ruracio: IPO comes home

With the eldest daughter a certified spinster and having a last born son clearly unable to figure out this love thing, my parents decided to cash in on the only remaining asset, my second born sis, a true measure of the benefits of diversified investment options. Of course, the eldest sibling and myself (being born and bred in the city) voiced our reservations regarding the disposal (considering that we had to raise additional capital to fund the process) but clearly no spoilt urban brats would stand in the way of the biggest payday for the folks.

As the happy couple are away in Obama land, the onus was on the dude's parents to visit our residence and clear the air on what happened to our daughter. So this past Saturday, we hosted an entourage of "Libyan investors" bearing gifts from afar (actually a supermarket along Jogoo Road). In preparation, my mom had lined up a first XV complete with the same number of subs, and the scrum (negotiatiators) had meet long in advance outlining their list of shareholder demands.

Saturday's affair went as follows: All were treated to a sumptous feast, an invited preacher delivered a long sermon, the families were introduced by name, the negotiation teams went into the living room to thrash out the details, sodas were then produced, and final prayers sent the guests home at night.

Now due to the afore mentioned reasons, I was not allowed anywhere near the consensus talks. But intimate sources reveal that the visitors had expressed gratitude on the warm reception, and after outlining their motives which did not raise opposition, proceeded to leave a 'female goat' behind as a sign of their commitment. A initial listing price was then agreed regarding the number of shares (goats), and the visitors also took a list drawn up of other 'licence requirements' necessary for completion of the deal, to be paid during the next meeting.

So is going public a viable option? Of course the advantages are numerous. The two families stand to gain in terms of social status and networks (I definately think our family will gain more than our fair share) and there's also the circulation of capital in the local economy (we gave our hard earned money, which fed the guests, who had carried gifts, which were shared out among my mom's friends who had worked hard to prepare for the day, and in the local where my dad and his friends would reflect on the new venture). Sadly though, I'm yet to see how I'll be compensated for the emotional trauma of losing a sister :-(