Risk of a Takeover

Phrase list

Listen to the tape and practise the pronunciation of the following words and word combinations, quote the sentences in which they are used in the unit. Consult a dictionary and translate them into Russian.

private company Memorandum of Association authorised capital

to carry a vote ( about shares ) to have a controlling interest

to be in a position to take over somebody/something a fully owned subsidiary

to outvote somebody personal loan

the rate of interest to ask for security

to hold the deeds of somebody building society

to repay a proportion of the loan to somebody plus interest to agree to a second mortgage (the mortgage with ...)

to raise a mortgage on somebody’s property to give (to advance) an unsecured loan

to have the lion’s share with fifty per cent the solicitor

to form a trust to raise a loan

the total share capital

to see somebody at short notice an overdraft

to provide (an adequate) security

to have somebody’s record of business as a guarantee to have a straight loan

to pay two per cent above the bank rate to get a holding equal to something

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PRE-LISTENING

Task 1

Consider the introduction to the unit. Answer the following questions and be ready to give a story line. Use the word combinations in brackets.

1. What do we call a private company?

(to be a private company; to be formed by two or more people; to sign a Memorandum of Association; to state something; to agree to take a certain number of shares; to follow the signature; to take shares in the company; members, or shareholders)

2.Why does Harper & Grant Ltd. belong to private companies?

(to found the company; to be started originally by somebody; the authorised capital of the company; to grow; to be worth a certain sum; to carry a vote at a shareholders' meeting)

3.What can the death of Ambrose Harper lead to?

(to cause a crisis in the firm; to manufacture mattresses for beds; to own ten per cent of Harper & Grant shares; to be a personal friend of somebody; to have an opportunity of buying some of the shares formerly belonging to Harper)

4.Why does the opportunity of buying the shares formerly belonging to Harper by outsiders threaten the existence of Harper & Grant Ltd.?

(to own shares; to stop somebody getting shares; to do something for fear of upsetting the voting power at shareholders' meetings; to own fifty-one per cent of the shares; to have a controlling interest; to be in a very good position to take over the firm completely; to make a firm a fully owned subsidiary)

5.Do the management of Harper & Grant Ltd. welcome the possibility of a take over?

(to be jealous of somebody; to own too many of the shares; to raise a loan; to arrange something with the bank; to lend money; to borrow money; to pay interest on money; to buy enough of the shares; to outvote somebody; to be a personal loan; to be a short-term loan; to pay back the money; the rate of interest)

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6. How did H.G. manage to raise a loan?

(to ask for security; to hold the deeds of Grant's house; a building society; to buy the property; to repay a proportion of the loan, plus interest; to agree to a second mortgage; to pay back the loan within the time limit; to pay up the first mortgage; the holder of the second mortgage; to give an unsecured loan; to be without any security or guarantee; to get the money back)

Task 2

Give the English equivalents for the following word combinations:

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LISTENING

Exercise 1

You are going to hear a talk between Hector Grant and Peter Wiles. Before you listen to the conversation look at these statements, which you will mark T (True) or F (False) after you have listened to the tape.

1.Harper & Grant Ltd. is on the verge of the biggest crisis in the history of the firm, but it has nothing to do with Ambrose Harper's death.

2.The shares of the company are distributed so that Peter Wiles’s mother and Hector Grant own the lion's share with fifty per cent.

3.The mattress-makers over the road, Wentworth and Company have ten per cent of the shares.

4.Ambrose Harper has left two thousand of his two thousand five hundred shares to form a trust.

5.Ambrose Harper has left five hundred thousand pounds to his sister.

6.H.G. spoke to Caroline after the solicitor had finished reading Ambrose's will, and she told him she'd had a very generous offer for the shares.

7.H. G. is sure that only Wentworth, who wanted to get in Harper & Grant for a long time, knew Caroline was Ambrose's only remaining relative.

8.Caroline can sell her shares without offering them first to the other shareholders because Harper & Grant are a private company.

9.Some of the present managers of Harper & Grant Ltd. had to sell their shares and Wentworth easily got a further interest in the company.

10.Peter Wiles is always in the red because he lives in a great way*.

11.H.G. and his colleagues have to raise a loan and buy enough of the shares to keep the controlling interest.

12.The total share capital had a market value of about five hundred thousand dollars when Ambrose Harper died.

13.If H.G. bought two hundred and fifty shares that would be about twenty-five thousand pounds.

* живет на широкую ногу

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Exercise 2

Act as an interpreter.

Grant: Good morning, Mr. Brewer. Good of you to see me at such short notice.

Бруэр: Для таких солидных клиентов, как вы, м-р Грант, у нас всегда найдется свободное время. Чем могу быть полезен?

Grant: I want a loan ... or an overdraft ... right away. Twenty-five thousand.

Бруэр: Понимаю. 25 тысяч? Да, это очень большая сумма. Grant: Not for me. You know how well the firm is doing.

Бруэр: Да, но, вероятно, фирма не в состоянии обеспечить гарантии выплаты ссуды, если вам требуется персональный заем.

Grant: Really, Mr. Brewer, this is rather unnecessary, isn't it? You have our record, my record, of business as your guarantee. You know me well enough to advance me an unsecured loan, surely.

Бруэр: Как вам известно, мне придется обратиться в наше главное управление, но они там будут исходить из моих рекомендаций, а я не думаю, что готов это сделать без того или иного обеспечения ссуды.

Grant: Oh? Well, what are you going to do about it? I can tell you one thing. If there's any question of not getting a loan, I'll consider taking my account, and that of the company, elsewhere.

Бруэр: Может, вам и придется об этом подумать, м-р Грант. Но, если позволите, я бы хотел заметить, что любой управляющий банком придерживался бы такой же точки зрения. Может быть, в такой ситуации более уместно хорошенько подумать, какую форму обеспечения ссуды вы могли бы нам предложить? У вас большой дом. Он заложен?

Grant: It is.

Бруэр: Очень жаль. Ваши права собственности на этот дом, могли бы быть замечательной гарантией. Стоимость дома какая, 20 тысяч?

Grant: Thirty. The mortgage is with the Albion Building Society.

Бруэр: Тогда есть возможность получить повторную закладную на вашу собственность. Хотя могу сказать вам откровенно, наше главное управление не очень-то одобряет перезалог ... Тем не менее, я мог бы порекомендовать им действовать именно в этом направлении.

Grant: How would you arrange the credit?

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