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...raider from the inside," a committee of five directors three weeks ago opened the bidding to all comers. First to accept the invitation were the most aggressive LBO artists of all, the Wall Street firm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Headed by Henry Kravis, 44, and George Roberts, 45, KKR pioneered the leveraged buyout in the 1970s and nurtured it into one of the best-paying financial arrangements of the decade...
Many Wall Street insiders thought the KKR bid was as self-serving and hasty as Johnson's offer had been. "They broke the golden rule by injecting their egos into a business decision," said one financier who knows KKR well. "They went after RJR Nabisco to protect their franchise as the largest dealmaker...
That bid, quickly dubbed a "Chicago submarine" because it would torpedo the competition, easily surpassed both rival offers. The Johnson team had bid $23 billion, or $100 a share, while KKR had proposed a package worth $21.6 billion, or $94 a share. Board members extended the deadline until Tuesday, Nov. 29, to take any counteroffers and allow time to study each proposal. If none is accepted, the directors could supervise an RJR restructuring themselves...
Leveraged buyouts seemed like a small-time, unglamorous financial gimmick when KKR began hawking them on Wall Street in the mid-1970s. But the arrangements were an immediate hit with managers who saw the wisdom of taking their companies private to escape corporate raiders. LBOs were also a boon to promising firms that wanted to grow outside Wall Street's harsh spotlight...
Weissman also criticized Harvard for itsinvolvement in the KKR limited partnership. Underthe terms of the original agreement with KKR,participants have no say in how the investmentfirm uses their money...