Mergers

9 Pages 2191 Words

Mergers and Acquisitions Since the 1980's, and even more now in the late nineties, it has become a growing trend for companies, both large and small, domestic and foreign, to form strategic alliances within their particular industries. There are many specific goals that companies may be looking to achieve by dong this, but the main underlying reason is to guarantee the long-term sustained achievement of "fast profitable growth" for their business. They have to keep up with a rapidly increasing diversified global market and increased competition. Nowadays, with the struggle for competitive advantage becoming stronger and stronger, it is almost essential to form alliances. Diversifying and expanding techniques such as mergers and acquisitions are very popular methods for forming these alliances. Basically stated, a merger is a joining of forces and acquisition is a purchase of a company, whether it is welcome or hostile. The two terms are often used interchangeably. Much research and planning is required in the early stages of these processes, which starts with an acquisition strategy used in trying to find a suitable company to merge with. Advantages and disadvantages of the merger must be thought out, as well as many other important aspects, such as risk factors and new organizational structures that must be considered and closely monitored throughout all of the stages of the merger or acquisition. It is of these competitive strategies, mergers and acquisitions, as well as a recent case study following the conclusion, that will be the focus of my paper. Before going further into the merger and acquisition process, a more complete explanation is necessary. A merger is the combining of two or more companies into a single corporation. This is achieved when one company or business purchases the property or some other form of assets from another company. The result of this action is the formation of one corporate structure. This new corporat...