M&A Roundup: Some M&A Roster Deals Worth Noting

A Burst From the Starting Gate Acquirer: Monsanto Co. Target: Holden’s Foundation Seeds Price: $945 million Target Business: Corn germaplasm and parent seeds used for hybrid seeds Snapshot: After repositioning itself as a biotechnology company after spinning off its traditional chemical business, Monsanto made its first major move in its new mode. The acquisition of privately owned Holden strengthens Monsanto’s position in the agricultural sector with commercially viable products. Playing Off a Power Base Acquirer: Maytag Co. Target: G.S. Blodgett Co. Price: $142.5 million ($93.5 million cash and assumption of $49 million in liabilities) Target Business: Cooking equipment Snapshot: Over the last decade and a half, Maytag has graduated into a full-line producer of major home appliances from a specialist in washers and dryers by parlaying a series of acquisitions. With the acquisition of privately held Blodgett, the company extends its presence into the commercial market with well-established lines of cooking equipment. If the distribution channels are different, manufacturing technologies are compatible. Ray of Hope for Shipbuilding Acquirer: Veritas Capital Fund LP Target: BethShip Inc. unit of Bethlehem Steel Corp. Price: Undisclosed Target Business: Shipbuilding and repair Snapshot: Is the American shipbuilding industry starting a comeback? This is one of several deals in recent years in which shipyards that have known better days have changed hands amid promising projections by the new owners. Veritas acquired the legendary Sparrows Point yard of Bethlehem, which has been restructuring over the last several years by selling off peripheral businesses. Retailing Redux Acquirer: Leonard Green & Partners Targets: Hechinger Co.; Builders Square Inc. unit of Kmart Corp. Target Business: Home improvement stores Prices: Hechinger, $127 million in cash; Builders Square, $10 million in cash plus a warrant Snapshot: Leonard Green scored big time when it put the Thrifty and PayLess drugstore chains together, took the company public, and then sold it to Rite Aid Corp. It is now taking a shot at using the same paradigm in home improvement stores. The challenge is mightier since both Hechinger and Builders Square are ailing and being battered by the Home Depot juggernaut in key markets. Seizing on Independence Acquirer: Lucent Technologies Inc. Target: Octel Communications Corp. Price: $1.83 billion in cash Target Business: Voice processing systems, hardware and software for voice mail and faxes Snapshot: Freed from AT&T Corp., Lucent has been aggressively advancing its technologies and broadening its product lines as a stand-alone equipment producer. The deal takes Lucent from mainstream telecommunications equipment into fast-growing, quickly evolving sectors of modern communications. What Goes Around Acquirer: Investor group composed of former owners Nordahl Brue and Michael Dressel Target: Brueggers Corp. unit of Quality Dining Inc. Price: $54.8 million ($20 million cash; return of $24.8 million in Quality Dining shares; $10 million note) Target Business: Bagel stores Snapshot: Brue and Dressel, unhappy about selling Brueggers to Quality Dining, managed to extricate themselves from the deal. Quality Dining had gotten into financial trouble, and capital for expanding the chain was scarce. Brue and Dressel regained ownership and should push growth of Brueggers, already one of the largest bagel chains in the country, on their own. n