Over the past years, I have read interesting articles, books
and blogs on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). Bruce Wasserstein wrote this excellent book that I use
as a reference point from time-to-time - Big Deal, Mergers and Acquisitions in
the Digital Age. In the first
section, Past as Prelude, he refers to five M&A waves:
1st - 1800s: M&A focused on horizontal integration - the railroad empires
2nd - 1930: Rising market and strong industrial growth fuel merger movement
3rd - 1960: Diversification era forms conglomerates
4th - 1970: Hostile takeovers era
5th - 2000: Repositioning in changing competitive environment
1st - 1800s: M&A focused on horizontal integration - the railroad empires
2nd - 1930: Rising market and strong industrial growth fuel merger movement
3rd - 1960: Diversification era forms conglomerates
4th - 1970: Hostile takeovers era
5th - 2000: Repositioning in changing competitive environment
How about we try to label the up coming wave? Could it read: “2010: Big is back” which is the title on the
front page of this week’s Economist magazine. As small companies crumble under
recessionary pressures, and where governments are busy rescuing companies too
big to fail this suggested title might make sense.
On the other hand, we can also consider the next phase as
one of being careful and well-planned M&A where the venture-capital market
moves forward with caution remembering how bad it hurt. This is where I would like us to be:
“2010: M&A focus on strategic alignment and successful integration”.
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment