Module 4 discussion
Mergers
One of the hottest topics in the business press are rumors
of major corporations merging together. Just as the entertainment press likes
to report on rumors of celebrities who are dating, the business press likes to
speculate about “corporate match-making”. For example, Whole Foods was subject
to rumors about several potential suitors including supermarket giants such as
Kroger, Albertson’s, and Walmart. But the world was somewhat surprised when a
merger deal with Amazon was announced, as this seems like a bit of an “odd
couple”.
Go to Google news or other news search engines and see what
the latest merger rumors are. Pick one of the merger rumors that seems the most
unusual to you – one that makes you wonder why these two companies think they
are a good match for each other. Share the link to the article with your
classmates, and discuss the following issues:
Is this merger horizontal? Vertical? Conglomerate (unrelated
diversification)?
Why do you think these companies would or would not make a
good match?
Do you think this merger will actually go through? Or won’t
get beyond the gossip stage?
