Katie Lenzini
Jeremy Epstein
February 27, 2007
Background Info
•
•
•
•
Started in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont
Founders: Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
Spent $5 learning how to make ice cream
Bought an old gas station and opened
shop
• Initial Investment: $12,000 ($4,000
borrowed)
Timeline
• 1980 started distributing pints in grocery stores
• 1984 Vermont Only stock offering
– $10.50 x 75,000 shares = $787,500
– Used to build new factory
• 1985 NASDAQ IPO
– $13 x 450,000 shares = $5,850,000 market cap
• 1992 Additional Stock Issued
– $30.50 x 1,265,000 shares = $38,582,500
• August, 2000 Acquired by ___________
Who acquired Ben & Jerry’s?
A)
B)
C)
D)
DREYERS
UNILEVER
MEADOWBROOK LANE CAPITAL
CHARTWELL INVESTMENTS
UNILEVER
$43.60
Mission Statement Analysis
• Product
– Did they fulfill their mission statement?
• Economic
– Did they increase value for
shareholders…was there anything that
prevented this?
• Social
– What ways did they help the community?
How did they help community?
• Ben and Jerry’s Foundation
– Donates minimum $1.1 million per year
• Green Team
– Focuses on environmental concerns
• CAT (community action teams)
– Get employees involved in service projects
Takeover Target?
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•
•
•
•
Slowdown in growth
45% share of market
Already had existing infrastructure
Strong, developed brand name
Very low debt ratios
– Debt-equity ratio: 18.68%
– Debt-ratio: 15.7%
• Return on Equity 8.9%
– Can get better return in market
• Donated 7.5% to charity…inefficient use of
earnings?
Stakeholders
•
•
•
•
•
Employees (specifically management)
Suppliers
Charities
Shareholders
Social Mission
Fair Market Value
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Dreyer's
Grand
Eskimo Pie
TCBY
Enterprises
Yocream
International
Average industry P/E ratio: 23.92
Ben & Jerry's
What happened with acquisition
• April 12, 2000 Unilever announced it
would acquire Ben & Jerry’s Homemade at
$43.60 per share for 8.4 million
outstanding shares (that’s over $300
million for ice cream!!)
• Maintained Independent BOD, but
replaced Ben & Jerry’s CEO with Unilever
employee a few months later
Social Mission Under Unilever
• Following acquisition, Ben and Jerry ceased
involvement because they felt Unilever just used
social mission as marketing ploy
• In 2005, new CEO took over Ben & Jerry’s
business and made effort to focus on social
mission, resulting in Ben and Jerry becoming
involved again
• Since then, Ben & Jerry’s continues to support
community and donate portion of earnings to
charity
What is your favorite flavor?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Cherry Garcia
Phish Food
Chunky Monkey
Chubby Hubby
Other
Questions?
Information came from Ben & Jerry’s website, Unilever’s website, and www.msnbc.com