Acosta was once the nation’s largest and most venerable food broker. On December 1, 2019, the Jacksonville, Florida-based company filed for bankruptcy protection. Here's the full story:
rom their earliest days, merchants of debt—“private equity shops” in the current parlance—have been attracted to the food business. Who can forget KKR’s $31 billion battle over RJR Nabisco in 1988? A few years later, Borden, maker of everything from condensed milk to Elmer’s Glue, was consumed by an ill-fated leveraged buyout.
The only way out from under its debt cloud, according to Acosta’s management, was a quick bankruptcy filing that would allow it to emerge from the process in January effectively wiping clean its balance sheet and allowing its remaining employees to keep working. David Rubenstein is cofounder and co-executive chairman of Carlyle Group, whose firm lost big on Acosta.From the 1930s to the 1970s family-owned Acosta remained firmly rooted in Jacksonville. According to company history, Acosta had $500,000 in revenues and just 26 employees in 1974. It was then that a former Procter & Gamble salesman named Delmar Dallas took over Acosta.
Then, in 2003 private equity investors came knocking on Acosta’s door. Boston-based Berkshire Partners, seeing the predictable cash flows churned out in this noncyclical business, acquired a minority stake in the business. The Acosta bankruptcy is a cautionary tale for today’s frothy private equity boom. A quarter of private equity deals involve PE firms on both sides of the transaction.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Carlyle Group’s $1.4 Billion Folly: Inside The Biggest Buyout Loss In Washington DC Firm’s 33-Year HistoryThe Wall Street giant’s investment in Acosta is its biggest corporate portfolio loss ever—and a stark warning that the buyout boom could end badly.
Read more »
GFL raises $1.4 billion in IPO amid volatile marketsGFL Environmental Inc on Monday raised about $1.4 billion in its initial public ...
Read more »
Bloomberg tells AIPAC he'll 'never impose conditions' on military aid to IsraelPresidential candidate Mike Bloomberg told AIPAC Monday that he would pledge unconditional military aid to Israel, no matter which government led the country.
Read more »
Inside the Chris Matthews Exit: MSNBC Boss Went to D.C. to Plead With Him to QuitThe painful end of Chris Matthews’ TV career occurred with just the sort of recrimination and negative PR that former Washington local news anchor and failed Democratic House candidate Kathleen Matthews, his wife of 40 years, and their adult children long hoped to avoid.According to sources at MSNBC,
Read more »
Joe Biden's historic and unbelievable political comeback dominates Super Tuesday'No presidential candidate of recent times has rescued a failing campaign in such spectacular fashion,' CNNPolitics' StCollinson writes. | Analysis
Read more »
Lady Gaga's Song Accidentally Plays During a Coronavirus MeetingThe 33-year-old singer had the best response to the video.
Read more »