Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. (A): Acquisition Suitors at the Door

21 Pages Posted: 30 May 2017

See all articles by Jenny Mead

Jenny Mead

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Robert Sack

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Patricia H. Werhane

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Abstract

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were best friends and socially conscious entrepreneurs when they founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade in the 1970s in Burlington, Vermont. The company was well-known for being offbeat, quirky, and committed to socially responsible ventures and using organic ingredients in its products. When the company went public in 1984, most people bought the stock because they believed in the company's values and mission. In late 1999, the financial and economic world was quite different, and two suitors—Unilever and Dreyer's Ice Cream—appeared, both very interested in acquiring Ben & Jerry's. This case describes not only the background and history of Ben & Jerry's, but the factors involved in the founders' having to decide what course of action to take.

Excerpt

UVA-E-0225

Rev. Aug. 26, 2008

BEN & JERRY'S HOMEMADE, INC. (A):

Acquisition Suitors at the Door

“Don't sell out Vermont!”

—Spray-painted by a vandal on Ben & Jerry's Church Street scoop shop, December, 1999.

. . .

Keywords: acquisitions, community relations, competitive bidding, corporate social responsibility, employee stock ownership, goodwill, growth strategy, stakeholder management

Suggested Citation

Mead, Jenny and Sack, Robert and Werhane, Patricia H., Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. (A): Acquisition Suitors at the Door. Darden Case No. UVA-E-0225, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2974073 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2974073

Jenny Mead

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

Robert Sack (Contact Author)

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

Patricia H. Werhane

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States
434-924-4840 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty/werhane.htm

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