The first was to acquire subsidiaries individually, finding the right opportunities and methods to bring these business segments into the fold one by one.
The second was to target the parent company's stock, nibbling away and then swallowing it whole by buying up shares bit by bit.
The former was about acquiring blocks of business.
The latter was a continuous thread of acquisition.
However, neither of these two methods was easy.
For the former, even if the parent company was willing to sell, they would certainly start by offloading their poorly performing brands.
As for the latter, in the capital markets, the moment you made a move and your intent to acquire was exposed, the stock price would likely skyrocket. The amount of capital needed to secure a controlling stake could very well multiply several times over.
What's more, money wasn't even the most important factor.
