Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (HMTF)
Hicks raised $250 million in 1989 and teamed with former Prudential Securities banker John Muse to form Hicks Muse. Early investments included Life Partners Group (life insurance, 1990; sold 1996). In 1991 Morgan Stanley's Charles Tate and First Boston's Jack Furst became partners.
As part of its buy-and-build strategy, Hicks Muse bought DuPont's connector systems unit in 1993, renamed it Berg Electronics, added six more companies to it, and doubled its earnings before selling it in 1998. Not every acquisition was successful for Hicks Muse. Less-than-successful purchases included bankrupt brewer G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, bought in 1994 and sold two years later for an almost $100 million loss.
The buyout firm's Chancellor Media radio company went public in 1996. That year Hicks Muse gained entry into Latin America with its purchases of cash-starved Mexican companies, including Seguros Commercial America, one of the country's largest insurers. That year it also brought International Home Foods (Jiffy Pop, Chef Boyardee) into the Hicks Muse fold.
In 1997 Chancellor and Evergreen Media merged to form Chancellor Media (renamed AMFM in 1999). The next year Hicks Muse continued buying US and Latin American media companies, as well as a few oddities (a UK software maker, a Danish seed company, and US direct-seller Home Interiors and Gifts). Hicks Muse and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts merged their cinema operations to form the US's largest theater chain, Regal Cinemas. Regal filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. The company that year also moved into the depressed energy field (Triton Energy) and formed a $1.5 billion European fund. They also invested $400 million into Teligent, Inc., a fixed wireless telecommunications carrier. Teligent filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and is now defunct.
Acquisitions in 1999 included UK food group Hillsdown Holdings, one-third of Mexican flour maker Grupo Minsa, and (just in time for millennial celebrations) popular champagne brands Mumm and Perrier-Jouët (it quadrupled its investment when it sold the champagne houses in late 2000). Lured by low stock prices on real estate investment trusts (REITs), the company agreed to buy Walden (formerly Walden Residential Properties) that year.
Hicks Muse, along with UK-based Apax Partners, bought British Telecom's yellow page directory business Yell Group for roughly $3.5 billion, making it the largest non-corporate LBO in European history. Yell subsequently acquired US directories publisher McLeodUSA for about $600 million, and floated in 2003.
Hicks Muse acquired Nestlé's Ambient Food Business in 2002, which added well-known UK brands Crosse & Blackwell, Branston Pickle, Chivers (marmalade), Sun-Pat (peanut butter), Gale's (honey), Sarson's (vinegar) and Rowntree's (jelly) to the Premier Foods stable. Cereal maker Weetabix Limited and Unilever's cast-offs Ambrosia (creamed rice and puddings) and Brown & Polson, rounded out Premier Foods' portfolio in 2003.
Acquisitions in 2004 included Kerns Oil & Gas (renamed Blackbrush Energy -- natural gas production), Persona (Canadian cable television company), Regency Gas Services (gas processing and distribution), and Centennial Puerto Rico Cable TV (Puerto Rican cable television company). It also agreed to buy a majority stake in trendy luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo.[3] Disposals during the year included the company's remaining stake in Yell and its stake in Premier Foods.
In May 2005, Sturm Foods was acquired by HM Capital Partners. Located in Manawa, Wisconsin, Sturm Foods specializes in the manufacturing of bulk goods such as oatmeal and markets several sugar-free products under private labels.
