With a bull market and easy credit from junk bonds, the 1980s became a dream decade for corporate raiders. And, one of the stars was Samuel Heyman, who made a fortune.Unfortunately, this week he died, at the age of 70.
Interestingly enough, Heyman's career was more than just about commerce. For example, after graduating from the Harvard Law School in 1963, he went on to work at the US Justice Department (under Robert Kennedy). From there, he became the assistant US Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
However, by the late 1960s, Heyman took over the family business, which was focused on real estate development. It was certainly a good training ground -- especially for the next phase in his career as a corporate raider.
So in 1983, Heyman launched a proxy fight against GAF Corp. Such things were rare in those days. Yet, this did not stop Heyman. He won the fight, becoming the owner and chief of GAF.
While other corporate raiders would have stripped the assets and walked away with a pile of money, this was not Heyman's approach. Rather, he liked the long-term prospects of GAF and wanted to find ways to grow the company, such as through acquisitions.
To this end, he tried to buyout Union Carbide as well as Borg-Warner. But these companies successfully fended off Heyman. But all was not lost since he still pocked nice gains.
As for GAF, today the company is the #1-selling brand in North America for residential roofing, generating $3 billion in annual sales.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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