Cerberus’ timing was clearly not very good with its Chrysler acquisition in Q3 2007.
And Steve Feinberg, Cerberus co-founder, admitted this when he told the New York Times “we were too optimistic on timing. Maybe what we should have done was not bought it.”
So far, they have lost $6bn of their original $7.4bn investment. But the interview makes clear that their mistakes were not just due to timing, or over-optimism at the top of the 2003-7 credit bubble. They are also a warning sign of how new influences are starting to shape the investment landscape in the ‘new reality’.
Steve Lewandowski of Total Chemicals wisely pointed out to the blog recently that Political, Environmental, Societal and Technology (PEST) issues are moving up the agenda around the world. The blog shares his view that careful study of these should be high on the list, when companies look at producing SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses.