Word: rjr
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...Your Chairman displayed exquisite timing," he writes about his purchase of a large stake in USAir. "I plunged into the business at almost the exact moment that it ran into severe problems." Buffett also notes his purchase since late 1989 of $440 million of RJR Nabisco junk bonds. A crazy investment? He acknowledges that he's leery of new issues of junk bonds ("The only time to buy these is on a day with no y in it"), but the RJR bonds have been traded for a while -- and Buffett says their market value has increased $150 million since...
Companies have also withdrawn ads that might be deemed insensitive or inappropriate. RJR Nabisco dropped a print ad claiming that Chips Ahoy cookies are "richer than an OPEC nation." And NYNEX stopped airing a TV spot of a Marine Corps drill team dancing to rock-'n'-roll music...
Under those circumstances, debt can make firms less competitive. Since RJR Nabisco's leveraged buyout in late 1988, in which the corporation assumed some $25 billion in debt, the company has lost market share to rival Philip Morris because RJR's management is so absorbed with managing the huge LBO, many analysts contend. In addition, loan payments, which average 30% of corporate cash flow, often divert money away from more productive pursuits, including research, advertising and capital spending. While Phillips Petroleum was digging out from under its $9 billion debt, the corporation had to pass up several opportunities to acquire...
HarperCollins gave Burrough his million partly to reward him for Barbarians at the Gate. Burrough and fellow Journal reporter John Helyar shared a $150,000 advance for that vivid saga of the $25 billion RJR-Nabisco takeover war. They wrote the 528-page book in just seven months. An instant hit, Barbarians has sold more than 300,000 copies so far and has been a fixture on best-seller lists for 38 weeks...
...right to acquire 100% ownership of Soviet firms. The Soviets are already scrambling for Western trade to alleviate the acute shortages that have brought consumers to the verge of revolt. To ease the tobacco rationing that prompted smokers to riot in almost a dozen cities, Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco announced plans last week to sell 34 billion cigarettes to the Russian Republic...