Unfortunately, Beatrice Companies, Inc. was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts Co.(KKR), in April 1986, with little care for the company history or employees. Their mission, the same as when KKR acquired Safeway Stores and Nabisco, was to strip the company down and sell off pieces of the company to other companies. When KKR came on board, they sold the Beatrice Dairy Products, Inc. (Meadow Gold, Hotel Bar Butter, Kellers Butter Mountain High Yogurt and Viva Milk Products), to Borden, Inc. in 1987. International Playtex, Jhirmack and Almay were sold off as one company, while Avis-rent-a-car went to company management. Coca-Cola bottling operations were sold off. Bottle water such as Arrowhead Drinking Water, Ozarka Drinking Water, Great Bear Drinking Water were also sold off. Brands like Samsonite, Culligan, Stiffel Lamps, del mar window coverings, Louver Drape window coverings, Aristokraft kitchen cabinets, Day-Timers, Waterloo Industries tool boxes, Aunt Nellies and Martha White were merged into a new entity called E-II Holdings, which was later purchased by American Brands. Tropicana Products, Inc. was sold off. All of the international operations were folded into a new entity called Beatrice International Holdings in 1987, which was later purchased that year by Reginald F. Lewis, through junk bond financing for $985 million and renamed the company TLC Beatrice International Holdings. TLC Beatrice sold the Canadian operations; Beatrice Foods Canada, Ltd., in 1990 to Onyx and then Beatrice Foods, Inc. later ended up in the hands of Parmalat in 1997.The Borden section is very light on material but the other two have some wonderful print ads, photos and videos.
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"We're Beatrice."
*shudder*
posted by dersins at 9:55 PM on August 11, 2011 [3 favorites]