Rob Kindler, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, on Friday moderated a panel on the role of the media in M&A at the Tulane Corporate Law Institute conference in New Orleans. Before starting the panel, Kindler shared with the audience his list of the “Top Ten Moves of the Year.”

Kindler, who also spoke at the conference last year, started off the list with a light-hearted comment:

1. Asking Kindler back to Tulane

2. $2 a share for Bear Stearns, with a one-year JP Morgan guarantee and no chance for stockholder approval

3. Sovereign wealth funds investing in financial institutions before Bear Stearns meltdown

4. Take-Two trying to award stock to management after getting take-over proposal

5. Dow Jones not getting Murdoch to pay more than initial bid

6. Jana and SAC trying to get TD Ameritrade to buy E-Trade when it was $30 a share

7. Sallie Mae not taking $50 a share revised bid and just “getting the #$&% out of there”

8. Agreeing to a reverse break-up fee – and then seeking specific performance

9. Client #9

10. Giving bridge loans at 10x leverage with no covenants

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty)
(PHOTO: Reuters)