Delaware city police will patrol, learn at the Athens/OU Halloween bash

By Matt Gerish
SNPOnline.com
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Delaware city police will head back to school next month following the Monday, Oct. 13 approval of a mutual-aid agreement with Ohio University police.

During its Oct. 13 meeting, Delaware City Council approved an agreement to allow Delaware city police to join forces with OU police officers.

The university’s police department invited Delaware police to join them on bike patrol during the annual Halloween Block Party in Athens.

Delaware Police Chief Russ Martin said large annual events in Delaware such as the Little Brown Jug are creating a need for better crowd control.

Martin said more on-the-job training is needed to continue to develop the skills and tactics necessary to deal with the issues associated with such large events.

Although not a school-sanctioned event, Athens and Ohio University receive thousands of out-of-town visitors every year who join the party on the city’s main drag.

“We just think it’s an opportunity for our officers to get some real good experience down there,” Martin said.

Martin will send five Delaware police officers to Athens for the Nov. 1 event.

The officers will pair up with an Ohio University police officer to patrol the crowds on bike.

“It’s a little out of the ordinary. We know it’s not a neighboring community,” Martin said. “It very well could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’ll just see how this goes.”

Martin said the Ohio University Police Department will pay Delaware back by providing its nationally certified bike instructor for Delaware’s 2009 bike training school at no cost…

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InBev May Pursue Hostile Takeover After Anheuser Busch Rejects Buyout Offer

I visited the Drudge Report today and saw a headline linking to the following story:

By Jonathan Birchall
Financial Times – FT.com
June 26, 2008
Click here for the original article

InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said on Thursday it was preparing to launch a hostile bid for Anheuser-Busch, following reports that its US rival was preparing to reject its $46bn bid for the maker of Budweiser and Michelob beers.

In a court document filed in Delaware, InBev said it was preparing to launch a proxy battle seeking the removal of Anheuser’s entire board, citing “delays and apparent plans to attempt to block the acquisition”…

Which got me thinking…. what exactly IS a “hostile takeover”? I’ve heard of it before but never knew exactly what it was… so here goes:

From WiseGeek.com:

A hostile takeover is a type of corporate takeover which is carried out against the wishes of the board of the target company. This unique type of acquisition does not occur nearly as frequently as friendly takeovers, in which the two companies work together because the takeover is perceived as beneficial. Hostile takeovers can be traumatic for the target company, and they can also be risky for the other side, as the acquiring company may not be able to obtain certain relevant information about the target company.

Companies are bought and sold on a daily basis. There are two types of sale agreements. In the first, a merger, two companies come together, blending their assets, staff, facilities, and so forth. After a merger, the original companies cease to exist, and a new company arises instead. In a takeover, a company is purchased by another company. The purchasing company owns all of the target company’s assets including company patents, trademarks, and so forth. The original company may be entirely swallowed up, or may operate semi-independently under the umbrella of the acquiring company.

Typically, a company which wishes to acquire another company approaches the target company’s board with an offer. The board members consider the offer, and then choose to accept or reject it. The offer will be accepted if the board believes that it will promote the long term welfare of the company, and it will be rejected if the board dislike the terms or it feels that a takeover would not be beneficial. When a company pursues takeover after rejection by a board, it is a hostile takeover. If a company bypasses the board entirely, it is also termed a hostile takeover.

Publicly traded companies are at risk of hostile takeover because opposing companies can purchase large amounts of their stock to gain a controlling share. In this instance, the company does not have to respect the feelings of the board because it already essentially owns and controls the firm. A hostile takeover may also involve tactics like trying to sweeten the deal for individual board members to get them to agree.

An acquiring firm takes a risk by attempting a hostile takeover. Because the target firm is not cooperating, the acquiring firm may unwittingly take on debts or serious problems, since it does not have access to all of the information about the company. Many firms also have trouble getting financing for hostile takeovers, since some banks are reluctant to lend in these situations.

Hope this helps…!