When Ross Johnson was nearly 40 years old, the man who was about to become a business model in the Reagan era was still unknown. A headhunting company became a turning point in Johnson's life. With this opportunity, he suddenly became the president of a famous company, and then annexed the Beske company and rose to the top. The road to success is unrepeatable. Does Johnson rely on natural intelligence or speculation? Some people interpret Johnsonism like this: "Success comes from opportunity, and action needs no plan." Johnson is a mixture of hell angel and modern capital.
chapter two
Swallow Reynolds (RJR)! Johnson completed the merger of RJR and Na Beske in 1985, and became the president of RJR Na Beske Company in 1986. The old Winston Salem was completely changed by Johnson.
chapter three
Johnson, like a speeding Ferrari, will not stop in the crowded parking lot in Winston-Salem, and this Ferrari is equipped with a cash flow of $65.438+$200 million from ——RJR Tobacco Company, which is the largest engine in the United States. Johnson moved the company headquarters to Atlanta.
chapter four
Mergers and acquisitions are the survival way of Wall Street. Losing, winning or drawing can bring a lot of expenses: consulting fees, divestiture fees, loan funds and so on. All these promoted the vigorous development of Wall Street in 1980s, and M&A fees in turn promoted the prosperity of the securities industry. Wall Street was caught in the M&A craze, and RJR soon became a shooting range for traders. Ross Johnson is tired of working for others. He wants to control the board of directors, so "why not privatize the company?" Buying a company has been put on the agenda.
chapter five
Leveraged buyout company-Kohlberg-kravis (KKR)
Chapter vi
Hilsen's leveraged buyout plan hit it off with Ross Johnson.
Chapter VII
When Bill Liss, the public relations director of RJR· Na Beske Company, announced the news of leveraged buyout at a press conference, the whole Atlanta exploded! The headquarters building is surrounded by crowds of news media. We should know that the leveraged buyout of $65.438+07.6 billion will be the largest corporate buyout in history so far! This is not only the biggest news in the local area, but also the biggest news in the world that year. Kohlberg-kravis (KKR), Solomon and First Boston, the leveraged giant shark, smelled the fishy smell and gathered in RJR Na Beske. 75 dollars a share is too cheap! Johnson is robbing the company. RJR· Na Beske is surrounded by wolves, and fat will never be swallowed by one person!
Chapter VIII
Bidding is just around the corner. Hilsen is more wary of the $75 bid, because almost every investment bank on Wall Street is watching it, and competition is inevitable. The last thing you should forget is kravis. The talks between Peter Kern and kravis failed to reach an agreement, and neither side showed weakness. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Kohlberg-kravis intends to acquire York Na Beske Company at a high price of $90 per share.
Chapter 9
Junk bonds are like addictive drugs, which can make a small buyer engage in a huge acquisition plan, thus changing the fate of these unknown small buyers in the acquisition. Junk bonds are constantly expanding. Once the economy turns around, it will be unable to repay a mountain of debts, and investors will have nothing. Ted Faustmann hates junk bonds, while kravis uses junk bonds the most. Faustmann is angry with kravis. Hilsen has no outstanding talent in leveraged buyouts. This is Faustmann's chance, and he won't miss it.
Chapter 10
Kravis's bid made Cohen's nightmare come true, and also made Johnson and his "happy man" hope of getting rich go up in smoke. But unlike Johnson, Cohen never considered surrender, which is not his character.
Chapter 1 1
Cohen and kravis's troops lined up for battle. Kravis is supported by drexel Merrill Lynch and junk bonds, and Hilsen cooperates with Salomon. Both sides are mobilizing all forces to compete in strategy and financing.
Chapter 12
Before bidding, the due diligence review of leveraged buyout buyers began. In this link, Johnson and Cohen hold all the cards. They can not only get any confidential information, but also get help from the management team. Kravis's due diligence yielded nothing, and he was excluded from the information. As far as Johnson knows, Faustmann's bidding team has no chance at all.
Chapter 13
Johnson's management agreement and the "golden parachute plan" angered employees and shareholders, and the greed of these insiders deeply stung the nerves of people who hated leveraged buyouts. "What's the difference between what Johnson did and armed robbery?" The special committee of the board of directors drew up a set of formal bidding principles and listed the procedures of three groups-Johnson, kravis and Faustmann. All parties calculated to bid, and finally Faustmann withdrew from the bidding.
Chapter 14
Third party participation. The First Boston Company did not want to be excluded from the acquisition of RJR· Na Beske Company, but also participated in the bidding.
Chapter 15
First bid: Johnson is a shoo-in However, at the last moment when the First Boston Company quit halfway, the situation changed dramatically. The Special Committee could not ignore the third party's bid and extended the deadline by one week.
Chapter 16
The second round of bidding: bidding activities are in full swing. First, Boston was overwhelmed by fund-raising, while Johnson kravis was angry at the decision of the Special Committee and was trying to figure out the other side.
Chapter 17
Kravis overtook Johnson with a bid of $65,438+006 per share and won the second round of bidding. However, since the Special Committee allows the second round of bidding, why can't there be a third round of bidding?
Chapter 18
The ultimate winner
End of movement
The founders of RJR and Na Beske will never understand what happened here. R.J. Reynolds and Adolphus Green may ask: Why do these people care so much about the data in the computer instead of the products of the factory? Why are they so keen on dissolving a company instead of setting it up? What does all this have to do with business spirit?
Translator's postscript