Best Strategic Deal of the Year

Philip Morris Cos. Inc.’s acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corp. Price: $19.3 billion Investment Bankers: Credit Suisse First Boston, Chase Manhattan, and Wasserstein, Perella for Philip Morris; Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and UBS Warburg for Nabisco The much-traveled Nabisco was one of the most coveted gems amid the consolidation of the food industry. Philip Morris came away the winner of a spirited auction with a $19 billion bid that netted it enormous competitive advantage. Philip Morris, thanks to earlier acquisitions of General Foods and Kraft in the U.S. and Jacobs Suchard in Europe, operates one of the largest food organizations in the world. Strong positions are held in the dairy case (cheeses, margarine), the deli section (packaged meats), and the freezer case (ice cream), as well on the shelves, offering a potpourri of bottled, canned, and packaged foods (salad dressings, mayonnaise, coffee). With Nabisco’s cookies and crackers, led by Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, and Ritz, Philip Morris moves into another high-traffic aisle in supermarkets.