Barbarian at Europe's Gate No More, Kraft Heinz Stumbles at Home

In February of 2017, Kraft Heinz Co. swept across the Atlantic with an audacious $143 billion bid for Unilever, a sleepy giant that Kraft contended could be prodded with a dose of cost cuts and portfolio pruning.

While the unsolicited overture was quickly dropped in the face of stiff opposition from the target, it left Unilever suitably rattled, and the company set on a path to reform, weeding out underperforming assets and sharpening its focus on shareholder value.