Technicolor, Inc.

"Then, in 1978, at age thirty-five, he decided to venture out. He borrowed $ 1.9 million to buy 34 percent of Cohen-Hatfield Industries, a jewelry distributor and retailer with $ 49 million in revenues that year. In 1980, Cohen-Hatfield spent about $ 45 million to buy MacAndrews and Forbes, a maker of chocolates and licorice extracts, and the Cohen-Hatfield name was dropped in favor of MacAndrews. In the fall of 1980, MacAndrews issued its first batch of junk bonds, a modest $ 33 million, underwritten by Drexel with Bear, Stearns. Over the next four and a half years, Perelman set out on a wholly leveraged, though relatively small-time, acquisition trail. He tried and failed to acquire the Richardson Company and the Milton Bradley toy and game company, but he made money in both transactions. He succeeded in buying, for a total of about $ 360 million, Technicolor, Inc., the film processor; Video Corporation of America, a major manufacturer of home videocassettes; the film-processing assets of Movie Labs; Consolidated Cigar; and a controlling interest in Pantry Pride. Roughly $ 140 million of this money came from Drexel junk-bond offerings, the rest from banks—and all built on that original (borrowed) $ 1.9 million, back in 1978."

"Then, in 1978, at age thirty-five, he decided to venture out. He borrowed $1.9 million to buy 34 percent of Cohen-Hatfield Industries, a jewelry distributor and retailer with $49 million in revenues that year. In 1980, Cohen-Hatfield spent about $45 million to buy MacAndrews and Forbes, a maker of chocolates and licorice extracts, and the Cohen-Hatfield name was dropped in favor of MacAndrews. In the fall of 1980, MacAndrews issued its first batch of junk bonds, a modest $33 million, underwritten by Drexel with Bear, Stearns. Over the next four and a half years, Perelman set out on a wholly leveraged, though relatively small-time, acquisition trail. He tried and failed to acquire the Richardson Company and the Milton Bradley toy and game company, but he made money in both transactions. He succeeded in buying, for a total of about $360 million, Technicolor, Inc., the film processor; Video Corporation of America, a major manufacturer of home videocassettes; the film-processing assets of Movie Labs; Consolidated Cigar; and a controlling interest in Pantry Pride. Roughly $140 million of this money came from Drexel junk-bond offerings, the rest from banks—and all built on that original (borrowed) $1.9 million, back in 1978."