FInishing Thoughts

Late night thoughts on the deal of the day....

-- One the most popular search terms on Google today was "Vistawall Oldcastle" as I think so many people after the news broke wanted to gauge reaction.

-- I am feeling for the a lot of the current Vistawall folks- there is some serious uncertainty now on how they will be integrated into the new set up. Something tells me there's resumes being polished up right now- which means there could be some high level talent on the market soon.

-- From a pure PR standpoint you have to wonder if Bluescope jumped the gun with the announcement as they had their info out and ready but nothing from the other side. As a marketing guy, I can feel for the Oldcastle folks- your moment in the sun is moves like this and when it gets spoiled like the end of "Million Dollar Baby" it really takes the air out of the ball.

-- Actually the deal was spoiled by the Greeneville Sun newspaper when it reported on the deal on the 27th. The story is HERE. Evidently there was a tax abatement that needed transferred and the local paper was all over it. Unfortunately I don't check that site often.. or ever.

-- Consolidation is still the word of the day, but this deal continues to drive that consolidation is surely no longer an industry sector specific thing anymore. The cross over buys have been around for a while and will probably keep going in response to this deal.

-- Bottom line on the deal is how the cultures will mesh and integrate. Should be a very interesting process that is for sure.

Lastly I am sad the deal is over, the last week had record traffic coming here and now we go back to our regularly scheduled programming... but I promise I'll do my best to keep it interesting!