Lady Macbeth Strategy

Sometimes (we think as we chuckle to ourselves in our corner office at Avidity, Inc.)...everything just falls into place. We’ve had our eye on an acquisition target for a while—a small, unassuming bakery chain called Wholly Cannolis—and we’ve just received the most excellent news that another would-be acquirer, Skwinty Enterprises, has them in their sights as well.

Nobody likes Skwinty Enterprises. They’re greedy and rude, and when they acquire a company, they often break it up and sell it for parts like it’s an old Pinto. Wholly Cannolis knows this and they’re scared, which is perfect for us, since it gives us the opportunity to employ a Lady Macbeth strategy: we’ll come in as a friend and act all caring and concerned. We’ll befriend Wholly Cannolis, maybe even acting as a white knight to help them avoid being taken over by Skwinty. Then, just when Wholly Cannolis thinks it’s safe, we’ll join forces with Skwinty and bid that silly little bakery chain right out of existence. Bwahahaha, they’ll never even know what hit them.

Of course, Lady Macbeth strategies are super rare and have a slim-to-none chance of working, especially in the age of information and public disclosure. We run a really high risk of our Shakespearean plot being discovered before it even gets off the ground. But even if Wholly Cannolis isn’t as trusting as the King of Scotland was in Macbeth, it’s a chance we’re willing to take if it means we can make a profit.