To: JOE MEDSKER who wrote (4351 ) 2/5/1998 6:03:00 PM From: josrph j murphy Read Replies (9) | Respond to of 4489
Dear Joe: Thanks for calling me and I apologize to everyone for not responding sooner.However the fact of the matter is I am being pulled in 15 different directions at once especially with the end of the QP.It is no secret that we are working feverishly to consolidate several Canadien situations whereby we in turn would sell them off to one of three bidders (one of them you all know very well).If things go as planned(which never happens) the recent sale of one contract in the U.K. will pale by comparison.At the same time,we are wrapping up the World Pass acquisition.In addition we are taking steps to reach the predictions made in the corinthian report.While this is going on we are putting more switches in place in Europe.Things are happening such as being approached again by Spear Leeds and Merrill regarding listing.We shall see,we have been there before.However it is reasonable to make the statement that as a company we have reached a new plateau.Now having said that, I was not paying attention to PW who was suppose to be doing our BuyBack. suffice to say that all they were interested in was to monetize our SMTK position and really didn't want the buyback side.I take the blame for that,however did you really think that I would not live up to that part of the bargain with my shareholders?Tomorrow, A.G.Edwards is visiting us and if we can reach an agreement we should be in action tomorrow or monday.Let me tell you again,if I can sit on the bid with $1,000,000 with fill or kill what do think will happen.Marines maybe dumb at times but they never leave their comrades and I don't intend to break a 200+ year tradition. Also.if the Canadian transaction goes the way we think it will,as stated publicly,we will distribute more of the profits to our shareholders.We are in terrific financial shape and I don't intend on being embarrassed