Catalogue 1986.19861986TaurusSpinachInitially, the cooperation between BP-Nutritionand Rijk Zwaan goes reasonably smoothly, despitesome attempts by BP-Nutrition to integrate theWestland company into its own organisation.However, Rijk Zwaan manages to parry theseattempts effectively, allowing it to maintain its owncorporate culture. So now the tide of the troubled1980s seems to be turning. Rijk Zwaan fully exploitsRijk Zwaan on sale againthe advantages of a capital-rich parent companyOn 24 January 1989, BP definitively announcesand further strengthens its (international) position.that it wants to sell Rijk Zwaan. The sale will be byHowever, the company finds itself in more troubledcontrolled private auction, an auction procedurewaters in 1988. ‘Parent’ BP is changing its strategyin which a number of companies are selected toand focusing more and more on oil and chemicals.submit a final bid after an introductory round.Rijk Zwaan no longer fits into this picture, andThe bidder with the best papers (highest bid andthe ‘parent-subsidiary’ relationship is becomingbest terms) will then become the new owner ofincreasingly strained. Other ‘subsidiaries’ alsoRijk Zwaan.1986BP-Nutritionbecomes ownerof Rijk Zwaancome and go in the BP group.1986Herman Beeftinkretires, Anton vanDoornmalenand Ben Taxbecome newBoard membersThe person appointed by BP to oversee the sale ofTwo-and-a-half years after the acquisition,Rijk Zwaan doesn’t really click with the Rijk ZwaanBP-Nutrition announces that Rijk Zwaan is beingBoard. From the outset, it was clear that BP andput on sale due to a ‘strategy change’. The newsthe Board were not on the same page. BP has onlyis difficult to take but is not entirely unexpected.one goal: to win the highest possible bid for itsA nerve-racking, uncertain and stressful periodshareholders, regardless of the consequencesdawns, with Rijk Zwaan’s future seemingly hangingfor Rijk Zwaan. The Board of Rijk Zwaan stressesby a thread. Former director Anton van Doornmalenthat a controlled private auction is very unusualremembers it well: ‘There were days when I went toin the Netherlands and that the company itselfwork in the morning and told my wife that I wasn’twould benefit most from a management buyoutsure if I’d still be employed by Rijk Zwaan in the(a takeover of the shares by the Board). For BP,evening.’ In retrospect, even current managinghowever, the price is the deciding factor, so thedirector Ben Tax sees this episode in Rijk Zwaan’sparent company is only willing to allow a manage-history as crucial, and ‘it still reads like a tale ofment buyout if the price is in line with the marketintrigue and adventure’. In fact, this period lays theprice. This will have to be determined on the basisfoundation for the current social and civic cultureof the aforementioned controlled private auction.that characterises Rijk Zwaan today.Initially, it seems that Rijk Zwaan still has someinfluence on the progress of the sale. For example,the Board will be given the opportunity to voice1985-1986its opinion on the list of ten companies that willbe eligible for the sale, and the members of the1986-1990 | The management buyout | ‘An adventure story’’83TurnoverFTE15.529197
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