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News |
October 3, 2005
They're
Not Telling Quayle Jokes At Cerberus
Dan
Quayle, a smart-as-they-come businessman? The notion hardly fits with
the image of the former Vice-President, who was mercilessly ridiculed by
the press for the odd misspelling and occasional verbal slip. Friends
long have argued that Quayle was unfairly scorched by Washington's klieg
lights, but the public never warmed up to him. He dropped a Presidential
bid and left politics in 1999.
Since then, in his second incarnation -- as a globetrotting business
leader working with some of the sharpest investors around -- James
Danforth Quayle, 58, has proved his friends right. He has carved out a
winning role as chairman of global investments for Cerberus Capital
Management.
Armed with a hefty Rolodex and a potent ability to get access, Quayle is
the classic door-opener. He smooths the way for deals by gaining the
confidence of sellers and regulators. Last spring he joked to executives
of Cerberus companies that people have one of two reactions when he
phones. As Air Canada (AIR
) Chief Executive Robert A. Milton recalls, "Reaction No. 1 is,
'Wow, it's the former Vice-President. Let me pick up the call.' The
other reaction is, 'It's the former Vice-President. Why the hell is he
calling me?" Either way, says Milton, Quayle gets a foot in the
door.
He's especially valuable when offshore politicians are involved. It was
Quayle, for instance, who met with then-Israeli Finance Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu this summer about Cerberus' interest in buying
Israel's 26.3% stake in Bank Leumi, Israel's second-largest bank. His
first task after joining Cerberus in 2000 was wooing Japanese officials
nervous about the firm's bid for the former Nippon Credit Bank. His
longtime ties to Japan paid off, and Cerberus eventually bought a
controlling stake in the bank, now renamed Aozora Bank Ltd., in 2003.
"Quayle
has given a broad sense of credibility to Cerberus," says Yoshihiko
Miyauchi, chief executive of Tokyo-based ORIX Corp. (IX
), a financial-services provider that also has a stake in Aozora.
"Having a respectable person like Quayle earns the trust of people
who doubt the company."
Quayle also has shown a keen business sense as a company director,
beginning in 1993, when he joined the American Standard Cos. (ASD
) board. "He surprised everybody in the most positive way with his
insights, judgments, and ability to net out the issues," says
Joseph S. Schuchert Jr., chairman of Kelso & Co., a private
investment firm, and a fellow director.
Quayle once made what turned out to be a prescient call when he and the
rest of the board rebuffed a takeover overture from Tyco International
Ltd. (TYC ) in 1996.
Wall Street had lavishly praised the potential combo, but Quayle was
suspicious of Tyco's inflated stock price. Schuchert, whose firm
controlled Standard, credits Quayle's "good common sense" --
not any gimlet-eyed analyst's view -- for sensing that Standard would be
better off far away from Tyco. What's more, Schuchert adds, his
"political skills were helpful in bringing the board together"
to reject Tyco's approaches.
And
when Quayle and other directors on the K2 Inc. (KTO
) sporting-goods-company board were split on whether to keep an
executive a few years ago, a colleague recalls, Quayle weighed in with
the deciding question: "If we were going to hire for the position
today, is this the guy we would hire? If he isn't, what are we talking
about?" In short order, says K2 CEO Richard J. Heckmann, the
executive was history. Quayle is still a K2 director.
Quayle says he hasn't found the transition from politics to business all
that difficult. "There are a lot of similarities," he says.
"You've got people who have different agendas. It's basically
getting people to agree, and I've been doing that all my life in
politics." But he admits it has been a learning experience: "I
don't hold myself out as a financial expert, but I know a heck of a lot
more than I did six years ago. What I do know is how to get things
done." And at the rate Cerberus has been snapping up companies,
apparently a lot is getting done.
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