"Barbarians at the Gate" - KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco in 1988
Until July 2006, the largest leveraged buyout in history was the takeover of RJR Nabisco by the private-equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) for US$31.4 billion. In July 2006 this record was broken when KKR, together with Bain Capital and Merrill Lynch, bought out the biggest hospital group in the US, HCA, for US$33 billion.
For more background and links about Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar about KKR's leveraged buout of RJR Nabisco in 1988. RJR Nabisco was created in 1985 through the merger of Nabisco Brands food company and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
The book on the biggest leveraged buyout in history was the basis for the film, Barbarians at the Gate, released in 1993.