Looking Back: The Top 10 CGT Inside News Stories of 2007
The consumer goods industry saw a lot of market altering news in 2007. Undoubtedly, the mergers, acquisitions, spin offs, technology implementations and business process investments that came to fruition last year will have a lasting impact on our industry, and in many cases, on the far-reaching global economy in 2008 and beyond.
What were the hottest news stories in 2007? Here is a look back at the Top 10 stories from last year's CGT Inside News (from oldest to most recent) as determined by reader click-through rates:
Tyson Foods Opens Doors to $45 Million Discovery Center
March 7, 2007 - Tyson Foods Inc. unveiled its new $45 million research and development facility designed to enhance the company's ability to create new foods and bring them to market more quickly. Consequently, in September 2007, CGT honored Tyson Foods with the Outstanding Achievement Award for Most Innovative Company, placing second only to Crayola. Click here for the original story.
Kimberly-Clark Improves In-Store Product Promotions with RFID
March 21, 2007 - A valuable use case for RFID surfaced when Kimberly-Clark announced it would equip promotional displays with a mobile RFID tagging solution it developed with OATSystems and ADASA to improve the execution of in-store product promotions. In December 2007, Kimberly-Clark told CGT the company is using this application to support several pilots in North America and at least one retailer will be rolling out EPC-enabled promotion execution monitoring as a fully commercial process in 2008. Click here for the original story.
Kraft Foods Gains Independence, Shares Fall
Nestle to Buy Gerber for $5.5 Billion
April 12, 2007 - To reinforce its leadership in nutrition, Nestle agreed to acquire Gerber, the iconic U.S. United States
Oracle to Buy Agile Software
May 17, 2007 - Oracle made a definitive agreement to buy Agile Software Corporation, a provider of product lifecycle management solutions (PLM), through a cash merger of approximately $495 million. The acquisition would be the first of three major shakeups in the solutions and services market that serves consumer goods companies. Click here for the original story.
May 17, 2007 - Oracle made a definitive agreement to buy Agile Software Corporation, a provider of product lifecycle management solutions (PLM), through a cash merger of approximately $495 million. The acquisition would be the first of three major shakeups in the solutions and services market that serves consumer goods companies. Click here for the original story.
Energizer to Acquire Playtex Products for $1.9
July 19, 2007 - Energizer Holding Inc. made noise in a somewhat quiet market when it announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Playtex for $1.16 billion plus the assumption of Playtex debt. Total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $1.9 billion. Just three months earlier, Playtex Products Inc. acquired the stock of Tiki Hut Holding Company Inc., the owner of Hawaiian Tropic sun care. The acquisition increased the size of the Playtex skin care line more than $340 million in annuals sales. Click here for the original story.
July 19, 2007 - Energizer Holding Inc. made noise in a somewhat quiet market when it announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Playtex for $1.16 billion plus the assumption of Playtex debt. Total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $1.9 billion. Just three months earlier, Playtex Products Inc. acquired the stock of Tiki Hut Holding Company Inc., the owner of Hawaiian Tropic sun care. The acquisition increased the size of the Playtex skin care line more than $340 million in annuals sales. Click here for the original story.
SAP to Buy Business Objects
October 10, 2007 - SAP announced that it would acquire Business Objects for $6.8 billion, a major milestone for SAP, which in its 35-year history has never made an acquisition of this magnitude. The purchase of Business Objects will build onto SAP's corporate performance management capabilities, including those recently added through tuck-in acquisitions of OutlookSoft Corp. and Pilot Software. Click here for the original story.
October 10, 2007 - SAP announced that it would acquire Business Objects for $6.8 billion, a major milestone for SAP, which in its 35-year history has never made an acquisition of this magnitude. The purchase of Business Objects will build onto SAP's corporate performance management capabilities, including those recently added through tuck-in acquisitions of OutlookSoft Corp. and Pilot Software. Click here for the original story.
SABMiller and Molson Coors Join Forces in United States
October 10, 2007 - SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced their intent to combine the U.S. and Puerto Rico operations of their respective subsidiaries, Miller and Coors, in a joint venture called MillerCoors. The two brewers signed the definitive transaction agreement just last week, while the closing of the transaction is expected in mid-2008. Click here and scroll down to CG NEWS for the original story.
Clorox to Acquire Burt's
October 31, 2007 - The Clorox Company announced it would acquire Burt's Bees, a move that is strongly aligned with Clorox's Centennial Strategy to pursue growth in areas aligned with consumer "megatrends" in health and wellness, sustainability, convenience and a more multicultural marketplace. Click here for the original story.
IBM Acquires Cognos, Furthers Business Intelligence Market Consolidation
November 14, 2007 - IBM continued the trend started by SAP and Oracle earlier in the year when it announced plans to acquire Cognos, a business intelligence and performance management solutions provider, for approximately $5 billion. While the deal is still fresh, Cognos is expected to enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence. Click here for the original story.