Thought that the days of dealmaking lunches were gone? Not if you’re the Mohn family and you’re trying to keep all assets of your company, gigantic media conglomerate Bertelsmann, under your wing. According to the Financial Times, when Liz Mohn and Bertelsmann CEO Gunther Thielen expressed chagrin that GBL CEO Albert Frere wanted to take his 25% holding public, they resolved it in the old fashioned way: dinner on a Wednesday night in Belgium.
It was a tactic that seemed, at first glance, to be a no-hoper, since ttalks at Bertelsmann’s annual meeting on Monday had been amicable but fruitless. But in the end, the deal reached – in a timely fashion that surprised company advisers – led to a hefty price paid for Bertelsmann to stay under full family control.
The next question is, will one of the family come back to the board? Because as guardian of the business since 1999, Ms. Mohn, after eight years, would have succeeded in putting Bertelsmann firmly in the hands of her children.