Carnicero's Patience Pays Off in DynCorp Fight
Jorge E. Carnicero, chairman of DynCorp, won the takeover battle for the McLean government-contracting company by patiently pursuing a savvy strategy of waiting after his first bid for the company was rejected by the board, according to analysts.</br></br>A special committee of the DynCorp board last week recommended that the company accept a takeover offer from Carnicero and Synergy Group Holdings, a subsidiary of a privately held propane distributor, nearly three months after Carnicero's first bid for the company was rejected.</br></br>Carnicero's first bid-made Oct. 8, 11 days before the stock market crash-was worth about $270 million, or $25 a share. Analysts say Carnicero and Synergy will now be buying the company for about $251 million-$23.25 a share-in a complex cash and securities package.</br></br>"Carnicero has played it pretty sharp," said Charles Frumberg, an analyst with Mabon Nugent in New York. "The market crashes and he sits back and doesn't do anything. Another offer comes in and runs through its various permutations and it falls apart and he steps in at a much lower price."</br></br>The stunning turnaround for Carnicero came on the heels of a failed offer from another group of DynCorp executives, led by DynCorp President Dan R. Bannister. That offer, which went through several versions, ultimately fell through because of problems obtaining insurance and with setting up an employe stock ownership plan central to the offer. "Bannister couldn't make it fly," said a source close to the company.