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Article: Reginald Lewis: the deal heard 'round the world: his $985 million buyout of TLC Beatrice set the bar for the next generation.(Ultimate Wealth Builders)
- Article from:
- Black Enterprise
- Article date:
- June 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1987, a 44-year-old Wall Street attorney--armed with deal-making prowess and iron-willed determination--acquired a division of one of the nation's 500 largest corporations for almost $1 billion. The transaction was a crowning moment in business: it created the first black-owned enterprise to surpass the billion-dollar revenue mark.
The financial wizard who orchestrated that landmark deal was Reginald F. Lewis. His new entity, TLC Beatrice Foods Co., would go on to become a global conglomerate that controlled food and beverage manufacturers and supermarkets in 31 countries. In 1988, after reporting gross sales of $1.8 billion on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100, ...