Family Business Magazine E-Newsletter
February 19, 2008



Contents
1.  Diageo, Nolet family partner in Ketel One joint venture.
2.  Chairman's niece named Washington Post publisher.
3.  Anheuser-Busch holding discussions with InBev SA.
4.  Lord & Taylor owners to acquire Fortunoff.
5.  A self-assessment for CEOs.
6.  Guidance for transmitting wealth and values.



1.  Diageo, Nolet family partner in Ketel One joint venture.  Diageo has agreed to pay $900 million (611 million euros) in a deal with the Nolet family of the Netherlands for "perpetual exclusive global rights to sell, market and distribute" Ketel One vodka, the Associated Press reported. The Nolets, who have been distillers since 1691, will continue to own the brand rights for Ketel One and the Nolet distillery, the article said.  (Source: Associated Press, Feb. 7, 2008.)

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2.  Chairman's niece named Washington Post publisher.  Katharine Weymouth, 41, niece of Washington Post Company chairman and CEO Donald Graham and granddaughter of the late Post Co. chairman Katharine Graham, has been named chief executive of Washington Post Media, a new division that will oversee the Washington Post and its website, the Post reported. Weymouth will also serve as the newspaper's publisher. She is the fifth member of the Graham family to hold that title since her great-grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought the newspaper at a bankruptcy sale in 1933, the article said. Weymouth is the daughter of Newsweek senior editor Lally Weymouth and architect Yann Weymouth. She joined the Post in 1996 and hs been vice president of Post advertising since 2005. She succeeds Post publisher Boisfeuillet Jones Jr., who will become Post Co. vice chairman. The Post Co. also announced plans to offer early-retirement packages to newsroom staffers and other employees and to close one of its printing plants, the report added.  (Source: Washington Post, Feb. 7, 2008.)

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3.  Anheuser-Busch holding discussions with InBev SA.  Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Belgian-Brazilian beverage conglomerate InBev SA have been holding discussions, and "a deal is possible this year," according to a Wall Street Journal report. Anheuser's fourth-quarter results, which showed that the company's growth came from imports rather than its domestic brands, "underscored why some analysts believe it may want a merger," the article said. The analysts speculate that a merger "would likely involve a complex share swap," the report noted. Anheuser CEO August A. Busch IV has acknowledged considering potential alliances but declined to discuss a specific deal, the Journal reported. The article also said that Anheuser may also "have a chance in the next few years to buy a controlling stake in Mexico's Grupo Modelo SA."  (Source: Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2008.)

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4.  Lord & Taylor owners to acquire Fortunoff.  NRDC Equity Partners, a private equity firm that owns the Lord & Taylor department store chain, has agreed to acquire Fortunoff, the Westbury, N.Y., jewelry and home furnishings company, according to an online report from JCK, a trade magazine for the jewelry industry. To effect the transaction, Fortunoff filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. The sale is expected to close in early March, the report said. Fortunoff, which operates about 20 stores in New York and New Jersey with annual sales of $450 million, was founded in 1922 by Max and Clara Fortunoff, the New York Times reported. "In 2004, the Fortunoff family sold most of its stake to a private equity firm, Trimaran Capital Partners," the Times article said. "Since then, the company has barely turned a profit and its debt has surged to about $60 million."  (Sources: JCK, Feb, 4, 2008; New York Times, Jan. 31, 2008.)

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5.  A self-assessment for CEOs.  Family business CEOs -- especially those who have been in the position for a long time -- must periodically undergo a critical self-analysis to assess whether they still have what it takes to evaluate market conditions and reformulate company strategy, writes family business researcher Joachim Schwass in The Family Business Growth Handbook. This process of personal benchmarking, Schwass notes, "requires asking some unpleasant questions":


For more advice on increasing revenues, profits and shareholder value in a family company, see The Family Business Growth Handbook. Learn more about the book and see the table of contents here.

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6.  Guidance for transmitting wealth and values.  High-net-worth families who seek to transition both wealth and values to future generations should develop a stewardship plan that includes the following components, advices Robert C. Elliott of Bessemer Trust in the current issue of Family Business Magazine:



For more tips and information on building and sustaining your family company, see the Winter 2008 issue of Family Business Magazine. Visit our website for subscription information.

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