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related
Profiles
& Notes:

telecoms
bubble

Aust & NZ
telecoms

telco
privatisations

telco
mergers &
acquisitions

IPOs

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Equity
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Collectibles,
Prices,
Cultures

     food, beverages and agribusiness

This page provides some benchmarks for acquisitions and disposals during the telecommunication booms and busts of the past twenty years.

It covers -

• food
• beverage
• pet food
• studies

Fast-food M&A appears in the hospitality page later in this note.

     food

Recent food sector landmarks include -

• Mars buys Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company for US$23bn in 2008
• Campbell Soup agrees to sell its Godiva Chocolatier unit to Yildiz Holding for US$850m in 2007
• Ralcorp agrees to acquire Kraft Foods' Post cereals arm for US$1.65bn in 2007
• McCormick agrees to buy Lawry's business from Unilever
  for US$605m in 2007
• San Miguel sells National Foods to Kirin for $2.8bn in 2007
• Groupe Danone agrees to buy Royal Numico for US$16.8bn in 2007
• J&F Participacoes SA agrees to buy Swift & Co for US$1.42bn from HM Capital Partners in 2007
• Nestlé agrees to buy Gerber Products from Novartis for US$5.5bn in 2007
• Kraft Foods sells hot cereal business (inc Cream of Wheat) to B&G Foods for US$200m in 2007
• Wm. Wrigley agrees to buy 80% of Russia's A. Korkunov for US$300m in 2007
• Premier Foods pays £2bn for RHM in 2006
• Perfetti van Melle agrees to buy Chupa Chups for €400m in 2006
• Nestlé agrees to buy Jenny Craig for US$600m in 2006
• HJ Heinz agrees to sell its European seafood business to Lehman Bros for US$507m in 2006
• Royal Numico agrees to buy East Asiatic's nutrition businesses
  for €1.2bn in 2005
• Bain Capital, Carlyle and Thomas H Lee acquire Dunkin' Brands (Dunkin' Donuts) from Pernod Ricard for US$2.4bn in 2005
• HJ Heinz buys HP Foods Group from Groupe Danone for US$820m in 2005
• San Miguel buys National Foods for $1.9bn in 2005
• Burns Philp sells international yeast, herbs and bakery business to Associated British Foods for £730m in 2004
• Burns Philp buys Goodman Fielder for $1.9bn in 2003
• Nestle buys Ralston Purina for US$10.3bn in 2001
• Monsanto sells edible gum business for US$685m in 2000
• Unilever sells European sauces business to Campbell Soup for £633m on 2000
• Philip Morris acquires Nabisco Holdings for US$14.9bn in 2000
• Unilever buys Ben & Jerrys for £200m in 2000
• Diageo sells Pillsbury to General Mills for US$10bn in 2000
• Unilever acquires Slim-Fast for US$2.3bn in 2000
• PepsiCo buys Quaker Oats for US$13.4bn in 2000
• Unilever acquires Bestfoods for US$24bn in 2000

Deals in the 1990s included -

• Clorox buys First Brands for US$2bn in 1999
• Unilever buys Amora-Maille in 1999
• Unilever sells National Starch, Crosfields, Quest International for £4.9bn in 1997
• Grand Metropolitan pays £1.8bn for Pet, Inc in 1995
• Unilever spins off United Africa Company in 1994
• Unilever buys Breyers icecream in 1993
• Kraft General Foods buys Jacobs Suchard for US$4.1bn in 1993

Historic events include -

• Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts US$24bn LBO of RJR Nabisco in 1989
• Grand Metropolitan buys Pillsbury in 1989
• Philip Morris buys Kraft for US$13bn in 1988
• Nestle acquires Rowntree for £2.5bn in 1988
• Unilever buys Brooke Bond tea in 1984
• Beatrice acquires Esmark for US$2.7bn in 1984
• Green Giant merges with Pillsbury in 1979
• Unilever buys National Starch for US$483m in 1978
• BSN merges with Gervais Danone in 1973
• Unilever buys Lipton Tea in 1971
• General Mills buys Red Lobster in 1970
• Pillsbury buys Burger King in 1967
• Ling buys Wilson Meat Packing for US$225m in 1967
• Unilever buys Rosella Foods (est 1896) in 1963
• Procter & Gamble buys Folgers coffee in 1963
• Unilever buys Good Humor ice cream in 1961
• Unilever buys McNivens Ice Cream in 1959
• United Biscuits formed through merger of McVitie & Price and McFarlane Lang in 1948
• Lever Bros merges with Margarine Unie as Unilever in 1930
• Margarine Unie acquires the French-Dutch Calvé-Delft group
• Margarine Unie acquires Hartog in 1929
• Washburn Crosby, Red Star, Sperry, Kalispel and Larrowe merge as General Mills in 1928
• N.V. Margarine Unie acquires Anton Jurgens' Vereenigde Fabrieken and Van den Bergh's Fabrieken in 1927
• Lever Bros buys Walls in 1922
• Abram Lyle & Sons merges with Henry Tate & Sons as Tate & Lyle in 1921

     beverage

Recent beverage sector landmarks include -

• Scottish & Newcastle agrees to US$15.4bn takeover by Carlsberg and Heineken in 2008
• SABMiller agrees to pay €815m for Dutch brewer Grolsch in 2007
• San Miguel sells James Boag to Lion Nathan for $325m in 2007
• SABMiller and Molson Coors merge US operations in 2007
• Coca-Cola pays US$4.1bn for Energy Brands (Glacéau)(est 1996) in 2007
• Coca-Cola buys Fuze Beverages for US$250m in 2007
• Brown-Forman buys Casa Herradura for US$876m in 2006
• Molson-Coors sells 68% of Kaiser to FEMSA for US$68m in 2006
• Cadbury Schweppes sells European beverages unit to Lion Capital and Blackstone Group for €1.85bn in 2005
• Adolph Coors merges with Molson in 2005 in US$6bn deal
• Diageo pays Pernod Ricard €300m for Bushmills in 2005
• Pernod Ricard acquires Allied Domecq for US$13bn in 2005
• Fosters buys Southcorp for $2.5bn in 2005
• Interbrew and AmBev merge in US$11.4bn deal in 2005
• SABMiller pays US$7.8bn for Grupo Empresarial Bavaria in 2005
• Fomento Economico Mexicano buys Panamerican Beverages for US$3.6bn in 2004
• Constellation Brands buys Robert Mondavi for US$1.36bn in 2003
• Constellation pays US$1.1bn for BRL Hardy in 2003
• Philip Morris merges Miller Brewing with South African Breweries in US$5.6bn deal in 2002
• Molson buys Kaiser (Brazil) for US$765m in 2002
• Southcorp pays $1.5bn for Rosemount in 2001
• Coca Cola buys juice company Odwalla for US$186m in 2001
• Hicks Muse sells Mumm and Perrier-Jouët to Allied Domecq for £346m in 2000
• Tata buys Tetley Tea for £271m in 2000
• PepsiCo buys Quaker Oats for US$13.4bn in 2000
• Groupe Danone pays US$1.1bn for McKesson Water in 2000

Landmarks prior to 2000 include -

• Quaker Oats sells Snapple to Triarc for US$300m in 1998
• Seagram sells Tropicana to PepsiCo for US$3.3bn in 1998
• Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merge as Diageo in £24bn deal in 1997
• Quaker Oats buys Snapple for US$1.7bn in 1994
• Bacardi pays US$2bn for Martini & Rosso in 1993
• Guinness buys La Cruz Del Campo for £518m in 1990
• Grand Metropolitan buys Pillsbury for £3.2bn in 1989
• Guinness buys Schenley Industries for US$555m in 1987
• Grand Metropolitan buys Heublein Inc. from RJR Nabisco for £800m in 1987
• Bond pays US$1.3bn for G. Heileman Brewing in 1987
• Guinness buys Distillers Co for £2.5bn in 1985
• Bond pays $1.2bn for Castlemaine-Toohey's in 1985
• Allied Breweries buys Showerings for £108m in 1968

     pet food

Petfood sector landmarks include -

• Del Monte agrees to buy Milk-Bone dog treats from Kraft Foods for US$580m in 2006
• Del Monte agrees to buy cat food maker Meow Mix for US$705m in 2006
• Mars buys 56% of Royal Canin for US$696m

     agribusiness

Agribusiness M&A landmarks include -

• Bunge agrees to acquire Corn Products for US$4.4bn in 2008
• Smithfield Foods agrees to acquire European meats business of Sara Lee for US$614m in 2006
• merger of Tyson Foods and IBP (Iowa Beef Processors) in 2003
• HM Capital and Booth Creek Management buy Swift from ConAgra for US$1.23bn in 2002
• Smithfield Foods buys Murphy Family Farms in 2000
• Cargill buys Continental Grain for US$1bn in 1999
• Tyson Foods merges with Hudson Foods in 1998

     studies

A supplementary note points to other studies on M&A in the finance sector and to the history of individual enterprises, such as Renewing Unilever: transformation and tradition (Oxford: Oxford Uni Press 2005) by Geoffrey Jones.

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