Chapter 3 - THE REFINANCING
Bennett Manufacturing made industrial cooling systems.
Boring.
Profitable.
Ninety years old.
Three plants.
Roughly eight hundred employees.
Ethan became CEO two years earlier.
At first, results were strong.
Revenue grew.
Margins improved.
Then he pursued expansion.
A new automated assembly facility.
An acquisition in Ohio.
A European distribution partnership.
All reasonable individually.
Together:
expensive.
Cash tightened.
Interest rates rose.
The Ohio acquisition underperformed.
Then a major customer delayed orders.
Ethan needed refinancing.
The proposed deal:
$185 million senior secured facility.
It would replace older debt and provide liquidity.
But the new lender demanded liens over the company’s two most valuable manufacturing plants.
That triggered Claire’s consent right.
She reviewed the package.
Asked questions.
Ethan hated questions.
“What happens if the customer delay extends two quarters?”
“We cut costs.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“What happens if automation capex overruns?”
“It won’t.”
“It already has.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
Then Claire found another provision.
A covenant that allowed the lender to force asset sales if leverage remained above a threshold after eighteen months.
She said:
“I won’t sign this version.”
Ethan exploded.
“You don’t understand the business.”
“I understand debt.”
“I run the company.”
“Yes.”
“Then sign.”
“No.”
That word started the final argument.
Ethan followed her from the dining room into the living room.
He said she liked humiliating him.
Claire said:
“This isn’t about you.”
He laughed.
“Everything you do is about proving you’re smarter.”
Then he grabbed the baseball bat from a decorative sports rack near the study entrance.
A signed college memorabilia bat.
Claire thought he was going to throw it.
Instead he raised it.
The first strike landed seconds later.
Then in the hospital Daniel asked:
“Did Ethan know Monday’s closing required your signature?”
“Yes.”
“Did the lender?”
“Yes.”
“Did the board?”
“Yes.”
Claire looked at him.
“Does everyone know except Ethan?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Ethan knows.”
May you like
That was worse.
He had simply believed she would obey.
