Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
  • Teaching Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:14
ShareBar

Abstract

Teaching Note for HBS No. 211-085. Greg Mazur (HBS 1997) identified a small firm, Great Eastern Premium Pet Food, in December of 1998 that fit his search criteria and decided to offer the seller a cash price of $1.2 million plus an earn-out equal to 1% of revenue over the next five years. He planned to invest $500,000 of his own money in the acquisition and finance the remainder with a senior loan in a formal letter of intent.
Great Eastern Premium Pet Food was a regional distributer of pet food products that operated in a highly competitive environment, with low profit margins, and no exclusive products. Great Eastern was barely profitable in 1997 and had profits of about $140,000 in 1998. Mazur evaluated the acquisition using a financial model that assumed a sales growth rate of 12.5% per year, and a gradual improvement in profit margin from 2% to 7.5% over five years. He identified ways to grow sales through changes in the composition and structure of the sales force and to improve margins through managing costs. The case explores the rationale for the acquisition and its evaluation, including the reasonableness of the financial model and its sensitivity to alternative assumptions.

Keywords

Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Strategic Planning; Valuation; Analysis

Citation

Ruback, Richard S., Royce Yudkoff, and Ahron Rosenfeld. "Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 218-122, May 2018. (Revised February 2019.)
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Richard S. Ruback

Finance
→More Publications

Royce G. Yudkoff

Finance
→More Publications

Related Work

    • May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
    • Faculty Research

    Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods

    By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld
Related Work
  • Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College