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Enron Mail |
As most of you know, we have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with
Equilon on this project. Joe Richards will call a "kick-off" meeting on this deal for next Wednesday, and at that time, we will begin dividing up due diligence assignments and areas of responsibility. In my view, we will learn a lot in the first two or three weeks of due diligence about our ultimate chances for closing this transaction. Three big areas we will need to get a handle on are: (1) The dollar magnitude of the environmental responsibilities we would be taking on; (2) The quality/condition of Equilon's real property (ROW) records; and (3) Any major commercial/business/contractual issues surrounding this deal. "Disclosure" is an important concept in this process. If the deal moves forward and we become more confident of closure, we will, at some point, have to make some sort of announcement to the public about this transaction. We DON'T want to do this now, or any time in the near future, because the deal is too uncertain/tentative at this particular juncture and we do not to say anything that could prove misleading. Equilon has sent out a verbal notice to their field supervisors that they are in exclusive talks with a potential buyer (us). At our request, they have not identified EOTT as the potential purchaser. If they were to identify us at this point, and if word were to get out "on the street" about this pending deal, we might be forced into making some sort of premature disclosure, and we don't want that. Accordingly, it is imperative that we all keep as quiet about this deal as possible (for now) and that we not discuss it in any shape/form/fashion with anyone outside of our company (other than our lawyers), or with anyone inside of EOTT who does not "need to know." In particular, we have to make a concerted effort to make sure that "our" field people don't start talking with" their" field people about this deal. There is always some degree of leakage in these matters, but we must do our best to minimize it----so we will not have to disclose this deal until we are ready. Please advise if there are any questions, and please share these thoughts, as and when appropriate, with the appropriate people within your respective groups. Thanks. SWD
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