Company buy out

[DoggyDaddy]

My multi-billion dollar corp has the same policy for family first. One of the reasons I like working for them.

My multi-trillion dollar corp (.gov) is the same (at least where I work).

 

[thompal]

My first time going through this. It’s not much fun. I’ve worked for this place for twelve years, it’s a family run company and I was pretty happy here. I could go to the owner if I ever had a problem and knew he’d have my back. So we are going from a family run business with around 600 +/- employees to a nation wide company. We have all been assured we are keeping our jobs, so that’s a plus but man, I never imagined I’d grow so attached to a place! The worst part is when I told my son he was pretty torn up about it, he really likes the owner and his son. Both a couple great guys. Ok, thanks for letting me vent.

I went through one of these. Small (15 employees) was bought out by a company in Boston. We were promised that nothing would change. Then they changed how we did everything. Within 6 months, they told us they were moving our company to Boston. We could still keep our position, if we moved to Boston, but we wouldn't be getting a raise. Considering the cost of living in Boston is 4-5 times what it is here, nobody made the move. And since leaving the company was our choice, we couldn't get severance pay, or even unemployment.

 

[Frosty]

I went through one of these. Small (15 employees) was bought out by a company in Boston. We were promised that nothing would change. Then they changed how we did everything. Within 6 months, they told us they were moving our company to Boston. We could still keep our position, if we moved to Boston, but we wouldn't be getting a raise. Considering the cost of living in Boston is 4-5 times what it is here, nobody made the move. And since leaving the company was our choice, we couldn't get severance pay, or even unemployment.

Yeah, there’s an awful lot of blowing sunshine up everybody’s backside. They’ll say oh no we are going to keep this division, we definitely need all you guys, then the next day somebody says oh no we are getting rid of that division just as soon as possible. I’m trying to take it day by day and see what’s going to happen.

 

[KLB]

I’m trying to take it day by day and see what’s going to happen.

If you like your job, that is the best way to do it.

 

[BluePig]

Been on both sides of this, company acquired and company acquiring. Just left a place where the company bought out the competition and then put them in charge of our company too. What a complete disaster. They kept doing the same things that caused them to get sold out. Like watching a building implode in slow motion.
Went thru an internal division move once that was like the Boston incident. They lost so many people, they couldn't figure out how their products worked and ended up getting out of the business completely. Over 80 years of being the best in the industry to nothing.

 

[eldirector]

Been through 2 myself. Worked out well in both cases.

Sometimes acquisitions are a good thing.

 

[KLB]

Sometimes acquisitions are a good thing.

I've been through too also. The first one I ended up leaving the company after getting a big raise from the new company. I just didn't have much to do and was bored out of my mind. I did get a nice retention bonus though.

The second one was more recently. The company I work for now was purchased by a privately held foreign firm. It has been nice not working for a management team for a public company. Public companies manage to stock price. Private companies manage to long term health and profit.

 

[Frosty]

Lots of talk of raises, boot allowance, extra vacation time and bonuses, my first question was “it’s so bad they have to bribe us to stay???”

 

[KLB]

Lots of talk of raises, boot allowance, extra vacation time and bonuses, my first question was “it’s so bad they have to bribe us to stay???”

Or they are going to bring you in line with what they pay their other employees.

 

[Frosty]

Or they are going to bring you in line with what they pay their other employees.

They said there would be no pay decrease, and most would get a raise. Then I hear that the department I’m in likely won’t see any raises. Honestly there’s so many rumors going around I’m trying to not put much stock in it until I see something in writing.

 

[CHCRandy]

That would be an accurate guess. I have a pretty good position with them, I am basically unsupervised, I get my paperwork in the morning for the stuff I need to get done for the day, and then I do my own thing, and nobody really cares, as long as I get my stuff done. It’s a pretty good gig, hopefully the new company will be as relaxed but I don’t think they will be…

Best of luck to you. I hated hearing that even though I am happy for the boys, they are good guys. Use to hunt on their land. Hell, I remember when the mafia tried to burn them down, lol.......at least they decided to buy it this time. Add purple if needed.

BTW.......I have a few friends who work there as well.....and I imagine they are bummed out by this.

 

[CHCRandy]

They said there would be no pay decrease, and most would get a raise. Then I hear that the department I’m in likely won’t see any raises. Honestly there’s so many rumors going around I’m trying to not put much stock in it until I see something in writing.

I bet you are gonna be just fine. Sure, you are going from private owned, 600 employees who know each other, to a public traded company with 60,000 employees where you are just a number. But the up side.......will surely be better. Probably much better benefits when you have that many people, stock plan, retirement, insurance, etc.....and I have friends who operate equipment for the new owners and they make a good living. Lots of good things.

I hate it though. I loved dumping in Clayton, and I bet they will kill that transfer now, since it all goes to Danville anyway....so I will be stuck going to that hell pit again! Hate Danville after a rain. And this means all of us who have their service will probably have to get new roadside containers so the automated arm can grab em.

 

[williamsburg]

If you happen to run into any CGS guys/trucks while at the dump sites inquire with them how things went for them when WM bought them out last year.
I can’t speak for employees that transferred to WM but I know a lot of the CGS customers were not happy with the customer service provided after that WM takeover.
You’ve been in the business 12 years so you know how hard it is to keep people. WM has one of the highest turnover rates in the area. I think it’s about even between them and Republic. So they’ll throw incentives to retain. A few years ago I think they were offering $2,000 sign on with them needing guys.

 

[Frosty]

If you happen to run into any CGS guys/trucks while at the dump sites inquire with them how things went for them when WM bought them out last year.
I can’t speak for employees that transferred to WM but I know a lot of the CGS customers were not happy with the customer service provided after that WM takeover.
You’ve been in the business 12 years so you know how hard it is to keep people. WM has one of the highest turnover rates in the area. I think it’s about even between them and Republic. So they’ll throw incentives to retain. A few years ago I think they were offering $2,000 sign on with them needing guys.

I don’t go to the landfills or transfers, I deliver the dumpsters and toters for them, running flatbed boom truck. When CGS got started coming into town and we lost a few stops to them we weren’t too upset, we had more work than we could keep up with between repairs and new customers, they definitely lightened that load a little. I never really noticed their cans disappear, but we seemed to get back several customers, and I’ve had customers tell me they didn’t care for this whole buyout, hopefully they don’t start bleeding customers and employees, although I’m afraid that might be coming…

 

[Frosty]

Best of luck to you. I hated hearing that even though I am happy for the boys, they are good guys. Use to hunt on their land. Hell, I remember when the mafia tried to burn them down, lol.......at least they decided to buy it this time. Add purple if needed.

BTW.......I have a few friends who work there as well.....and I imagine they are bummed out by this.

yeah I’m sure they made out well and I’m definitely happy for them, I think an awful lot of people would follow them out the door without question, myself and an awful lot of other guys that work there have a pretty deep respect for them, they are some hard workers!
I think they tried to burn us down a few times…

I bet you are gonna be just fine. Sure, you are going from private owned, 600 employees who know each other, to a public traded company with 60,000 employees where you are just a number. But the up side.......will surely be better. Probably much better benefits when you have that many people, stock plan, retirement, insurance, etc.....and I have friends who operate equipment for the new owners and they make a good living. Lots of good things.

I hate it though. I loved dumping in Clayton, and I bet they will kill that transfer now, since it all goes to Danville anyway....so I will be stuck going to that hell pit again! Hate Danville after a rain. And this means all of us who have their service will probably have to get new roadside containers so the automated arm can grab em.

I’ll say, the times I’ve gotten stuck driving a route I always, always hated going to D’ville! Hopefully they keep the transfer, you know how busy it gets over there, we have an awful lot of customers besides our own trucks, and yes, I assume they’ll switch all residential stops over to automated service, I also assume they switch all the rearload cans to front load, so I don’t know what that means for a lot of my customers in Morgan county, if I had to guess, I’d say we’re getting ready to lose several.

I don’t know about the benefits yet, I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and talk to anyone, though they say the reason they sold to them was because they would be able to take care of us and afford us more opportunities. Time will tell I guess.

 

[armalitesheepdog]

I've been thru it.
Don't believe a word they say. We were told you're gonna love it. NOBODY is going to loose there job ( I was there 19 years and was 55 years old) I invisioned my retirement party. Then after 3 months or so people started to be let go 1 here 1 there. They said well....we do that at the corporate level so... Well the day I was cut loose 5 others were as well. They were all liars. Nothing matters but money and profits. I get that but it was the outright lies.
I was absolutely crushed. The people I worked with were like family. I saw babys born and then graduated high school. People passed away and the whole company showed up at the services.
After a couple short stints at places I hated I ended up at the best place I could ever. More money better everything except my old coworkers
I talk to some of them and they are all miserable. Alot have left.
The point of this long rant is...
DONT BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY.
They may be a great company and I hope it works out for you. But take it all with a grain of salt and stay alert to whats happening

 

[BluePig]

Alot of times in deals like this, the selling company will arrange some kind of agreement that the buying company will not cut people for a set amount of time. It is a good deal for both sides since it gives employees a chance to find a new place and it helps the new owners keep the business going.
Expect turnover in 3 to 6 months time frame no matter what. People will start looking either way and opportunities will happen.

 

[Frosty]

Alot of times in deals like this, the selling company will arrange some kind of agreement that the buying company will not cut people for a set amount of time. It is a good deal for both sides since it gives employees a chance to find a new place and it helps the new owners keep the business going.
Expect turnover in 3 to 6 months time frame no matter what. People will start looking either way and opportunities will happen.

And that’s pretty much what’s happening here, I fully expect people to start disappearing after a few months, and more to leave willingly. I have a few opportunities lined up if I need them, but I’m going to give them a chance and see how it goes, that’s been the general consensus of most of the guys I’ve talked to.

 

[Twangbanger]

Is the new owner public or private? I will second the "don't believe a word" advice, for the first year or so. It's typical in the modern financial environment that anytime a company is sold, savings are promised to the new owners through the elimination of redundancies. So be expecting this about a year down the road, regardless what you're told. It costs money to pull off a sale - actually quite a lot of it - and it's hard to get a deal structured if some kind of savings aren't promised as part of it.

My wife's employer went through this a few years ago, and they sent a management team in to learn the business they were buying and basically lie like a rug to the employees. New owners ALWAYS have one priority to begin with, and one priority only: ENSURE BUSINESS CONTINUITY BY MAKING SURE PEOPLE DON'T PANIC AND LEAVE. They will live and die by this for the first 6 months, and you can bet that management are being offered bonuses and being judged, evaluated, and measured on their ability to keep morale up for that critical transition period, to ensure business continuity. They will literally say anything to keep the rats from bailing in the first 6 months, but never forget: THEIR BONUSES ARE LIKELY NEGOTIATED IN ADVANCE, and they depend on their ability to meet pre-determined targets which usually involve keeping people on-board, until such a time as management decides it's time to cut. Never underestimate what a person will do to get a bonus.

I've been through this myself, and wish you good luck. Sometimes good can come from these things, but it can be hard to find, and the first year is a lot of chaos. If you like it there, are not part of a "redundant" group targeted for cost savings, and can manage the chaos with a level head, your hand will become stronger the longer you stay, especially once it all shakes out and other people have left and taken their knowledge with them. Just hopefully, the stress level will be manageable to a level where it's still worth it. Roll with the punches and continue to fight another day. Don't publicly voice negatives or doubts, take on important projects others can't or aren't willing to do, and work to make yourself the person that new management can't dream of being able to run the business without. New owners typically look at the company from a purely financial standpoint, and have no idea what "magic sauce" makes things run at the lower levels. So if you can communicate your grasp of those things in a level-headed way that makes sense, you could be in a position to excel.

 

[KLB]

Retention bonuses don't just go to management.