The Popular Game Of Going Private

Yet the debt-laden deals have their defenders. "I don't think leverage is a bad thing," says John Makin, director of fiscal-policy studies at Washington's American Enterprise Institute. "Very few people would own a house without it. It is a very important tool of modern finance." At a time when corporate raiders are on the rampage and Wall Street has become obsessed with short-term gains rather than long-term strategy, buyouts are often just good business. --By John Greenwald. Reported by Raji Samghabadi/New York and Elizabeth Taylor/Chicago

Leveraged buyouts, completed or being negotiated

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

Company

Date of transaction

Value in billions

Beatrice

In process

$4.91[*]

R.H. Macy

In process

$3.58[*]

Continental Group

Nov. '84

$2.75

Storer Communications

In process

$2.5[*]

Revlon

In process

$1.83[*]

Union Texas Petroleum (50%)

July '85

$1.7

Levi Strauss

Aug. '85

$1.48

Northwest Industries

July '85

$1.37

City Investing (3 subsidiaries)

Dec. '84

$1.25

[*] Highest offer to date

Source: Mergers and Acquisitions