Company Mergers

Mergers and takeovers are forms of external growth within a business. External growth occurs when one firm decides to expand by joining together with another. A takeover specifically refers to the gaining control of a firm by acquiring a controlling interest in its shares (51%). Merger, on the other hand, means the joining with another firm to form a new combined enterprise, shares in each firm are exchanged for shares in the other.

Merging with another organization has downfalls of destroying wealth from the merger. Considering the buying price is important when merging, spending too much on the merger will impound the value after the merger. Some mergers do not create wealth so capital is lost through the merger. There is no guarantee of financial gain and every formula considered with focus, just as with an acquisition. The final decision dictated by the variables. One company merging with another company takes the debt and losses of those companies in the new formed company.

Companies do not have the freedom to merge and acquire as they please do. All have to meet the requirements and essentially be approved by regulatory bodies. In the context of regulations, antitrust laws and security laws are commonly referred to by regulator to determine whether a merger or acquisition should be allowed or rejected. Antitrust laws prohibit mergers and acquisitions that impede competition. The point is very simple where antitrust is referred to as competition. The goal is to increase competition because more competition in economics means that consumers get more at a fairer or lower price. Anytime a regulator believes that a merger or acquisition will make an industry or market less competitive, the business transaction might

Pikula (1999) observes that in merging two or more entities, the management of the companies must adhere to the Sherman Anti-trust Act which was established in 1890. This act was specifically established to prevent mergers from creating monopolies and cartels with an aim to exploit the consumers through determining prevailing market prices. If the merger results in a monopoly, it won’t be approved by the government. Employee contractual agreements must be considered before, during and after mergers. For the merger to go on seamlessly there should be shareholder approval. Initial approval by shareholders for the companies to consolidate their operations helps prevent conflicts from shareholders after the merger. Lastly, regulatory approval should be considered. The management must register the newly formed company. In addition, managers from the merging parties must consider agreements and contracts that the parties are engaging in as these will be transferred to the new company upon the merger.

The collective finances of merged companies will be more and their utilization may be better than in the separate concerns. It may happen that one of the merging companies has short gestation period while the other has the longer gestation period. The profits of the company with short gestation period will be utilized to finance the other company. When the company with the longer gestation period starts eating profits then it will improve financial position as a whole.

The goals of mergers range from reducing the number of competitors, to access of new products (Belcourt et al., p 330). Statistics show that 80% of new product developments fail (Howells, 2011), partly due to challenges and conflicts with human resources functions. Mergers and acquisitions are the fastest way to enter new markets. “It is estimated that 1/3 of all mergers fail due to faulty integration of diverse operations and cultures,” (Chhinzer, 2013). Therefore, the success of a merger or acquisition lies in the ability to guide, motivate, retain, and effectively use

Mergers are such a complex concept, which can bring about a variety of emotions. I remember learning about the topic while pursuing my MBA. During that time, I reviewed companies that had merged and their history. Some were horrible stories of people losing their jobs and a loss of the mission of the company. I think that in most of these cases (the ones I learned about through MBA) the merger was done out of fear. Their company was struggling to grow, had financial issues, or policy were changing the way they needed to do business. Perhaps this was why there were negative repercussions from the merger.

Mergers and acquisition plays an important role in survival/vitalization of a corporation in today’s market. It continues to be a breakthrough strategy for improving innovation of a company’s product or services, market share, share price etc.

Many organizations will either experience a merger or acquisition to try to absorb the costs during unstable market times. Mergers and acquisitions to employee’s usual mean staff reductions and major changes, especially for an acquisition which, is when another company purchases a company and becomes a new company. (McClure, 2016)

Merger refers to the combination of two or more companies into a single company where one continues to exist, while the other loses to its corporate existence. The survivor acquires all the assets as well as liabilities of the merger company.

What is a merger? Most people would think that it is some sort of combination of two or more companies to be one. A simple synonym describing this noun would be a: combination, fusion, integration, confederacy or even an incorporation. Common small business approach of a merger is to make all work efficient and at a reduced cost to promote new products and services within another venture doing roughly the same ratio of productivity. Within the mergers concept, there is often a term used as discounted cash flow (DCF). This logic is strictly for assessment of the companies. There are both advantages and disadvantages for DCF. The advantages of this model allow for changes in cash flows in the future. Cash flows are estimated based on their value

Post-merger integration work is difficult, political, and often driven by teams that still have day jobs. Budgets are undefined, executive leadership is not clear beyond the C-level, no plans exist, and no one has done it before. Companies are willing to spend money on due diligence ahead of signing the papers, but do not always follow through to ensure that targets are met. In many cases, integration team members are plucked from the “operate and maintain” staff, and either cannot see or do not share the strategic vision of the “design and build” dealmakers. Companies that thrive from mergers do eight things (at least) correctly: Have a Plan, Communicate, and Measure Results, Dedicate the Team, Automate, Plan for Turnover, Focus on Business

Acquisitions are popular in the United States and there are many reasons why a company decides to acquire another company. Companies will decide to acquire a business in order to increase market power. Market power happens when a company sells its good or services above competitive levels. If a company attains a high market power, it can become a leader (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015).

Growth and profit are the reason for companies to merge. In acquiring or merging with another company it helps gain customers in different markets along with not having to build a new company from scratch. Therefore, merging with another company helps limit competition. However, as with most everything else in our country, there are rules and regulations that prevent some mergers. According to Colander (2010), merges need to be reviewed by the Justice Department and merges cannot result in a high percentage of market share. This is to prevent monopolies from occurring. When companies feel that they have grown as much as they can here in the United States they look toward globalization.

To protect the business from the drastic downfall, many firms chose to take a step by making business combinations. Stepping towards M&A is a winning way to combine to successful alike business. With M&A synergy power of the two companies are combined to crater a business that is most suitable for the demand of the market and its stakeholders. Merger is a case where the acquired company deliberately delivers it assets and liabilities in the hands of the acquiring company. As a result, the company being acquired can survive another phases of competition in business cycle. However, the phenomena of merger and acquisitions of the two businesses would certainly leave an impact on its stakeholders; it may be negative or positive. Due to the financial stress of the company being acquired the stakeholders may feel the off-putting impact and hence it is quite obvious for the stakeholders to be nervous and uneasy at the kick-off of the initial phase of M&A.