America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark [Hardcover]

Craig T. Bouchard (Author), James V. Koch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313376786 | ISBN-13: 978-0313376788 | Publication Date: September 23, 2009 | Edition: 1st

Is it a good idea to allow foreigners to purchase critical and strategic American assets? No, say authors James Koch and Craig Bouchard. In America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark, Koch and Bouchard use the sale of Esmark—a transaction that put over 50 percent of American steel production into foreign hands—to make the case that this trend presents a clear and present danger to the economic future of United States of America.

America for Sale recaps the amazing, sometimes incredible events leading up to the sale of Esmark, including intense pressure from the United Steelworkers and the company's major public shareholder to make a decision not in the best interest of all shareholders. It also analyzes the efforts by the Esmark board of directors to observe its fiduciary duty, details the company's "poison pill" effort to raise its sales price, and describes the actions of Leo Gerard and Ron Bloom of the United Steelworkers Union—which led to some surprising alliances. The authors—one Esmark's president and vice chairman of the board, the other an Esmark director, preeminent American economist, and former university president—then provide their own assessment of the Esmark story. They offer legislative and policy prescriptions aimed at making sure U.S. business doesn't devolve into one big garage sale to foreigners seeking to take advantage of the coming decline of the U.S. dollar.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Much of the economic discussion in the book is elementary, although at times it becomes very detailed. The details, however, are critical to understanding Esmark's position in the U.S. steel industry and provide some of the answers observers were seeking as the story of Esmark and its sale to Severstal developed. It was commonplace, for example, to hear steel industry veterans ask, 'How are they (the Bouchards) doing this?' or 'How do they think they can pull this off?' America for Sale tells how it was done, complete with all manner of emotion and activity from quiet confidence to brashness, hard negotiation to hand-wringing, threats to compliments and back-room dealing to back-stabbing. There is something in the book for students interested in economic lessons and for steel veterans wanting the inside story to sports fans wondering how Stanley Cup playoff hero Evgeni Malkin ended up playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins. . . . Readers also will be winners. America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark answers many questions and poses more. Those who read it likely will come away with a better understanding of the moods and motivations of major business leaders as they construct merger deals. . . . Such information could prove invaluable if Bouchard's and Koch's predictions of another round of 'America for sale' are realized."

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American Metal Market

"In this very readable book, Bouchard (President, Esmark, Inc.) and Koch (Economics, Old Dominion University) argue that the purchase by foreigners of critical and strategic U.S. assets is a danger to the nation's economic future. . . . Delivering an important message, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the global economics, the steel industry, or the decline of the U.S. industrial base."

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Reference & Research Book News

Book Description

In the summer of 2008, Esmark—the nation's fifth largest steel producer—accepted a purchase offer from the Russian firm Severstal. It was the culmination of an intense courtship among potential suitors from three continents emboldened by the weakening dollar. In the end, the sale was overwhelmingly endorsed by Esmark's shareholders and union leadership, but was it good for the nation as a whole?

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Praeger; 1st edition (September 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313376786
• ISBN-13: 978-0313376788
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,312,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I founded Esmark with my brother Jim in 2003, with an investment of $2.4 million in a steel company in East Chicago, Indiana. Esmark acquired 9 steel companies throughout the Midwest states through 2008, including the celebrated hostile takeover of Wheeling Pittsburgh Corporation which made Esmark a publicly traded stock on the NASDAQ. In doing so, Esmark accomplished the first hostile reverse tender merger in Wall Street history and became the 4th largest American steel company. This story is described from an insiders perspective in the book. When we won the hostile, I first started thinking about writing a book.

We demonstrated our commitment to shareholder value with the successful sale of Esmark to OAO Severstal in August of 2008. Esmark was founded in 2003 at 25 cents per share, an enterprise value of $2 million, and revenue of $4 million. The company was ultimately sold for $19.25 per share, an enterprise value of $1.3 billion, and 2008 revenue run rate of $3 billion. The sale put me into semi retirement and gave me the time to start writing.

I try to stay retired but Esmark continues today with two operating oil companies in Oklahoma and Nebraska, and subsidiaries in Aviation, Health Care, Real Estate and Sports Management. We bought our first steel company of the new Esmark era on Nov 11, 2009. I guess steel is just in our blood. :-)

From 1998-2003, I was the President and Chief Executive Officer of New York based NumeriX, a high level mathematics based software company serving Wall Street's global trading institutions.

Prior to helping found NumeriX, I was a Senior Vice President at the First National Bank of Chicago, (now JPM/Chase). During my 19-year career at the bank, I was the Global Head of Derivatives Trading, (yes, one of those!) Head of Institutional Research, and Head of Asia Pacific, residing in in Hong Kong and Tokyo. In 1990-1993, I was the Managing Director of the Board of CCIC Finance, a joint venture merchant bank in China which was a partnership of First Chicago, Industrial Bank of Japan and the Bank of China. In the 150-year history of the bank, with 40,000 employees at the date he retired, I was the 2nd youngest individual ever to rise to the level of Senior Vice President at the First National Bank of Chicago.

I received a Bachelors degree from Illinois State University (1975), a Masters Degree in Economics from Illinois State University (1977) and an MBA from the University of Chicago (1981). I was a member of the Board of Trustees of Boston University, and a trustee of the Foundation of the University of Montana. I'm proud to say that I am an alumnus of Leadership Greater Chicago.

Two of my greatest honors were being elected to the hall of fame of my high school, Hinsdale Central, and to the Hall of Fame of the Illinois State University College of Arts and Sciences in 2008. I somehow managed to receive a patent from my work right out of college. United States Patent 4,212,168, Power Producing Dry-Type Cooling Systems.

My gorgeous wife is Melissa N. Bouchard and I'm the proud father of six children; Kai, Justin, Patrick, Shale, Cambelle, and Braidy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Barbarians at the Gate of the Steel Industry, October 13, 2009

By 

J. Galt (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark (Hardcover)

Some may recall the Esmark name from another famous business book, Barbarians at the Gate. While that book features the KKR buy-out of RJR Nabisco, it also mentions Esmark as it was involved in the largest leveraged buy-out deal until the Nabisco deal was struck in the mid-1980s. At that time Esmark was a diversified consumer products company... flash forward to 2003 and the rebirth of Esmark, the steel company.

America For Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark documents how two Brothers, Craig (the money guy) and Jim (the steel guy) Bouchard, revived the Esmark name by acquiring a string of companies in the fragmented steel service center industry (13 acquisitions in total). With an initial investment of $2.4 million, the Bouchard brothers grew Esmark to an enterprise value of $1.3 billion in approximately four years to become the 4th largest American steel company when the company was sold to the Russian steel and mining giant, OAO Severstal. In between these events is the equivalent of a corporate finance Harlequin romance with an insiders view of a highly publicized proxy battle, reverse hostile merger (the first ever to close), clandestine meetings with titans of industry, and the often unpredictable negotiations with unions.

However, this book is more than just a documentary of the events leading to the sale of Esmark to Severstal. While the Esmark story is key to the narrative, it is merely a framework for the reader to contemplate larger economic issues such as foreign ownership of US assets, the role of CFUIUS (the government oversight group responsible for approving foreign acquisitions), exchange rates and the weakening US dollar and current economic policy (sub prime, federal stimulus, rise of national debt, etc.).

American For Sale makes the complexities of current public policy accessible to the layman and is a must read for anyone interested in keeping the America Dream alive.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars America For Sale, October 7, 2009

By 

Johanne Medina (Naples, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark (Hardcover)

AMERICA FOR SALE by Craig Bouchard and James Koch



Bouchard and Koch have put together a concise, but thorough, overview of the recent economic crisis, with their forecast for the global economy going into 2010.



In addition, the authors explain the past and current situation with regards to the U.S. Steel industry, with a detailed description of Bouchard's personal experience in acquiring his own steel company with his brother, Jim, its reorganization, and eventual sale to a Russian concern.



This book is a must read for anyone interested in the global economy, the steel industry, and the potential threats to the American economy in the coming years.



Current, up to date, interesting and inciteful...

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steely Bouchard, October 8, 2009

By 

Man on a hot steel roof "Blast Furnace" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America for Sale: How the Foreign Pack Circled and Devoured Esmark (Hardcover)

This book is what the world needs - what has happened and what is likely to happen in a concise easy to read way. I found the economic and financial analysis in the first half of the book very informative. There are also many actionable items for those of us who are in the "market."

The second half is the amazing story of Esmark - the unknown Berkshire Hathaway. The Bouchards ought to be renamed Midas's for their golden (or shall we say steel) touch - the vision to see steel in 2003 as the place where the next leg of fortunes to be made - who would have thought? I loved the real life drama the intrigue the cast of characters (some of whom are now senior Obama administrative officials) the Russians the Indians - move over James Bond - we have got the Bouchards.

Must read - unlike many books that once you put it down you cannot pick it up this one you want all your friends and family to read immediately.

Not Steely Dan - Steely Bouchard!!!!