Page 147 of 12 Years
‘Thank you. But I don’t see the point of selling, honestly,’ I said. ‘We were going to do an IPO soon and get listed. We get to keep our equity.’
‘CloudX is already listed,’ Neeraj said. ‘If it buys you, you become part of the merged listed entity. Also, we can pay you in equity as well.’
‘I thought this was a cash-buyout conversation?’ Mudit said.
‘Well, we would prefer to pay in cash,’ Philip said. ‘However, if you want some of the consideration as equity in the merged entity, we’re open to it.’
‘What about SecurityNet’s existing management and team?’ I said.
‘What about it?’ Philip said. ‘We would like them to continue.’
Mudit and I looked at each other. Whatever concerns we had, they had addressed them already.
‘Give us two minutes to discuss this,’ I said to Philip and Neeraj.
Mudit and I hurried out of the conference room and walked up to the coffee machine in the pantry. Nobody else was around to overhear us.
‘Can you believe it? The buyer is Blackwater?’ I said.
‘Yeah, I know. Solid guys, right? At least now we know it’s a real party with money. Not some random firm,’ Mudit said.
‘Not that, Mudit. Don’t you understand?’
‘What?’
‘It’s Payal’s firm. Payal works there.’
‘That was like centuries ago.’
‘She was still there when I ran into her six years ago.’
‘Bro, can we not bring your ex-ex-ex-ex into the picture now? Aren’t you with Tania at the moment? Or is it Paulina? Or wait, both of them?’
‘Still with Tania. Considering Paulina’s free-trial-before-subscription offer. Anyway, not the point. Payal probably still works there. She was doing really well the last time we met.’
‘Let her. How does it matter? It’s a huge firm. One of the biggest private equity investors in the world.’
‘That’s true.’
‘And they have literally addressed every concern you had. You stay CEO, and get equity.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Our investors will love it too if we do the deal. They’ll make money and get a chance to exit,’ Mudit said.
‘True,’ I said.
I stayed silent for a few seconds, evaluating the buyout proposal in my head.
Mudit leaned against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles. ‘So? Moment of truth. What do we do?’
‘You’re right. It’s time to make serious money. Let’s do it,’ I said.
Mudit grinned and high-fived me. We walked back to the conference room.
‘Let me negotiate with them first, and you can then join in to help us get the best price,’ Mudit said to me at the door of the conference room.
‘We discussed your proposal,’ Mudit said as we took our seats.
