It is 4:30 am… These days I wake up still with those thoughts I had when I went to sleep. For the last two days we have been negotiating  with the representatives of an American company. Last night I had those negotiations on my mind. And I woke up with them.

We had an unusual situation. They started the negotiation discussions by telling us that they have worsened the payment conditions of their offer, given to us a month ago. Such a development usually shows that someone in their upper management is trying to have his/her way with the acquisition. After the first 3 hours of the meeting the representatives of the American company confirmed this point. The CEO of their company had informed them that he would approve the acquisition project only under a specific payment schedule.

Our proposal in turn was very clear: The worsening of the payment conditions could only be accepted up to a certain level, and that was applicable only if the purchase price was increased by 30%. Otherwise, we would start our negotiations with one of their competitors, who was still kept waiting as a potential acquirer.

At 5:00 am I was looking at my emails with the hope to get my sleep back when I received an email from the Americans. It seemed that they talked with their upper management in USA and accepted our proposal. With a grin I went back to my bed to get a few hours of well earned sleep.

Just before sleep overtook me, once more I thought about the importance of competition.

The oldie of the week: Billie Davis – Angel Of The Morning (1967)