Chapter 5 - THE SALE THAT COULD SAVE THE COMPANY
The board meeting began at seven the next morning.
Sophie attended as voting trustee.
Not CEO.
That irritated half the room less than if she had demanded the chief executive chair.
Preston presented first.
Archer Mobility had $1.9 billion in debt.
Route Systems consumed nearly $90 million a year in development spending.
The $640 million sale would reduce leverage immediately.
Lender pressure was real.
If the sale slipped, ratings agencies might react.
Employees could eventually pay the price.
Then Sophie presented Charles’s covenant.
The trust transfer was accepted.
The board confirmed her voting authority.
Preston did not challenge the signature.
He challenged her judgment.
“You have been here less than forty-eight hours.”
Sophie answered:
“Then explain why your fund should buy an asset from a company you help govern.”
“I recused from formal approval.”
“You negotiated the deal.”
“Because I know the asset.”
Maya stepped in.
That was the problem.
The board voted to create an independent transaction committee.
Sophie proposed a thirty-day market check.
The CFO objected.
“We may not have thirty days.”
“How many?”
“Fourteen before covenant risk becomes material.”
Sophie asked:
“What buys thirty?”
The CFO stared.
“Liquidity.”
Preston smiled faintly.
“Perhaps the heiress would like to write a check.”
Sophie looked at him.
“No.”
That surprised him.
She refused to use personal money to cover governance failure.
Instead, she asked the committee to solicit a temporary bridge facility secured by noncore company property.
By afternoon, two lenders expressed interest.
More expensive than the Route sale.
But enough to buy time.
The board approved fourteen days of market testing with an option to extend if bridge financing closed.
Preston lost the immediate sale.
Not the argument.
Then he walked beside Sophie after the meeting.
“You think Charles left you a treasure map.”
“No.”
“He left you doubts.”
“Those too.”
Preston lowered his voice.
“You know why your father considered selling Route Systems?”
“Debt.”
“Because he thought the division might fail.”
Sophie looked at him.
Preston handed her a technical memo.
Internal software review.
Route Systems required an estimated $180 million redesign over three years.
More than Sophie had been told.
He smiled.
“Your father knew.”
If true, the $640 million offer looked far less insulting.
Then Preston added:
“And Jack Walker helped write the failure report.”
Sophie turned sharply.
May you like
Jack had not mentioned that.
The first person she had begun to trust had just become part of the transaction.
