1999, May 26th

  William sat in front of Eve in her office, sipping on a Boba tea. It was sweet, creamy, and a little fruity. In other words, it was perfect. He slurped loudly through the straw. Eve's eyebrow twitched as she tried to ignore him.

  After another five minutes, William finished the boba tea and put it down on the table. Then, he picked up another cup of boba tea and started drinking, as he flipped the page of the books he was currently reading. It was something about microchips. Honestly, he didn't really know anything about Hardware before he bought the knowledge. Even now, he still didn't know much. He only knew the bare bones basics of smartphone hardware. Still, with that knowledge as a foundation, learning more about hardware was easier.

  Eve sighed, "I give up. What do you want?"

  William sipped the boba tea and bookmarked the page of the book. "We should hire more talent."

  Eve raised an eyebrow, "For what? I thought you didn't want more employees?"

  William shook his head, "It's not that I didn't WANT more. It's that we didn't NEED more. Why would we pay more for something we don't need?"

  She stared at him, "What changed then?"

  "For one, we're expanding fast. I don't have time to micro every project anymore. So, I'm thinking of handing off the cloud project to Josh."

  "Valid. What's the second point?" Eve asked, leaning back on the chair.

  William chuckled, "Second, we'll be expanding into the hardware sector with our smartphones. Unlike with software, I can't handle it alone."

  She rubbed her forehead, "I didn't think about that. That could've been bad."

  He shook his head, "Don't worry. I didn't notice until I thought about it seriously yesterday. It's fine since we haven't even acquired a company or made a deal yet, but it's better to be prepared."

  Eve nodded, "I'll put it on the agenda."

  "What about the acquisition of hardware companies? Do you have any leads on that?"

  Eve smiled, "Actually, yes. We've actually found a company that had filed Chapter 11. It's called Axiom Electronic Manufacturing Services. Ana found it."

  "Tell her that she did a good job and give her a raise. Tell me more," William said as he leaned forward.

  Eve threw a file at him. "They filed for bankruptcy protection in January. It's a classic case of overextension. They expanded too fast during the tech boom and took on too much debts. Now, they can't service it when clients started delaying orders."

  William caught the file out of the air and flipped through it. It had everything, from financial statements to employee counts. "How many facilities?"

  "Fourteen total. Five in Mexico, one in Tijuana, Guadalajara, and the remaining three in Monterrey. Four are in Southeast Asia, with one in the Phillipines and Thailand, and two in Malaysia. Two in East Asia, with one in Japan and Taiwan. Three in the US, with one in Arizona, Texas, and one in San Jose that's already been sold off. Though, the one in Japan is not a mass-production plant but its purpose is for QA."

  William scanned the list as he nodded, "So no China then?"

  "No."

  "Perfect then. We don't need to deal with their unreasonable conditions then. Less chance of our designs walking out of the door then." He closed the file. "What's the current state?"

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  "They're currently bleeding money and creditors are circling them. They're in Chapter 11 now, but they'll be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation within six months if nobody buys them out. Most creditors would rather see the assets sold off piecemeal." Eve crossed her legs.

  "What's the asset value?"

  "Equipment is dated but functional. Real estate is actually their most valuable asset, since facilities are owned and not leased. Book value of everything is around $180 million. Liquidation value would be maybe $90-100 million if sold off separately."

  William slowly nodded, getting the full picture. "And what do they want?"

  "The board wants $120 million for the whole company, this includes all facilities, all equipment, and whatever contract survives court approval. They're desperate. They just want the creditors off their back and walk away. But nobody that's serious is offering above 70."

  "What's the employee situation?"

  "They had 8,000 employees at peak. Down to 3,500 now after layoffs. Mostly line workers and technicians. Management is a mess. Half of them had already jumped ship."

  William smiled, "This is truly perfect. Are there any problems?"

  Eve sighed, "There are several. First, they're bankrupt for a reason. Management was incompetent. They took on contracts they couldn't fulfill, overcommitted on capacity, and had quality control issues."

  "That's fixable with competent management. So that's not really our problem."

  Eve nodded, "That's true. Second, the facilities need upgrades. The equipment is functional but old. You'd need to invest another $50 million minimum to bring them up to modern standards."

  "Expected. What else?"

  "Third, it'll be complicated to acquire this company. This is not a simple acquisition but a bankrupt asset purchase."

  William waved the problem away, "That's what lawyers are for."

  "The bankruptcy trustee is taking bids now. Deadline is June 30th. Court hearing for approval would be sometime in July. If approved, we could close by August or September."

  William thought for a second. "We won't go over 75." He'd have to liquidate some of his pre-bubble positions. The irony wasn't lost on him. Pulling out of investments he knew would surge, just before they peaked, to buy a bankrupt manufacturer. Those investments are made to ride the bubble to the top before shorting anyway. He nodded, satisfied.

  William took another loud sip of the boba tea. Eve threw a pen at him, "If we're done here, get out. Don't distract me."

  "Alright, alright. Fine."

  Eve shook her head as he walked out, but she hid a smile.

  Eve waited until William's footstep faded down the hall before picking up her the phone. She dialed Ana's extension. After three rings, she answered. "Ana, can you come to my office?"

  "I'll be right there, Miss Maxi."

  Eve pulled up the Axiom file on her computer while she waited. In her opinions, the numbers were better than she had expected to find, but they were only a part of the story. She needed to see the facilities to know what they really were buying.

  Ana knocked and entered, a notebook already in hand. Ana was efficient, Eve had to give her that.

  "Miss, you wanted to see me?"

  Eve gestured at the sofa William had vacated, "Sit. We'll need to move fast on Axiom. William approved a bid up to $75 million. I know, it's a lot." She sighed. "That's why we're not submitting anything before we've seen the facilities ourselves. I want to visit at least three of them. The Guadalajara plant in Mexico, one of the Malaysia facilities, and the Japan QA center."

  "When?"

  "As soon as possible."

  Ana was already writing down on her notebook. "I'll contact the bankruptcy trustee's office. They'll need to coordinate access with whoever's still managing operations. How long do you want at each site?"

  "Half a day minimum. I want to see the production lines, talk to floor managers if any are left, check the equipment conditions myself." Eve pulled up her calendar. "We have four weeks until the bid deadline. I want all three visits done in two weeks, which gives us time to adjust our offer if needed."

  "I'll have options by tomorrow morning." Ana paused. "Should I arrange for Mr. Winter to join?"

  Eve considered. William understood the technical requirements, but he'd be useless for the business assessment. And he'd probably antagonize whoever they met. But she wanted to spend some time with him abroad.

  "Yeah, arrange for him to join. And extend our stay in each country by a day."

  Ana looked at her with knowing eyes, "Got it, ma'am."

  Eve chuckled. "Research the other bidders. I want to know who we're competing against and what they're offering."

  "The trustee won't share that information," Ana warned.

  "I know. But people will talk, given enough of an incentive. Make sure to check industry contacts, see if anyone's heard rumors. Even knowing who's interested will help us position our bid."

  Ana nodded, "It will be done, ma'am. Anything else?"

  She shook her head and smiled, "No, that'll be all."

  As Ana was about to leave, she heard Eve's amused voice from behind her. "Oh, you got a raise by the way. Congrats. You'll be gaining $40/hour from now." She was dazed as she walked out the door.