BIMBO

The term BIMBO as used here describes a crafty and potentially rewarding strategy employed by at least one PI manager retained by TIFF: the London-based firm Alchemy Partners. BIMBO stands for "Buy-In-Management-Buy-Out." Here is one example of this strategy at work: Alchemy purchased, at a very low valuation, the forest products division of a large conglomerate. The valuation was low for two reasons: one, natural resources in general, and forest products in particular, have been out of favor among UK investors since the early days of Margaret Thatcher's premiership (i.e., since inflation peaked in the early '80s); second, the firm's management team comprised some fellows whose managerial acumen was ? dare we say it ? bimbo-like. To beef up the team, Alchemy had to recruit (or "buy in") several highly qualified executives. Separating the wheat from the chaff, Alchemy also retained some of the firm's incumbent managers via a shared purchase arrangement under which Alchemy and the managers it chose to retain (plus the company's new head honchos) bought the subsidiary. The executives' slice of the deal constitutes the "MBO."