Amway Corp. Still Pondering Buyout of Big Rival Avon
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.-Amway Corp. still hasn’t decided if it will pursue acquisition of its larger rival in the direct sales business, Avon Products Inc., one of Amway’s founders said today.
Amway, a large direct seller of personal and home products, has purchased more than 10% of Avon common stock in the last month, in partnership with a Minneapolis-based investor, Irwin L. Jacobs.
Jay Van Andel, co-founder of Amway, based in Ada, Mich., told the Grand Rapids Economic Club today that an acquisition would have to benefit both companies.
He compared Amway’s position to that of a diver who walks out on the diving board “and has to decide whether to make a swan dive . . . or a belly flop. We haven’t made that decision yet. We’re still on the board looking around.
“If we were to decide to make the plunge . . . the plunge would have to be good for Amway as a company and Avon as a company,” Van Andel said.
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