Chp 3- Broken System
794 Words
The London acquisition collapsed at exactly
9:12 a.m.
Inside Blake Global Holdings, the news spread through the management like a silent explosion.
This deal was worth a fortune and had taken months to negotiate. Suddenly it had been withdrawn by the partner company's legal team.
Their reason was that Blake's corporate structure no longer aligned with their compliance requirements.
Ryan Blake wasn't in the office when the news broke. He was notified twenty minutes later.
He reached out to the senior manager.
“Fixed it,” Ryan said. “That's what you're being paid for.”
Immediately everyone jumped into action, eager for a solution, but hours passed and no one found any.
The senior executives informed him they were stuck since Tara had been overseeing the deal from the beginning.
Ryan grew irritated and defensive. “Are you telling me the entire company depended on one person?”
All hands were busy until the closing hour and no solution came up. Several clauses were discovered but were incomprehensible.
Ryan kept on pressing and threatening to lay off. Blake's legal team claimed they aren't in charge of deal management, Tara had been the one handling and finalising deals.
The next morning everyone resumed earlier than usual, and a document was discovered which showed the London deal was at 85 per cent completion the last time Tara filed a report.
A team member suggested they check previously completed deals and map patterns. Similar patterns were found but mapping seems difficult
Ryan came in much earlier than usual too. His presence made everyone panic. He went straight to the senior manager’s office.
‘I believe the issue has been resolved,” Ryan said confidently.
“We are still on it sir”
“What? It's been 24 hours and no solution?”
He was completely disappointed. The day felt like his worst nightmare.
For years a problem never lasted for over 24-hours. If not already resolved, then it must have been well taken care of.
That deal would have helped him break through the walls of the UK real estate market without hesitation. Ryan refused to accept it as a defeat as he’d never seen failure as part of success.
Ryan walked around his office impatiently and restlessly. Then, he sent a memo. “A meeting in an hour”
The meeting started exactly an hour later. Without wasting time Ryan asked what the problem was and why they hadn't come up with solutions yet.
Management explained that the partner company claimed Blake's legal structure contains compliance issues and that's why they had to withdraw the deal.
“You all know this will cause a major loss.
The company could lose financially and even damage our reputation.”
“ I want it fixed,” Ryan said coldly.
“ We tried to but we can't.” The regional manager said.
“Then why are you here?” Ryan replied.
“Tara understood the system best.” Someone admitted.
Ryan became furious.” She's gone.” he said coldly. “We have to get it fixed somehow.“
He dismissed the panic and gave orders. “Schedule a meeting with their legal team,”
A response came almost immediately and a day was set for the meeting and Blake's team made their way to London a day before. The meeting started early enough.
The partner's company lawyers showed them the exact issue that led to the deal being withdrawn: a governance protection clause that should safeguard the company during regulatory disputes was missing.
Blake's team insisted the clause used to exist but couldn't explain why it was missing in the agreement. They began to review the original filings, and Blake's team realised the system is very sophisticated.
This structure seems to be layered across three jurisdictions.” One lawyer said..
“Who designed this?”
Everyone looked at one another. No one in the team knew what to say. The partner's lawyer further explained.
“The person who designed this framework clearly understood the regulatory exposure.”
Everyone from Blake's Global Holdings stared at one another. “She used to handle this.” an executive murmured.
They couldn't reach a conclusive agreement.
In an emergency board meeting, the reports from London were presented to the management and everyone became uneasy.
“Every time something like this came up… she fixed it before it escalated.” one executive whispered.
In confusion, the boardroom became quiet, because for the first time, everyone felt her absence. They all realised whoever had designed Blake Global Holdings’ legal framework was the company's brain box.
“Who handled these structures before now?”, a junior executive asked.
The room fell silent. After a while, someone breaks the silence.
“ Where’s Mrs Blake?”
- Writer
