The Pursuit of Synergy:
Quaker Oats-Snapple Acquisition
Professor Sherif A. Ebrahim
Corporate Strategy, Spring 2012
May 1, 2012
Pauline Guittard
Linn Gustafsson
T.J. Henry Jr.
Sevinc Ulu
Brittany Williams
Many successful businessmen and women have concluded that the most successful acquirers are also the most disciplined. In order to secure a lucrative and profitable acquisition all strategic alternatives ought to have been considered and prudently explored. Furthermore, a clear operating strategy post-acquisition is something that must be in place pre- acquisition. Despite this notion, many acquisitions seem to be driven by an urge to generate synergy, without any specific operating strategies in place.
For example, Quaker Oats
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Quaker Oats Reasoning: Why Acquire Snapple
Leading up to 1993-1994, Quaker Oats wished to expand their successful Gatorade section into one large beverage division. The creation of a new beverage division would have an instant benefit for Quaker Oats making them the third largest beverage company in the US. Furthermore, high confidence was expressed by CEO Mr. Smithburg, who had managed to increase Quaker Oats’ net value from $220 million to $3 billion by acquiring Gatorade. Smithburg considered himself an expert regarding acquisitions and confidently stated “we have an excellent sales and marketing team here at Gatorade. We believe we do know how to advance Snapple as well as Gatorade to the next level.” Finally, Quaker Oats believed it could advance Snapple in the same way as Gatorade and utilize perceived synergies in beverage distribution to take the Snapple brand global. For those reasons, Quaker Oats formed the aspiring beverage division composed of Gatorade and Snapple in 1994.
Bias Trap: What Quaker Oats Did Not Consider Synergy, commonly defined as “the ability of two or more units or companies to generate greater value working together than they could working apart”, is a lucrative concept with an implementation process far more complex than its definition. Michael Goold and
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:
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) typically refers to a corporate fiscal and strategic set of strategies that deal with the purchasing, selling, and/or combining of different companies or pieces of companies that are able to help grow a company or experience rapid innovation with either creating another business entity or investing research and development from the ground up (Hennepopf, 2009). Modern organizations are so highly complex and competitive that the old paradigm improving efficiency and the bottom line improves, is no longer all it takes to be successful. Companies must continue to reinvent themselves, put Board egos aside and look at the marketplace, their expertise, and what they can do to retain market share. With technology changing so
When a certain point is reached regarding a company’s success, a set of different opportunities arise and partnerships may unfold. However, with every possible strategy available, risks and benefits also come into play; without discarding any of them beforehand, every option is a strong candidate until a final decision is made. In this case study we will analyze the current business strategy pertaining
• Analysis of the target company—is the company a strategic fit as far as size, geographic location, business mix, operational capacity, financial strength and availability for takeover.
For the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion.
According to Wheelen and Hunger an acquisition is a growth strategy that occurs when a company absorbs another (usually smaller) company as an operating subsidiary or division of the acquiring corporation. Acquisitions usually take place with companies of different sizes and they can be hostile or friendly. Acquisitions can also be a good way to grow
Major companies and corporations that comprise a big part of the United States economy take advantage of certain opportunities such as going public through IPO’s, acquisitions, and mergers. These three approaches provide an additional resource and many times an advantage to expand, become more profitable, or simply save a company’s existence.
Mergers and acquisitions have become a growing trend for companies to inorganically grow a business within its particular industry. There are many goals that companies may be looking to achieve by doing this, but the main reason is to guarantee long-term and profitable growth for their business. Companies have to keep up with a rapidly increasing global market and increased competition. With the struggle for competitive advantage becoming stronger and stronger, it is almost essential to achieve these mergers. Through research I will attempt to dissect the best practices for achieving merger success.
They have focused on building brand recognition and profitability by growing the business gaining assets to grow the company and products for greater customer satisfaction (About GMCR, 2004-2009). GMCR’s strategy to incorporate current large brands, such as Tully’s, Diedrich, and Keurig has helped to expand their customer base and satisfaction as well as the markets for their products (Phillips, 2011). Their focus on increasing their market shares in other companies will facilitate their expansion into new geographical markets and promote the brand. GMCR’s partnership with Keurig creates a larger consumer choice and the addition of agreements to create portion packs for the Keurig with companies such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Newman’s Own helps set them apart from the competition (Invest in the Markets, 2011).
Moreover, Cooper’s corporate strategy is diversification through acquisitions and mergers. This diversification is in both related and non-related
2. On November 3, 1994, Quaker Oats acquired Snapple at $14 a share, for a total of $1.7 billion. Quaker Oats top management believes that too much was paid for Snapple.The management has created a task force of seven top managers to ensure the expensive investment will produce a high rate of return. The task force must make strategic decisions concerning the marketing and product mix for Snapple for the upcoming year. Tactics such as making Snapple products distinctive, listening to
In the ever changing world of customer needs and expectations Dr Pepper-Snapple was faced with an increased customer focus on energy drinks. This area, when exploited correctly, is a high growth and high margin beverage business. In early September 2007, Andrew Baker had his marching orders. He emerged out a long discussion about entering the energy drink business and off he went.
The strategy was to integrate Snapple’s entrepreneurial culture but manage the brand with a corporate perspective. This included cutting ties with Snapple’s eccentric spokespeople and transitioning the brand from fashion to mainstream and lifestyle. Also, Snapple’s distributors should only supply cold channels (with Snapple and Gatorade) whereas Quaker would integrate Snapple in its distribution to warm channels.
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.
Mergers and acquisitions have developed to be a widespread occurrence in modern era. A merger of the size like Adidas-Armani has repercussion for the labor force of these companies transversely to the world. Although the integration of units gives an immense arrangement of significance to monetary issues and the effects, there are still some issues are the most commonly ignored ones such as human resources, financial management, marketing, sales etc.. Ironically studies confirm that the majority of the mergers not succeed to convey the preferred results because of people associated concerns. The ambiguity resulted by badly handled management issues in mergers and acquisitions have been the foremost grounds for these collapses.