Tessa has been thinking. Perhaps something important has passed...

Tessa has been thinking. Perhaps something important has passed us by. There is always a reason for an action.

Last year, Hayden Wallace was appointed to the board. An excellent appointment...as Rothbard has observed, he is a NSW director which will surely be useful as we expand into that state.

But is there more than has met our eyes going on here? Hayden has his own (unlisted) enterprise operating in NSW in the same industry... “Safe Directions”, a young (2012) firm still developing, like us. We are given to understand (on his bio on the Saferoads website) that it provides “complementary” products to what Saferoads provides. But it seems to me there is considerable overlap...a barrier is a barrier.

So...why would Hayden want to join the board of a soon to be competitor? And why would Darren welcome a competitor onto the board?

Tessa wonders if Darren and Hayden have formed a mutual understanding that there may be value to both companies in a merger down the track. Once Saferoads is more established in NSW, the synergies resulting from such a merger would seem very attractive. Both businesses seem a little small at present and could benefit from upscaling. It could be a win/win scenario.

Tessa wonders...have Darren and Hayden speculated along these lines? Is this the background to Hayden’s appointment? Otherwise, why would Hayden bother? Unless he was aware that Saferoads and Safe Directions may become partners in due course, and not competitors?

Such a development might be an exciting prospect.

Perhaps Tessa has been thinking too much on her daily walks, and is becoming overly imaginative. Still, she finds it hard to understand why Hayden would join us if something of that ilk wasn’t being contemplated.