Cox had a number of financial objectives.
The first was to double the size of the company every five years. The second was to reserve the family’s economic ownership of Cox.
The firm’s initial public offering of Cox’s equity in 1995 had allowed Cox to expand via acquisition, but CEI did not want its ownership interests further diluted.
To ensure that their interests as management were consistently aligned with those of the other shareholder, the family considered it appropriate to maintain a supermajority stake in conjunction with their control of the firm.
This preference constrained the amount of equity financing Cox could undertake, as any equity issuance would have reduced the percentage ownership of CEI.
Finally, there was a reluctance to increase the leverage of the firm, as discussed below.