Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 368, A Corporate Takeover.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 368.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development, and Thank you.
The Learning Guide contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions and a complete transcript of everything we say on this episode.
If you're looking for a way to improve your English even faster, download the Learning Guide.
This episode is called A Corporate Takeover.
It's a dialogue between Lee and Bruce talking about one company trying to buy another company.
Let's get started.
Hello, Lee Williams.
Hi, Lee.
This is Bruce Eng.
The reason I'm calling is to find out if there is any news about your company's takeover bid for Shamrock Corp.
It's been a week, and I was wondering what's happening.
Hi, Bruce.
I'm glad you called.
I was just about to call you with an update.
Here's where we are.
The offer we made to Shamrock was rejected by the board on Tuesday.
Our company's board of directors has been meeting all week to decide the next course of action.
Is there any chance that this could turn into a hostile takeover?
There is a distinct possibility.
Our company is hoping to avoid that since we had hoped to do extensive due diligence.
But a hostile takeover may be the only option right now if we decide to move ahead with this.
Would the banks go for little or no due diligence?
I thought that their support of the takeover bid was contingent on getting more information about the state of Shamrock's finances.
You're right, and that may be the stumbling block.
Okay, well...
Call me if you get more information.
I will.
You can count on it.
Our dialogue begins with Lee answering the telephone.
She begins by saying hello and then her name, Lee Williams.
Bruce says, Hi, Lee.
This is Bruce Eng.
The reason I'm calling is to find out if there is any news about your company's takeover bid for Shamrock Corp.
A takeover bid is when one person or one company tries to take control of another company, usually by buying its stocks.
Shamrock Corp. is short for Shamrock Corporation.
Bruce says it's been a week and I was wondering what's happening.
He wants to know if there has been any changes.
Lee says, I'm glad you called.
It's a common thing to say when someone calls you, especially for a business reason.
And you have information that you want to give them.
And perhaps we're thinking of calling them also.
Lee says, I'm glad you called.
I was just about to call you with an update telling you the latest news.
Here's where we are, she says.
Here's our current situation.
The offer we made to Shamrock was rejected by the board on Tuesday.
The offer, in this case, is what someone says they will give you in exchange for something else.
Usually it's an amount of money that you're willing to pay for something.
Offer has a lot of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
The offer was rejected, meaning rejected.
It was refused.
It was denied.
They said no to the offer.
They didn't want it.
Lee says that her company's board of directors has been meeting all week to decide the next course of action.
The board of directors are the group of people who lead a company.
They make the most important decisions, they select the president, and so forth.
The next course of action means simply the next thing that you plan to do, the next step.
It sounds a little bit more formal when you say the next course of action.
Bruce says is there any chance that this could turn into a hostile or hostile takeover?
Either pronunciation is correct.
Bruce is asking if there's a chance that this takeover bid, this offer to buy the company, may become hostile.
That is, when a company is trying to buy another company but the other company doesn't want to sell.
If they have what we would call publicly traded stocks meaning anyone in the public can own part of the company then they can't necessarily prevent another company from buying their stock and taking control of the company.
That would be a hostile takeover when the company doesn't want to be bought.
Lee answers by saying there is a distinct possibility, meaning something may happen or is likely to happen.
A distinct possibility.
It seems possible.
Our company, she says, is hoping to avoid that, to avoid a hostile takeover, since we had hoped to do extensive due diligence.
Extensive means thorough, with a lot of detail, very complete.
Due diligence D-I-L-I-G-E-N-C-E is a legal or business term meaning the investigation and evaluation of a company's financial status about how they are doing.
Due diligence means you do a lot of research.
A hostile takeover, Lee says, may be the only option right now if we decide to move ahead with this.
To move ahead is a phrasal verb meaning to proceed, to continue, to make progress or simply to continue.
You'll hear in many businesses when you're talking about a project, let's move ahead with this.
Let's move ahead.
Let's continue with this project.
Bruce then asks, would the banks go for little or no due diligence?
To go for something is a phrasal verb meaning to agree, to do something, to agree with an idea, to accept something.
Will he go for it means will he agree with it?
Will he decide that it's okay?
Bruce is asking if the banks would go for little or no due diligence.
He says, To be contingent means to be dependent.
Something that will happen only if something else does or does not happen.
It's very common, when people sell their house in the United States, to make the sale of or the purchase of another property contingent upon or contingent on the sale of their own property.
So I own a house.
I want to buy a different house.
I make an offer to the owner of the other house saying but I say I will only buy your house if I sell my house first.
That's a contingency offer.
It is contingent on something else.
Bruce says that the takeover bid he thought was contingent upon the banks getting more information about the state of Shamrock's finances.
The state of something is the condition of something.
It's the status, how something is doing.
Every January in the United States, the president must go before the Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives meeting together and give a State of the Union address.
This is a speech that the president is supposed to use to describe how the country is doing.
The union would just be the union of states, the 50 states.
Governors have State of the State speeches for the same reason.
Finances here means financial status the amount of money that a company or organization is making or losing.
Lee says you're right, that may be a stumbling block, meaning the fact that they have done little or no due diligence would be a stumbling block for the banks.
A stumbling block is an obstacle, something that makes it difficult or impossible.
A stumbling block here is the fact that the company has not done research, done due diligence, on this takeover.
The banks may decide no, they will not support this takeover bid.
Bruce says, okay, well, call me if you get more information.
Lee says, I will.
You can count on it.
To count on something is a phrasal verb meaning to depend on something or to rely on something.
To know without a doubt that something will happen.
That's to count on something.
I can count on you, our listener, to support us here at ESL Podcast, to tell all of your friends, I hope.
Now let's listen to the dialogue again, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, Lee Williams.
Hi, Lee.
This is Bruce Eng.
The reason I'm calling is to find out if there's any news about your company's takeover bid for Shamrock Corp.
It's been a week, and I was wondering what's happening.
Hi, Bruce.
I'm glad you called.
I was just about to call you with an update.
Here's where we are.
The offer we made to Shamrock was rejected by the board on Tuesday.
Our company's board of directors has been meeting all week to decide the next course of action.
Is there any chance that this could turn into a hostile takeover?
There is a distinct possibility.
Our company is hoping to avoid that since we had hoped to do extensive due diligence.
But a hostile takeover may be the only option right now if we decide to move ahead with this.
Would the banks go for little or no due diligence?
I thought that their support of the takeover bid was contingent on getting more information about the state of Shamrock's finances.
You're right, and that may be a stumbling block.
Okay, well, call me if you get more information.
I will.
You can count on it.
The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
