PRIME MOVERS
Entity Dossier
entity

Rothmans Holdings Ltd

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Relationship LeveragePay Consultants to Open Doors
Signature MoveGood Cop While Gibbs Plays Bad Cop
Competitive AdvantageMonopoly Infrastructure as Chokepoint
Capital StrategyHidden Cost of Frivolous Spending
Cornerstone MoveSell Before the Floor, Buy the Next Thing
Signature MoveNever Consider Failure as a Possible Outcome
Risk DoctrineBrierley's Bluff-Bid Brinkmanship Lesson
Cornerstone MovePhone Call to the Top, Then Show Up Anyway
Signature MoveStagger Contracts to Break Supplier Cartels
Cornerstone MoveExclusive Rights as Subscriber Magnet
Signature MoveResign from Everything When Time Becomes the Priority
Signature MoveCut-Throat Competition Even at the Dinner Table
Decision FrameworkRide Winners, Cut Losers at Ten Percent
Identity & CulturePhone Stops Ringing Test of Friendship
Strategic PatternState Broadcaster Arrogance as Opening
Operating PrincipleLucky Timing as Honest Accounting
Capital StrategySubscriber Economics Over Advertising
Risk DoctrineAnimal Intuition to Exit

Primary Evidence

"Rainbow sat tight until March 1986, when Heatley picked up *The New Zealand Herald* and saw that Rothmans had announced the sale of its New Zealand tobacco business to Rothmans Holdings Ltd of Australia for $80 million. Heatley knew that Rothmans’ New Zealand tobacco business was making $24 million a year so it did not make sense to him that the company was proposing to sell it for only $80 million. In addition, to his mind, the company was going about the sale in a Mickey Mouse way by not first seeking shareholder approval. ‘To this day I think the deal was essentially designed to screw the other shareholders in New Zealand. Anyway, that’s how I saw it. So I thought, This isn’t good, they’re trying to sell a key asset at a lower price than, in my opinion, it’s worth.’ Heatley called Rainbow’s lawyers, who advised him that Rothmans’ move was not illegal. But he was riled. It occurred to him that if Rainbow made an offer for the New Zealand tobacco business, then Rothmans Industries’ shareholders would have a legal right to know about it. That might thwart the proposed deal with Rothmans Australia."

Source:No Limits: How Craig Heatley Became a Top New Zealand Entrepreneur

"Rainbow sat tight until March 1986, when Heatley picked up *The New Zealand Herald* and saw that Rothmans had announced the sale of its New Zealand tobacco business to Rothmans Holdings Ltd of Australia for $80 million. Heatley knew that Rothmans’ New Zealand tobacco business was making $24 million a year so it did not make sense to him that the company was proposing to sell it for only $80 million."

Source:No Limits: How Craig Heatley Became a Top New Zealand Entrepreneur

Appears In Volumes

No Limits: How Craig Heatley Became a Top New Zealand Entrepreneur