5 Should Henry Morgan Defend the Agenda of the Current Management Team or Support One of the Acquisition Offers?

3. What evidence is there that investors are dissatisfied?

The shareholders were not satisfied because there where stock was underperforming recently because high price of cream and milk. Also, the ROE of the company was lousy for few years. Ben & Jerry’s average return on equity was 7% which was up from last year but sill was very low compare to other brands. 2

Do you think the current takeover offers are justifiable? What might Ben & Jerry’s be worth to the bidders?

The takeover offers are justified because Ben & Jerry was a growing company and the company had 45% of the super-premium Ice cream market place. Merging with the other company would be benefit for the shareholders because they will enjoy the premium the companies who will own Ben & Jerry have to pay hefty premium if they want to win the bid against other competition for the company. and Unilever already has the largest market capital in the frozen food business. Both company value the Ben & Jerry brand and want to get the super-premium ice cream market share. 5. Should Henry Morgan defend the agenda of the current management team or support one of the acquisition offers? As a board member in the company, he is primarily responsible to look after the interest of the shareholders because they are a public company. So, he should recommend selling the company. The bid price of Unilever is pretty good. $36 per share cash but they will restrict social commitments and interests. Because of the founders, Ben & Jerry became the social enterprise icon. It will be harsh on the founders, if they sold the company to some other company who does not relate with their social objectives.