Fleet Farm sold

[Peeps]

Saw on the news that the investment firm KKR purchased a majority of Fleet a Farm. The Mills family will keep a small stake. KKR is a firm out of New York that has a $100 billion portfolio. I have a bad feeling that the Fleet we know and love will slowly start to change with this sale.

 

[strawhead]

Saw this also. Next in line is Cabelas.

 

[Satchmo]

Well now Stuart Jr. can take his share and go play politics. Hope they don't overhaul these stores too much.

 

[gwm]

Huh? Unlike ff, cabelas is publically held.

Rumor is Bass Pro is looking to buy Cabelas.

 

[strawhead]

Understood. There is talk out there of things sagging. Reportedly, they have hired "defender" against activist investors.http://www.omaha.com/money/cabela-s...cle_0341485c-8f1e-11e5-8c9c-db6108e5a171.html

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Like SO MANY other takeovers, mergers, buy-outs ...... locations will close, workers ( you know - the " little " avg. guy ) will lose his/her jobs, ( gotta pay for the purchase somehow, so let's slash payroll ), " vision-for-the-future " will change, sales will suffer. The only winners in the big money sweepstakes will be KKR. History is chock full of such disasters for the enrichment of a FEW. Does anyone out there really think the suits in KKR's boardroom care about anything else other than their own huge windfall profits ???

On slashing payroll - anywhere - the business world has a neat, tidy - sounding term for cutting staff and expecting the remaining employees to carry the added load. The term is called " bundling ". Has a harmless ring to it, doesn't it ???

 

[wiscwhip]

I thought they only did that with my cable/phone/internet bill and insurance policies???;)

 

[tooln]

I'm sure the FF we all know and love will change. I've heard the Mills family was looking for someone who would hopefully follow in their foot steps. But the family tiffs is what made the sale happen. Lets hope it's a change for the good.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Honest ?...what happened to the monopoly laws that used to be in place? seemed like every year growing up and in my early adulthood, the gov was actively breaking up and/or blocking the merger of at least one giant a year. I haven't heard about anything like that in a very long time.

It may be capitalism at its finest, but I see its ugly side a lot. these days, more and more and more small business hunting companies are being bought up by venture capital firms. That rarely ends well for employees and product quality.

P.S. I know that isn't the same as breaking up Microsoft/anti-monopoly laws. Fewer and fewer large entities owning more and more and more/a tremendously larger % of businesses just seems to be a troubling trend in recent years.

 

[wiscwhip]

Exactly, the Goobermint don't care if the little guy gets shit on, they just need to ensure they have numerous giant corporations to get donations from, wouldn't want to break up that "monopoly" now would they....:rolleyes:

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Monopoly law doesnt apply if dq wants to buy sonic or cabelas and basspro merge. Tiny non vital industries.Vital industry like airlines or when boeing bought mcdonnel douglas get the monopoly scrutiny.

I get that....That's why I added the "PS". Maybe my head has been stuck in the sand and I've just missed it in the last 5ish+ years, but it sure seems to me that every year the Gov was trying to break up one or more monopolies as I was growing up and a much younger adult...these days, crickets on that front....It sure ISN'T because companies no longer want to control all of the vital industries....Microsoft was one of the last ones I can remember that the Gov was trying to break up. I'm also not sure how Microsoft is considered vital yet all the hardware and grocery stores becoming Walmart isn't. Not being a smart a$$....just looking to be educated.

 

[wiscwhip]

Follow the money......simple as that......it is the way of the New World Order. Mom and Pop's Hardware and Mabel's Grocery don't issue huge campaign contribution checks and form Super PAC's.

 

[shawnv]

I work for a company who is partly owned by a VC firm. One thing I will say is they only invest to see the investment grow and they have the capital resources to make it happen. Legacy operations regardless of business usually see very little growth compared to new branches/stores/offices. With that said, very likely we'll see more FF stores being built and if they have hands in another retail outlet they can leverage buying power. I'm sure internally it will become more corporate than before but that is the nature of the beast. Most profit comes from growth first and then you slash the bottom line when growth opportunities cease. Right now we're growing and we've hired like crazy the last few years.

 

[Tree Spud]

Like SO MANY other takeovers, mergers, buy-outs ...... locations will close, workers ( you know - the " little " avg. guy ) will lose his/her jobs, ( gotta pay for the purchase somehow, so let's slash payroll ), " vision-for-the-future " will change, sales will suffer. The only winners in the big money sweepstakes will be KKR. History is chock full of such disasters for the enrichment of a FEW. Does anyone out there really think the suits in KKR's boardroom care about anything else other than their own huge windfall profits ???

On slashing payroll - anywhere - the business world has a neat, tidy - sounding term for cutting staff and expecting the remaining employees to carry the added load. The term is called " bundling ". Has a harmless ring to it, doesn't it ???

If you are a consumer who demands lower prices, or and an investor, pension fund owner, or own a 401k funds expecting higher returns, then you are driving these changes you describe above ...

As NoFo stated, KKR is now willing to make the changes consumers want and investors expect that current ownership was unwilling to do.

 

[wiscwhip]

If you are a consumer who demands lower prices, or and an investor, pension fund owner, or own a 401k funds expecting higher returns, then you are driving these changes you describe above ...

As NoFo stated, KKR is now willing to make the changes consumers want and investors expect that current ownership was unwilling to do.

The part about the "changes consumers want" remains to be seen. If they are backed by anti-gun proponents and they quit selling firearms, is that what the "consumers" want or is that driven by "corporate interests" with an agenda? As far as what the investors expect, I'm sure they will be on top of that.

 

[wiscwhip]

Ultimately consumers vote with thier wallett

Like WalMart stopping the sale of AR style rifles because they are reporting a "decrease in sales"...RIGGGHHHTTTTT:rolleyes:...AR-style weapons are selling at an all time high level right now, so I would dispute that argument.

 

[Bill]

In my day I was involved in three acquisitions and yes we went in and restructured, cut the dead wood and operated by squeezing the most we could out of the resources that were left.

All three were distress sales. The owner was faced with closing the door and getting nothing except what was left after the auctioneer paid the bank for his loans. All three later became profitable and ended up hiring more workers than they originally had.

The big bad wolf isn't always so bad. Especially if you kept your job.................

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Bill - How many people in any of these takeovers get to keep their jobs at the same pay rate vs. have to take a pay cut to be able to keep that job ?? The last 30 years have lots of evidence to show that staff and pay cuts are the norm. It hasn't just happened at 1 or 2 companies. It's happened at LOTS of them. And whenever we see many companies " getting leaner & meaner " in any given stretch of time, what happens to the " market " ?? People are afraid to spend any money, and businesses start to moan about " nobody's buying anything ...... business is really slow ". Here comes the recession again. I've seen enough of these cycles to see both sides of " the Capitalism GOD " - and one thing is ALWAYS the case ........ the avg. person comes out on the short end of the stick .......... REGARDLESS OF THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS. Capitalism is sure better than communism, but it's getting tilted too far in favor of a smaller & smaller number of people.

And sure - I've got money in the market for retirement, etc. But I'm not naïve about corporate governance and the fact that small investors have no voice at board meetings. Only the big boys with the huge volumes of stock do. And that's been in the crosshairs of a number of financial industry heavyweights such as John Bogle who founded the Vanguard Group of mutual funds. The OBSCENELY HUGE compensation packages of corporate executives is precisely due to that " lack of voice " by small investors. The self-serving boards of directors vote the executives those huge compensation packages. Back-scratching all around the corporate boardroom. And all those multi-millions and nowadays - BILLIONS - are coming off OUR bottom line as investors by way of our 401-K, pension, mutual fund, etc. If we stock owners are, in fact, OWNERS of any company, why do such insanely huge pay packages get handed over to the people we hire to run our company ?? Shouldn't WE get the lion's share of the profit ?? This is exactly the argument John Bogle and other financial insiders have been presenting to Congress for years now. They're trying to get more of the investors money BACK into the investors hands instead of the executives taking the lion's share by means of a self-serving, hand-picked board of directors. But members of Congress are turning a deaf ear to that argument because of the giant political contributions made by such executives and their untraceable pac $$$.

This problem affects people of EVERY political stance. So if you think you're immune ................ think again. If you want to get an education on the inner workings of finance & how most people are getting HOSED - read some of John Bogle's speeches and addresses to Congress, professional associations of Fiduciaries, CFP's, and mutual fund groups. Several Nobel Laureate economists point out the same things and the toll such self-serving piracy takes on the whole economy. Makes you want to throw up blood. I've read MANY.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have to follow-up.

I'm not talking about the folks that started a business and built it from the ground up. If you invented some gizmo or process, or built a service and made a couple million - good for you. No problem from me. I've worked HARD all my life to get what we have, so I know what hard work is. Lots of hours and sweat.

I'm talking about the snot-nosed puke who comes out of business school and starts out at 150K and up because he knows how to " game things ". Back in the 80's there were want-adds in the WSJ and other corporate rags ( publications ) looking for freshly-minted accountants who had skill at " CREATIVE ACCOUNTING ". These types were the people at the helm of the Wall Street B.S. that caused several recessions and the FINANCIAL MELTDOWN. ( Can we say " bundled mortgages " - sold as securities ?? )Those kinds of things aren't caused by Joe's Plumbing & Heating Co. or Sam's builders. But those companies and others like them become VICTIMS of that kind of financial jury-rigging when people won't or CAN'T come in to spend money because they fear for their future financial well-being.

THOSE are the MAGGOTS I'm talking about, and any who fostered them or allowed it to happen. We ALL lost money because of them. REP., DEM., Green, Libertarian, Ind. - all of us.

Call me cynical, but when I see deer tracks in the snow, nobody will convince me a turkey made the tracks.

 

[Bill]

I have to follow-up.

I'm not talking about the folks that started a business and built it from the ground up. If you invented some gizmo or process, or built a service and made a couple million - good for you. No problem from me. I've worked HARD all my life to get what we have, so I know what hard work is. Lots of hours and sweat.

I'm talking about the snot-nosed puke who comes out of business school and starts out at 150K and up because he knows how to " game things ". Back in the 80's there were want-adds in the WSJ and other corporate rags ( publications ) looking for freshly-minted accountants who had skill at " CREATIVE ACCOUNTING ". These types were the people at the helm of the Wall Street B.S. that caused several recessions and the FINANCIAL MELTDOWN. ( Can we say " bundled mortgages " - sold as securities ?? )Those kinds of things aren't caused by Joe's Plumbing & Heating Co. or Sam's builders. But those companies and others like them become VICTIMS of that kind of financial jury-rigging when people won't or CAN'T come in to spend money because they fear for their future financial well-being.

THOSE are the MAGGOTS I'm talking about, and any who fostered them or allowed it to happen. We ALL lost money because of them. REP., DEM., Green, Libertarian, Ind. - all of us.

Call me cynical, but when I see deer tracks in the snow, nobody will convince me a turkey made the tracks.

I had decided this was what you were talking about before you wrote it. Wall Street and corporations that can buy governmental power are in a different pond than 95% of the businesses in this country. And I agree something has to be done about it. Also agree it doesn't matter what your political party is unless your an inside the beltway guy your're not getting any grease.

As for your first post. No one in any of the companies I was involved with got a pay cut. But upper management did get a pay freeze. They we're then put on a profit sharing plan. If we did good, they did good. I never understood the concept of limiting employee salary to add to the bottom line. That is short term success and long term short sightedness. I always wanted my sales people to make a million plus a year. It never happened but I always said if it did, they wouldn't get a commission cut. Because if they made a million, I made more.

I would bet most non pubic companies work that way. I've never worked for a public entity. I have worked "with" them as a supplier and often questioned their long term success when they livied in a quarter to quarter world. I could tell you stories about fresh out of school MBA's that would make your head spin.

Somehow, I just think all big business get lumped in with the wall st guys and it could lead the country down a scarey path.