#Acquisitions/Mergers/Shareholdings | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hamsterclaw · 11 months

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Every time like the first time

A Vows story.

Pairing: Yoongi x F! reader

Genre: Arranged marriage AU, chaebol! Yoongi

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: Sex, swearing

Yoongi’s watching you out of the corner of his eye, but he’s pretty sure you have no idea.

You’re definitely up to something.

He knows all the signs by now.

The restlessness of your fingers, tapping the glass coffee table. The furtive sidelong glances you keep giving him.

Yoongi stifles a smile when you undo the top two buttons of your blouse and tug it down a little.

He pretends to be engrossed in his book as you slide onto the couch next to him.

Soon you’re so close you’re practically in his lap.

Yoongi lifts his gaze from his book and turns to look at you like he’s just realised you’re there.

‘Hi, jagiya.’

You’re smiling cheerfully at him.

‘Hi, oppa.’

Yoongi asks, ‘Do you need something?’

‘No,’ you answer.

Yoongi nods to the open neck of your blouse. ‘Looks like a button came undone. Shall I fix it?’

You frown as he re-buttons your blouse, without touching you at all.

Yoongi asks, ‘Are you sure there’s nothing you need?’

You hesitate. ‘No, I don’t need anything.’

‘Anything you want?’ Yoongi prompts.

‘No.’ Even less convincing.

Yoongi raises an eyebrow. ‘Well I’m trying to finish this book, so ——‘

‘Sorry,’ you say.

You sit up and go back to your side of the couch.

You glance at your phone and sigh.

Yoongi ignores you.

He’s just got back into his book when he feels something land on his arm.

Yoongi glances at the pen cap that’s landed beside him. ‘Did you throw this at me?’

You’re all wide eyes and innocence. ‘No, Yoongi.’

Yoongi scoffs but decides to let it slide.

A moment later a pen lands on his thigh, bounces off onto the couch.

Yoongi stares at it, then you.

‘Anything you want to tell me, jagiya?’

You’re buried in your phone.

A moment later Yoongi’s phone buzzes in his pocket.

Mrs Min: Yooooongi

Yoongi’s careful not to show any discenible reaction as he swipes away the text and puts his phone back in his pocket. His phone vibrates again, and Yoongi ignores it.

Finally you get up. You’re at the door of his study, hand on the door handle, when Yoongi says, low, ‘Come back here.’

For a split second, it almost looks like you’re about to ignore him.

Then you turn around and throw yourself into his arms.

Yoongi has the breath knocked out of him as you land in his lap.

‘Yoongi,’ you say, anguished. ‘I’m sorry.’

Yoongi nudges your head with his chin. ‘What for?’

You gnash your teeth. ‘I promise you, I’ll fix it.’

Now he’s worried. ‘What did you do, jagiya?’

‘I bought Min Holdings.’

Now that you’ve blurted it out, you slump over in his lap, boneless in your confession.

Yoongi says, slowly, ‘You bought Min Holdings? My family’s company?’

‘I’ll sell it back to you,’ you say, hurriedly.

Yoongi’s lost for words.

You’re already holding out a stack of documents, miserable.

‘It was meant to be the final stroke in my plot to destroy you when we first got married,’ you confess.

‘I hired a specialist team for mergers and acquisitions, years ago, and they’ve been buying shares in your company ever since.’

You look at your hands. ‘Then I teamed up with Jung Hoseok.’

‘Jung Hoseok?’

You misunderstand his question. ‘The CEO of Jungcorp —‘

‘I know who he is,’ Yoongi interrupts.

You wring your hands. ‘Anyway I’ve bought Jung Hoseok out, and I’m the majority shareholder in Min Holdings now.’

Yoongi’s taken aback by the extent of your treachery.

‘Y/N, this is excessive, even for you.’

At the sound of your name, you flinch like he’s struck you.

‘I’m so sorry Yoongi, at first I did it because I was so angry and then —-‘

‘Then I did it to see if I could.’

You bow your head.

Yoongi takes the papers you’re holding out to him.

He waits until you’re looking at him.

‘Are you saying that you own my family’s company now?’

Your face crumples. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’

You nod to the papers. ‘Please sign these and I’ll give it all back,’ you plead.

Yoongi asks, very quietly, ‘How can I trust you?’

You react like you’d expected him to say that.

‘I can’t ask you to trust me.’

You’re looking at him earnestly. ‘And if you —-‘

You stop, swallow, start again. ‘If you wanted to divorce me, I wouldn’t contest it.’

Yoongi stares at your bowed head.

‘I know I’ve gone too far, Yoongi. Please forgive me.’

Yoongi puts the papers down.

‘Look at me.’

You meet his gaze with effort.

‘I’ve known about this for a long time,’ he tells you.

Your eyes widen.

‘Min Holdings has been the target for a dozen takeover bids over the years,’ Yoongi says, gently. ‘You wouldn’t have been able to get as far as you have without us finding out.’

‘Then why?’

Yoongi says, simply, ‘I know you would never hurt me.’

He smiles. ‘I’ve had a hell of a time convincing my board to let you keep going with your nefarious plot.’

‘Also, my CFO wants to hire you.’

Your heart’s pounding, there’s a rush of blood in your ears. ‘Why would you trust me so much?’

Yoongi touches your face. ‘Why wouldn’t I? You trust me, don’t you?’

He slides his hand down to your neck, wraps his fingers around your throat, under your chin, loose.

‘You trust me to touch you like this, and not to hurt you.’

You shiver visibly at his words, almost leaning into his hand.

Yoongi can read the arousal in your eyes as he tightens his hand.

He says, deep voice dropped even lower, ‘Don’t you?’

He loosens his grip, and you suck in a breath. ‘Yes, Yoongi.’

There’s a huskiness to your voice now, a note of supplication he rarely hears from you.

Yoongi unbuttons your blouse deftly, and when he gets to your skirt he tugs the zipper down.

‘Step out of your clothes, my love.’

He steadies you with his arm around your waist as you shed your clothes and are left in your lingerie.

You can feel your whole body heat up as he gives you a leisurely look up and down, tongue pocketed in his cheek.

‘Look at me.’

His voice is still low, gravelly, commanding.

‘You trust me enough to stand in front of me like this, don’t you?’

You meet his gaze, heart pounding, mouth dry.

‘Because you know I’d never hurt you.’

Yoongi gets up and starts undressing in front of you. He unbuttons his waistcoat, unscrews his collar bar, dropping it on the glass side table with a plink. You step forward.

Yoongi stays perfectly still, looking down at you as you loosen his tie and put it around your own neck.

He tightens it without you having to ask, wraps it round his hand twice, tugging you forward.

‘You trust me to do this, and I trust you to tell me if it’s too much.’

You unbutton his shirt, unbuckle his belt, and Yoongi loosens his grip on the tie around your neck so you can kneel in front of him to take his trousers down.

Yoongi hisses as you mouth along his boxer briefs, the muscles of his thighs tensing under your hands as you find his cock, semi-hard and getting harder by the second under your mouth.

‘Up,’ he grunts, tugging hard on the tie.

You’re breathless by the time you’re standing again.

Yoongi watches you carefully until you mouth ‘I’m ok.’

He reaches behind you to unhook your bra, and you whimper as he leans down to lave your nipples with his tongue.

You’re sensitive, nipples stiff, and you cry out as he kneads your bare breasts with his hands.

Yoongi pulls you down onto the couch, lets go of the tie.

He puts his hand between your legs like it belongs there, and you’re wet, clit throbbing under the pad of his thumb as he presses down.

‘Yoongi!’

He hisses, brings his slick fingers to his mouth and sucks, and your hips move involuntarily, seeking him again.

Yoong pinches the soft flesh over your hip. ‘Keep still, baby,’ he says sternly.

He nudges his cock over your cunt, sliding it up against you.

He slaps your hip. ‘Thighs together.’

You watch as he slides himself between your thighs, the smooth head of him nudging up against your clit as he lunges his hips.

Yoongi takes your face in his hand, holding you firmly so you’ll look at him.

‘You trust me to be inside you like this,’ he says, voice like velvet as he enters you.

You gasp at the feel of him, and he pushes two fingers into your open mouth.

Yoongi groans, and you can feel the shudder of pleasure racking his frame.

‘Every time like the first time, jagiya,’ he tells you, pupils blown, top teeth sinking into the plush of his lower lip as he moves.

You wrap your arms around him, holding on as he pulls out almost all the way, slides back into you.

He flows and ebbs into you, moving in the way he knows pleasures you the most.

‘Good girl,’ he says, emphatic, grunting his approval into your ear as you come.

He picks up the pace then, pressing kisses to your face, his thrusts quicker, shallower, until he stills, hard and leaking inside you.

‘You trust me to give you myself like this,’ he says quietly. ‘There’s no one else I trust more than you.’

He kisses you again, and you feel him filling you. He stays, hard and twitching inside you, long after he’s come and for the first time since you learned your plot succeeded, you’re at peace.

***

Yoongi wakes so quietly he catches you admiring his bare back.

‘Ah, jagiya,’ he observes. ‘What are you plotting now?’

You tug the covers up over your bare breasts.

‘I was just admiring you,’ you tell him truthfully.

Yoongi turns over onto his back. ‘Don’t let me stop you,’ he says, giving you a smirk so cocky you want to throttle him.

‘You’re going to be late for work,’ you tell him.

‘No, you’re going to be late,’ Yoongi says, shrugging.

‘Technically, I never signed those papers, so the company is your responsibility now.’

You blink at him.

‘You’re going to need more than that face if you want to win people over,’ Yoongi says, sitting up. ‘Not everyone on my board will be as easily swayed by it as I am.’

You consider him carefully as he gets up and heads to the bathroom.

‘I guess I’ll just call Jung Hoseok for help,’ you call out.

Yoongi doesn’t even turn. ‘Hobi and I go way back,’ he informs you. ‘I’m sure he’d help you.’

‘Hobi,’ you mutter, disgruntled.

You trail behind your husband as he enters the bathroom and starts brushing his teeth.

‘Can you help me?’

Yoongi barely spares you a glance. ‘Say please.’

Your brow furrows with irritation. ‘I begged your forgiveness yesterday,’ you point out.

‘And today I want you to say please,’ Yoongi returns.

He puts the shower on.

‘I’m looking forward to having more time off,’ he muses, ‘whilst you run the company.’

You step into the shower behind him.

‘Please,’ you mutter.

‘What’s that? You’ll have to speak up,’ Yoongi says, the bastard.

‘Please!’ you snap.

‘Is that how you ask for things, brat?’

‘Please, Yoongi,’ you say. ‘Please please please take your company back.’

‘Fine,’ Yoongi says, nonchalant. ‘But you owe me.’

He laughs at your outraged expression as he turns.

‘Wash my back, brat.’

©hamsterclaw 2023

#yoongi smut #yoongi x reader #bts smut #yoongi fic

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robertreich · 8 months

Video

youtube

Why Does Flying Suck so Much?

You might not believe this, but I’m old enough to remember when flying was fun.

Now I'm sure you've got your own airline horror stories, which I hope you’ll share. But what happened to make flying such a nightmare?

The answer is simple: the same things happening across most industries. In fact, a close look at airlines reveals five of the biggest problems with our economy.

Number 1: Consolidation means fewer choices.

While there were once many more airlines, a series of mergers and acquisitions over the last three decades has left only four in control of about 80% of the market.

This kind of consolidation has been happening all over the economy. For example, four companies now control 80% of all beef production, and two control over 60% of all paper products. This lack of competition has led to:

Number 2: Companies Charging More for Less

Even before recent airfare spikes, air travel was getting more expensive because of new fees for things that used to be free, like in-flight meals, checked bags, or even carry-ons.

Spirit Airlines even charges $25 to print your boarding pass at a ticket counter! It’s just a piece of paper!

One of the ugliest ad-ons is the fee some airlines charge for families to sit together. That doesn’t even cost them anything!

Airlines are leading an economy-wide trend of adding often unexpected new charges to goods and services without adding value.

And you’re getting less in return. Airlines have cut an estimated 8 inches of legroom and two inches of seat width in the last two decades. Doesn’t bother me (I’m short), but many of you may feel the squeeze.

This parallels other industries where you’re paying more for less — just look at how cereal boxes, rolls of toilet paper, and candy bars are all shrinking.

Number 3: Exploiting Workers

While their jobs have become more difficult, many flight attendants haven’t had a raise in years.

And a lot of their hardest work is totally unpaid, because most flight attendants don’t get paid during the boarding process. They’re off the clock until the plane’s doors close.

And if the flight is delayed, those are often extra hours for no extra money.

Again, this mirrors trends in the overall economy, where too many workers are pushed into unpaid overtime or made to do work or be on call during their off hours.

Number 4: The Illusion of Scarcity

Airlines pretend they have no choice but to raise prices, cut services, and limit payroll. But their profits are in the stratosphere. In the five years before the pandemic, the top 5 airlines were flush enough to pay shareholders $45 billion, largely through stock buybacks.

During the pandemic, they got a $54 billion bailout from taxpayers (you’re welcome).

In the years since, they’ve resumed flying high, with nearly $10 billion in net profit expected across the industry in 2023. They can afford to take care of workers and customers.

Whether it’s multi-millionaire movie moguls pretending they can’t afford to pay writers or a grocery chain blaming “inflation” for high prices while raking in record profits, this illusion of scarcity is a sham.

Number 5: Misdirected Rage

Instead of being mad at the people at the top, we’ve been tricked into being mad at each other. Fights have broken out over whether it’s ok to recline a seat or who gets overhead bin space. But reclining’s only an issue because airlines intentionally put the seats too close together. And bin space is only running out because they’ve made it expensive to check bags — and also risky, with the rate of lost bags doubling over the last year.

Airlines are pitting us against each other the same way billionaires and their political lackeys pit groups against each other in society, hoping we’ll blame unions or immigrants or people of other races or religions or gender identities for why it’s so hard to get ahead, and that we won’t notice how much wealth and power is in the hands of so few.

So what do we do?

A lot of these problems could be solved with tougher antitrust enforcement — which we are starting to see. The Justice Dept is suing to block JetBlue from buying Spirit Airlines. We need that kind of anti-monopoly protection across the board.

Another part of the solution is unions. Airline workers are among the wave of American workers organizing to demand better pay and working conditions.

And then there’s your power as an informed consumer. Companies get away with bad behavior when we accept their excuses that there’s just no other way to run a business. They’re counting on us not knowing what’s really going on. So share this video, and share your airline stories in the comments.

Finally, try to be a little nicer to service workers and your fellow passengers — on planes and in life. After all, we’re all on this journey together.

#youtube #videos #video #airlines #flying #travel #economics #politics

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sgiandubh · 3 months

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A book

In a sea of #silly and contentiously politicized Hollywood memoirs, Lynda Obst's Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business is a glaring, very useful exception.

The woman knows her trade and she really has nothing to prove, after a very rich career as a cinema and TV producer, that took her from Flashdance to Sleepless in Seattle to Interstellar, one step (and sometimes even one flop) at a time.

Having just started to read it in earnest, I was pleasantly surprised to find perhaps the best explanation for ***'s insistence to promote BOMB as a viable project after OL is over. The roots of the problem are not limited to its particular situation (future merger/acquisition, post-strike context, etc.). They are much older and have everything to do with a business model that has been used since at least the early 2010's, first in the movie business and (more and more) now in TV productions.

You will forgive the long quote. It's worth it:

In other words, expect less and less quality content, in a business landscape looking more and more to milk an already captive audience of their hard-earned buck. And invest less and less in script and talent, precisely because the recipe for success is not unlike those three-ingredient cookies Tick-Tock is apparently so fond of.

The simple fact Disney was one of the main proponents and promoters of this (abysmal) business model is, of course, a coincidence. As is the very insistent use of the term 'tentpole', when directly referencing OL, in ***'s shareholder reports.

This confirms my prior analysis and I take no pride, nor joy in writing it. OL is (still is) ***'s strongest asset and main sale argument. I should only hope Season 8 will not completely bastardize what started as something that could really have reached for the stars. And this has nothing to do with S and C: they went above and beyond what was expected. Because magic is magic, even if you try to dim or mutilate it.

#fandom #shitshow

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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The antitrust Twilight Zone

Funeral homes were once dominated by local, family owned businesses. Today, odds are, your neighborhood funeral home is owned by Service Corporation International, which has bought hundreds of funeral homes (keeping the proprietor’s name over the door), jacking up prices and reaping vast profits.

Funeral homes are now one of America’s most predatory, vicious industries, and SCI uses the profits it gouges out of bereaved, reeling families to fuel more acquisitions — 121 more in 2021. SCI gets some economies of scale out of this consolidation, but that’s passed onto shareholders, not consumers. SCI charges 42% more than independent funeral homes.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/09/high-cost-of-dying/#memento-mori

SCI boasts about its pricing power to its investors, how it exploits people’s unwillingness to venture far from home to buy funeral services. If you buy all the funeral homes in a neighborhood, you have near-total control over the market. Despite these obvious problems, none of SCI’s acquisitions face any merger scrutiny, thanks to loopholes in antitrust law.

These loopholes have allowed the entire US productive economy to undergo mass consolidation, flying under regulatory radar. This affects industries as diverse as “hospital beds, magic mushrooms, youth addiction treatment centers, mobile home parks, nursing homes, physicians’ practices, local newspapers, or e-commerce sellers,” but it’s at its worst when it comes to services associated with trauma, where you don’t shop around.

Think of how Envision, a healthcare rollup, used the capital reserves of KKR, its private equity owner, to buy emergency rooms and ambulance services, elevating surprise billing to a grotesque art form. Their depravity knows no bounds: an unconscious, intubated woman with covid was needlessly flown 20 miles to another hospital, generating a $52k bill.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/14/unhealthy-finances/#steins-law

This is “the health equivalent of a carjacking,” and rollups spread surprise billing beyond emergency rooms to anesthesiologists, radiologists, family practice, dermatology and others. In the late 80s, 70% of MDs owned their practices. Today, 70% of docs work for a hospital or corporation.

How the actual fuck did this happen? Rollups take place in “antitrust’s Twilight Zone,” where a perfect storm of regulatory blindspots, demographic factors, macroeconomics, and remorseless cheating by the ultra-wealthy has laid waste to the American economy, torching much of the US’s productive capacity in an orgy of predatory, extractive, enshittifying mergers.

The processes that underpin this transformation aren’t actually very complicated, but they are closely interwoven and can be hard to wrap your head around. “The Roll-Up Economy: The Business of Consolidating Industries with Serial Acquisitions,” a new paper from The American Economic Liberties Project by Denise Hearn, Krista Brown, Taylor Sekhon and Erik Peinert does a superb job of breaking it down:

http://www.economicliberties.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Serial-Acquisitions-Working-Paper-R4-2.pdf

The most obvious problem here is with the MergerScrutiny process, which is when competition regulators must be notified of proposed mergers and must give their approval before they can proceed. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) merger scrutiny kicks in for mergers when the purchase price is $101m or more. A company that builds up a monopoly by acquiring hundreds of small businesses need never face merger scrutiny.

The high merger scrutiny threshold means that only a very few mergers are regulated: in 2021, out of 21,994 mergers, only 4,130 (<20%) were reported to the FTC. 2020 saw 16,723 mergers, with only 1.637 (>10%) being reported to the FTC.

Serial acquirers claim that the massive profits they extract by buying up and merging hundreds of businesses are the result of “efficiency” but a closer look at their marketplace conduct shows that most of those profits come from market power. Where efficiences are realized, they benefit shareholders, and are not shared with customers, who face higher prices as competition dwindles.

The serial acquisition bonanza is bad news for supply chains, wages, the small business ecosystem, inequality, and competition itself. Wherever we find concentrated industires, we find these under-the-radar rollups: out of 616 Big Tech acquisitions from 2010 to 2019, 94 (15%) of them came in for merger scrutiny.

The report’s authors quote FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter: “I think of serial acquisitions as a Pac-Man strategy. Each individual merger viewed independently may not seem to have significant impact. But the collective impact of hundreds of smaller acquisitions, can lead to a monopolistic behavior.”

It’s not just the FTC that recognizes the risks from rollups. Jonathan Kanter, the DoJ’s top antitrust enforcer has raised alarms about private equity strategies that are “designed to hollow out or roll-up an industry and essentially cash out. That business model is often very much at odds with the law and very much at odds with the competition we’re trying to protect.”

The DoJ’s interest is important. As with so many antitrust failures, the problem isn’t in the law, but in its enforcement. Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits serial acquisitions under its “incipient monopolization” standard. Acquisitions are banned “where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition between the corporation whose stock is so acquired and the corporation making the acquisition.” This incipiency standard was strengthened by the 1950 Celler-Kefauver Amendment.

The lawmakers who passed both acts were clear about their legislative intention — to block this kind of stealth monopoly formation. For decades, that’s how the law was enforced. For example, in 1966, the DoJ blocked Von’s from acquiring another grocer because the resulting merger would give Von’s 7.5% of the regional market. While Von’s is cited by pro-monopoly extremists as an example of how the old antitrust system was broken and petty, the DoJ’s logic was impeccable and sorely missed today: they were trying to prevent a rollup of the sort that plagues our modern economy.

As the Supremes wrote in 1963: “A fundamental purpose of [stronger incipiency standards was] to arrest the trend toward concentration, the tendency of monopoly, before the consumer’s alternatives disappeared through merger, and that purpose would be ill-served if the law stayed its hand until 10, or 20, or 30 [more firms were absorbed].”

But even though the incipiency standard remains on the books, its enforcement dwindled away to nothing, starting in the Reagan era, thanks to the Chicago School’s influence. The neoliberal economists of Chicago, led by the Nixonite criminal Robert Bork, counseled that most monopolies were “efficient” and the inefficient ones would self-correct when new businesses challenged them, and demanded a halt to antitrust enforcement.

In 1982, the DoJ’s merger guidelines were gutted, made toothless through the addition of a “safe harbor” rule. So long as a merger stayed below a certain threshold of market concentration, the DoJ promised not to look into it. In 2000, Clinton signed an amendment to the HSR Act that exempted transactions below $50m. In 2010, Obama’s DoJ expanded the safe harbor to exclude “[mergers that] are unlikely to have adverse competitive effects and ordinarily require no further analysis.”

These constitute a “blank check” for serial acquirers. Any investor who found a profitable strategy for serial acquisition could now operate with impunity, free from government interference, no matter how devastating these acquisitions were to the real economy.

Unfortunately for us, serial acquisitions are profitable. As an EY study put it: “the more acquisitive the company… the greater the value created…there is a strong pattern of shareholder value growth, correlating with frequent acquisitions.” Where does this value come from? “Efficiencies” are part of the story, but it’s a sideshow. The real action is in the power that consolidation gives over workers, suppliers and customers, as well as vast, irresistable gains from financial engineering.

In all, the authors identify five ways that rollups enrich investors:

I. low-risk expansion;

II. efficiencies of scale;

III. pricing power;

IV. buyer power;

V. valuation arbitrage.

The efficiency gains that rolled up firms enjoy often come at the expense of workers — these companies shed jobs and depress wages, and the savings aren’t passed on to customers, but rather returned to the business, which reinvests it in gobbling up more companies, firing more workers, and slashing survivors’ wages. Anything left over is passed on to the investors.

Consolidated sectors are hotbeds of fraud: take Heartland, which has rolled up small dental practices across America. Heartland promised dentists that it would free them from the drudgery of billing and administration but instead embarked on a campaign of phony Medicare billing, wage theft, and forcing unnecessary, painful procedures on children.

Heartland is no anomaly: dental rollups have actually killed children by subjecting them to multiple, unnecessary root-canals. These predatory businesses rely on Medicaid paying for these procedures, meaning that it’s only the poorest children who face these abuses:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/17/the-doctor-will-fleece-you-now/#pe-in-full-effect

A consolidated sector has lots of ways to rip off the public: they can “directly raise prices, bundle different products or services together, or attach new fees to existing products.” The epidemic of junk fees can be traced to consolidation.

Consolidators aren’t shy about this, either. The pitch-decks they send to investors and board members openly brag about “pricing power, gained through acquisitions and high switching costs, as a key strategy.”

Unsurprisingly, investors love consolidators. Not only can they gouge customers and cheat workers, but they also enjoy an incredible, obscure benefit in the form of “valuation arbitrage.”

When a business goes up for sale, its valuation (price) is calculated by multiplying its annual cashflow. For small businesses, the usual multiplier is 3–5x. For large businesses, it’s 10–20x or more. That means that the mere act of merging a small business with a large business can increase its valuation sevenfold or more!

Let’s break that down. A dental practice that grosses $1m/year is generally sold for $3–5m. But if Heartland buys the practice and merges it with its chain of baby-torturing, Medicaid-defrauding dental practices, the chain’s valuation goes up by $10–20m. That higher valuation means that Heartland can borrow more money at more favorable rates, and it means that when it flips the husks of these dental practices, it expects a 700% return.

This is why your local veterinarian has been enshittified. “A typical vet practice sells for 5–8x cashflow…American Veterinary Group [is] valued at as much as 21x cashflow…When a large consolidator buys a $1M cashflow clinic, it may cost them as little as $5M, while increasing the value of the consolidator by $21M. This has created a goldrush for veterinary consolidators.”

This free money for large consolidators means that even when there are better buyers — investors who want to maintain the quality and service the business offers — they can’t outbid the consolidators. The consolidators, expecting a 700% profit triggered by the mere act of changing the business’s ownership papers, can always afford to pay more than someone who merely wants to provide a good business at a fair price to their community.

To make this worse, an unprecedented number of small businesses are all up for sale at once. Half of US businesses are owned by Boomers who are ready to retire and exhausted by two major financial crises within a decade. 60% of Boomer-owned businesses — 2.9m businesses of 11 or so employees each, employing 32m people in all — are expected to sell in the coming decade.

If nothing changes, these businesses are likely to end up in the hands of consolidators. Since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, private equity firms and other looters have been awash in free money, courtesy of the Federal Reserve and Congress, who chose to bail out irresponsible and deceptive lenders, not the borrowers they preyed upon.

A decade of zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) helped PE grow to “staggering” size. Over that period, America’s 2,000 private equity firms raised buyout warchests totaling $2t. Today, private equity owned companies outnumber publicly traded firms by more than two to one.

Private equity is patient zero in the serial acquisition epidemic. The list of private equity rollup plays includes “comedy clubs, ad agencies, water bottles, local newspapers, and healthcare providers like hospitals, ERs, and nursing homes.”

Meanwhile, ZIRP left the nation’s pension funds desperate for returns on their investments, and these funds handed $480b to the private equity sector. If you have a pension, your retirement is being funded by investments that are destroying your industry, raising your rent, and turning the nursing home you’re doomed to into a charnel house.

The good news is that enforcers like Kanter have called time on the longstanding, bipartisan failure to use antitrust laws to block consolidation. Kanter told the NY Bar Association: “We have an obligation to enforce the antitrust laws as written by Congress, and we will challenge any merger where the effect ‘may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.’”

The FTC and the DOJ already have many tools they can use to end this epidemic.

They can revive the incipiency standard from Sec 7 of the Clayton Act, which bans mergers where “the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.”

This allows regulators to “consider a broad range of price and non-price effects relevant to serial acquisitions, including the long-term business strategy of the acquirer, the current trend or prevalence of concentration or acquisitions in the industry, and the investment structure of the transactions”;

The FTC and DOJ can strengthen this by revising their merger guidelines to “incorporate a new section for industries or markets where there is a trend towards concentration.” They can get rid of Reagan’s 1982 safe harbor, and tear up the blank check for merger approval;

The FTC could institute a policy of immediately publishing merger filings, “the moment they are filed.”

Beyond this, the authors identify some key areas for legislative reform:

Exempt the FTC from the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, which currently blocks the FTC from requesting documents from “10 or more people” when it investigates a merger;

Subject any company “making more than 6 acquisitions per year valued at $70 million total or more” to “extra scrutiny under revised merger guidelines, regardless of the total size of the firm or the individual acquisitions”;

Treat all the companies owned by a PE fund as having the same owner, rather than allowing the fiction that a holding company is the owner of a business;

Force businesses seeking merger approval to provide “any investment materials, such as Private Placement Memorandums, Management or Lender Presentations, or any documents prepared for the purposes of soliciting investment. Such documents often plainly describe the anticompetitive roll-up or consolidation strategy of the acquiring firm”;

Also force them to provide “loan documentation to understand the acquisition plans of a company and its financing strategy;”

When companies are found to have violated antitrust, ban them from acquiring any other company for 3–5 years, and/or force them to get FTC pre-approval for all future acquisitions;

Reinvigorate enforcement of rules requiring that some categories of business (especially healthcare) be owned by licensed professionals;

Lower the threshold for notification of mergers;

Add a new notification requirement based on the number of transactions;

Fed agencies should automatically share merger documents with state attorneys general;

Extend civil and criminal antitrust penalties to “investment bankers, attorneys, consultants who usher through anticompetitive mergers.”

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reportwire · 1 year

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Silicon Valley Confronts the End of Growth. It’s a New Era for Tech Stocks.

Silicon Valley could use a reboot. The biggest players aren’t growing, and more than a few are seeing sharp revenue declines. Regulators seem opposed to every proposed merger, while legislators push for new rules to crack down on the internet giants. The Justice Department just can’t stop filing antitrust suits against Google. The initial public offering market is closed. Venture-capital…

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don-lichterman · 2 years

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Twitter-Musk Trial Set for October in Lawsuit Over Stalled $44 Billion Takeover

Twitter won its first legal fight against Elon Musk on Tuesday when a Delaware judge granted the company’s request to fast-track its lawsuit seeking to compel the world’s richest person to complete his $44 billion purchase of the social-media site. Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court, ordered a five-day trial in October, over Mr. Musk’s…

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beardedmrbean · 1 month

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Donald Trump's social media company Truth Social completed a merger Friday morning that could net the former president over $3 billion.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corporation -- a special purpose acquisition company -- approved a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social.MORE: New York AG takes 1st step toward possibly seizing Trump's assets as part of $464M fraud judgment

The company can begin trading as a public company, with the stock symbol DJT on Nasdaq, as early as next week.

Shares in DWAC currently stand around $40 per share.

With Trump owning 58.1% of the common stock in the company, the former president stands to make over $3 billion from the deal depending on how the stock ultimately trades. Experts say it represents a staggering valuation for a social media company that ranks below major competitors like Facebook, X, and TikTok.

However the deal currently includes a lockout provision that prevents Trump from immediately selling or getting loans based on his shares -- potentially limiting Trump's ability to use the windfall as collateral for a bond in his $464 million civil fraud judgment.

Trump faces a Monday deadline to secure a financial guarantee to cover the judgment, after a New York judge in February ordered him to pay $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest when he found the former president and his adult sons liable for using "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.

#nunyas news

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seymour-butz-stuff · 8 months

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Here’s an almost-impossible-to-believe story: People who put their faith in Donald Trump’s keen business instincts (and their money into one of his ventures) may soon lose their shirts! Metaphorically, of course. No one is literally losing their shirt. That’s just a sly euphemism for losing your house, car, family, dignity, and one or more of your expendable organs thanks to a known grifter who’d shove his own child off an aerial gondola for a charcuterie board full of Kraft lunch meats. The Washington Post reports that savvy investors who put their trust in Trump’s surpassing business acumen may soon be left with, well, next to nothing. It all starts with Digital World Acquisition. That’s the SPAC—which stands for “special purpose acquisition company”—that has long intended to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, which is the company behind Trump’s social media platform Truth Social. According to The Post, Digital World could go tweets up within the week. Or "truths" up. Or whatever Trump is calling his barmy lies these days. Wait, wait, wait. What the hell is an SPAC? Just knowing what the letters stand for doesn’t really help. Harvard Business Review: SPACs are publicly traded corporations formed with the sole purpose of effecting a merger with a privately held business to enable it to go public. Compared with traditional IPOs, SPACs often offer targets higher valuations, greater speed to capital, lower fees, and fewer regulatory demands. Despite the investor euphoria, however, not all SPACs will find high-performing targets, and some will fail. Many investors will lose money. HBR also notes that SPACS have “a two-year life span.” That’s important here. Super-duper important. The Washington Post offers a bit more. SPACs are known as “blank check” companies because they raise money from investors to buy a private company before identifying who they intend to target. Once the SPAC decides on and discloses its target, it works to merge with that company and bring it to the public stock market, avoiding some of the demands of a more traditional initial public offering, or IPO. If the SPAC is unable to complete the merger within the time it specifies, it must return the money it raised to shareholders. So the original plan, announced in July 2021, was pretty straightforward: Digital World would merge with Trump Media & Technology. Then the companies would pool their resources, and shareholders would be proud owners of “a tech titan worth $875 million at the start and, depending on the stock’s performance, up to $1.7 billion later.” The companies even had a (somewhat) specific date in mind for the merger—12-18 months, not the perpetual two-weeks-from-now drop date that Trump usually promises for his most ambitious projects. But somewhere along the line those plans got Trumped, and shareholders are learning a harsh lesson about doing business with serial fuckups.

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gender-trash · 1 year

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it is so goddamn funny how ceo is the standard like. fanfiction modern au rich guy job?? and yet nobody who writes that kind of thing has ANY conception of what ceos actually DO all day. granted, i also have very little idea of what ceos of companies that are not startups do all day, but at the very least my first step would be googling like “what does a ceo do” “ceo daily routine” etc and reading whatever the fuck they say abt themselves in forbes or businessinsider or wherever, which is not likely to be Literally True but is at least a START

but no. authors r out here just completely bullshitting it like yeah ceos we all know what they do. business stuff. meetings with… other business dudes, or something. i’ve only read i think one fic ever in my life that admits to the existence of mergers & acquisitions, much less such things as shareholder meetings and quarterly planning. can you imagine if robotics engineer was the standard fanfic rich guy office job instead i’d never stop screaming

#the trashcan speaks #the main function of startup ceos is to 1) talk to investors 2) talk to people who will introduce you to investors #3) make slide decks to show investors 4) host demos for investors #5) ask gender-trash to fix the problem with the demo pls the investors will be here tomorrow/in two hours/in 30 minutes #and 6) host all-hands meetings where they tell us how the fundraising is going #as far as i can tell

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nanamin-3 · 2 years

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Serendipity.

as two childhood friends are reunited, they are presented with a proposition that will tie them together for good. Will they be able to remember the feelings of their youth, or will time have taken its toll and made irreparable changes to each of them?

pairing - sukuna/reader

genre - arranged marriage, unrequited love, modernAU, 18+

Part 2.

Taking a deep breath, you looked at the clock beside the door. You noticed you only had 5 minutes before Isamu Ryoumen and his son Sukuna arrived for the mysterious meeting your aunt had set up. With a frown, you headed over to the small bar in your office, turning on the kettle to prepare some coffee. While waiting, you couldn’t help but think back to the day your aunt had visited to set up this meeting. She refused to give any details, no matter how much you pressed her. All she could say was that it was something Isamu and she had been talking over for a while and wanted to discuss with you.

You had an idea of what this meeting might be about. The Ryomen’s where owners of one of the biggest IT companies in all of Japan, and you were the majority shareholder and chair of the Shiso group, a small but extremely profitable cyber securities company. After your parents had passed in a car accident when you were 15, it was determined that you would become chair and CEO of the company, with all your parents shares given to you once you finished college. Since you had been studying abroad, you were able to keep busy and your mind occupied, but once graduation came up, you could feel the reality of what was to come next settle in.

You were extremely grateful for your aunt though. Your father’s sister had stepped in as soon as the tragedy had happened, making sure you remained focused and took care of yourself. She took on the role of parent seamlessly and you were forever grateful for that.

She ahead even offered to find someone else to run the company in case that was a path you did not want to pursue, but you had decided to continue your parents work and legacy. You worked hard in school, learned as much as she could and had been able to assemble a loyal and capable team, in which they had grown the Shiso group to one of the main securities providers to the biggest companies in Japan. All the praise had to go to them.

For this reason, you were hesitant to agree to this meeting. Isamu Ryomen was known to be a ruthless and calculating businessman. You knew that while an acquisition or merger might make sense at some point, and Ryomen inc. made sense to do it with, she did not want someone else to come in and change the dynamic of the company. You had to think about the employees, they might want to come in and force you to do things differently, which was something you refused to do.

You walked over to the window, pulling out your phone. 2:08, her aunt and the Ryomen’s were late. Strange, but at least that would cut their time shorter. With a smile, you walked over to the small table in the office and sat down, scrolling on your phone. A sudden knock made you look up expectantly, until your best friend and VP Shoko Ieiri peeked her head in. “What’s this? Aunty Akane is late? Soo unlike her.” Walking in, she sauntered over to the table and sat down, sliding a folder over for you to look at.

“Right? It’s okay though, she knew I had only an hour so the later they are, the least time I’ll have to deal with Isamu and Sukuna,” you said happily while looking over the contracts Shoko had brought in. Ieiri looked at you quietly, amused at your attitude and how dense you could be sometimes. “Whoa! Hakari closed the Hofstay group contract? That is perfect, remind me to get him something, that’s the fifth deal he brings in this quarter.” Ieiri chuckled, getting up to pour herself a coffee, “Y/N, I’m sure you’d tell me if something is going on, but is there a reason why Isamu and Sukuna are coming so suddenly?” Leaning back in your chair, you hummed. “It was mainly aunt Akane’s doing. I’m sure it must have something to do with an acquisition or merger of some sort. I mean, it might make sense eventually but not really something I’m open to right now, so nothing is really going to happen,” looking back at your friend you smiled. “I’m just going to take the meeting for auntie, that’s all. Also, you will be in the meeting, so once the hour is up, you can remind me of some place we simply cannot be late to!”

Ieiri nodded, turning to look at you while she leaned against the counter. “Is there a reason why Sukuna is coming though? You said you haven’t seen him since high school, right?” With a huff, you put your forehead on the table. “That is what I cannot figure out. Last time I heard, he was in London, finishing up school and then working on the branch over there. It’s making me nervous that he’s included on this for some reason.”

Ieiri walked back towards the table, looking at you in wonder. “So, you were keeping tabs on him the whole time and you didn’t tell me!?” Shooting up, you looked at Ieiri’s annoyed face as you felt her face heat up. “N-no! It’s not like that, I just wanted to know how he was doing. After his mom passed, I did reach out many times but didn’t hear anything from him, so…I just wanted to make sure he was okay.” Ieiri’s eyes narrowed dangerously, which you took as a sign that she didn’t believe you. Looking at your phone, you checked your messages to see if your aunt had sent anything.

“You know, I half expected you guys to end up dating eventually. You were inseparable all up to high school and he would always take care of you.” “-he was just like my brother, our parents threw us together ever since we were born.” Ieiri laughed, throwing her head back in disbelief. “Oh Y/N, you’re too old to believe that still. It’s like you were his, not in a possessive way at all. But I guess in a way where it was you and him against the world.”

You looked at Ieiri quietly. She always had a way to bring out what you were really thinking. You had to admit that was why you were so nervous. You and Sukuna were inseparable all throughout your early years, always together thanks to your parents. It hurt you more than you cared to admit that he had stopped all contact with you once he had gone to school in London.

You always thought that you’d be in each other’s lives in some capacity. He had always protected you against kids that teased you and had stayed with you after your parents passed, but you noticed something in him had changed once his mother had passed. Before you could open that can of worms about feelings you had not sorted through in years, you heard another knock at the door. Ieiri and you quickly stood up as auntie walked in, followed by Isamu and Sukuna.

“Oh, my darling, I am so sorry we are late. Last minute delays but what we have to discuss shouldn’t take long!” The older woman heartily exclaimed. Rushing forward to greet her, you were already shaking your head, “No worries at all I understand.” Receiving one of her crushing hugs, you laughed while she patted your back lightly. Once she let you go, she zeroed in on Ieiri, “Shoko! My lovely girl!”

Turning to look back at Isamu and Sukuna, you smiled at the two men as you headed over to them, trying to contain your fluttering heart at the sight of Sukuna after so long. He was taller and more muscular. The same crimson eyes you remembered and the pink hair you loved so much. Before they could think of you as a creep, you bowed in greeting. “Sir, it’s great to see you. You as well Sukuna, I’m glad you are doing well.” Looking back at them, you could feel the frostiness oozing out of them. You were used to Isamu’s lack of emotion, but Sukuna’s smile did not reach his eyes. “Y/N, as I’ve told you before, there is no need for formalities. It is good to see you, I trust everything is well. With the company and yourself?” Said the older man in his usual bored tone. “Y-yes, running the company takes a lot of my time but everything is well. The company had an impressive quarter, but it’s all thanks to the employees really. Our newest hire, Hakari has been a great asset, were very lucky that he decided to come work here as I know he had a few offers.” At the mention of the other man’s name, Sukuna finally really looked at you. For some reason, he looked upset at the mention of Hakari’s name.

Before you could dig into this information deeper, auntie’s voice rang out, “Alright Y/N, let’s begin, I know you’re busy, so we won’t take much of your time.” Turning to them, you saw Ieiri with a look of worry in her face. Before you were able to ask her what the issue was, Ieiri started heading out, “Y/N, I actually have to attend to another issue while you’re here. We do have another meeting after this so I will come by for you so we can take care of that. Sir, it’s good to see you. Sukuna, good to see you too.” Both men bowed to Ieiri as she walked out and closed the door behind her.

“Um, I know auntie said that there was something we needed to discuss so please,” you said, directing everyone to the small sofa and chairs next to the window, “could I get anyone anything?” Isamu and auntie took the chairs, you noticed, forcing you to sit next to Sukuna in the small couch. Hoping you could busy herself with preparing coffee or tea for anyone, you were dismayed when everyone declined.

You cursed herself when you sat next to Sukuna, thinking you should have listened to Ieiri when she told you to buy a bigger couch. The small couch had their bodies basically pressed next to each other and you could feel the heat radiating from Sukuna’s large body. You were unnerved at the way Sukuna was acting. You understood that things might have changed once his mother passed, but you had tried to be there for him the way he had been for you. He had hardly said a word to you since arriving.

Isamu’s voice broke you from her reverie. “Y/N, you have been running Shiso group for five years now and doing an incredible job at it. I must admit that after Minato and Hana’s untimely passing, I had my doubts at Akane’s decision to keep you at the helm. But I can admit when I am wrong, and you have done a splendid job.” With a small smile, all you could do was nod. Was Isamu here just to compliment you? The conversation was not making any sense so far.

“As you know,” Isamu continued, “the next step should be to grow your company even more. You can do this by ensuring to have the correct allies and right connections in our business. Which is why, with Akane’s approval, I’ve come to offer a merger of sorts.” As you were about to decline, Isamu uttered the words you would have never imagined. “I am aware that you are against any merger or acquisition of your company to anyone else from what Akane has told me, which I understand, but as I’ve mentioned, longevity in our business is about connections and alliances. For this reason, I want to offer a union of both our families and companies by having you marry my son.”

You felt as If you’d been punched. Feeling breathless, you quickly turned to Look at Sukuna. He obviously wanted nothing to do with you, as he had avoided any type of contact with you previously and he couldn’t even spare you a glance even with this revelation.

You noticed he did not seem surprised, so he must have known about this previously. Finding no answer there, you turned to look at your aunt, who at least had the decency of looking a bit flustered. Straightening in her chair, she turned to Isamu in a haste, “what is the meaning of this, we had discussed bringing the families together but agreed that I would speak to my niece about the marriage proposal first.”

Both looked at each other defiantly, daring the other to look away first. “Akane, I understand, but please understand me. Y/N’s parents where family to my late wife and I, Minato and I frequently spoke of how wonderful it would be if Sukuna and Y/N were to be married. It is unfortunate the children lost contact once they went to university, but it was to be expected. Y/N and Sukuna are now back home, and I would be remiss if I did not give them a push in the direction we had always wished for.”

You scoffed. Feeling the situation slipping out of your hands, you looked down at your hands, wringing them together. You could feel everyone’s eyes on you, even Sukuna, so before a panic attack could come on you softly spoke out. “Isamu, I am so thankful that you still find it in your heart to look out for me even after my father’s passing. An alliance as you say, is not something that I am opposed to so we can discuss that further if you’d like.”

Glancing up, Isamu’s face was as apathetic as ever. You hated how frantic your voice sounded but continued on, “I understand why you would want a union through marriage, b-but…I mean, I haven’t spoken to Sukuna for so long. We did grow up together and he will hold a special place in my heart always, but he might not want this or already have another…person.”

You did not know why you said all that. It was true, but in your frantic state had shared thoughts only Shoko was aware of as your best friend. Everyone was silent, apparently at your sudden outburst, when you heard Sukuna clear his throat beside you. “My father and aunty brought this up to me already Y/N. If this is something you agree to, I am in as well.”

You were at a loss for words. For more reasons you could even begin to process. Hearing his voice after so long made you feel flustered, remembering late night conversations, discussing some show you two would watch or his incessant teasing that always flustered you to no end. Did the first words you heard from him after so long have to be, “sure I agree with this business transaction?”

Sukuna looked at you expectantly, his crimson eyes focused on you. “I n-need…” and as if sensing your distress, a knock was heard at the door, opening to show Shoko peeking on and looking at you expectantly.

“I am so sorry everyone, but I really must steal Y/N now.” Standing up, you bowed to Isamu, “I have to get going, but please allow me some time to think about this.” Standing up, Isamu started walking towards the door. You thought he’d leave, but before exiting your office, he turned to look at you one last time, “I have no opposition to that, please let us know what you decide Y/N. Come, son.” And with a curt nod to you and Shoko, Sukuna followed his father out of your office. “Darling, we will talk tonight,” finished Akane, waving to Shoko and exiting the office as well.

Once she was sure they had all left, Shoko followed you to your desk and sat opposite you. “Did they really ask you to marry Sukuna?” Looking back at your friend in shock, you nodded. “Did aunty tell you?”

“She did mention it right before I had to leave. She did say she would be telling you herself, but from your face, it looks like Isamu dropped the bomb before she was able to.” You could only laugh, it didn’t matter if they would have told you separately, it was still a shock what they were offering. It was even more of a shock to know that Sukuna agreed to it. You did not know what you would do.

“Do we have anything right now or for the rest of the day?” Shoko looked at you and happily shook her head, “Nope! I was able to clear our schedules and the meeting we did have to go to, I was able to get Hakari to take it.” Sinking down on your chair, you let out a long sigh and rubbed your temples. “Thank god he works here, I’m sure he can eventually take over both our jobs,” you said jokingly as you ducked a pen Shoko threw your way. “But really, do you want to finish here and head out for a drink?” Shoko stood up and walked towards the door, looking back at you, and smiling, “of course, hurry up and finish then Miss CEO cause we’re getting hammered tonight.”

You walked through the doors of your favorite dive bar, looking for an open table in the back. Finding one, you quickly walked back to claim it, waving hello to the bartender on duty. “Hello Aoi, I will have a gin & tonic please!” You quickly slipped a couple of bills over; sure, this should cover the complete annihilation you were planning for Shoko’s and your liver tonight.

“Just you tonight?” Aoi asked as he slid over the drink. Taking a sip and smiling at the bitter taste washing down your throat, you shook your head, “Ieiri should be here any minute now, she just got stuck at the office finishing off some stuff.” With a wave, you headed over to the open table you had spotted earlier.

Taking your phone out, you were letting Shoko know where you were sitting when a familiar voice called your name. “Hey boss! What are you doing here alone?” Looking up, Hakari was walking towards the table. You smiled at the burly, pink haired man as he sat next to you. “Ieiri and I are meeting here but she’s held up at the office! She shouldn’t be long I think,” with a frown, she took a long swig of her drink.

Hakari laughed and stood up heading towards the bar, turning to look at you he called, “what’re you drinking? She can catch up to us while she gets here.”

A few minutes later, you felt as if your head was full of cotton. Looking at your watch, only about 30 minutes had passed, but you felt you had been drinking for hours. “Damn Hakari, what did you get us?"

With a laugh, Hakari threw the remnants of his drink back, slamming the glass on the table gleefully. “They’re just mules, but I figured you’d need something strong since I heard that Isamu came up for a meeting?”

Gesturing to Aoi for another round, you looked at Hakari and rested your cheek on your hand with a sigh. How much should you tell him? He was a trusted employee and you had found him to be a great friend ever since meeting him, and Shoko was taking longer than expected. You really wanted to talk about this with someone.

“That bad huh,” Hakari said, staring at you hard. With a laugh, you thanked Aoi for the drinks he had brought up and looked down at your hands. “I guess so. I’m sure you knew they were looking to buy us out and absorb us. No one expected us to grow so much the last year and it’s thanks to you!” She said, slapping a hand on his shoulder, not noticing Hakari’s blush at your action. Maybe the alcohol was stronger than you thought, “but surprisingly Isamu was looking for an alliance of sorts, I guess? Basically, not looking to bring me down just yet,” you finished with a snort.

Hakari stirred his drink with his straw, deep in thought. “I see. So, what kind of alliance was he looking for? I’m sure Businessmen like Isamu don’t make offers without an ulterior motive so it must come with some contingencies.”

You felt nervous for some reason. Hakari had always treated you with respect and as a real friend, so you didn’t know why you were so nervous telling him about the marriage proposal. “Well yeah, my aunt and Isamu want his son, Sukuna and I to get married.” A few moments of silence passed, and looking back at Hakari, you could see how he had stiffened at the mention of Sukuna’s name.

“Ryoumen Sukuna is ryoumen Isamu’s son?” you nodded, alarmed at the change in Hakari’s demeanor. You continued hastily, “it’s not like he’s some stranger. We did grow up together and spent pretty much all our lives together also. We just lost touch once we each went to university, b-but…”

Hakari turned to look at you, “well, what are you thinking of doing?” You were still grappling with the decision, trying to think of what the best course of action could be. “Even if you grew up together, do you know what he has been up to this whole time you have not spoken? He had quite the reputation with the employees at his father’s company. The employees as well as the secretaries.”

You were surprised, you figured that he must have surely dated during all this time. Sukuna was an attractive man and came from a well-off family. That made him a catch anywhere, still, it was surprising to hear from him that he had agreed to marry while dating someone else. “H-how do you know all this?” Crap, she could feel tears forming already, it had been a bad idea to come drink after receiving all these news.

“We went to the same university. That guy is a real dick, he doesn’t care about anyone else but himself,” Hakari said softly. Feeling bad at his outburst, he placed a hand over yours, “listen, you will choose what is best for you. But working for you and getting to know you so far, I’m sure you’re going to base this decision based on how it will affect everyone else in the company. Don’t do that, whatever you decide we’ll be fine, as long as our fearless leader is okay, we will be okay.” He finished with a smile, and he swiped a tear that had fallen down your cheek with his thumb.

With a weak laugh, you thanked him, dabbing at your eyes roughly with some napkins. “Thank you Hakari.” At that moment, someone cleared their throat and you looked up to see Shoko standing near the door with a murderous looking Sukuna behind her. “O-Oh hey guys! Hakari, I didn’t know you’d be here; this is Ryoumen Sukuna.” Shoko looked at you questioningly, then at Sukuna and Hakari who were staring daggers at each other. “Yeah, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him before.” Standing up, Hakari downed his drink and started heading over to the bar, waving at Shoko before turning to you, “think over what I mentioned Y/N and I will see you at the office tomorrow!”

Turning back to Shoko, you swallowed nervously, before looking up at Sukuna. “Can I get you guys anything? Did you guys bump into each other in your way here?” You tried to sound as calm as possible, but Sukuna’s piercing gaze made you feel you were 15 again, flustered, and shy.

“Erm- no. Y/N, I was heading over here and Sukuna was waiting downstairs for you, I let him know where we were meeting up and he came over with me.” She looked at Sukuna, who in turn, pulled out his wallet and handed a card to Shoko, “Ieiri, would you mind getting us some drinks, I need to talk to Y/N.” With a curt nod, Shoko stood up and headed over to Hakari, who was talking animatedly with Aoi. She motioned she’d be over in case anything was needed, and you tried to give the most reassuring smile possible.

It was silent for a while, until you couldn’t resist anymore. “So, you don’t speak to me for five years then suddenly your father says we should get married. And you’re fine with it?” You did not expect to come out so strong, but maybe the alcohol was not such a bad idea after all. “Y/N listen, I kn- “

“No Sukuna, I missed you during that time we were both away at school. I missed my best friend and then…” wiping away newly formed tears, you continued before you could lose your nerve. “Did…d-did I do anything to you? And then when your mother passed, I wanted to be there for y- “at that moment, he slammed his hand on the table, rattling the many glasses left behind by Hakari and you. “Listen you brat, I’m doing you a favor. My father planned to buy your company out and strip it, you think he’s going to do that to his son’s wife?” You listened to Sukuna’s harsh words, trying to process this new information.

“I don’t need your help.” Sukuna laughed at your words, rubbing his eyes in frustration, “you think your company stands any chance against him? What’s more, why are you being so difficult about this? It’s not like you have suitors lining up at your door to marry you, and don’t think I didn’t know about your little crush on me when we were younger, so this is a win-win for you in all aspects,” Sukuna finished angrily, picking up his drink and drinking it all in one go.

You were in shock and did not know what to even reply to his last comment. Wiping your tears roughly, you looked at him defiantly, “so I’m sure those feelings were never reciprocated then. Fine, what is the expectation here? You’re fine to marry someone you don’t love? And just live the rest of your life with someone you obviously can’t stand?”

Sukuna scoffed, and she continued, “besides, aren’t you dating someone already?” At this Sukuna’s head snapped up to look at you. If you hadn’t been drunk, his gaze would have made you squirm in your seat.

“You know brat, I learned a long time ago love doesn’t exist. You should start getting yourself used to that idea. Obviously if we were to get married, I will not stray if that has you worried, but again, you look like the type to romanticize everything so maybe this is not a good idea if you’re expecting anything from me,” he stood up, throwing on his jacket.

“Look at this as a business transaction and do it for the good of your company, if anything. You think your parents would enjoy seeing what a weak woman you’ve become?” Motioning over to Shoko, Sukuna turned to look Over at you, “think of your company, and give my father your answer soon. Dismantling companies is not a fast process.” And with that he sauntered off.

Shoko came over to you hurriedly and hugged you. “Can we please go home? I’m sorry, I know you just got here.” Nodding, she helped you up, and as they headed out, she turned to Hakari who was still in the bar and gave a small wave. He returned it with a tight-lipped smile, while Shoko walked you over to her car.

As they drove over to your apartment, Shoko looked over at you nervously. “What happened? You guys were fine but then he left, and you were crying.” You didn’t even know what happened yourself. The relationship that was there when you were both younger obviously wasn’t there anymore, but if he hated you as much as it seemed, why did Sukuna agree to marry you? More importantly, you couldn’t let someone else take you company. It would put in jeopardy all the employees and put her parents work at risk.

“Nothing Shoko, I’m sorry you know how I get when I’m drunk,” you tried to offer your most reassuring smile, but did not do such a great job. Shoko pulled up to your apartment and as you were getting off, she held you back. “You know you can tell me anything right?” With a smile, you leaned in to hug her, trying your best to reassure your friend.

“Thank you Ieiri, don’t worry, I will figure everything out,” with that, you stepped out and waved as Shoko drove away. The elevator to your floor seemed to take forever, but once inside your place, you quickly headed to your room and stripped down to your underwear, too tired in every possible way to put on some clothes.

Now that you were in bed, you could no longer sleep. As you thought of what to do, you couldn’t help but think back to your childhood, and Sukuna. He had been such an important part of it all, that what hurt you the most was that for some reason he seemed to hate you.

He would take care of you, when boys would try and mess with you, and in turn, after an inevitable fist fight happened, you would be there to clean up his wounds and bandage everything up.

You remembered when you went over to his house to say goodbye when he left for school. His parents gave them some privacy, sure some grand confession of love would be happening, but they could be no further from the truth.

“Make sure to call me! I know that you are going g to struggle with schoolwork!” Sukuna pushed your head lightly, playfully as you giggled. “Yeah, yeah brat. I don’t know how you’re going to manage without me as your bodyguard. THAT is what has me worried.” As you pouted at his comment, Sukuna laughed that laugh you loved, hearty and full of life. “Take care of yourself Y/N,” Sukuna said suddenly serious. Looking at him with a light blush, you couldn’t help but look away. You wondered if you should tell him, tell him how much you loved him and how much his company meant to you. You felt like you could be yourself around him and you hopped you had given him the same confidence and support he had always given you.

Your relationship had never been the most physical, but you could feel tears welling in your eyes. You threw your arms around him and hugged him as hard as you could, hanging off him due to the height difference. “Wh-what are you doing Y/N, get off you freak!” You sniffed loudly, holding onto him tighter. You felt Sukuna hum, and his hands hesitantly came up and around you. One on your waist and the other cradling your head.

“I’m going to miss you brat. Take care of yourself and I’ll see you when I’m back. You better call me too.” And at that moment you swore you felt the lightest pressure on top of her head, where you swore Sukuna pressed his lips, but before you could ruminate more about that, he let you go and stroking your cheek one last time, he walked over to his car, got on, and with a last wave drove away.

You turned to your side and pulled your knees up to your chest and hugged them tightly. Who were you kidding, you still loved Sukuna, and seeing him again had stirred all those emotions in you once more. Before you could lose your nerve, you grabbed your phone from the nightstand and typed a message to your aunt: sorry it’s so late aunty, but I’ve thought about this situation with the Ryoumen’s, and I made my decision. I will marry Sukuna

You had to protect your company and your employees, and you wanted to protect Sukuna as well. You knew that something had happened to him while he was away and if he was offering to do this, there had to be a reason why.

Hitting send, you closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, you woke with the biggest headache ever. Groaning, you turned to grab your phone, getting up to start getting ready to head to work. As you walked over to the bathroom, you noticed a message from aunty Akane. “Y/N, this will be great for you, I knew you and that boy were destined for each other! I’ve notified Isamu, so once you are heading to work, stop by their office so we can talk about arrangements!”

Groaning, you hopped on the shower to try and alleviate the headache. An hour later, you were driving over to the Ryoumen offices as your aunt had requested. As you parked and headed inside, you noticed how most of the employees would stare and whisper among each other, you figured they might know something.

As you finally arrived at reception to Isamu’s office, you waved hello to their assistant Uraume, and let him know you were expected. “Oh yes Miss! I will let them know; do you mind waiting a second?”

With a smile you sauntered over to the glass wall, looking outside the courtyard. You had always admired their office layout. With the open space, and bright colors, you had loved coming over with your father when you were younger and play in the courtyard. As you looked over to that side, you saw Sukuna and another woman, walking over. You had just seen Sukuna for a couple of days now, but this person was the farthest from the sulky and angry person you had been dealing with.

You couldn’t help but stare, the female was very pretty, with long blonde hair tied in a pretty braid and her figure-hugging dress clinging in all the right places. She held on to his arm, and while he did not reciprocate the touches, he did not move away from her as you would expect him to.

As they walked through the courtyard, Sukuna looked up and saw you waiting at his father’s office and walked over, with the usual frown in place. Seeing him head over, you walked over to Uraume who looked up and motioned you inside. Thanking him quietly, you were about to step through to the office when you heard Sukuna call your name.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?” Before you could burst into tear yet again, you smiled ruefully at him and walked over to the office door. “I came to give my answer.” Sukuna seemed surprised, which Uraume took advantage to cut in, “Sir, your father would actually like you to go in as well.” Not taking his eyes off you, he nodded and opened the door, ushering you in.

“Oh, my dear children!” Both of you were greeted by mizuna, Sukuna’s grandmother. Aunt Akane also rushed forward to hug the both of you. “My babies, you even arrived together. It is mean to be!” You greeted Mizuna and bowed to Sukuna’s father. “No aunty, I arrived alone, Sukuna was with someone else, and we just coincided in the lobby,” you quietly said, as you sat down in a small armchair, avoiding any opportunity of being forced to sit next to Sukuna yet again.

He sat in the couch next to you, yet you could still feel his anger radiating off him from your actions. “So, Y/N, Akane tells me that you have agreed to the marriage proposal. I am glad, my child. Is there anything you need from us?” You smiled and shook your head shyly. “Oh Y/N, we will make sure that you look stunning on your special day! It will be such a beautiful affair! I can’t believe I get to see the wedding of my only grandchild and to his childhood best friend! We will I invite everyone and- ““obachan,” you interrupted, “I am so thankful for your enthusiasm in this, but I would actually like to request something.”

Everyone looked at you expectantly, even Sukuna looked at you curiously. “I don’t want a big wedding, please. I just want to go to city hall and have a small ceremony with you three and my best friend Ieiri. And whoever Sukuna might want to invite as well.” Akane and Mizuna looked at you in disbelief, not understanding why you did not want to have a grand party to celebrate the union.

“Y/N please don’t take the opportunity to shower you with wedding gifts from me!” Aunt Akane exclaimed. You couldn’t help but laugh and shake your head, “please, this is all I really want. Of course, if Sukuna wants something different…” you finished quietly.

“I fine with whatever Y/N decides.” “Very well,” Isamu quietly replied, “shall we do this this Saturday? We can have dinner at our house after,” nodding, you bowed. As you were about to excuse yourself to return to work, Sukuna stood up and turned to you. Pulling out a small box from his pocket and opening it, he showed you a small ring. It was a thing gold band, with a row of small diamonds around it. It was small and elegant; you were besotted by it you couldn’t stop looking at it. “Do you want me to put it on or not you freak,” Sukuna muttered quietly.

Thrown off by the old nickname he often called you, you smiled and nodded slightly, offering your hand. Gingerly taking your hand, he slipped the ring on. They remained holding hands for a few second when they were broken out of their thoughts by Aunt Akane exclaiming, “well done my boy!” With a smile, you bowed once more to everyone, confirming the time to meet in city hall in a few days’ time and headed out.

As you walked to your car, you heard steps behind you, then Sukuna’s hand pulling your arm to turn you around. “Y/N, I wanted to say that-“cutting him off with a smile you laughed. “Sukuna, you always took care of me when we were growing up. Thank you but I think I can take care of myself from here on out.” Narrowing his eyes, Sukuna stiffened at your tone, “what is this supposed to mean?”

Opening the car door, you settled the door between Sukuna and yourself. “I think you were right, its best if I think of this as a business transaction and not something that can grow to more. This way now I can protect myself.” You could feel the fury radiating out of Sukuna, “Y/N, what are you talking about, huh?”

Sitting down inside your car, you closed the door as you lowered the window. “I think you’re right, why bother with an inane idea such as love. If you come to tolerate me eventually, I think that we can pull out a nice partnership out of this. Isn’t that what your father and you wanted?”

Sukuna leaned down to your eye level, “Y/N, what are you doing?” You couldn’t help but laugh, surprised that there was a modicum of concern in his voice. “Don’t worry about it Sukuna, I’ll see you in two days. You can invite that pretty girl from the courtyard if you want too! Alright see ya! I’ll be the one in white!” And with that you drove off, Sukuna’s form getting smaller in the distance, glad that you had been able to drive away before he could see the tears running down your face yet again.

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