to invest any more right now (taking the reasonable interpretation of their current position), so that BMY itself would not want to stand in his way by purchasing shares that he wants. It is still a speculative gamble on his part (as you note, IMCL itself does not have much cash net of debt). Perhaps he is speculating that BMY will be unable to rewrite the agreement, hence IMCL will continue to be funded by BMY and Carl can just tag alon for the ride. His $500M would be pure risk capital in that case, but he may have pooled it amongst others who are interested in taking a large stake but prefer an organized vehicle.
It will be interesting.
I was surprised how hard and high IMCL bounced when they said they wouldn't buckle to BMY's demands. I wonder if Carl wants the IMCL execs to stay in place? Maybe he can play one off against the other. Wouldn't it be ironic if those execs leave, and then end up in Icahn's pool of investors, buying back stock at 1/4 of the value they sold... there could be an 'arrangement' wherein they leave, and carl buys the stock, and they buy it from carl later.
Nah, don't really believe that last bit, but it would make a great story! |
