LESSONS FROM A MIDDLE MARKET LBO: THE CASE OF O.M. SCOTT

In 1986 The O.M. Scott & Sons Company, the largest producer of lawn care products in the U.S., was sold by the ITT Corporation in a divisional leveraged buyout. The company was founded in Marysville, Ohio in 1870 by Orlando McLean Scott to sell farm crop seed. In 1900, the company began to sell weedfree lawn seed through the mail. In the 1920s, the company introduced the first home lawn fertilizer, the first lawn spreader, and the first patented bluegrass seed. Today, Scott is the acknowledged leader in the “do-it-yourself” lawn care market, with sales of over $300 million and over 1500 employees. Scott remained closely held until 1971, when it was purchased by ITT. The company then became a part of the consumer products division of the huge conglomerate, and operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary for 14 years. In 1984, prompted by a decline in financial performance and rumors of takeover and liquidation, ITT began a series of divestitures. Over the next two years, total divestitures exceeded $2 billion and, after years of substandard performance, ITT's stock price significantly outperformed the market. On November 26, 1986, in the midst of this divestiture activity, ITT announced that the managers of Scott, along with Clayton & Dubilier (C & D), a private firm specializing in leveraged buyouts, had agreed to purchase the stock of Scott and another ITT subsidiary, the W. Atlee Burpee Company. The deal closed on December 30. Clayton & Dubilier raised roughly $211 million to finance the purchase of the two companies. Of that $211 million, almost $191 milion, or 91% of the total, was debt: bank loans, subordinated notes, and subordinated debentures. The $20 million of new equity was distributed as follows: roughly 62% of the shares were held by a C & D partnership, 21% by Scott's new subordinated debtholders, and 17.5% by Scott management and employees. After this radical change in financial structure and concentration of equity ownership, Scott's operating performance improved dramatically. Between the end of December 1986 and the end of September 1988, sales were up 25% and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 56%. As shown in Table 1, this increase in operating earnings was not achieved by cutting back on marketing and distribution or R & D. In fact, spending on marketing and distribution increased by 21% and R & D spending went up by 7%. Capital spending also increased by 23%.     

浅谈中小型水利水电工程施工质量监督——曲靖市水城水库扩建工程质量监督工作体会

曲靖水城水库扩建工程是云南省“九五”期间重点水利工程项目之一。水库上游径流面积１９０ｋｍ~２，多年平均径流量６３３７万ｍ~３，水库设计总库容为４９２７万ｍ~３，设计灌溉面积８．２７万亩，工业供水７００万ｍ~３，防洪保护面积０．３万亩。工程由首部枢纽和灌渠两部分组成，首部枢纽包括主坝、副坝、导流泄洪隧洞、输水隧洞和非常溢洪道等建筑物组成，灌区工程包括总干渠和东、西、南、北４条干渠。主坝为风化料心墙堆石坝，坝顶长６２１ｍ，最大坝高５９．２ｍ，副坝为分区土坝，坝顶长９７０ｍ、　最大坝高１９．２ｍ；导流泄洪…     

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1999年8月26日对滕吉胜先生来说应该是个难忘的日子,因为就在这天,他拿到了中国书法大展赛一等奖的奖牌。     

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国内外现有研究文献中 ,缺乏对纽约市 GDP数据直接的、明确的、正确的引用和描述 ,是一个显而易见的事实。本文力图回答下列三个问题 :为何国内外文献中少有对纽约市 GDP的正确描述 ?纽约市的 GDP到底是多少 ?上海与纽约作 GDP比较时必须注意什么 ?     

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为了有效地促进传统邮政业务的发展,开拓新的邮政业务领域,创造新的业务增长点,文章对发展邮政短信业务的相关问题作了分析,并结合安徽省的具体建设条件,对邮政短信平台建设的必要性、原则以及系统方案作了具体阐述。     

岁月不改“红嫂”本色

“蒙山高,沂水长,我为亲人熬鸡汤。续一把蒙山柴炉火更旺,添一瓢沂河水情深意长”。这是舞剧《沂蒙颂》中的唱段。此剧曾被毛泽东主席称赞为军民鱼水情的生动体现,并指示要用它教育更多的人,做共和国的新“红嫂”。从此,“沂蒙红嫂”成为千千万万沂蒙老区女性支持革命、献身革命、爱党爱军的群体形象。     

公共产品供给打破完全垄断的理论条件分析

公共产品供给的完全垄断带来诸多弊端。文章认为 ,由于垄断者有最优供应量约束 ,潜在竞争者存在进入该市场的机会。虽然某种需求量条件下 ,存在价格杠杆调节的失效区域 ,但政府仍可以视不同情况通过允许降价获取市场份额、适度提高价格以吸引加入等手段打破垄断。本文得出的七个有意义的结论指出了打破这一垄断的可能性与具体条件 ,为新的投资者及政府部门的泱策者提供了实践操作的理论参考     

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针对目前我国企业环境会计报告的现状以及存在的缺陷,本文认为我国企业环境会计报告应由报告使用者与目标、报告主体、报告内容、报告模式、报告呈报及报告审计六方面的内容构成,同时提出了完善我国企业环境会计报告的对策。     

构建我国内部审计质量体系的几点思考

国内的一些重大集体舞弊案引发了众多学者对我国内部审计质量的关注。本文从分析我国内部审计质量的现状入手,试图寻找相应的对策,构建我国内部审计质量体系,以提高我国内部审计质量。     

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本文紧密结合实例,详细阐述了以系统论的思想,应用发展TQM,配以人本论的观念形成新产品批量生产能力的,立体管理思路、内容、应用及效果。