Ben and Jerrys

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Ben and Jerrys

• What Happened?

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• Ben and Jerrys board debated options for about 2
  months
• Paragons of efficiency?

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• By April 2000 Unilever increased its offer to 43
• What would you do?

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• Dreyers offer had increased to 38
• Now, what would you do?

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• Meadowbrook/Chartwell joined forces and matched
  the Dreyers offer of 38
• OK, . Now what?

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• On April 12, 2000, Ben Jerrys board announced
  it had accepted a Unilever tender offer of 43.60
  per share
• MONEY TALKS !!!

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• Dont be so cynical !!!
• Ben Jerry would operate independently of
  Unilevers other ice-cream operations and would
  retain a separate board
• Ben Jerry would continue to purchase only
  Vermont milk and would continue donating 7.5 of
  profits to charity
• Odak would continue as general manager
• Cohen and Greenfield would manage the companys
  brand and social agenda
• Unilever would provide Cohen 5 million to launch
  a venture capital firm to fund businesses in
  low-income communities
• Boy the good folks at Unilever, they sure got a
  good heart

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• Wait a minute .
• Dont be so gullible !!!

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• On same day, Unilever announced its acquisition
  of Slim-Fast (synergies)
• Still maximizing shareholder value?

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• Cohen and Greenfield supported the deal
• Neither of us could have anticipated, twenty
  years ago, that a major multinational would some
  day sign on, enthusiastically, to pursue and
  expand the social mission that continues to be an
  essential part of Ben Jerrys and a driving
  force behind our many successes. But today,
  Unilever has done just that. While we and others
  certainly would have preferred to pursue our
  mission as an independent enterprise, we hope
  that as part of Unilever, Ben Jerrys will
  continue to expand its role in society.

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