By Donald Zuhn --
On Thursday, Dow Chemical Co. announced that two senior executives had been fired for "engag[ing] in business activity that was highly inappropriate and a clear violation of Dow's Code of Business Conduct." In particular, Dow determined that the two executives had been "involved in unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential acquisition of the Company."
The terminations appear to be related to the report earlier this week that a consortium of Middle Eastern investors and American buyout firms was preparing a $50 billion leveraged buyout of Dow Chemical Co. (see "Dow Denies That It Is Buyout Target").
The New York Times speculated today that the terminated executives' "rogue" negotiations may ultimately "have whetted investors' and suitors' appetite for a Dow takeover," and that "while [the fired executives'] talks appear to have been bungled, Dow could still make an attractive takeover target for Middle East investors or private equity firms." In addition, the Times report indicated that the rogue negotiations may not have been so rogue. In particular, one of the terminated executives denied Dow's accusations and suggested that he was being made a scapegoat.
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