At first glance, the merger of Newell and Rubbermaid seems very attractive. Newell had a proven track record of acquiring companies and turning them around to deliver shareholder value. Since the 1960s, Newell had made over 35 strategic acquisitions of commodity producing manufacturing firms with low operating margins. Acquisitions usually added to shelf space, increase supplier power and rounded out Newell’s ‘good, better, best’ multiproduct offering. Also, acquired companies were typically market leaders.
Rubbermaid was one of the most recognized brands in the world, known for its innovative products and marketing. It also seemed that there was potential for synergies, especially if one looked at the customer base and distribution channels of the two firms. But the $5B acquisition of Rubbermaid would be their largest till date, and question to ask would be can Newell turn the company around to ensure higher margins and ROI within a targeted period of time?
We can analyse the various synergies that could be achieved from this merger using the Eccles-Lane-Wilson Framework in Exhibit 1.
No doubt the aim of the acquisition would be to ‘Newellize’ Rubbermaid- If we were to assume that Newell would expect to make major changes in the first two years to achieve cost savings and increase revenues, we would have to assume that Newell would achieve synergies across cost and revenues right from the get go. Given that revenues of $2.4B and net income of $142M, and administrative
Lowe’s should expand its business into Canada, but should not acquire or takeover of Rona because the company would not enter in the Canada at first time, it has already run 34 stores in the Canada. In the case of enter into new market, acquire or takeover of parent company would be an appropriate option, but if the company already run in a market, then acquire or takeover of a large company would not appropriate for the business (Besanko, Dranove, Shanley & Schaefer, 2009). Acquisition and takeover of the company required lots of funds and finance, so renew efforts to acquire Rona decision
Siam Cement’s offer to purchase an initial order of 200 units at $9,000 per unit, would lead to a net profit of $200,000. While this immediate cash influx may seem advantageous in the short term, it will not offset yearly operational expenses of $250,000 (See Exhibit 1). Additionally, accepting Siam Cement’s offer would position Rubbertech as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). This decision could impede potential growth that would far exceed the offer that is currently on the table. If Rubbertech does not accept Siam Cement’s offer, they can seize a part of
This case study examines the proposed merger of Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta both providers of construction aggregates. A stock-for-stock merger had the potential of making the company a global leader in construction materials, but was marred by disagreements over executive succession, location of new headquarters and the stock exchange proposed by Martin Marietta. Furthermore, as negotiations deteriorated Martin Marietta attempted a hostile takeover of Vulcan and also tried to get its directors appointed to
The team will continue to spearhead this effort making concessions for team synergies and roadblocks. This effort may also require the participation of the Digital and Chief Marketing Officer (Walgreens At the Corner of Happy and Healthy Newsroom) to ensure brand recognition and a marketing strategy for this launch. Action plans include identifying what brand the merged organization will be identified as for both employees internally and customers externally. In addition implementation plans will need to be developed to ensure the synergy occurs within the 2 year timeframe. Representatives from each functional area will need to be included to ensure buy-in to the new structure and alignment. Using the newly created operating processes and procedures each function can identify the means for integration and implementation in their respective
According to the researchers the increased value results from an opportunity to utilize a specialized resources which arises solely as a result of the merger (Jensens & Ruback, 1983; Bradle, Desai and Kim , 1983). For creating operational and financial synergies managers believe that two enterprises will be worth more if merged than if operates as two separate entities. Thus, the two companies, A and B:
Lowe’s Company has been in business for over 60 years. The company is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world and employs more than 215,000 employees. The company’s home base is Mooresville, North Carolina. Standard & Poor ranks Lowe’s as #48 . Presently, Lowe’s stock, which is identified on the New York Stock Exchange as LOW, is selling for right under $20 a share. This price has been consistent and is comparable to their biggest competitor Home Depot, Inc whose stock has remained steady at $23.
After acquiring, Newell would get the service level of each business to their standards as fast as possible to make sure that these businesses do not damage its reputation. Thus association of brand name to Newell highly enhanced the individual companies inside Newell’s portfolio to be of good service and fast distribution. Other than these factors, the acquisition of different companies might bring in different skills and synergies to complementing goods such as production knowledge and complementary assets. Companies that produce complementary products are able to know what exactly to produce that would suit their customers, while companies producing differentiated products of the same category would be able to learn from each other to produce better products for each customer segment. Companies of similar nature are also consolidated and the plants upgraded to increase manufacturing efficiency which will benefit these companies in the cost aspect.
CEO John McDonough decided on making acquisition of Calphalon and Rubbermaid, which influent shareholders’ confidence.
The reduction of overhead cost by combining operations of the two companies as a single corporate entity could lead to significant cost saving, an increase in profit or revenue per employee (Buckley and Casson, 1996). For example, by the elimination of duplicate resources/branch such as IT facility and integration of some of its stores into Sainsbury outlets. Argos can meet its goal to improve Universal appeal while providing for a lean cost base. The acquisition could lead to faster growth, due to the possibility of broader market network integration (Bodislav and Iovitu, 2014). This may include the ability of Argos customers to benefit from Sainsbury’s food stores at a discounted price and collection of orders made at Argos stores at local Sainsbury stores. Thus, bringing Argos stores into Sainsbury stores will accelerate its strategy for achieving a larger product range, choices, and faster service delivery. In this regard, the acquisition deal is positive as the parent deal shares similar values ‘whenever, wherever they want to shop’. However, such integration resulting from the acquisition could also affect the efficiency of business operation due to differences in organisational structure and culture (Bodislav and Iovitu, 2014). Restructuring can be very expensive, time-consuming, and quite often creates new organisational problems because it takes time for
The company that I have chosen for this assignment and project is Lowe 's Companies, Inc. Lowes strongly focuses on the mission statement “helping the customers to improve their homes”. The company started in 1921 as a small store in North Carolina. Great success and high demand of Lowe’s products led to an increase in the number of stores. By 1955, there were five more functional stores. Rapid growth took place around 1960s. Carl Buchan was one of the founders of Lowe’s, who died in year 1960. Exactly a year later in 1961, the company went public. This was the time when Lowe’s was given its name. Initially it was called North Wilkesboro Hardware Company. By 1979, Lowe’s established more than 50 stores in the United
Moreover, Calphalon to Newell’s Housewares separation generates value for Newell by spreading its influence into the non-mass commodities market. This approach permits Newell to deal a superior product with solid brand appreciation without cannibalizing present cookware at mass retailers. By obtaining a company that has essential capabilities in the great end retail section, Newell is separating out into non-drenched markets where products haven’t reached
The biggest way it has achieved this profitability is through a cost leadership method. It has acquired well over 30 businesses since going public in 1972. These companies typically manufacture low technology, non-seasonal, noncyclical, non-fashionable products. These companies were usually being run inefficiently and were underperforming. Usually, the reason behind this was that the companies faced such high operating costs. However, these products are kept on the shelves of volume retailers year after year. After acquiring these companies, Newell puts them through a streamlining process that focused on efficiency and profitability. By comparing the company’s income statements to that of Newell’s, it is able to cut costs according to where it found misaligned cost structures. Every company it acquires goes through this process, known as “Newellization”. This process seeks to raise operating margins, and with the reduction of costs and increases in efficiency and profitability, Newell’s strategy has been able to widen its value
The recession in late 2007 affected Herman Miller like that of other companies in this same industry. Herman Miller was able to come out of this better than most of because of measures taken in earlier recessions. Herman Miller was able to earn $152.3 million on $2.01 billion in sales in 2008. The 2010 sales had fell $700 million and earnings were down $124 million. But despite the downturn in the economy Herman Miller still was profitable. Pay cuts that were instituted in 2009 of 10% and the suspension of the 401(K) contributions. These cuts reduced job security but the employees railed around management because it was best for the company as a whole. Other companies would fail at this. Herman Miller has followed the same basic strategy throughout
The success the Snapple Beverage Company had achieved by the early 1990s drew the attention of the Quaker Oats Company which bought it in 1994 for $1.7 billion, and planned on maximizing the professedly unequivocal synergies between the “funky” iced tea brand and their established Gatorade brand. Despite Quaker’s efforts and ambition, which some might classify as hubris, the company’s decision to acquire Snapple is often regarded as a clamorous example of a merger and acquisition disaster. This paper analyzes Quaker’s failures using the 4 P’s framework, and proposes an action plan for Triarc’s turn-around of the Snapple brand, tailoring it to a modern market setting.
Newell's corporate strategy was mainly focused on high volume and low cost product to large mass retailer. The goal of the company was to increase its sales and profitability by offering a complete and complementary range of products and reliable service to the mass retail stores. Newell's initial focus was on home and hardware products which later on expended to other markets. The company strategy was to grow and expand its product line through acquisitions, rather than internal growth. Before 1998 Newell acquired different companies in the basic home and hardware products industry and started diversifying into unrelated field such as children products, widow covering, writing instruments and others. The company was also looking to