Chase Brass – CSI - One hope for the future – Addendum III

If anyone out there has any interest in acquiring a leading brass and steel business, they may have a good opportunity here. Although steel is today a steal, this company cannot be “stolen” in the way most bottom fishers operate. See Yahoo Message Board -- Chase Brass, message 89.

I cannot be certain about Chase Brass, as I have not been keeping up with its nuts and bolts. If I were to advise anyone today who might be interested in acquiring this possible “gem in the rough;” I would suggest the following: Hire someone within the industry to do the due diligence. Hire another person who has no clue about this industry but has a Yiddisha kop, probably some God-fearing Christian like my friend Ron, realizing, however, you may have to deal with the chairman of AIG who could have his own ideas about the best utilization of Ron’s resourcefulness. This preferably gentile soul with a Yiddisha kop should keep track of the expert so that he/she doesn’t make any wrong turns.

[Melissa Grant, a financial analyst from Warburg Dillon Read who led the pack of 9 with “wrong turns” on the Revlon “make up chart” in the end also helped me through the really tight turns, as did my friend Harry and his dad.]

When the week is up, say an hour or two before Shabbat sets in, lock them in room together. Let them know that unless they arrive at the same conclusions they will have to enjoy the Sabbath together. One might view this style as being ultra-orthodox.

One other option is to find a man like Samson who certainly used to know a good deal when he saw one. Someone like Mr. Samson probably wouldn’t have to think twice about just calling up the top dog at Citicorp Ventures [CV] himself, but he too may think it would be smart to first run it by someone like my other friend Newell who understands the number thing too. I mentioned Chase in the past to a few select friends but those that appeared at first blush very serious were simply just getting their feet wet. By the way, this was never a deal that made sense for Leucadia National although things may have changed, but only as it relates to the fact that the price of Chase shares could have fallen to acceptable levels that would serve the best interests of Leucadia’s shareholders. Leucadia continues to have enough of the right stuff, making fewer mistakes than most.

The main hang-up with Chase Brass is that CV controls the deal. Nothing will happen unless they get taken out and they won’t do anything unless all the minority shareholders get their fair comeuppance. Now who would dream that a behemoth like Citicorp would be ever so sporting? Well it’s a little overwhelming to describe here, and again, Newell is the person to talk to if you want to move fast. As I have said, if peace proves right, there is going to be a lot of construction going on in the all the hot spots around the world, not just in Solana Beach, California.

Please note. I am not talking about the kind of construction that companies like Bechtal and Fluor provide well. I don’t see Chase benefiting that much from rebuilding dams, bridges, roads, military configurations that are part and parcel of the collateral damage caused by the hundreds of thousands of sorties flown over areas like Iraq just making sure that Sad-am remains a threat. Another company, however, that would probably benefit from real peace in the world is a company like Turner – check out their website below:

http://216.150.27.150/Framesets/openanim.htm

To really see the “make up” of their past chairman you will either have to meet him in person as I did at the opening for Sebastian Capella’s exhibition at the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles or, you could go check out E.T. “Bud” Gravette, Jr.’s portrait recently completed by Sebastian that has now been shipped to Turner’s offices in New York.