NL Industries (NL +4.6%), Kronos (KRO +2.6%) and Valhi (VHI +2%) are higher off the open following death of Chairman Harold SimmonsHarold Simmons, Corporate Raider and GOP Contributor, Dies at 82
2013-12-30 07:23:50.21 GMT
By Brendan Coffey and Patrick Chu
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Harold C. Simmons, the Texas
corporate raider nicknamed the “Ice Man” after structuring
leveraged takeover bids using junk bonds in the 1970s and ’80s,
has died. He was 82.
Texas Governor Rick Perry and state Attorney General Greg
Abbott confirmed his death in separate statements. Simmons was
hospitalized at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas two
weeks ago and died on Dec. 28, according to the Dallas Morning
News, citing his wife, Annette. The cause of death wasn’t
disclosed.
Simmons supported Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012
presidential election and gave more than $15.7 million to
Republican super-political action committees in that contest
cycle, according to Bloomberg News. He was known for his
charitable giving as well, donating $177 million to the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; in all more
than $400 million to medical and educational causes, mostly in
Texas.
“Harold Simmons lived the American dream,” Abbott said.
“His path began with the purchase of a small drug store, and
through hard work and the free enterprise system, he was able to
turn that investment into one of the greatest American success
stories of all time.”
Simmons was born during the depths of the Great Depression
to two schoolteachers in Wood County, Texas, in a home without
electricity or plumbing. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from
the University of Texas, where he earned a master’s degree in
economics and played basketball, he worked as a bank auditor
before buying his first drugstore in Dallas in 1960 for $5,000
cash and a $95,000 loan.
Use of Leverage
Over the next 12 years, he turned it into a 100-store chain
scattered across Texas, with a boost from an $18 million
leveraged buyout of Ward’s Drug Store in 1969. He sold the chain
to Eckerd Corp. in 1973 for more than $50 million.
Subsequent deals, such as his investment in titanium
products maker Valhi Inc., typified his ability to recognize
underpriced assets and exploit his adeptness for numbers and
finance, skills that led him to the forefront of the leveraged
buyout craze of the 1980s.
Over the years, he owned a sugarbeet processor, a savings
and loan and fast-food restaurants. He made headline-generating,
if unsuccessful, bids to buy defense contractor Lockheed Corp.
and Pacific Southwest Airlines.
“They call me a takeover artist and make you think I come
and steal something,” he told D Magazine in a September 1982
profile. “Hell, I offer to buy that stock at a higher price
than anyone else will pay.”
Billionaire Ranks
Simmons’s net worth rose to $8 billion in 2013, according
to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was the 158th richest
individual in the world when he died and the 56th wealthiest in
the U.S., according to the daily ranking.
He was the owner and chairman of Contran Corp., a closely
held company that controlled a number of industrial businesses,
including Kronos Worldwide Inc., the world’s largest mining
operation of ilmenite, the raw material used for titanium
products such as white pigment titanium oxide and titanium metal
products. Through NL Industries Inc., he produced security
products, ball bearings and ergonomic desk equipment. Valhi, his
biggest holding, owns Waste Control Specialists, a 1,338-acre
Texas facility that disposes of radioactive waste.
“Harold Simmons was one of my best friends, and it’s never
easy to say goodbye to close friends,” Texas oilman T. Boone
Pickens Jr. said in a statement. “He was a passionate person --
passionate about his family, his business, philanthropy and
politics. We should all leave such a rich legacy behind.”
For Related News and Information:
Bloomberg Billionaires Index: RICH <GO>
Obituaries: NI OBIT <GO>
--Editors: Greg Ahlstrand, Paul Panckhurst
To contact the reporters on this story:
Brendan Coffey in Boston at +1-617-210-4635 or
bcoffey10@bloomberg.net;
Patrick Chu in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-8460 or
pachu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Patrick Chu at +81-3-3201-8460 or
pachu@bloomberg.net
2013-12-30 07:23:50.21 GMT
By Brendan Coffey and Patrick Chu
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Harold C. Simmons, the Texas
corporate raider nicknamed the “Ice Man” after structuring
leveraged takeover bids using junk bonds in the 1970s and ’80s,
has died. He was 82.
Texas Governor Rick Perry and state Attorney General Greg
Abbott confirmed his death in separate statements. Simmons was
hospitalized at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas two
weeks ago and died on Dec. 28, according to the Dallas Morning
News, citing his wife, Annette. The cause of death wasn’t
disclosed.
Simmons supported Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012
presidential election and gave more than $15.7 million to
Republican super-political action committees in that contest
cycle, according to Bloomberg News. He was known for his
charitable giving as well, donating $177 million to the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; in all more
than $400 million to medical and educational causes, mostly in
Texas.
“Harold Simmons lived the American dream,” Abbott said.
“His path began with the purchase of a small drug store, and
through hard work and the free enterprise system, he was able to
turn that investment into one of the greatest American success
stories of all time.”
Simmons was born during the depths of the Great Depression
to two schoolteachers in Wood County, Texas, in a home without
electricity or plumbing. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from
the University of Texas, where he earned a master’s degree in
economics and played basketball, he worked as a bank auditor
before buying his first drugstore in Dallas in 1960 for $5,000
cash and a $95,000 loan.
Use of Leverage
Over the next 12 years, he turned it into a 100-store chain
scattered across Texas, with a boost from an $18 million
leveraged buyout of Ward’s Drug Store in 1969. He sold the chain
to Eckerd Corp. in 1973 for more than $50 million.
Subsequent deals, such as his investment in titanium
products maker Valhi Inc., typified his ability to recognize
underpriced assets and exploit his adeptness for numbers and
finance, skills that led him to the forefront of the leveraged
buyout craze of the 1980s.
Over the years, he owned a sugarbeet processor, a savings
and loan and fast-food restaurants. He made headline-generating,
if unsuccessful, bids to buy defense contractor Lockheed Corp.
and Pacific Southwest Airlines.
“They call me a takeover artist and make you think I come
and steal something,” he told D Magazine in a September 1982
profile. “Hell, I offer to buy that stock at a higher price
than anyone else will pay.”
Billionaire Ranks
Simmons’s net worth rose to $8 billion in 2013, according
to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was the 158th richest
individual in the world when he died and the 56th wealthiest in
the U.S., according to the daily ranking.
He was the owner and chairman of Contran Corp., a closely
held company that controlled a number of industrial businesses,
including Kronos Worldwide Inc., the world’s largest mining
operation of ilmenite, the raw material used for titanium
products such as white pigment titanium oxide and titanium metal
products. Through NL Industries Inc., he produced security
products, ball bearings and ergonomic desk equipment. Valhi, his
biggest holding, owns Waste Control Specialists, a 1,338-acre
Texas facility that disposes of radioactive waste.
“Harold Simmons was one of my best friends, and it’s never
easy to say goodbye to close friends,” Texas oilman T. Boone
Pickens Jr. said in a statement. “He was a passionate person --
passionate about his family, his business, philanthropy and
politics. We should all leave such a rich legacy behind.”
For Related News and Information:
Bloomberg Billionaires Index: RICH <GO>
Obituaries: NI OBIT <GO>
--Editors: Greg Ahlstrand, Paul Panckhurst
To contact the reporters on this story:
Brendan Coffey in Boston at +1-617-210-4635 or
bcoffey10@bloomberg.net;
Patrick Chu in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-8460 or
pachu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Patrick Chu at +81-3-3201-8460 or
pachu@bloomberg.net